My First Copy of “The Beastie Book” arrives–and is now available
The Beastie Book, my hardcover alphabestiary of rhyming poems for totally imaginary creatures, illustrated by Alexandra Miller, has just been published by Shenanigan Books. I’m so excited!
http://www.shenaniganbooks.com/beastiebook.html
Last August in an earlier post, I announced that the book had gone to print. Well, last week the publisher called me to say that she’d gotten six advance copies, and one was on its way to me. Then, Monday afternoon it arrived via FedEx. It is absolutely beautiful, and I’m thrilled. The illustrations are marvelous and full of brilliant color. The design and presentation of the text—plus the whole layout of the book—remind me of the old fairytale books. It’s on lovely paper and has sewn signatures. (Please see below for updated ordering information.)
When one contemplates the unopened envelope or box containing a new book, there is always the trembling hope that one will like it. When I pulled this book out, I literally jumped up and down in delight. I’m in love with it and hope reviewers and readers everywhere will also like it, and want to order it—not only for the children in their lives, but also for the children still alive inside them. (Obviously, the child in me wrote the poems
). I am extremely fortunate to have an extraordinarily talented illustrator, and a publisher who knows how to match text with artist and design a gorgeous book.
**UPDATE**As of the week of December 7th, the publisher is now sending out copies as she receives orders. Below is a link to a PDF file you can print out and fill in for ordering the book — and get it before the holidays
:
http://shenaniganbooks.com/RETAILORDERFORM2009.pdf
And here’s a link to a page from which you can order it on-line from the publisher:
http://shenaniganbooks.com/ordering.html
**FURTHER UPDATE: 12/18/09: Also, you can now order it through amazon.com and get it by December 24th,”standard shipping,” if you order it soon. Just put in The Beastie Book:** And if you click on “larger picture” on the book page at amazon.com, you’ll get a really good photo of the cover
.
Have fun!
Three Poems Just Published in “International Psychoanalysis”
I’m happy to announce that three of my poems: “At Ninety, My Father,” “The Door in the Sun,” and “Last Night I Woke Crying,” are featured for the month of November in the “Poetry Monday” column of the journal International Psychoanalysis, edited by Irene Willis.
The first two poems are from my book Buried in the Sky (La Alameda Press, 2001). “Last Night I Woke Crying” is a new poem from my chapbook manuscript, Recycling Starlight, a cycle of about 18 poems that I’ve written over the past year since Bill’s death. (I’m currently talking with a publisher who would like to publish that chapbook. More on that when it becomes definite.) Many good things are happening with respect to publication these days, and I feel both blessed and grateful.
One-year Anniversary of Bill’s Death
Yesterday, October 11th, was the one-year anniversary of my husband William J. Higginson’s death. Although I felt subdued the last several days, I also felt embraced by both family and friends. All weekend, even continuing this morning, friends across the country and planet have been e-mailing me, offering me love and support. Thinking of this time last year, I sent a message to the haiku list “Blogging Along Tobacco Road,” thanking that community for their caring over the past months.
http://tobaccoroadpoet.blogspot.com/2009/10/message-from-penny-harter.html
And I deeply thank my loving family members for their caring. My sister called me from Texas to see how I was doing. My son Charlie came on Friday and stayed overnight, leaving Saturday afternoon for his three-hour drive back up to North Jersey. He helped me enormously with further migrating my files from my 10-year-old Compaq computer to my new Dell desktop. As he said, I’ve gone from horse and buggy to bullet train. And my step-daughter Beth made and mailed me the unexpected gift of a beautiful tapestry tote-bag which I’ll use for my books and manuscripts during my upcoming trip.
And yesterday, the day itself, my daughter and family picked me up late morning for a drive out into the country to a farm about an hour away. We drove on country roads through a tapestry of color—from burnished fields to brilliant trees just beginning to turn, and it was a quintessential fall day. We bought pumpkins, gourds, cider donuts (wickedly good), and fresh cider. It was fun to watch the grandkids helping to pick out pumpkins. I found a little round one, and my daughter snapped a photo of me holding it.
We all felt Bill’s presence as we hugged one another good-bye when they dropped me off.
