What Does It Mean To Reclaim What’s Lost with Kathi Crawford

A poetry book doesn’t just “come out” one day. It’s built in public, one reading, one community connection, and one crucial preorder at a time. Kathi Crawford joins us again at 22 Sides to share what’s changed since her last visit and to introduce her next collection, "running with the beasts", published by Finishing Line Press with preorders opening June 29. 

We talk about why the preorder period matters for authors and small presses, how her upcoming launch celebration becomes an open mic that lifts other writers up, and what a welcoming literary community can look like in Houston. Kathi also reads two poems that stay with you: one surreal and haunting meditation on time, memory, and aging, and another that riffs on Lou Reed, drums, girlhood, and the long tail of being told “you can’t” because of your gender. 

Then we get practical for anyone trying to publish poetry or submit to literary magazines. Kathi breaks down the systems that keep you sane: track submissions with a spreadsheet, submit simultaneously when allowed, read magazines to find the right fit, and watch for legitimacy so you don’t hand your work to spammers. We also dig into creative collaboration, including why working with a real artists feels more human and more interesting than defaulting to AI. 

If you enjoy poetry readings, writing craft talk, and honest advice about the creative process, hit subscribe, share this with a writer friend, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show.

Places to find Kathi works and more:

Kathi: https://theworldinsideyou.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kathicrawford/

Event: June 7th: https://www.bloodhoneylit.com/

https://www.instagram.com/bloodhoneylit/

Book: Unbroken a public poetry anthology:

https://www.penandleafpress.com/

Book: White Wall Review Metamorphosis:

https://whitewallreview.com/

Find out more about Kathi Crawford here

https://www.instagram.com/kathicrawford/

Transcript

Welcome Back And What’s New

Robin- Host 0:00

Hey listeners, we're back at 22 Sides. And today we have Kathy Crawford back in the recording studio with us because she is going to give us an update on how life is going. Oh, and then there's Alexis Melvin, of course. Hi. Hey. Kathy, what's been going on? It's been a year, I think, right?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 0:20

I think so. It it boy did that fly.

Robin- Host 0:24

I know, it goes quick.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 0:26

Yes, because when I was here last time, I was launching my first book that was published by Finishing Line Press, and it's called Consider the Light. And we talked a lot about writing, and we talked a lot about community and more specifically the art artistic and literary communities here in Houston. And in spite of all that, you're doing it again. And I came back.

Robin- Host 0:50

Did it again?

Speaker 3 0:51

Yeah. Darn.

Robin- Host 0:53

So if you want to listen to that episode, just go back and uh check that one out before this one. Yes. Learn a little bit more about Kathy.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:01

That's

New Book Title And Release Plan

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:02

right. Um, and so I have another book coming out. It's being published by the same press.

Robin- Host 1:07

That's fun.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:08

And uh there was a little journey to um writing that book and also submitting it and realizing that I could send it to the previous publisher. Okay. And they loved it.

Speaker 3 1:22

So good, good, good. That's even better. That's it.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:26

Uh so it's called Running with the Beasts. Nice. Uh and if people liked the first book, they would like the second book.

Robin- Host 1:35

Okay.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:36

And if they haven't read the first book, they might want to, which they can order now, or they can get in contact with me. I have copies that I can sign and so it's already it's already available. It's already available.

Robin- Host 1:49

Okay, because I thought we were gonna be talking about its release date.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 1:53

The release date for the new one. June 29th. June 29th. So it goes uh on pre-order. Okay. And um the pre-order period is really critical for an author. Okay. Because it sort of sets the interest level for what's being published.

Robin- Host 2:11

That makes sense.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 2:12

Yeah. So if people are interested, I would love if they would pre-order through Finishing Line Press. Finishingline Press.com, uh beginning on June

Preorders And The Launch Party

Kathi Crawford-Guest 2:22

29th. Okay. And uh Mark your calendar. So I'm sitting here looking at the card for the new book.

Robin- Host 2:29

It's got really cute postcards.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 2:30

And you know, the thing that caught my eye is it says, guys, unicorn dreams, lost brothers, and burned regrets. Um that sounds cool.

