True Originals Apply to No One: an interview

Greetings Garden Dwellers!

This week I continue to explore the world of publishing.  Some of those in our midst have struck out to put their work into a printed product: a bound and decorated object called “books”, and I am here to share those experiences with you all. 

Today I present a very special brain snack:  an interview with not one but three Toads whose latest book is so new, the ink has barely dried!  Our very own Fireblossom, Mama Zen, and Hedgewitch have published a book of poems, and they were kind enough to answer some of my questions about the publishing process.  Scroll downward to learn how they came together, let Fireblossom do what she does best (formatting?), and ended up with a book of their own..... 

Izy:  The three of you have very separate styles, what drove your decision to collaborate and conjure forth a book?

FB:  Kelli goosed me about getting something together to try to get it published, and I had the idea of doing something together. It means more to me because we are all in it, than a solo effort would have. 

HW: First of all, the credit for this project really should go to Shay and Kelli, as being published comes on my list of enthusiasms somewhere between learning how to do sculptures from clothes-dryer lint and being nibbled to death by ducks. As far as why do this together, other than  being online friends, for me, it was primarily that we just seem to understand and relate to each other's poetry on a real and primal level. Neither Kelli nor Shay has ever gotten any of my poems wrong--and their poetry always seems to strike a chord in me that just instinctually hits me where I live (not to mention, makes me say "I wish I'd written that')

MZ: Honestly, it just kind of occurred to me one day that we could.  And, it sounded like fun.

Shay Caroline (a.k.a. Fireblossom)

Izy:  Tell me a bit about what it was like to collaborate with other poets?  How did you arrive at a cohesive theme, tone, etc.?

FB: It was easy because we each have our own separate sections. I was the one to bang out the manuscript, so I chose my own poems, Kelli asked me to help with choosing hers, and Joy chose her own and sent me the doc by email. Then we all had some typos and what-have-you to clean up, and there it was. It was Joy's idea to do the cascade poems at the end.

HW:  Shay was the driving force behind this project as far as my motivation was concerned, and she kept us between the lines by making it very simple and clear-cut: we each were going to put so many poems in the collection, and we had so many days to assemble them for her to transcribe. She helped me out with a list of her favorites of mine, and I mentioned some of my favorites of hers, but our final choices were personal. She also really made this happen by having a stringent deadline. If I'd had more time to dither, my part probably would have taken years to get done, if ever.

MZ: The book is definitely a collaboration, but it's presented as three distinct voices.  We each had our own section to play with.  That format lent itself to ease of design and pretty much eliminated the need for any hair pulling. 

Izy:  Did you each get input on what the other was including?  Did you help revise and improve each other's work?

FB: No one revised anyone else's work. I think that's a boundary none of us would presume to cross. However, there *was* input about which poems to include. I helped Kelli choose her poems, Joy made some suggestions for me, including "Mission" and "House Of Wax", and I urged Joy to include "Hedgerider's Lament."

MZ: Hmmm . . . let me just sit for a moment and imagine myself trying to revise one of Hedge's poems . . . not gonna happen! On the other hand, without Shay, I would still be thumbing through my poems and trying to make selections.

Izy:  The title is (I am assuming) your three birth signs....what is the significance of the title in relation to the poems?  

FB:  Yes, our sun signs. Kelli came up with that. I think our signs show in our writing. 

HW: While I'm not a foamy, New Age-y devotee of astrology, I have found it a useful and interesting way of looking at personalities over the years, and I do think there is some relationship between our signs and our styles--in my  case, I know I draw on the historical poets and on traditional forms a lot more, as well as being drawn to the dark side of things. (Edgar Allen Poe was a Capricorn, after all.)

MZ: The title seemed to fit the theme of three views and three voices.

Izy: How did you decide on the order of the poems, the layout and design?  Did one of you take this on or was it a group effort?

FB: Blame me for that, entirely. It was partly just a matter of what arrangement would fit the most poems in, in a pleasing way. Also, I tried not to put poems together that didn't mesh well together. Joy did give me her design for the three sections her poems are divided into, and I chose the sequence within each section.  I paid particular attention to the first and last poem for each poet. 