After I got home late afternoon, I was comforted by a caring phone conversation with a dear friend, then put on my walking shoes and took a twilight walk to a pedestrian bridge over a portion of the nearby Great Egg Harbor River. I paused a bit on the bridge to look down at the water and meditate. The sky was luminous and the water so still it virtually became that sky and the glowing trees that lined the river banks. As I write this, I’m reminded of the “still waters” in the 23rd Psalm.
And so the day passed, and this morning I am focusing on getting further prepared for my trip to the Pacific Northwest (please scroll down for info on that). I am deeply thankful for all the good things that have flowed toward me during the past months. And as these days shift into autumn– some a panoply of vivid color under incredibly blue skies, others cold and gray with rain and wind, I continue my healing journey, grateful for the blessings of the ever-changing sky.
Brief Essay and Three Poems just posted in “Dead Mule School of Southern Literature”
Well, this all came about because some weeks ago, Curtis Dunlap, host of “Blogging Along Tobacco Road,”
http://www.tobaccoroadpoet.com/
told me of this on-line journal and suggested I submit—because I had told him about my southern roots–through my father’s family in South Carolina.
The journal required a “Southern Legitimacy Statement” to validate one’s connection to the South. I had a great time writing that one–and there are things in it that probably none of my poet friends know about my own memories of trips “down south”, and from various tales my father told of his rural South Carolina past. Also, I added a few memories of visiting my parents after they had moved from NJ to Buda, Texas—outside of Austin. Here’s the URL for that page; scroll down to get to mine:
http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/
To submit, I selected poems that I thought would be appropriate from what I sensed of the journal. These three are not that recent, and I had not scooped them up yet for inclusion in an already published book or current manuscript. But I’ve always liked them and am glad to see them “in print”
So I invite you to explore Curtis’s blog, my legitimacy statement, and the three poems.
I was glad to get this piece of good news this morning, since I am feeling a bit more sad than usual this week. A year ago today began Bill’s sudden decline which brought him into the ICU, and to his death on October 11th. I plan to spend a portion of Sunday, the 11th, at the Ocean City Beach with my daughter and family. I’ll walk the tide line alone for a bit, meditating on the blessing Bill was in my life, and all the blessings that have come my way since—for which I am most grateful.
Before or after that, we may also go to a farm stand to pick out Halloween pumpkins—a small one for my front porch
—and other things like corn sheaves, which my daughter wants to use in decorating her house for the season. (And suddenly, I’m remembering the scent of roasting chili peppers from our years in Santa Fe. Ah, time . . . . )
*Brand New Review of The Night Marsh*
HURRAH!
Thanks to a “Congratulations” message from a former acquaintance who lives in Northern New Jersey (my previous home territory), I learned that a good review of The Night Marsh appeared in a number of local papers, yesterday. She helped me track it down on-line. Here’s the notice I sent to my publisher, WordTech Editions:
Penny Harter’s The Night Marsh, is reviewed by Sherie Schmauder in “Out & About,” an Art & Leisure section published by Recorder Community Newspapers. These papers include: The Madison Eagle, The Observer Tribune, Bernardsville News, Morris News Bee and others.
And here’s the link to the review:
I am grateful that Sherie Schmauder chose to review my book, and I hope it results in some sales. So, between The Beastie Book having gone to the printer; the forthcoming 25th anniversary edition of The Haiku Handbook coming out in Japan in November, and in the states in the spring; and several other publication-related projects in the works, things are going well. I know Bill would be (and is) so pleased.
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Recent
- Happy Holidays
- New Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition of “The Haiku Handbook” Arrives
- “Recycling Starlight” Chapbook Accepted by Mountains and Rivers Press
- My First Copy of “The Beastie Book” arrives–and is now available
- Three Poems Just Published in “International Psychoanalysis”
- Memories of My Week in the Pacific Northwest, October 15th – 22nd, 2009
- One-year Anniversary of Bill’s Death
- Brief Essay and Three Poems just posted in “Dead Mule School of Southern Literature”
- Getting Ready for October Visit to the Pacific Northwest
- *Brand New Review of The Night Marsh*
- “The Beastie Book” goes to print
- Home from Haiku North America, 2009
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