Category: whispers of future stuff

Time to renew

In November I was able to schedule the blog ahead. However, I was not able to do the normal weekly posts. Not with the daily poetry posts. I enjoyed the poetry posts though, did you? Still, now I am sitting here about to get the week ahead scheduled and I find that I am feeling like I am at a refresh moment. A save spot in a game if you will. It makes me wonder if I should make changes to the themes of my day to day posts. Definitely thinking about if I want to do anything else for the new year.

I would love feedback from the reader of my blog. What would you like to see me talking about in the future? What is not working? I don’t guarantee that I am going to implement the suggestions, but I am going to at least consider them all. I am currently thinking about adding a few things maybe taking a couple of things out. I never do that new year new me thing, but I do have a policy for a yearly word. My word for 2023 is actually a pair. “Forward Progress” I am trying to find a way to improve me, my work, and my life. I spent much of this last year struggling and in a rut. I want to avoid this in the upcoming year.

So, in the interest of Forward Progress, I will ask. What is your opinion on this blog? What should I continue? What is probably better left behind in 2022? What would be a good addition to the blog in the future?

Cover Reveal

Preorder link coming soon!

Cover Reveal

come back in a week to see Danny.

The trouble with writing …

I have always loved the written word. So much of my childhood was spent in the idea that I would be a writer. I had a best friend, Lucretia Fisher. (only one of a handful of friends I had) She lived near my grandmother. She and I would talk about being famous writers some day. We would argue about which of us would be published first.

When I was not writing I was devouring books. I read at a college level in 4th grade…And now I find that I am having trouble finding the time…last year right about this time I decided that I missed it…between October and December I read nearly 60 books…

I think I will likely do it again…but I am trying to get a habit with my writing. And I find that I am having trouble getting motivated. I always have 500 million other things that I have on my to do list. I wonder if Lucretia managed to get her books published. She was such an amazing writer.

The to-do list never goes away. I am fighting to help authors get heard. I am fighting my own demons to see what I write as being worthy of the world. And sometimes I am just hurting my own feelings. So, if I seem to be a little bit more in self-doubt please realize that I am still fighting.

Handprints on my soul is 10 poems away from being done. I am hoping that I can get it done in time to publish by the beginning of November. However, I don’t want to promise that or start the promotion of it until I get the last poem written. Because I somedays lose that fight.

Oh! And I will be releasing a new kids’ book in December. Not Another Danny is going to be released December 2nd during Fae Corps Kid’s Week ! I will try to get the cover reveal up later this week .

Writing is so weird.

Every writer will tell you that writing is not the easiest thing to do. The characters will refuse to be written if you have any thing off, such as the title or maybe the idea of who are writing. Serena has been struggling with the second book in her zombie series. She was trying to keep the name similar to the first one. The first book – Rust, Gore, and the Junkyard Zombie – was named appropriately. It worked for the book. She was also struggling with the cover. Nothing I was designing fit what she was wanting.

Through experiments and discussion I believe that we have found the right title and series title. (I will have to adjust RGatJZ later to add the subtitle).

Book 2 will be The Art of Zombie.

The series Title is going to be the World Gone Wrong.

She is back to work…writing more undeath. I have a cover design that she is happy with. (reveal will be closer to the release date)

The flea market

They tell you to price for your time and the cost of the materials. I am not good at such things. Putting a price for my art… It’s not that easy. I broke even, after making changes to the prices. Etsy is not a good reference. So I faced my anxiety. I sold enough to break even, with it cold enough to freeze out.

I am calling it a win. It was not the complete landslide sale I was hoping for. But I did not come back with my tail between my legs, broken, either.

Sometimes you take the small win.

Thursday Tea Party

Hello Lovelies! Long time since we had tea. My current favorite is Lipton’s Peach Passion Green Tea.

2020 is nearly over, and I know that I am not the only one who is grateful. 2021 is already shaping up to be busy. Fae Corps has several authors lined up that we are going to be publishing. We have 2 anthologies planned (Fae Playgrounds and Fae Shivers). Serena is going to be in Circle City’s Absurd Apocalypse Anthology. And I submitted to two of Indie Blu(e)’s upcoming Anthologies. (I hope I get accepted, their books are always so pretty. )

Song of Shadow released this week. I am still working on Half Mad Meanderings and Heart Drops. I hope to release both in 2021. I am also planning on pulling each of my Poetry Volumes, one at a time, and Revamping and re-releasing them. I don’t know how long it will take to do each volume. I do know I will be releasing Large Print versions of each as well. I have learned so much this year that I can put into practice on my books. I hope it will give you, my readers a fun thing to look at.

