For those of you who don't know, I love food. I am working on my master's in nutrition right now and I love food. Part of my mission is to establish myself as an expert in food and nutrition. The best way to do that is to guest post on ads many blogs as possible (in addition to other things of course!).

Since I've been doing my research, I wanted to share with you what I found, in case you are a food writer and looking for new guest post outlets.

I am releasing a marketing book very soon alongside a few of my coworkers from Unsolicited Press. Today, I will share with you are brief excerpt from the book. "A Book a Day" will be available as a ebook and in print. It's loaded with invaluable marketing advice fro authors directly from the publisher.

Setting Up Readings
Readings are easy to set up, but it requires courage to walk into a bookstore of pick up the phone and ask a bookseller to have confidence in your work. But, you’ll never know if a business wants to host your reading unless you ask, so don’t short yourself…make the call or go down and speak with the manager.
 
Before you make any calls or drop bys, create a list of bookstores, bars, cafes, libraries, and other venues that you would like to read at. You should also look into venues that are known to host reading series’ in your area. For example, tons of little bars and cafes play host to monthly reading series’ and they are far more likely to support your event than a café that never hosts readings. Do your homework.
 
Once you have your list, you need to figure out whom to speak to and how those places go about setting up a reading. For most local venues, it is simply speaking to the event planner or manager. For larger venues, such as your local Barnes & Noble, it may require more effort. Major chains list their requirements to set up readings/events on their websites.
 
Add all the details to your list. You will want to have a calendar handy when you begin reaching out to venues; plan to schedule readings from the day of publication through 3-6 months afterwards. Be open to suggestions by the venues as well.
 
Once you have contacted all of the venues to schedule readings, follow through with them to set up readings. You may have to send your media kit and a complimentary copy of your book to the venue for consideration. On your calendar, make a note to get in touch with each venue 3-4 weeks after you’ve made contact (only if you weren’t able to schedule the event right away) to ask if they are interested in booking your reading. If not, thank them and move on. If you are able to book an event, work with them to get everything set up.
 
After you have reached out to local venues, begin looking at other locations within 100 miles of your home. You should be able to secure several readings with ease.
 
Having Books on Hand
We always suggest having a box of at least 100 books with you at all times for readings because things go wrong, and you need to be prepared. Publishers usually offer books at a highly discounted rate, so you can buy copies without going completely broke. For example, we offer our books at 40% of the retail price and don’t require authors to pay anything back. Not only do our authors get to buy the books for cheaper than retail, but the earn a high royalty because we don’t require remuneration (instead of the 25% royalty, they get a 40% royalty per book. Not all publishers are so friendly…some (even big houses) require authors to either buy the books at cost a pay royalties to the publisher as books or sold, OR buy the books at the listed retail price. If you are working with a press, don’t be afraid to negotiate a reasonable price for the books. If you are self-published or operating an indie press, then this isn’t something you need to worry about…just have the books ready to go.
 
Now, you shouldn’t have to use your box of books for readings that are booked at bookstores. Bookstores have the capability to order books through distributors to have books on the shelves, and you should encourage them to do so. For those of you self-publishing, you need to make sure that your book is listed with a friendly distributor. For example, if you are self-publishing via Create Space, you may find that bookstores are hesitant to order from them because they do not offer favorable terms. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t order from Createspace…it just may take a little convincing on your part. You are going to need to demonstrate to them that you are going to bring in a large enough audience to sell the books that they order. And if they still aren’t convinced, then you may need to agree to buy the books from them that they don’t sell.
 
If you are self-publishing or an indie press working with IngramSpark, then you won’t have this issue. IngramSpark offers standard terms to bookstores, making it much easier for you to get the bookseller to order via Ingram and give your book shelf space.
 
The only venues that you are going to need to bring books to are ones that aren’t bookstores. If you are scheduling readings at bars, cafes, parks, etc…then you need to bring books. These venues don’t have accounts with book distributors and you are going to need to help them out. Offer to provide the books, and ask them to do the promoting of the event. If you work together to create a reading that benefits both parties, then the venue is more likely to boost your reading if they see it as an event that will bring them more patrons.
 
