Coming Out of My Fear

There is something to be said about being published. It is exciting to think that someone understands and likes your work, but for me, it is more about feeling validated as an author and writer.

I have written poetry, short stories, and non-fiction ramblings since I was a little girl. I even tried my hand at songwriting when I was a teen. I was shot down quite quickly when I shared one of my songs with a producer who taped it and showed it to a then very popular music artist. This artist took my song, recorded it, and put it out there as his own. Since I was young and had no idea about the ways of the world, there was nothing I could do. So, I became really discouraged and simply … quit sharing my work.

I continued to write poetry and stories, but never shared it with anyone – even my closest friends and family. When I decided to return to college for my degree, my writing for academic purposes became the catalyst for pushing me forward. Suddenly, I was getting perfect marks from my professors, requests to share my papers with future students, encouragement to share my writing. And then, I started writing poetry to share on Twitter joining in the poetry prompts there. 

I focused on writing my blogs sharing little pieces of myself and received praise and encouragement there from strangers that really enjoyed my writing and wanted more. Pushing my limits, I started a novel, Dark Stranger, and it has taken far longer to complete than I thought it would.

Fear has had a huge factor in this. Fear that I’m not good enough and that my writing is trite and unreadable. That fear is quickly being squelched though.

My first real boost came from all the retweets and praise on Twitter. In October, e-Innovate Magazine invited me to submit a poem to publish. They accepted it and I was published for the very first time. From there, it seems to have snowballed.

At the encouragement of Ruben, aka @torturdcyclone on Twitter, I submitted poetry to Nina with Fiery Verse LLC for inclusion in her anthology, Neverlasting. I never expected to make it, but I did – with two poems! The anthology comes out this month. 

January has been a huge turning point for me. My blog Dancing Naked from the Heart won the Liebster Award for small bloggers, a real honor and boost to readership. Last week, my poetry submission for the VOElla poetry challenge made the top 14 and has been featured with the other amazing poets in the 14 on the VOElla magazine website. On top of all that, I am a new regular writer in VOElla’s Sensual Stories with my first installment coming soon. 

In the very same week, I was commissioned to write copy for a new lingerie company that caters to plus-size women. The focus of the monthly newsletter is promoting beauty for all size women and promoting just how sensual and beautiful all women are.

All of this, I share not to boast or brag, but to share my excitement and the thrill that people seem to like what I write. And to share how fear can stop us from achieving great things in our lives. I am a firm believer in magic and creating our own stories. In December, for Winter Solstice, I set the intention to release my fears and step forward bravely. As a result? All of those childhood memories of being told I wasn’t and would never be good enough are soaring out of my mindset, and confidence in my writing and myself is taking hold.

I am realizing that dreams really can come true. Sometimes, it just takes a couple of synchronistic small steps, and those small steps turn to giant leaps. Changing the thought processes and facing our fears head on takes us past what we ever thought possible. We are truly our own worst enemy, but I am becoming my own best friend now.

Dark Stranger may actually get finished this spring! I am writing more feverishly to get the story of the Dark Stranger and Nina out to the world. It is such a special story that spans lifetimes, and it is one that is begging to be shared. I have promised both Nina and her Dark Stranger (name will not be revealed until the book is out) that their story will be told this spring. Dark Stranger gives Nina confidence, and my own Dark Stranger has done the same for me. Perhaps they are the same ….

Poly? All About the Love - Not Sex

There is something to be said about the poly lifestyle. It’s not easy, but the amazing love you experience is far beyond the earthly realm. 

One of my dear friends and I were discussing this, and she put it perfectly. Storm, I hope I quote you correctly. She said that too often, sex and love are misunderstood. Sex is natural and sacred, but love? Love is holy!

That’s what it feels to be poly. So many think it’s about jumping in bed with every person you find sexy and attractive, but it’s not! It’s about connecting on a deep level with another human being to which there is a connection. 

I believe that we have many more than one soul mate. Each soul mate comes from a different “come from” and brings a piece of themselves in their heart. Perhaps, they are a former lover from another lifetime, or a future lover from another dimension. (That's just my mind over working, again) Whatever their “come from” is, when you connect, it’s instant recognition. Magic! Yes, there may be a physical attraction. But it is so much deeper. As Storm said, it’s holy! 

