Good day, dear readers. I hope you are well. I don’t want to get into the day’s current events too much, or give it much credence, suffice it to say, I hope all are well during this quarantine time period and I hope the Covid-blues don’t have you down. I planned for a soft release of my new poetry collection, The Vanishing Poet, but I have to say I did not expect any of this to go this way. I don’t think anyone did. The Corona Pandemic has thrown some of my life sideways, but if you noted from the rant I did on my YouTube channel of the same name a couple months ago, you may already know that my life was familiar with going sideways. Sideways come sometimes unexpectedly or even in a calculated fashion. However it is you may become familiar with going sideways, may it be smooth sailing.

I’ll say I haven’t been without suffering some odd punishments, and believe me, some people do enjoy bestowing their odd punishments on others, but everything has been par for the course. It isn’t anything I didn’t sign up for. The pandemic? That’s something totally different. A parent crossing over? Symptomatic? With me, he will be no scapegoat. It was all predetermined. It was initiated to reiterate my galactic qualities, whether conscientious or imperfect, and cast a light into the mouth of an abyss and transmit my findings to the world. It was a part of my contract. It was also a part of my contract to continue sharing my poetry and writing with you. To continue sharing my soul with you (dramatic, much? Ha!). 

So, the grand vision for the release of The Vanishing Poet: a soft-release, an online blog review tour, a summer/fall book tour (the extent of the tour unmapped, though Texas and New Mexico were definitely in mind), a decent promotional campaign to include podcast, radio, online, and television appearances. Where will this go now? It seems it will stay online. All of it. For the purposes of the soft release, this was perfect anyway. I had angled over becoming involved locally as a mean of promotion. As April is National Poetry Month, there typically is a poetry festival in Austin, and a couple more that sprout up in central Texas. But that’s been cancelled due to quarantine. Most poetry readings and open mics have migrated online so we’ll see what happens. Ideas formulate. Action is required. 

The Vanishing Poet took some time to piece together. I wanted to be thorough as possible, but it boiled down to gathering all required manuscripts. The chapbooks are more than a decade or older, most of them. The digging that took time was finding poetry that had not been published from that time. See a previous post about a writer’s spring cleaning. That was approaching the tail end of my find; and as I have said, there are at least two more collections of poetry coming because of those efforts. The next collection in mind is almost complete, but then will require editing and possible revisions. So, the process is already underway for that project while I am still culling, revising, and shopping out other work. It’s time to get back into the pages of print and online periodical; time to see if they’ll listen. I noticed one prominent magazine I’ve admired for decades is publishing poetry that is similar to my style. There is no technique for my style, yet. You either got it or you don’t. Anyway. It was odd. I thought, this poem reads like one of mine. So it may be time. We’ll see. 

Get a copy of The Vanishing Poet! If you have a Kindle Unlimited it is FREE right now. For a limited time! It will give you insight into my early work. It will tell you where I came from. It will hint at where I’m going because I’m not going away. I’m proud of how this collection came out. I’m particularly fond of the cover art, and I’m thankful I’ve had a more present cast of supporters encouraging me to continue. The paperback is matte finish. It;s dark and it’s gorgeous. If you order a copy through my website The Root of Many Returns (dot) com, I’ll send you an autographed copy and cover the shipping and handling!

The Nibiru publication for me this year would have to be Poetry From the Edge of Forever. I was NOT expecting to publish this chapbook of poetry. Indeed, I wasn’t supposed to publish any chapbooks this year. Just one collection of poetry, one novel, and one novela. I’d say as crummy as everyone says 2019 was, and how crummy 2020 has been, that’s a good start for the first quarter for me.  I am super stoked about Poetry From the Edge of Forever. You see, amid all this Covid-19 and quarantine LaLa Land scenario the world currently finds itself in, most artists are going online as a way to release expression, and entertain millions of thirsty and bored people. So, I put on a virtual poetry reading and published a chapbook of the poetry I shared on the program. 

Poetry From the Edge of Forever is FREE on Kindle Unlimited right now! Go get it!

There is also a softcover edition of the chapbook available for all the tactile readers and collectors out there. Both are very handsome, and I’d say as a set, in this quarantine time and CovidArt lifestyle, I’m satisfied with both publications as a set. I’m not done yet though. You have to get The Vanishing Poet stickers, postcards, and poster. You’ll probably see some promo stuff for Poetry From the Edge… as well. In the mean time, they are both available in soft cover and are FREE for download on Kindle Unlimited for a limited time!

Finally, Max Caulfield has arrived in his first short fiction. Yes, I’ve done a vignette or two on Caulfield, a micro fiction, even, but as the Max Caulfield Serials go, this is first cannon. The short fiction is titled, “Agave” and is hot, hot, hot, hot! I hesitated long enough before entering this wing of my writer’s repertoire. Gay erotic fiction. I actually enjoy writing Max Caulfield, although I would admonish his character is far from developed. No, duh, Batman! You may think, dear reader. And I would thank you for acknowledging that. It is unfortunate to say, for sure, that you, dear reader, may never get to know Max Caulfield, because I have only made him available on my Patreon website. And only those who dare to support each Max Caulfieldstory with a literary donation of $1 US will know of his legend. It is sexy, it is smutty, it is borderline pornography in some instances, but it is not without purpose. Follow the tales, sordid and sensual, of Max Caulfield and find out what his purpose is! I promise, it will be worth the read! 

Dear readers, it is in this time, that I thank you again for sticking around. My Patreon is one patron strong, but that is perfect for the time being. That patron is way ahead of the game, and others will catch up eventually. And the body of subscribers continues to grow on The Root of Many Returns. Currently, along side my work, I am also featuring the poetry of 19th century presidents in a series named, “Presidential Poetry.” Thank you for continuing to like and share my poetry and short fiction. There is more to come, I promise. Writing, painting and artwork, video and audio all have something in production as we speak (I have time as I currently have no secular work). Hard as times are, it is my hope the work I produce is precious enough to own for yourself, whether by exchange or by gratis. It is my pleasure that you like it. 

Keep your ears open for more giveaways, stay tuned to my blog for free reading. I’ll be writing a couple more shorts. Expect more Max Caulfield, just don’t forget you have to get on the Patreon channels to get the dirty wordy, the literary squalor if it suits your flavor. As The Vanishing Poet is now public and ready for consumption, I shall focus on a novel and a novella. Nicholas Duke, Nick, Nick, Nick. What have you been up to, Nick?