Gather Everything You Need
Hooray! You’ve set up readings in your area for your book and you’ve posted the events to your blog/site and social media accounts. You know that you need to have books, but you also need other items to have a successful reading.
 
At every venue, you need to make sure that the proper AV equipment will be provided, if it is needed.
 
You also need to send each venue a poster with your book cover on it. Consider using Vistaprint or Staples or your local printer to help you come up with an eye-catching poster. Use a poster that is either 11”x17” or 16”x20”. The poster doesn’t have to mention the reading; in fact, a universal poster is best because you can send it to every venue without having to edit it. An eye-catching poster will contain a high-resolution image of your book cover, the title of your book, your name, and that 140-character book hook that you created a long time ago. It should also say where the book can be purchased (your website or your publisher’s site).
 
In addition to a poster, you should bring bookmarks, stickers, and any other promotional products that you have created. Readers love free goodies and they are more likely to buy a book if they know that they are getting something for free with it!

The Actual Reading
Plan to read for 15-30 minutes. You should select and practice the excerpt you plan to read from for several days before the reading.
 
When you arrive to the reading, arrive 15 minutes early to handle any business. Check out the reading and get comfortable.
 
If less than 5 people show up, don’t freak out. Do the reading anyways and do it as if 100 people were there. You should also bring somebody along with you to record the entire reading, which you can later post to your website, YouTube or give to your publisher for promotion.
 
After the reading, prepare to hang around 10-20 minutes to talk with readers and sign books. Remember, a book reading is a sales pitch and if you are successful, you should be able to sell every single audience member a book.

Every year, I write a little poem on my birthday. It's not perfect and it's never finished. This is what I wrote this year:


Tomorrow is my birthday
I feel ants sharpen their teeh
readying to peel back my rind.

It'll be easy for the ants and the beetles
to find me -- the grave, handdug
is near the wasp's nest under my favorite fig tree.

Three hours of pulling earth away 
from itself, and my fingernails clogged-- I can smell
chicken manure from last year's harvest.

If you had sat me down six years ago, I surely wouldn’t have told you that I am a poet. I am a poet some days. I would have told you that I am passionate about nutrition, mental health and writing. Those are the things I love most. I love studies of things.  God do I love statistics.
​
Six years ago, you would have found me knee-deep in pre-med, not pregnant and not thinking about anything but prereqs. But I found that my passion for nutrition would land me in an office talking about diabetes…no thank you. I can’t stand talking to people who don’t actually want to change their lives.  So I studied nutrition and health on my own. I began studying writing and literature. I met professors who were awed that I’d never thought about writing “for real” …mostly because I believe that writers, especially poets cannot and should not live in academia. Academia kills the creative spirits because academia is a place for research and “ah-ha” moments. I was involved in academia to discover, analyze and contribute…not to write poetry. Or anything else in the creative writing field for that matter.

