I’ve had a private life changing moment and have cancelled my remaining speaking engagements and readings for 2025. I’ve moved from the east coast and have settle back into the Midwest for a bit. My writing projects will continue beginning in 2026. I greatly appreciate the understanding of my fellow road companions during this trying time. I’ll see you all again next year. Peace.
Category: Uncategorized
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Morgan Schmidt’s online drama
I cannot stand drama as a whole, especially online/social media drama. Most of the time, I will simply not comment on it.
However, I have recently become aware of Morgan’s Schmidt’s activities on social media and in particular on Goodreads. I won’t go into specific details, but the behavior is disgusting. I have known Morgan for some time and I’m disappointed in her behavior.
As a result, I have pulled out of my participation with the Jay4Jay Publications anthology and The Rusted Straitjacket Unicycle Troop has cancelled our performance in West Chester, PA in March of next year. It will not be rescheduled. In addition, I have removed the link from my web site of the interview that I did with Morgan sometime back and blocked her on social media. I’m aware of the negative review on Goodreads that Morgan posted about my latest work from Ghosts For Valhalla Press. I don’t really put a lot of stock in reviews on Goodreads because they are not from verified readers and the reviews are mostly inflated in a positive or negative way.
That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.
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Base Jumping at Taughannock Falls
In 2023, I was approached by Ghosts For Valhalla Press with a request for my next three manuscripts. There were a few projects that I had been developing but the first book I wanted to release was “Base Jumping at Taughannock Falls.”
10 months of development to finalize the script, GFVP and I went back and forth on the cover design. Wanting to keep things basic, very basic, I simply photographed a few of my wife’s tattoos while she was displaying them on a picnic table. That’s it.
Back cover. The text consists of poems regarding episodes in the lives of myself and my wife Kim, before and after we became a couple.
Bai Zhou, Katie Byrne, and Alejandro Gutierrez gave a few opinions on the manuscript.
There you have it.
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The Apparition Juxtaposition Poetry Tour 2024 version
The Apparition Juxtaposition Poetry began last year, and it was my understanding that the intent of the series was to highlight authors published by Ghosts For Valhalla Press. I was added onto the tour last year as a special guest.
This year, the press sent out a request for published readers from Ghosts For Valhalla for The Apparition Juxtaposition Poetry Tour in support of Annegret Bucher’s “Leftovers at Joe’s Garage”. After looking at the proposed tour schedule and checking my own commitments for 2024, I went ahead and signed aboard.
The vibe of The Apparition Juxtaposition Poetry Tour is different than The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour; Apparition is more of your stand-up poetry reading whereas Mesenchymal is more of an overall production. There is less stress on me personally with Apparition because I just have to show up and read. I don’t have to be concerned with the other elements of the tour.
Relying heavily on the house show poetry network, The Apparition Juxtaposition Poetry Tour ventured thru New Jersey, Vermont and Virginia. Everything went off without a hitch, no real hiccups along the way. I didn’t spend a lot of time attending the afterparties while on tour, but I haven’t attended a lot of parties this year. Just feeling my age all of sudden in 2024.
Before the reading at Virginia Beach, VA a bet was made between myself and my fellow author in which I lost. At the moment, I can’t remember what the bet was, but I remember the terms. Loser had to do their set in the Atlantic Ocean. The Virginia Beach host was more than willing to watch me suffer, so the location was outside onto the beach. I fulfilled my terms of the bet, but I wasn’t going to submerge myself in 54-degree water.
No mic stand, so I had to project my voice over the sound of the waves. When the waves hit, and they did indeed crash into me, the cold ocean water really jolts the old system.
The Atlantic Ocean won, but the ocean always wins.
Another nice element of this tour was that my wife and Chase, our Jack Russell Terrier were able to make it out to the Virginia Beach reading. Kim hasn’t been able to make it to a lot of the readings due to her work schedule. Chase is rarely out of the house. There are a few other readings this year in which my family will also be able to attend.
‘Till next time America.
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SPC Cameron Woolard Reading at Arlington National Cemetery
There were a few hours in between shows at Arlington, VA, and Washington D.C. of The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour where a group of us had a chance to tour the area. Due to the current political climate in Washington, I wasn’t interested in seeing the capital or the White House. If I wanted to see buffoonery, I would catch a carney show in Pensyltucky.
