AAAAAHHHH! THE TABIOSIAN GENRE

"might be called Gallimaufry, or, perhaps, And The Kitchen Sink." Heh -- I've always thought how Allen Bramhall reads can be as interesting as what he reads...

Speaking of The Light... (it's a new book so, what can I say, I'll be speaking a lot of it!), I was in the waiting room with Mom at her doctor's the other day. As we waited, I leafed through the latest Poets & Writers magazine that I'd brought with me. Suddenly, ALL EXCITED, she pointed at the page and said, "Look! Look!"

I looked.

It was Marsh Hawk Press' advertisement of its Fall books, which included a cover image and text about The Light...

I looked at Mom as she continued to blather on (I inherit my blather from my mother, but that's another story). And it occurred to me, She's really impressed.

All this time, I thought advertisements were a waste of time (for my books anyway) as I've never seen a sizeable increase in sales as a result of them. So I'd always thought of advertisements as attempts to boost cultural capital and, hell, I just don't give a hoot about that anymore. The few times I do advertise poetry books, it's often just a way to give support to a worthy organization.

But I do care about Mom...who seemed really gratified to see her daughter mentioned (even if in an ad) in a "national publication". So, for once, I finally felt I got a great return on advertising my books. So much (yet again) for "poetry economics".

Speaking of The Light... (yes, I'm still speaking of it), the hubby was moving a box of author copies to the basement the other day and he grunted at me, "Please. Can you please write a thinner book next time? Please."

I laughed. But he wasn't joking...