Vocal Poetry Anthology: Progress Update and Requests - Part Two

Hey, friends and fellow combatants of the written word. I messed up.

About... Three months ago. Wait, it can't possibly be that long! Double check - yep. Your boy, your Paul, messed up big style. Three months ago, I published an update on the Vocal Anthology poetry collection I've been working on since the start of the year, set to feature many of you lovely people and your fine words. Three months ago, I was at the stage of gathering the Author Bios for the book.

I received some in response, and I planned that once the deadline set for submitting them to me was reached, I'd post a follow-up chasing down any stragglers.

Then things messed up.

I got caught up in other things - my dad died (which brought to the surface a lot of mixed emotions for me as we didn't have a fairytale relationship and I had been more or less "no contact" with him for the best part of 20+ years), some other things happened to that I am not going to go into and time just slipped me by.

That has been a key feature of this year, it feels. There have been many highs and positives, but a lot of... just time slipping by, and my motivation being sapped by things outside of writing.

My second self-published poetry collection is also delayed, so don't think it's just all of you suffering at the hands of life being troublesome for me during 2025.

But, hey, let's draw a line and get back on top of things - or at least try to, eh?

In the next section of this piece, you will find two lists - one with all the writers who have provided me with author bios for the book so far and a second with the writers who have yet to do so.

Rather than waiting for people to read and then respond to this piece, I am also going to leave a message in the comments section of pieces by those who have yet to give me authors' bios as a nudge to do so.

If you haven't already done so, please do so in the comments section of this article.

I cannot, in good faith, go forward with the book until I have the bios. Unless, of course, you want me to write a bio for you?? (Trust me, no one wants that!).

I will set the deadline for September 30th. If I am still waiting on anyone sending a bio through, I will have to hunt you down. With kindness and encouragement, of course. Not a sniper's rifle or a pair of ancient LeMat revolvers (here's a link to a story by yours truly featuring those guns. Smooth segue, eh?)

So, apologies again, and let's get this good ship poetry anthology sailing.

Authors' Bios I Have

1. Alyssa Nicole
2. Andrea Corwin
3. kp
4. Calvin London
5. River and Celia in Underland
6. Alexandria Stanwyck
7. Shirley Belk
8. Cathy Ben-Ameh (Christine Acheini Ben-Ameh)
9. Mackenzie Davis
10. Mark Graham
11. Euan Brennan
12. Mother Combs
13. Randy Wayne Jellison-Knock
14. Angie The Archivist
15. Amanda Starks
16. Kendall Defoe

Authors' Bios I Need

1. Mark Gagnon
2. Jeremy White
3. Matthew Fromm (Get a move on pal, it's not like we don't speak everyday!)
4. D.K. Shepard
5. Heather Zieffle
6. Bradley Ramsey
7. Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred
8. KA Stefana
9. John Cox
10. Ruth Stewart (Typical, always gotta chase close friends and family members)
11. Paul Stewart (Okay, so I still need to write mine.)
12. Iris Obscura
13. Natalie Wilkinson
14. Carolina Jane
15. Gabriel Huizenga
16. Heather Hubler
17. Lamar Wiggins
18. Addison Alder
19. Poppy
20. JBaz
21. Teresa Renton
22. Donna Fox (HKB)
23. Marilyn Glover

So, yes. Please get them in. You will also receive a comment on your most recent piece with a link to this piece, so that you can add your bio to the comment section.

Here is a reminder of the Contributor Bios requirements:

Contributor Bios

What would an anthology be that was designed to highlight the poetic talent published on Vocal regularly, without contributor bios? A collection of poems without the connective tissue a bio would give to a new reader, happening upon your works for the first time. What do I need for the contributor bios?

To save me some hassle, I will copy and paste from the next section of the project's original article, which needs to be tackled as we inch ever closer towards printing and publishing.

Contributor Bios: As Stephen (A. Roddewig) pointed out in the comments section, it's standard practice for multi-author collections to feature author bios for all contributors. I have yet to decide whether these will be included alongside the poems or at the back of the book. That depends on the number of submissions I receive. Regardless, the bios give a little more real estate for the authors and a great place for the authors to plug their Vocal profiles, author websites, or even podcasts. Contributor bios are normally restricted by length, with 50 words or 2 to 3 sentences, in collections for shorter pieces like poetry. Thanks again, Stephen.

So, that's all for the update. If the people who need to could add their Bios in the comments section below, that would be much appreciated.

Also, if you're reading this and only just hearing about this project now, and you have a poem you'd like to include, please read the original post and then share the link in the comments section for this article.

*

Thanks for your support and reading!