I still can’t believe it. Getting boosted on Medium is a huge deal because it brings far more readers to your work which translates nicely to more earnings. I have been extremely lucky to have been boosted many times since I joined Medium over eighteen months ago, but I never, ever expected to get boosted for a poem! Poems and short form writing don’t do so well on Medium because they are so short, but it’s still a lot of fun to write them and in particular, I love responding to writing prompts.
I was thrilled to bits to have this poem boosted as it is my favourite one at the moment. It was written in response to a prompt from the Promptly Written publication which suggested keeping a gratitude journal and writing a poem a day from it.
I’ve been thinking about gratitude a lot lately so this was really timely for me and immediately caught my interest.
I wrote a poem for Monday which got a few reads and earned me a few pence, then posted the following poem for Tuesday, which was about walking my elderly dog Tinks down the lane. Getting boosted for this really means a lot as we all know she is on her last doddery legs and every moment with her is precious. For her poem to get boosted and seen by more people is just lovely.
Anyway, here it is, alongside a photo I took of her on the day in question.
image is mine
Just for while we had the world to ourselves in a moody silence just the buzzard on the oak tree looking over its shoulder to follow our slow progress just the fast flit of tiny birds from one hedgerow to another just the crows taking off lazily and the pheasant on the fence post just wandering alongside you matching your feeble pace and the age it takes to get from here to there and back again is the time it takes for everything to fall silent for this beauty to breathe so slowly that I can breathe with it in, out, in, out with the time to see, hear, taste and smell the lonely land falling asleep as winter creeps into your old bones
Just recently I released a new book and I’d say it was one of the most successful launches I’ve had so far and there’s two reasons for that. One, I was better organised and more determined to put to use the advice I’ve picked up since I started publishing in 2013. And two, because I enlisted a little help from my friends.
In this post you will hopefully discover some new authors because I’m going to shine a light on them and point you in their direction. If you are after a new book to read, then look no further as there will be something here for everyone. And in case you didn’t know, indie authors need all the help they can get. It’s very difficult to get your book noticed by readers without spending a lot of money on advertising and marketing – and not all of us have those funds available. The cost of living crisis is making that even harder so where we can help each other out and boost each other, we should.
This post is for them. The unsung indie heroes, of which there are many. These fellow authors helped me out in so many ways with the launch of the book and are there for me in many other ways too, as friends and as fellow professional writers. Not only did they read and review the book, but they posted about it on their blogs, hosted me for Q&A’s, posted in other groups for me, shared my links, graphics and reviews on social media and generally just gave me the boost I needed. I was humbled and very grateful and I’d like to say thank you to them.
For each author you’ll find their website and Amazon page below. I have read work from all of these authors and enjoyed every one very much!
Sim Sansford – my business partner and co-author in the Fortune’s Well trilogy, is also an author in his own right. Sim was one of the authors who read, reviewed and blogged about my latest release! If you like YA paranormal/mystery/supernatural, you’ll enjoy his debut novel Welcome To Denver Falls. He is also working on a fantastic slasher style YA horror series which I’ve had the honour of beta reading!
Paula Harmon – a successful indie author of quirky historical fiction, I first met Paula at a local author event in a library and she later introduced me to Sim at the Blandford Literary Festival they were part of organising. Paula also read, reviewed and blogged about my new book and I’m so thankful!
Richard Dee- a member of our fledgling indie collective, Chasing Driftwood Books, is a very prolific sci-if writer with the most unique stories I’ve ever come across! I’ve read and enjoyed several of his books! Richard also kindly offered to read, review and shout about my latest book!
Karen J Mossman – Karen and I met when both part of an indie collective called Pict Publishing, a supportive network for female authors. Karen is now part of Norns Triad Publications and is another talented and prolific writer who read, reviewed and blogged to support my recent release. Karen does a lot to support authors with review and Q&A slots on her blog.
K.M Allan – A fantastic blogger who pens extremely useful and inspirational posts about the craft of writing, K.M Allan is also a YA author. Her paranormal series Blackbirch is fantastic and I highly recommend it. A huge thank you to Kate for also helping to support my new book!
MJ. Mallon – Marjorie Mallon is a YA author, poet and blogger with a wide variety of books under her name. I’ve enjoyed many of these – they have all brought a smile to my face and I’d like to thank her for also reading, reviewing and blogging about my newest book! Marjorie is also very supportive towards fellow authors.
Helen Pryke – Helen is hugely supportive to other authors, particularly with the running of her amazing Facebook group, Meet The Authors. This group connects readers and writers and gives invaluable marketing opportunities such as posting covers and hosting author takeover days. Helen is also an author of several historical fiction books and crime thrillers. Helen was an early reader of The Day The Earth Turned Book 1: Summer and was kind enough to do an added proofread for me too!