Robin- Host 2:44

Is that something we'll find in the second book? Do you want me to read the flagrantly feminist and full of flawed heroines?

unknown 2:52

Yes.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 2:53

So far, I'm liking it. I like flawed heroines. You have me too. Um so there I have a postcard, and on here is a blurb from Holly Lynn Walrath, who is a local uh artist and uh writer as well. And Holly helped me in the editing process for this book.

Robin- Host 3:14

Wonderful. It does take a village.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 3:16

It does take a village, but if you if you don't mind, I'll I'll read her let's give the listeners the full quote. Then people know what I was talking about. They will be good. Uh says Kathy Crawford's Running with the Beasts drops us into the world of women's labor, both seen and unseen. It tracks generations of women across blue bonnet fields on bicycles and in conference rooms, as they wrestle with what it means to work, to dream, to live. Time slips in this world of unicorn dreams, lost brothers, and burned regrets. Flagrantly feminist and full of flawed heroines, this collection is for those looking to reclaim something lost, a welcome reprieve.

Robin- Host 4:05

That's beautiful, Holly. That is beautiful. And so she's writing this on a card that you're using for marketing. And that was her takeaway from your book and her welcoming for people to get into it, really. And I, since you were here last on the podcast, have been to some of your open mics and you shared then, and it was definitely my experience, how welcoming and inclusive these uh gatherings are. So I just wanted to let our listeners know that this June is it that they can come in person.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 4:41

So um, so the opening for ordering is June 29th. Okay. So end of the month. And then I will be having a party again. Um, and everyone is welcome. Love a party.

Robin- Host 4:52

Love a party.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 4:53

It is uh July 26th. Okay, July 26th. And um it's it's the book launch in open mic. Okay. Uh from 2 30 to 4 30 p.m. My friend uh Melody Locke is going to host again, and she has an art studio at Silver Street in Sawyer Yards. Um so we'll be in the sort of the outside of her studio. Uh it's a great venue. It's you know, high ceilings, lots of art. You can walk around and and and and do that, yeah, as well as you know, having people who want to read their own work um for the open mic. So I'm very excited about that. Great.

Robin- Host 5:35

I one of the things I love about you is you always use your platform to lift other people up, and that's another opportunity. So if you're inspired and you've been sitting on something and you want to write it or you want to share it, then maybe you come to uh Kathy's party in July. So that's that's wonderful. And today you are not making us wait. You're not teasing us, you actually want to share some of these with us, right?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 6:01

Uh yes, if you'd like uh to hear. I um have been uh very grateful to have been published for some of the poems that are in the book have been published already in some anthologies. Wow. So, for example, I have one in the White Wall Review, which is a a press out of Canada.

Robin- Host 6:23

Beautiful.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 6:24

Do you want me to read that one?

Robin- Host 6:25

Yes, and I would like to link our listeners to these things if we can. So I'll get that from you and we'll put them in the show notes.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 6:31

Okay, fantastic.

Poetry Reading On Time And Aging

Kathi Crawford-Guest 6:33

All right. Okay. This one is called The Women Rallied as Time Slipped Away. Everyone was content. But what was happening with their clocks? Did the women believe the canard about clocks shrinking in the spine or shoulder and then expanding in stomachs later? Or how about the one that says if you have enough clocks vibrating at the same frequency, your bones stay elastic? In the beginning, women believed their pendulums would swing forever, but then they heard their grandmothers and mothers' gears seize one by one. Still they remained filled with hope. They pushed their clocks away. The clocks held their regrets. The women stood behind muted, cream colored doors. Now they burned sandalwood and magnolia incense after the collapse of others. Suspended between each sunrise and sunset, they found a sense of meaning. They sought refuge in the silent, moss covered mountains. They sipped dirty martinis, tattooed their skin, and painted their lips red. Here, clocks lost their man-made electric charge. Eventually, memories began to fade. Clocks melted.

