It was a tie in the votes… this one and Burning the Candles at both ends.
I asked my boyfriend to choose… and his response gave me what I needed to choose.
He said that Burning is a darker one and this one was lighter. So I should choose based on the poems that I was planning on putting in it.
That is not how I write…
But it got me thinking about my own writing and the upcoming volume. Ok, I have Serena’s Gathered Bones that I can put the dark stuff in. And I am planning on using this one for the November Pad challenge as well as the stuff I write until then…. I am likely to be looking for a new one at the end of November….
So I chose the one that I liked better (and the one that my daughter had voted for) since the votes were equal for the two.
Help me choose what my new volume will be? I have less than 10 poems in Echoes left to write. Each of these are supposed to be Free Verse with no theme….
The writing on this new one will probably be done in November but the volume itself will not be ready for release until next year.
[Verse 1] Crawl out of the hole you’re in Who you are is not who you’ve been Now’s the time to sink or swim Will you fight the tide or get lost within? And I know you’re feeling low Feel like you’ve lost control But the darkness that you know It’s not your home and you’re not alone
[Chorus] And all you’ve wanted Was just so much more This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul The silence, you feel it Cold as a winter storm This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul
[Verse 2] Iron bars are hell to break Tell me now, do you know what’s at stake? Your whole life in a blank stare haze You walk around like the end of days And I know you’re feeling low Feel like you’ve lost control But the darkness that you know It’s not your home and you’re not alone
[Chorus] And all you’ve wanted Was just so much more This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul The silence, you feel it Cold as a winter storm This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul
[Bridge] I’m callin’ out to you Can you hear me? They can’t break you down Let you hit the ground I promise you it won’t be long (Won’t be long) You’re feeling overwhelmed here Drowned by the pain and the fear The sun will come with the dawn
[Chorus] All you’ve wanted Was just so much more This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul The silence, you feel it Cold as a winter storm This world has taken a hold Don’t let ’em get your soul Get your soul
My 2 Cents –
The problem with times when my poetry flows more…my emotions feel closer to the surface. I have been writing a lot of poetry for the last few days…and it means that my music is a wee bit melancholy. This is the most positive thing I could find in what I have been listening to. As my music tastes are all over the place…I try to use music here that I can actually have something to say about – or that is a feel good piece. This is a bit of both. Remember you are important whether you feel it or not.
No matter how much I do. No matter what I list as my accomplishments.
I refuse to listen. So I have been in defiance doing art and writing.
Though I see it as flawed…my view of my art and writing always says that there is no reason why anyone would like it…
I have purposely not been allowing my inner voice the ability to take control.
It is an actual fight.
Tonight I am winning.
The art above was done tonight.
Echoes is now 65/70 poems
Serena’s Gathered Bones is at 13/70 poems
Kingdoms of sin got another 500 words tonight.
There is a story started for Fae Corps publishing’s Spring anthology.
And I did another digital landscape.
I have still got work that needs done. Things that are sitting on my desk with a needs attention tag on them…but tonight I was in the wrong headspace for editing and for making sure that things looked their best. Tonight I did my best to create.
Because when you are feeling like you are not enough – MAKE MORE! so I did.
And if it is flawed…well some of the best loved things are flawed. that does not make them loved any less.
So Jenny Elliott – Friend, Intern, all around I cannot live without her in my life type person…asked me what the list was for the anthology publication. (The To-do List that is)
I told her it is the same for each book…and I sat and thought about what that means for the anthologies, for my books, and for each book I work with.
I need a front and rear cover to work with.
I need a clean formatted and edited manuscript to work with.
I need a blurb, and an author list.
I need a Release date.
I often am the designer for the covers my company publishes. That makes having them easier. There are a couple of authors that provide their own covers but most just go with the ones I make.
The authors often just send me the written stories. I put in the formatting and edit it as I go. Many of them have the writing edited before I see it, but not all. Formatting is putting in order – Title page, a copyright page, Contents, Chapters, About the Author, About the Publisher.
Some authors write their blurbs, some expect me to write it. Either way, It is not as difficult as writing the entire story. The author list is an obvious thing…
The release date is based on how many others I have in the calendar at a time. The limitation is mostly me. I can only do so many of these at a time.
Okay I have the manuscript…now what? I use Draft2digital, Amazon, Google Play Books all for Ebooks. D2d has the best expanded Distribution. Amazon has the best reach in general. Google….well…why not? I do Not Like D2d’s Print. So for print I use Amazon and Barnes and Nobles press.
Then I have to deal with Marketing. I try to do the same type of images for every book. Do I always manage it? No, not really. I have way too much going on…and often this is where I drop balls. Ideally, I want for each book to do a cover reveal image set. I want to do 3 teaser images. I also want to share an about the author image for each book. Now the last one can be made once and often reshared for multiple books. An Author does not often change their bio. Mine has changed perhaps once a year. Mostly because I have changed where I am focused. Some authors never need to change theirs. I also like to occasionally do “Coming Soon” images…for example….
It’s simple and really only gives the link and the cover. This gives people the urge to go check it out. Then once you have them…spread those images everywhere.
Since I was 17 I’ve always hated my body And it feels like my body’s hated me Can somebody find me a pill To make me un-afraid of me?
Seen every therapist, but I’m a cynical bitch Don’t like to talk about my feelings I take another hit, I find another fake fix ‘Cause it’s easier than healing
I don’t wanna be this way forever Keep telling myself that I’ll get better Every time I try, I always stop me Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Since I was 22 I’ve been with somebody who loves me And I’ve been tryna believe it’s true But my head always messes up my heart No matter what I do
Seen every therapist, but I’m a cynical bitch Don’t like to talk about my feelings I take another sip, I swear it’s my last fix ‘Cause it’s easier than healing
‘Cause I don’t wanna be this way forever Keep telling myself that I’ll get better Every time I try, I always stop me Maybe I’m just scared to be happy I don’t wanna be this way forever Keep telling myself that I’ll get better Every time I try, I always stop me Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
I’m so scared of having something to lose I’m scared of being somebody new I’m so scared of all them seeing the truth ‘Cause right now I’ve got nothing
But I don’t wanna be this way forever Keep telling myself that I’ll get better Every time I try, I always stop me Maybe I’m just scared to be happy
Maybe I’m just scared to be happy (Maybe, yeah) Maybe I’m, I’m scared to be happy
My 2 Cents –
This song has been haunting my playlist consistently for the last month. I wonder if the universe has been dropping me a hint.
So I have started working on Serena’s Gathered Bones.
I have also started working on her Heaven’s Forgotten Tales. Which is basically a gathering of stories and poetry from her that she has published in various places. Much as Apocalypse athenuem is.
I realized that I am writing more – both as Patricia and as Serena Mossgraves. That I am doing a lot more daily work than I used to. So I might actually go through the future volumes I have prepared covers for…
So I am considering doing some covers for the fun of doing the cover design. And I am wondering if I should plan a future volume for Serena as well as for me.
It ends up being a little bit of a question as to whether or not I have been playing with the poetry with her or if she should continue to write it.