Everytime I talk about stat numbers I’ll always bring up the absolute lack of faith I had in my blog when I first started. It is absolutely astonishing to be able to say I’ve made it to 3,000+ followers on here and I can’t thank you all enough for this support!
1.I’ve been following your blog for a bit and I notice that you are very interactive with your readers, what is the most important take-away for you from that connection? – Susi
I want people to connect to my work and with all those that relate to it as well. I always want to connect people to each other. My takeaway is the validation that my work is relatable to a wide audience. I want people to feel a sense of themselves in my work and feel less alone. I’m thrilled every time I receive a comment that supports that.
2.Has your blog changed you in anyway?
My blog definitely made me confident enough to publish my first collection; If not for my blog, I would maybe have published in my 50s. It’s hard to explain how happy I am that I am now publishing my second collection by the time I’m 25. It’s absolutely changed my writing career and I’m excited to show you my future projects as they develop more!
3.If you could learn a new skill, what would it be?
I’m actually working on learning sign language with my boyfriend! It’s a slow process but whenever one of us is bored, we’ll look up some words or phrases and then teach the other person what we learned.
4.In your new book, Where I Ache, do the contents reveal how pain motivates or how pain feels? Or something else? – Susi
I would say the majority of the book is how pain feels in regards to depression, insecurity, and grief. But the last chapter is all self love and growth from that pain, so in the end the collection leaves you with that motivation.
5.Which section/category was the hardest emotionally for you to work on? Which one was the most rewarding when you finally felt like you’d gotten it just right? – Adeline
The most emotionally draining chapter is the grief chapter. It’s a very fresh and raw emotion for me to write about. I also worried that people will think I’m just trying to capitalize on this trauma. There was a seesaw of just not thinking about it or crying and writing about it.
The most rewarding was probably the self love chapter since it really tested my creative ability. It’s a difficult topic for me to write in a new and unique way and it’s not a topic that comes naturally to me. It really required a lot of creative brain power in order to fill in that chapter to be up to par with the rest of the collection.
6.How has your idea of blogging changed from when you first began?
There’s is A LOT more to blogging than just posting articles. There’s a community to network with, social media to grow so that you can increase your blog reach, and there’s the ability to monetize your blog. I’m not even going to get into that but it would include things like affiliated programs, ads, sponsored posts, mailing lists, selling products and services, and softwares and tools to help optimize your blog’s presence.
I don’t mean to scare anyone, blogging can just be posting whatever you feel like. But the longer you’re in the blogging world, the more you see the opportunities to grow and change. I’m happy that I’ve falling in love with blogging long enough to watch it grow.
7.Might you have any advice for fledgling fellow poets who are working on their own first anthology for publication? – Adeline
I wrote an article about what I would do differently after my first collection came out so I would definitely suggest checking it out to anyone who is looking to publish their first collection. My first piece of advice would be to go for it! Have faith in yourself to go out of your comfort zone and publish your first book.
My second piece of advice would be to have patience. Take your time in your writing process and take even more time in the editing stage. Lastly, I would say to really focus on marketing your book, especially before your publish date! Try to enjoy the experience without expectations of success, the numbers will come in time. Good Luck!
