It's Publication Day for Necessary Poisons!

My poetry chapbook is officially whisking its way into the world!

Author

Andrea Blythe
October 07, 2024

Hi, lovelies! I’m so excited to share that my new chapbook of poetry, Necessary Poisons, is officially published on this fine day! Those wonderful human beings who pre-ordered the book will soon be receiving their copies — and I hope they enjoy the experience of reading these strange, surreal, dark poems.

Necessary Poisons is a book that has been years in the making, and I’m so grateful to Interstellar Flight Press for publishing it. In the coming weeks, I’ll be working on figuring out this whole marketing things, and setting up some readings in the Bay Area.

I will also be attending World Fantasy Con in Niagara Falls, NY, on October 17–20, where I’ll be joining the Interstellar Flight booth to hang out and sign some books, as well as (hopefully) taking part in Brandon O’Brien's Fantastical Open Mic Spectacular on Thursday night.

And that’s all I have time for right now, so have a lovely week!

Recent Stuff I Published

My interview with Carina Bisset, author of Dead Girl, Driving, appeared in Interstellar Flight Magazine. In the interview, she shares her experience of surviving her own trauma and how the act of writing helped her to move on and thrive:

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Each time one of my characters discovers a way to break the cycle, a part of me is healed. It may have taken years to get out of my own abusive relationship, but the women I write are stronger than I was; they break that cycle. I hope that by exploring the complexities of abuse in fiction, I can let other victims and survivors know that they are not alone.

My review of the first two books in The Night Eaters trilogy appeared in The Ugly Monster. These horror graphic novels are gorgeous and absolutely worth a read.

And a couple of poems, too:

Good Reads

Poet Maggie Smith shares some phenomenal insights into crafting a poetry manuscript:

In my experience, putting a book together is like assembling a puzzle piece by piece without knowing what the finished image will look like. The same 40 poems can be gathered into very different manuscripts based on the sequence of the poems; the poems you choose for the opening and closing; the use of sections, titles, and epigraphs; and the overall balance of material. I actually think it would be an interesting assignment: give students 40 poems by any poet, perhaps a published book, and have them arrange the poems into a manuscript. You would get completely different collections.

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