My Book is on Sale at a Local Bookstore

We live in a new world that I as an author am still adjusting to: many people no longer read books for pleasure, the people who still read books often buy them on-line and are growing devoted to e-book readers.  Consequently, the number of bookstores is dwindling.  Even people in my own family asked why I published a physical book instead of an e-book.  I’m old school that way.  Poetry publishers and the books they print are old school that way too.  

However, the conditions of the new literature market make it harder than ever to see a chapbook (shorter than a volume or regular length book) of poetry with a limited run from a small independent publisher for sale at an actual brick and mortar bookstore.  Thankfully, the publisher of Improbable Worlds, Mutabilis Press, based here in Houston, has arranged for a special event and exhibit at our local literary bookstore.  In honor of National Poetry Month, which begins today, Brazos Bookstore will feature a display of books by Houston poets in their store.  

My two chapbooks, Entre la claridad and Familia, are included in the display and available for sale.  So, if you live in Houston, but have not yet bought either of my books, please visit Brazos Bookstore and buy your copy.  Because they are for sale on consignment, if all the copies sell, Brazos may choose to sell the books beyond the original contract.  That would make this old school writer who still hopes to see my work in an actual physical book very happy.

Of course, you can still order Entre la claridad directly from the publisher, Mouthfeel Press.  Familia is only available directly from me or at Brazos Bookstore for a limited time.

Also in honor of National Poetry month, MutabilisPress is hosting another reading by the poets published in their anthology of spiritual poems, Improbable Worlds.  This event is at Brazos Bookstore this Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m.  If you are planning to stop by Brazos to buy my books anyway, this would be a good night to go.   

I’m going to read a poem from Entre la claridad titled “Stations of the Cross Park, Mount St. Francis Friary,” in homage to Holy Week.  Here is an excerpt, to tease you:

Ash and pine poke through sloped banks,

a vista of miniatures versus giants.

These towers crowd and disperse,

segregate one turn, one station

of the path from another,

one solemn moment from the next.

Garden update:  In my last post, I wrote about what we planted in the garden last weekend.  All of the transplants have survived, and either the broccoli or kale seeds have sprouted in droves.  If you want some herbs or some of the new sprouts, let me know!

The Garden is Planted

Last week, the girls and I started clearing out the weeds from our garden plot so we could plant for the season.  In the process, we discovered that some of our crops from last year had sprouted from seed, including two romaine lettuces, a lot of parsley, and some mint.  

romaine lettuce

mint crowded by parsley

Our oregano and rosemary survived the winter, as they usually do, and we even found a tiny bell pepper on one of last year’s plants!  Also, the eggplant is still green; I actually harvested an eggplant from it last month!  Even our grape vine has come back unexpectedly (it looked quite sad over the winter).

eggplant

In fact, most of our produce trees are fruiting, including the peach, fig, and lemon trees.  

peaches

fig

lemons

One of the blueberry bushes is flowering, as is the orange tree and the citronella (just in time for mosquito season).

blueberry

citronella

Saturday, we spent the entire day prepping our garden plot and planting.  We began with a trip to the farmer’s market, where I conversed with the tomato farmer and bought two of his heirloom seedlings: a cherry tomato and a stripe variety.  I was pleasantly surprised to meet someone who farms tomatoes exclusively, and enjoyed hearing his methods for nurturing tomato plants.  

We then headed over to our local home improvement store where we picked up more heirloom and cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and hot peppers, all as seedlings.  After a final stop at my in-laws for a lemongrass seedling, we headed home to complete the clean up and plant our seedlings as well as the seeds we saved from last year and some we have bought the last few weeks.

In addition to the seedlings, we planted the following seeds: basil and more romaine (from seeds harvested last fall), salad bowl lettuce, kale, broccoli and carrots.  Some of these are cold weather crops, but we wanted to try them anyway.  Our weekend weather was crispy cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons; perfect spring weather for planting.

We garden organically, so we usually spend time throughout the season weeding the plot.  This year, we are trying some preventative measures.  After planting the seedlings, we laid down newspaper and topped it with dried leaves.  You can barely see some of the tomato seedlings poking out above all that in the picture below. 

 

Here’s hoping for a bountiful season!  What are you planting this year?

Neighbors, if you want to start an herb garden, I have parsley, oregano, and rosemary seedlings.  If the basil comes up, I should have plenty of that, too.  Come on by to get some!

Make a Palm Sunday Calvary Hill to Display

Last year, on Palm Sunday, like many other people, we folded our palm leaves into crosses.  When I was a child, my mother would place our palm leaves over our picture of The Last Supper that hung in our kitchen.  I liked having this year round reminder of Holy Week, so I have continued this particular tradition; see the photo at the end of this post.  My husband also started a new tradition that our children really enjoy: the palm leaf cross.

In case you need to know how to make a cross with your palm leaf, you fold the leaf into a cross shape by doubling over the two bars of the cross so that the thinner end does not quite finish, but stops in the middle with some to spare.  You then use the remaining length to wrap around the middle of the cross to hold it all together.  I hope you can see how they were folded in this close up; I don’t have pictures of the process because my husband folded them during mass.

My daughters really enjoy carrying around their small green crosses every year, but they also wanted a place to display them in their room.  So, once the crosses dried, we looked around to see what we could use to keep them standing upright.  We found a bag of beads that had once been a bracelet before it broke, poured them into a small mason jar, and nestled the feet of our palm crosses into the beads.  For the last year, my girls have had a visual reminder of Good Friday sitting on their dresser.

Any large glass or plastic beads would work, as would pebbles or stones.  In fact, Martianne at Training Happy Hearts posted a wonderful nature inspired Calvary Hill, which I hope to make with my children either this year or next year.

I wish I could say that this display has encouraged my daughters to pray more often, but that is something I hope to work on this year.  I’m thinking about what we might do with our Palm Sunday crosses this year . . . maybe we’ll glue them onto Easter cards . . . or hang them from a mobile . . .

We are also planning to attend a live Stations of the Cross at our parish on Good Friday this year, so that will give us plenty of opportunity to meditate and discuss the significance of the crucifixion.  I may extend that meditation into a writing exercise for my older daughter and myself.

Also, every year I continue my mother’s tradition and place one of the palm leaves above our image of The Last Supper.  In the picture below, you can see that the palm leaf has fallen down.  This image sits above our kitchen cabinets, and the fallen palm leaf reveals that I don’t get up there as often as I should to clean up. 

In 2013 I am linking with: Tactile Tuesday, We Made That, Weekly Kids Co-op

In 2012 I linked with: Holy Week Link up, Catholic Bloggers Network, Lenten Link up, Faith Formation in Young Children, Everyday Catholic Decor, Meaningful Easter