To realize the connection at so many different soul levels, raises the heart chakra to a much different vibration. It is about love – magical love! 

Each person I love, I love completely and (w)holy! There are pieces of myself that share the intimate, the sacred. When I am with someone I love, I am 100% all there. Being poly? No, it’s not about the sex, it’s about love – holy love!

It’s not about being promiscuous or cheating or being addicted to sex. Sex is not the reason for being poly. It’s about loving openly and freely and recognizing that part of myself that is beautiful and whole and complete! It is about being Love! 

Love? It’s holy and sacred! To feel love at such a level! All I can say is Wow! 

So, those of you that don’t understand? That’s all right. I don’t expect you to. What I do expect is non-judgment and understanding and tolerance. Oh, and if you don’t understand, ask! There is nothing wrong with asking about that which you don’t understand. But? keep your preachy thoughts to yourself. Thank you very much! 

Not Giving In

I cannot believe that it is a new year already. Welcome 2015! Right?

There is a lot to be said about ending a year on a positive note, and, frankly, often it is healing. Something happened yesterday that was the culmination of the painful lessons I learned in 2014. That is what I want to talk to my readers about today.

One of the most painful lessons I learned last year was abandonment and all of the stuff I had buried within. That included memories of growing up that filtered into my personal life in a very big way. Without going into the details, suffice it to say that fear of being abandoned and pushed away by someone I loved was a great teacher. 

Not only did my fears result in causing pain in someone I loved and causing a pulling away, but also bringing up long buried memories. These fears found their voices in my poetry, and as such, found their voices shared on Twitter through poetry prompts and stories. 

What was so wonderful about the lessons were the gains – not the losses. I was published last year for the first time in e-Innovate Magazine’s November issue and featured by @timitude on his #CreativeMondays website. 

Tim, founder of Creative Mondays even voted me in his “25 Timspirational People for2014!” I am very grateful and value and treasure this lesson the most.

So, now, to get to last night’s drama! Part of the buried memories that made their way to the light are traumatic abuse memories from my childhood. As a final purge, I decided to put a little of that pain into a poem. This poem was painful to write, but because so many of my readers and fans have experienced the same, I pushed through the pain and wrote it anyway. 

I have shared with the #CreativeMondays family that my erotic writing is not always about the sex, but about providing healing for things that have affected myself and my readers on very deep levels. Keeping that in mind, I anxiously posted the poem on my blog, The Wylde Syde, and shared the link on my Twitter account.

What occurred afterward shook me to the core and caused me to relive many of the memories about which I was intending to purge. I received several Direct Messages attacking not only my poem, but my intentions behind sharing it. I was called names and accused of just wanting attention, but the worst accusations were these three:

“You are a disgusting cunt that probably deserved whatever your father did to you!”

“What a fucking slut you are! You will burn in hell!”

 But the worst accusation and attacks said this: “You WHORE! If I were your father, I would have raped you over and over until you lie bleeding on the floor. In fact, SLUT! Someone should do that to you now!” 

I did not save screenshots of these, but I remember their words because I could not stop reading them. I simply could not believe that anyone would write such vicious words to someone who obviously suffered extreme abuse and incest from her father. 

I did have the insight to report these jerks, but blocked them right away. I wish I had remembered to take screenshots for the police, but I reacted and deleted them. 

I did contact a friend who is a police chief in a nearby town, and with his help, have contacted Twitter. It seems that they can access their database to find them anyway, so I will pursue it from there. So, if these guys are reading this blog post now, I have a message for you!

You left your footprint in Twitter records, and you will be found! The jerk that wrote the third message will be pursued for cyber bullying and as a threat. You will be found!

Now, with that all being said, I removed the link to the post last night and took a step back. My first instinct was to leave Twitter altogether and never write the way I write any longer. But many of my friends and followers stood up for me even without knowing the full language or what was written. They encouraged me to keep going.

After a night of tears and hurt turning to anger and resolve, I refuse to let these guys take away my dream of sharing myself with people. I refuse to let just a few put me back into a cowering position out of which I have fought so hard to climb. I write this blog this evening and share the link to the poem as an InYourFace, KissMyAss, TakeThat attitude. 

For my friends and fans, I say:

DO NOT let bullies have their way! Be strong and fight back! That’s what I’m doing!

I Am Published!

