sausalito Reading last week, NOTABLE essay listings

Such a great reading! And a surprising number of writers I know were in the audience. The poet Kathleen McClung posted on Facebook: "OMG, what a great reading tonight at Why There Are Words in Sausalito! Every writer rocked the house. Special shout-out to Jacqueline Doyle, who read 'My Blue Heaven,' from her superb book, The Missing Girl. My students and I LOVE this book."

WTAW posted some great pictures. The one on the right is my favorite because it was so much fun to co-read "My Blue Heaven" (which has male and female voices) with Steve.

This is my fourth Notable listing with BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS (2013, 2015, 2017, 2018). The first was the most amazing. They don't contact you, I never imagined such an honor, and I only found out because SWEET published a list of their former contributors with Notables on their home page. But each has been very exciting. 

​I'm hoping to include all four essays in DO-IT-YOURSELF NIGHT, the collection I'm working on. Or not working on. I think I've been dragging my feet (I keep writing new "last" essays to complete a narrative arc) because I'm so reluctant to launch the next phase: finding a publisher.