#Brewer's cafe verse

[worldsneverfilled]

Now including the Lantern Isles, an archipelago town made up of lighthouses.

Updated as of 10.20.23:

[char27martin]

John Sibley Williams: Poet Interview

Please join me in welcoming John Sibley Williams to the Poetic Asides blog!

John Sibley Williams

John Sibley Williams is the editor of two Northwest poetry anthologies and the author of nine collections, including Disinheritance and Controlled Hallucinations. A seven-time Pushcart nominee, John is the winner of numerous awards, including the Philip Booth Award, American Literary Review Poetry Contest, Nancy D. Hargrove Editors’ Prize, Confrontation Poetry Prize, and Vallum Award for Poetry.

He serves as editor of The Inflectionist Review and works as a literary agent. Previous publishing credits include: The Yale Review, Midwest Quarterly, Sycamore Review, The Massachusetts Review, Poet Lore, Saranac Review, Arts & Letters, Columbia Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Poetry Northwest, Third Coast, Baltimore Review, RHINO, and various anthologies. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

Learn more here.

Here’s a poem I really enjoyed from his collection Disinheritance:

November Country, by John Sibley Williams

My grandfather digs a double plot with his bare hands in case winter can be shared though he knows grandmother will outlive her heart’s thaw by a decade. I could give him a shovel. Instead

I ball the half-frozen river’s slack numb around my fist, tighten into ice. I will try to be less hard next time. Here in the gray and two-dimensional house we know the answer to rain.

A perforated black arrow of birds moves southward, array. Shrill reports from every side and from the sky the trajectory of abandonment.

Our surfaces are like the river. Our circles have learned to grow edges and crack. Even the birds we compare ourselves to

have left us.

*****

Forget Revision, Learn How to Re-create Your Poems!

Do you find first drafts the easy part and revision kind of intimidating? If so, you’re not alone, and it’s common for writers to think the revision process is boring–but it doesn’t have to be!

In the 48-minute tutorial Re-Creating Poetry: How to Revise Poems, poets will learn how to go about re-creating their poems with the use of 7 revision filters that can help poets more effectively play with their poems after the first draft. Plus, it helps poets see how they make revision–gasp–fun!

Click to continue.

*****

What are you currently up to?

Apart from being a new father of twins, which, along with writing, sort of defines me now, I’ve just completed two full-length poetry manuscripts that I’m submitting to various contests and publishers.

Skin Memory is an amalgam of free verse and prose poetry that focuses on bodies—human, animal, celestial, landscape—and how they affect each other. Keeping the Old World Lit is a tightly structured set of poems that explores our relationship with history, nostalgia, and cultural and personal regret.

I loved reading Disinheritance. How did you go about getting this collection published?

Thanks so much! I really appreciate that. Disinheritance was a bit more personal, more intimate, than most of my work, so there was a greater emotional risk when introducing it to the world. I’m genuinely touched when someone tells me it resonated with them.

Luckily, the publication process was quite simple. Although I experienced the usual and expected rejections from a few contests and major publishers, Apprentice House Press took it on within a few months of the manuscript’s completion. I wish I had a powerful or inspiring story to share here, but Disinheritance came together easily and found a publisher fairly quickly.

You’re the author of nine poetry collections. Do they get easier or harder as you go along?

Not to sound coy, but both.

Putting together my earlier chapbooks felt like a simpler process, but that’s likely because each was a unique entity with poems written to work together toward the same goals. Those earlier poems were envisioned as short collections. Also, and perhaps more importantly, back then I hadn’t really studied how other poets structure their books.

There’s a true art to making 50, 80, 100 poems read fluidly. There are so many interesting techniques one can employ to create threads for the reader to follow throughout an entire collection. And there is so much culling, so much editing, so many lovely poems that must fall to the cutting room floor for the sake of overall consistency and flow.

So the process of organizing a book has become almost as complex as the writing itself, though it’s also become far more fun and rewarding.

For the individual poems, do you have a submission routine?

Absolutely, and a rather strict one.

It’s taken me years of research and reading hundreds of magazines to create a thorough spreadsheet for my individual poem submissions. I keep notes on their changing editorial focuses and open submission windows. I do my best to match each poem with a few magazines that I feel might enjoy them.

And I track all submissions so that every poem I truly believe in is submitted to around five magazines at a time. It’s a time-consuming process, taking up at least a third of my creative time each week, but it’s worth it.

As a follow up, do you have a writing routine you try to keep?

