My First Book Review: by Angella Graff

Blogger, book reviewer and author, Angella Graff recently reviewed The Lily & The Aster on her indie book blog. What a lovely review! To check out what she had to say about the book, please see the link below:

http://reviewerteamwinz.wordpress.com/2012/10/24/the-lily-the-aster-by-january-wilson/

The Lily & The Aster Available for FREE until Friday, Sept. 21

In the spirit of receiving high praise for my poetry recently, The Lily & The Aster is now available for FREE to download to your PC, Kindle or Ipad! This special promotion is only available from today, Monday, September 17 until Friday, September 21, so take advantage of this special offer while you still can! Visit the following site and follow the prompts on the right side of the page for download. Enjoy!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Lily-Aster-ebook/dp/B007W74W9O/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Awards Ceremony for the 34th Annual Trumbull Arts Festival

This morning I was honored with an award for my poetry at the 34th Annual Trumbull Arts Festival. As a part of the ceremony, the speaker read the winning poem aloud and presented my representative with an award. I could not make the ceremony, so I had my family accept the award and record the event. Please enjoy this brief excerpt from the ceremony! — at Trumbull Town Hall.

Last Chance to Get Your Copy of "The Lily & The Aster" at Rainy Faye Bookstore

Rainy Faye Bookstore, the only independent bookstore in downtown Bridgeport, CT, is closing its doors later this fall. If you can, make a call today to order your copy of "The Lily & The Aster". If you do so soon, you'll get a special discount! Support local business.

Winner of Poetry Prize at the 34th Annual Trumbull Arts Festival

On September 16, 2012 I will be honored for poems submitted for the 34th Annual Trumbull Arts Festival. I will be honored among other winners of the literary contest at the Trumbull Town Hall Green in Trumbull, CT at the aforementioned date. The poems submitted for the event will likely appear in my fourth book of poetry, now in production. For details about the event, see the link below:

http://www.jaminmark.com/eventinfo/events/30270.html

Here are the three winning poems from the contest:

AWAKE

She was up before he would awake.

And he awoke and cleared the blur

From his eyes.

He saw her as if for the first time.

While her beauty was apparent,

Seared in his memory were last

Night’s tears – his own –

For the certainty of a delicate

Thing  broken.

Like the soundless flutter

Of a sparrow’s wings, he

Cried.

For shadows of yesterday’s

Shared intimacy, he cried.

And she failed to acknowledge

Her part.

He mourned her absence

Long before they parted ways.

HAUNTED

I am haunted by his earnest efforts

For he knows me. I am not just

A vague sketch lining the outskirts

Of his consciousness, but rather

A course of being he knows by heart.

For he reveals those things about me

I was not aware of until they came

Out of his mouth.

He spoke about my beauty, my eloquence,

My uniqueness and my being whole.

His words complete the puzzle that

Erode my need. He holds up the mirror.

He is not a god-fearing or god-filled man,

But rather like one.  And strong.

DELUSION’S KISS

Hope squanderer

Bloom crusher

Dream’s abscess

Guru

Yesterday’s news

Deal breaker

Trouble maker

Game changer

Stirring of pots

Goal dasher

My downfall

The only contender

Obstacle

Challenger

Weakness

Makes me whole

Press Release - The Lily & The Aster Soon to be Available at Rainy Faye Bookstore

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Announcing the Release of The Lily & The Aster at Rainy Faye Bookstore

BRIDGEPORT, Connecticut (June 2, 2012) - Rainy Faye Bookstore will host the release of The Lily & The Aster, a third book of poetry for January Nicole Wilson beginning June 4, 2012.

In recent months, Rainy Faye has launched the books of numerous local authors. This book release will be a third for author, January Nicole Wilson. She attended Fairfield’s Stratfield School, Fairfield Woods Middle School and Fairfield (Warde) High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Literatures and Cultures in English from Brown University and a master’s degree in International Economics and Development from Johns Hopkins University.

Her new book, The Lily & The Aster, is a book of haiku poetry and travel essays. Coursework completed at Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) played importantly into the development of The Lily & The Aster, which was published in early May 2012.

