The Tour...and an unearthed relic of love

I have made yet another decision (and for once it is a decision per se, not a reversal of some previous decision). I am going to mount the reading tour in the spring.

By a tour, I mean a full-on promotional tour for my books and my site, complete with sponsors (I have been talking to some). I will confirm dates and cities as I lock them in, but at this time expect it to move East to West, and if you need a clue, buy one from that tip. I am going to try to include Boston, New York, Philadelphia, DC, Pittsburgh, Morgantown, Fairmont, Tampa, Mobile, Birmingham, New Orleans, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Austin, Tucson, San Diego, Monterey and Los Angeles. In short, I am going to revisit every place I've ever done readings before (dare I do Bay St. Louis? we shall see!) and then some.

I will partner with local poets as possible (there are some old friends in some of those places I'd love to work with again...Karla, Larry, Claibie, Mari, Ana, Tomas, Richard, let's work this through...and yes, Mari, I'll even consider the club this time). First preference to those places that will pay even a modest fee, then to those that will let me set up and sell books...if the venue won't pay, pass the hat or work at least the promo angle, don't bother me...I've been burned by venues before that wanted to sit on their butts.

I'll be revealing more info on that on August 17th when I speak at Arts Week in Morgantown, and I'll post the details that night on my website. If you are a reader and want to see me come to your town, let me know...it's early enough to add you to the mix and I love reading for people who want me there.

Forgive me if I have been rather hammering away on personal issues these last few days...I've been wound up a bit, but its all stuff I have no control over, so I have decided to let those who spit the bile wallow in it for a time...but I got some great news today in the mail. One of my more devoted readers from about 8-9 years ago contacted me recently and said she noticed that there were several works I no longer was referencing on my site or elsewhere that she had made copie sof when I had been active with them...so she sent me copies of them all.

I'll be damned. At least fifty pieces that had, for one reason or the other, dropped off my catalog. So, this weekend I am going to conceive and develop a little niche for them on my website (www.cityoflegends.com) to bring these unearthed treasures back to the light.

Included are some of the most excellent works composed in the name of my muse Brigit, who wrote a recent foreword for my book THE COMPLEAT PANTHER CYCLES. I was thunderstuck. It also include a humour piece I had done for the Writers Club on AOL, the mythical 13th Chapter of THE COMPLEAT AMOMANCER (note my fondness for the archaic spelling). Guess I have to finish that book now.

Still shopping for a good muse...some candidates to suggest themselves. I just have to be careful this time, getting too old to recover as readily from disappointment...although, to perish in the name of love would be a death worthy of me and my legacy. I am content that I have placed in orbit those spheres that will ensure my posterity.

A tidbit, if you would, from the recovered works:

open windows

When you open your mind.
Your heart. Your dreams.
You start something impossibly
perfect and new.
A wind of a distant shore blows
the dried petals
of the grand roses into blossom
again. And light.
No, more than light, the pure
incandescence
of God is revealed in gentle fire.
For when you dare.
When you care to open your heart
and mind to love,
you open the infinite windows
to tomorrow.


William F.. DeVault. all rights reserved.
(written December 10, 1996)