The Next Part of Me

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I’ve run into many authors, big and small, who begrudgingly admit to writing “angsty poetry.” They always have to preface it by adding the word “phase” to justify such a time in their lives that has long since passed.

Never one for reading, writing, or anything to do with poetry, I too once turned my nose up at the notion. The perception I had of myself was that of a “fantasy writer” only. And if it weren’t for the many literary journals and various contests that I participated in, that perception would have remained intact.

During this process of expanding myself, I learned that I enjoyed writing outside my own image as much as and in some cases more than in my genre of choice.

Each one of the twenty-eight stories in this anthology involves a piece of myself or a problem that I was trying to slay. Writing has inherently become my own personal therapy session, with myself acting as both the therapist and the couch warmer.

As for poetry in particular, it was a hard hurdle for me to overcome. But once I did, it didn’t matter what the words said or the way they were laid out. In the end, I found that I just felt better on the subject. It was as if transferring my feelings to the page made them lose all power over me.

So, like other authors before me, this might be my “angsty poetry phase” or it might just be me. In either case, I am proud that I made it out the other side, from the blankness that follows “The End” and on to another adventure, changed for the better.

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