publishing

Writing Write-Up

/ karaknick / 2 Comments

A couple updates since I’ve been back from my writing residency in Iceland:

I was a poetry finalist in the 2020-21 Lumiere Review Writing Contest, which honestly has been one of my highlights of this year so far!

I am thrilled that the anthology on Sh!t Men Say to Me: A Poetry Anthology in Response to Toxic Masculinity, which holds three of my poems, is out now. (I know we all could write a few poems on this topic…)

Levee Magazine also features my work in its April issue. I have been traveling, so I haven’t yet gotten to hold these publications in my hands, but will soon.

One of my new favorite poems I’ve written, “Etymology of a Middle Name,” was published in Kissing Dynamite. Read it here.

Another poem “The Night After the Procedure,” was given a home by the editors of Okay Donkey mag.

& as a reminder, you can always check out my publication list on my author website!

xo,

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Writing AND Traveling News!

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Whew! Travel has (obviously) come to a halt, and as as result,  I’ve been busy with editing and submitting my creative writing. I almost forgot to update y’all, but I’m happy that some poems have been accepted into these journals.

ANDDDDDDDD…………………………………………………………………………………………

I was accepted to two international writing residencies! One in Iceland, and one in Finland, planned for 2021. A lot can change before then, but I’ve been informed that I can be granted an exemption due to business as long as I follow appropriate protocol, which I will certainly do. Here’s hoping that there will be a reliable vaccine soon, that things improve with containing the virus, and that travel can safely resume.

img_5489In Iceland back in 2016, and the answer is YES, about 47 of them.

I’ve been to Iceland before, but if anyone has any recommendations for Finland, I’m all ears! Or, any tips for a productive writing residency, books to bring, prompts, etc.?

Happy wandering & writing,

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Poet Lore

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!!!!

My poem, “Crystalline” is published in Poet Lore, America’s Oldest Poetry Journal.

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They’ve been around since 1889 and published genius poets like Kim Addonizio, Carolyn Forché, Sharon Olds, Carl Phillips, and Mary Oliver.

Poet Lore

I’m still shaking to my core with excitement.

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Chapbook #2!

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Over the moon to announce that my new chapbook manuscript has been accepted for publication and will be forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press in August 2018! I really can’t believe I’ll soon have a second book in the world.

Image result for dancing girl press

I’ll keep you guys posted as we move through the process.

Hoping everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! Right now, I’m grateful for the persistence of this dream and all the rejections that brought me to this moment. Never, ever give up on what you love.

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A Year in Review

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Remember that bucket list I had for 2016? Gotta be honest here, I’ve been crushing it.

*At the end of this year, I will have gone on four international trips:

-I took my mom on vacation to the Dominican Republic, something I’ve always wanted to do.

-I’d been waiting to see South America for a long time, so I finally bought a ticket to Peru and Bolivia in July for travel that same month. (Which was a little crazy, yes.)

-I had yet to explore a new country with my boyfriend, so we booked a trip to Iceland in October.

– In less than a week, I’m heading to Thailand and then South Korea.

-I also traveled to Minnesota, Georgia, Delaware, and Illinois, among other places.

 

* This year I got serious about my poetry and started submitting my work, and it paid off:

-So far, I have had over 15 poems published in anthologies, literary magazines, and journals!

-I won first place at the 2016 Sigma Tau Delta International Convention for my collection.

-I had essays in Thought Catalog & Odyssey Online.

-I read with the Pittsburgh Poetry Roadshow & Voices From the Attic launch party.

-I celebrated my first year of blogging!

 

1st place!
Presenting.

 

But, 2016 wasn’t all smooth. I also had some scary stuff happen with my health.

*I had a pacemaker put in, but was determined to keep running and I finished:

-Pittsburgh  5k

-Pittsburgh half marathon

-GNC Liberty Mile

–Erie full marathon

–EQT 10 Miler

 

I made this list not to be conceited, or talk about how great my life is (trust me- it isn’t always!) but because I’m incredibly proud of my accomplishments this year and have worked really hard to get to this point. It’s taken sacrifice, hard work, and admittedly, a couple breakdowns, but I’m so happy with where I’ve arrived.

I’m a big believer in being proud of your achievements, because why shouldn’t we be? If we don’t, who will? You’ve worked your ass off. Celebrate your victories. Don’t let jealousy in. Don’t be bitter. Don’t worry about coming off as “bragging.” Uplift each other. Support each other. You traveled to a new country? I wanna see! You committed to a healthier lifestyle? That’s awesome! You graduated? Great work!  Go ahead & show it off. I’m proud of you.

For those of you feeling stuck: I was there. I promise if you focus on the things you love and make them a priority, they will become your reality. I stopped putting my dreams off this year, and look at what happened. 2017 can be your year. Go get ’em.

 

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P.S. Happy holidays everyone!

I’ll check back in a couple weeks when I’m back in the States.

 

On to the Next One

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After two years of not traveling, I vowed that this year I would rid myself of excuses and make traveling a priority again. And I did: Dominican Republic, Peru and Bolivia, Iceland. And now, as 2016 draws to a close, I am excited to announce I’ll be squeezing in one last international trip. I am heading to a place that’s been on my list for a while: Asia. Specifically, I’ll be flying solo in Thailand and then visit my brother in South Korea for Christmas.