This will be as far as I am concerned the final version of each book. Serena’s not going to do that with her books, and I am going to go through the poetry volumes first then deal with the children’s books after. I may try to talk Serena into large print at least.

I am also working on Grandmothers wisdom. Coffee house writers anthology will release next week. Like I said 2021 is shaping up to be a busy year.

Thursday Tea Party

Hello there. Today is a green tea sort of day for me. This year has been a strange one, time passes either on fast forward or in slow motion. I am looking forward to the release of both preorder books (Through the Sunshine, and Poetic Reminders.)

There is a deadline coming up for two of Fae Corps calls for submissions in June. Nightmare Whispers and Fae Dreams. There is going to be a call for submissions put out in August for a new anthology as well.

I have been updating keywords on my books… And it was brought to my attention that a few of my covers needed work. It feels like I do this yearly… But I have been updating covers again as well.

The original
The updated cover
Original cover
Updated cover

The person who made the suggestion is a poet of considerable talents. I had approached her for marketing advice, and what she said was basically that some of my covers lacked the personality of my poems… I immediately understood. There was some of the covers I liked better than others. I started with the covers that I liked least.

Please don’t get me wrong… That does not mean the covers are bad… Or even in need of replacement. It just means that I could see her point. I was not happy with those covers because they did not suit me. I had something similar happen with a logo I had been using… Someone stopped me and said that it did not suit me. When I asked why she simply replied that it was just not colorful enough… It seems that I have a lot of personality and it shows up in my work.

For me these books are my art. Yes I could pay for the “perfect ” cover… I would likely sell more… But it would not be mine… Does that make any sense? I don’t write for the money. I write because it is part of who I am, who I always have been.

Thursday Tea Party

Hello, lovely readers! Today, my need for caffeine was strong, so I am enjoying coffee. Triple chocolate coffee with cinnamon creme creamer. That and the toothpicks propping my eyelids open might allow functionality.

So much news today. Two preorders… One for Poetic Reminders and one for Through the Sunshine. Upcoming events. What is being worked on now. And commentary about life at large.

So let’s start with talking about the preorders. Fae Corps is doing a party all through May. There is going to be a chance to get to know the authors in the anthology. Giveaways and just general fun. Go check it out and join us for the fun! I am not doing anything so big for Poetic Reminders…. However if I get comments on this blog post I will do a random drawing for a free ebook copy… So tell me something that makes you smile.

Coffee house writers anthology is moving right along. My submissions have been assigned to its first editor. They are going to assign three separate editors to catch all errors. That way you, the reader, get the best piece possible. With Fae Corps we have the authors read the manuscript after the final edits have been put together to make sure that there are no errors. That is often 10+ sets of eyes on the whole thing. That helps to insure quality. Quality is the best way to ensure the stories are showcased properly.

So, Serena is working currently on a short horror story for the Nightmare whispers anthology. I think that it is off to a good start. She is still working on The Kingdoms of Sin, but the short has a deadline. She is determined to get both done soon. I hear that she is hoping to release her book some time this year.

As for me… I have started a new poetry volume. The cover is above… I really love how it turned out. I still am working on heart drops, but as I don’t often write love poetry… I wanted a volume that could catch the other poems… The darker poems. I think that this volume suits that idea. I have the next Dylan book written, and am waiting for the illustrator. If I have time I want to finish Attack of Shoe Mountain. I have so much going on though that it may be a while.

Life has been chaotic for me for a bit now. Back in November we started expansion of my daughter’s room. Due to the lack of people to assist or timing being bad or just bad luck… It is still unfinished. That is changing this weekend. So next week will be me cleaning up the mess left by construction. The next project is my master bath, hopefully it will be done faster.

So I mentioned a giveaway above. I asked for things that make you smile, but I am also curious about how life has been for you. How has the current situation in the world affected your day to day life?

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.