HW:  Shay, along with doing all the other hard work, made the final decisions on things, but we each made our own selections. Being the Capricorn in the group, I did choose to group my part of the book into three themed sections, and to do it I used three of my blog tags, which is how I associate my poems in my head. I had a section called Witchlight (love poems) one called Casting the Runes, (for my poems about myth and so forth), and finally a group of assorted form poems I tagged Dancing Doll. We also discussed including poems of different  lengths--short medium and long--and breaking up the book that way as well for variety, so you'll find you aren't reading page after page of long poems all lumped together.

MZ: Shay gets all the credit for anything related to manuscript design.  The woman is a machine!

Joy Ann Jones( a.k.a Hedgewitch)

Izy:  What have initial reactions been to the book, and now that the book is out there, what are your plans to promote the work?  Are you going to do readings, etc. I know a guy who sells tamales from the trunk of his car at night clubs.  He makes a killing and may be looking to get into the book selling biz.....?

FB: I think it may be too soon for reactions, but people have certainly been very positive about the fact that there *is* a book. Marian at ALL CAPS promoted us on Twitter and Facebook and at Real Toads. All of us have promoted the book on our blogs. I do readings very occasionally, and if I do one, I'll take some copies along. 

HW:  I'll do readings when I am personally asked by Sean Bean, Viggo Mortenson or President Obama. But I could use a good tamale.

MZ: So far, people have been really positive and excited for us. 

Izy: You are published under the ALL CAPS imprint, a collective which helps authors self publish their work, why did you make the decision to self-publish?  Shay, you've previously published, how did you find this experience to work in contrast to working with a conventional poetry press?

FB: Fuck a bunch of leaving it to editors who want what they want for any of a million reasons. Our work is strong, it deserves to see print and be read, and this is how it got done. I'm pleased as can be with the whole thing. My girl Emily Dickinson had her poetry maimed by editors for decades; men who thought they knew how to improve the little lady's work. Please. Finally, her work is available as she intended it, and it's so much stronger that way. I took a lesson from that. 

When I was submitting to magazines and all of that, one had to go through these gatekeepers, each with their own biases and needs and egos. I think my writing is as good as anyone's. Anyone's. I don't need someone to stamp their approval on it, or change it or tell me how I ought to have done it. My feeling is that Kelli and Joy are true originals and they need apply to no one. Here is our work. It's fucking fantastic. It needs to be out there and available. Personally, I couldn't care less about compiling some list of publications or bonafides. The work is the thing.

MZ: Self-publishing has become a viable option, particularly for poets.  We have a strong, vibrant community, we support each other; why shouldn't we work together to get our work out there?

Izy:  What were some of the obstacles you faced?

FB: Oy! Figuring out how to make the book look nice, get the poems to fit nicely where i wanted them, and to navigate all the steps necessary to create the finished book. It wasn't easy. There were times when I was fit to be tied, trying to figure it all out, but Marian had a knack of always having the wise word when I needed it, and the book got made. I'm very proud of it and very proud of *us*. 

HW: The hardest part for me was picking between my poem children--rejecting some and elevating others as a mother should never have to do, and I only hope they forgive me for playing favorites. 

MZ: Talking Shay off the ledge when the formatting wasn't going well?  I'm kidding, but Shay really was the point woman on the grunt work.  I think that she did a tremendous job, and I can't thank her enough.

Kelli Simpson (a.k.a. Mama Zen)

Izy:  What were some of the rewards of the writing/ publishing process?

FB: To me, writing something worthwhile is its own reward, but the rewards of this book, for me, have been to see each of our sets of poems all in one place, looking good, something that can be held in the hands and enjoyed and kept and shared. That's just such a kick.

I used to have all these unwieldy bookmarks on my computer for both of my co-authors' poems that I liked the best, but now they are all together. I love that. And mine too! 

For differing reasons, it has seemed unlikely that any of the three of us would ever be sitting here with a book of our poetry in our hands. It just thrills me silly that now that's been made real, against some daunting odds. All of us quit writing for years at a time. It would be criminal if Kelli and Joy had remained silent. I think that the opportunities of blogging and self-publishing were critical to all three of us picking up our pens again.

HW: The biggest reward for me is knowing we've accomplished something tangible, being able to hold a real book in one's hand and say--hey, my poetry is in here. That, and  hearing all the kind words, encouragement and support from others, especially our fellow poets.

MZ:  The writing is its own reward.  Always.  Still, holding a book of your work in your hands is an undeniable thrill.

Izy:  How long did it take you to put the work together?

FB: It happened pretty fast.

