Hello Lovelies! So much has been going on here. Personally, we are doing rehab on a couple of rooms and deep cleaning others. That means that I have no coffee or tea this morning as I have been scrubbing the table that both pots reside on.
Professionally, The deadline for Through the Sunshine was extended to the 14th. As one of the editorial staff I am gearing up to start editing the submissions. We will soon be posting the submittors bios on the Fae Corps page.
I discussed schedule with my illustrator… And she will be able to by April /May do my next book of the Dylan series. “Dylan and the hotel. “
I am also working on the coffee house writers anthology. Though I have the submission written, I still have to do all of the other stuff involved.
I am also still working on heart drops. This volume is taking longer than the average due to the amount of responsibility I have taken on lately. Add in a extraordinary amount of illness this year…. And I am far less productive than normal.
Today my newest poem on Coffee house Writers posts. The posting rules for Coffee House are slightly different for the poetry department. In the poetry department there are two types, the type I am is devoted to poetry and rarely post else. Coffee House is devoted to growth of their writers. So, the poetry department that I am a part of does a weekly assignment. A challenge if you will. The weeks that you post you are required to at least attempt the assignment, and to comment on other attempts. This way we grow, we learn.
I have written free verse my whole life. I am I think comfortable, overly so sometimes, with free verse. I love the lack of restrictions on my writing.
The poet ee cummings used a lack of following the syntax rules to separate his poetry from the mainstream. I am in no way comparing my poems to his, but it was an argument that I used in high school when the teachers wanted me to follow all of the poetic rules. I have learned the rules since, because it is easier to break rules if you know them. In high school though, I was not worried about the rules of what I was writing. It was a coping mechanism. I was writing pure emotional purge, without care of what I was truly putting into the world. It wasn’t until later, when I was safer, that I started to consider how to improve my words.
So I am thankful now to attempt the challenges to improve. A good many of them are new forms. As poets, we often stagnate in single forms because they become easy to write. (The reason why I have been taking on Haikus lately.) I hate stagnation. Poetry should be fresh. A new view.
This week the assignment was a Ghazal poem.From the internet search “Ghazal (Pronounciation: “guzzle”) Originally an Arabic verse form dealing with loss and romantic love, medieval Persian poets embraced the ghazal, eventually making it their own. Consisting of syntactically and grammatically complete couplets, the form also has an intricate rhyme scheme. Each couplet ends on the same word or phrase (the radif), and is preceded by the couplet’s rhyming word (the qafia, which appears twice in the first couplet). The last couplet includes a proper name, often of the poet’s. In the Persian tradition, each couplet was of the same meter and length, and the subject matter included both erotic longing and religious belief or mysticism. ” I did not follow the rules exactly… Wouldn’t be my poetry if I did. I did however try to get the setup right. Tell me what you think, did I get it close enough?
I realize how much this year I have bowed out due to illness… And I am so sorry. Between my own sinus ick, and worrying about my girl Cyndi having pneumonia, and just general life stuff… I am worn out.
On an up note… I have 3 books less to fight with as they are out. I am working on entries for an anthology that I have been accepted for… I have one more book that I am working with for layout. I have an audiobook that I am trying to record by the weekend (game weekend for me so I have to be ready to run my guys through adventures as well).
We, in my house, are still in the process of doing some remodel. So I am definitely dealing with chaos here. So even though this is not a normal tea party… It is still an update. Just as chaotic as my life currently.
I submitted to Indie Blu Publishing’s call for submissions for their anthology for the chronically ill.(not the name but y’all know what I mean.)
The anthology that I referred to earlier is one that is being put out by coffee house writers. I will be sharing more information as I know more.
Faery Footprints and Dylan and the Pet Zombie and Beauty’s Tears are all available to purchase. The deadline for Through the Sunshine is coming up quickly (January 31). I am working on a surprise anthology for Fae Corps… More details as I get it done.
This year is already shaping up to be a busy one. I know that I usually do a link post on the first Saturday but I was releasing those and I wanted to wait for their links. So I will be doing that post this Saturday. Definitely keep an eye here because I have quite a few projects in the works.
