Alicia Cook's Blog, page 3
November 13, 2017
FIRST SONG FROM I HOPE MY VOICE DOESN'T SKIP RELEASED
My next poetry book, I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip (June 5, 2018), contains poetry, prose, and songwriting.
Today I am sharing HOPE with you. A song that appears in my upcoming poetry collection. This song, co-written and performed by Ada Pasternak, is one of SEVEN songs from my upcoming collection.
It is a resilience anthem for anyone hurting right now. The song's message is clear: with pain, comes strength.
This song is a perfect introduction to I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip as the message of recovery from pain is sewn into every page of the book.
I would love to hear your thoughts! Listen below :) Lyrics are below as well!
xoxo,
Alicia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9rRw...
This song is Available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, & Soundcloud:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1nmzPx...
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hop...
https://play.google.com/store/music/a...
https://soundcloud.com/ada-pasternak/...
Lyrics Co-written by Alicia Cook
Produced by Keith Parry
String arrangement by Stevie Blacke
String Quartet: Ada Pasternak (Violin)
Will E (Violin)
Emily Elkan (Cello)
Jennifer Wu (Viola)
Bass by Frogs McCormack
Piano by Adam Chester and additional Piano by Alex Williams
Mix by Keith Parry
Master by Jet Galindo (Bakery Mastering)
Lyrics:
Been down and out,
filled with doubt,
had this little heart of mine
kicked around.
All of this hurt,
won’t break my soft.
What is gone,
is never lost.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
On the sunniest day,
the sky can seem gray,
but all of my warmth
can’t be taken away.
All of these battles,
they’ve made me fierce.
Know that my faith
cannot be pierced.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
’Cause crying doesn’t make me weak.
It’s my soul, just trying to speak.
Oh, I don’t want to go to sleep,
knowing that I could’ve done better than this.
(Knowing that I could’ve done better than this.)
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
’Cause crying doesn’t make me weak.
This is my heart just trying to speak.
Today I am sharing HOPE with you. A song that appears in my upcoming poetry collection. This song, co-written and performed by Ada Pasternak, is one of SEVEN songs from my upcoming collection.
It is a resilience anthem for anyone hurting right now. The song's message is clear: with pain, comes strength.
This song is a perfect introduction to I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip as the message of recovery from pain is sewn into every page of the book.
I would love to hear your thoughts! Listen below :) Lyrics are below as well!
xoxo,
Alicia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9rRw...
This song is Available on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, & Soundcloud:
https://open.spotify.com/album/1nmzPx...
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/hop...
https://play.google.com/store/music/a...
https://soundcloud.com/ada-pasternak/...
Lyrics Co-written by Alicia Cook
Produced by Keith Parry
String arrangement by Stevie Blacke
String Quartet: Ada Pasternak (Violin)
Will E (Violin)
Emily Elkan (Cello)
Jennifer Wu (Viola)
Bass by Frogs McCormack
Piano by Adam Chester and additional Piano by Alex Williams
Mix by Keith Parry
Master by Jet Galindo (Bakery Mastering)
Lyrics:
Been down and out,
filled with doubt,
had this little heart of mine
kicked around.
All of this hurt,
won’t break my soft.
What is gone,
is never lost.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
On the sunniest day,
the sky can seem gray,
but all of my warmth
can’t be taken away.
All of these battles,
they’ve made me fierce.
Know that my faith
cannot be pierced.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
’Cause crying doesn’t make me weak.
It’s my soul, just trying to speak.
Oh, I don’t want to go to sleep,
knowing that I could’ve done better than this.
(Knowing that I could’ve done better than this.)
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief in the bridge,
that all of these scars
are proof that I lived.
There’s still hope in this hook,
belief that tomorrow
will hold a silver lining
to all of this sorrow.
’Cause crying doesn’t make me weak.
This is my heart just trying to speak.
November 6, 2017
*Date Change* SIGNING/READING WITH AMANDA LOVELACE ANNOUNCED
Hi all!