HW: You mean, besides a lifetime of agonizing or ecstatic experiences distilled into verbal expression through long soul-searching and peripatetic inspiration in the wee hours of insomniac months and years? 

Actually, about 24 hours, because I was late to the party and the last one to get organized, so I raced through my blog on the fly, cutting and pasting like a fiend. This was a good thing , as I said earlier, or  I would probably have spent months agonizing, re-writing and over-editing everything. 

MZ:  It didn't take long at all!

Izy:  Where can I get my hands on a copy?

FB:  Amazon.com!

MZ: We're on Amazon.  And, I have a couple of copies sitting here on my desk.  Call me; I'll hook you up!


Get your mitts on your own copy of Gemini/Scorprio/Capricorn  here

Dirt Road Dreams: an interview with Susie Clevenger

Susie's first book of poems was published in December 2012.

Greetings Garden Dwellers!

This week I continue to explore the world of publishing.  Some of those in our midst have struck out to put their work into a printed product: a bound and decorated object called “books”, and I am here to share those experiences with you all. 

Today we will visit with Susie Clevenger , poet and blogger.   We know Susie from her poetry blog  Confessions of a Laundry Goddess (she performs spoken word and does photography too, check out her website – linked above for more information).   Last year, Susie worked tirelessly to produce a book of her own.  Join me now Toads as Susie tells us all about her journey and how she made one of her long time dreams a reality. 

Izy: Your book Dirt Road Dreams was published in December 2012.  First of all congratulations on the endeavor!  How did you select the theme?

Susie:  Thank you! I went through several ideas for titles, but finally settled on Dirt Road Dreams. It came from a poem of the same name. I was an oddity in the farming community I grew up in and the poem expresses my feelings at the time. With a fast forward to the present that title made perfect sense. I was fulfilling a dream to see my work in print.

Izy:  I can imagine how rewarding it must feel to have a finished product which can rest on a bookshelf!  How did you know you were "ready" to publish your poems?

Susie:  I had several people tell me I should publish a book of poetry. I am my worst critic and fought the idea for quite a while. I have spent most of my life encouraging others to pursue their dreams without really having one of my own. In January 2012 I decided it was going to be the year of “me” for a change. I then began the journey to create the book.

Izy:   If I were to come to you and say, "Susie, I put all my poems on my blog, so why should I publish a book of my poems..." how would you respond?

Susie:  If you were to seek a book publisher, they would want totally new material. In the case of self-publishing poetry that has been on a blog I have a totally different view of it. Although you have a regular readership on your blog, the world is a big place with plenty of people who have never read one of your poems. If you own a poetry book, do you only read it once? Just think of the times you return to a poetry book to reread it, because it speaks to you. In the grand scheme of life you don’t know who will buy or read your book, but it just might be the person who really needed to hear what you had to say.

Susie decided to make 2012 the year she
published, and she made it happen.

Izy:  I see!  In terms of speaking a new and larger audience, was it difficult to pick which pieces would go in?  And were any poems left out that you wish could have been included but weren't?

Susie:  At first it was going to be a compilation of poetry I had on my Confessions of a Laundry Goddess blog. I have a large amount of work there so trying to decide what to put in the book was a little overwhelming. The more I looked through my work the more I felt the urge to write new material along with including some work I had previously posted. In the process I began to feel the connection and flow between the old and new pieces. There are a couple I wish I would have included, Yesterday’s Immortality and Feathers of Poe.

Izy:  How did you select the order of the poems?

Susie:  I had divided the poems into sections, Barefoot on Gravel, Kicking up Sand, and Dancing in Dust. That seemed simple enough, but I still had questions as to flow and which section should go first. I asked a friend, Mouton Bazile , to help me with it. He was such a blessing. His wisdom directed the final order of the poems.

Izy: How did you turn a stack of poems into an actual book?  In particular what was the publishing process like for you?

Susie:  I didn’t know a thing about publishing a book. I wasn’t even sure who to ask, but luckily Mouton was able to answer a lot of my questions and point me in the right direction. We worked hard on formatting the book, but ran into some difficulties which led me to hire, Marvin Cloud Marvin Cloud, to do the final formatting of the book and cover. I had a Houston area printer do the printing.

I must say it was a scary process for me since I was going in blind so to speak, but I am not one to let a challenge stop me from achieving whatever goal I set for myself. Holding a published book of my work was my dream and I kept working my way through the obstacles until it was completed.

