Welcome Back Bachofner

Here I am, the prodigal blogger. Mea culpa, mea culpa for wasting the opportunity to connect with all of you via my blog-o-sphere! It’s not that I’ve had nothing to say… THAT never happens.  I have just been busy writing. I guess that is not me being lazy, just not being communicative with all of you. So, here’s what I have to tell you. I’ll try to be brief.

1. I have been traveling

Where did I go? I went to Prague in November and spent three days wandering around the city, amazed by the architecture and the culture. This is a city to which I will return for more. From Prague on to Nuremburg, Germany and boarding the Viking longship, Gullveig, for a cruise on the Danube all the way to Budapest, Hungary. What a wonderful trip. Maybe later a few photos. took so many of those.

More travels coming in the future, including an Alaska cruise (to keep a promise to my fahter who always wanted to go there, but did not live to do so) and in 2019 a BIG trip to the Vking Homelands: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Poland, Berlin, Iceland. Wow, cannot wait for that one.

2. I have been writing (well, of course that is what I am SUPPOSED to be doing)

What have you accomplished, Carol? you ask…

a. A new book out inlate 2017  The Boyfriend Project is a collection of poems about girlfriends and their boyfriends, a look at the stories I have and stories other women have shared with me, translated into poems. Some who have read it tell me they were immediately brought back to their “love experiences” and took that stroll into the past. One woman thanked me for not making the poems all mushy and sentimental. Indeed they are not. Sweet and soulful some, dark and dangerous others. Everything in between.  I am actually thinking of a sequel.

b. A new book, Test Pattern; a Fantod of Prose Poems, soon to be relased by Finishing Line Press (May 2018). These poems are a real departure for me, wandering off like Old Pima into the realm of prose poetry. There are a couple postcard poems and a Q & A poem, along with some poems that defy labeling. I am particularly happy with this collection because it was a wild ride from start to finish, 21 of the drafts written in a single week. Yes, of course there was the massive revision process later, but quite a production for a wekk just getting the drafts of these done.

I can hear you now: what is a fantod? Ha! 

A fantod is defined as a state of discomfort or unreasonableness. Nod to Edward Gorey here for creating his amazing Fantod Pack of “tarot” style cards, from whence came the inspiration.

c. Ther has been some adding to the family and other amazing family events

Since last we chatted here, we have added 4 GREATgrandchildren to the family:
Althea Rose (Justin & Brittany)
Emily Christeen (Alex & Elizabeth)
Calvin R. (Nick & Allie)
Charlotte Joy (Justin and Brittany AGAIN)

Two granddaughters went off to university this fall, one to Univeristy of California at Santa Barbara and the other to Univeristy of Washington. I am writing them letters and sending care packages. Isn’t that what grandmothers do?


Okay, now to what's on my mind right now? Oh so much but here are a couple things:

1. I am so distressed at the state of our country
2. I am so distressed over all these mass shootings

About 1. I plan on exercising my voice at the polls as my contribution to "righting the ship" The madness, ignorance, and complacency has got to stop before we have no nation left.

About 2. I stood with our students this morning as hey silently remember the 17 students murdered by a gunman in Parkland FL a month ago yesterday. I am working (as a school board member here) on issues and policies around school safety.

I will not belabor these points. Not today.


On a very happy and positive note:

Soon, in the next couple of weeks, my web site www.carolbachofner.com will have a new look and new content. It will feature not only my writing but also my art (original watercolors) and my photography. It will be an interactive site where you can order books and ask me questions about anything art/writing related.

I have another new book in the making. It came from my 365 Project (a prophet and a poem a day for a year. I will put this out as a pair of eBooks which will be VERY reasonable in cost. It is in two books, one book of the prompts, one book is my response poems to those prompts).

The prompt part consists of a daily prompt arranged by months and weeks. Each month's entry has a bit of writing advice and a sample poem of mine from that month. The poetry book part has the same divisions, but features all of the poems I wrote in response to the prompts.

This will be FUN, INSPIRING, and really low cost to the purchaser. I am working on how to offer subscriptions to it without violating my own intellectual property rights.

Look for this by end of summer, if not sooner. It will be announced in the Bookography section of my web site, so be sure to visit to find it.

I am featured as a guest blogger on Luanne Castle's blog site. Luanne was one of my professors at California State University San Bernardino. Later we became friends and are colleagues in the world of writing.

My contribution to her blog is in two parts. The first is me discussing my new book, The Boyfriend Project, the second (to be published in a few days) is the upcoming book, Test Pattern: a Fantod of Prose Poems, soon to be released by Finishing Line Press. You can visit the website to order this book at www.finishinglinepress.com  Look under new releases and the letter B.

Please visit Luanne's blog at https://writersite.org/2018/03/15/bachofner-on-the-boyfriend-project/ While you are there, investigate her book, Kin Types and order a copy for yourself. You will love it as I do.


On a not so happy note:

I have suspended the magazine which I had edited and published since 1996, Pulse. Reason: lack of contributions that were publishable, especially in fiction. This is painful. But, I do not throw in the towel. Pulse may rise again under a new name and new format. One thing at a time though.

Well, my promise to be "brief" here has been broken. As I like to say, Like to say.

So adieu for now. 

Stay tuned.