Summer of the Horse – a review
I used to be a voracious reader; often having two or even three books ‘on the go’ at any given time. Every night I’d read myself to sleep. I’d read for ten minutes while the cookies baked; packed a book in the vehicle to pass the time if I had to wait longer than two minutes for anything. Books were something into which I immersed myself, a respite from reality, a foray into the unknown. But lately my eyesight has not been cooperative of these forays. After half an hour the print blurs and I find myself straining to at least reach a ‘good place’ to stop until my eyes will focus again. Frustrated, I explored the world of e-books. At least I could increase the font size on the screen. Unfortunately, the screen is too small and reading a book when the lines are 4 words long with only 4 or 5 lines visible is ultimately unsatisfying. The e-reader is hard to hold too. Thin and sleek may look nice and fit into your purse, but it’s not comfortable to hold for any length of time.
So, slowly, my reading has dropped off. When something doesn’t satisfy anymore one tends to drift away from it. But this morning I read for an hour and a half. My eyes straining to get through each ensuing sentence, I couldn’t put the book down until finally I just couldn’t see the words anymore. Now here I am writing about the experience (with a large monitor jacked up to 200% zoom I might add) waiting for my eyes to adjust so I can go back and read some 
more.
What is the object of this obsession you might ask? It’s my newly acquired copy of Donna Kane’s book “Summer of the Horse”. I was privileged to be present at her book launch last evening and, enthralled by her reading of two excerpts from the book, I purchased a copy, eager to dive into a book where the words did not just convey information; they sparkled with all the potential of the English language to be beautiful, evocative, and engaging.
I was not disappointed. I’m only about a quarter of the way through the “Summer of the Horse” but I’m thoroughly hooked and enchanted. Writing poetry has become an essential extension of my life, and my mantra has always been “Be brave, be honest”. Donna has always done that in her poetry, and now she is doing it in her creative non-fiction.
Run, do not walk, to the Dawson Creek Art Gallery and purchase a copy of “Summer of the Horse”. I haven’t even finished it yet and I know you will love it.
Linda Studley 
ISBNs and humility (not a poem)
The book is finished. The last changes were made and uploaded. Now all I need is an ISBN. As soon as it comes, I’ll add it to the book and Ta-Freakin’-Da, my first book of poetry will be available.
Of course now comes the promotional phase! Pass me that horn will you? Time to toot it! It’s one of the hardest things for most creative people to do – self promotion. If you’ve been raised to have even the remotest shred of modesty and/or humility, self-promotion feels pushy. But I’m gonna do it anyway!
The fact is, looking for a ‘publishing company’ who will publish the first book of poems from a (sigh) unknown poet is a bit like the proverbial search for the needle in the haystack. Let’s just say I’m not in any great danger of signing a publishing deal anytime soon!
If you’re incredibly famous already you’ll have a publicist (and a publishing deal complete with advances), but us newbies gotta work for it! And that’s okay, if we have the gumption to write we should also have the gumption to learn the self-promotion ropes and publicize our wares.
To that end I’ve created a Facebook writing page (if I hit all the right keys, there should be a way to get there from here… what can I say – it’s a work in progress!) and I’m planning a local book launch and perhaps I’ll launch in a couple of cities in my immediate geographic sphere (of course if anyone’s interested in providing the plane fare I’ll put on a book launch pretty much anywhere!).
I’ll be carrying my books with me, talking to any media types I can track down, and I’m open to suggestions – all of you have been so helpful and supportive – if you know of anywhere else I can promote this book I’d be tickled pink to hear from you!
Soon, soon, the book will be ready soon…. 😉
Linda