Izy:  The business of books involves a lot of self-promotion in order to get people to buy, can you speak a little to this.  What types of self-promotion have you done to get the word out, have they been successful, etc.

Susie:  I have never been good at being my own cheerleader, but I am learning. I have actively promoted my book on Facebook and Twitter. I have been blessed to be part of Real Toads and the members have been so supportive in sharing information about my book and purchasing it. Kerry O’Conner has included it on the blog’s bookshelf also. I am part of the New World Creative Union whose goal is to support and promote fellow artists’ work. The members have shared it through Facebook and Twitter. NWCU has a blogtalk radio show, The Nexus Cafe, hosted by Roger Allen Baut and Natasha Head. They have given promotion for my book on their program. I also have an upcoming guest spot, April 11, 2013, to talk about my book. Joanne Young Elliot, who is a member of NWCU, helped me tremendously on creating an effective internet presence to share who I am and information about my book. Through her guidance I have tweaked my author’s page as well as any site where I share my profile.  I highly recommend her. You can find her at Social Sprite Media Services.

Laurie Kolp asked me to speak at her writing group, Texas Gulf Coast Writers , which allowed me to share about my writing process as well as gave me an opportunity to speak about my book and to provide books for sale.

Other avenues of promotion have been a podcast interview on Ben Ditmars and Amber Jerome~Norrgard’s Lyrical Versification . On March 17, 2013 I will have an iTunes interview onTweepNation, hosted by Dionne Lister and Amber Norrgard. Also I hosted a Goodreads giveaway for my book in which over four hundred people signed up for a chance to win a free copy. My husband, Charlie, is one of my biggest supporters. He has sold numerous copies to his co-workers. My youngest daughter, Carrie, works for the Tulsa Ballet and she is selling and promoting my book for me there. My friend, Mike Zito, who is a blues musician, has shared my Amazon link on his Facebook page. On October 11, 2013, I am attending IndieVengence Day in Dallas TX, which is an event coordinated by Author, Amber Jerome~Norrgard, for independent authors to meet, read, and sell their books. 

Izy:  What has the response been to the book?

Susie:  The response to my book has been really positive. I have gotten good reviews on Amazon and personal feedback from friends and family. There have been several people who have told me they are looking forward to my next book!

Izy:  What were some of the challenges that come from publishing your poetry that you were not expecting?

Susie:  I didn’t expect so many details would trip me up. Frankly I was rather naïve about the whole thing. It didn’t take long for me to realize I needed to learn how to swim or I was going to drown. Since I didn’t publish my book through Amazon’s Create Space I had to open an account as publisher/author. I provided everything from the IBSN number to that wonderful feature “look inside” which wasn’t easy to figure out. My husband sat through many tearful fits during the whole thing.

Izy:  What were some of the rewards that you were not expecting?

Susie:  I knew I would be overjoyed to hold a finished book in my hand, but I didn’t realize how it would totally change my life. I didn’t even dream a year ago that I would speak in front of other authors nor have a guest spot on someone’s radio program. I cherish each person who has purchased, read, and promoted my book and my other work on my blog.

Full Name, ALL CAPS: an interview

Greetings Garden Dwellers:

Today’s interview does not showcase a writer.  It will explore the inter-workings of ALL CAPS PUBLISHING, the self-publishing collective started by our very own toad Marian Kent.  While the established publishing industry is busy bending to the whim and needs of the masses, many writers are making the choice to print and “pedal” their own wares.  ALL CAPS is a venture which seeks to unite writers for a common good.   

I welcome you all to a conversation with Marian Kent as she explains the vision of ALL CAPS and speaks to her endeavors in creating and publishing her first book of poems Responsive Pleading.

When did you start ALL CAPS?

I created ALL CAPS PUBLISHING when I published my first collection of poems, Responsive Pleading, in April of last year. I knew that I wanted to create an imprint for myself, to help make my book look extremely professional. It only took a small leap in thinking to decide that I’d create a cool, professional brand, with a website and a clear identity, in the hopes that other terrific writers might join me in a collective, sharing energy and supporting one another in self-publishing our books.


Why the name ALL CAPS?