Robin- Host 7:59

Wow. Thank you for sharing that. So that is in the next book that's on release, and you can get that in June and go to the party in July.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 8:12

Yeah.

Robin- Host 8:13

What would your what was your thoughts? Thank you. What was your thoughts? What's your thoughts?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 8:17

Um it's aging and and you know, and and dealing with aging, which you know, several of us are doing that. Well, exactly.

Robin- Host 8:25

Every minute of every day is one of us is. I know I am. Every minute of every day, all of us are. Yeah.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 8:32

And and you know, and I I think that was nice to just sort of point out some of the things that which it did, but not in a way that says, oh, it's horrible. Right. It was in a way that says, it just is.

Speaker 3 8:42

Mm-hmm.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 8:43

Yeah. Thank you. Oh, you're welcome. Yeah, a little bit more surreal surrealistic in in the writing too. So yeah, thank you.

Robin- Host 8:51

That's beautiful. Yeah.

Feedback And Letting Art Go

Robin- Host 8:53

And is there a way that you like to receive feedback from your um your fans, the people who listen to your work, or would you like to not receive feedback? Because I know some artists are like it's just hard, it's just hard for them to do that. And some artists are real open to it.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 9:09

I love that question. Um, I mean, when you're a writer, um, if you're publishing anything, uh, you've probably had eyes on what you've written multiple times. A lot. So so you do learn how to take that feedback, and then and this is true for any artist, right? Is it your voice, it's your art. And so you don't want to lose that in the process of receiving feedback, and yet feedback is critical because how is it impacting the person who's experiencing it or reading it or or you know, enjoying it or not enjoying it? Um so I'm I'm very open to it, and uh I'm also open to the idea that how you perceive that, how you perceive that, is maybe not even how I intended it to begin with. Like that's what's so cool about art is once you put eyes on the beholder, right? You know, like it's out there once you put it out there. Yeah, it's like I hope you like it, I hope it resonates with you, and I also recognize that it's it may not for everyone. And that's okay.

Robin- Host 10:29

Yeah, it's beautiful to know because we obviously want people to follow you if they're uh moved to do so and and and if they want to share great, but then sometimes they don't know uh if the person's open to that. So thank you.

Cover Art Collaboration Over AI

Robin- Host 10:40

Oh, you better and then I know a little bit about your first book, you work with artists. So you do the words in a certain writing style, um, and sometimes I think you change styles, and then you work with an artist to do an illustration or a foot uh a photo or something like this. And so does that piece have a picture that goes along with it? Uh this particular one that I read.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 11:06

The one you just read um does not. Does not okay. Uh however, I did the same artist who did the artwork for the cover of my first book has done the artwork for the second book. Nice. And her name is Brooke Summers Perry. Nice. And Brooke read this collection and came up with um what you see on the front of the postcard.

Robin- Host 11:27

Uh which happened to be a clock, so I just wasn't sure. Yes. Or it has it in there. So gears and whatnot are showing. Gears and clocks.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 11:36

And so it's it as you heard Polly's sort of um summary of the book and the themes. I feel like Brooks also picked those up in in the photo or sort of like the And the gears and clocks are uh strangely figurative in various places. So it's pretty easy to say, well, I think that's a person. I think that's a body, I think that's a a human, but not totally.

Robin- Host 12:03

And was this I think so. Yeah. Was this piece of work done after she read your book or was it something she had and then she paired it with your book?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 12:11

She created it from reading the the collection. Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful. Uh-huh. Which is really cool. And we call that ecrastic writing.

Robin- Host 12:20

Thank you. Yeah, in case people were wondering.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 12:22

For the word, yeah.

Robin- Host 12:24

That's beautiful.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 12:24

So she did.

Robin- Host 12:27

I did too. I did too. Yeah.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 12:29

I'm like, okay, I've heard the word. I have no idea what it means.