I became the father of twins about six months ago, so I’m now carving out new, flexible routines that balance writing with life’s many other joyful responsibilities. I still write daily, though usually in fragments, in stolen moments, taking notes that will, hopefully, band together into poems.

I’m currently able to set aside about three days each week for true composition. To balance with the babies’ schedule, I tend to write for a few hours each weekend morning, just after dawn, and I’ve tweaked my full-time work hours a bit to allow me one or two afternoons of writing time.

As to the where of writing, when the notoriously rainy Oregon weather allows it, I prefer to write outside, in open-aired cafes or a nearby park that runs along the southern banks of the Willamette River.

One poet nobody knows but should. Who is it?

I shouldn’t assume what poets readers are or are not already familiar with, but one of my favorite books from last year that didn’t seem to make any of the Best of 2016 lists is Ramshackle Ode, by Keith Leonard. Admittedly, it was published by Mariner Books, so not exactly an unknown press, but I haven’t noticed much buzz in the poetry community about this incredible collection.

Each poem paints a fragile yet stubbornly persistent world, and somehow Leonard manages to both celebrate and eulogize life with a natural grace that feels so intimate, so familiar.

If you could pass along only one piece of advice to fellow poets, what would it be?

There’s a reason “keep writing, keep reading” has become clichéd advice for emerging writers; it’s absolutely true. You need to study as many books as possible from authors of various genres and from various countries. Listen to their voices. Watch how they manipulate and celebrate language. Delve deep into their themes and take notes on the stylistic, structural, and linguistic tools they employ.

And never, ever stop writing. Write every free moment you have. Bring a notebook and pen everywhere you go (and I mean everywhere). It’s okay if you’re only taking notes. Notes are critical. It’s okay if that first book doesn’t find a publisher. There will be more books to come. And it’s okay if those first poems aren’t all that great. You have a lifetime to grow as a writer.

Do we write to be cool, to be popular, to make money? We write because we have to, because we love crafting poems, because stringing words together into meaning is one of life’s true joys. So rejections are par for the course. Writing poems or stories that just aren’t as strong as they could be is par for the course. But we must all retain that burning passion for language and storytelling. That flame is what keeps us maturing as writers.

*****

Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Poet’s Market and author of Solving the World’s Problems. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.

*****

Check out these other poetic posts:

Amorak Huey: Poet Interview.

20 Best Tips for Poets.

WD Poetic Form Challenge: Clogyrnach.

The post John Sibley Williams: Poet Interview appeared first on WritersDigest.com.

from Writing Editor Blogs – WritersDigest.com http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/john-sibley-williams-poet-interview

[worldsneverfilled]

Legend of Lan; What I've come up with so far:

Determined there's a blight of some kind that started in Lan and is slowly spreading, creating a massive wasteland.

Lan's citizens disappeared and the city fell into ruin over night.

This happened a few centuries prior to the story.

No one knows what caused it but they know shit's fucked when the blight reaches any rivers. Not if, but when.

Garthspire is the one with the problem, however, Luhren knows it'll be everyone's problem eventually. Noctre is preparing for the worst but they're doing nothing to help solve the problem. They're very much an "every man for himself" type of nation. Luhren has offered countless scholars and mages to study the blight to help avert the crisis that will hit within the next century.

Some researchers think the blight came from the Mistlands somehow, but they don't have much proof and no one that travels to the Mistlands returns. They can't afford to send anyone to check either.

Because of Noctre's behavior, some people believe it's partly their fault. The theories range from a slighted lover's revenge to chemical warfare to a deal with the demons that are believed to live in the Mistlands. It is none of these things. Noctre has nothing to do with it. That does not deter the conspiracy theorists.

Mistlands are actually pretty chill, but I haven't chosen a reason for why people don't come back yet, but I have a few ideas.

I need to move Lan's location on the map so it's in the center of the Lan Desert rather than on the edge to match it being the center of the blight.

That's all I've got so far. I didn't accomplish much at work and this isn't fleshed out further than this list. I was banging my head against my desk b/c my brain didn't want to work like I needed it to.

[worldsneverfilled]

Countries: Brewer's Cafe Verse

Luhren

Ruled by King Rephael

Capital: Luhren

City: Demsin (Along the southern border)

City: Fellville

Village: The Wastes

Freysher Islands

Herald's Sea

Road: Felled Tyrant

Noctre

Ruled by the Council of Three, each state has its own Lord in the Council. The named cities and town are also the names of the states of this country.

