Poetry, Peeps, and Publishing in Anthologies

I know, know, it's a mixed bag.  But what the heck, don't they say variety is the spice of life?

Since April is National Poetry Month, you might be interested in knowing about a unique and fantastic poetry website, The 5-2 (Crime and poetry? Huh?), run by author Gerald So, a cyber buddy of mine.

In Gerald's own words (the next two paragraphs in italics):

April is National Poetry Month as established by the American Academy of Poets in 1996. If you'd like crime-themed twist on it, my weekly site, The 5-2, is running a blog tour: http://poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/2013/01/30-days-of-5-2-blog-tour.html

The 5-2 is open to submissions year-round: http://poemsoncrime.blogspot.com/p/guidelines.html

So whether you write or read poetry or would just like to see a most unusual site, check it out. And remember, it doesn't close its doors on April 30.

Now for the peeps. Y'know those soft squishy candies, they're usually yellow or pink. They've always kinda fascinated me, because they're so pretty and have a wonderful feel to them. Anyway, last year I had published a spoof, Lady Gaga’s New Easter Outfit Provides a “Peeps” Show, about them, and Kings River Life  recently reprinted it. Whether it's her meat dress, her eggmobile, or just her persona, Lady Gaga never disappoints as a source for spoof material! Also, she has so many fans (over 35 million Twitter followers, for example) that I know I'll get a lot of readers of spoofs in which her name is in the title. Lady Gaga, you go girl!

As to publishing in anthologies, the April SPAWNews Newsletter has a number of articles (by Mary Reed, Barbara Florio Graham, Teel James Glenn, Miles Archer aka Richard Posner, and me) on this topic. After clicking on the link, scroll down to read the articles. Mine, "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Anthologies But Were Afraid to Ask," is last -- but hopefully not least. 

And while you're on the SPAWN website, take a look around, since there's lots of information and links there for both members and nonmembers. In case you're not familiar with it, SPAWN stands for Small Publishers, Writers, and Artists Network. Believe me, it's true to its name. Try it, you'll like it.

My latest digital short story, THE JURORS WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, is doing well. I'm so excited that it's available for sale, not only at Untreed Reads, but at ebook vendors all over the world. Yippee! And of course this story, as well as my other stories from Untreed Reads, can be read for free through the Westchester Library System. Bless those Westchester libraries and librarians.

As always, thanks for reading my blog post. Happy April and Happy Spring!