My “about” page on my blog (runaway sentence.) has long contained as part of my self-description, “I am prone to hyperbole and SHRIEKING IN ALL CAPS.” And that’s because it’s true, I actually AM prone to all-caps rants and exclamations. But more importantly, the ALL CAPS tagline “poetry and fiction emphasized” really resonated for me. And ALL CAPS is just cool. Or at least I think so.

What are you trying to achieve by running your own publishing company...what is the "vision" of ALL CAPS?

Well, I’m not a publisher and we aren’t a publishing company, though I’m pleased that we are so professional that people assume we are. I wanted to bring people together who are self-publishing on the premise that there is strength in numbers. I wanted to align myself with other excellent writers; to stand up my writing next to other strong, well-written tomes. I also love the idea of community, and hope to build one with ALL CAPS, not to replace or compete with anything that already exists (like the Imaginary Garden, for example) but to provide a different, new and supportive space for writing and publishing. The ALL CAPS website has forums that we haven’t utilized a whole lot yet, but that I hope will become more active. The ALL CAPS Facebook page/community has generated some interesting conversations. I want more of that.

Criteria for Normalcy by Yve Chairez is the latest release from ALL CAPS.

With such a collaborative spirit and community minded mission statement, are you looking for a certain similar tone to the books you produce to create a cohesion in writing as well as in author’s intent?

What a great question. I’d say no, there’s no attempt to find similarity in tone or style. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it’s the opposite. The more diverse our group of writers, the more variety in style, tone, subject matter, the better. What is crucial is that no matter the tone or style of our writing, the authors present our work professionally and flawlessly. The focus is on quality writing, not a particular style. You’ll see that the authors whose books have already been published or are in the queue are very different from one another, which makes for really interesting reading.

Do you feel that the self-publishing industry lacks professionalism as it is now?

You know, I wouldn’t go that far and I’m not particularly an expert about publishing or self-publishing. I was motivated from the beginning to self-publish because I’m controlling (or maybe protective is a better word) of my own writing. It’s also because I’m so busy as a working mom that I simply can’t spend my limited time querying and endlessly sending out poems to journals, that kind of thing. I guess I am saying that I want to be the boss of my own writing, and I always want my writing to stand up next to good writing. So I decided to create that kind of community here, and so far, a fair number of people see it the same way and have joined me. It’s exciting!

I really like your angle here, mostly because there is a slight stigma (or there has been a slight stigma) on the self-publishing industry.  Some are of the thinking that if a book is self-published, it is second rate writing.  But...the times they are a changing.  With the death grip bookstores have on the publishing industry, this can be an opportunity to take back the rights of authors.  Do you view ALL CAPS as a grassroots sort of thing?

Yeah, I guess I do. Certainly I understand what you are saying about stigma, and that’s why I’m so controlling about the presentation of my writing. I think no reader would guess that my book is self-published, as it’s attractive and professional, has a cool publisher’s imprint, a gorgeous cover, and so on. It’s just very well done, and that is extremely important to me. Like, when I put my words out into the world, everything has to be perfect. I’m fairly obsessive about my blog’s appearance, too. About the larger issue, though, yes. I am not against publishers or bookstores or anything like that--in fact I spend a lot of time and money in bookstores and buying books--but I figure, it’s possible to do this, there’s a lot of good energy around it, so let’s see what we can make of it. 

The Trees are on Fire is one of two books ALL CAPS published last year. 

Are you the sole captain, or are there others who help shape the collective?

I mean it when I say my vision is of a collective, but it’s also true that, so far anyway, I’m chief cook and bottle-washer. Right now, as we are small and just starting, my ideas and energy are driving it, but that is changing a bit. My dream is that everyone will participate and have a say, both in terms of day-to-day decisions, finding new wonderful writers to join us, and the big picture/vision stuff, too.


Last week, the website for ALL CAPS listed two titles, but now you have three, and "the" Facebook promises BIG things to come this year, can you speak to some of these exciting things in ALL CAPS' future?

Yes! Last year, two books were published via ALL CAPS: a gorgeous full-length book of poems by Ariana Den Bleyker (editor of Emerge Literary Journal) called The Trees Are On Fire, which you should all get your hands on because you’ll love it, and my first collection of poems, Responsive Pleading.

I’m pleased to announce that just this week, our third title was published! Criteria For Normalcy by Las Vegas-based author Yve Chairez is a “bold collection of short stories and poems that flirt with the boundaries of the absurd, whimsical, and sociopolitical.” In other words, fantastic. And soon to come is Gemini/Scorpio/Capricorn, a book of poems by fellow Toads Fireblossom, Mama Zen, and Hedgewitch. Yippee!

