A new poem and a lot of burnout

Well, I wrapped up my second full year as a teacher (third year overall), and whew. I had a great group of 8th graders in my main class this year, but whew, was it personally a challenge elsewhere working on my mental and physical health. The good news is I have a great new therapist and a summer stretched ahead of me.

So what are my writing plans? Well, FIRST, this summer I’m getting three poems published in Knee Brace Press. I’m excited I can share the first one now, “Your first manic episode,” about what it says on the tin. I’m so glad I got this weird, long and deeply personal poem published.

I don’t want to make summer goals because I need A BREAK. But I am going to be active on my Patreon as well as my website, where I am going to edit and post The Sound of Our Collision from the beginning (current and future posts for that will always be on Patreon first, even sooner for paying patrons).

I just returned from the ALA conference (American Library Association) because Tay was invited to sign and accept the Stonewall Honor for Murray Out of Water. Her speech will be posted on her website and Instagram soon. I’m just so, so proud of her, and we got so many books and met so many authors! I’m still processing it.

Also from me

• I reviewed the Niko Stratis’s new memoir The Dad Rock That Made Me a Woman and stuck it up on my Patreon for paying members and also for $3 if you want (I can’t do it any lower, sorry!). I didn’t quite find a paying place to publish this so this is my compromise. I highly recommend the book! It talks about some of my favorite musicians, including R.E.M. and Julien Baker!

I’m excited about…

• Emily Austin announced her new book, Is This a Cry For Help?, and it sounds MADE FOR ME.

• I was introduced to the comic Dumbing of Age and I’ve been reading it because it’s set at my alma mater! And apparently has queer characters

  • Unfortunately, this came up in a discussion of how IU eliminated my degree (and all secondary education, and a lot of foreign languages, and more)…

• Reading lots of fun summer books! Sapphic romances! Wild plots! Graphic novels!

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