The Glass River
A mystery set in North Carolina.
Private Detective Chance Richardson stumbles upon the brutally murdered
body of Al Bryant out near Happy Valley, North Carolina – the site of
the infamous real-life Tom Dooley murder of Laura Foster – after
intercepting a CB broadcast asking for help. A local town drunk by the
name of Henry Lee Coffey is found near the crime scene and arrested for
Al’s murder. Henry’s wife, Ruby, was also killed in a similar manner
several years ago which caused Henry to abandon his job, home and to drink.
Chance’s pal, newspaper reporter Kelly Grant, is asked by her former
high school nemesis Mary Beth Coffey Dula to check into the crime for Henry’s sake.
Chance and Kelly start nosing around the former Henry Coffey house,
Al Bryant’s place, into Ruby Coffey’s murder and in and around the Happy
Valley area, and dig a little into the Tom Dooley legend.
Published by Four2Three Press
New for 2010, "The Poet's Survival Guide 2" features more of what
you should know and do to make a living or a part-time living writing poetry.
Featuring 11 brand new chapters on how and where to sell your poems.
Includes PR tools that you can use to promote your work plus innovative
ways to make some bucks selling your poems.
Includes Secret Poet Weapons plus links and resources.
Excerpt from Chapter One "Ways to Sneak Poetry Writing Time Into Your Day" --
"Just like the title says, if you want to get time to write your poetry
and you aren’t a full-time poet then you’ll have to find time to compose
your poems somewhere somehow. If you’re a student or teacher, you can do
it at breaks. Same if you have a job where you have breaks. But depending
on how prolific you are or how disciplined you are at starting a piece and
picking up and finishing it at a later time, 5-15 minute breaks may not
work for you. I find myself squeezing works in during my morning commute.
Right now my commute averages 10 minutes so that gives me little time to
complete anything." Contains 17 informative
chapters for new or established poets trying to earn and make a living
with poetry. Poetry journals and magazines are well known for paying in copies,
which is nice if you like most poets enjoy reading. However, this doesn't pay
the bills. If you are able to explore all forms of the craft, your odds
increase as to your likelihood of getting published ... and paid!
The Poet's Survival Guide will give you an insight into
the tools you need (and probably already have) to make a decent living
or a fair amount of extra income at writing poetry or writing in forms
similar to poetry.
From Chapter 12 -- "POETRY WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES": "If you're
an experienced poet and have taken some classes or maybe have a degree in
poetry, then if you're comfortable teaching others you can hold your own
workshops or classes."
ALSO AVAILABLE AS A BOOK!
The Poet's Survival
Guide - Book Edition
Twisting
Twisting, a new poetry chapbook, is now available.
Featuring poems of place and imagery. Published by Four2Three Press
From "Liquid Bones"
"Fists slamming into the sky /
turning boundaries into ashes /
liquid bones straight as rails /
ripped apart to make more parking lots /
for dormant vehicles /
driven minutes or hours per day /
to factories..."
From "Mouthfuls of Fog"
"Two metal spoons/
Digging/
Through oatmeal./
Like pools of fog/
Over San Francisco Bay/
At sunrise..."
From "The Headache Room"
"Candy apples split/
by a vote of absenteeism/
and faded smiles. The loafers/
crawl up on one another/
and battle it out for insoles/
or polish. Red fingers/
flush back bitter morsels/
and the eyes glow ..."
A Breath of Paint
Featuring travel and adventure
poems. Previously published
selections plus new poems too! Published by Four2Three Press
"We ride along the bumpy road staring
at the trees / and farms like we'd never
seen them before, but / they are as familiar
as a baby doe dodging traffic in / search of
its mother and it seems that Eddie Money /
is always playing on the radio..."
The Cat and the Carroll A. Deering and Other North Carolina Poems" is a book
of selected poetry about North Carolina featuring the title poem and the
"The Footprints of Nathaniel Batts." Other selections include: "Two
Arrows And A White Doe," "The Ballad Of Frankie Silver," "Laura Foster,"
"Blackbeard's Swamp," "Walking Into The Sun," "Third Shift In A Furniture
Factory," "Sleeping In A Hammock," "Mist Of The Blue Ridge," "The Legend Of
Nags Head," "Cloud Painting," and "Mountain Roots."
"The ghost of Nathaniel Batts wanders Albemarle Sound -- / appears only on stormy nights /
shuffling through the surf, as the seagulls /
help him search for his lost love /
who's canoe sank in a storm on the way /
to his island - with fields, orchards, /
and trees and a lone house /
where he lived and died as the
first settler who came and stayed in North Carolina...."
