TOFOG, School, and Publishing

Deb: “Here.”
Me: “What is it? Oh!” [Huge smile] “Deb, I love you!”
-Deb giving me a copy of the only-downloadable My Hand, My Heart, the newest Russell Crowe album which was produced by none other than Alan Doyle of Great Big Sea.

It’s that time of year again, when all us good boys and girls go back to classes. I’ve got a Monday night class (Development of the Novel) and a Thursday night class (Lit. Theories). One class should be fun, though it requires that I read Pride and Prejudice within a period of about four days (I read 143 pages yesterday). The other, Lit. Theories, will be a real pain in my ass. I’m not at all looking forward to it.

In other English major news, there was a party at David’s house Friday in honor of his return from spending a month in Italy. Most of the gang showed and I didn’t go home until after one o’clock. I also found out that David’s most recent book has just been published. He gave me an autographed copy with a personal note inside, and I’m about half way through it. Prose poetry all the way through, very interesting, and a departure for him as he’s been a more “traditional” poet up until now.

Book Review: The Prayers of Others, by David Keplinger. I’m quite liking it. Prose poetry is a very interesting form and the pieces in this book are the best of what David does. Here’s an excerpt:

“ONLY THE PRAYERS of others can save me. Likewise, mine save only them. The little girl who lost her tooth went looking for it through the house. Had she swallowed it last night? Her thinking and the house were large. She flung a piece of string, as though to lasso the tooth, as though it were a loose, wild beast that must be tamed. We’d do anything to comfort her.”

I suck at hyperlinks, or else I’d add the one that takes you to the book site. If you google the title, though, you can find it easily.

Another exciting bit-I’m going to be published this fall in the Hungry Eye, the university Literary Magazine. I’ve got two flash fiction pieces that have been selected and I’m mundo excited about the fact that, as of October, I will be a professionally published writer. No, there’s no money in it, but it’s still my name in print.