I have been submitting articles and poems left and right for two weeks. Duotrope has made my life so much easier. If you are not familiar with Duotrope, I would suggest everyone try it. This is a way to keep up with all your submissions in one easy place. It will give you the name of the publisher you submitted to, the name of the piece you submitted, when it was submitted and if it was accepted or not.

I may be way behind everyone else, because you may already know about this wonderful tool, but it has helped me triple the number of submissions I send out. Now, it's the waiting for a reply that is getting to me!

Book Launch and Signing

A huge thank you to everyone who attended our book launch and signing and made it such a success. For the very first event, we were pleased with the turnout. Here are a few pictures:

Original Ruse

Original Ruse

Barbara Sabol

Paperback

Publisher: Accents Publishing
Language: English

ISBN-10: 0984411879

ISBN-13: 978-0984411870

Part of the Winged Series

Barbara Sabol's poetry and prose has appeared in Public-Republic, Blood Lotus, Poets 350, the Tupelo Press Poetry Project, Tributaries, and on the Akron Art Museum's website. She has an MFA from Spalding University. Barbara is a long-practicing speech therapist, living in northeastern Ohio with her partner and dogs.

This small chapbook of poetry is excellently executed with vivid powerful words. Until I read "Original Ruse," I had never heard of Barbara Sabol, but I will be on the lookout for more of her work.

To give you an example, “Winter” is one of my favorite poems in the book. She has used such rich words to describe how the coldness of winter seeps into your bones.

“Winter is a country

That settles

In your limbs, stir

The joints …”

Just reading this, I can feel the cold of winter stiffening my joints. The imagery is perfect.

“Hula Girls” is another favorite that made me laugh out loud.

“The saleswoman assured me it was fashionable revealing

Just a hint of thigh, white as twice-whipped potatoes …”

Her words are prodigious and stout and her lyrical and narrative approach to poems can’t help but make you thing about the world around you. "Original Ruse" was printed and released by Accents Publishing, “…an independent press for brilliant voices.”

Book Mention

The Bluegrass Bookshelf from the Lexington Herald-Leader on Sunday, August 21st, gave us a shout out. Thanks everyone!!

Places to buy my new book

Here are the places in Harrodsburg that will be carrying the new book:

Shaker Village/pleasant Hill
Beaumont Inn Gift Shop
Kentucky Fudge Shop
Rumors and Razors Hair Salon
Harrodsburg Herald
Royalty's Florist and Gift
Old Country Store
Bee Hive Gift Shop
Old Fort Harrod

Seeing My First First Book Display

I was so shocked to walk into the Harrodsburg Herald office this afternoon, only to be greeted by a display of my new book with co-author Anna Armstrong. I know my jaw dropped to the ground!

So, like a total geek, I went back out to the car for my camera and had to take a few pictures. There's just something about see your name on the cover of a book you are so proud of!

And I'm sorry Beverly and the young man selling papers - I had to have my little girl, squeelie moment!

(My uploading computer is in the shop, ut I'll post pictures soon!)

From Press Release Distribution

From Press Release Distribution (PROLOG):

PRLog (Press Release) - Aug 01, 2011

"The newest addition to Arcadia Publishing’s popular Images of America series is Harrodsburg from local authors Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer and Anna Armstrong. The book boasts more than 200 vintage images and memories of days gone by."

A Blurb from Outskirts Press

Here is a blurb from Outskirts Press

Soon to be released from Arcadia Publishing is Images of America: Harrodsburg, written by Harrodsburg’s Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer (writer) and Anna Armstrong (photography).

A Blurb on World News

From the World News website:

"Soon to be released from Arcadia Publishing is Images of America: Harrodsburg, written by Harrodsburg’s Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer (writer) and Anna Armstrong.(photography). The book will be released the week of August 8th, but is already up for pre-order on several different websites: Amazon Barnes and Noble Arcadia
As of this moment, we are not sure when the book launch and signing will be, but we will keep you up-to-date. The book will also be for sell in several local
business, as well as Lexington and surrounding areas."

Featured in Danville Advocate

I would like to give a big shout out to Jennifer Brummett at the Danville Advocate for doing such a nice job with the release of our new book. All information in this article is copyright Danville Advocate and Jennifer Brummett.

Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer and Anna Armstrong traveled a circuitous route to get to the publication of their first book together, “Images of America: Harrodsburg.” The pictorial history of Harrodsburg will be released Monday from Arcadia Publishing, which is based out of Mount Pleasant, S.C., outside of Charleston.

Rightmyer’s daughter was friends with the acquisitions editor for Arcadia Publishing, who approached Rightmyer for a book about Owen County. Rightmyer said she didn’t know anything about Owen County but she knew Harrodsburg. That started her on the path to developing a book about Harrodsburg.

Rightmyer said she’d known Armstrong all her life and was aware of her extensive collection of photos of Harrodsburg that date from the 1930s, with some older ones, as well. She sent an e-mail to Armstrong — an e-mail Armstrong never received. So Rightmyer went ahead and signed a contract with Arcadia to do the historical book, figuring she’d get photos from the local historical society. “I signed the contract with no idea of how to write a history book,” Rightmyer explained. In the meantime, Armstrong had been in contact with Arcadia about a postcard she was interested in creating.

“I have a huge archive of photos from my father (Andrew Armstrong), my aunt (Jesta Bell Armstrong Matherly, who also was an artist) and my work,” Armstrong said. She found out about Rightmyer’s work on a book about Harrodsburg, and wondered what she was using for the photographic element, since her own collection of Harrodsburg photos is unparalleled. Rightmyer said she was thrilled when Armstrong called, and the two got together to discuss the book, which was when they figured out Rightmyer’s e-mail hadn’t made it to its recipient.

“I decided to offer the photographs in order for the book to happen,” Armstrong said. She also had experience with writing historical descriptions, as she’d provided the text for a number of historical markers. Rightmyer said she found that experience invaluable, as she considers herself to be more of a “long writer,” focusing more on essays and longer written works.

Armstrong described “Images of America: Harrodsburg” as a “show-andtell” type of a book. The co-authors indicated such a work was needed in Harrodsburg, since the city lacked a recent, updated history-type book. Armstrong said the tome will be a good companion for people who are touring the city.

“It’s one of the first things I look for (when visiting a new place),” Rightmyer added. “It gives me an idea of where I’m at and what I’m doing.”

She added she hopes “Images of America: Harrodsburg” will inspire others “to get this history out there.”

Armstrong said the postcard pictorial history of Harrodsburg and Mercer County should be released about this time next year. The vintage postcards she will use will date through the 1960s.