What?!

Dear Reader, I recently learned that my poetry chapbook, Pan de Alma, took second place in a poetry contest.

I have taken exactly one poetry class in my life, back in like, 2010?

I've considered myself a lyrical writer, but it wasn't until I took this poetry class to take a break from nonfiction, that I found how fun it is -- and how challenging. It really is a CRAFT.

Well, many of the poems I wrote in that class are poems I've worked on sporadically for the past decade, and in addition to others, they are now going to be featured in this chapbook.

Since that class I've been working off and on toward a full-length collection of poetry, publishing here and there, but not wanting to submit to any contests or publishers until I had a full-length collection. When I turned 40 I decided maybe I should take a smaller bite out of the process, so I put together a few chapbooks, just in case. But I didn't see any contests I wanted to submit to, until this one crossed my radar: The Southern Collective Experience Latin American Poetry Chapbook Contest.

With Richard Blanco and Caridad Moro-Gronlier as judges, how could I resist? I hoped for an honorable mention, but to learn my work has garnered a second-place finish is beyond wild. I'm so thrilled to bring this collection to life. More to come!