Capital: Odret

City: Lith

Town: Morleth

Carrowine Forest (Southern)

Death's Door Desert

Lake: The Great Night

Country: Garthspire

Ruled by King Metrin

Capital: Carthin

City: Hadlen's Rest

City: Garlan

Outpost: Garlan Dams

Lanew Desert

Carrowine Forest (Northern)

City: Thrall's Nest

Town: Upper and Lower Dresnic

Town: Nestle Hills

Road: Pianes Climb

Ruins: Ruins of the Lan

Village: Bartlen Fields

Mistlands

Unknown

And a draft of the map for this continent:

Updated Map for this continent, now including more towns, cities, and roads (click on it for clarity):

[worldsneverfilled]

Type: NPC

Aliases: N/A

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Fennec-Folk

Home: Luhren, Luhren

Age: 28

Job: Advisor to the king

Class: N/A

Loyalty: Luhren, the king

Alignment: N

Height: 3'8

Personality: Boastful, cheerful, a bit self-serving but knows when to dial it back and put the country first, shrewd in the best of times/oblivious in the worst of times.

Status: Alive

Tidbits:

Lives in a manor that's almost as grand as the King's palace. It has its own chapel with stained glass windows he designed himself.

Artistically inclined. When not working, he's painting or designing glasswork.

Good with numbers and has helped restructure the economy to put Luhren at the top in the continent through Luhren's mineral exports.

Has a terrible sense of humor that most just laugh at so as to not be rude. He's the reason their coffers are overflowing. It would be foolish to piss him off.

[worldsneverfilled]

Type: NPC

Aliases: Mel

Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Harengon

Home: Fellville, Luhren

Age: 32

Class: Illusion Wizard

Spell of Choice: Magic Missile

Weapon of Choice: Quarterstaff

Loyalty: The Harbrer Enclave

Alignment: N

Height: 4'11

Personality: Studious, dedicated, focused, apathetic to anything not related to work, secretly an emotional wreck.

Status: Alive

Tidbits:

Mellan hates to be a stereotype but she loves carrots...especially dipped in peanut butter...

She enjoys jigsaw puzzles and glues them down when she finishes them to preserve the pictures.

She's been part of the Harbrer Enclave for a decade now and she's a second circle acolyte in their hierarchy.

[worldsneverfilled]

Country: Garthspire; Ruins of the Lan Map (WIP)

Once inhabited by the Lan, an ancient race that died out from an unwillingness to progress with the rest of the world. Their once flourishing city fell into ruin almost immediately following their fall, and eventually, that ruin spread, creating the Lanew Decay present in Garthspire today. It's unknown if the Decay's creation is natural or not. Locals swear that it's from a curse.

Edit: added the cobblestone paths and removed the grid

[worldsneverfilled]

Brewer's Cafe Verse Legend of Lan - Masterpost

Misc.:

Wiki Playlist Current Overview World Anvil

Countries:

Luhren:

Locations: Cities/Towns/Villages - Luhren, Demsin, Fellville, The Wastes Misc. - The Herald's Sea, Felled Tyrant Road, Pianes Mountains, Freysher Islands

Noctre:

Locations: Cities/Towns/Villages - Odret, Lith, Morleth Misc. - Carrowine Forest (Southern), Death's Door Desert, The Great Night Lake, Pianes Mountains

Garthspire:

Locations: Cities/Towns/Villages - Carthin, Hadlen's Rest, Garlan, Garlan Dams, Thrall's Nest, Upper and Lower Dresnic, Nestle Hills, Bartlen Fields (farmland), Lantern Isles Misc. - Lanew Decay, Carrowine Forest (Northern), Pianes Climb Road, Pianes Mountains, Ruins of the Lan, Lake Garlan

Mistlands:

Locations: Unknown

Maps:

World Map / Updated World Map City/National Maps: Ruins of the Lan Lantern Isles Source of the Decay in Lanew (WIP)

Writings:

Lanew, the Legend of the Lan (Prologue), Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 Pantheon Legends and Myths Overview

Characters: (asterisk for MCs)