I have several family and friends buried at Arlington National Cemetery, most whom I have never visited their final resting place. Cameron Woolard is a cousin of mine on my mother’s side of the family who tragically lost his life on January 24, 2021. An Afghanistan war veteran, Cameron served with the 101st Airborne Division during both Operation Enduring Freedom as well as Operation Resolute Support.
An idea was tossed around about doing a memorial reading for Cameron. I was slightly hesitant about doing it but after some contemplation, I decided to proceed with the idea. In order to enter Arlington National Cemetery, you have to go thru security at the visitor center. Parking is just outside of the visitor center, the fee is $3/hr. There is also a Metro stop just outside of the grounds as well.
While security inside the visitor center was hospitable, the traffic security inside of the cemetery definitely was not. Unless you are a member of a funeral procession, you are not allowed to drive within the Arlington Cemetery grounds. This is understandable, while the cemetery does receive a substantial number of visitors, it obviously isn’t a tourist trap. Regardless, traffic security did give me some flack about getting over to the area even though I am a relative of Cameron’s and I had the exact location of his final resting place. After dealing with all of that, I eventually made it to the Columbarium where he is inurned.
There was a pretty decent turn out of observers as well as a few poets who wanted to read a few things. The event was an informal affair, no certain lineup list, very casual etc. I started the event off by presenting my contributions of reading “The 149th Chorus” from Jack Kerouac’s “Mexico City Blues”, followed by the “The 228th Chorus” from the same selection. I concluded my set by reading “the biography of Christian O’Keefe” from my own selection. I had a feeling that Christian and Cameron would have been great friends if they ever met in human form but are probably hanging out together in Forevereverland.
I haven’t recorded any readings on any of the tours that I have been on this year so far, but I decided to upload this event for posterity reasons.
And there you have it. RIP kid.
Until next time ‘Merica.
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Prelude vibrations to The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour 2024
This tour has become a beast of its own.
57 different locations in 13 states, and the District of Columbia.
Originally pitched as a solo tour (which I wasn’t comfortable doing), I asked poets Dan Altimus, Bracha Weiss, Linke De Vries, Jouquin Perez, Amanthi, and Sofia Ayala, visual artists Valentine Becerra and Vincent Bequet, as well as musical guest The Soulfly Tangerines, Black Cat Tuesdays, and The Liskonum Symposium if they would be interested in joining up. The theme: any interpretation they have on the phrase “mesenchymal reprisal”. They all agreed on the idea and are running with it.
Why did I not want to do a solo tour? Because I am not “that guy”. Also, generally speaking, the audience will start to lose interest in 7-10 minutes at any reading. What is the point of doing a 10-minute show at 57 locations? This tour isn’t a recital, it is a show.
In conjunction with Ghosts For Valhalla Press, I will be promoting my latest collection “Base Jumping at Taughannock Falls”.
The first leg of the tour travels thru the five boroughs of New York. There had been some original talk about beginning the tour in Upstate New York but there is no way a reading in Trumansburg, home of Taughannock State Park would be a good idea in early February. Lake effect snow and all that jazz. Manhattan, NY was selected as the first stop. The current poet lineup of myself, Dan Altimus, Bracha Weiss, and Linke De Vries, visual artist Valentina Becerra, and musical group The Soulfly Tangerines will perform during the “furloughs of the five boroughs”.
I have been asked if this is a Rusted Straitjacket Unicycle Troop production. No, it is not. While The Soulfly Tangerines and I are members of this troop, the rest of the lineup in NY are independent writers and artists. The majority of this tour is sponsored by Ghosts For Valhalla Press.
All of the presale copies of “Base Jumping at Taughannock Falls” have sold out for the NY and NJ shows. At this time, I do not have any personal copies to sell privately.
A few of the hosts on the NY tour as well as in other states have asked to sell tour t-shirts. My initial reaction was that I would be repulsed in doing so. I don’t want to be “that guy”. After some lengthy discussions with the press, the hosts as well as the performers, a t-shirt design will be voted on and created. This was a group decision. While my name is headlining this tour, the tour decisions are made as a group. No, the names of the performers involved will not be listed on the t-shirt. That was my caveat. No, I will not be selling any of these t-shirts on my website.
