This book was originally published in 1991 (second printing 1992). It was inspired by an incident in my own life where, at the very last moment, I chickened out of a marriage. Knowing my heart was not in it, I created a break-up announcement to send friends and relatives. This announcement was what sold the publishers on the idea of a book with appropriate sayings for every possible situation. Says etiquette expert Letitia Baldridge, “Jill Williams has compiled some charming, lendable quotes to help the tongue-tied person write cheerful or witty messages to others...”

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I’m a big fan of poetry contests. That’s how The Nature Sonnets got published. I had entered a chapbook competition at www.givalpress.com and placed second. Although I didn’t win anything, I did receive a very complimentary note from the publisher. Six months later — thanks to another poetry contest — I was asked to read some of my children’s poems at The Library Of Congress’ Poetry Reading Series in Washington, DC. Since the publisher of Gival Press was located in nearby Arlington, Virginia, I invited him for a coffee. After we chatted briefly about how to best market one's poetry, I handed him another manuscript. This time he published it.

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Another invaluable tool for writers who seek publication is the ability to network. I met the publisher of A Weakness For Men at a poetry gathering in Sedona, Arizona. I was organizing my own reading series at the time and invited him to participate. We became instant admirers of each other’s work and, with his constant support and encouragement, the concept for this particular collection emerged. The names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent. So have the locales. But basically, it’s autobiographical.

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The lesson here is: Never lose contact with fans of your work. The publisher of this anthology also published The Nature Sonnets. We’ve remained friends and when he told me he was looking for material for this latest collection, I was only too happy to send him a few poems. Frankly, I was surprised when he picked “Asking Directions.” I felt some of the others were stronger. But then I’m never very good at second-guessing editors’ choices. As Mark Twain once said (or was credited as saying): “There’s no accounting for taste.” What the publisher and I do agree on, however, is the uniqueness of this collection. I highly recommend it.

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