Brief Notes on the Occasion of the Release of All the Rage

I started submitting my poems and stories to small press journals beginning in the summer and autumn of 2010, after a long break from submitting. Not long into this new wave of work and publishing, I came across a call for submissions to a small new journal called Electric Windmill.  Brian Le Lay, the editor in chief, accepted two of my poems—I was especially pleased that they accepted a poem I called “Lithium Tremor Blues” to appear in the magazine, so I kept submitting to them and my work appeared in a number of subsequent issues.  Around this time Brian e-mailed me and told me that he and Jess Dykstra (the other brain behind Electric Windmill Press) wanted to start a chapbook series.  Why not start with one by me?  I set to work on collecting the poems, most of which were written from summer 2011 to winter 2012.  I chose to focus mostly on poems that cast light on my struggles throughout my twenties.  Luckily for me, they loved what I sent them and the process of publishing this little book began.  I am forever indebted to Brian and Jess for their hard work on it.  From the cover design to blurbs on the back, it’s a beauty.  I hope readers enjoy it and I look forward to shouting from the mountain tops about it as long as there are copies to print.  

To order a copy of All the Rage:

http://electricwindmill.storenvy.com/products/2089358-all-the-rage-by-kevin-ridgeway

Electric Windmill Press main site:

http://electricwindmillpress.com/

Beware the Ides of March

March has been a relatively productive month, writing-wise.  I just had a poem published in the great online journal Red Fez, their tenth anniversary issue.  The site has a great new design and the issue features fantastic work by many friends of mine.  You can check out my poem, links to the issue and all things Fez via this link:

http://www.redfez.net/poetry/1789

I also have poems featured in forthcoming publications from the excellent Gutter Eloquence Magazine, The Blue Hour Magazine and The Weekenders.   My chapbook, All the Rage, will be published by Electric Windmill Books very soon. I'll keep you posted on all of these things well into April.

I will be a featured reader along with Joan E. Bauer at Tebot Bach in Huntington Beach, CA on March 29th at 8 PM.  I have heard nothing but amazing things about Tebot Bach and am very honored to be asked to read for their monthly series.  Here's the site link:

http://tebotbach.org/readings.html#features

As I always seem to say, this blog will eventually undergo renovations to include my publication credits and more links.  I just need to stop procrastinating and get to it!!!!  Until then...

The Next Big Thing

I’ve been tagged by the amazing John Swain to participate in The Next Big Thing.  You can check out John’s self-interview at this link:

http://effitsundy.blogspot.com/2013/02/john-swain-next-best-thing-q-a.html

Here is my self-interview! 

The Next Big Thing:  Kevin Ridgeway

What is the title of the book?

All the Rage



Where did the idea come from for the book?

 The majority of the poems in this chapbook reflect on the struggles of early adulthood—mostly my own experiences.  I was writing a lot of work that dealt with a variety of elements around this theme and the poems fit together for a short collection. 


What genre does your book fall under?

 Poetry—free verse poetry.


What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

 I want Sam Elliot to narrate, and I can’t think of anyone better than Wilford Brimley to play me, in a mop-top wig, of course.  The rest of the parts should be portrayed by Daniel Day-Lewis.  In fact, scrap everything else—Daniel Day-Lewis should play all the roles, and direct the film.  We’ll change the title to “Daniel Day-Lewis” for the film version.


What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

 Journey through the rubble chasing the eye of his youthful storm.


How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

 Most of the poems were written within a few years.  The earliest one made its first appearance as a rough draft circa 2007.


Who or what inspired you to write this book?

 I was writing from my own experiences as I weathered the trials and tribulations of transforming from boy to man.  The poems in All the Rage form something of a time capsule of my early to mid twenties, what I was trudging through, what I was feeling—it was natural for a collection, albeit a small one, to materialize from this work. 


What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

 There is a lot of sex, drugs and rock n roll in this book, kiddos. 


Is your book self-published or represented by an agency?

All the Rage is being published by Electric Windmill Press out of Boston.  It will be available this spring, 2013!

I’ve tagged the great Brian Le Lay to respond to these questions.  Check out his answers by next Wednesday, the 27^th, at this link:

http://www.conceiveyourself.blogspot.com/

All the Rage and Forthcoming Publications

Above is the front cover of my forthcoming chapbook, All the Rage, which will be published in March by Electric Windmill Books.  I have nothing but gratitude and praise for editors Brian Le Lay and Jess Dykstra for the conception and design of it.  I feel like I merely wrote some poems and these brilliant folks are creating something beyond cool that I am very excited about.  I will keep you up to date on its progress and will make an official announcement of its release here and elsewhere.

I got some good news from a few great places on the publication of new poems of mine.  I have two poems coming up in Bank-Heavy Press' "Doughnut Touch Me!" in addition to poems in forthcoming issues of Gutter Eloquence Magazine and The Stray Branch.  Huge thanks to the editors of those fantastic publications!  These developments are certainly helping me to beat the winter blues, for sure.

I will be using this blog more--it is going to be undergoing a makeover with my own personal archives and links to favorite fellow writers and great publications.  Stay tuned in the coming weeks...

What's Wrong With You, Boy? You Don't Blog No More

Pictured above is the latest, fifth issue of Electric Windmill Press.  I have had the good fortune of appearing in a number of issues from Electric Windmill, and am thrilled to have three poems in this one.  Many thanks to Brian Le Lay and Jess Dykstra, editors.  Here is a link to issue five (which includes folks like Thomas R Thomas and Bud Smith, among others!):



http://electricwindmillpress.com/issues/electric-windmill-no-005/

Also included on the Electric Windmill site are links to my chapbook from Flutter Press, Burn Through Today, and this blog...which made me think:  I haven't updated this bugger in seven months!  I am trying to amend that and am here to say more updates are on the way.  I am currently working on a extensive archive of my published work to install here within these pages, as well as links to my comrades in ink and other things I love.  

I will announce here that I have two chapbooks of my poems due out this year:  "All the Rage" from Electric Windmill Books and "Contents Under Pressure" from Crisis Chronicles Press.  Many thanks again to Brian and Jess at EW and to John Burroughs of Crisis Chronicles for taking me on!  You can check out Crisis Chronicles Press here--they do excellent work and I'm thrilled to take part:

http://press.crisischronicles.com/

  
I'll leave you with a link to Thomas R Thomas' excellent cyber chapbook from Carnival Lit Mag, available for your viewing pleasure at the Carnival website, because I love Thomas' poetry and have all the love in the world for Carnival, an excellent online literary journal.  Enjoy!

http://www.carnivalitmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/page-1-adj-sz.jpg