So happy to tell you guys that on Saturday, December 2, at 5:00 p.m. Amanda Lovelace and I will be doing a joint event at the Barnes & Noble in Morris Plains, NJ!
The day includes a signing, reading, q&a, and involvement from local high schools!
SAVE THE DATE! We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet you!
*originally announced in August. The date has moved to 12/2*
So happy to tell you guys that on Saturday, December 2, at 5:00 p.m. Amanda Lovelace and I will be doing a joint event at the Barnes & Noble in Morris Plains, NJ!
The day includes a signing, reading, q&a, and involvement from local high schools!
SAVE THE DATE! We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to meet you!
*originally announced in August. The date has moved to 12/2*
November 1, 2017
MY NEXT BOOK!
MY NEXT POETRY COLLECTION WILL BE RELEASED JUNE 5, 2018.
More deets.
Cover.
SOON.
But for now...feel free to "add"...
I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip
More deets.
Cover.
SOON.
But for now...feel free to "add"...
I Hope My Voice Doesn't Skip
August 9, 2017
BOOK SIGNING AND READING SEPTEMBER 23
I will be doing a reading/signing at the Barnes & Noble in Ledgewood, NJ.
Hope to see some of you there!
To RSVP: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
Hope to see some of you there!
To RSVP: https://www.goodreads.com/event/show/...
July 27, 2017
Writing Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately Saved My Life
You can read the original post with photos here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/5...
Over a year and a half ago, I self-published Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately. It would go on to become a bestseller, be nominated in the Goodreads Choice awards in 2016, and be republished traditionally by Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2017. Blows my mind when I think back to what inspired me to compile my thoughts in the first place. I remember drawing the cover on Christmas Eve in 2015.
A year and a half ago, I was in a much different head-space. I was sad, definitely depressed. Those closest to me and I experienced a trauma that had me convinced someone else I love dearly was going to die. She didn’t. She’s still here. But back then, it was a certainty that I was going to lose her, like I’ve lost too many people.
It affected my job. It affected my relationship. It affected my health – physical and mental. I started to deteriorate. I started experiencing panic attacks and started battling insomnia. I felt like I was going to vomit every time the phone rang. I developed a stress related allergy. On nights I could sleep, I would wake up soaked in sweat, my heart beating against my chest. I broke out in hives, due directly to my ever-growing anxiety.
The middle I keep private. But the good news is, slowly, as those around me began to heal, so did I. A big part of my own recovery and healing from this traumatic event that lasted from summer 2015 until summer 2016, was that I wrote about it. Not just the dark moments I was experiencing, but I made a concerted effort to document the happy moments that were still, somehow, occurring between the sadness. Life is funny. I would spend some nights crying, sick to my stomach, in a zombie-like state, but then spend the next mornings playing hide and seek with my nephew and having dance parties. I would sleep for an hour, and then get up and work an 8-hour workday. (PS. Routine has the power to save your life too. My mother wants me to write about that, and one day, I will.)
When going through something terrible, what so many lose sight of is good things are still happening. Not just only around them, but to them. It’s not surprising. We are in survival mode. We are just so focused on saving what is being destroyed to notice anything else. To save my own sanity, I learned to open my mind up to the blessings that still existed in my life. It took effort.
Listen, I am a self aware person. I knew I was in a dark place. I knew I couldn’t stay there. I knew that would be my demise if I did. So, during that terrible year, I never once lost sight of any of the lighter moments happening to me and around me. For one, I left the job I hated and started a job I enjoy. I moved into my first home. I celebrated my birthday and the birthdays of those I love. I traveled a lot, which was a nice escape. And I wrote it all down.
I am a big believer in the healing power of the Arts. If I didn’t create or write, I don’t know how I would have made it out of that time of my life. Thank God for art.
I also knew how important it was to stay physically healthy. Mind health and physical health go hand-in-hand. I felt my body breaking down. I began running and I made sure I drank enough water and I took my vitamins. I tried to eat meals, even if I didn't have an appetite. I tried to sleep, though that was the hardest to do, and still is some nights.
