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So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the one hundred and fifteenth edition.
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I hope you are well and have not suffered any of the ravages of Hurricane Helene this past week. If you have, I am so sorry, and I hope things are getting better for you.
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My first poem for you is a tribute to the brave reporters, who bring us vital information about coming storms, and who probably prevent disasters from being infinitely more disastrous.
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Not that we always listen.
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Anyway, I hope you will enjoy my poem, The Weatherman.
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My second offering is an essay I wrote in an embittered mood. It is about the various ways we can take unfavorable criticism, which our work, if it says anything at all, will inevitably inspire.
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I take advice on the subject from the very highest authority, in Of Prime Ministers and Poets.
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Despite my noble aspiration to take criticism well, I still like the idea of getting together, as writers, and sharing all our worst rejections. Out loud. As a drinking game.
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If you can't laugh at your failures, how will you ever endure them? I expect the same logic can be applied to hurricanes. Which would explain hurricane parties.
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Perhaps we could create a bingo card, like the ones you find right before Presidential (or Vice Presidential) debates. In the squares on the card, we could put phrases like:
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- "We wish you the best of luck, as you find a new home for your work" or
- "Your work is just not a good fit for our publication" or
- "We did not find the characters believable" or
- "It just didn't excite or surprise me"
With any luck, we can find someone to create a signature cocktail for the event! Perhaps something frozen, with Kahlua.
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Besides brushing off criticism and rejection, and battling Category Four storms, I haven't been doing much. I still have a few stories and poems floating around out there, on spec or consignment or whatever.
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One of the places I am waiting to hear from, JaxbyJax Literary Festival, should be making decisions early in October for their November event.
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Getting accepted would mean reading my work aloud for fifteen minutes at the festival. Fingers crossed!
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I have included a link to donate to the Red Cross in my Weatherman post, but events like JaxbyJax could use your help, too. If you feel so inclined, go here and scroll down: JaxbyJax Sponsorship Page.
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The event JaxbyJax takes place November 8 and 9th, 2024 at the Jacksonville Public Library in downtown Jax. Be sure to come, if you can!
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I continue to inch along with the novel. Current word count: 54,456. Slow and steady wins the race, as my father used to say. Turtles do make an appearance in the book, by the way.
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I am a bit disappointed, because I had hoped to have something published and in hand by the date of the FWA (Florida Writers Association) Conference. It's in Orlando in late October.
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But the wheels move slowly in this business--I only recently got feedback from a place I sent work to ten months ago! That rejection may allow me, in good conscience, to throw something together before then. Against my better judgment.
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We'll see. I think each rejection by a publication acts, perversely, as a subtle and gentle nudge towards self-publication. Do you think they mean it that way? Is that their intent, all along? Not that it necessarily matters which way you publish. One can't always be sure, these days, which path leads to the most anonymity.
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I look forward to writing the next newsletter, when perhaps I will have more news, good or bad. I think limbo is worse than either. I am also hoping to do some major changes to the site, before long.
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If you know of anyone else who might be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward it and send them to my website, linked in the logo above, to sign up!
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Stay safe, if you're in the path of any hurricanes or other rotten summer/fall weather. Till next time!
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So Close and Yet So Far
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This essay discusses the Semiquincentennial celebration and compares it with Fourths of Years gone by.
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Drawing
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A poem on redistricting, the drawing of new districts to serve the ruling party's political purposes, with the blessing of the Supreme Court and with enthusiasm unchecked by either the people's will nor the State's Constitutional provisions.
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Attempt
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A poem describing the swirling emotions on and offline provoked by the attempted assassination of President Trump at the dinner for the press. Caveat: I do not doubt the attempt on his life was real. P.S. The photo is an attempt at beauty.
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Approaching May 1st, 2026, Anniversary of The Great Fire, Jacksonville, FL
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A poem about a very dry spring in Florida which calls to mind the terrible fire which consumed Jacksonville early in the 20th century.
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Smiles
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This poem analyzes the loss of reputation of the US in the eyes of its closest allies, and the attitude it projects, about that loss.
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