When a Promise Becomes a Reality

Excitement built when the proof copies of my book arrived at my daughter and son-in-love’s address in Washington, D.C. With Asila and David, Judy, and friend Michelle as my first audience, I read aloud. I found a few things I wanted to change during the proofreading phase—spacing, words to be added or eliminated, and resizing the cover fonts.

Then I pressed the “Publish” button. In that exquisite moment, my shoulders dropped from my ears and an audible breath released from my lips. My book was on its way. Within 24 hours, Amazon notified me it was live on their site. Just in time for the Writers of Kern Spring Conference and National Poetry Month (aka April), my book is a reality.

You Can’t Have It All: Poems is a collection of poems written over a number of years. It includes poems of memories, feelings, reflections, and observations as well as poems based on ideas and stories from conversations with others, and “poemoirs,” memoirs in poetic form.

A collection like this doesn’t happen without help, encouragement, and input from others, and I am so grateful to all who supported my writing—Judy, my family, friends, Writers of Kern critique group, writing groups, and even folks I’ve never met who commented on the poems I shared online.

From the overwhelming, positive response the book is receiving, I am buoyed, appreciative, and humbled. And curious. I’m curious about which poem(s) resonate with people, what strikes them and why. If you’d like to share, I’d love to hear from you.

Hugs and thanks,

~ xoA ~

When a Threat Becomes a Promise

For several years, I’d threatened to produce a collection of my poems. At first, I thought it would be a chapbook, a small, pamphlet-like book of 20 pages or so.  I started gathering the poems I’d written over the years. Then I wrote a bunch of new poems. Yikes, the chapbook was growing into an actual book!

Two summers in Oregon I began in earnest. I dedicated library time, a thumb drive, and a second laptop only to fall off the wagon or become derailed by life circumstances. But, in the fall of 2018, I made myself and Paul, the Coos Bay librarian, a promise that I would be sitting up front in the Myrtlewood Room at the author table for the library’s 2019 Authors Day.

My friend and fellow writer Joan issued a challenge: Have it finished by the Spring Conference in March. Then, Dennis voiced his encouragement and confided, “I heard about the challenge.”

My daughters, both coaches, chimed in. “What’s keeping you from doing this?” Asila asked. “Mom, you’ve got this,” Amina said.

And then, of course, I received regular encouragement and feedback from Judy as she listened while I read individual poems aloud. This was a great help in making my language more succinct.

So it took a village that included Matthew, a creative writing instructor from our local university, various Writers of Kern members and friends who answered questions, taught me new skills, and listened to me read. And, I can’t thank everyone enough!

I’m now awaiting delivery of the proof copies before my book is on the market.  Following a reading or two and making changes, it’ll be thumbs up and ready to print.

My threat became a promise to myself and others and is soon to be a reality. In the next post, I’ll let you know the title and, if you’d like to do so, how you can read these “Poems that celebrate and remember. Poems that observe and question. Poems that honor life, love, and friendship.”

~ xoA ~