Thursday Tea Party

Hello my lovely readers! Welcome! Today, I am drinking orange juice to boost my immune system. I am normally sick during the winter but it’s been worse this year then it normally is. So, a little self care never hurt.

Well, now that we are working on edits and such for Through the Sunshine, I feel free to leak a new project. We will announce it offically on the Fae Corps Blog in April. We are going to be doing an anthology about Dreams, goals, plans, etc. The title is going to be Fae Dreams. I did the cover and I am so proud of it… It will be revealed when we announce the project. We will be doing a call for submissions then as well.

This sick has been killing my writing. I was doing multiple poems daily and then some writing as Serena… Then I got sick. In the last month the only writing that has been done was either on this blog, or put on coffee house writers. I am getting better but it has been a struggle. One that I hope is over soon. I dislike not having stuff to share with you. It makes me feel like I am failing.

Dylan and the Motel is due to the illustrator in March. She is incredible, but she is busy. It will be published in 2020 but I am not positive as to when.

2020 is shaping up to be a busy year. I have a lot possible to do this year…I just am not sure what all will be. Between Fae Corps, Serena, and my own endeavors. I hope to be able to tell you about many new projects that are coming together.

I am hoping to get a new laptop to assist with both my writing and my art. I am eyeballing the Acer Aspire 3 with a tb harddrive. It is affordable but it is likely to take me a couple of months to get. (If you want to donate to the cause, I appreciate it. PayPal me! ) The computer will allow for me to do more with my writing and allow for a wider variety of art. Currently, I use a Samsung Android phone to do everything. I have a older model Dell pc that I use for layout… It is so painfully slow that I would not be able to write on it or use the art programs.

Due to the lack of writing… I think that at least through March, to give me some time to get some work built up… I will be doing the poet segment on Monday. I still have many poets that I love. It would give me time to recover.

Fyi

I have not finished with the poets. Unfortunately I have been sick and the extra daily post has been a little too much for me to do. Give me a few days and I will be able to post them again.

Tuesday Straight Talk

Okay… I know that I usually do Tunes on Tuesday… But something came up yesterday, and I want to discuss it.

A friend in the indie writing community discovered a pirate site… With almost all of my books and all of Serena’s listed. Talk about mixed feelings… Part of me feels betrayed. The other part is like… Well, at least they are good enough for piracy. I am not going to lie, and say it is about my books being shared. I see piracy in two different ways. Things like peer2peer are different. I see that the same as me sharing the book with a friend. It is not going to make me money… But it is not offensive. At least not to me. The site last night is not p2p.

That site charges for my books. I get nothing from it. It is not certain whether the site delivers the book to the buyer. I don’t know if they are even using the buyer information properly.

So, I wanted to tell you that Serena and I both only publish to the above markets. If you find my books anywhere else then I did not give permission for it to be there. Let me know and I will proceed to attempt to get the cease and desist word to them.

Just an Fyi, it’s illegal to print ebooks. Any site telling you different is questionable anyway. I have arc files for those who are interested in leaving honest reviews, but can’t afford the book. It is not a hard thing to get a copy to read.

Migraine blues

Today is a nope day. I apologize but I can’t think. It is too painful.

Echoes Into the Void

So I was having an email conversation with a friend about social media. He was pointing out the algorithm that sucks the orginality out of social media in general. While I agree with him and sometimes I think that I would be happier without the view of humanity that I recieve from reading the interwebs, I would miss the delight of seeing the creativity in the human soul.

The conversation ended with the idea that we both often feel unseen. It is not, I am sure, a novel feeling. To feel like instead of being actually heard… You are merely sending echoes into the void.

So I think that I want to hear the echoes…tell me something that you feel like isn’t being heard. One thing that you want to say. I will listen. And then go through the comments and hear others. Or pass the post on to others. Let’s get it to where no one feels like that echo.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I think that the teenager I was fell in love with the idea of a teen girl poet. Her words spoke to me deeply. Btw… My apology for missing Sunday. I slept all day.

Tuesday Tunes (Delayed Edition)

Ok, I missed yesterday. I know I posted the first of the poet posts… But I feel like this fits.

Pat Benatar – Hell is for Children

Lyrics – They cry in the dark
So you can’t see their tears
They hide in the light
So you can’t see their fears
Forgive and forget
All the while
Love and pain become one and the same
In the eyes of a wounded child
Because hell, hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell, hell is for children
And you shouldn’t have to pay for your love
With your bones and your flesh
It’s all so confusing this brutal abusing
They blacken your eyes and then apologize
Be daddy’s good girl, and don’t tell mommy a thing
Be a good little boy, and you’ll get a new toy
Tell grandma you fell from the swing
Because hell, hell is for children
And you know that their little lives can become such a mess
Hell, hell is for children
And you shouldn’t have to pay for your love
With your bones and your flesh
No, hell is for children
Hell, hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children
Hell, hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children
Hell, hell is for hell
Hell is for hell
Hell is for children
Hell is for children
Hell is for children

My 2 cents – so all of the poets that I will be telling you about helped me to start to heal. Well there were also some songs… This one helped me feel like I was not alone. I felt understood, A rare thing then.

Maya Angelou

Picture found on Google from (https://chapelboro.com/town-square/right-as-rain-that-time-i-flirted-with-maya-angelou)

So I have been thinking about this week and how much Tuesday has thrown off my schedule. My daughter was definitely more important and I have spent as much time as I could with her for her sweet 16th. So I also kinda missed my Monday poetry by telling y’all about my family.

A conversation with a friend of mine, another author, got my mind going. There are a few women poets who have been a big influence in my life. They helped me to survive and become me. So I am going to, until I cover each of them, share information about these poets daily. Yes it is going to include the weekend. I am also going to do next week’s normal posts if I have not finished by then.

I am starting with a legend. Maya Angelou.

Picture from snopes.com

I feel like her voice when she finally found it was what every survivor needed. A good deal of her poetry is about being a better person, about growing into something more. She was a woman of her age, and a activist who was an example for her community. For women, for women of color, for survivors, for people who are struggling. She was all of this, and more. She used this to leave words to inspire that will continue to help those who read them.

Her writing has a very lyrical quality. You can feel the rhythm as it is read. For me, there are several of her poems that resonate. I chose the three that I love most to share here. Her autobiography is a very interesting read. She was someone worth reading.

Birth, life, and all that entails

I’m not usually one to do family pictures and such… But I am feeling my age today. Tomorrow my youngest turns sweet 16. She is amazing. She loves gaming and horror. She is very into the goth aesthetic. She takes no crap off of anyone. She is Badass at discovering new music, and creative as all get out.

My eldest (far right) is 30 and has two growing boys of his own. He is a volunteer fire fighter. He is hard working and a good father.

The third was my middle child. I was unable to keep him. I chose to give him up for adoption. I have been lucky enough that he has welcomed me back into his life as a friend. He is a delightful young man who is starting a good life. He writes poetry as well.

I am incredibly blessed with the 3 of them. And as I am looking at my youngest growing up on me… I think that I want to take the day in introspection.

Flakes, not made of corn

I think that I have a sinus infection. I am not able to think of what to write. I am just going to take a small rest then I will be back tomorrow with the monthly link post.