You could say I am a new author and poet, but truth be told, I have been writing since I was a little girl. I had the most amazing inner world and wrote about it, painted it about, and wrote poetry about it incessantly. It was my escape from a world in which monsters and demons – very real ones in the shape of my parents – reigned supreme. 

I grew up in Texas and during some of the worst times, lived in a medium sized town in the panhandle – a town called Lubbock. A lot of people have heard of Lubbock, Texas, and I am still partial to Texas Tech University and the Red Raiders. Frankly, that is only one of the few bright spots there.

The other? Our little green house with the corner surrounded by huge – at least to me – cedar trees. Oh, and the giant weeping willow tree in the front yard – both a safe haven and a harbinger of pain, but it wasn’t the tree’s fault. Let me get back to my little corner and my cedar trees. 

The cedar trees made a most beautiful cave where I spent hours healing, talking to the fairies that resided there, and writing and drawing. This cave was where I met the most beautiful mystical beings, and where my Mother Goddess healed me from the pain of my earthly existence. She nurtured me when I needed love, and she provided me with so much love that I was able to survive whatever the monster and demon, my mother and father, dished out.

But most of all, she and my fairy friends gave me permission to live and write and paint about the horrors that existed. That is where I found my muse that would last me a lifetime and get me through whatever life threw at me. It is also where I learned who and what I was.

And so, I’m not a newcomer to writing, but I am a newcomer to letting the world see my soul. Each word and stroke of the brush is a piece of my soul that I have decided to share with you, my readers. I started sharing in my blogs – both here and in my other persona’s blogs, and on Twitter. It was through Twitter that I have met some amazing poets and friends. And it was through one man, in particular, who goes by the user name @TorturdCyclone, that I found encouragement to share my soul.

And now, I have had my first poem published! I am so proud of myself for taking the chance in opening myself to this possibility. This was, perhaps, one of the most difficult challenges I have found so far. But, it is official! I am a published poetess! 

I hope my readers go to the links I am providing in this blog post and purchase the 7th edition of Innovate e-Magazine. The editor, Grey Wolf, was kind enough to invite me to submit a poem and include me in this edition. To him, I am so grateful. This has given me the validation I so needed as an artist and writer, and I will support him completely! So, go! Buy! Spread the word! And read me!

Soon, I will have my first poetry compilation ready for publishing and my first erotica romance novel ready for publishing. My website is in the works, and my series of erotic abstracts is in the first stages. I am opening my soul to you, my readers, raw and pure! I trust you will find pieces of you there, and will find your own healing place.

To purchase Innovate e-Magazine, 7^th edition both in print and e-book, go to these links:

Amazon.com print edition
Amazon.co.uk print edition

Amazon.com kindle edition
Amazon.co.uk kindle edition
Amazon India kindle edition  

Barnes & Noble epub edition
Kobo epub edition
Inktera epub edition

Scribd epub edition

Book Review - Beyond the Pale Motel

As my readers know, I love promoting other authors and their new releases. That being said, I am very careful when I review a book on my blog and do not offer my promotions lightly. In other words, I do not promote without discretion. If I don’t like a book, I will not review it – period. I am so pleased to tell you all about an author and her new book that is released today.

Introducing Francesca Lia Block, and her new book Beyond the Pale Motel! 

I have to say that you must purchase this book. You are in for a ride of your life! From the opening paragraph, the prologue, interest is piqued. As a reader, I had to go further. From there, the characters, Catt and Bree, come to life and the back story provides the perfect conflict.  

The erotic scenes are just that – erotic, evocative, and captivating. They are not the old, tired scenes that appear in all erotica. The side story that provides the impetus and catalyst for the conflict gives the reader a seat gripping, heart stopping journey. As a reader, not only did I want to close my eyes until it was over, but I was compelled to I read on.

I have to say here that, as an author and writer myself, I often find myself reading a book in editor mode wondering how I would have written the scene. But Francesca completely took me out of editing and into reading. Really? That’s a hard thing to do for me. I have not read her other book, but believe me, I will most definitely do that now!

Francesca, well done! Your characters are written in a way that it is easy, as a reader, to feel for them and to understand their motivation. I want to read it again! 

For my readers, I will not give away any of the story. You have to buy it for yourself. Beyond the Pale Motel is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon in hardcover or e-book. Go! Buy! Read!

This one is going on my preferred list to be sure!