    There isn’t a day that goes by that I can walk down the street without having to side-step a person sucked into their cellphone. Or have to tap on a stranger’s shoulder to ask a question because he is plugged into a media player.
    ‘Plugged In’ isn’t the right phrase; rather, ‘Plugged Out’ defines the ever-growing dependence of individuals interacting with technological gadgets, instead of taking part in social situations or being a productive tool within the community.
    I am in favor of technology – I wouldn’t have a job without it. Technology can make us more productive and grants individuals access to information that would be hard to find without the use of the internet.
    Technology allows doctors to detect and cure treatable diseases with a simple breath test. Peace officers can reduce crime in high-risk areas through analytical programs, too.
    Computers, smartphones and the internet allow us to store photos and communicate with friends and family that do live within a reasonable physical proximity. Technology connects us in ways that we could have never imagined.
    These advantages are great for the community, but let’s face it, how many people are actually using technology for non-entertainment purposes? How many people are using it instead of organically connecting with other people?
    The misuse of technology is hindering the very purpose of its creation—productivity. The average American citizen spends 11.5 hours per day exposed to multimedia including television, computers, cellphones, and other devices.  
    The most common apps are YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. None of these lend to productivity. Then again, no other generation has had entertainment and work integrated into one system before. Google tracked its employees for one week and found that the average employees checks his/her email or Facebook account 37 times per hour. Mindless acts are leading to decreased work productivity and technology overload.
    As individuals juggle the influx of information from emails, Facebook friends, and random web surfs, thought processes become fragmented and deep creative thinking becomes stunted. Boredom develops as people crave a constant connection with technology. When the desire isn’t immediately fulfilled, it leads to feelings of anxiety and restlessness.
    Relying or misusing technology designed for productivity results in a “coming down” effect much like a hangover from drugs or alcohol. The brain needs time to recover before it can function at full capacity.
    Reducing time-wasting is important, as technology seems to be a permanent fixture in our lives’, but what about its impacts on our social interactions in the real world.
   Social relationships are the fundamental blocks of our community and the ‘Plugging Out’ phenomenon infringes on our abilities to communicate effectively with others outside of electronic methods.
    Our ability to control usage of social media is to blame. Texting, tweeting, and facebooking (did I get them all?) reduces in-person social interactions, lessens romantic spontaneity, and cripples communication skills.
    Being able to connect without having to go anywhere can create unnecessary social-anxiety fears. Sixty percent of social media users claim that they would rather communicate via social platforms than in-person because they are unsure of how to behave in a typical social interaction. This is alarming.
    Instead of having conversations with people to get to know one another, individuals use Facebook or Google to hunt down every internet tidbit about the person. Five years ago, we would have labeled this as stalking, but now it is the standard norm. I guess we can say goodbye to late night conversations while lying out on the grass.
        Romance? Out the door. If you are under 25 years old, you have probably never received a hand-written letter, although 70% of you would prefer one to a 140-character text. This is exactly why I don’t text and why my phone still plugs into the wall – with a cord. No text or FB message can replace the warmth you get from a person’s voice or the excitement of receiving a hand-written note.
    Technology damages communication skills. How we communicate is largely non-verbal, but technology eliminates this feature. People cannot read non-verbal cues and the context of the conversation can be misunderstood. It disconnects us from authenticity. Shorthanded texting hurts critical thinking and language skills making it difficult to convey ideas.
    The solution? We must balance our consumption to preserve organic social relationships and use technology to increase productivity without sacrificing our creativity. Treat technology like a bottle of wine; maintain a healthy limit of two glasses daily.

Twitter isn’t the only option, and for some authors, it isn’t the platform for them. If you find that Twitter isn’t the appropriate venue to build an online presence, you should look into the following options:
 
Pinterest
Pinterest is HUGE. It is quickly becoming one of the most popular search engines in the world. In 2015, Pinterest released that it had 100,000,000 monthly active members in September. That’s one-hundred MILLION, with a big ‘M’.
 
Imagine if you only reached 1% of those users, you would still have face time with 1,000,000 users. Pinterest is still behind Facebook and Twitter in the number of users, but it is continually growing. Instead of being a straightforward social network, like Facebook and Twitter, where users access the content shared by friends, Pinterest prides itself on being both a social network and a portal to discover new ideas/products. Pinterest is ideal for super visual writers and writers who are operating a blog that offers advice, tutorials, and other great things via their websites/blogs.
 
Users search for ideas and can “pin” them or save them to a board for later. Each board is focused on an idea, for example: food, clothes, writing, or to be read. Each pin is a picture along with a description that links to an external website. Pinterest is the second best at sending users to new websites, behind Facebook. Meaning it is an amazing platform to advertise writers as people and their books.
 
Getting Started
Create a profile on pinterest. Don’t make a profile for your books, make one using a professional picture, your name, and that reflects your interests as well. Creating one for books can make it difficult when if you write others down the road. Boards can be created for books.
 
In the “About You” section create a background that makes you a real person to readers, describing who you are along with your interests. Links can be added that go to a website, a Facebook account, and a Twitter account. This allows users to find and follow other social media accounts. Writing an interesting “About You”, creates the potential of attracting users who are not your typical followers.
 
Don’t forget to turn off the “search privacy” feature. To reach this feature, go to “account settings” and under “account basics” click “on” under search privacy. This allows Google to find your profile when users are searching for you or ideas related to you. 
 