King Metrin (Carthin, Garthspire) King Rephael (Luhren, Luhren) Haralt Dreadclaw (Hadlen's Rest, Garthspire) Wemont Boultair (Odret, Noctre) Shreed Zad (Carthin, Garthspire) Lotren Kaksh (Hadlen's Rest, Garthspire) Lord Walter Speartongue (Hadlen's Rest, Garthspire) Bonnie Bonson (Carthin, Garthspire) Kraven Drew (Carthin, Garthspire) Torm Drew (Carthin, Garthspire) Rutle (Carthin, Garthspire) *Jas (Carthin, Garthspire) Marlon Farspeak (Carthin, Garthspire) Beslie Drew (Carthin, Garthspire) Granny Pearl (Demsin, Luhren) Calrot Farseer (Luhren, Luhren) Mellan Bohr (Fellville, Luhren) "Lord" Handel Smorle (The Wastes, Luhren) Constable Ke'vril Jen (The Wastes, Luhren) Yew Fargrove (The Wastes, Luhren) Fredrick Miller (The Wastes, Luhren) *Dee Jayford (Renfalls/Carthin, Garthspire) Marcus Vamhorn (Thrall's Nest, Garthspire) Jellef Sharpe (Thrall's Nest, Garthspire) Cigam Miller (The Wastes, Luhren) Kondred Mauritania (Odret, Noctre) Lucy Mauritania (Odret, Noctre) Cindy Miller (The Wastes, Luhren) Thistle Flowery (Luhren, Luhren) Charlotte Fellwater (Luhren, Luhren) Gerfeld Cleareth (Demsin, Lurhren) Merhren the Seer (Demsin, Luhren) Beral (Luhren, Luhren) Veshrun (Carthin, Garthspire) Jellef Sharpe (Thrall's Nest, Garthspire) *Janon the Walker (Demsin, Luhren) Jesek (Demsin, Luhren) Valti Mitwood (Odret, Noctre) *Kithen Frest (Carthin, Garthspire) *Sanjen Miller (Carthin, Garthspire)

Organizations/Guilds:

Harbrer Enclave (Mage Guild) [X] The Prowlers (Thieves Guild) Guareths (rich people's thieves "guild") The Liquidators (assassins guild) Wrights (workers union) Merchant's Guild Organization of the Practice of White Magic (Mage Guild, Wastes only)

Historical Events:

The Fall of Lanew The Dragon's War The Carrowine Invasion Annexation of Thrall's Nest Northern Expedition The Turn of Pianes

[worldsneverfilled]

Type: NPC

Aliases: N/A

Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Gnome

Home: Demsin, Luhren

Age: 97

Class: N/A

Weapon of Choice: The Grandma Stare, her cane

Loyalty: Luhren, her family

Alignment: NG

Height: 3'4

Personality: Kind, maternal, whimsical, understanding, meddlesome.

Status: Alive

Tidbits:

Granny Pearl is named after my own granny.

She had a butcher shop for the longest time, but her son took over for her when she retired. She still lives in the apartment above the shop, while he lives next door to it.

She can make a mean meat pie.

She can and will beat a bitch with her cane.

[worldsneverfilled]

Type: NPC

Aliases: High King of Garthspire

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Human

Home: Luhren

Age: 45

Class: Fighter

Weapon of Choice: One of the Four Holy Sabers, Fredien

Loyalty: Luhren and its people, King Metren

Alignment: LN

Height: 6'2

Personality: Just, pious, warm, high-spirited, personable.

Status: Alive

Tidbits:

King Rephael's kingdom neighbors that of Garthspire, an ally of theirs.

Married with three children. His partner is named Drelnar. Their three children are Hewlin, Jarlo, and Frendlin.

He took the throne after his mother's death when he was 38.

His kingdom is living through a time of peace and prosperity, but there's tension growing between them and the nation of Noctre.

[worldsneverfilled]

I love how making a handful of blorbos leads to making a whole-ass continent, which morphs into "hey, let's go make a map about it."

This is not what I intended. This is not what I wanted. Oh fuck what have I done?

[worldsneverfilled]

Haralt Dreadclaw

Type: NPC

Aliases: Harry

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Tabaxi

Home: Hadlen's Rest, Garthspire

Age: 39

Class: Champion Fighter

Job: Guard for Lord Walter Speartongue

Loyalty: Garthspire, Lord Speartongue

Alignment: NG

Height: 6'5

Personality: Proud, determined, dominating, patriotic, a bit overzealous, and obsessive.

Status: Alive

Strategy: Eliminate the threat before it becomes a threat.

Tidbits:

Extremely loyal to Lord Speartongue, almost obsessively so.

He is meticulous about his appearance and very health conscious.

