The reaction to DEVOTIONS was heartwarming. People were excited and inspired by the combination of poetry, history of craft & skills, colouring and STICKERS!

​         My coloured-in dedication page drew them
into conversation and engaged their curiosity.




​       If I've got your attention (perhaps you've already planned on coming out for the fun?), OFFICIAL LAUNCH open-house/holiday party is set for the coming weekend. Love to see you!

November is generally a tough time for me (before we get caught up in the skirmish that is holiday prep) but this year seems to be an unusually difficult one. As some of you might know, I miss my Mom a lot of the time. She was one of those 'hub of the family' ladies; opinionated but active until the last 2 weeks of her long and rich life. Oh, the shoes that need filling!

On top of that I'm also the personality-type that barrels through life organizing, creating and mostly getting things done. Therefore spring and summer were busy times, as always. Everything was good, right? Until my body (via a heart-flutter) told me it wasn't. So on top of massage, meditation and pilates, I've added some handy-work like crocheting or knitting and then colouring. Doesn't that just segway right into the new poetry book that's at the printers as we speak...

​So, I'm starting to colour...and placing some of the stickers (included with the book) in interesting and colourful places. I'm personalizing my own copy and relaxing at the same time. How cool is that?

Want to join in the fun? I'll be at BOOKAPALOOZA (Saturday, November 25th) in Whitby and I'm also having a blowout launch party (with wine, chocolate & colouring) on Sunday, December 3rd from 2-5pm in Oshawa, ON. You can get hold of copies through this site or on Amazon. Lots of options for your creative types. Carry on!

Oh, cover? Sure, here you go for my cover reveal...
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                                                   Keep smiling through the darkness!

Reviewed by Kate Rogers
 
The poetry collection "The Patternmaker's Crumpled Plan", by B. E. Hunt (Piquant Press, 2011) evokes the narrator’s deep, contradictory, remorseful responses to the loss of long term love, and her despair at the disintegration of a shared life and household.
We encounter the narrator dissecting her lost relationship in "Autopsy" (p. 26),

"Start by shucking back the skin/
to strip out veins like algae strands/

bleed craggy brain and lifeless limbs/
gut soft spots like some sea bass/

you hone forensic tools--/
           should've, would've, could've.../"

In "When you Love me Now" (p. 13), compelled by habit, the narrator and her ex-lover seek comfort  from each other's bodies, but comfort gives way to numbness,

"And yet like wine spilled on the floor/
reduced to stain

our passion rims the edge;
the crust, much darker
is like blood

our hearts no longer pump/
to fingertips and lips that won't respond;/
our toes have no more feelings

no balance, all gravity gone."

In "Topography" (p.40), "collectibles" are "a scattered tribute to the broken years".

The wrenching dismantling of shared domestic order, the "jumbled linen" and "mismatched pots" of a new household assembled from "charred wreckage" conjure dislocation and despair. (Finesse, p.46). In "So" (p. 50), the narrator feels "the mirrors mock" her, yet she believes the patternmaker's crumpled plan" can be smoothed and re-used.

Reuse or repurposing is a theme of Hunt’s collection: many of the poems within reuse lines from other poets or respond to them. The source of inspiration is listed in footers below Hunt’s poems. (Hunt’s approach formalises the process many poets use as they write—to respond to the line of another poet like a prompt. That style has also been employed by Toronto poet Catherine Graham in her collection, “Her Red Hair Rises With the Wings of Insects” (2013). Graham was inspired by Irish poet Dorothy Molloy and her book features glosas which incorporate Molloy’s work.)

The passion, despair and deep reflection triggered by the loss of a long term relationship are expressed in a compelling manner in "The Patternmaker's Crumpled Plan". Thinking back to similar periods in my own life I believe the beautifully crafted poems in this book would bring comfort to many people struggling with grief over a lost long time love.

As I wait to hold my newest poetry book in my sweaty hands, let's talk about colouring. Have you discovered the satisfaction and meditation connected with colouring? I started in earnest almost 2 years ago when a family member went through an unnerving (& stressful) mental health crisis. Now these happen from time to time, depending on changes in life circumstances. They are however hard on the body. Since the body carries stress (sometimes) unbeknownst to us, de-stressing is crucial. 

Enter, colouring. I loved it as a child. Pencil crayons. The smell of glue. A catalogue to cut and paste. But there are some exquisite colouring books out there. Hence when it came to prepping Devotions (the new poetry book) why wouldn't I make it a colouring book too? Oh, and let's have stickers just for fun!

Here's the trademark sticker (coloured thanks to Sue Reynolds) just to whet your appetite and inspire you (during this gloomy November weather) to contemplate some devotions of your own...Happy Friday!