Fried Everything & Booze by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

Published August 13, 2019

Chapbook - 48 pages, 5.5" x 8.5", ISBN: 978-1088941508

we got a little liquored
at the old opera house and
went parking on the west pond dam
windows down, radio blaring
as bold as back when, and laughed
at coyotes calling to classic rock
-- coyote calls



Wanda Morrow Clevenger wrote eight poems in a handful of months in 1974; thirty-four years later she returned to writing. She has since placed over 467 pieces of work in 158 print and electronic literary journals and anthologies.

In August of 2013, while compiling the manuscript for this book she fell ill with pancreatitis, further complicated by necrosis in the following nine months, and wasn’t expected to survive. One year later, almost to the day, she sat down to finish where the hogs ate the cabbage.

She has her husband to thank for the title.

Return of the Knight! - This Joust In: Vol 2, Issue 1

FIRST of six

I want to apologize for the lack of communication on the Hiatus front.
It was not my intention to fall so far behind on Writing Knights-related business.
But I make no excuses. I was burnt out. I should have handled things better.
I may have irreparably damaged some relationships with some really good writers and really good friends.
That's something I need to accept and atone for if possible.

SECOND of six

We are planning to open submissions in July.
Obviously, we will not be doing a Grand Tournament in the sense of having a get together and performers in the same room.
I'm in China. Most of you are quarantined.
I am batting around the idea of doing a combination, chapbook/video submission competition, but no concrete plans yet.
Ahead of opening book submissions, I have an anthology submission idea though related to our current crisis which I will unveil June 1st-ish.

THIRD of six

We are getting our books in order.
We are catching up on the tabulation of royalties and will let published authors
know how much we owe them and asking for their Paypal information
so we can give them what they are due.
Our plan moving forward is to make sure we stay on top of that tabulation
and make sure our authors get their royalties better than they have been,
even if the amount is paltry.

FOURTH of six

If you look at: WK on Amazon! (and turn off your Adblock), you'll see rows upon rows of our books.
WK is involved with the Amazon Affiliate program and we are trying to prove our worth.
Yes, Amazon is the "Evil-Book-Empire," but if we make it into the Affiliate program we can do more
and gain more $$ to do more things for our authors, including one day possibly having our own printer system
and we can break free from Amazon corporate machine.

Speaking of that visit Patreon.com/WritingKnights.
You can get exclusive access to not only the Writing Knights full library
(books sent to you every month AND weekly expert help with your own writing).

FIFTH of six

We are going to work out how to get our books into e-book formats
that can be used on Kindle, Nook and other e-readers.
This is project is in its infancy, but with some practice we will be able to produce older titles
as well as our new releases once we start rolling those out.

SIXTH of six

Over the month of June we will be OFFICIALLY releasing a number of titles
(some of the books have been soft released, but we want to give them the proper fan faire).
Some are not solidified yet, but we are in talks with many authors.
Four of the titles we will officially release...
 -- The perfect bound versions of the two Writing Knights Birthday chapbooks,
Little Fire Grows by Casey Krysztofik
and Getting Through Gold Beach by Barbara A. Meier.
 -- PUNATIC by James Schwartz.
 -- Fried Everything & Booze by Wanda Morrow Clevenger.

We will also be in talks with other authors, mostly those with a history with Writing Knights.

--
That's it for now! Another update... soon...?
Stay tuned!
Azriel Johnson

Indigo Inquest -- Dragon's Bane Series: Book 4 by Azriel Johnson

Novel - 352 pages, 6' x 9", ISBN: 978-1710759617

 
Present
Kingsley is on the hunt for revenge. An Inquest of epic proportions. His mission must be fulfilled by any means necessary, using countless unsavory characters and methods that make even the most tyrannical combatants shy away in disgust.

Past 
Plato struggles with the duality of being a man who can hear the thoughts of Dragons & Humans alike. He finds & loses love, he embraces & shuns connection, he resists & accepts the darker parts of himself. All for one goal... 

$20.00 USD
PAYPAL
(Free PDF with Purchase)

About the Author: 
Azriel Johnson is an inkspatter analyst by day and a serial writer by night. Currently he can be found teaching English in China if you’re looking hard enough. He also is attempting to learn Chinese, but it is still poor. He admires his students for trying to learn English as he thinks speaking English is much more difficult than speaking Chinese, although the written characters trip him up. His goal is to be bi-lingual by the time he leaves, even if he is still functionally illiterate in Chinese.

Fighting With My Passion by Gary W. Rife II

Mixed Media - 42 pages, 8.5" x 11",
ISBN: 978-1090256331

Eighteen paintings with vignettes by world-reknown artist Gary W. Rife II.These paintings run the gamut of emotion following a decorated military man and his life, love and relationships before and after his enlistment. 


About the author: It gives me joy to wake up and know that I get to paint, draw, and do something creative to hopefully inspire the world. My goals are simple, inspire everyone, make one person smile, avoid the naysayers, and make new ideas come to life.

Still Speak by Emily Reid Green

Chapbook - 42 pages, 5.5" x 8.5", ISBN:
978-1795456074

Rainfall or fallout, we've come undone,
tenebrous wasteland, darkened sun,
splintered threads, ambitions none,
embarrassed by our own.

