Patricia Harris-
Patricia Harris is a dreamer, crafter, gamer and digital artist who loves creativity in life. A half mad poet, her writing is found all over social media and various other websites. She is a devoted mom who can be found doing a variety of art when she isn’t penning poetry and writing words. She is owner of the indie publishing company Fae Corps publishing. For more from Patricia, check out www.Facebook.com/mouseypoet or pattimouse.blog
And for a reading list of her books go to https://books2read.com/rl/PatriciaHarris
And as Serena Mossgraves -
Serena Mossgraves is a twisted faery with a love of gothic settings and an urge to scare. She’s constantly on the prowl for new ways to twist old stories into dark tales that excite and terrify. If you’re also drawn to nightmares, come visit Serena on Facebook at www.facebook.com/serenitysfall Or check out her reading list at https://books2read.com/rl/serenamossgraves
I recently joined a few writing discord channels. There was an article shared. It spoke about Vanity presses, small presses, and indie presses. It advised the author to avoid all three. I will link to the article…as it was an interesting read. It gave me a bit of an issue, however…as I run a small press. It spoke in the article about checking the education of those running the press…I am not classically educated. I could not afford college. I learned via free classes and reading everything I could get my hands on.
Soooo this article made me wonder when the writers in that discord would call me out for the imposter I know myself to be. I have been publishing for a decade…and I am still learning. I don’t do everything perfectly. No human does. I, personally, advise you to use common sense. Does the small press expect you to do everything? Are they asking for money upfront? If you have to pay to get your book published then yeah they are likely not legit.
However, not everyone can afford to go to college. Those who go do not always know what they are doing, and those who cannot sometimes do have knowledge. Sometimes you have to ask questions and make choices that are not based on how many degrees are hanging on someone’s wall.
Well, there are no dead from a week of my shenanigans…though I may need more caffeine than usual. By this time, I have managed a poem posted daily and still got work done. It was not the most interesting week on this blog and probably seemed more like filler to y’all. Next week should be a little less busy for me, so I can hopefully get more content here that will be an enjoyable week. Though I may have killed my neighbor by then for the ruckus he is raising with his four-wheeler, I am not sure. I will also by this time have gotten to the doctor to see why I am getting migraines more often.
For all my shenanigans, I am hopeful that everyone will enjoy the beautiful anthologies I am currently putting together. The art and poetry are amazing. The stories are just what you need on a crisp fall day to put you in the mood for candy and spooky stuff.
The next few months are going to be busy for me. (Yes I seem to do that to myself a lot) So, as I am sitting here trying to get all my weekend work caught up, I realize that my poor blog is AGAIN neglected. Friday we are releasing Andrew McDowell‘s second edition of Mystical Greenwood. That means I am trying to gather images and activities for the release day on our Facebook Party Room group. I have things I am trying to put together for the Fae Corps Blog…again to get everyone possible to see his book.
That is just the first thing I am doing. Then, I have our Halloween Anthology. This year it is called Darkness Screams. It received so many outstanding submissions that I split it to accommodate the quality of stories. (I have done this before with other anthologies)
So I am neck-deep in editing, Marketing image creation, and formatting for these two. I give myself two months to do this with each anthology because I have a routine. Once approved I invite the author/artist to join the company discord. I have each anthology set up in a private room within the channel. This allows Files to be shared and questions answered easier. I ask everyone to sign a contract (So I can legally publish their story/art/ poetry and they have protections of their copyright) I ask for a bio written in 3rd person and an image to represent them. (I say an image because I have had a few who gave me photoshopped images, due to personal reasons. ) Then I sit down and put together a rough draft of the anthology. I don’t worry in the first rough about perfect formatting or having it be edited and polished. After I get a feel for how the anthology will flow, I feel like I am more capable to suggest edits. Yeah, that seems so silly…the grammar will not change based on how it fits in the book, right? Actually, it might. It will help me to see the story on its own instead of trying to place it mentally in an imaginary book. I send the suggestions to the author and give them a deadline for when I need to see the finished copy.
Then I start while waiting for the stories to come back…to make images to catch the interest of possible readers. I do (For most of the anthologies) a cover reveal, A author/artist list for each anthology, A image to represent each story, and a meet the author/artist graphic. That can be quite the undertaking. In Darkness screams that is 3 graphics just to list the author/artist in each one. I, as you can see above, combined the cover reveals. I have already today done the story graphics for each book.
I still have more to do just for the anthologies… Then I have another book we are releasing in October. The third book in Ashira Dayta’s Magick Saga. (The cover reveal should be happening soon on Fae corps Blog. I am quite proud of that cover) It releases on October 31st. I have to do some images for marketing it as well.
Then I have other projects that are ongoing and need my attention. (For example Formatting for a Poetry book by NK – Titled Valley of Thoughts. We are supposed to be releasing that next year. Editing for Ruan Bradford Wright’s Novel Toe-Rag which is expected to release in February. Writing my own poetry and prose books. And just being a mom and person who has housework that is not getting done more often than not.)
I honestly intend to do this blog every week..but I end up overwhelmed. I think I will just post some of my poetry this week. I thank you for your patience. I swear I am not forgetting y’all.
So those who follow me know that Fae Corps is just about to have a busy season. August 26th we are releasing the second edition of Andrew McDowell’s book Mystical Greenwood. And the submissions are in for Darkness Screams. I am busier than a one armed paper hanger…I wrote the above poem to put in the front of both volumes of Darkness Screams.
I will be able to return to posting here next week. thank you for your patience. (ps. Check the Fae Corps Blog tomorrow to see the covers for the next anthology!)
Ok, it’s really Monday morning when I am scheduling this because I was late in getting stuff done this week. But I don’t wanna. So instead I figured I would try to wax philosophical Or something like that.
I have been making Tiktok videos of me reading my poetry…Then I had a conversation with a poetry coach. She said that I read my poetry like I was reading a book. She is not wrong. I do so due to crippling social anxiety. I need to figure out how to read it in such a way that I forget I am on video. Each step in the publishing progress has required me to overcome some plateau of anxiety. I remember when I was publishing my first poetry book, and then my first kid’s book, and then each major step along the path.
I know I seem to have so much going for me. I have so much baggage and mental health issues. I am overly endowed with creativity. I can create in multiple mediums. I am skilled in areas surrounding those creation areas. (for example, I do well at formatting, cover design, and such as that)
Skill, in my opinion, is something we gain from doing. I have talent and skill with words. It comes naturally but I have studied to improve my writing much as any other writer does. I have skill with art. It does not come naturally. I have had to practice and learn to improve. I struggle with seeing what I do as worthwhile because it does not come naturally.
Do you ever know that you are capable of something, attempt it, do it as best as you can, and then look at what you did and see trash? well, that is how most creative people are.
Tomorrow will be a rest day for me. Thank you for understanding.
Pattimouse 