Make sure that you download the Pinterest Browser Button, so that you can pin new content from your website, blog, or even amazon. This makes it easy to create links to your own website for your followers to see.
 
Make Your Website or Blog Pinterest Friendly
There are several factors that can make a blog Pinterest friendly. First, you want to include pictures for all of your blog posts. Pinterest focuses on images. Every pin has an image and the better your image, the more people that will be attracted to your posts.
 
Create Your Boards and Start Following Others
Start a few boards based off of your interests, some easy ones are: food, diy, and animals. You might even start a board dedicated to a TV show, book series, or fandom that you are obsessed with. If you are writing a fictitious book, maybe create a couple of boards dedicated to ideas or concepts in your books. These are fun for readers to stumble upon .
 
Don’t forget to follow other pinners who have the same interests as you: writing, reading, food. This brings pins into your feed, so you don’t have to always search for them and helps you gain new followers.
 
Pin Away
 Pin posts from your blog/website or from where you order your book on Amazon, along with content that you like. The more you pin, the more followers you will get. Just remember to be consistent and do not flood them with a lot of content at once. Happy pinning!
 
Instagram
Like Pinterest, this is perfect for authors who want to engage with readers in an intimate and photographic way. I believe that travel and food writers have the upper hand on Instagram, but any writer can make it work for them.
 
For poets or fiction writers, and Instagram account can be a great way to share your ideas, your writing space, or just give readers and inside look at your life. In the same breath, it doesn’t have to be about your personal life; you can build a professional Instagram profile as a poet or fiction writer…maybe you post images of readings, or the books you’re reading at the moment, or about a topic that really fascinates you. You will definitely generate buzz and conversation this way.
 
Widgets are available to integrate into your website, which will make it easier for your readers to follow you on Instagram. Remember, connectivity that is seamless and simple is the key.
 
Google+
While I don’t have a ton of experience with Google+, many of our writers thrive on the platform. Google+ allows for hangouts, which are virtual conference calls…that means that you can hold a virtual reading and send out invitations.
 
Writers can hold personal Q+As with a select group of journalists, bloggers, and fans to generate buzz. And the best part is that the hangouts can be recorded, so you can post them to your website or upload them onto YouTube.
 
Whether or not you choose to utilize Google+, you should sign up for Google Authorship, a Google service that helps you connect all of your writing into a portfolio. How can this help you? Well, it helps readers see everything you’ve written, and I know that an old book that nobody read is more likely to get purchased by a reader who has read your newest work.
 
Amazon Author Central
Every single author needs to sign up for an Amazon Author Central account. This profile requires minimal effort and maintenance. Simply sign up and find your books on Amazon. Then your author profile on Amazon.com will show readers everything that you have written.
 
And the best part about the service is the fact that you can generate an RSS feed from your blog to your Amazon Author account. Once you provide the link, Amazon automatically updates your account to show your latest post. You don’t have to do anything after that. Yay!

see what happens with him,
see what happens with him,
live with a man who does not respect you,
clean up and
 
takes his share of work.
 
move back
stay with
feel it out like butter warmed on toast or
do you really care
 
I feel like you do, but you are afraid
in a couple of years nobody else will want
                                    grayed split hairs and stained coffee teeth.
 
Be a great partner.
Great smile.
Wants to do things.
Not a drinker or a smoker.
No sense of humor.
Both broken toys.
 
I wish he could be like that.
                        balance the dishes on the silverware from room to room
            but oh, very selfish...

• A poem that is an address, or a letter to another. It can be to a person or a thing.
• The poem can take a serious note, be intimate, free or incredibly measured.
• Dates back to the Roman Empire.
• Examples, Elizabeth Bishop, Ovid, Langston Hughes, Bernadette Mayers….etc…

​
Contemporary Example:
Dear David by Matt Burgess
This morning I looked
for your book online
and almost bought it
from the evil giant
but balked. Instead
I wrote a poem in bed
about a faux-leopard
jacket while drinking
coffee from a Bette
Midler mug. Marcel
says when he catches
himself self-censoring
he knows to add it
anyway. Anyway
I scrambled eggs
before rearranging
my book shelves,
extracting the ones
I can live without.
Those I put in a box
for prisoners (who
want dictionaries
and classic fiction,
the website says)
and later the buyer 
in Red Hook took
a towering stack
for a seventeen buck
credit. I skimmed
the spines and there
you were! Like new!
On the cover in blue
pants, a violet plaid
shirt, surrounded by
bright particulars! 

