Q&A: Poet Caroline Hagood

In my meanderings through life, I often catch myself getting distracted by unexpected beauty and wit, especially when I step my toes into the puddles of joy that are writers' blogs.

One writer I discovered quite by accident, Caroline Hagood, has graced the electronic pages of this blog, back when she was still blogging at Culture Sandwich, where she posted poems, book reviews, interviews, and thoughts on art and culture in general. These days, she’s in a Ph.D. program at Fordham University, but she recently had her first book of poetry, Lunatic Speaks published by FutureCycle Press. As the Elephant’s Bookshelf blog begins its new incarnation as a brief rest stop for writers and readers of all stripes, I thought it fitting to allow a poet to deliver the invocation.

EB: How long have you been writing poetry?

CH: I've "written" since I was a dyslexic kid who couldn't read or write for years after everyone else, and my mom was kind and patient enough to write down my early "songs" that only she and my dad could possibly love.

EB: Do you follow a consistent process in your work or do you vary things as the ideas come?

CH: I try to type things into my electronic graveyard--what I call my computer file that's longer than I should ever share, which contains many unformed poem thoughts--every day. Then I try to form a finished poem out of this wreckage once a week. If anyone ever finds this password-protected document, I will feel very embarrassed and very sorry for them.

EB: Much of your work comes across as very personal. Do you fear you expose too much of yourself in your poetry or is there still a layer or two between you and your audience?

CH: There are definitely some layers there. I think people often assume that every (especially first person) poem is autobiographical, but, as others far sharper than I have noted, although there is always some kind of truth there, it just may not be conventionally factual. It would be like reading someone's dreams and thinking they all happened to the dreamer. For instance, although I wrote about it in my collection, I have never received a letter from a dinosaur, although I am very open to it.

And, yes, I fear that I expose too much of myself every day. My whole life is basically one big emotional risk, but I'm usually glad I took it.

EB: Thanks so much for sharing with us, Caroline.

CH: My pleasure.

 

The Fall: Tales From the Apocalypse

Faithful followers, you have not been forgotten. With the summer now in the rear view mirror and October upon us, I present to you the cover of The Fall!

Designed by Calista Taylor, the cover conveys exactly the feel I'd hoped to share. While the orange-hued clouds might be reflecting the fires of destruction in the distance, they might also be tint of the dawn of hope. The collection of fourteen stories by thirteen authors (it just worked out that way, I swear!) includes its share of dystopian images (and yes, more than a couple zombies), but it also includes humor, romance, and the promise of new beginnings.

The book is slated to be released on 10/29 and will be available in electronic form as well as print. If you enjoyed Spring Fevers, you'll be happy to see stories from Mindy McGinnis, Cat Woods, J. Lea López, A.M. Supinger, R.S. Mellette, and myself. But you'll also find several writers who will see their first Elephant's Bookshelf Press stories published, including Jean Oram, R.C. Lewis, Amy Trueblood, Alexandra Tys O'Connor, Patricia Carrillo, Ryan Graudin, and Judy Croome.

I'm very proud of what we've been able to produce, and I want to thank my production team of Cat Woods, Calista Taylor, Jean Oram, Mindy McGinnis, and R.C. Lewis who provided invaluable assistance through the entire process.

Preparing for the Apocalypse

Summer is essentially over. The kids are back in school. Temperatures are dropping, little by little. The skies are darkening earlier. Leaves are falling on the grass.

And here at the Elephant's Bookshelf, we've been busy in the background getting an anthology ready as well as a Web site for Elephant's Bookshelf Press. I won't guarantee the site will be ready by launch date, but that's definitely my target. This blog will continue to exist and be a major component of the site, which will also offer information on the next anthologies in the works and future submissions for anthologies and longer works. Yes, "elephans," we intend to publish novels. Maybe as soon as 2013.

In the meantime, I intend to make some updates to what we do here on the blog. Coming soon, for example, are more interviews with authors, editors, filmmakers, publishers, even some poets! I hope to make the Elephant's Bookshelf a regular blog tourist area for authors who want to promote their work. If some of you would like to write reviews of upcoming or newly released books (or even offer a new spin on your old favorites), please let me know.

As I prepare EBP for the fall (and The Fall) feel free to share some comments about what else you might like to see here and on the new site. You can leave a comment here or send me an email at antholsubs@gmail.com, which for now is the official email of EBP, but that should be changing soon too.

Close to Deadline

The deadline to submit stories to be considered for our next anthology, The Fall, is fast approaching (it's Friday!), and I've been pleasantly surprised by the increasing number of emails I've received -- including those from writers I didn't know previously and others I didn't know were going to submit.

I have to admit, it really is thrilling to get those emails because it means other readers have shared their thoughts on Spring Fevers and the writers have taken a look to see whether Elephant's Bookshelf Press, LLC, a place worth being published.

Although several stories have been accepted and our copy editor is working with those authors, we also have a few that are awaiting a final thumbs up or thumbs down. So please don't fret if you've not heard a definite answer on the story yet. However, if you submitted and I didn't say anything whatsoever, please resend. I respond to all submissions as soon as I see them to make sure you know we received it.

So, once again, if you're considering submitting a dystopian, apocalyptic, or post-apocalyptic story (and we've allowed some leeway on those definitions), please send it to antholsubs@gmail.com.

We've also begun preparations for the next anthology, which would be published in the summer of 2013. More on that later.