The Editorial Staff at The America Library of Poetry Would Like to Publish MY Poem

While I was away visiting my family, I received a letter from The America Library of Poetry. I entered their annual poetry contest in April so, as you can imagine, I was very excited to hear from them. However, the winners of the contest will not be selected until the end of September. So why did they send me a letter?

In the meantime Brooke, I have even more exciting news for you. The editorial staff at The America Library of Poetry would like to publish your poem "Fishing For A Living" in a special book of student poetry entitled Accolades. Scheduled for release in the fall, this particular compilation is generating a lot of interest as it will feature only a very select cross-section of this year's submissions. Again, I congratulate you on an outstanding accomplishment. You should be very proud, especially when you consider the many talented authors who may never be discovered or have the opportunity to see their work in print.

They want to publish my submission. Isn't that awesome?! Even if I don't win, I feel as if this contest has been a great success for me. This will be my first publication where they picked me. Two of my prior publications were blogosphere volunteer projects and the third was a collection put together by my OSAI class. ACCOLADES feels different. It feels like validation.

I'll keep you all updated, both on the contest and ACCOLADES. Until then, I've got an author release form (squee!) to fill out and Camp NaNoWriMo to win.

QUARTZ FOUNTAIN and OVERCOMING ADVERSITY

Today I have two very special announcements!

The first I've waited about a week to tell you. Last summer I mentioned that the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute was putting together an anthology for the class of 2012. Well, they've finally finished it!

QUARTZ FOUNTAIN includes three or four poems from each student as well as their portrait. I'm the third person in because we're organized in alphabetical order. Three of my poems are included-two I read at a performance while at OSAI and one I chose. It is available in paperback for ten dollars. Purchase links are on my Publications page if you would like to check it out further.


While I am very excited about my anthology, that's not the end of my good news!

About a month ago, I participated in The Overcoming Adversity Bloghop hosted by Nick Wilford. His goal was to compile entries for an anthology he would sell to fundraise money for his stepson's college fund. The Kindle edition of this book was released today! The paperback will hopefully be released in a few days time. Purchase information for this book can also be found on my Publications page.

It's funny because the piece I wrote for OVERCOMING ADVERSITY: AN ANTHOLOGY FOR ANDREW was a part of my writing sample for my audition for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute this year. Here's to hoping it lives up to its name and overcomes the adversity that is being chosen to attend this camp once more!