Poetry & Other Thoughts . . .

I have an AuthorsDen account that I hop into once in a while. I pay for Gold membership, so you would think I’d be there more often. Thing is, I have these social anxiety issues . . . yes, and they carry over to online forums, chat rooms, and the like. So, I post once in a while, get overwhelmed by the sheer size of the place, and log out . . .

Just the same way as I go to a store, sit in the car a while, and then slowly drive back home without getting what I came for.  Perhaps you can maybe understand why promoting and marketing my work is difficult for me! A very overwhelming process, indeed!

Anyway, I have published on there and at one other such site–Writing.com, some poems. Only on those sites are they.

Until now.

Why? Because I’ve never considered myself a poet. So, I’m going to bring a couple of them here.

I went with the belief that I was not cut out to be a poet until I was forced–yes, forced–to take a poetry class at a writer’s workshop I signed up for years ago. Bridging the Years Writers Workshop. Signed up too late to get one of the classes I really wanted to take, so they tucked me into this poetry class. Didn’t find it out until I got to the workshop that morning. Yeah, I wasn’t a happy camper, but I sucked it up and didn’t make a fuss over it.

To that date, I’d only written one poem I was proud of. It’s a romantic piece so I won’t be posting it here. One poem, though, didn’t a poet make, so I thought. Was a fluke, just a lucky coincidence that I came up with it. Of course, it took me a while to perfect it. But, hey . . . I’m not a true poet, right?

So there I sat at our round table with Real poets, young and old, and hoped I could get through this thing without anyone knowing I really shouldn’t be there. Alas, it was not to be! Our instructor, whose name I’ll remember after I post this–if we’re lucky–gave us a challenge. We were to take pen and pad in hand and walk through the building,  jotting notes on what we observed, heard, smelled and even touched.

And write a poem about it.

And read it aloud to the class . . .

I warned them all, right then and there that I was NOT a poet, so don’t expect much. On that note, we all ventured out of the room into the halls of the Fort William Henry Conference Building. I’ll let you read the poem to discover a little of what we/I experienced that afternoon.

Once we’d been properly inspired we were free to head back to our room and get to creating our rhymes . . . or whatever type poem we were comfortable with. I rhyme. Of course, when it came time to read what we’d written thus far, I let everyone else go before me, hoping the class would end before it was my turn.

But . . . no . . . I was not let off so easily!

So, resigned to it, I read my little creation, which actually ended up being rather a long one. Although I wasn’t particularly pleased with what I’d come up with, I read it with feeling. At the end of it, everyone just sat there in silence. Didn’t quite know what to think at that moment. Was pretty sure I’d proved my point. I had no business writing poetry! After a few seconds, one of my writing friends slapped my arm, and said accusingly, “You lied to us! You ARE a poet!”

The rest of the class enthusiastically agreed with her, and the instructor encouraged me to keep at it. I was a poet, and I should know it! Well, who’d’a thunk?! Once in a while, I am a poet!

So, give me a little bit to get them pretty on the page, and if you’re so inclined, you can let me know what you think. I’ll post some of the feedback I’ve so far gotten for them. One review quite recently. From a poet . . .!

 

How’s everyone on this winter day?

I’m getting over some stomach bug. I hope you all are doing well!

I know it’s been a while since I last posted. And I had said Marooned was nearly ready to roll out. But . . . I caught a few mistakes in the manuscript, and then I decided I didn’t like some of the last names I’d chosen, and THEN, some plot changes came to mind that are better than what I originally started with. And then, I had to finalize the cover, and find new images for it as I couldn’t get one of the ones I wanted.

I wish I were an artist, but alas, I draw about as well as a five-year-old. Maybe worse. I’d love to be able to draw extraordinary covers for me and the world! 🙂 But–for now, I’ll have to outsource them when I can afford it, or do them myself with help from the pros.

In any case, it will be a little longer for the book to come out. I have really big hopes for this one. And for those that follow. I’m trying to decide whether to change the viewpoint with each new book, or keep it with Devynn. I kind of want to keep it with Devynn because I’ve grown to really care about her and her family. So, although I want to do stories that feature the lives of her friends, I think I’ll make those a subplot of whatever is the main plot with Devynn. I have so many ideas swimming in my idea pool right now, it’s hard to decide just what I want to create in the next one. I have one firm idea, and have decided on a name for the character to be introduced in it.

Funny how a name can change everything. I’d sort of thought to name her Amanda Joy, but wasn’t really happy with it. Then, I met a woman who’d named her first daughter, Daveena. Not sure if that’s how she spelled it, I haven’t asked her yet. But it’s how I’m going to spell it . . . I think. Always subject to change right up to the last second! I tried the spellings out: Davina, Davena, Daveena, and even Davyna, Davynna. Going with that double e. When I made up my mind to go with Daveena over Amanda, suddenly my creative juices started flowing, and I was excited to get started.

I’ll outline it a bit first. Just to get a bit of direction. I’m actually a write first and see where it leads me type writer. I write down ideas as they come, but rarely organize anything until I’m forced to. I’ll likely do a timeline outline for whatever I write for this series. I’ve had to do it for other stories in other genre I write in. If the stories will overlap in any way, a timeline help keeps things straight.

I do have new ideas for the Kingsley Twins. One has to do with relationships with grandparents. I have several ways I want to approach this idea. Whichever way I go with it in this series, I’ll go another way in Marooned. Being a Gramma now myself, this is a big thing to me. Actually, it’s another hitch in Marooned right now. I have to iron out exactly what sort of person Devynn’s maternal Gramma is. Not sure I’ve kept her true to character as I described her as a mom. Rather strict in her younger years with two teen daughters and a toddler boy. I suppose she could have mellowed with age. My mother-in-law certainly did!

Anyway, back to the Twins series . . . I want to feature Malley’s ability to bond with people that others might not take the time to do. So maybe Gramma or Grampa has Alzheimer’s or some other problem. And possibly Malley was abandoned because she is pregnant, and so we’ll have some kitten fun into the mix. I’ve been casting my brain back to my kidhood, looking for things I struggled with back then, and events that I can draw upon for both these series. I should be making a list . . .

Finally, there is the time travel I’ve been working on forever and two days. I have been asked to make that story into a series by the kids for whom I wrote it. We’ll see! I wish I were twins myself at least, or even triplets! I could get all these stories out of my head and onto the screen–and ultimately into readers hands so much faster!

While the stories are in ebook format right now, I am considering print publishing . . . POD, of course. Some pros and cons with that, but I guess I should wade into the ocean with the sharks, and hope I don’t get bitten. I say that because I did so with a book in another genre, and it didn’t go so well. Been quite a few years since then, so I shall hope for a better outcome this time!

Well, I’ll say see you later for now. Being called to supper! Have a great day!

P.S. If you do purchase any of my books from any store or my website, please let me know what you thought of them. Would help me in writing the next one . . . or even prompt me to make a change in the existing book. Yes, I can do that and have. Thanks for dropping by! Visit again soon!