I love email.

Have I mentioned that I'm not the best when I it comes to staying in touch with folks who are worth staying in touch with?
Why, yes, I think I have.
Well, here's another perfect example...
I got an email this week from someone I hadn't heard from in 2 years. (Have I mentioned that I love the internet? Why, yes, I think I have.)
Jim provided much needed encouragement, comic relief, a gathering spot for our writer's group (SPAM was it's official moniker, but that's another story...) and he was in large part responsible for keeping the last few threads of my sanity from fraying (it would probably be more accurate to say he was in large part responsible for keeping me from going totally wing-nut, but I'm trying to play down my nut-hatch eligibility, even in the past tense) when I went through a particularly rough patch a few years back (and I'll bet he doesn't know this).
He contacted me to congratulate me for getting into the semi-finals of the ABNA Contest.
That made me feel pretty darn good: A writing mentor from my past shows up out of the blue and gives me a pat on the back. I needed that. And coming from Jim it means a lot (Thanks, Jim).
As it turns out, I should be the one congratulating him.
And here's why:
He has a new book out!
Jim Lambert recently published The Winds of Life.
I haven't got my mitts on a copy of this book yet, but I know I have to read it. And not just because this is what he has to say about it:
"The poems in the book cover the entire gamut of emotions from the death of my sister to my reaction to being named Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year.”"
The main reason I'll be adding it to my bookshelf is because I've had the pleasure of reading some of his unpublished writings, so I know the book has got to be good.

You can order the book at his website www.jimlambertpoetry.com or over at Amazon.

I'll tell you more about it after my copy gets here.