​I could say that I write because I have no other options, but that would be a lie. I could easily find myself in a nutritional research lab or studying maternal-fetal medicine. Or, law school…since that is what most English degree folks tend to step into because of the lack of jobs available to "English majors".  I survive to write. I write poetry because there is no other way to explain my perception of the world. I write short stories about psychological disorders because there is no other way to cope with my own disorders. I write journalism for newspapers because I refuse to sit down when everybody else has given in to social and cultural follies. In every instance of my crooked life, I have avoided claiming my writerly ways, until several years ago when I decided that not writing was a far worse fate than investing in a career that made money…and made me miserable.  I write because that is how I express and contribute to society. I don't write to awe people; rather, I write to connect with others. To demonstrate that we are living, breathing folks with something to share…and everybody's perception of the world is valuable to our progression as a people.  Recently, I came across the idea that my writing doesn't make me happy. Most people claim their careers, or hobbies make them happy, but writing doesn't make me happy. It sets me straight. My mind is full of neuroticisms, compulsions, addictions, repressed memories, and I write to bleed my body of the toxins created from negotiating those facets.  In my life, I have experienced suicides, infant deaths, sexual assaults, injustices, infertility, cancer, drug addictions, and the impact of single parenting concerning myself and those around me. Writing is my therapist. I can talk to it – see the flaws. I use my writing to heal and to address issues in my life and on a universal stage.

Considered the most powerful Spanish poet of our time, Federico García Lorca was an accomplished musician, poet, and playwright. He published very young and was a member of Generacion del 27.  I didn't come across Lorca until my later years in school, but he quickly became an important man in my life...and was included in my MFA thesis reading list. Read on for his bio and poetry.

Song of Andoumboulou: 40
 
                        Asked his name, he said,
    "Stra, short for Stranger."
      Sang it. Semisaid, semisung.
"Stronjer?" I asked, semisang,
    half in jest. "Stronger,"
                                         he
      whatsaid back. Knotted
    highness, loquat highness,
      rope turned inward, tugged.
    Told he'd someday ascend,
he ascended, weather known as
      Whatsaid Rung... Climb was
        all anyone was, he went
                                                on,
    want rode our limbs like
        soul, he insisted, Nut's
      unremitting lift...
                                    Pocketed
rock's millenarian pillow...                    
           
 
Ideas on Mackey's Work:
"Mackey writing of a ‘we’ who floated ‘boatlike, / birdlike’ (p.21), and on the third line the words ‘Semisaid, semisung’ give thematic prominence to this idea of a hybrid art."
 
Notes on the poem:
-paratactic lines  (lines that are shorter without subordination)
- alliteration is important
-his work is in liminal space between music and poetry
- sonic enjambment
-manipulates lines by using homonyms…
-many words seem to function as musical notes….
-motivated rhythms…Mackey chooses words and sounds to propel the poetry without necessarily considering the word itself…you could scan the work, but the prosody of his poetry is reliant on sonics—on musical beats— the words continue to trace back to other words within the poem.

Doha, sort of sounds like a doughnut or something, but it’s actually a form. Let’s look at it. I dare you to write one!

Origin: Hindi
​
What’s it all about?

• The doha is a self-contained rhyming couplet. Lines are 24 syllables divided into unequal parts of thirteen (6,4,3). and eleven (6,4,1).
• Conveys an image or idea.

On your last human day, you walked to the diner on the corner of 5th and Mulberry. It smells of fried catfish and moldy gravy, but they bake the best blueberry pie.  The server prances to the booth, requesting your order.  She comes back, winks, and claims, “I cut you the biggest slice,” walking away with a swing. It turns you on. You consider whacking it right here in the booth, but the smell of pie lures you away.