I do hope that this finds all of you well, the sick has been getting around lately. I am probably not going to be posting tomorrow as I am worn thin. Please forgive me this. And I thank you for reading and supporting me throughout all of my journey.
Well, well, what have we here? Our last tea party for all of this year! Gracious, this year has been one filled with growth… And strange adventures. I certainly have many planned for 2020.
Faery Footprints, the next anthology from Fae Corps Publishing, is due to be released on January 6. I will have a link for the preorder by Monday.
The submissions deadline for Through the Sunshine, a light fae anthology by Fae Corps Publishing, is January 30. It will be released around June/July 2020.
Beauty’s Tears, having been set aside so I could do layout for Faery Footprints, is about to go into layout. I am planning a release around the first of February.
The illutrations for Dylan and the Pet Zombie are nearly done. Once they are completed, I will be doing layout for it and announcing that release date.
Serena is still working with Kingdoms of Sin and Life, Guilt, and Undeath. She is hoping to finish one if not both in 2020.
I am still working with Coffee House Writers. I have been accepted to attempt a place in their anthology. I also am planning to submit to a couple of others in the upcoming year.
I personally still have to finish Attack on Shoe Mountain, and of course the poetry volumes. There is so much writing that I have to finish. So I plan to be busy.
Of course I will be updating you as I know more! This year should be a busy one.
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.
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..
So… On tumblr I managed to by virtue of sheer exhaustion do something that has me so embarrassed. I had a talented poet enter into my asks wanting to recieve a poetry prompt. Now… I am on a midnight schedule. My boyfriend works midnight to 9am, roughly. So, I usually am in bed between 2ish pm and 11pm. Well, I am also an insomniac…. Yesterday was a no sleep day. The poet thanked me for posting it… And I in my exhaustion… I did not double check the response before sending it out. Autocorrect got me. I sent Your welcome instead of the You’re welcome that I thought I was sending. So I think that I will attempt the prompt myself as recompense.
Six feet down, In fresh turned earth… Lays love once so dear. He chose another heart, Betraying mine.
So his memory, I buried. To prevent my pain, In hopes that it would Never rise again.
As the wheel of time turned, Away that heartache burned. So here I am with shovel in hand, At the graveside I stand. Hoping to revive All of the memories Buried inside.
Hello lovelies! Tonight, I have coffee instead of tea… And lots of it. I am in the home stretch for Beauty’s Tears – only 9 poems left to write. I am hoping to knock out the writing before the first. I likely will not be getting to Layout until December, but it means that Heart Drops will be started with the poems of the PAD challenge.
Fae Corps will be doing another round of daily prompts in November. I will probably be reblogging many of them. The first group got a good reception so we decided to do them for nano/poetry writers in November.
I have been approached by another poet/author about doing a guest blog. Her idea intrigued me! So I will be posting it as soon as she gets it to me for you to read. I enjoy her poetry so I believe that you will enjoy the post.
So… I am facing my fears… And then some. I asked about doing a author signing event yesterday. I also have found a craft fair to try and sell my art and crafts at. This is such a big thing. I have been making art, jewelry, and resin pieces. And due to fear, I have been sticking it all in bins. Anxiety often keeps me from doing. I was called out for my bs. Joe, my boyfriend, told me that if I was not going to do anything to sell or use it then I should stop making it. I hate it when he is right. So I am swallowing the what if I fail fear. The first craft show is a local hot dog sale on the first Saturday in November. I have to get to earning money for books for the signing event. I personally have 19 poetry volumes, 3 kids books, and a memoir. Plus Serena’s 2. And the anthology. That makes it expensive to have even a small amount of copies to sell. Those numbers just make me want to cry.
The beginning of the year will be seeing a lot of new things, from me and from Fae Corps. We have a lot planned. I will be seeing the release of my Beauty’s Tears and the anthology Faery Footprints in December. I am hoping that Serena will have a book ready for release with the new year. I am looking at the release of the audiobook version for the princess lost.
This year is still going to be bringing new challenges. What are you hoping to do before the end of 2019?
Pattimouse 