Bridle Path Press presents: Screw Iowa's new E-Book

Here's news of Lauren Small's Bridle Path Press, started last year, and also the new release of the Screw Iowa E-book, The End of the Book: Writing in a Changing World.

This is a book for writers everywhere to help sustain the writing life, improve craft, and achieve success. It's a collaboration, and can be downloaded now from Bridle Path Press. http://www.bridlepathpress.com/

The book will soon be available (beginning of November) on Screw Iowa's site: http://www.screwiowa.com/

Lauren Small started a new kind of press, one that is dedicated to serving the needs of writers and readers alike.

Below follows the mission statement. The book is only 149 pages, online 80 pages, and is a fast and wonderful read--a must for all writers, trying to live the writer's life in today's world. A free sample chapter is available for you perusal at: http://www.bridlepathpress.com/

Here's the info about it from the site and also the press's mission statement:

All too often nowadays publishing houses, forced to concentrate on sales and profits, turn down quality books because of a perceived lack of marketability. At the same time, lack of editorial control has made readers leery of self-published books.

Hence the creation of Bridle Path Press: a new kind of publishing venture, serving the needs of writers and readers alike.

All books published by Bridle Path Press are approved by the editorial board, ensuring works of the highest quality in both content and design. Writers who publish with Bridle Path invest in their own work and retain one hundred percent ownership of their books. Freed from monetary concerns, the press is able to make selections based on literary merit alone.

Our books compel and fascinate, teach and entertain. Whether in e-book format or hard copy, they are objects of beauty, a pleasure to peruse. We invite you to experience Bridle Path Press, where books are changing the lives of readers, writers. . .and the world.

In the works are the following books: Choke Creek, The End of the Book, and Blue Virgin, Marnette K.Graff's new cozy mystery book, coming soon followed by John Damon's poetry collection.

So that's the whole scoop on Bridle Path Press and Screw Iowa's new E-BOOK.
Thanks for reading.

A poetry discussion

A poetry discussion about the PBPF

Exciting things are happening in the world of poetry here is south Florida.

I will be Marie Howe's intern/assistant in January 2010 at the Palm Beach Poetry Festival.

Hey, folks--some scholarships are still available. APPLY NOW! Get in touch with Miles Coon, director, and Lauren McDermott, coordinator extraordinaire! (Laura@palmbeachpoetryfestival.org)

Check it out!

http://www.palmbeachpoetryfestival.org/

This year, on November 1st in Delray Beach--place to be announced--the interns and staff of PBPF will read some of their favortite poems. The staff will read Florida poets.
The interns will read work written by workshop leaders (a great line-up this year), personal poems from the interns themselves, and reflective poems on the selection they choose to read from the body of work of their assigned poet. Pretty cool? I'll say.

Here's my personal poem, "The Hazel Nut," from my debut collection, Cooking Lessons, followed by Marie Howe's poem, "What the Living Do,"and then my poetic response to hers.

THE HAZEL NUT

round like me,
pointy at the top
like Clemente’s ideas
of other universes,
scattered here and there
on a dwarfed tree of fall bounty—
this one plunked in between persimmons.
I cull a nut, winnow and bounce another as a picker would, weighing fullness.
I crack the shell and crunch the core.
The sun-tongued firelight smokes and curlicues
acrid snakes above burning leaves.
It’s autumn now in Soriano nel Cimino.
Who climbs our rooted hazel tree
now that you, friend,
are gone and I am
left remembering?

Here's Marie Howe's poem about her brother's death.

WHAT the LIVING DO

Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil
probably fell down there.
And the Drano won’t work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes
have piled up
waiting for the plumber I still haven’t called. This is thee
everyday we spoke of.…


But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of
myself in the window glass,
say the window of the corner video store, and I’m gripped by a
cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face and unbuttoned coat
that I’m speechless:
I am living. I remember you.


And here's my response to Marie Howe's poignant poem:


PIAZZA di SPAGNA

You’re on a lunch break, walking in Piazza di Spagna near Bernini’s sinking boat fountain, when it hits you among the stop and go of traffic lights,

the Carabiniere’s whistles and Charlie Chaplin arm waves, the bustle of passersby,
the honking horns, the sight of children holding hands, you are alone. And lonely.

You yearn for a past time and, seeing yourself reflected in shop windows,
at once your muscles weary and wilt onto sagging bones. Then the weight

of your years, the heft of your misery gives rise to blanket your spirit:
for wasted moments, for love gone awry, for the anger in sword-sharp words.

The sun peeps through a cloud, a bird takes flight from a smoky chimney,
a wistful guitar melody wends and wafts its way along concave red tiled

rooftops. You hum along with the old song, Scrivimi, Write to Me. And of a sudden your mood soars with the remembrance of a tiny word spelled: hope.

Spaghetti with mushrooms and peas/ Biscotti for those in the know

Spaghetti with mushroom and peas

Make a basic red sauce using garlic, onions and basil (hot pepper, if desired). Add thin-sliced mushrooms raw or cooked--whatever you have and whatever makes it easy. And peas--fresh or frozen--1'2 to 1 lb. Felipe loves peas so I use a lb. You may also add cubed pieces of ham to this, if desired. May also use fresh coarse ground pepper instead of hot red!