“How sweet,” you mutter. People in the service industry make your skin crawl. You shovel the pie down. The server returns and you beckon her for another slice. She obliges with glee. It goes down quicker than the first slice. When the server goes to the back, you walk out without paying. On the walk back, you witness two squirrels humping on a bench.  “Why can’t we have sex outdoors?” you question, looking into the sky.

Forty-five minutes later, you are sitting upon a smutty mattress at The Winking Lantern. The whore breathes on your neck; she caresses your thigh.  She hands you a warm whiskey. “Don’t worry baby, I’ma professional,” she asserts.

Happier than ever and two hundred dollars shorter, you stroll down to the park with a smirk. Children are frolicking, women are chattering, and you, you are staring at a crusty map questioning if this is the correct rendezvous point.  “Take a left and the oak tree?” you mutter. “Well, shit, there are dozens of oak trees.” The sun blisters above, but you trek onward in hopes that your senses will guide you.

​“This Way” written on an oak tree leads you to your location across an old bridge. You are proud of your great sense of direction. The sun still blisters down. Your scalp is beginning to resemble that of a sun-dried tomato. The clock that they gave you begins to tick. “Tick”… “Tock”… “Tick”… “Tock”…You bite your lip. Blood runs through your veins as lava. The clock grows louder. ZAP!

Here is a list of review outlets. I've listed what genres they look at below each one. 

American Book Review: http://americanbookreview.org/
·         Fiction, poetry, literary and cultural criticism
Booklist: http://www.booklistonline.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
Bookslut (online only): http://www.bookslut.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
The Barnes and Noble Review: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/review/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
The CALYX Journal: http://www.calyxpress.org/journal.html
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
·         Forum for female authors
Kirkus: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
Rain Taxi: http://www.raintaxi.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
Rattle: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/
·         Poetry
Valparaiso Poetry Review: http://www.valpo.edu/vpr/index.php
·         Poetry
The Rumpus: http://therumpus.net/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
The Seattle Times: http://www.seattletimes.com/html/books/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
NPR Books: http://www.npr.org/books/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
Publishers Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
Goodreads (online only): http://www.goodreads.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
ForeWord Reviews: https://www.forewordreviews.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
The Compulsive Reader: http://www.compulsivereader.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction
No BS Book Reviews (online only): http://nobsbookreviews.com/
·         Fiction

Also features excerpts
Things Mean a Lot (online only): http://www.thingsmeanalot.com/
·         Fiction, creative nonfiction
decomP (online only): http://www.decompmagazine.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, audio
BookPage: http://bookpage.com/
·         Fiction, creative nonfiction, lifestyle, audio
Music & Literature: http://www.musicandliterature.org/
·         Fiction, creative nonfiction, music
Asymptote: http://www.asymptotejournal.com/
·         Fiction, poetry, drama, nonfiction, visual
Omnivoracious (online only): http://www.omnivoracious.com/

If everything is interesting, then nothing is.

This is a common thought that I have in a workshop or seminar setting. Most often, this word is used in a way that divulges zero information about the poem or story in front of me. When I hear a colleague say, “This poem was really interesting to me,” all I hear is, “I read this poem and I have nothing to say about it.”

Before I continue, it is vital to explain the definition of the word, that to me, has lost all of its meaning due to the construct of the MFA program.

Merriam Webster says,

Interesting: adjective ; attracting attention and encouraging the participant’s involvement in learning more about something…the thing being modified is not dull, nor is it boring.
The word was first used, or known of its use around 1768.

Over the past year-and-a-half, I have collected words such as this from conversations in workshop and seminar that have lost actual meaning because of the vague over-usage of them.
​
To change this, I think it would be wise for writers working with writers to use other words, or hell, if you are going to say the word interesting, then at least back it up with why it is interesting…and then, when you do that, do muffle together 20 big words that skirt the point. Pinpoint something. Is it the voice? Is it the tone? Is it the diction? What the fuck makes it interesting.

