Guardian Unlimited Books has a great Poetry Mood Matcher that tells you what sort of mood you're in and prescribes a poem appropriate for that mood. Great fun!

The fact that I ended up with a Walt Whitman poem seemed auspicious, since my novel-in-progress is centered around Walt Whitman (and the word auspicious is auspicious in itself! One of my wonderful UCLA students sent a link to show me that the word "auspicious" comes from the Latin for "bird seer"! I wish I had known about this when I was writing The Book of Dead Birds.) I love when signs and omens pop up in my writing process--they keep me going, help me feel I'm on the right path.

A not so auspicious thing today: I received official notification that both of my hardcover books have been remaindered. This of course makes me a bit sad. I'm just grateful that the books continue to live on in paperback. Maybe I can become part of the Rock Bottom Remainders band now--I can shake a mean tambourine!