Loose Threads

A couple weeks ago, my first chapbook was published! The title is Loose Threads, which is a phrase from the last poem, "Letters to My Polygamist Ancestors." The chapbook was accepted for publication in early December by Flutter Press. It can be purchased (as a hard copy or downloaded .pdf) at:


http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/loose-threads/14330100

The first version of this chapbook, titled Veins and Roots, was rejected by the same press. The editor kindly suggested that there seemed to be two main themes going on: social injustice and motherhood. I realized she was right, that I was trying to create a chapbook that was simply a composite of all of my favorite poems that I've written. But thematically, a chapbook should be a series of poems that are unified somehow.

So, taking the advice of Flutter Press's editor, Sandy Benitez, I split my original manuscript into two separate chapbooks. This required me to add some poems to each chapbook, and take out others that didn't somehow add to either the theme of social injustice or the theme of motherhood. I had to cut out some of my favorite poems, but it was worth the sacrifice.

When I resubmitted both chapbooks, I was hoping that maybe one of the chapbooks would be accepted. To my surprise and delight, both were accepted for publication. Loose Threads became available on December 22nd, and my second chapbook, Mothering, is slated for publication in early February.

By looking on Flutter Press's website, I just found out that my first chapbook was their bestseller for the month of December!