Robin- Host 12:33

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I I I imagine, you know, people have different ways of expressing themselves. So if they're a photographer or an illustrator or a painter, but they don't do the words, then maybe they can collaborate with people who do in certain groups, like your Wivla group or a local group to them. You know, be be open to reaching out and do some collaborations. Was was that easy for you? I mean, or was that kind of hard? Because I know sometimes people are like uh they want to work within a certain vibe, and collaborations can get a little uh loose in that sometimes.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 13:07

That's true, that's true. I mean, uh you know, as in any any relationship, I mean, you know, you kind of want to, you know, work with somebody that you maybe have seen their work. In this case, you appreciate their work, that like you say, the vibe is right between the two of you. Um and I also want to just say that in this world of AI, um go find a a real artist to help you with expressing your words in in um in an artistic way, right? Um much more interesting and um human than the alternative. And I think that writers a lot of times will fall or can fall into the trap of ease and AI may seem easy, but in fact it's I think it makes it not and not always easy and interpreted in the way that you would like.

Robin- Host 14:10

That makes sense. Yeah.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 14:11

Whereas when you're working with a human being who is an artist, and you can to your point, this collaboration, this sort of conversation that you're having um about the work and how that um coincides between both of you. Yeah, it's just really a cool experience. And I'm I would much rather talk about how Brooke and I worked together on this idea and this sort of vision and sort of like how she interpreted what I had written and how exciting that was to see what she had created, yeah, and to have that that human experience together.

Robin- Host 14:50

That's great. Thank you for speaking on that. Because I I do think it is a little easy to go with AI these days, and then also maybe you know, a a little uh surface layer. I mean, there's a lot of depth in her work here that

Second Reading Lou Reed And Dreaming Big

Robin- Host 15:04

may not be expressed in AI. And and if people don't have the ability or the community uh or the interest, honestly, because it's not always a beautiful collaboration. Like I'm glad they have AI, because it pictures can go a long way. And I know that some writers rather people have the picture in their head, you know, so they they're not gonna go the distance to to find something like that.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 15:28

So I think it's one of the things that we've lost by having television and movies rather than radio.

Speaker 3 15:34

Oh, yeah.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 15:34

I mean, I always had my view of the characters on radio. And when they put them on television or movies, they didn't look the same. Right. Because your imagination is so much richer, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know, and some of them were pretty boring. Once you saw other people's idea of what they look like and how they acted. When you think of how many, like you're saying, uh the characters from radio and how many different people interpreted that in different ways, like how many versions of that character there are. Right. And even the ones that are fairly easy, like the Lone Ranger and Silver. I mean, those are pretty easy, they're known things. It's like, you know, a guy and a horse. But you know, even those were drastically different in different places. And then you go to some of the stuff like the green hornet, oh my gosh. You know, yeah. Nothing like what you're seeing on other people's ideas. Yeah. And in the last um probably decade, there's been this trend in um maybe it's more with novels, but you may have noticed a lot of the covers are using like art from centuries ago, right? Exactly. It's not, it doesn't have a copyright, and you can use it. And and they're pulling from from that and using that for the covers. Have you noticed that? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I have noticed that several times. I'm like, wait, I know where that came from. Wasn't that? Yeah. And and you know, I get it because some of them that I have seen will tell you that. Others don't. The ones that don't, I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no. Well, you have to give credit. Exactly. Indeed.

Robin- Host 17:15

Did you want to read another one? Oh, yeah. Okay.

unknown 17:18

Sure.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 17:18

We're going for a twofer.

Robin- Host 17:19

Let's go for a twofer.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 17:20

Go for it. Um, well, this anthology was published by Public Poetry, which is part of the uh Houston library system.

Robin- Host 17:29

Love it.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 17:30

And we love libraries. Okay. Uh so it was published last year and it's titled Unbroken. You can you can order a copy of this anthology as well. There's many local um Houston writers in here as well as others in Texas.

Robin- Host 17:45

All right. And if you didn't want to purchase it, could you check it out from the library? I do believe. Okay. I heard that goes. Just checking. Just checking, just checking. Thanks. The Houston Library does a lot of things, but I've uh you know, and it keeps growing, so I can't keep up.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 18:06

So And I will say that a copy of my first book is at the Friendswood Library, if anybody's interested.

