The shadow beneath an eye
Lines around a mouth that shape a frown
Worn wood and an old cloth
hanging from a rusted hook
the edges lighter than the rest
So light
and frayed
As if it’s fading into the air
The shadow beneath an eye
Lines around a mouth that shape a frown
Worn wood and an old cloth
hanging from a rusted hook
the edges lighter than the rest
So light
and frayed
As if it’s fading into the air
I’m looking forward to 2022. A lot happened in 2021, and most of it was good. I hope that’s the general trend for the year to come as well. My goal this year is to finish putting in all the edits for my second book, so that it’s ready to get sent out to literary agents in the unlikely event that one requests the manuscript. Then I want to send out ten query letters. Yes, that’s right, just ten.
The last time I sent out query letters, I got incredibly stressed out each time I saw an email from an agent in my inbox. They were all rejections, but that wasn’t even the worst part. The worst part was the anxiety that came with seeing the email in the first place. If it was a request, that was opening the door to more torturous hope, difficult work, and related agita, and if it was a rejection, it was another person who didn’t like my work quite well enough to invest in it.
I’m still going to send out query letters for my second novel, but I’m not going to subject myself to many of them. I had a blast self-publishing last year, even though barely anyone read my book and even fewer bought it. I really won’t mind self-publishing again.
In related news, I just want to say a quick word about supportive professors. I had a law professor a couple of terms ago who encouraged me to send out query letters for my first book, even though I was hesitant to step in those waters. If he hadn’t encouraged me, I doubt I would have done it at all. He’s pretty awesome, so let’s hear it for awesome professors!
While I am of two minds about the traditional publishing process, part of me still hopes for it to happen for a book of mine one day. I suppose we all hope foolishly for things. Maybe it’s wise to have a little foolish hope.
A lot of people say new year’s resolutions are foolish, too. So, let’s be a little foolish. Set a goal for the year. Who cares if you achieve it or not! Just try! You’ll be glad you made the effort, just like I’m glad I sent out those query letters. And celebrate how far you’ve come. You’re great. Remember to tell yourself that once in a while. Happy New Year.
I am trying to connect with you
My brain to your brain
Each packed separately
Within walls of bone
I’m using words
The only way to get them to you
is by the opening of your eyes.
Please open them, now
your mind, too
if it’s not too much trouble.
I will open my heart in return
as well as I can.
Let these words build a bridge
between you and me
across space
and the vast gulf of our differences.
Why be merciless in the pursuit of justice
when you can be merciful instead?
Mercy is as easy as
walking away.
Just gather the pain and fury in your hands
and then let go.
As I water the garden
a breeze breaks through
the haze of heat.
Yellow leaves fall
in a golden dance
as if the wind has brought joy
and the trees shiver with delight.
Fierce
Frightening
Dangerous
Desperate
A tiger
Clawing its way
Out of my stomach
Eyes burning
Beautiful and strange
What does it mean?
I know no universal answer.
I only know that death is the response to birth
As exhaling is the response to inhaling.
Maybe life is a question
and that is its answer.
I’m in the middle of two big writing projects now. I am wrapping up editing for my first fantasy novel in what is turning out to be a series, and I have started writing the second in the series. It’s exciting, because I’m doing exactly what I feel I’m meant to be doing, what I’ve always wanted to do. Ever since I discovered fantasy novels at my town library, I’ve wanted to write one. And now I have. And I am. The covers for the first two novels are already illustrated, and then…we’ll just see how far this story goes.
I thought I would participate in NaNoWriMo again this year to motivate myself to keep going with these books, but life is getting in the way a bit. Oh well, I’ll just keep writing when I can.
I listen to you struggling for breath
A daylily blooms for just one day
You will be gone later today
So will the flowers
They will come again
Different but still dear to me
You will too
In a new form
But still so beloved
So beloved
A moth flutters in the night.
The dog leaps against the window,
Barking madly.
Belly laughs bubble out of me,
Reminding me to love life in all its absurdity.