I have also agreed to undergo some interviews, namely from online blogs. Ghost For Valhalla Press has asked to do a video interview with me at some point during this tour and I have agreed. I have politely declined any additional interviews. My reasoning is that four interviews is enough for a 57-show tour.
I have been asked if Eventbrite will be utilized for the events at the various state parks that will be held during this tour. No, it will not and no, there will not be an admission charge to these events. More on that later.
I have been asked if any older copies of my literary works will be available for sale while on this tour. The majority of this tour is sponsored by Ghosts For Valhalla Press. You don’t sell Coke products at a Pepsi convention. So no, they will not.
Until next time ‘Merica.
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The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour 2024 as well as this and that
I’ve been working on the logistics for The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour for a few months now. I’ve generally taken a back seat when it came to planning the line up or locations to read/perform in during previous tours. The origins of this current tour came about between a combination of conversations with other poets on creating an extended tour as well a need for poetry tours that operate and thrive outside the predictable poetry cliques that unfortunately exist in indie lit. In addition, there were several hosts that asked me what my own poetry show would look like if I were to hypothetically to create one. I’m not getting any younger so after a lot of contemplation and consideration, I decided that I would in fact plan out my own headlining poetry tour in conjunction with the release of my next project “Base Jumping at Taughannock Falls” which will be published by Ghosts For Valhalla Press on Feb 9, 2024. A few other poets will be on the bill in various cities as well as a couple of visual artists and musical guests. In certain regions, it will be the full line up, in others it will be a select few depending on a variety of logistical factors.
Focusing primarily on the house show poetry network, The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour will mainly roam within locations on the east coast with a few performances at various state parks when the weather warms up. I’ll post more dates of this tour in another post.
If this poetry hootenanny wasn’t enough, a couple other poetry tours in 2024 are in the works that will weave in and out of this tour. More info on that later on.
Social media, social media, social media. I have a few accounts in various social media platforms; some I utilize, some I don’t. I’m well aware that these mediums can be an excellent source of revenue as well as publicity, but the drama that tags along with it can be a headache. I don’t have an innate need to document every second of my life in the poetry world online however I will post a few pics here and there on Facebook/Instagram as well as a video or two on YouTube but that’s about it. The majority of my poetry constituents really don’t use social media at all by choice.
Until next time ‘Merica.
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Updates, interviews, readings etc
A few notes on this and that. A few of the dates and locations on the “kodaibito no seishin” tour were rescheduled for a variety of reasons; football schedules (PA loves their pigskin games), hosts availability etc. The Soulfly Tangerines have a limited availability in October, but we are happy that they will be coming along. A couple of the shows will be at state parks in PA as well. We dropped the show on the 28th in Pittsburgh due to PTSD reasons, not because of the host. Will work on getting that rescheduled at a future date. Abideme and Sakura will be promoting their latest work from Ghosts For Valhalla Press.
The folie a trois tour continues in November. We had to drop the Arlington and Baltimore shows due to scheduling conflicts. Due to increased requests for shows, this tour may continue in 2024 so we may bring those shows back then. TBD.
“The Mesenchymal Reprisal Poetry Tour” is a go for next year, launching in February. 68 shows total on this tour in in 2024. Should be a hoot and there will be a few poets joining here and there during this tour.
I finished an interview with the folks over at Tea at The Poetic Mirror at the end of August. Initially, I wasn’t thrilled on the idea of being interviewed but after some lecturing by several people, I changed my mind. Tea at The Poetic Mirror will be tagging along during part of the “kodaibito no seishin” tour as well as “the mesenchymal reprisal tour“. I should state that they are following the tour in order to experience the house show poetry circuit, not because I need a posse following me.
Until next time ‘Merica.