Those who know me know that I love to travel, but four international trips in one year (all while working full time, taking classes, and running marathons) is a LOT. I’ve been playing catch up on the last couple years, and while it’s been nothing short of incredible, I’m sure that I won’t continue to travel as much in this capacity as I have been. Moving forward into 2017, I would like to balance it out to one international trip a year.

thai

Furthermore, (and no doubt a contributing factor to this decision) I decided that I need to throw myself back into my passion- writing. It’s what I love, and in just this first full year of Madwomen classes, I have grown so much as a writer. I’ve dug deeper to find my poetic voice again, have been attending readings, gave a reading of my own, mentored with an incredible poet and teacher, and made connections to other writers in the Pittsburgh community and beyond. This year alone, I have had approximately thirteen pieces published in anthologies, literary magazines, and journals. And that’s with not even dedicating time to mass submissions. So why not keep the momentum going? I’m excited to announce that for the spring semester, I will be doubling up on Madwomen classes.

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Whew. What’s next in 2017- more publications? An MFA? Tackling another marathon? Exploring a new country? I’m not really sure just yet. All I know is that I have come so far in a year, and it’s inspired me to push myself even further to see all that I can be.

But first, some much needed relaxation and celebrating the upcoming holiday with family.

 

P.S. Have you been to Thailand? Would love to hear your recommendations!

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Wonderfall

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Yesterday, November 6th, I brought my racing career (click here for details) full circle yet again with the Pittsburgh EQT 10 miler.

It was a gorgeous fall day for a run- a little chilly in the morning, but once my feet hit the pavement and the sun burst through the gray of morning, it was the perfect temperature. I ran for seven miles with a friend and truly understood how running with someone can be such a great therapy question. We talked about running and relationships, and before I knew it, the miles and number of bridges we’d run on had flown by!

*

I had spent this past week submitting my work out to numerous publications, and began tracking my progress. The one certainty you can expect as a writer is rejection, and I was beginning to know it all too well.

You can imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail later in the afternoon stating that a literary magazine wanted ALL FIVE of the five poems I had sent to them. I was ecstatic that these poems finally got accepted, and it was a wonderful break to receive!

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So with that, I leave you with this image, and a reminder that “Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.” I knew there was a reason it was my favorite.

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  Until next time,

Salt

/ karaknick / 1 Comment

My poem “Salt” was picked up by Construction magazine & published in their 2016 Winter Issue, which was released today.

 

You can check it out here and read below:

pan-con-tomate-pa-amb-tomaquet-receta-bruja

 

Salt

 

I will eat paella and pan con tomate until I die, if you want me to,

salt clawing and clutching corners of my mouth
like your newborn child’s tiny hands around her mother’s finger.

But we don’t speak about it in the kitchen. We let infidelity churn
in wedding pots and knead curved skin like bread dough.

We savor a kiss. You feed it to me in spoonfuls, in haste
and wipe the edges neatly with your napkin before you go.

Your apron is burned in the morning. I do not ask why.

 

 

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Six months later…

/ karaknick / 3 Comments

Hard to believe that I wrote my first blog post just a little over six months ago.  I had zero clue what the hell I was doing, and constantly asked my friends Sara at Californyinz and Marissa at Ampersand Creative to help guide me through the process. (Check them out, they’re amazing!)

Originally, I was searching for a home to recount my traveling adventures both past and present and create an outlet for my passion for poetry & nonfiction. In doing so, I’ve found an incredible community of other writers and travelers, and received a surprising amount of support from friends & family. I now have over 4,000 followers and growing! I have also discovered that keeping up with a blog is not always easy…

If you are a regular follower, or even an occasional creeper, you can see that I have not written a post in exactly a month. While I’ll elaborate on those reasons in a later post, I thought I’d check in to bring readers up to speed on what’s going on now.

-I am still taking Madwomen in the Attic classes. I’m currently in a poetry workshop that proves itself to be more than overwhelming at times, but forces me to churn out new writing every week.

-Marathon training is underway. Those 26.2 miles are coming for me May 1st, whether I am ready for it or not! Check out A Year of Races to see where my love/hate relationship with running all started.

marathonn

-Next week I’ll be in Minneapolis! Getting accepted to present my work at the Sigma Tau Delta International English Convention was one of the highlights of my undergraduate career, and I’m thrilled to be going to the City of Lakes soon to do it all over again, this time as an alumna. Prose Before Bros tells it all. Got suggestions on things to see/eat/do? Send them my way!

sigma

-All writers are used to rejection, and I had come to expect it. Imagine my shock when I found that two poems and one creative nonfiction piece of mine were accepted for publication! Once all are available for purchase and/or accessible online, I will provide the links so that you can read up 🙂 Excited to be making some progress, however slowly.

-My next international travel excursion is hopefully taking place in the fall of this year, with Southeast Asia (Thailand) or South America (Peru) as my top two picks. However, I’m doing my best to still travel within the states as much as time allows. Some upcoming cities on my list: Chicago, Atlanta, and Seattle.

-I got Beyoncé tickets. This has nothing to do with my blog specifically, but EVERYTHING to do with me since I’ve loved her since Day 1. My homegirl Catherine & I will be getting in formation on May 31.  Conclude fangirl rant.

beyonce

 

 

For all those of you that read and follow my blog, I cannot say enough how much I appreciate it. You must be just weird enough to find my ramblings interesting, and I thank God for that! Not to mention the way you support and promote my blog and my written work with the likes, comments, and shares…I am grateful you care enough to see things From This Side of the Sun. And I’m so glad you’re on this journey with me.

 

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