A year in review. Perspective.

Each year many of my writer friends choose a word to be their motivation for the upcoming year. I have done this in the past, but I felt like this year would be too chaotic. It was, but that is beside the point.

Let’s start with a review of this year and then I will reveal the word that I have chosen for 2020.

For me January through March crawled. I released one volume of poetry, Spilled Verse. I know that other stuff, personal stuff, happened… But at this point most of that time is a blur.

My Mom visited at the end of March. It is rare for me to see her, and her two eldest Sisters accompanied her. Both of which I have not seen since being a teen. It was a good visit.

The next thing that really happened this year was the release of Dream Drips. I did a migration to Draft2Digital in January which allowed me to offer all of my books in multiple formats.

I took a road trip in June to see people very dear to me. I also released Ink Splashes.

In July we released Under the Mists. Working with such lovely, talented wordsmiths, well it was quite a treat.

The next month of worth was October. I joined Coffee House Writers. I really enjoy working with them.

I also released my memoir in October. Inspiration Without A Home.

November was Nano. I have a couple of books in formatting that need releasing. I finished Beautys Tears, Dylan and his pet Zombie, and I am working on layout of Faerie Footprints.

Overall, 2019 has been eventful. I have written, and drawn, much this year.

So, I think that for 2020 my word will be change. I need to figure out what I am doing wrong and adjust to make not only my writing successful but my life. I need change, so I will be aiming for it..

Monday Poetry

Yeah I know. I usually just post my own poetry or do a spotlight for Monday… But I just spent a week with bronchitis. So I did not have a post prepared. And I felt like that was not fair to those who read my blog.

So I decided to mix the two and add a story of explanation. To change things up and hopefully give the reader a smile.

A Haiku A Day is run by an author that I worked with on Under The Mists. Haiku is for me a difficult form. I do so much better with freeform poetry. He is posting literally a haiku a day. I am in awe of his talent. Well I thought that it would be a neat challenge to try and answer his Haiku with haiku of my own. Silly right? Well I obviously did not manage it every day… But I have been able to do it a few times. Now I challenge you. Take a look at the haiku below and then go check his blog. See if you can match my answer to the original poem.

Now if you can… And send me in email your answer, I will be doing a giveaway. I do not yet know what I am going to give away. But free is always good, right?

Here are my Haiku.

The light was never hers
Though she was told that it was
Darkness was always home

The words choked the pen
For the poet knew to be sin
To lay down the pen.

Payment often comes
Due in less than convenient
Moments slowing life.

Sweetness fades away
Memory remains to haunt him
Over kisses stolen proper

Sanity is overrated
insanity has benefits
Missing pieces hide easy

The words outcry all
For choosing one is downfall
At the beginning then.

Tonight I see a
Note of similarity between
sleepy poet and me.

Echoes continue till
We return to hear wisdom
From who we once were

Monday Poetry

Today is two from Word Play

Monday Poetry

This was a collaboration between myself and another poet who approached me on social media. He is a wonderful wordsmith.

Friday Prompt writing

My attempt.

Pick up the pen,
open the vein,
attempt to explain
the image burning
in my brain.

Telling stories in graphite,
characters that only I see.
It seems so real,
these stories I am writing,
my brain is merely telling lies.

Teach the bardic arts
using your weapon,
ink and pen.
Send the dreams out,
letting not the anxiety win.

Friday Prompts FAMILY

Fancy Dinners in quiet spaces
Asking not who attended,
Making no demands
In the stress free zone.
Loving the only requirements
You really need to know.

Thursday Tea Party

Hello my lovelies! Today my tea is a lovely lemon ginger blend. It is good for digestive problems.

Well I think that I have some excitement upcoming! Changes to how I handle my Patreon. Fae Corps also has a few sheduled changes to their blog upcoming. A new children’s book from me… Possibly a series of them.

So let’s talk about patreon. I have been struggling with what to put there. I don’t like duplicate content. I feel like if you are paying for the content then it should be something that is not posted anywhere else. So I have this blog on a schedule with doable content ideas for each day. I am working on getting the fae corps blog set up the same way. And I think that I have some ideas for patreon too. So if you want to help me to keep doing the art and poetry…. And get to see the fun content that is going to be only available on patreon… Go over to patreon and pick a tier. The smallest amount is $1. There are a few posts each month that are free to see.

Or you can send money via PayPal. Ok. On to other topics.

Serena is still plucking away at Nanowrimo. She has not been meeting goals but she is writing daily, except for yesterday as sleep deprivation hit. I have been struggling with the poem a day. Too much sick time. However thanks to a very cranky muse, I woke up from my sickbed a couple of days ago and needed to write a children’s book. Dylan and the pet zombie is completely written and in the illustrator’s loving hands. I am working again with the amazing Ms Shannon Alyce Riddle. She is the same artist that did the princess lost. Dylan will be released in January 2020. I have other ideas for the character, so I am thinking about making it a series. Here is a couple of concept drawings she did for the characters. Dylan and his parents. Note that these are not actual illustrations for the book, only concepts of the characters.

Those who follow my activities with Fae corps know that we are working on a anthology Faerie Footprints. It is being put together now. I am hoping that it will be available for purchase in December. Don’t forget the deadline for submissions for Through the Sunshine is January 31.

I finally found an app for recording of audiobooks. So I can set about recording of the princess lost again. I am hoping to be able to get to the recording this weekend.

Beauty’s Tears is still needing to go through layout. I am hoping to publish it in December. Of course I will announce the release when it happens.

As you know I have been working with coffee house writers. I was in their probation period. Where I worked with a training editor who could help me get used to the routine. She was a wonderful person to work with… She has an editing business, here is her Page. Well I graduated out of her care and into the poetry department there. It honestly feels like home as there as many of the writers are similar to myself.

Well… I believe that is all of what I wanted to tell you… Now that I am done rambling…. What is new with you today?

Friday prompts – Excess

Excess

Dreaming about having
enough to be easy
generous.

To not need to fret,
work and sweat,
just to have enough.

Building an excess,
hoarding everything
that I can,
just to get by
is not a good way to survive.

Saturday links, the I forgot to post kind

First off, I apologize for the lateness of this one. I had a migraine on Saturday and it caused me to forget everything that I was supposed to do. Second, as I have been with Coffee house writer’s for nearly two months now… I plan on doing a second post next Saturday with the links to places on the web where my work has been posted. Not sure yet if I will do that every month like I do this but I think that I want to at least post it once.