Robin- Host 18:11

Don't just don't just request at your local stores, request at your local libraries. I love it.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 18:16

Exactly.

Robin- Host 18:17

Well, um, can you say one more time what the title is?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 18:21

Okay, the title of the anthology is Unbroken, and it's a public poetry anthology. Very good. And the title of this poem is Listening to Lou Reed Sing. I heard her call my name with Mo Tucker on the drums. Who was the dead girl he heard calling him out of the velvet underground, standing above the bass drum, upside down on the floor, banging tambourines with mallets, Mo split my listener's mind. Early drums were made of hollowed tree trunks, alligator skin stretched across, struck with hands. In sixth grade, my mom gave my drums to my brother. She said, You can't play them because you're a girl. That fateful forking over of my drum kit left me striking my wood tips on pots and pans instead of the snare. I am the dead girl now. Music notes as shadows lead me back like a conductor. How could I give up my dream to play in a rock and roll band? It's not impossible to find your rhythm. It's never too late to pick up the sticks. When you're dead, no one can kill you. Don't say you can't live the life of your dreams.

Robin- Host 19:46

Wow. Wow. I could just see you reading that at the girls' rock camp. Yes. Yes.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 19:54

Play those drums.

Robin- Host 19:56

Yes.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 19:56

Oh, wow. Yes.

Robin- Host 19:58

Wow. So these are pieces that you can find in your next book, but they're already in anthologies. Correct. Wow. You've been busy.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 20:07

I have been really busy. But it's fun, you know. I I love art. That's great. Yeah.

Getting Published Tracking Submissions And Tiers

Robin- Host 20:13

Do you want to share a little bit about if someone was interested in the process of getting published? You said there was a bit of a journey. Um maybe just a tip of how to stay in there. Okay. Or how to get out there.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 20:27

Yeah, sure. And in fact, I was just um on a panel at um the University of Houston had a um conference on last week, and it's called the Boldface Conference, and it's sponsored by Glass Mountain magazine, which is for the undergraduate students. Um at the University of Houston. Uh, so it's Emerging Writers, and they had writers there from UH, from UHD, from HCC, and also a group from Alabama. Uh, but anyway, so they are writing and creating, and they have dreams of publishing. Many of them have already been published, maybe in Glass Mountain or other magazines. There's also the Buy You Review at University of Houston downtown. Um, and we talked about that. I shared um, I shared with them, look, as you can continue to write, continue to submit, you may start losing track of like who submitted what to whom and you know what did they say?

Robin- Host 21:29

And like, you know, keep a spreadsheet, keep a spreadsheet.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 21:33

Exactly, exactly. So so that's my first tip. Oh, wow. Track what you're sending out. Good call. Good call, good call. Yeah, um, and and where you're sending it to. And then I also so I have a a spreadsheet of of that, like the different magazines and their website and sort of one I submitted.

Robin- Host 21:51

Exactly.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 21:51

And I use my business experience for that, you know. Um and then the other one is just my list of pieces that I've written. And I keep notes on um you know like where did I start that poem from so a lot of them come out of classes and prompts and things like that or an idea from a book I've read or something. So I keep notes on sort of what where did that originate from that's great. You know sort of what to me, what does it mean to me and some little notes so I can talk about it later on after I forget.

Robin- Host 22:26

Yeah yeah yeah you know I I think I think that's important because people do have these questions like hey and if you go back to a first piece and you're already down the line and you kind of forgot about it, like you don't it it'll help you reconnect to it. You know so that's that's great. That's great.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 22:41

Yeah.

Robin- Host 22:41

Wow.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 22:42

And then the other thing is um to start reading literary magazines and follow them on social media and support them in any way that you can but there's a ton of literary magazines if you start looking. And they're all not they're not all right for me. They're not all right for you. But when you find the one you think oh I would love to have something in that magazine then start submitting to it. You know put that on your list. Have five poems coming out these are new works um on the 7th of June with a literary magazine called Blood and Honey. They have a sister magazine called the Argyle which I've already been published in. Nice. And what I love about them and the editor of both is that they really are looking for unique things not sort of following fall falling into a formula. Oh that's I write unformulaic stuff. Okay.

