This year has been a wild ride, for sure. Jenna and I bought a house over the summer, I accepted a full-time, tenure-track job at Lackawanna College, and I published my first full-length book of poems, All That Remains. 2013 has been an amazing year for me, a year that will probably not be repeated for a while terms of accomplished life goals. During these remaining weeks of the year, I found out that one of my poems, “After School Drives,” which is also one of the poems that closes out All That Remains, has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by my publisher, Unbound Content! Furthermore, the book has been nominated by the Working Class Studies Association for its Tillie Olsen Creative Writing Award! The winner of that award will be announced in May. I have my fingers crossed.

I also wanted to post a few other updates. I’m doing a few readings this month for the book. Here are the dates/info.

Sunday, December 8 3-5 p.m.

Belmar Arts Council, 608 River Road, Belmar, NJ

This event is sponsored by the Jersey Shore Writers Group. I will be reading with J. Michael Lennon and Ross Klavan.

Thursday, December 19 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Doylestown Bookstore, 16 S. Main Street, Doylestown, PA

I will be the featured reader, and an open mic will occur first.

Friday, December 20 8-10 p.m.

Art Seen Gallery, 21 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre, PA
I will be one of two featured readers, and an open mic will occur first.

Finally, I want to note that one of my poems, “South Street, Philadelphia, Friday Night,” is in the latest issue of Blue Lake Review. Check it out here.