I absolutely love coming up with story ideas. I have too many ideas and I will never write through them all, so I keep a running list of story starters for several genres. Recently, I put together a selection of science fiction story starters. The little book was picked up by a no-website press called Rogue Books PNW (I submitted to them after I found them on PW). They quickly formatted and put together the book. From the work that I did with during the past six months, they are busy acquiring titles to build a steady catalog before opening a website...which totally makes sense. Anyways, it was great to work with them and the book is available on Amazon if you want to pick up a copy.

But before you do, here is the first prompt from the book:

A woman has been harassed by an alien species that invaded earth two years ago. They continually bring her in for questioning and come to her house and look for human paraphernalia. When an alien trooper breaks a frame that contained the only picture of her husband who was taken by the alien army, she decides that she’s had enough.

I am taking a contemporary American poetry course this quarter. It is my first class outside of the writing program, and the first class that I am mixed in with undergraduates. And while I strongly believe that many undergraduates are intelligent and capable of operating at a graduate level, it has come to my attention that both the graduate and undergraduate students many not understand the differences between “prejudice” and “racism.”

And I’ll say that sometimes, I muddle the definitions.

The OED defines “prejudice” as a preconceived notion not based in reality. The negative implications of prejudice can cause anger, frustration and irritation, among other things.But most prejudices do not result in the blocking of one person and a group of people’s abilities to operate in society.Many stereotypes result from prejudice.

On the other hand, racism is based in historical trends and involves a power dynamic. Racism blocks equal power from one or many groups based on race. For example, in America, Caucasian groups have used their power to unequally access resources. Racism further entails one or a group believing that a specific race (every single individual within the race) possess certain characteristics or abilities, and the race in power uses them to interfere and impede the “second class race” from achieving the same goals or accessing the same resources.
​
That is my understanding of it. If you would like to add to this, please do so. I would also ask you to behave professionally.

Covered up. That’s what happened to the name of the original author of The Mansion. Mary Ruefle seems to care little for the previous author, shamelessly taking the book as her own by erasing the original text and everything else that once made it Henry Von Dyke’s book.  That is, until you dive into Ruefle’s heavy-handed process of creating something new from something borrowed:

Everyone knows that I can afford to live/ in/a text

The formation of immortality surfaces through the erasure, for both Ruefle and Von Dyke. The omission of the original text under whiteout quiets the pages and allows new meaning to come alive through what remains seen.

Erasures, the poetic act of deletion, censure and hiding what once was, is an art form Ruefle has claimed as her true form. In the act of erasing, Ruefle manages to open the book up, breathe into it new energy, and give it an audience it didn’t have before Ruefle hid the contents away from our sight.

Not only does Ruefle cover up the text with white out, she affixes images, “stickers” and other visual layers to the top of the pages. Through erasure, she writes:

Using you as an illustration

We see Ruefle surface in this line with the vague ‘you’ often seen in the bulk of her poems. She calls out to a 'you’ to serve as a piece of the erasure. The line is followed by a photo of a large, hairy spider glued over the remaining text on the page. As The Mansion progresses, Ruefle begins to use varying graphics to add a new element to the poetry.
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The book becomes a multidimensional art piece that relies on Von Dyke’s words, Ruefle’s poetics, and visual collage. As it seems, Ruefle isn’t erasing Von Dyke; rather she is collaborating with him.

The standard system of verse composition in England since the 14th century. The meter relies on the number of stresses and syllables in any given line. Iambic pentameter anybody?

Example:

She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that’s best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow’d to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

From Lord Byron’s She Walk in Beauty, a poem written in iambic tetrameter.

Because I am constantly on the verge of researching myself into a tomb, I thought that I should share my hard work. Here are some outlets that take excerpts:
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The Southern Review
Blue Moon Literary & Art Review
Narrative Magazine
The Drum Literary Journal
Printers Row Journal
Extract(s): Daily Dose of Lit
Circa: A Journal of Historical Fiction
Joyland: A Hub for Short Fiction
Solstice Literary Magazine
Two Hawks Quarterly
Quarter After Eight
American Short Fiction
Alaska Quarterly Review
Apple Valley Review
Cold Mountain Review
The Carolina Quarterly
The Florida Review
Gettysburg Review
The Hudson Review