So here is some news. Same Old Story has been nominated for the 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Award in Poetry.

I do not know why this has happened. According to the website, "there is no external nominating process for the Book Prizes. Authors, publishers, agents or publicists cannot propose or submit titles for consideration. Responsibility for nominating books for consideration and for naming both the finalists and the ultimate winners rests solely with nine panels of three judges each."

I've never had any interaction with this year's poetry judges. Why would they have noticed my book? I know I have no hope of even making the finalist list for a prize that poets such as Louise Gluck and Allen Ginsberg have won. But golly.