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Kelly I. Hitchcock Posts

Local author night at BookPeople

Local author night at BookPeople

Published by Kelly on May 5, 2014

Last week, I had my first ever for-realsies author event. BookPeople, my absolute favorite bookstore on the planet (to date, anyway), hosts a local author night once a month with a handful of authors. I got to share my evening with M.E. Patterson, a local sci-fi author.

I was pretty nervous about the prospect of speaking in front of everyone, but I tempered the anxiety with a signature culinary favorite of mine – red wine and pizza. The original Whole Foods is across the street from BookPeople, so I was able to snag 3 of their pizzas and get nice and sweaty walking it over. For the wine, I opted for Vintage Ink so as to be on theme with the book I was featuring, which of course was Portrait of Woman in Ink.

Despite my tempered nervousness, I got through my introduction and book reading with only moderate stammering. The crowd was fantastic – about 15 people between myself and Patterson, so I didn’t have to use my plant (the husband) during the joint Q&A session. We both got a lot of great questions and I performed much better during this session than the reading (something to work on for next time).

BookPeople asked for 16 more copies of the book, and while I only sold a couple, I was completely fine with it since it was only ever supposed to be a social event in my mind. BookPeople gets a lot of really big name authors, so it was definitely an honor to see my name on the front marquee “Appearing soon at BookPeople”. I thought I got a picture of this, but apparently my phone decided to be a dirty little whore instead.

For a first event, I’m certainly marking it in the win column. After all, I got out there and I made myself talk to people, which is the first step in overcoming literary sociopathy. And more importantly, I took away some great lessons for the next time; yes, there WILL be a next time.

Since I was unable to take a good selfie from my podium, I entrusted this duty to my faithful plant.

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My interview on the Bibliophilic Book Blog
New poem up: The Day Grandpa Taught Me to Drive

New poem up: The Day Grandpa Taught Me to Drive

Published by Kelly on March 31, 2014

I struggled with the format to use to capture this powerful memory that has stuck with me to this day. I finally landed on prose poem after simple prose proved too loose a structure for the subject matter and traditional poetry proved too tight. But the important thing to me is just that I was able to get it down in such a way that did honor to the memory of this event (and my grandfather).

Because I needed the title to indicate what the prose poem was about, you can enjoy a poem entitled “The Day Grandpa Taught Me to Drive.”

Check it out HERE.

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New book blogger review of Portrait of Woman in Ink

New book blogger review of Portrait of Woman in Ink

Published by Kelly on March 6, 2014

I owe a pimple-circa-freshman-year-of-high-school-sized thank you to the the wonderful ladies over at A Reader’s Review for agreeing to feature Portrait of Woman in Ink: A Tattoo Storybook on their book review blog. This review particularly means a lot to me because this isn’t the kind of book they typically review on their site, but they found a spot in their literary hearts for a dose of different flavor.

View their beautiful review over HERE and share it with a friend or twelve.

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My interview on CBY Book Club
Portrait of Woman in Ink: now in local bookstores!

Portrait of Woman in Ink: now in local bookstores!

Published by Kelly on January 21, 2014

This post is long overdue, but you’ll have to forgive me on account of my long holiday (and honeymoon) trip to Europe.

The day before we left for Europe, I got to cross one big item off of my bucket list. I got to walk into a bookstore and see the book that I wrote – my baby, my life’s work (up to this point) – on a shelf in a bookstore. Maybe it’s a little silly, but there’s nothing that can make you feel like you’ve “made it” more than this little action.

My book’s now in two independent bookstores in the Austin area. The first to pick it up (after I politely yet persistently introduced myself to the store owner) was BookWoman, a feminist bookstore I figured would be a good fit for the book, even though it kind of reminds me of the Women & Women First bookstore on the IFC show Portlandia. Side note: If you’re unfamiliar, I highly recommend you check it out. I did my research and tried to do all the right things: I actually bought some stuff from the bookstore, I went to a couple events, and – most importantly – I worked up the courage to talk to the store owner about my book and how their programs support local authors.

The second bookstore to pick it up was BookPeople, which is consistently named one of the best independent bookstores in the country. They have a consignment program for local authors, which means I provide them with a few copies of my book, they shelve them, they feature them, and they get me in for a local author night (mine’s in May). Luckily for me, my publisher Book Brain Publishing paid the associated fees and they want me to do more of these programs.

I have a goal for 2014 to get Portrait of Woman in Ink into three more bookstores, so I can have even more shelves to ogle over. Don’t get me wrong, I love ebooks and I think they are crucial to the future success of the publishing industry. But seeing my smooth, glossy cover full of recycled printed pages face out on an old wooden bookshelf is a feeling I won’t soon forget.

 

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New poem up: Home

New poem up: Home

Published by Kelly on November 4, 2013

I’m still finding it difficult to accept the truth of the Julian calendar, but it tells me that it is, in fact, November. Part of the reason I find this so shocking is because the month of September was such a whirlwind for me. We took a road trip to my hometown for a camping trip on Labor Day weekend, and a couple weekends later, I found myself flying to the town where I was born for my grandmother’s funeral. Being to three of the places you’ve called “home” in your life in less than 30 days can really mess with your head and stir up a lot of emotions, and that’s what inspired my latest poem.

It’s called Home, and you can read it HERE.

 

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Portrait of Woman in Ink featured on The Reader’s and Author’s NookCOVER: PORTRAIT OF WOMAN IN INK

Portrait of Woman in Ink featured on The Reader’s and Author’s Nook

Published by Kelly on October 21, 2013

My newest book Portrait of Woman in Ink: A Tattoo Storybook got some review love from fellow author and book blogger Andrea Blackstone over at The Reader’s and Author’s Nook. While you’re over there checking out the wonderful review, take a look at all the great content they have over there and find the next book to add to your TBR list!

A huge thanks to book bloggers like these ladies who spread the word about lesser known books like mine. Check out the review here:

http://thereadersandauthorsnook.blogspot.com/2013/10/im-still-here-kelly-hitchcocks-portrait_20.html

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I got my contributor copy… 3.5 years later

I got my contributor copy… 3.5 years later

Published by Kelly on September 16, 2013

I’ve blogged several times about the issue of Clackamas Literary Review that I was recently published in – a publication timeline that looked a lot like this:

October 2009: I submit 3 poems via snail mail with a good ole SASE.

February 2010: Clackamas accepts 2 of my poems for publication in their 2010 issue.

November 2011: I receive word the issue is going to drop publication any day.

February 2012: I once again receive word the issue is going to be published soon, and that I will receive 7 contributor copies instead of 2, and that I can purchase copies for $5.

March 2013: 2010 issue is published, with promise of shipment for 7 contributor copies, which I do not receive.

September 2013: Tired of waiting, I order my own copy for about $10. Thanks, Amazon Prime!

As publication timelines go, this is a crappy one. Despite the long bouts of miscommunication and having to buy my own copy for full price, there truly is n substitute for the feeling you get when you see your work printed on the pages of what has historically been a very highly acclaimed publication, even if the publication management leaves a thing or two to be desired.

Was it worth it? To be honest, had I known it would take more than 3 years to publish, I might have pulled my poems from consideration after the first unanswered email from the Editor in Chief. Sometimes, though, you just have to stick it out and hope that things eventually pay off. And, even though I had to buy my own copy, I can look on the bright side knowing that my money is going to a graduate writing program that is probably suffering the same kind of fate graduate writing programs are facing all over the country.

And if I do eventually receive my 7 contributors copies, you can bet I’ll be sending a copy to the guy who told me one of the poems in it was “desperate and whiny”.

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First book blog appearance for Portrait of Woman in Ink