"Legend tells that Blackbeard /
landed here /
near New Bern /
and that /
his ghost still /
walks the swamps /
of eastern North Carolina /
leaving bloody footprints"
"Walking; late sunset; North Carolina. /
The red bricks mute the sun's glare. /
The asphalt exhales at every street corner. /
Cats and dogs play in the streets before /
running to their homes in this /
Southern town where the Blue Ridge Mountains /
rise all around."
Please note: Ebook available only. Chapbook is Sold Out.
50% of the proceeds from the sale of "The Cat and the Carroll
A. Deering..." will be donated to animal charities. Thank you!
"Red Headed Eskimos" explores a variety
of subjects, touches on humanity, the surreal and nostalgia. 28 poems.
53 pages.
"Out on the patio in the sun's glare /
A procession
of painted bodies /
With skins of different hues /
Sandwiched together. In hot
oils / And tropical scents they lounge. /
The sunglass stare /
Is practiced with pride -- /
Near pools without water."
"Friday at noon the parking lot, /
fast deserted especially near the back, /
cars pour out into ant lines of traffic, /
green, yellow, red the colors of freedom."
"All squirrels should /
have minty fresh /
breathe or at
least take /
a trip down the /
river at Devil's Elbow /
somewhere in the /
middle of Missouri on a /
hot July day...." From "The Architect of French Fries":
"The French Fry is erasing the ketchup. /
It dips back and forth in the fingers. /
Putting up absolutely no struggle /
As it is sent to its doom...."
From "Liquid Passport":
"When you shove the needle /
into
your vein, you can't /
pull it out immediately. It's better /
to wait and think of the //
numbers to count to ten /
or ignore conclusion and his /
persistent cousin who always seems /
to come knocking on Sundays"
"I enjoyed your image of a french fry erasing ketchup.
That's perfect!"
REVIEW of "Hemlock Suicides ..." from "MUSE'S
REVIEW" - Reviewed by Andrew C. Angus -- "This chapbook of LB Sedlacek
contains a 27 poem collection that deals with the harsh realities of city
life such as divorce, crimes, murder, suicide, corporate environment, etc.
Sedlacek is a poet who is not afraid to write poems about the burning
social issues of our time .... a social commentary who writes social
views in the form of poetry."
The Poet's Survival Guide 2
In The Trenches
The Poet's Survival Guide
(How To Write and Make Money With Your Poetry)
Includes links to poetry marketing, poetry publishing and other writing resources.
The readers who buy poetry and/or just read it are few and far between,
but there is a market for it out there. More importantly,
there can be a market for you as a poet in your own home town.
Plus there are other ways you can use your skills for writing poems to
earn money with poetry related writings. The nice thing
about poetry is that the investment of time and work for the poet or
writer can be much less compared to something like a novel or screenplay which
can take years to finish - not to mention how much longer it can take to get
them published. People who read poetry tend to make up a
diverse audience which means they also tend to be widely read.
Why not take your poetry and parlay it into other writing
venues besides poetry as well as into paying poetry publications?
From Chapter 6 -- "POETRY CHAPBOOKS": "There are several ways
you can go about having a chapbook published. There are several options
available such as chapbook poetry competitions, chapbook poetry publishers
and self-publishing or printing your own chapbook."
From Chapter 8 -- "YOUR POETRY WEB PAGE": "The content is up
to you, but the internet is a great promotional tool that every poet should
take advantage of simply because it is instantly accessible to anyone
with an interest 24 hours a day."
Excerpt:
Tuesday is Wednesday, Vol. 1
From my former poetry blog "Tuesday is Wednesday" comes the first volume in
a compilation of a variety of poems including social commentary and
environmental poems. Plus there's Route 66 haiku -- here it is!
The Cat and the Carroll A. Deering
and Other North Carolina Poems
From "The Footprints of Nathaniel Batts":
From "Blackbeard's Swamp":
From "Walking Into the Sun":
Red Headed Eskimos
From "The Cement Oasis":
From "Gravity Fueled Gasoline":
From "Ice Chips":
Average Bears
Poetry selections include title poem plus "Liquid Passport," "Porcupine Rain,"
"The Architect of French Fries," "Digging Into the Past," "Paper Thickness,"
"Fisherman's Gift," "The Opposite of You," "The Desperate Seriousness of
Musicians," "Life Down Easy," "Leaf Dance," "Driving Toward Key West,"
and "A Parkway Ballad." 45 poems. 56 pages.
Jalina Mhyana, Editor -- Rock Salt Plum Review
Hemlock Suicides Planned by Well Dressed Men in Suits
Poetry selections include the
title poem plus "Grocery Store Headline," "One Fly's Journey to the Electric
Chair," "12 Flamingoes & 2 Clowns on Horses," "Occupying Space,"
"Gone Missing," "The Law of Dance," and
"The Silent House."
