Today is the day!
I’m thrilled to finally have my third collection out and the creative choices I made this time around. Thank you all for continuing on this journey with me; I never pictured myself having 3 publications while I’m this young.
I’ll be releasing my third poetry collection in a month on July 16th!!
If I’m honest, I let this collection sit for a long time and I could have had it gone 6 months ago. But I’m very happy with the end result and I hope you will be too!
If you’re interested in an eARC, please reach out to me at ddateable@gmail !!
Let me tell you a little about the collection!!
Titled: Even the Leaves
Synopsis: Even the Leaves fell for you, so how could you except me not to?
This collection explores how Mother Nature nurtures and shapes us through every part of our lives. This collection expresses relationships with family, partners, and yourself through aspects of nature such flowers and mountains, seasons and months, animals, and bodies of water. Nature is a medium that connects us all.
Length: 67 pages
Release Date: July 22nd
Available on Amazon !
I had been modeling my previous collection formats by very excellent, well known Poets published by big name companies. As a new, small time, self published poet, that’s really not the best idea! Big publishers want more material from their poets, that’s not necessarily what the readers want. The industry is focused on markets and money. That’s not where my focus should be.
I ran a poll on Twitter and changed things up!
So my third collection started off about 170+ pages and I’m now working towards getting it under 100 if I can. The idea now is to really split the collection into 2 different books. I’ve done some crazy editing to cut the book down.
With this new concept, I’ll be reconfiguring my title and cover as well as sequence of the poems. In short, this third collection is getting a massive remodel, which right now is mainly tearing down the old walls till we’re down to the studs. I’m not worried about my third release date so this construction schedule suits me just fine.
We may have another collection this summer! More updates to come!
Where I Ache is 6 months old and I wanted to thank everyone on here, in the Poetry community, and the book blogger community for showing this project the love and support you all have!
At the end of the month, I’ll update everyone on my next project coming down the pipeline, until then check out these reviews and consider purchasing Where I Ache yourself on Amazon!
Some reviews from Goodreads, read them in full here
This collection touches on reminiscing on past loves and past lives. A reader gets a melancholy feeling of childhood, school days, and relationships with parents. I really enjoyed the heartache and yearning of the past. This poet has great descriptions of the scenery in his poems. I really enjoy the writing style of repetition and line placement, I’d definitely read more collections from this poet. Some favorites in From My Years include Left at Home, Morning Memory, and Hate is a Loan Shark.
You can absolutely feel all the anger, betrayal and determination coming off the pages in this collection. This collection is right up my alley with its writing style, I loved it! Vontress touched on so many topics that are personal for me involving relationships, self love, and current society. This collection felt very cathartic and I really enjoyed going through that emotional journey with the speaker. I would recommend this collection to just about every girl friend of mine.
(all reviews greatly appreciated!)
Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal may be new to the publication world but the co-founders, Cendrine Marrouat and Davis Ellis are not. Their bios are just a scroll down so make sure to take a look! I’ll be interviewing them each as well in the following days so I say we get right into this!
Where do you hope the future takes you, writing-wise?
We anticipate collaborating on a variety of mediums and projects in the future. We have excellent synergy together and both have plenty of ideas that we would like to see out together to fruition. We are kindred spirits in our entrepreneurship and our inspirational mission to keep motivating others to succeed with their art and writing 🙂
How did Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal come to be?
About a year ago, we were discussing how frustrating the process of submitting to poetry journals can be. Many of those journals are elitist and very selective. They will not consider you if you aren’t already famous or don’t have publishing credits under your belt. And, very often, they do not accept already published material.
As poets, our main focus has always been inspiration and upliftment. We believe that there is too much negativity in this world, that it is high time the status quo changed. And the best way to force that change is through art.
Poetry is one of the most misunderstood artforms and yet, strangely enough, it is also the one that most people rely on when they need to feel better. So, we had the perfect combo.
We believe that poetry can be used to make the world a better place. Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal was born shortly after that discussion.
What makes our journal unique is that we accept poetry from everyone, even younger artists (ages 13-16). We do not care if you have never been published before or if you are new to poetry. If you have a positive message to share with the world, and you are between the ages of 13 and 100+, you are welcome to send us your pieces for consideration.
Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal
Website: https://abpoetryjournal.com
Latest issues: https://abpoetryjournal.com/issues/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abpoetryjournal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abpoetryjournal
Cendrine Marrouat
Originally from Toulouse, France, Cendrine Marrouat has called Winnipeg, Canada, her home for 16 years. She is a photographer, poet, author, and the Head of marketing and communications at ConnexionFranco.Coop. She has also co-founded two projects, FPoint Collective and Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal.
Cendrine specializes in nature, black-and-white and closeup images. Her photography seeks the mundane to capture the fleeting, but true beauty of life in its many forms.
Cendrine is passionate about haiku. She has studied the Japanese poetry form extensively and written many pieces since 2006.
In 2015, Cendrine was recognized as a Top 100 Business Blogger by BuzzHUMM. Social Media Slant, her former blog, also made Fit Small Business’ Best Small Business Blogs of 2015 & 2016 lists.
Walks: A Collection of Haiku (Volumes 1 & 2) are Cendrine’s 12th and 13th books. Other releases include five collections of poetry, three photography books, a play, two social media ebooks, and a spoken word CD.