Wilson has again written a thoughtful and provocative collection of poetry with The Lily & The Aster. In this book, Wilson uses a Japanese form of poetry, the haiku, to communicate her message. Each haiku is a meditation on the love, music and politics that fill her daily life. To borrow the title from her second chapter, time and again her poetry is "a confession of joy." She uses haiku to introduce three travel essays, included in The Lily & The Aster. Each essay tells an absorbing story of adventure in three different regions of the world, including Romania, Spain and Ghana.

If you would like to discover a truly remarkable little independent bookstore still doing business in Bridgeport’s burgeoning downtown area, now something of an enclave for emerging artists, please visit Rainy Faye Bookstore to pick up a copy of this precious volume.

Rainy Faye Bookstore opened its doors at 1042 Broad Street (Entrance on John Street) in Bridgeport, CT in 2003. The store welcomes a wide range of clientele and appeals to readers of varied tastes. It was considered “Best Independent Bookstore” for four consecutive years by the Fairfield County Reader. Contact the store at (203) 336-6911 for more information about this and other new releases.

Building Fierce Loyalty & the World according to Sarah Robinson

I recently stumbled upon a free eBook, written and compiled by Sarah Robinson, who is an authority on building loyalty around a business. This is among the clearest and most provocative works compiled on the new world of social media that I've read in ages. It's compact and gets straight to the point in just 46 pages. Robinson establishes her authority through the voices of several experts (guest bloggers and leaders in their fields) on the topic of brand loyalty. According to her and her guests, a community-driven ("social pull") approach (rather than the old "push" model) can be most effective in marketing, in observing and meeting customer needs. True engagement with a community of customers leads to the collaborative effort of defining a brand. And, without further ado, I give you the eBook...  

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4WiqUdRMR7hOGVlWnpBUjFUU3lBbXUwZkJHMzl6UQ/edit?pli=1

The Lily, The Aster and more...

Read The Lily & The Aster but eager to learn more about what else I was reading as I wrote the book? Click here to sample the haiku of Matsuo Basho, Richard Wright (that's right, the author of Native Son), Sonia Sanchez and others for nodes of inspiration...  Want to read unedited excerpts from my travel essays from Romania, Ghana and Spain? Click here to be directed to the FREE promotional blog ...

Excited about the new book and would like to write a customer review for Amazon? Simply log on to Amazon, look under the title The Lily & The Aster, click on "customer review" at the top of the page and, finally, click on "create your own review"! 

Still haven't read the book but would like to get your hands on the eBook or the paperback? Click here or send me an email (at thelilyandtheaster@gmail.com) with the number of copies you would like to order.

JOIN THE PARTY! Just imagine, for less than the price of dinner and a movie you can own the paperback - 180 pages with 150 haiku, 20 short poems, 10 photographs and 3 travel essays. For less than the cost of a glass of a fine wine or a tall cup of your favorite coffee, you can own the eBook... And they're just clicks away...

Just Published: The Lily & The Aster...

I have just published my third book, The Lily & The Aster, edited by Xavier Martin, and it is now available as an eBook or in paperback on Amazon! Soon to be available at other major retailers!

Riding the wave of success of my first two books, whose poetry established me as Semi-finalist in the New Millennium Writing's 2010 Poetry Contest, as well as Semi-finalist in the World Poetry Movement's 2011 Poetry Contest, this may be my best book yet!


******
Take a look at the review on the back of the book:

"January Nicole Wilson has again written a thoughtful and provocative collection of poetry with The Lily & The Aster, her third book.

In this book, Wilson uses a Japanese form of poetry, the haiku, to communicate her message. Each haiku is a meditation on the love, music and politics that fill her daily life.

To borrow the title from her second chapter, time and again her poetry is 'a confession of joy.'

She uses haiku to introduce three travel essays, included in The Lily & The Aster. Each essay tells an absorbing story of adventure in three different regions of the world, spanning Europe & Africa."

*******

Take your time. Click here to see the book trailer. Click here to read the customer reviews, to look inside the book and to read the product description on Amazon.


For those of you who already have an Amazon account, owning the book is just three clicks away. You do not need an e-reader to read the book. It will be delivered wirelessly to your computer for just $4.99! Amazon Prime members will read the book for FREE!

Click here to make your purchase.

Amazon Kindle Device: Your purchase will be sent automatically and wirelessly to your Kindle via Amazon Whispernet.

Free Reading Apps: Your purchase will be sent automatically to your Android, iPad, iPhone, PC, Mac, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone 7 device. Don't have a free Kindle Reading App? Download one here.