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folie a trois tour 2023
Promotional flyer for the “folie a trois” tour Vincent Becquet had discussed the concept of doing a multi genre event for some time that tackled the realm of mental illness and all of its synapses. I had been in talks with poets Linke De Vries and Berhane Mebratu to collaborate on a project off and on so a couple of months back we all had a Zoom meeting and worked out the details. Linke knew of the group the liskonum symposium and pitched the idea to them to join up.
The younger members of this touring group wanted to do an extended tour. Initially, I had my reservations about being out for longer than a week because simply put, I’ve already done extended tours in the past. However, after constant nagging, I caved and agreed to it.
I’m fortunate enough to be in a place in my life where if there is a location where I want to read/perform, I have the right contacts to set some things up. Vincent was already in PA (escaping the heat of AZ) so we figured that we would start in the Commonwealth. I had already read multiple times in Allentown, Philly, Erie, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh recently so we literally looked at a map to find a location.
Berhane likes chocolate.
So, Hershey PA was a good place to start.
It was really that simple.
The remaining locations fell in line rather quickly.
We decided to utilize the house show circuit (I’ll go into more detail about the house show circuit at a later time) instead of using public venues (bars, bookstores, theaters, etc.) because it would cut down on the logistics of moving a show like this on the road.
Also, both Vincent, Berhane and the members of the liskonum symposium were concerned about security at the events. We live in very trying and turbulent times and frankly, there are certain areas of the country where anything resembling a rainbow is a massive trigger to a certain demographic in our population. Unfortunately, a clothing store owner in Cedar Glen, CA was shot and killed after an argument over a pride flag while we are on tour. One of the benefits of utilizing the house show circuit is that each individual host monitors the invites and attendance to the event. While nothing is 100% secure, it’s the most secure environment I can think of during these times.
Another thing about house shows; some people are against reading at a house show because of the “status” of the venue. For me personally, I have already read in bookstores, bars of all kinds, theaters, coffeeshops, wineries, breweries, art galleries, hell I read for a series on a chartered cruise in the Atlantic for a while. I’ve been reading poetry since 1997 and have seen a lot. When I joined up with the Rusted Straitjacket Unicycle Troop in 2017, I was able to leave all that bookstore et cetera behind me. And I can say, that I don’t miss it at all.
Not one damn bit.
One last thing.
While on tour, I was asked to do an interview with a blogging group called “tea at the poetry mirror” (which I kept calling “tea at the poetry window” for some reason.) They had interviewed two other authors whom I respect so I relented. Time was short so we did a brief interview which can be viewed here . The second part will be conducted at a later date.
Until next time.
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Update on literary projects
A couple of quick updates. Ghosts For Valhalla Press will publish my next collection of poems entitled “Base Jumping At Taughannock Falls” in early 2024. Originally scheduled to be released this year, I had to delay it so that the book release would be coordinated with a tour next year. Trying to obtain and maintain a healthy balance between personal time, family life, and the circus atmosphere of being a writer is usually on the forefront of my mind.
In addition, there are other literary collections that are in the works as well. More info on that later on.
I have received a substantial amount of requests for interviews as well as poetry appearances over the past several months. With all due appreciation and respect, I have turned down the interview requests with the exception of one interview with Ghosts For Valhalla Press next year. This decision of mine isn’t due to a sense of elitism, rather it centers around my decision to not be “that guy”. There are plenty of poets who are aching to be in front of a microphone/camera. I don’t have that visceral ache. I’m also dedicated to maintaining a healthy balance in my life and I just don’t believe doing several interviews is necessary.
Regarding poetry appearances, there is a tour planned for next year but I don’t really have any interest in being attached to a “scene” or magnetized to a geographic-poetry-whatever. The avenues that I have now work for me and that is simply good enough for me.
As time progresses, I will be making modifications to this website. I’ve made some recent edits to the website already. Reluctantly, I do have social media accounts (for the moment) but I will be limiting my time in those realms as time goes along. The majority of the poets and artists that I do work with don’t use social media. In fact, they abhor it for rational and substantive reasons. The brief amount of time that I have been on social media recently, I’ve noticed that the same soap operas continue to play out over and over and over. I’m simply not interested in any of this.
On another note, I have substantially considered taking up sailing. Should be a hoot.
Until next time.
Transgressions in Transubstantiation: The Mantras of Jameson Bayles 
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