Website: https://www.cendrinemedia.com
Books: https://www.cendrinemedia.com/Books
Blog: https://creativeramblings.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cendrinemedia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cendrinephotography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cendrinemedia/
David Ellis
David Ellis is a UK based author of poetry, fiction and music lyrics. He has been writing poetry and music lyrics for years.
His debut poetry book Life, Sex & Death – A Poetry Collection Vol 1 is an International Award winning volume, having won an award in the Readers’ Favorite 2016 Book Award Contest for Inspirational Poetry Books.
Think of him like the thriller genre in that he is fast paced, relentless and impossible to put down! His latest book See A Dream Within: Found “Poe”try Based On The Collected Poetry Works Of Edgar Allan Poe can now be purchased on Amazon Kindle, on Lulu and in print at major outlets.
Connect with him on Facebook:- TooFullToWrite (FB)
Like his Facebook Page:- Toofulltowrite – The Creative Palace For Artists & Author Resources
Follow him on Twitter:- @TooFullToWrite
For Creativity Resources, Writing Advice, Guides, Author Interviews and Poetry, visit his website/blog at:- www.toofulltowrite.com
When I first started compiling my poems for my first collection, Cracked Open, I also realized what my following 2 collections would be able. We’ve finally reached number 3! My third collection will have the theme of Nature connecting the pages.
I enjoy chapbooks and collections that have chapters because it gives the reader more direction and more of a journey. A concern that I think my past collections have run into is that having related poems groups together makes them seem more repetitive and less unique. I don’t think chapters will enhance the reader’s journey for this third collection since nature is the only consistent theme.
I think illustrations add so much to a collection and they were a must have for my first. It turns out illustrations are expensive and can be a real hassle. I ran a poll on Twitter for my second collection and thought having illustrations again might lead to good sales. I’ve realized at this early in my career, illustrations aren’t going to make or break a sale, but they will break the bank. This collection is the longest one so far which would mean even more illustrations to pay for so this time around we’ll have to do without.
Interestingly enough, whenever I read a book, I never read the author’s note or foreword or anything if I can help it. So I have no idea why for the first two collections, I decided to write an author’s note! I mean Cracked Open was my first and it made sense to me since people are getting to know me as a poet. Where I Ache also made sense for me because it carried some really tough topics and I needed the readers to know that before they dove in. I also needed my friends and family to know that not everything I write is about me and there’s no need to worry haha. But from now on I don’t think my collections will need notes because I doubt anyone reads them anyway.
With my first collection, Cracked Open, I struggled to produce 20 exclusive poems so it absolutely amazes me to have over 80 exclusive poems for this third collection! Where I Ache had a bit over 55 exclusives so this collection alone will have more exclusives than the first two combined! I expected for nearly half of the third collection to be exclusive, never before seen work.
I’ll have more info coming out soon as this third collection progresses and when you can expect it to hit the shelves!
Today we have Jamey Boelhower who has published many collections for the years! Jamey writes poetry, blogs, and a fiction novel Under the Lights. Since Jamey wrote a collection along side his son, one could guess his collection circle around family and life tribulations.
One aspect I have noticed is that I am more observant of people and events. I have tried to let the description of the moment reveal the meaning to the reader. My earlier poems spent more time telling the reader how I felt, or gave away the meaning of the poem. I hope my work now allows the reader to feel something as they consider the importance of the moment.
My son was always asking me to give him feedback on his poems, but he just kept them in his notebooks. I tried to get him to submit the poems to literary publications, even to Teen Ink. But he was too busy (and as his dad, I can attest to that). One night at dinner I told him that we could do a book together if he would at least give me some poems. I would handle the rest. We spent a month just deciding on which poems he wanted to share, but the whole process was fun. What is funny is that a few months later he published his own collection and is now working on his next poetry book.
I enjoy trying to recreate the moment that inspired the poem. I carry a notebook with me and jot down ideas, or even write down the first draft of the poem at that time. One of my favorite poems of mine is “Air Jordans and Big Gulps.” I wrote that poem on the back of a carton of cigarettes while I was working the graveyard shift at 7/11. I still have the original poem. My goal is to describe things so that the reader feels like they are in the middle of the moment. The fun part is to discover what senses are important for that moment.
Thank you. To be honest, I have always worried about my writing technique. I don’t use punctuation much, I like using the line break to create the pause. I also have this style of using words or phrases in threes. There is just a flow I have with that style. I don’t use rhyme much, so line breaks and placing words or phrases on the page creates the pattern to follow for the reader.
I am a husband and father of six children. I maintain two blogs. I am a teacher and a coach. Trying to get my work to the reader is hard. As an indie author I am responsible for every aspect of the publishing journey. It is hard. I appreciate you conducting this interview. For me, and for most writers, we want to know that people enjoy our work. That is why some writers go through all the work it takes to get a book completed, so that someone reads the words and enjoys the experience.
Maria at Sampaguitas is a fantastic magazine to submit your piercing yet tender pieces to. The magazine encompasses so many different forms from short stories and essays to poetry and photography. If you’re a creative artist, definitely give them a look!
I lucked out by having a regular contributor Venus Davis review my collection Where I Ache!
“In Megan O’Keeffe’s honesty through poetry, I felt seen in a way that I never have before. This book felt like a gift from a close friend. This collection is a hand reaching out to hold the hand of anyone who has ever dealt with grief, depression, heartache, and the massive love for yourself that builds from going to hell and back.”
I’m so thankful for any review I receive, if you are interested in my collection please get in touch! (ddateable@gmail.com)