Cook spaghetti for 8 minutes and drain tightly. Add to the tomato sauce and sprinkle with grated parmigiano.

Milk Biscotti

1/2 kilo double zero (meaning fine and sifted) flour
3 ounces of margarine
150 gr of sifted sugar
50 gr. of powdered skim milk
100 gr. of 2% milk
1 spoon of honey
a pinch of salt
a pinch of vanilla (if you have the dry form,if not use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon.
a package of yeast or baking powder--use the entire envelope, or a teaspoon of baking powder

Mix together all the ingredients until you obtain a dough that is compact and smooth. Knead with the heels of your hands. On a cutting board, roll out the dough with a rolling pin to bring it to a thickness of 2 mm, With a little rectangular form cut the biscotti, cutting them with a knife to make two commas in the central part, and brush the tops with fresh milk. Bake them in a moderately hot oven for about 8 minutes.

Obviously these recipes are for people who know how to cook and bake. This biscotti recipe is a direct translation from an old Italian recipe I had while I lived in Rome...19 years ago, folks!
Deal with it.

BAKED ROTINI /poem: "Mistress of Spices"

BAKED ROTINI (Springs or coils)

I was moving some spices from the newlywed's home (our son and his little wifey!) to our new condo, and thought of a poem which will follow this bake pasta recipe I made for my son's 30th birthday on October 9th.

I prepared a few tins of this Baked Rotini (curlicue pasta—like curly fries, only pasta) and along with this, I made cutlets parmigiana style. If anyone wants that recipe...write me and I'll post it.

For the baked pasta:
2 lbs of De Cecco (the absolute best pasta, if you can find it!) and this will serve from 10-12 people. Use rotini pasta (can use penne, if desired) cooked al dente (to the bite or a little under) in abundant, salted water. Use only 1 lb of pasta for 4-6 people (assuming there will be other food).

For the sauce: use plain whole plum tomatoes—passed thorough a sieve or crushed by hand. Use fresh or canned Italian plum tomatoes only (no skins!)

Sauté in olive oil: garlic, onions, hot pepper, and before turning a golden color, add a dash of white wine—when the alcohol evaporates, fling in the tomatoes, basil, and salt.

Chop abundant parsley and set aside.

For the sauce—if desired sauté’ pork loin cut into bite-sized pieces and add to the sauce. Low simmer for ½ to ¾ of an hour.

Fry separately cut up small pieces of eggplant, sliced mushrooms, chopped onions, and if desired, use zucchini also—small pieces. These may be added to the sauce directly, if you want to use the lazy method. Either way, it'll be delish!

Layer the pasta into a large rectangular baking pan like this:.
First the sauce (without the veggies or meat), then pasta, then shredded or cut or sliced mozzarella, grated parmigiano cheese, and ricotta, if desired. (I don’t use ricotta when I make the pork sauce).

Then add a layer of the veggies and or meat—mixed together or separately and then more sauce, followed by more pasta, etc. to the top and finish the top layer with some sauce, some mozzarella and some basil and parsley. You really can't screw this up, folks.

Bake in a pre-heated oven (400-450 degrees for 45 minutes…if you like the top crisp, then 5 minutes or less on BROIL. (Don’t do this if you’re going to freeze it—do the crisping at the last minute.

This can be frozen beforehand for a party. When needed, defrost and bake, or if already frozen directly after baking (defrost and then warm over in a very hot oven).

Can you use peas with this dish? Absolutely. Other ingredients? Tiny meatballs, sliced sausage, snippets of prosciutto, etc.

Always reserve sauce for the top when you serve, parsley, and grated cheese...
Enjoy!

And here's the new poem inspired by moving my spices...


Mistress of Spices


Cleansed with rose waters of my bath, I don a loose gown of shimmering lime cotton shot through with cucumber and silver silk. I wrap my head in cashmere cloth, the colors

of saffron and turmeric, tucking under every long black strand beneath the turban; wash my hands with rainwater from a barrel outside the door. My feet are bare, browned

from the sun. Dangling on a golden chain, an anklet’s bells tinkle as I move across
the stone floor. My hand grazes bottles, jars, burlap pouches and tiny tins. I spin a teak

rack of flat, round wheels on a three-tiered stand. Powdered curry, ground cumin, green pods of cardamom, rose salt from a huge lake in Bolivia.

Sea salts: pearly-white, and dove gray from beaches in the Mediterranean. An urn of anise, a pot of bay, and a flagon of cassia, fenugreek’s pungent seeds swirl in a coffer;

uncorked ampoules of truffle oil permeate the air an aroma akin to moist loam and moss. I shake a carafe of garlicky wine vinegar, watch white cloves and pepper corns afloat

like pieces of a kaleidoscope. On a quartz shelf, sentinel treasures: a cachepot of lavender covered with cheesecloth, thin vanilla sticks in a crystal vial, coriander in a brown

earthen jug, paprika in a gourd, and poppy seeds spilling out a jute sack. I conjure spells, whirl magic into teas, tisanes, elixirs, potions; I prepare farsumagru, vindaloo, ćevapčići

with my spices, plus two more: love in all its aromatic scents and senses harvested in dawn mists, and the other whose name, never spoken, cannot be written.

Thanks Mel and Ruth for your critques.