He means well with his passion and all, but he can be...a bit much sometimes.

Fancies himself as a heroic knight.

[worldsneverfilled]

Wemont Boultair

Type: NPC

Aliases: N/A

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Tortle

Home: Odret, Noctre

Age: 78

Class: Rogue, Mastermind

Weapon of Choice: Dagger he calls Darling

Job: Advisor to the Lord of his city

Loyalty: The Lord and himself

Alignment: LE

Height: 6'11

Personality: Sly, greedy, conniving, frugal, wise, patient, self serving.

Strategy: Eliminate anyone who's a threat to his goals, this doesn't usually mean death.

Tidbits:

A suck-up to the Lord.

Wanted to adopt Kondred to have an apprentice of sorts, and someone to take the blame later in life if he needed an out.

Pretends to like children but doesn't really care for them. He doesn't hate them, just doesn't like them. They're noisy and messy and loud. They see too much.

Butts heads with Lucy frequently. She's hired muscle and she needs to remember her place.

[worldsneverfilled]

Shreed Zad

Type: NPC

Aliases: Shree

Pronouns: She/Her

Race: Owlin

Home: Carthin, Garthspire

Age: 19

Class: N/A

Job: Advisor to the king, specifically with the nation's finances

Loyalty: The king of Garthspire

Alignment: CG

Height: 4'0

Personality: Cunning, perceptive, peaceful, organized, and a bit cowardly

Status: Alive

Strategy: Run the other way...

Tidbits:

She replaced Nathkir after his sudden "death".

She's fairly certain that Nathkir isn't dead and that something is off about the king. Shreed has her theories on the whole situation, but to voice them would be to cheerfully place her head on a pike with a smile on her face. She doesn't currently have proof, but because things are improving under Nathkir's leadership, she subtly supports the move.

Nathkir chose her to replace him after her time as his assistant. He thinks she might be onto him, but he knows she doesn't have proof, nor would she attempt to out him.

Loves number puzzles and usually has one in hand during her spare time. She paces while she solves them.

[worldsneverfilled]

Lotren Kaksh

Type: NPC

Aliases: N/A

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Dragonborn

Home: Hadlen's Rest, Garthspire

Age: 93

Class: Artillerist Artificer

Weapon of Choice: A double-action revolver

Job: A Gunsmith (private business, currently), gunsmith (military service, formerly)

Loyalty: Garthspire and its military, family, the Drews (especially Kraven)

Alignment: NG

Height: 6'4

Personality: Dedicated, agreeable, dependable, perfectionist, slightly paranoid after the war.

Status: Alive

Strategy: Disable and subdue if possible to avoid needless death

Tidbits:

He lost his left arm during his military service in an explosion. It was crushed and unsalvagable. He has since had a prosthetic made for it and can function almost normally. He states that he doesn't think he'll ever fully acclimatize to it, but it's easy to work around and doesn't hinder his work too much.

This man is never not working. Kraven will drag him away from work on the days he is supposed to have off to the cafe to eat and relax. The kid is persistent and gives him puppy eyes that he struggles to resist.

He doesn't have a partner or children; he low-key adopted the Drews.

Loves chocolate. I mean, he really loves chocolate. He could eat his weight in it. Hot chocolate with a chocolate cupcake with chocolate cream cheese frosting on top is A+ to this man.

Also fond of tuna and tomato quiche.

[worldsneverfilled]

Lord Walter Speartongue

Type: NPC

Aliases: Lord of Carthin

Pronouns: He/Him

Race: Dragonborn

Home: Hadlin's Rest, Garthspire

Age: 66

Class: Ranger - Horizon Walker

Weapon of Choice: Cutlass his father gave him.

Loyalty: Carthin and its people, King Metren

Alignment: N

Height: 6'2

Personality: People pleaser and a bit fake, prideful, even-tempered and no one has found his hot button

Status: Alive

Tidbits:

Family crest has a snowdrop in it, but the reason for its presence has long been forgotten.

Is ignoring the push for him to settle down and marry someone. An heir isn't needed, but his bachelor status has gone on for so long that it's becoming socially unacceptable for someone in his position to remain single.

He loves to swim, and does so frequently; same with fishing.

He took Bonnie out on the lake to play while he fished once, and it lured in quite a few fish. He claims that she's his lucky charm for catching dinner from then on.

Rumored to have poisoned a suitor. It's another reason for his relationship status. No one wants to risk it. In his defense, they wouldn't take no for an answer.