I’m delighted to share that my debut full-length book of poems is coming soon from Saint Julian Press!

After three years of circulating my manuscript, three editors, three finalist designations (is there something about the number three?) — The Grief Committee Minutes has finally found a publisher. Saint Julian Press, based in Houston, will be releasing the book sometime this fall.

I’m happy, relieved, grateful and exhausted at the same time. Someone I spoke to recently made a comment along the lines of how it’s natural, when you reach a big goal or a milestone you’ve aspired to for a very long time, to feel mixed emotions. On one hand, I’ve achieved this goal I’ve worked so hard for. Thanks to Saint Julian Press and publisher Ron Starbuck, this work I’ve put so much of myself into will finally be out there in the world in book form, which is exhilarating just to think about. Readings! Readers! Friends and family celebrating with me. All wonderful, right? Certainly all valid reasons for excitement.

Yet there is a letting go associated with this special development also. Now that the book has a publisher, my obsession with that particular quest has come to an end. That means, I can breathe and think toward my next project, whatever that may be. It also means in the process of defining my life from now on, this milestone will always be up there, but I’ll need to learn reframe what’s important to me, rethink what my obsessions are, and — being a poet — write about them. It means the next chapter of my life is about to unfold. And that’s a bit scary.

But whatever my future as a writer and a person may hold, for now I am breathing in the moment and savoring it, along with the kind comments and validation I’m already receiving from so many I’ve shared my news with. I’m ready!