[Alex Pepple]

Dear Erastophereans,

After a record-breaking stint of mastery musing, our Moderatrix, Alicia, will be leaving her Eratosphere post for more time on the toddler sphere. However, the good news is that she will join our band of roving moderators and, sustain some presence on the 'Sphere.

And for even more good news, it’s my pleasure to announce that Marilyn Taylor will be taking over from Alicia as our new moderator for Musing on Mastery.

Marilyn has requested that I ask all of you to be patient while she sharpens her Erato surf & tech skills. However, I believe that she already has all the technical skills she'll need – she has successfully posted and replied to posts on the Sphere! More importantly she is eminently qualified to continue the tradition of writing and critical excellence for the Musing forum as you can see from the brief bio below.

• MARILYN L. TAYLOR is the author of five collections of poetry. Her poems have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including The American Scholar, Smartish Pace, The Formalist, POETRY, and POETRY’s 90th Anniversary Anthology. She is the recipient of the 2003 Dogwood Prize, three Pushcart nominations, and has also taken First Place in recent contests sponsored by Passager, The Ledge, and GSU Review magazines. Marilyn’s latest book, titled Subject to Change, (David Robert Books, 2004) was nominated for the nationally recognized Poets’ Prize.
  
  Marilyn served as Poet Laureate for the city of Milwaukee in 2004 and 2005. She teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and is currently an editor at THE WRITER magazine, where her columns on craft appear six times a year.

Marilyn’s publications can be found at the Able Muse bookstore, here

Please join me in giving a hearty Eratosphere welcome to our new moderator, Marilyn!

Cheers,
…Alex

[Donna English]

Welcome to the Sphere, Marilyn! I'm looking forward to your musings on mastery.

Cheers!
Donna

[Marilyn Taylor]

Dear Eratosphereans,

I, apparently, am this person to whom Alex refers in such a positive and optimistic way-- and I'm absolutely delighted and honored to be here. But I must tell you that I didn't think my inauguration (is that the word?) as moderator was going to take place quite so precipitously! Therefore I do beg you all to bear with me for a few weeks as I learn how to navigate, how to get a feel for the atmospheric conditions around here, and to figure out how in the world I can effectively follow a stellar performance like Alicia's. Any tips you have for me would be welcomed-- advice, caveats, etc.

Again, I'm genuinely honored. I hope to do a satisfactory job, even though at the moment I am a nervous wreck. It will pass, I assure you.

With optimism and all good wishes,

Marilyn Taylor

[Clive Watkins]

Dear Marilyn

Welcome aboard! I very much look forward to your forthcoming posts!

With best wishes from the UK…

Clive Watkins

[Gregory Dowling]

Marilyn,

And all best wishes from Italy too. Great to have you aboard.

Gregory

[epigone]

Welcome, Marilyn! It's great to have you aboard.

Okay, I am a little jealous that you have more stars than posts at this point, but I'll get over it.

epigone

[Robin-Kemp]

Reporting for duty, multi-starred Marilyn! So happy to see you here, as well as on Formalista, and everywhere else we cross paths!

Robin


[This message has been edited by Robin-Kemp (edited March 24, 2006).]

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

Marilyn,

Welcome. Very good to have you aboard.

And best to Alicia, going off to do toddler-sphere duty.

Kevin

[Carol Taylor]

Marilyn, a warm welcome aboard! I'm delighted you've joined our staff, and I look forward to your ongoing participation, not only in Mastery but in our other forums as well.

Carol

[B.J. Preston]

Welcome Marilyn! (And while you’re right about having a very tough act to follow, you already sound more than up to the task.) Looking forward to insights from some new blood.