If you'd like your own signed copy of the paperback, simply send me an email (at thelilyandtheaster@gmail.com) with your name (or the names of the individuals who you'd like to receive a book) and your address. I'll send you the mailing address to which you can send a check for payment.

Own your book today!

The BIG winner of last week's Book Give-Away Challenge is...

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It's the day you've all been waiting for! The winner of the Book Give-Away Challenge is Shirley Fletcher from Dover, Delaware! Congratulations to her. She will recieve a free signed copy of The Lily & The Aster in the mail on the book's official date of publication next Saturday, May 5. I will be contacting others who entered the contest individually so that they can take advantage of the discount associated with the Challenge. Please also see Amazon or Createspace for details. Send an email to thelilyandtheaster@gmail.com with any questions or concerns. Happy reading!!
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Book Give-Away Challenge

Well, The Lily & The Aster is about to be published. The following quiz is intended to give you an idea of whether or not you are ready for The Lily & The Aster. Take the quiz. Answer "yes" or "no" to the following questions. Hold on to your answers. I have a surprise in store. Read more below.

1) Do you like to read poetry? ____

2) Have you seen the book trailer? ____

3) Do you enjoy photography? _____

4) Have you read the Interview with the Editor, Xavier Martin? ____

5) Do you appreciate a good laugh as opposed to a good cry? ____

6) Do you enjoy an occasional love poem? ______

7) Do you prefer happy endings? _____

8) Have you seen Amazon's Author's page for the book? _____

9) Would you consider writing a review for Amazon if you were to read the book?_____

10) Would you be willing to provide your mailing address should you win the contest? _____

Instructions: Give yourself one point for each question to which you answered "yes". Tally your score. Be the 8th person to contact me at thelilyandtheaster@gmail.com with your name and your score. Write "Book Give-Away Challenge" as the subject of your email. The winner will be announced in next Saturday's blog and will receive a new copy of The Lily & The Aster. All runners-up will find out about and receive a HUGE discount on their books next week. Enter the contest and win!

Conversation with the Editor / Xavier Martin / Editor of The Lily & The Aster, a book of haiku, by January Nicole Wilson

Last week, I conducted an interview with Xavier Martin, the editor of The Lily & The Aster. He sat down with me and I asked him a few questions about the book:

JW: What was your first impression of the manuscript?

XM: Your manuscript came as a surprise. Here was a new form of poetry for you - the haiku. I was fascinated by this new shorter form. The form uses metaphor and contradiction in new and important ways. The frame or structure is more restrictive and has more rules than the open form you used in previous books. But, I think that you've been quite successful with haiku.

JW: What was your favorite poem from The Lily & The Aster? Why?

XM: The chapter called Rain was my favorite chapter. It captures the essence of what haiku are. I love the simplicity of the poems contained in this chapter. The poems use mainly nouns. There are not too many adjectives. They are direct poems with clear and beautiful messages. They are poems that talk about nature, about reality, about what the senses perceive. I particularly like:

“Naked to the rain,

 the rose bush is pelted

into submission”

It’s a beautiful and powerful image. One can see the rose bush just by reading these short poems. You do not need anything else. There are no extra words. The simplicity of the poem is one of its great strengths. I love this haiku.

JW: What defines my literary style in this book? 

XM: The haiku defines your work. You capture the essence of what a haiku is and you adapt your style in order to be able to express what you want to tell us. It is a new style, but one can still recognize you in your haiku.

I love the images that you create and how you play with language. Haiku require precision and you always find the right words to create an image. I also like how you tend to use contradictions to capture the varied angles from which you can see one issue. The sense of your haiku can suddenly change in the last sentence where you tend to use metaphors to give a new turn to a poem.

As for your travel essays, your use of memory is remarkable. You take an introspective look at what your travel experiences mean to you. You share very personal experiences and you open up to your readers. There is a lot of generosity in these chapters.

JW: We worked on a number of key elements of this book before finishing the final product. What were the most memorable?

XM: Working on the travel essay concerning Spain was quite memorable, in part, because I am from there and I was interested to learn about your experiences there. Developing this essay was a great challenge. It was difficult to capture and portray the experience on many different levels and at the same time make it readable and entertaining. There were many anecdotes and it was difficult to arrange them in a way that the chapter would flow well. In the end, I really think that you did a very good job.

