Parental Advisories, Graduation and Wedding Presents

I usually get at least a few emails every year, asking me for guidance of which of my books to give as presents for particular situations. I would like to answer always with "all of them" as this is how I make a living...but...sigh...people would rather buy Cheetos and beer than poetry in modern America, which explains a lot.

So, here's my breakdown, including the new books:

Rated G: Good Present for anyone:

The Morgantown Suite, coming out in June. A collection of poems celebrating my hometown (no matter how they feel about me...the purest love is unrequited) Will be available through my website (www.cityoflegends.com) and lulu.com in early June. The royalties are going to Arts Monongahela, a local arts advocacy group.

Rated PG: Kids may ask too many questions:

"PanthEon" ...I'm taking this book out of distribution in July. A goodly number of romantic works, very little (but some, obscure) eroticism. A good book for a collector. The cover is nice, as well.

"Love Gods of a Forgotten Religion"...One of my best books to date, and it certainly has garnered enough applause. Good gift for a high school or college grad (if a bit on the cheap side, why not buy all the books as a set? hmm?) Available through my website or through major retailers in and out of cyberspace.

"from an unexpected quarter"...if we'd used the full length photo I wanted to use on the cover, this book would've slipped to PG-13. Thickest book to date, if a bit uneven. The inclusion of the full "Damascus" and "Goldenheart" works gives it plenty of gravitas, though. Like "Love Gods..." you can get this through the 'city, or through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, et alia

"INVOCATO"...da bomb. This book has 90% of my most respected and respectable works. Some eroticism, but nothing explicit. Excellent romantic offering, even the dedication is romantic. Available through my website or at lulu.com, should be available through bookstore any day now...(hear that Books-A-Million?)

"101 Great Love Poems" This is an excellent choice as a gift book for a wedding or a graduation, as it is available in a hardback edition. Simple. beautiful, elegant, and only barely in the "PG" category...online, local bookstores and my website all carry it.

Rated R: Put that book down and come over here:

"The Compleat Panther Cycles" coming in July. Yes, for those of you who recall the stir these poems that documented the love affair that ended my first marriage, this is the complete set. All the love, lust, pain, trust and resolution. 640+ poems, annotated and stuffed into a novel-length compendium for your coffee table. A lot of erotic works, mostly romantic pieces with a slight tinge of sadness. This will be available for advance order through my website starting next month, and be out for sale, online and through my site and through bookstores in mid-July (the Tenth Anniversary of the writing of the first of these 93 cycles). Not appropriate for everyone. May stick a warning sticker on the cover.

Of course, if you want to hire me to compose a special piece for your wedding, speak at your commencement or wedding or just book me for a reading, I'm not about to argue. I don't hide and my ex-wives would love the money.

As Alan Dean Foster once told me: "In this business, you have to engage in a certain amount of self promotion."