Jane M. Johnson, Maven Reaches Mars:
www.levellerspress.com Off the Common Books/Collective Copies (Both e-book and paper) 413-256-6425
Amherst Books (413) 256-1547
Broadside Bookshop (413) 586-4235
Kathryn Holzman, Real Estate:
Available direct from the Publisher: http://www.visitourbookstore.com.
Stephanie Shafran, Awakening:
Broadside Bookshop (413) 586-4235
Lanette Sweeney, What I Should Have Said:
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/what-i-should-have-said/
Everyone has an inner critic. The inner critic is there to protect you from doing dangerous things. But it can also make us too cautious.But writing isn’t dangerous and we should learn to use our inner critic to help us write.
The inner critic serves as a guardian angel to keep you safe and doing something dangerous. When it comes to life and death situations, the anxiety from your inner critic causes you not to act. But you don’t need your inner critic to write.You need to act to write. Have your inner critic give you permission to write.
I just finished a book about my experiences with my partner who died of Alzheimer’s in his sixties (Touch My Head Softly, Finishing Line Press, 2021.) It was a hard book to write and i struggled with my inner critic. But the writer in me won out in the end.
Part of the proceeds of the book will go to the Alzheimer’s Association, so it’s all positive. Take a look:
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/
Finding your own unique voice in your writing can be a challenge, but one worth pursuing.
One way to begin is by finding unique voices that you like in published writers. Billy Collins suggests finding a poem that you like and writing it out to discover exactly what makes it unique. What is it that drew you to it? The language, the topic, the genre? No matter what you’re writing: creative nonfiction, a blog, a poem, read other writers who have been successful in that genre.
But in the end, there’s only one unique you who has your own story to tell. You don’t necessarily have to write memoir or autobiography, but bring your own individual experiences to your writing. Focus on what you know, what interests you. If you love food, eating it, growing it, cooking it, write about that in a nonfiction article. If you’re a birder, out mornings observing birds, bring birds into your poem or short story.
I recently published a collection of poems about Alzheimer’s Disease, which I knew through my experiences with my partner. It was published by Finishing Line Press. Take a look:
Finishing Line Press: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55776971-touch-my-head-softly?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=8ZpBlRznY3&rank=1
So you have just had a poem published in a good journal or even had a book manuscript accepted by a publisher. You feel you have accomplished something, and you should. But now you have to read your poetry to an audience. If you’re published, you need to get your work out into the world. This is not my favorite activity either. I just finished a reading this week with seven other poets, and felt my inadequacies.
Poetry is one of the hardest genres to read aloud. Every poem has its own rhythm, can contain rhyme, and often uses fragments or phrases to form lines. This is drastically different from the complete sentences which we are all used to. Figuring out how to read a line of poetry is unique from interpreting how to read a line of prose. If you don’t read well, you’ll often lose people in your audience.
I do know that people who have done many readings get better at it. It’s a simple act of “practice makes perfect.” I’m on my second collection of poetry and I know that reading your poetry aloud will elicit interest. I’ve had people listen to me read and buy my book. I’ve also read on the radio, and this also elicits interest. My recently published book, Touch My Head Softly, can be viewed here:
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/
Five writers with new books all read on May 26 at 7 pm EDT from their new books on the University of Hawaii platform. It will be a book launch for Touch My Head Softly by Eileen P. Kennedy
“Touch My Head Softly is a collection of emotionally-charged poetry that explores life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.” –Literary Titan
Touch My Head Softly is Eileen P. Kennedy’s new collection of poetry explores the anguish of dying of Alzheimer’s disease for both the victim and the partner. Her first collection, Banshees, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and awarded Second Prize in the Wordwrite Poetry Contest. The new collection is dedicated to people living with Alzheimer’s and their caretakers and part of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association. Email EileenPKennedy@yahoo.com for the link to the reading.
Featuring:
Kathryn Holzman, Real Estate: A Novel
Jane M. Johnson, Maven Reaches Mars
Stephanie Shafran, Awakening
Lanette Sweeney, What I Should Have Said
Email EileenPKennedy@yahoo.com for the link to the zoom.
Touch My Head Softly by Eileen P. Kennedy is a heartbreaking but honest collection of poetry. The poems are a stirring reflection of emotions, both before and after, the death of her partner that detail love, sorrow, and frustration. Kennedy’s poetry portray heartbreak and sorrow in few, but powerful, words.
The opening piece to her collection, “The First Decade of the Twenty-First Century,” encapsulates the decade with not only current events like the first black president but also with events in her own personal life, like the death of her partner to Alzheimer’s. My personal favorite from her collection is “Year.” In this poem, Kennedy is vulnerable and open to what life became with her husband’s disease. Broken up by months, we are only able to get a glimpse of that pain, and yet it is still poignant. When comparing this poem to the first one, “Getting Through the Night,” I couldn’t help but tear up a little. In “Getting Through the Night,” we witness the love and connection she and her husband had, and to witness the shift in “Year” was striking. It is important to note that not all poems are dispirited, some capture a bright life in Mexico. Touch My Head Softly is a collection of emotionally-charged poetry that explore life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.
Pages: 46 | ISBN: 1646624076
Touch My Head Softly
I have many unfinished poems. Billy Collins says five or six poems wind up in his trash bin before he gets one that’s a keeper.
The concept of being complete is an interesting one. If you are complete, you don’t have to strive to do anything else. You don’t have to reinvent yourself.
We can change as we develop new skills, new experiences, new outlooks. That’s what makes the writing interesting. We adapt to new circumstances and overcome limitations. This affects our writing.
I wrote a book that was just published by Finishing Line Press:
https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/
After it was published, I floundered for awhile, trying to write different things, but not really liking any of the new work. Then I started on a new longer poem about the drowning earth. Here’s an excerpt:
The Boat
“Cuando sale la luna, el mar cubre la tierra
When the moon rises, water covers the earth”
–Federico García Lorca
I want to begin with the boat. It was a thing of beauty.
Can one be seduced by a boat? I was.
This project intrigued me and I continue to work on it today. How do you stay engaged with your writing?
Eileen P. Kennedy Author 