Other projects in the pocket for this year include poetry books from our own Head Toad Kerry O’Connor, Steve Schultz, Joy S Grape, and Sarah Whitely; poetry and fiction from fellow Toad Corey Rowley, and fiction from Michael Webb, plus some other projects-in-the-works. And I almost forgot to mention that I have a second poetry collection coming out this spring, too.

ALL CAPS and Real Toads have some exciting plans for Poetry Month, as well, which is coming up in April. We plan a chapbook contest for poets who follow along with daily prompts in the Imaginary Garden. Poets who are members and followers of the Garden who write thirty poems in April will be eligible to submit their 30-in-April chapbook manuscript to ALL CAPS.... details to be announced soon!


Do you find it difficult to be starting a publishing collective in a time when books (poetry and fiction) seem to be on their way out?  How are you adapting to this?  

Actually, I think it’s a great time to be doing something out of the mainstream in publishing. I don’t really feel the trend of people being less interested in books, as I just keep on reading and buying books (paper books and e-books), and people around me do, too. The world of publishing is so much in flux that it seems like self-publishing, especially in a highly professional, collective fashion, is a viable, respectable alternative. I’m really pleased at how my writing is received and the level of interest in ALL CAPS. It’s thrilling. And right now, the energy is there, it’s all positive, and it feels like it’s going to be an interesting and productive year for all of us.

ALL CAPS also published one of your works, Responsive Pleading.  Can you speak to the process of putting together a poetry book:  

The drive to produce a book of poetry on her own terms was the catalyst to starting ALL CAPS.  Above is an image of Marian's book of poetry, Responsive Pleading.

how did you select the theme

Responsive Pleading is the title of a poem in the collection. It’s about flying off with a flock of geese, spending time contemplating, and then going home again. It seemed to represent the general story-arc of the collection. Plus, as a no-longer-practicing lawyer, I like to play around with legalistic words and phrases, and “responsive pleading” is one. I organized the book in four sections, for each of the four seasons, as the poems seem to tell a linear story (in reality they don’t, but I was able to present them that way) chronologically and in connection with the passing of a year.

was it difficult to pick which pieces would go in

It wasn’t, really. Maybe you realize that I have (as do many of us here at RT) an almost-daily writing practice. As the result, I had many, many poems to choose from. The ones that were better and seemed to fit rose to the surface naturally.

how did select the order

Some of the selection process is organic and hard to explain, but once I piled up the poems by sections, it was easier to organize them. For the (new) collection I’m working on right now, I have seven sections/chapters. So each is a smaller group to arrange. Sometimes a few poems go together by theme or subject matter, sometimes by form or appearance, and the rest somehow just fit in.

what has the response been to the book (i know you've done some readings, etc)

You know, I feel like I’m just making all this up as I go, and I don’t have a lot to compare my success to, but I have been blown away by the response to my book. I’ve sold over a hundred paper copies and a handful of e-books, though to be truthful, my measure of success has more to do with the way people talk about it and share it than with sales. I have done a few readings locally, but I could do much more on that front. I have spent no energy on getting my book into local bookstores, which I should do (and swear I will with the next book). I’ve been interviewed a couple times (like this great one with author Eden Baylee) and my YouTube channel has been fun. I’d love to see one of my videos go viral, then I’d be ACTUALLY famous (instead of just in my own mind). My book is in the library in the town where I grew up, in which I spent a ton of time as a child and teenager; I received a note from the librarian thanking me for having it there. That is just amazing. That’s enough.

what were some of the challenges that comes from publishing your poetry that you were not expecting

People are on hard times, and it’s difficult to get people to buy a book. Even a beautiful and wonderful book that will probably affect you deeply and that’s as cheap as your lunch. That can be disheartening. Don’t get me wrong, I have no illusions about making a fortune (or even any money) through poetry, but the part of me that’s super-proud of my gorgeous book thinks EVERYONE should have a copy.

Something that required thinking about when I published my book was the merging of my real identity with my blog identity. I know some Toads will relate to this. I’ve always been myself, always Marian (not a pseudonym), but I never allowed my last name (or my family members’ names) on my blog, for privacy and security reasons. Of course, my book is published in my full name, first and last. I would not have made another choice, but I had to really think it through.