Robin- Host 23:43

Right. So if you if you go and you read these things and you're like oh well you know I don't see myself in this or um I don't see works like mine in this don't be deterred. Like maybe actually submit because they might be looking for you or something.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 23:59

Keep looking.

Robin- Host 23:59

Now do these people ever reach out to you once you've published with them? Is that something they do to keep you in their magazine or do they just sort of move on and wait for you to resubmit?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 24:10

Yeah most of them work on submittal versus solicitation. Okay. The magazines that are soliciting work are like the New Yorker Okay. You know um the you know the and and look I'm not on their list. Okay. Yes review hello yes yes hello yeah and that's okay uh right so if you if you we we talk about tears in in in magazines and if you are pursuing an MFA and a ultimately a PhD in writing you probably are aspiring to um magazines like Gulf Coast and you know the The New Yorker, the Paris Review, etc. Right. And I think you should. Sure. Uh absolutely and um uh you kind of would submit there first and then if you still wanted to try to submit you go kind of down the tiers until you kind of got to the magazine you wanted. What I'm looking for is I said the vibe, but also I want them to have a social media presence. I want them to be promoting the writers in their magazine. I want them to be creating a community. So a lot of them will do readings and different ways of bringing their their writers together um so I want them to be a good literary citizen um I want them to have a masthead I want I want to know I can see a picture of the editor I can find them online I mean they actually exist. There's a lot as in any industry there are a lot of spammers in this industry as well. So you know you just have to make sure they're legit be a little careful with your art.

Robin- Host 25:48

Yeah don't just don't just give it away yeah but I mean if Oprah's people called you it's fine she'll get by she'll she'll consider it she's kind of busy

Community Literary Citizenship And Avoiding Scams

Robin- Host 25:58

but she'll make space it's fine. Book of the week or the month sure does she do soul Sundays anymore it's fine. She'll Kathy can give up one Sunday it's fine. Exactly did you have any final comments questions?

Kathi Crawford-Guest 26:13

Well no I mean I'm just uh sitting here I see you I see it washing over you yeah slightly slightly amazed it's like okay so you've got a book coming out at the end of June and you're doing a lot of stuff for it in July. But before that we've got like three or four things published elsewhere that are coming out.

Robin- Host 26:32

Yes and then before that she's talking about her new pieces coming out.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 26:36

And it's like wait a minute when do you sleep? You know what and yeah exactly but I think there's um once you get into some routines um then it starts to happen like that but let me just say it took a while to get that first piece accepted right and then it was getting myself into the how long just for the per people who are curious. Well when I started writing creatively again which was in 2017 I started taking classes and so on and all my instructors would say submit your work submit your work and I'm like you know me um I had never really gone back to it to do that per se but then after a while I'm thinking well why not I'll give that a try that's a part of the process yeah it's a part of the process I finished this poem I'm ready to get it out in the world so let me give that a try. So I would say after starting to submit it probably took six to nine months for the first one to land. That's not horrible. It's not horrible in you're in a group with people who do do different uh literary works is that common or because you said there are so many magazines that that's a good amount of time okay so it's not just a Kathy phenomenon it's it's a good amount of time I think it's pretty pretty average yeah so don't don't be discouraged yeah yeah exactly and I think that you need to send it out I have a friend who she was sending things just to one at a time and I said you can't do it that way. No because it can take up to four months or six months to even hear back from one.

Robin- Host 28:16

And some might not even get back to you I'm sure some don't get back to you.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 28:19

So they have this phrase on there that you need to look for and it's called um being able to simultaneously submit. And most any magazine should should allow that. So that's all that really means is I can send it out to 30 different magazines and the first one who gets it wins.

Robin- Host 28:38

There you go make them work for it.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 28:40

Yeah and then if they win and it's still out I just have to let those others know hey this poem's been picked up so I'm taking it out. I'm withdrawing it.