I also didn’t repress anything. I let the “bad” happen head on. I never turned away from it. I never hid from it. I let myself feel it. I knew if I refused to feel it right then and there, it would creep up on me one day. I accepted that even if today was a bad day, it didn’t mean tomorrow had to be as bad. I saw a therapist.
The writing from that roller coaster year became Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately. There was no hope around me many of those days. It was dismal even four months into the release of the book. Hope and light were scarce. Therefore, I created my own. I created my own hope. I created my own light. I had to believe it could get better in order to function.
Over the last year, things have gotten much better, and not one moment of it has been taken for granted. I still actively work on bettering myself and protecting my physical and mental health.
I know it’s funny to say, but my own book saved my life. Moreover, I am so honored and humbled and just so grateful that it has resonated with so many of you, as well.
Thank you.
Alicia
Over a year and a half ago, I self-published Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately. It would go on to become a bestseller, be nominated in the Goodreads Choice awards in 2016, and be republished traditionally by Andrews McMeel Publishing in 2017. Blows my mind when I think back to what inspired me to compile my thoughts in the first place. I remember drawing the cover on Christmas Eve in 2015.
A year and a half ago, I was in a much different head-space. I was sad, definitely depressed. Those closest to me and I experienced a trauma that had me convinced someone else I love dearly was going to die. She didn’t. She’s still here. But back then, it was a certainty that I was going to lose her, like I’ve lost too many people.
It affected my job. It affected my relationship. It affected my health – physical and mental. I started to deteriorate. I started experiencing panic attacks and started battling insomnia. I felt like I was going to vomit every time the phone rang. I developed a stress related allergy. On nights I could sleep, I would wake up soaked in sweat, my heart beating against my chest. I broke out in hives, due directly to my ever-growing anxiety.
The middle I keep private. But the good news is, slowly, as those around me began to heal, so did I. A big part of my own recovery and healing from this traumatic event that lasted from summer 2015 until summer 2016, was that I wrote about it. Not just the dark moments I was experiencing, but I made a concerted effort to document the happy moments that were still, somehow, occurring between the sadness. Life is funny. I would spend some nights crying, sick to my stomach, in a zombie-like state, but then spend the next mornings playing hide and seek with my nephew and having dance parties. I would sleep for an hour, and then get up and work an 8-hour workday. (PS. Routine has the power to save your life too. My mother wants me to write about that, and one day, I will.)
When going through something terrible, what so many lose sight of is good things are still happening. Not just only around them, but to them. It’s not surprising. We are in survival mode. We are just so focused on saving what is being destroyed to notice anything else. To save my own sanity, I learned to open my mind up to the blessings that still existed in my life. It took effort.
Listen, I am a self aware person. I knew I was in a dark place. I knew I couldn’t stay there. I knew that would be my demise if I did. So, during that terrible year, I never once lost sight of any of the lighter moments happening to me and around me. For one, I left the job I hated and started a job I enjoy. I moved into my first home. I celebrated my birthday and the birthdays of those I love. I traveled a lot, which was a nice escape. And I wrote it all down.
I am a big believer in the healing power of the Arts. If I didn’t create or write, I don’t know how I would have made it out of that time of my life. Thank God for art.
I also knew how important it was to stay physically healthy. Mind health and physical health go hand-in-hand. I felt my body breaking down. I began running and I made sure I drank enough water and I took my vitamins. I tried to eat meals, even if I didn't have an appetite. I tried to sleep, though that was the hardest to do, and still is some nights.
I also didn’t repress anything. I let the “bad” happen head on. I never turned away from it. I never hid from it. I let myself feel it. I knew if I refused to feel it right then and there, it would creep up on me one day. I accepted that even if today was a bad day, it didn’t mean tomorrow had to be as bad. I saw a therapist.
The writing from that roller coaster year became Stuff I’ve Been Feeling Lately. There was no hope around me many of those days. It was dismal even four months into the release of the book. Hope and light were scarce. Therefore, I created my own. I created my own hope. I created my own light. I had to believe it could get better in order to function.
Over the last year, things have gotten much better, and not one moment of it has been taken for granted. I still actively work on bettering myself and protecting my physical and mental health.
