Transition

May 1st?  Seriously?  Is it just me or is this year flying by?  Damn 5th decade.

So, if it's May, that means National Poetry Month is over.  My sincere apologies to the many poets out there who have work that I did not get to.  Same thing to the very kind publcists that realized I was actually spending a bit of time with poetry and shot out review copies of what is some fine work (from the skimming I did, without posting about it).

While I am transitioning to what we (we?) here at the Emerging Writers Network have designated as Short Story Month, I do want to quickly recognize some folks in regards to poetry:

Ami Greko of FSG, who sent review copies of Blackbird and Wolf by Henri Cole, and The Man With Night Sweats by Thom Gunn, not to mention set up the fantastic FSG Poetry Blog;

Peter Conners of BOA Editions, Ltd. who sent review copies of Broken Hallelujahs by sean Thomas Dougherty, Slope of the Child Everlasting by Laurie Kutchins, and Splendor by Steve Kronen.

These were/are much appreciated and will maintain their positions in the TBR pile.

Now we move into SHORT STORY MONTH.  Quite possibly my personal favorite form of writing to read.  It might not make sense, but to me an incredible story, one nearly flawless, tops a fantastic novel.  Even the best novels I've read have a slow spot somewhere within - a spot not at the same incredible level as the rest of the work.  This doesn't happen, really can't happen, in an incredible short story - there's just no room for bits of filler.

And I love finding collections with no filler - those where I finish and don't silently believe the publisher and author tossed two extra lesser stories in just to fill up the page count. 

For the next 30 days, I will be writing about at least two stories per day - one from a collection I have on my TBR pile, and one from a literary journal (both print and online efforts).  I look forward to sharing some great writers with you over this time, and also wish to point you towards folks like Jeff Bryant, Clifford Garstang, and Matthew Tiffany, all of whom have expressed interest in making May SHORT STORY MONTH at their blogs as well.