R.A. Nelson's Blog
May 5, 2023
The Story Is Enough.
I am a fangirl of old. I don’t just like stories; I immerse myself in them.
I have written songs and poetry and stories in response to and about the work of other writers. I have made playlists for my favorite characters and planned themed menus for watch parties and gone in costume to midni...
February 21, 2023
Lifting the Veil
Last month, I wrote about returning to wonder – a sort of vision-casting statement for the year. This month, I thought it was time for a practical, behind-the-scenes update.
What is R. A. Nelson up to these days?~ In late 2021, I started working part-time for a tiny writing-based start-up as an administrative assistant. As the company grew, so did my role; and, in June 2022, I joined the team full...
January 19, 2023
Finding Lucy
Among the several movies the Hubs and I watched during Christmastide was the 2005 classic The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Though I have watched this several times, and read the book even more — Narnia is never far from my consciousness — it had been a while, and I was surprised at how deeply this particular viewing affected me.
Translation: I sobbed outright at the end.
N...
October 28, 2022
Out of Silence – Five Years Later
Five years ago, in October 2017, I published my first blog post: “Out of Silence”. In it, I described my journey from noisy word-saturation to contemplative silence, expressing the hope that my writing would henceforth flow from that place of quiet truth.
I come to you now five years later: on that same journey, expressing that same hope.It has certainly been an eventful five years, word-wise. A ...
September 21, 2021
A New Book: Celebration in Song
The working title is The Nameless Land, though it’s known affectionately in the Nelson household as “Brad 2”. ’Tis the second of five in a series chronicling the adventures of one Brad Kendrick, a failed musician battling the forces of evil (and nearly thirty y...
April 29, 2021
Songs in the Garden – Sneak Peek!
Last week, I shared a sneak peek of the flagship poem in this collection: “The Patient”. This week, I thought I’d give you a taste of the long narrative poem that anchors the book—a poem entitled, simply, “The Dream”.
I’ve made rather a habit of building poetry collections around long narrative poems. Songs in the Gate was born partly ...
April 23, 2021
One Week More – and a Cover Reveal!
On Friday, April 30th, my second poetry collection will make its long-awaited appearance into the world. And I am just giddy—so giddy, in fact, that I couldn’t wait another moment to reveal the seriously gorgeous cover created by the inimitably gifted Elizabeth Baker:
...
April 16, 2021
Get Ready – It’s New Book Time!
In 2018, I celebrated National Poetry Month by releasing my first poetry collection, Songs in the Gate: Poems from the Borderland of Now and Not Yet.
Three years later, I decided ‘twas high time for a sequel.
Get ready forSongs in the Garden:
Poems from the Land of Becoming
—available on April 30th!
Why “garden”, you ...
February 23, 2021
Put On Your Big-Girl Pants
During my semester abroad at Oxford, my closest friends were guys. This was super fun, but also led to some awkward situations—especially since I was still learning the truth in the old axiom:
America and Britain are two countries divided by a common language.One day, I skipped into my close dude-friend’s room bursting with glee. A she-friend from home had come for a visit, and we had spent the day shopping in Oxford. I co...
January 14, 2021
A (Positive) Rant
In November, the New York Times released an article entitled “100 Notable Books of 2020”. As an author seeking representation/publication, I read it eagerly, hoping to learn about the market and possibly find some new authors in my field (and agents to query).
I skimmed through the whole list—100 books.And then I got angry.Of the fiction books...
