The Spring Ghazals Reviewed on The Sill of The World

Many thanks to HKatz of The Sill of the World blog for an excellent & insightful review of The Spring Ghazals.  You can check out the review here.

If you aren’t familiar with this blog, you’re really missing out.  The quality of writing on The Sill of the World is high & HKatz’ The Week in Seven Words series is a unique concept that’s also executed with aplomb.  If you’d like to read HKatz’ observations on writing, you can check out my interview with her in the Writers Talk series right here.  There’s also a wonderful poem by HKatz accompanying that interview at this link.

Just a few reminders: The Spring Ghazals is now available on Amazon & Amazon.uk (& presumably other Amazon international sites, tho I haven’t confirmed that.)  It should be available on Barnes & Noble within the next several days.  If you haven’t purchased the book but follow this blog either on Blogger or thru Networked Blogs, please consider doing so.  If you have the book, please consider writing a review on Amazon &/or Lulu.  Giving the book a positive rating on either of these sites is also helpful.  The book’s Amazon page is here; the Lulu page here.  Of course, I’d always welcome other bloggers reviewing the book or setting up interviews with me about it.

Thanks for your interest!

Review on The Tangerine Tree Press Blog

Good morning, dear readers!  I wanted to take a moment to let you know that there’s a new review of The Spring Ghazals posted on The Tangerine Tree Press blog.  Please drop by this wonderful & literate site when you have a chance: the link to the review is here.

The Tangerine Tree Press blog is maintained by Sheila Graham-Smith, & Ms Graham-Smith did a beautiful job with her review.  She also gives the full text of another poem from the book, “January Morning” (from the Cloudland section), as well as providing an articulate & insightful reading of the poem, bringing all sorts of marvelous elements to her critique.  In case you were curious, the pic leading off this post is a nod to “January Morning”—I’m happy to say this isn’t the view outside our door this morning!

Finally, one last reminder: today is the last day to use the coupon code LEAF305 to receive 15% off The Spring Ghazals when purchasing the book at Lulu.  The offer runs thru 11:59 p.m. today—I just re-checked the original email & noticed they don’t give the time zone on that—a bit unhelpful, but there you have it.  The Spring Ghazals is available at this link.

Hope you take advantage of the offer before it expires, & really hope you take a few minutes to read Ms Graham-Smith’s excellent review.

The Spring Ghazals Reviewed on "New England Travels"

I'm so happy to announce another wonderful review of The Spring Ghazals, this time by writer Jacqueline T. Lynch on her New England Travels blog.  You can read Ms. Lynch's review here. 

Jacqueline T. Lynch is a prolific blogger & writer in her own right.  She writes Another Old Movie Blog, which is a litertate & incisive look at classic film; Tragedy & Comedy in New England, her look at regional theater; & New England Travels, her virtual tour thru her native New England—a region I'm also from, & which is of course depicted in several poems in The Spring Ghazals.

In addition to her blogging activities, Jacqueline T. Lynch has published articles and short fiction in regional and national publications, including the anthology “60 Seconds to Shine: 161 Monologues from Literature” (Smith & Kraus, 2007),  North & South, Civil War Magazine, History Magazine & several plays with Eldridge Publishing, Brooklyn Publishers, & Dramatic Publishing Company, one of which has been translated into Dutch & produced in the Netherlands.    Her novel Meet Me in Nuthatch is now available as an ebook through Amazon.com & Smashwords, & her recent short story Interfacing is also available as a Smashwords selection here.

If you'd like to learn more about this talented writer, please check Robert Frost's Banjo on Thursday, as Ms Lynch will be participating in the Writers Talk interview series!

Finally, many thanks to Jacqueline, with whom I've had a long-standing cyber-friendship that actually went "3-D" when we were able to meet last March during a cross-country trip I took back east.  I so appreciate her support, as well as support from so many other friends from blogs & Twitter & Facebook.

& remember: you can still purchase The Spring Ghazals on Lulu for 15% off thru November 15th by entering the code LEAF305 at check-out!

Pic shows the Vermont house where I grew up

Reviewed on Soulless Machine

Good morning, folks.  I’m happy to announce that writer Aaron Wilson has written a really nice review of The Spring Ghazals on his always interesting Soulless Machine blog.  In the review, Aaron focuses on one poem from the “Kitchen Poems” section of the book, “Fondue”—you can hear yours truly reading it on Soulless Machine as well as seeing my first ever attempt at making a video setting for one of my poems.  I want to thank Aaron so much for his review, & also for suggesting the video, which I was a bit hesitant to try at first, but ultimately was quite fun.  Following this week, with reviews by Aaron Wilson & by Jessica Fox-Wilson, I have to say: Minneapolis rocks!

In other news: Many thanks to Raquel Matos for her great suggestions in the comments section of yesterday’s post.  Anyone who’s interested in self-publishing really should check out what Raquel had to say.  I’d also welcome more feedback on that post, should any of you wish to weigh in on what works & what doesn’t when self-publishing.  By the way, I recommend Raquel Matos’ blogs, Out of the Past—A Classic Film Blog & Thoughtful Eating.   I’ve followed both for a long while & always enjoy reading what Raquel has to say.

Following Raquel’s advice, I joined Goodreads & submitted an application to be recognized as an author.  As it turns out, The Spring Ghazals already was a Goodreads selection.  My author page (pending approval) is here—of course, I only wrote three of the books—the first three in the column. 

I’m also slowly working on a book trailer (again, thanks to Ms Matos) & hope to get that completed over the weekend.

I want to say that I’ve really been touched by the support I’ve received from folks online—it’s really been quite wonderful.  & finally, if you’re thinking of buying the book but haven’t gotten around to it, remember: between now & November 15th you can buy the book for 15% off by entering the coupon code LEAF305 at checkout on Lulu.  The Spring Ghazals is available for purchase right here.

Have a great Friday, & don’t forget to swing by Soulless Machine. 


Curious about the pic?  Head on over to Soulless Machine!

Reviewed on "everything feeds process"

There's a version of this post on Robert Frost's Banjo, but I did want to take a moment to note that poet/artist Jessica Fox-Wilson has written a wonderful review of my book, The Spring Ghazals on her blog, everything feeds process.  You can read her review, for which I’m truly grateful, right here.

Ms. Fox-Wilson’s blog is always worth reading—I subscribe & look forward to new posts, which can be anything from poetry to insightful discussions on the creative process to photos taken during a commuter bus ride.  Jessica Fox-Wilson is currently working on her own poetry manuscript, which she intends to publish in the near future.  When she does, I assure you I will be reviewing it!

You also can read some of Jessica’s poetry on our own satellite blog, Writers Talk, right here;  you also can read her interview at this link. 

I would welcome other reviews, & would be very happy to reciprocate with reviews of your work both in this space & on my "main" blog, Robert Frost's Banjo.  & even if you can't write a full blog post review, I'd certainly appreciate positive short reviews on the Lulu page itself.

Thanks so much, Jessica!