The Literary (Ad)ventures of Gretchen Lee Bourquin

With the official ISBN version of No Sensible People available on Amazon for 13.95, and the Publisher's Grade version available on Lulu for $9.95 print, $2 download. I'm riding a new wind. I made promo postcards that I am leaving in places where readers gather in the Twin Cities.
http://www.lulu.com/content/4663817

http://www.gretchenleebourquin.com/no_sensible_people

I saw you this morning again
perched on the bird feeder in the yard
and I peeked at you
like an old friend
through my kitchen window
I stayed silent
knowing my presence
would frighten you

Yellow bird
where do you go
when the crows and jays
come around?

If I could keep them out,
sit outside
in the lawn chair
with a few seeds
in my outstretched hand,
a special treat just for you
I would be there.

I'd like to think
that I would let you land
on my palm,
I would keep
a steady platform.
not shake from awe
when you have come to me.

Through force of will,
I would bear the little pangs
as your bird toes dig into my flesh
and your beak draws blood
as you eagerly eat your fill

I would connect with you
as an equal,
blood bird to human
looking for seeds and crumbs
in other people's yards
biding our time against all the bigger birds

But my conditioning cries to me
and we both know
if you flew to me,
offered yourself into my hand
I couldn't resist your capture,
and I would cage you
just to track
your every move.

And so to keep you wild
and free
I stick by my window track the days
you come and go on visits
while I keep myself imprisoned
in my house.

(this poem appears in my poetry collection "The Long and Short of It" http://www.lulu.com/content/858487)

Reviews of my novel "No Sensible People"

Ms. Bourquin paints a picture of damaged but smart, decent, loving people all trying to make everything all work out, and makes you care about these people intensely. (They)are all fully defined characters that I will remember for a long time. -- Rhetta Akamatsu, author of "T'aint Nobody's Business if I Do"

Excellently written, brilliant story! .... It is refreshing to know that there are still true writers out there who are ahead of the game.-- Lakeya Geneene Mitchell author of "Joy Of Winter"

Review of my poetry collection "The Long and Short of It"

Ms. Bourquin has a strong voice, a straightforward style and thankfully, does not indulge in overly fluffy prose. She knows how to capture a visual image, and reinforce it with emotional impact. -- A.F. Stewart, author of "Inside Realms"