JW: Why did you take on this project?

XM: I took on this project because I enjoyed working with you on your second book so much. I love witnessing the making of your books--how your ideas evolve and take shape in the form of poems. I feel that I have the opportunity to see how your poems evolve from an idea to a powerful poem.

JW: Would you say my haiku struck a balance between being profound and being playful? Elaborate.

XM: I was particularly impressed by your haiku in this respect because these poems are so short and you are constrained by very strict rules. You have to think a lot about what you are saying and I think that what you've done is quite remarkable. It is the first book where you systematically use the structure of haiku to express your emotions. I do not have any doubt that we still enjoy many more haikus from you. You have truly mastered the art of haiku!

Publish Date Postponed

This is a short note to let you know that the publish date for The Lily & The Aster will be postponed until the near future. Stay tuned for the latest updates, including an interview with the editor. Thanks.

More Haiku from The Lily & The Aster

Here’s another chance to get a look at more haiku from The Lily & The Aster:

Drunk on the scent of

The aster, the butterfly takes

Flight—dizzily.

Shades of summer

In the bright morning sky—

A gaggle of geese.

Through the locked gate,

Orange day lilies

Pierce the night.

Haiku Checklist

The following link is useful if you plan on trying your hand at writing a haiku. Actually, it is called the "Haiku Checklist." It is a list that includes some helpful reminders of the key components of haiku writing. It is a great aid if you are new to haiku writing or are a veteran. I found this link by way of The Haiku Society of America. The group plays an active role in educating the haiku writing communitiy. In fact, it organizes and sponsors events for National Haiku Writing Month, including a daily word prompt on Facebook and Twitter.

Click here for the link to the "Haiku Checklist".

A Sampling of the Haiku & Photography from The Lily & The Aster

You will be happy to learn that my book is nearing the date of publication. I received the first proof several weeks ago. And while we are still working through the proof, the official projected date of publication is April 7, 2012, if not sooner. I am so excited!

But, before that happens, I'd like to share more of my book with you. This time a pairing of photography and haiku. First, a pairing from the chapter known as, 'These Autumn Days:"

                                                           The world holds

                                                           Its breath as summer

                                                           Passes away.

Next, some of my photography and haiku from the chapter called "Spring's Silence:"

                                                         Such a delicate

                                                         Silence, while daffodils

                                                         Blossom.

                               Finally, a pairing from a chapter called "Harvest:"

                                                          The smell of fresh

                                                          Summer tomato lingered

                                                          On her salty breath.

                      

       

   

                   

Introduction to The Lily & The Aster

Now that you have gotten a look at the poetry inside the book and a look at the trailer, how about we take a step back and look at the prose that introduces the book. Here is your chance to get a look at the Introduction to The Lily & The Aster:

Introduction -

Why haiku? The answer is simple: haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that is amazing in that it can be used to portray the unseen, to point out an irony or to colorfully depict a scene usually in just 17 syllables or in just three lines with 5-7-5 syllables.

Haiku is always about more than what is given on the page. It captures a feeling, a moment, an attitude towards nature, towards life, towards being. At its best, haiku transcends the words on the page and communicates something elusive.

Poet Sonia Sanchez had the following to say about the beauty and power of haiku:  

“This haiku, this tough form disguised in beauty and insight is like the blues, for they both offer no solutions, only a pronouncement, a formal declaration—acceptance of pain and humor, beauty and non-beauty, death and rebirth, surprise and life. Always life.”

If you pay close attention to the silence, the pauses in each haiku, there may be an “aha moment.” That is yours to claim.

As in life, so it is in love. Love has its cycles of death and of rebirth. Love has its seasons—seasons of longing, of passion, of maturity and of loss. In nature we see symmetry to life and love. Some of the haiku and other poetry here are a reflection on life and on love as seen in nature.

I chose haiku because they are a powerful and concise way to express an emotion, an idea. Although haiku is a rigid form with specific rules, haiku is also flexible, with rules that can be adapted. For instance, even the great Japanese haiku masters wrote and published haiku that were a syllable or two more or less than 17. And like so many of my predecessors, I reinvent the form to tell a story with long and short haiku.

 

You will find short poems as well as short essays here in addition to the haiku. The short poems vary in subject matter from love, to nature, to politics.