Robin- Host 28:50

So yeah all right so we're gonna look out for your new works coming in June and um maybe we'll list that event if it's local it's in person when you're reading your the works the blood that one oh the blood and honey is going to be online.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 29:06

Oh wonderful so it's blood and blood and honey literary I think it's blood and honey lit is the um URL.

Robin- Host 29:13

So people can view that from afar? Yes. Okay.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 29:16

I'm just more interested in the party.

Robin- Host 29:18

Okay so the party you

Open Mic Etiquette Audience Care And Closing

Robin- Host 29:20

can come it's live. Yeah that's what I mean. Okay so we'll have an online party in June and then we'll have an in-person party in July.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 29:26

And I'll probably follow the um in-person with a Zoom so for people who don't live in Houston that would like to hear about the book or whatever can't make it out. You can follow me on my blog Kathycrawford.com and it's k-a-t-h-i c R A W F O R D dot com.

Robin- Host 29:47

And that way you'll get notification or follow me on Instagram at the same thank you for that I've watched some replays of your open mics and seeing just all these different varieties of speaking and and topics all at once it it's it's really fun. Like we've just like what Alexis was saying it we forget if you're saturated with television or reels from social media just how fun it is to listen to people's uh natural creations. They're they're different pieces of work that are not uh overly curated for TV you know I mean it it it's it's beautiful to see what people come out and talk about.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 30:27

Yeah. So when you're talking about your open mic, what are the limits on things people can or can't talk about uh I mean I don't usually put a limit on it. I didn't think so but I thought I'd ask that's good. I mean I think you have to always consider your audience and think about um if this is the right place for what you want to read. There are so many places to read your work uh in Houston and it it runs the gamut of topic and you know uh yeah emotion all kinds of you don't want to be offensive um yeah whatever you know and that can happen um so we try to not have that happen um so yeah with so with with kindness towards your kindness exactly yeah exactly read the room these are people who are coming to respect your art so yeah yeah yeah yeah uh I read the room's what not a lot of people are really good at I know it's like look look around you no I was at a reading uh not too long ago and I I really felt for the person who was reading because they were clearly passionate about what they were sharing and it was not the right you know it's not the right uh time or audience time or audience um and yet I really empathized with what they were sharing because we do live in very challenging times.

Robin- Host 31:57

So and as an audience member I've been to a a few different art offerings not just reading but like slam poetry or uh theater and I I always remind people like you can leave like as a person who's attending something like if something gets too heavy in any topic and you're not in the right mind space for it you can leave. Yeah you know please please be the person that takes care of your own care. Because they don't always announce those things and you might feel like that's disrespectful or you might feel like you're a little cramped like maybe you can't get out of seats or something if it's at a theater. Nope, I'm the first person to leave because I you know I once you're in a vibe of something sometimes it's hard to shake that and you don't have to subject yourself to every vibe. So that's I do say that to audience uh attend attendees like don't don't feel like you need to be a victim in the seat because that's well that's for sure that's not that's not happening with me.

Kathi Crawford-Guest 32:55

So thank you for coming any final words for your listeners that are getting to know you or that have been a fan since your first episode with 22 sides uh well I just appreciate this opportunity to share with you all um about my book and to read some poetry and I encourage everyone to write things down that uh is on their mind and it's just a good way to process um your life and and what you're thinking about and you don't have to ever share that with anybody.

Robin- Host 33:27

Hey you don't you don't audience of one I love it yeah you don't that's for you it can be private could be fun it could be your own little secret it can and so I hope that people can come out um to the to the celebration and also um yeah I just let's keep writing we'll keep creating the pieces you read are wonderful I'll just say that thank you they're very moving yeah absolutely they have a lot of meaning in them thank you so much thank you thank you thanks for having me and if you're listening please take care we appreciate your attention and some of you are subscribing following sharing and even donating towards the podcast we're really thankful it means a lot and we're happy to keep this going so if you know someone who should be interviewed or if you want to hear back from some people who've already been interviewed like just send us a little love note and we'll see what we can do. Bye. Bye