The Goldilocks convictions you validate
ad hock humanity we formed too late,
embarrassed by our own. 

$10.00 USD
PAYPAL
(Free PDF with Purchase)

About the author: Emily Reid Green’s poetry has appeared in various publications, including: The Ekphrastic Review, Gravel, Eunoia Review, Khroma Magazine, 1932 Quarterly, and Dying Dahlia Review. Last spring, she was a sponsored poet with Tiferet Journal. She lives with her family in Toledo, Ohio.

Writing Knights in 2019 - Newsletters

Many of you reading this (and the other posts that happen Dec 31, 2018) probably were notified by the Newsletter, This Joust In.

We send it out periodically (we try monthly) to let people know of the goings on in the realm of Writing Knights.

The newsletter is sent out to all of our current contacts and we are looking to expand our reach even more.

If you are interested in signing up to be notified by email when big things happen:
Email - writingknightspress@gmail.com 
Subject - "This Joust In Newsletter"
Body - Add me to the newsletter please

---

We have big plans for 2019, and we're going to need some help.
If you know anyway you can contribute to the cause and you're SERIOUS and COMMITTED please contact us at writingknightspress(at)gmail.com Subject line: "I can help" and tell us in the Body of the email how you could best put your skills to good use. There is no guarantee of pay for any position, but in many cases we can hopefully work out a compensatory arrangement that will suit both of us.

no dyeing in machines by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

a terminally tanned
island transplant
with a glassy eye
who claimed he once
worked for Streisand
asked us for 80 cents
he said he was hit
by an ambulance
right there on Front Street
right in the road where
we were standing --
3 lawyers were
chasing him 

$10.00 USD
(Free PDF with Purchase)

About the author: 
Wanda Morrow Clevenger wrote eight poems in a handful of months in 1974; thirty-four years later she returned to writing. She has since placed over 467 pieces of work in 158 print and electronic literary journals and anthologies. 

In August of 2013, while compiling the manuscript for this book she fell ill with pancreatitis, further complicated by necrosis in the following nine months, and wasn’t expected to survive. One year later, almost to the day, she sat down to finish "where the hogs ate the cabbage." 

She has her husband to thank for the title.

BEST OF THE KNIGHT 2018 #10 - Idiotic Idioms by Kevin Frederick Smith

from Hessler Street Fair Anthology 2018 published by Writing Knights Press

$14 (we will make it available for purchase soon)

Now, I may not be the sharpest needle in the haystack,

but I am not barking up the wrong elephant in the room

when I give you this advice:

When life gives you lemons,

kill two birds with a grain of salt.

After all, slow and steady wins the best thing

since sliced eggs in one basket!

It ain't over 'till the fat lady cries over a baby’s bottom…

but that’s the pot calling the kettle greener on the other side!

I guess the cat's out of the closet,

but you can’t judge a book by everything but the kitchen sink!

I may have bitten off more than I can shake an arm

and a leg at here,

but it takes two to jump on the bandwagon through the grapevine,

so let’s not beat around the whole nine yards

between a rock and a hard piece of cake.

But before I go, allow me to share one final piece of wisdom:

Once in a blue goose chase,

every dog has his silver lining when pigs fly!

Please note: Best of the Knight is not a ranking of the top 10 pieces, just a selection of such.

BEST OF THE KNIGHT 2018 #9 - Shadow People by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

from "no dyeing in machines" by Wanda Morrow Clevenger

no dyeing in machines available December 2018 $10

There’s this couple

in single breasted

and satin Dior

whose shadows

dance

in candle light

to a Bakelite Philco 

on red kitchen tile.

And there’s a woman who

teaches him the two-step

in two non-refundable

lessons;

another shows him her

tattoo bookmarked by

white bra strap.

And there’s a man

had two too many who

prates what he believes

he will do to her;

another says he likes her

––she’s interesting.

There’s this couple

in a bar in a town

people think they know.

originally from Diverse Voices Quarterly – November 6, 2013

 
Please note: Best of the Knight is not a ranking of the top 10 pieces, just a selection of such.

BEST OF THE KNIGHT 2018 #8 - ROSES SUCK! by Jamie Kahn

from "Hey" by Jamie Kahn

Purchase "Hey" - $10

Roses suck.

They were fine before I started working in a flower shop

I love flowers

I do not love

heavy buckets of plant food

writing out

“I love you”

“happy birthday”

“I miss you”

until my hands cramp up

I did get one “my wife will never know about last night”

my chuckles did not make up for the soreness in my fingers

my whole body was sore, actually

my back from lifting the buckets

my feet from standing all day

and my hands

from writing the cards, yes

but also from those stupid fucking roses

they’re really expensive

but do you know why?

Because people like me slave away whittling off each thorn

so, if they’re not expensive they’ll probably still have thorns

and they’ll probably make you bleed

so anyway, the flower shop

just like a rose

my labor was inexpensive, and thus, made me bleed

work sucks, roses suck

and most of all

working with roses sucks

being awakened to the toil that goes into pretty things

well, it sucks

so don’t buy roses for me, or any other girl

sunflowers are easy to work with, so go for those instead

they’re discounted on Tuesdays.

 

Please note: Best of the Knight is not a ranking of the top 10 pieces, just a selection of such.