I know it’s funny to say, but my own book saved my life. Moreover, I am so honored and humbled and just so grateful that it has resonated with so many of you, as well.
Thank you.
Alicia
July 25, 2017
Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately, THE PLAYLISTS
Hello my friends! An awesome reader of mine tweeted two Spotify playlists she created for both "sides" A and B of Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately.
MOST of the songs are accurate, there are only a few that are not, since not all artists have their music available on the streaming platform.
But I keep an eye on reviews here, and notice some of you wonderful humans were thinking of making a playlist.
Here they are!
Side A: https://open.spotify.com/user/21ygllu...
Side B:
https://open.spotify.com/user/21ygllu...
MOST of the songs are accurate, there are only a few that are not, since not all artists have their music available on the streaming platform.
But I keep an eye on reviews here, and notice some of you wonderful humans were thinking of making a playlist.
Here they are!
Side A: https://open.spotify.com/user/21ygllu...
Side B:
https://open.spotify.com/user/21ygllu...
April 10, 2017
The Truth Behind the Songs in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately
Good afternoon!
Over the last year there has been some debate as to what the meaning is behind each song at the bottom of the "Tracks" in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately.
Some have gotten frustrated, it seems, when they do not believe the song "matches" the meaning of the poem. (I just want to say here that songs, much like poems, are totally subjective. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." The subjectivity of music is pretty much common sense, but for some reason my song choices have even affected my book's ratings on here!)
Some have assumed I was listening to the song while writing the poem.
The truth is, the songs are listed for any of the following reasons.
1). A *single line* from the song sparked my creativity which then resulted in the creation of the poem. Meaning, the whole song might not "fit" with the poem, but the ONE line struck me. (If you follow me on Instagram you know that I pair each Insta-Poem with a line from a song.)
2.) Yes, I was listening to *some* of the songs while writing.
3.) The TITLE of the song inspired the piece (much like a writing prompt would.)
4.) The tone in the singer's voice (was he/she sad/happy/motivated?) matched the feeling in the poem, and was matched after the poem was written.
I hope this helps clear up some of the discussion behind the songs in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately!!
:)
Over the last year there has been some debate as to what the meaning is behind each song at the bottom of the "Tracks" in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately.
Some have gotten frustrated, it seems, when they do not believe the song "matches" the meaning of the poem. (I just want to say here that songs, much like poems, are totally subjective. "Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder." The subjectivity of music is pretty much common sense, but for some reason my song choices have even affected my book's ratings on here!)
Some have assumed I was listening to the song while writing the poem.
The truth is, the songs are listed for any of the following reasons.
1). A *single line* from the song sparked my creativity which then resulted in the creation of the poem. Meaning, the whole song might not "fit" with the poem, but the ONE line struck me. (If you follow me on Instagram you know that I pair each Insta-Poem with a line from a song.)
2.) Yes, I was listening to *some* of the songs while writing.
3.) The TITLE of the song inspired the piece (much like a writing prompt would.)
4.) The tone in the singer's voice (was he/she sad/happy/motivated?) matched the feeling in the poem, and was matched after the poem was written.
I hope this helps clear up some of the discussion behind the songs in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately!!
:)
March 10, 2017
Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately Polaroid Project, Tracks 1-18
Each day a new Polaroid will be placed here: http://thealiciacook.com/stuff-ive-be...
as well as on my Instagram and Twitter accounts.
So far the inspiration behind the first 18 poems in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately has been posted.
as well as on my Instagram and Twitter accounts.
So far the inspiration behind the first 18 poems in Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately has been posted.
Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately Polaroid Project, Track 2
Not many people could crack me up like this. Earth has lost one of its funniest, loudest people; Heaven gained a lovable, creative, hysterical man. Kareem - you and your family are in my thoughts today. Xo.
Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately Polaroid Project, Track 1
Behind the Scenes: Track One of Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately. Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately returns better than ever, and 114 pages LONGER than the original, in April!
You can pre-order the paperback or kindle edition here: https://www.amazon.com/Stuff-Ive-Been...
