Interview with poet Craig E.Chaffin

Hi Everyone,
I've been swamped with my deadline, but I wanted to post a brief interview with Craig E. Chaffin about his new book. If you enjoy poetry, I think you'll be impressed with his work.

Q. How did you come to write “Unexpected Light?”

A. I've been publishing poetry for 40 years, and this is my second book. My first was published in 1997. This is my second book, 12 years in the making. It deals with many themes, including the usual four in poetry: God, Death, Nature and Love. The last section of the book, in fact, is devoted to love poems. And that was a main impetus for the book. I had compiled a manuscript entirely of love poems but no publisher showed interest, so I limited the love poems to my very best 20 or so and added poems on other themes, and voila! I had a publisher go all the way for me, including royalties—for poetry, imagine!

Q. Why did you call your book “Unexpected Light?”

A. First, it is mentioned in the last line of the poem, “Prayer to la Virgen,” detailing how Christ was lucky enough to receive a donated grave.. But more so, when I fell in love at 45 for the first time (and it has continued ever since), I was shocked out of my mind. It was truly unexpected light.

Trained as a medical doctor, I had always been rational about love, thinking (in C. S. Lewis's words) that love should be the result of, not the reason for marriage. All that changed when I met Kathleen. And right after I met her my second wife e-mailed me that she was leaving—such synchronicity!--leaving me a perfect opportunity to experience romantic love for the first time, a gift I wish for everyone. And true love is not just infatuation but an abiding love, a love that puts on overalls and boots in the service of the beloved.

Q. Where can we get a copy of “Unexpected Light?”

It's available through Amazon.com and all the usual suspects and any bookstore will order it for you. Best to order it directly from the publisher. There's a page on my website where you can do that:

Click here for the link

It comes in hardback for just $20 and paperback for $12. I wish I could give it away but I can't afford it. Seven reviews have already been published, and I can say without embarrassment that they have all been glowing.

Here's a short excerpt from one of the love poems, “Valentine 2008,” where the speaker imagines his love as a waterfall:

Inside the moss-lipped haven of your granite
I hide behind your thundering skirt of water.

Your clarity dissolves all self-deception.
I would not recognize myself without you.

The shelter of trees is never so generous
As your pouring and thinning of yourself

Into the forest air. I kneel and drink
And like the alder rise up satisfied.

National Reader's Choice Nomination!

Guess what I just found out? THE ART OF DESIRE is a 2008 National Reader's Choice Award nominee in the erotica category! This award will be presented at the national RWA conference in Washington DC this summer. I won't be able to attend, but I'm thrilled that I'm nominated. Click here to see all of the nominees in all of the categories

Another Future Book

I just got the title of my 2nd Warrior Society book. It's a Silhouette Romantic Suspense and will be called PROTECTING THEIR BABY. The release date is Dec. 2009.

The hero is a P.I. and the heroine is a dance instructor who is pregnant with his child via their one-night stand. The villains in the story don't want her to have the baby and are doing gruesome/dangerous things to make their actions known, which is how the book got its title.

Somewhere in a past blog I mentioned a hero named Rex Sixkiller. Well this is his book. :)

Monday, Monday.

Back to work. My deadline looms...

Easter Greetings!

Enjoy your weekend!

We Shall Remain

We Shall Remain airs on Monday, April 13th. According to the PBS website, We Shall Remain is a groundbreaking mini-series and provocative multi-media project that establishes Native history as an essential part of American history. Five 90-minute documentaries spanning three hundred years tell the story of pivotal moments in U.S. history from the Native American perspective. Here’s the link for more information

Future Books

Recently I secured the titles of my next releases.

Silhouette Romantic Suspense: IMMINENT AFFAIR. This book will hit the shelves in November 2009. It's part of my new Warrior Society series. It's Allie and Daniel's story. Remember them from NEVER LOOK BACK? Daniel is out of the coma, but there's a glitch. He has amnesia now, and Allie is being threatened by someone from his past.

Berkley erotic romance: MASQUERADE. Release date to be announced. This is Amber's story, and I've paired her with Luke and Jay, her one-time lovers from THE ART OF DESIRE. Amber also appeared in SUBMISSION. What's in store for Amber in this book? Expect a historical twist and a honeymoon masque that keeps her guessing.

Pictures of Gilles

I made a grave error in snagging copyrighted pictures of Gilles Marini (from the Sex and the City Movie and Dances with the Stars) and posting them here. I have since removed the pictures, as they were not mine to take.

Lennon, the photographer who shot them, was kind enough to grant me permission to post a link to his website so you can view the images there. Gilles's pictures are in the Galleries section, under the Publicity link. You cannot download them.

Check out Lennon’s work and the images of Gilles (and other gorgeous models/actors) at LENNONthePhotographer.com Click here for the direct link