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So glad you have signed up to receive the For Random Learning Comes Newsletter! This is the one hundred and fifth edition. I'm trying to be a little more consistent in getting this out to you.
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I have written one poem this week for you, and it is called Nature Worship. There is something about the cowl around the neck of the foxglove, that makes me think of church. I hope you enjoy imagining this procession with me.
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My novel stands at 34,474 words, so over the one-third mark, of the 100,000 I hope to write. I'm trying to be bit more consistent about the time I spend doing that, too.
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I probably mentioned before, that I sent a few things through Submittable some time ago. The chapbook contest won't report back till summer sometime and I went so far as to send a reminder to the other magazine after they exceeded their six month deadline. This has soured me a bit on the whole submission process. I don't mind rejections, but interminable waits are hard to get used to. I've heard it gets worse when you start querying.
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I did submit a poem to the Collection of the Florida Writer's Association, and a short story and a poetry anthology/chapbook for potential consideration for the Royal Palm Literary Awards. I was lucky enough to get a poem into the 2023 Collection "Secrets," but didn't even attempt the RPLA last year. Can't hurt to try, though, right?
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Another favorite past time of mine, has been to listen to the podcast The Best Seller Experiment. It is full of various authors who have made their way to success and lived to tell the tale. The podcast hosts initially set out to collaborate on a novel and have it (self-)published within a year, and to hopefully make it a bestseller.
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They have had guests as diverse as Bryan Cranston and Michael Connelly, as well as many more authors, famous and not so much, each sharing their little nuggets of wisdom. Folding clothes goes by so fast!
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I started listening to episodes recorded at the beginning of the podcast (in 2017 or so.) So far, they still haven't hit COVID. The podcast is still running today, with only one of the original hosts( I heard this from a recent episode of another great writing business podcast, The Publishing Rodeo) and the book is long since finished and out there, available for purchase.
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The latest takeaway from the BSE podcast was to build an email list! This is something my WordPress group WPJax has been pounding away at ever since I joined, but I think of when I first started blogging, I was very wary of dooing so. I was focused on protecting the privacy of my teen and tween-aged children, and a bit paranoid, about any new people who might pop up on my feed.
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I have tried to be more open over time, but it is a challenge to go against your gut instinct! The result of all this early paranoia is, that I must play catch-up with my email list, so as to have a healthy one when my book finally does become available.
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So if you know of anyone who might be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward this newsletter and send them my way to sign up!
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I did not venture out much this week, mainly because of transportation issues, but there are a few planned events coming up nearby in the coming week. I hope to get back to showing up at some local FWA group meetings in coming weeks. These meetups are great for meeting people in the profession and for learning tips and tricks. I always come away with something golden.
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There's also a poetry open mic and Jacksonvillian Zine Issue#2 by Michael Cousins release, in downtown Jax next Wednesday evening. There are a number of local poets and writers who will be reading their poems in the zine, which is supposed to have a "creepy" vibe. Johnny Masiulewicz and Ren Renda will host at Chamblin's Uptown Bookstore on Laura Street in downtown Jax.
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On Mother's Day, there is a Second Sunday Reading with Poets and Authors at Happy Medium Bookstore in Riverside. This series is hosted by Tim Gilmore and Brooks Decker, and features local poets Lynn Skapyak Harlin and Princess Simpson Rashid.
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Speaking of Mother's Day, I hope all you Moms are planning something special for yourselves, if no one else has done so for you! There's plenty of verse and prose devoted to the joys and pitfalls of motherhood, such as I've experienced it, on my website, if you need to get in the mood.
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The week was otherwise a little nuts. A very important key was lost and that upended everyone's plans. All turned out all right in the end, but it was a rather expensive lesson to learn, for children and parents alike.
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As of today, we are adding yet another household item to the junkpile of destroyed technology we have been accumulating over the years. Fortunately, this item was rather old and on its way out already. Someone just helped it along. Technological euthanasia, I suppose you could call it. Still, not something I like to see happen regularly.
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Here, the flowers are blooming like crazy, although the rain is still a bit standoffish. I blinked in disbelief, when I saw the notification on the weather app a few days ago: no rain for ten more days.
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It sent shivers down my spine, when I saw local historian/retired optometrist Wayne Wood's post, that it was this week, over a hundred and twenty years ago, that a goodly portion of Jacksonville burned to the ground. (May 3, 1901)
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Best to keep watering, I guess.
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Take care of yourself and your gardens, and wear your sun protection. I hear it's going to be hot out there!
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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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