I was a passionate poet in my teens and early 20s until the drive all but left me in my 30s for art, music, and finally, jewelry. This book, Chaos to Grace (stylized as chaos to grace, of course, because that was when we were all refusing to use capitalization), was published in 2001, and contains my work from late 1994 when I was 16, until early 2001, when I was 21. It is very much of its time and of my age; melodramatic, transgressive at times (mostly regarding Jesus lust), sexual, sensual, bisexual and bicurious, and rife with references to anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, but all in a fairly positive, “I’ll get through this” kind of light. And I did! I’m adding this disclaimer in case anyone considers it for their own teenager. Some examples are contained in the photos, and then, of course, the “author photo” of me in an Olive Garden in upstate NY on a brief vacation in the Adirondacks with the subject of 80% of the last half of the book. :)

I have about 200 copies of this book yet (from what I’d call a fairly successful 500 book run for Fargo, ND in a time before the real internet), and would be delighted to add it in to any order.