It is always interesting for me to learn more about a writer, especially a poet, once I have read his or her or work. In that spirit, I am also including a few short essays composed from journals I kept while spending an extended period of time in Romania, Spain and Ghana. I would like to share these with you because my travels have so fundamentally shaped who I am and how I see the world. They have had an impact on my poetry in more ways than one. The stories I tell are too short to publish as a stand-alone book, so I thought it a fitting little surprise to include them here.

Matsuo Basho & his haiku

Matsuo Basho is a master haiku poet. His influence spans Japan and throughout the world. Basho is so well-renowned perhaps because of his work’s accessibility. I read a great number of his haiku in preparation for writing The Lily & The Aster. I admire that he is able to capture such beauty and power in one simple image. Oh, the magic one can create in just 17 syllables. Sample Matsuo Basho’s most poignant work - haiku - translated from Japanese:


Spring:
A hill without a name
Veiled in morning mist
~

Coolness of the melons
flecked with mud
in the morning dew
~

Awake at night--
the sound of the water jar
cracking in the cold
~

Chilling autumn rains
curtain Mount Fuji, then make it
more beautiful to see

~

Crossing long fields,
frozen in its saddle,
my shadow creeps by

Chapter 2 - Confessions of Joy - SNEAK PEEK at New Book

Here's your chance to get a look inside my new book of poetry, The Lily & The Aster, including a look at haiku and short poems:

Chapter 2: Confessions of Joy
1.
Each drumbeat
is a winged bird sent
off towards heaven.
2.
Nothing beats
playing a djembe
with the thunder.
3.
Dancing
breathing life
like the night air.
4.
Your song,
like one long exhale
thrown skyward.
5.
Your music journeyed
to a place unknown
to words.
6.
Your song
A confession
of joy.
7.
Your dance
transforming your beauty into
a butterfly.
8.
He is the Miles Davis of the djembe
Full of flourish and experiment
Classic but not derivative
Mastermind of the stage
His feats incongruous to the scale of his fame
His shortcomings lauded beside his accomplishments
And yet he is a perpetual enigma,
When he picks up that drum
His genius demonstrated in the spectrum of rhythm in his repertoire
Children respond instinctively
Elders swept into the beat
Dancers ensnared by the rhythms
All to create a cacophony of happy faces
Clamoring for more
9.
We listened to our music
and reveled in the sound.
We didn't take it for granted.
Music was a matter of fact.
It just was.
10.
So I'll seek rest and I'll listen
to the peaceful noise of gentle
rainfall and the threatening
tumble of thunder and be calmed
by the whistling whir of the
radio, the low thump and cradle
of easy blues music while I lay
fingertips pressed over closed
eyelids releasing the day's
unease.

On Book Editing

The process of editing can be trying. If one is working with the right people; however, it does not have to be. I have two separate editors to help me through the process: a general editor and a line editor; each is tasked with differing yet consonant agendas. I think I am working with the right people because working with an editor has opened my eyes to the potential of my own work.

Both of my editors have easy-going personalities and both are knowledgeable and well-read. This makes working with them quite pleasurable and always a learning experience. They play quite different roles, however. While on the one hand, my editor is responsible for the overall flow of content, as well as matters of style; on the other hand, my line editor is responsible for grammar, punctuation and spelling. Ultimately, each is tasked with making the text stronger and more cohesive.

They work in different yet complementary ways. Whereas my editor encouraged me to look at the big picture, to stand back and connect each part of the story scene by scene, or poem by poem, to ask how the unifying theme flows through every paragraph or every poem; my line editor has a knack or an eye for detail. She asks how things could be changed on a micro level for a smoother flow, a more fluid read. She works to dissect the text and rebuild it sentence by sentence.

I liked working with the two of them because each was methodical with his/her comments and served as a good listener, a sounding board when I needed it. It helps that I have worked with this editorial team on a previous project, so they know how to communicate with me.

Working with the two of them has been such a pleasure. It has opened me up to the possibilities of my own work. Working with my editor, in particular, has helped me appreciate the richness of my work, that there are alternate interpretations, multiple layers or shades of meaning to my poetry. Rather than having my ego busted, I get an ego boost by working with my editor.

To conclude, I think that I am working with the right people because they are well-qualified for their roles and because they have helped me understand that book production does not have to be painful. At its best, it can be quite inspiring.