City of Legends

Having made the announcement that As such… will be joining the scrap heap, I also want to reassure hardy souls that there is salvage being done.  And while I have not yet made final stock of the survivors of love gods of a forgotten religion, I have made a somewhat (kinda/sorta) final decision regarding which poems from As such… will make it into loveaddict (at least the first edit pass).

These are (in no particular order):

• I will dream of you til morning
  
• beyond these walls (a sonnet)
  
• I stand for you (a villanelle)

Yes, just three.  The standards of loveaddict are exceedingly high.  As there is a rumour that this is my last book for a while, perhaps even leaving the rest of the works until postmortem, I want it to be a book that I am proud of, both in terms of literary quality and emotional resonance.

I haven’t yet made final decisions on a handful of pieces, but I can tell you that, as "love gods of a forgotten religion" is taken out of print, at least the titular poem, as well as "the patchwork skirt of my love", "Monument", "the Unicorns" and "We Owe Debt to Memory" will slip between the covers of loveaddict.

And, minor tsunami alert:  I will be taking out of print "As such…".  Great book, well done, I am just tired of the baggage it carries.  I am invoking the "TRANSCENDENCE" clause on this one.

I hear celebrations in many small pockets as I announce this.

Next month, when loveaddict hits the streets, expect some other changes.

After repeated threats on my part to this effect, I am taking out of print the entirety of my books with iUniverse.

This means:

• from an unexpected quarter
  
• love gods of a forgotten religion
  
• 101 Great Love Poems

will all cease to be available as new.

I am cannibalizing the first two to provide a few works for loveaddict (and because the covers now offend me), but have never really been happy with either one.  The third is mostly a bastard child of The Panther Cycles and as such is out of place in my catalog.

I have also been very unhappy with the course that iUniverse has taken over the years, since I was grandfathered into their organization when they acquired Writers Club Press.  It is a tough decision, as 101 Great Love Poems has been one of my best sellers and is the only book of mine currently available in hardback, but I feel it is time.

Later this week I will be presenting you with a preliminary list of what poems will be rescued as these books go dead.

The new CD, blister, continues to take shape.