I'll be on vacation mode this Saturday, and probably won't "return" until July 8th. But before I go, I thought I'd share some exciting news!!
- I wrote a piece called, "if only," and submitted it below. I'm elated that it was accepted but anxious to have it out. I've never told anyone my #metoo story. You see, not only was I a victim, but a witness, as well. I cannot claim what happened to me without naming the others. Since it's a shared nightmare, I would need their blessings and their acceptance of what happened, before I can share. It sounds cryptic, and I apologize, but it is what it is, in order to protect those that I love, our stories will most likely die in the graves with us. 

Matt Banks (author of the Lonely Heart Wanders) did a call for submissions recently for a "Blank Canvas" themed anthology. I managed to slip into it right before he closed it. I can't wait to share these with you. I'm rather proud of one!

I belong to a Filipino Writers group on Facebook. Back in November, the prolific and esteemed poet, Eileen Tabios put out an anthology call for the 15th anniversary of a Filipino named poetry form called, "hay(na)ku. It's a take on the Japanese form, but instead of counting syllables, you do 1 word sentence, followed by 2 words, and then three. 
Example:
(1)I
(2) wrote my
(3) heritage in poems.
I can't tell you how proud I am that 2 of my hay(na)ku poems are in this. 127 poets are included in this anthology from around the world, including some poets from the Philippines! 
This will be out sometime in September and I'll announce it the closer it gets!!

Aside from that, happy summer!!

Summer vacation began yesterday at 12:10 pm, when the school bell rang. I know it'll be a challenge to write with two kiddos, and I wanted so badly to finish some semblance of a draft, but nope. Didn't happen much at all. Here's a look back at my May Goals and how I did:
1.) Get it together and practice my speaking skills for the May walk....will be doing a couple of live and recorded videos in the next few days. -  I managed to NOT do a single live or video in May. I practiced my speech over and over, almost threw up at the hotel from the nervousness and managed to ...speak. Here's my transcript of the speech, as well as a couple of pictures from the walk.
2.) AND I'll be going to an open mic event at a local coffee shop to get more practice at speaking in front of people. May 11th from 7 - 8:30 pm at Third Gen coffee house in The Woodlands. - I was super excited to finally meet a couple of lovely mamas with whom I've been doing the online Motherhood workshop with! AND they BOTH read their pieces!! We've decided that we should attempt to do another one of these open mics, because let me tell you, there's nothing more wonderful than having someone there who not only understand the nerves, but also felt compelled to share from the heart. Beautiful, beautiful night. *I've included pics below. 
3.) Finish chapbook #2, have it reviewed and edited before finding a home for it. I've got a few chapbook contests I have my eye on. - AMAZING NEWS AHEAD!!!
4.) Continue with research and hopefully WRITE out a first rough draft. I'm hoping to get this done before the kid gets out for summer...I don't think I'll be getting any writing done at all this summer!  - Amazing news ahead followed by a whomp whomp sound, as I absolutely did not write out a draft. 

Oh, June. I don't know what to do with you. I'll mostly be reading - A LOT. And playing with the kiddos - A LOT. However, I do need to sit down,
1.) Write, edit and submit articles for Daughters of the Deep for June - Sept (4 total posts).
2.) Continue to submit 1 poem to a press/journal. 

Look what I did!!! not your Token is out NOW!! This is the first in a collection of chapbook series that I'm doing. For this one, I've explored my identity as an immigrant, as a Filipina raising "Mexipino" babies, and as a "token" Asian.
buy links:
https://www.amazon.com/Not-your-Token-chapbook-identites-ebook/dp/B07DD4QQFH/

I read my poem, Motherhood and Labels, that was recently included in the WOMb poetry anthology. 

Have a happy start to your summer!