Write a Review of The Breakdown Atlas

There are three places my chapbook, The Breakdown Atlas & Other Poems, released by Big Table Publishing Company in 2011, can be reviewed:  Goodreads, Google Books, and Barnes & Noble (links are below).  If you've read my poems, and feel compelled to share your thoughts in any of these places, I would really appreciate it, and love love love you forever and ever!  Unfortunately, I think you may need user accounts for these sites...but if you do leave a review, you have my gratitude in advance.  It's hard to get the word out for a small book published through an indie press.  Cheers, Lauren.

To write a review:

Goodreads:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13562031-the-breakdown-atlas-other-poems

Google Books:  http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Breakdown_Atlas.html?id=xIpfXwAACAAJ

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-breakdown-atlas-lauren-tivey/1032014148?ean=9780983066620

Big Table Titles

Howdy, just thought I'd share the link to Big Table Publishing Co.'s list of chapbook offerings again.  There's some great stuff here, including Liz Ciampa's new chap, Good for Everday Use, which I was lucky enough to be asked to write a review for (you can read that at the first link below).  All chapbook titles are $12.00, plus $2.00 shipping, and you can find them (including mine, The Breakdown Atlas & Other Poems) at the second link below.  So, take a look, choose a chap, and help support poets and a hard-working independent publisher!

Reviews: http://www.bigtablepublishing.com/ciamparev2.html

Titles:   http://www.bigtablepublishing.com/chaptitles.html

New Chapbook Review

Link below to a new review of my chapbook, by Zack Kopp for the Denver Examiner.  A big thank you to Zack.  I'm really lucky to know some great people in the biz!

http://www.examiner.com/books-in-denver/the-sun-is-a-fast-fat-mandala-lauren-tivey-s-breakdown-atlas-review

Chapbook Now Available

It's here!  My chapbook, The Breakdown Atlas & other poems is now available online at The Chapbook Store.  The price is $12.00, plus $1.85 for shipping.  You can read the bio, some excerpts, reviews, and complete a purchase here:

http://www.thechapbookstore.com/tiveyrev.html 

Or, it can be purchased directly through Big Table Publishing Company, here:

http://www.bigtablepublishing.com/chaptitles.html

I haven't even seen the actual book yet~that will happen next week, when I arrive in the States.  I'm sure they're great-looking, perfect, even~so I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Robin Stratton, editor of Big Table Publishing, for all her efforts (plus, she is a delight to work with!).   Wow, this made my day...

Another Chapbook Update

Just a quick update on The Breakdown Atlas & other poems:  the books are done!  And according to the editor, they're "gorgeous".  I won't be able to actually see them until I reach the U.S., but they will ship to my destination address soon.   There will also be a press release, and links to the publisher's website in order to make a purchase.  Then, I'll just need to figure out how to get them up on amazon.com, and it's all (hopefully) gravy from there on.  Very cool~can't wait to get my hot little hands on them! 

Chapbook Going to Print

Well, I've heard from Robin Stratton, the editor of Big Table Publishing Company:  after many emails back and forth for revisions, I've gotten the final, electronic galley of The Breakdown Atlas & other poems.  I've gotta say~it looks great!  The cover has the old world map that I posted a photo of earlier, and the blurbs are on the back cover, along with my very first ISBN# (kinda cool, no?).  There's an acknowledgments page, an author bio, table of contents, and cover sheet, and 22 poems (which cover a total of 39 pages).  Next thing we do is go to print!  The book will be ready for my arrival in the U.S. next month, after which, I can sell my little heart out.  Of course, copies will be available from the publisher as well, and on amazon.com, and I'll post those links as they become available.  This whole process, and working with Robin, has been quite easy~she's a great editor, and hasn't complained once about all my picky, minor changes.  So, here we go!  Do I sound excited? 

Reviews!

We're getting close to the publication date of my chapbook, The Breakdown Atlas, and the pre-release reviews are in!  I want to send out my warmest thanks to Sascha Feinstein, Maureen Sherbondy, and Norma Ketzis Bernstock for their time and careful reading of my work~I feel humbled to have been reviewed by these accomplished and talented poets, and I'm quite honored (and psyched!) to have their public endorsement.  Without further ado, here are their seriously cool reviews:  

“Lauren Tivey’s poems confront the reader’s body like shots of tequila—if, that is, the reader has a knowledge of its bite and substance, and knows how to temper the hits with the citrus of lime and the truth of salt.  She shies away from nothing, yet, as though you’ve been friends a long time and have met regularly at the bar, she encourages you to experience tough realities. But here’s the kicker:  These poems will drink you under the table.  You may stagger home, but they’re always ready for last call.”

~Sascha Feinstein, Misterioso and Black Pearls

“Lauren Tivey’s ‘animal-tough’ poems about relationships are stunning, enticing, and brutally honest. The Breakdown Atlas & other poems kicks readers in the gut over and over again, but somehow manages to leave them with a sense of hope in spite of their ‘broken, journeyed bodies’.  I absolutely loved this book!”

~Maureen Sherbondy, Weary Blues and Scar Girl

“With raw energy and in-your-face language, Lauren Tivey's The Breakdown Atlas is a wild journey that begins with the harsh reality of ‘a rotting carcass’ of a marriage.  Through her poems we experience the life of a newly independent woman, feel the pain of a lover's breakdown, and desperation in a Hong Kong hooker hotel.  She expresses a mother's deep love for her distant daughter, for whom she'll pick ‘bouquets of devotion and remorse’.  Her poetry can be raunchy, as in ‘satyrs copulating with witches’; titillating, like ‘a Geisha, opening the flower of her mouth’; yet tender, as she describes ‘the wind chime of your laughter’. Lauren Tivey's poems left me breathless, with a desire to live through her wild ride again and again. She writes in one poem that ‘the kettle screeched holy hell’, and so does her poetry!"

~Norma Ketzis Bernstock, Don't Write a Poem for Me After I'm Dead

Awesome, no?  Strangely craving tequila, here...

Chapbook Cover Art

I'm going with an Old World map for the cover of The Breakdown Atlas.  I've seen the reviewer's copy with the artwork, and a beautiful title font~Robin did a lovely job!  I love Old World maps, and am happy to have one on my cover, as it fits with the theme of the book.  Here's the one we're using:

Blurbers

Just got word on who's writing blurbs for my chapbook:  Maureen Sherbondy, Norma Ketzis Bernstock, and Sascha Feinstein.  They should be ready in the next couple of weeks.  Will post them when I can.  Stoked!

Chapbook Update

My poetry chapbook, The Breakdown Atlas, which was picked up Big Table Publishing Co. last month, is due out this July.  After settling on the contents and placement, and batting around ideas for a cover design with editor-extraordinaire, Robin Stratton, the reviewer's copy was sent out for blurbs and reviews.  I think it looks good, and I know I've got a lot of strong work in there, but I'm still a little nervous about the reviews, as it's my first chap.  Well, I guess it's just a waiting game now, but we are on a bit of a time crunch to get the book printed and ready for my trip back to the U.S. in July.  I have all the faith in the world in Robin though~she's fast, efficient, and she knows exactly what she's doing.  In the meantime, I keep checking my email, like, every five minutes...