Adeola Sheehy – I’ve known Adeola since her children began attending my writing clubs for home-educated children a few years ago and during that time I’ve been overjoyed to see her own writing career take off. Not only has she written and published a beautiful collection of poetry, she has taken Medium by storm with her own writing, plus the editing/running of several successful publications. I only joined Medium fairly recently and Adeola was kind enough to welcome me in and show me the ropes! She recently read, reviewed and shouted about my new book for which I am extremely grateful!
Shannon Rohrer – Shannon has been a great support, beta reading, plus reading, reviewing and blogging to help launch my newest release. I recently read her novel Whispers of Nowhere and was blown away by it. I intend to read book two in the series very soon! If you like fantasy with a heavy dose of mythology and folklore, you need to check this series out now!
Now, these are not the only authors I want to highlight so look out for a follow up blog coming soon where I will review some recent gems I’ve read by more unsung indie heroes!
Uncertainty is my biggest stress trigger. I can cope with anything if I am prepared. I’m quite good at slipping into survival mode. But not knowing what is going to happen, stresses me out. A good example is the outbreak of Covid 19. Those first few days as schools closed and lockdowns were imposed were terrifying for me because I just didn’t know what to expect. As soon as things became clearer, I calmed down. I rolled my sleeves up and got on with it just like everybody else.
Now, we face endless uncertainties. Food prices are rising, gas and fuel prices are soaring and during the last few weeks here in the UK it has been difficult to get petrol for our cars. I can cope with all of these things if there is some level of clarity. If the powers that be were able to say, for example, no petrol for three months! Food prices will get this high! This is how much your central heating will cost you! I wouldn’t be happy, obviously, but I would figure out a way through. It’s the not knowing that stresses me out, not knowing how long to expect disruption for, not knowing how high prices will go, not knowing if at one point we as a family will no longer be able to afford to drive.
I’d love to know! I’d love to know the answers to so many things because then I could plan, prepare and calm down. But I have to accept that uncertainty is about the only thing that is certain right now. Not only are we facing supply chain issues, driver shortages and labour shortages, we are also facing climate change and a world full of ‘leaders’ who refuse to acknowledge what needs to be done. We live in scary, uncertain times and I often wonder how any of us get up in the morning and get on with things.
The answer is that we have to. We are somewhat trapped. We have to go to work to pay the ever-rising bills, to put fuel in the car and so that we can pay our rent or mortgage. We have no choice but to carry on until we can’t.
I don’t want to live my one short life in an increasingly stressed and frightened manner, so I’ve been trying to get to grips with all this, for my own sake, and for my kids. I’ve been reminding myself that while so much is uncertain right now, there are plenty of things that are certain and can be relied on. And I need to cling to those.
So, for me, these things are certain, at least for now and I will be holding on to them as tightly as I can.
Love. The most obvious and sometimes the one most taken for granted. I love and I am loved. I am married to my best friend and somehow we always find a way to laugh at things. I have four beautiful, kind-hearted children. I have friends and relatives I can rely on. Love is certain.
Laughter. We laugh every day. I am lucky that my husband and all of my children have wonderful, wry, dark sense of humours. There is always something to laugh about and laughing is something we are pretty good at as a family. Laughter is certain.
Gardening. In times of stress and uncertainty I turn to my garden even more. When wildlife is threatened around me, I do all I can to encourage it to my little plot. I plant trees, shrubs, seeds and hedges. I do what I can because it makes me feel like I am doing something. Gardening is certain.
Writing. The same applies to writing, my one true addiction. I write about what scares me, I face my fears, I create characters to do and say what I can’t, I explore darker futures and every word that comes out of my head makes me feel better and calmer. I will always have writing. Writing is certain.
Hope. It’s hard to have, painful even, but we have no choice. We have children and children deserve hope. They deserve to get up in the morning believing that a better future awaits them. They deserve to hold onto that hope and let it guide them. I still have hope. You just have to.
The Small Things. I’ve always believed that it’s the small things that get us through. Flowers blooming in Spring, your favourite song turned up loud in the car, a perfect cup of tea, the smell of coffee and a freshly baked cake, a glass of wine on a Friday night, Saturday Night Movie Night and a bowl full of sweeties! Snuggling up under soft blankets on the sofa. Watching Taskmaster and laughing our heads off. Dogs welcoming you home like you’ve been gone forever. Birdsong in the morning. Cold Winter air through open windows as I hide under the duvet. A good book read in a warm bath. The Tawny owls calling at night. Coming home. All these things are certain. All these things are precious.
I hope things are not too uncertain or scary for you right now. It’s a tough world and getting tougher, but there is still plenty to smile about and be grateful for. As long as I have some certainty from the things I’ve mentioned, I know I can keep going.
What about you? What small things keep you going when times are tough?
The Glorious Outsiders 