in my hot little hands

In the mail this morning, I received the very first copy of Kali's Blade! I sat with it for a few minutes reading through it as if I hadn't written it, trying not to bend the spine too much, letting my eyes be dazzled by the cover's wonderful colors.

And if you'd like this baby in your hot little hands, or maybe the book will turn your little hands hot, then don't forget that the special pre-release offer to get Kali's Blade for a Hamilton $10 ends this Friday, December 15, 2006. Postmarks count. Oh what you could do with the extra $2 you save!

A Special Pre-Release Offer For:

Kali's Blade
by Michelle Bautista
ISBN: 978-0-9709179-7-3
Release date: December 2006
Price: $12.00
Distributors: Lulu.com, Amazon.com & www.MeritagePress.com
For more info: MeritagePress@aol.com

Relevant categories: Poetry. Creative Nonfiction. Martial Arts. Women's Studies.

Meritage Press is delighted to announce the release of Michelle Bautista's inaugural book, Kali's Blade. This unique collection is a mixture of poetry, prose, and collaborations that brings martial arts to the page, creating a tapestry that attempts to capture this elusive spirit known as Kali. Kali's Blade is like walking the edge of a knife between reality and myth, strength and frailty, the physical being and the written body. As Bautista writes in, "How to Battle a Wind Goddess," the only real way to win is to inhale her, for "where she became my flesh / I became the wind goddess."

Gura Michelle Bautista is a 4th degree black belt in the Kamatuuran school of Kali under the direction of Tuhan Joseph T. Oliva Arriola. She teaches Kali in Oakland, CA. She is a SF Bay Area poet and performer, having worked with Kearney Street Workshop, Bindlestiff Studios, Asian American Theater Company, KulArts, and Teatro Ng Tanan. She has been published in Going Home To A Landscape, Babaylan, maganda magazine, Eros Pinoy, Asian Pacific American Journal, TMP Irregular and MiPoesias Magazine.

ADVANCE WORDS:
"She is deep, she is dark, she is unseen. She is the Goddess of both death and destruction, and birth and creativity. Through her all life comes and yet, death is her domain. Kali is a duality...a beautiful woman that hides a secret. Hidden from all to see, she keeps her weapon near her belly. It is the power that is her fury. A two-edged knife...whose glint of light is best kept in the dark before it pierces."
—Grandmaster Joseph T. Oliva Arriola, Kamatuuran School of Kali

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To celebrate Kali's Blade's release, Meritage Press is pleased to offer a Release Special through December 15, 2006. For $10.00, you can obtain a copy of Kali's Blade, a savings off the book's retail price of $12.00—plus free shipping/handling to U.S. addresses (another $3.00 savings). Just send a check made out to "Meritage Press" to:

Eileen Tabios
Meritage Press
256 North Fork Crystal Springs Road
St. Helena, CA 94574

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Information about Meritage Press is available at http://meritagepress.com