I released my first ebook of poetry yesterday.

It’s available on Kindle / Amazon here.

A few summers ago I went on a paper purge. I went through my notebooks and pulled together a collection of pieces written in my twenties. Mostly about love, loneliness, learning to be an adult, the way of the world, you know, light stuff, nothing too heavy.

After gathering the pieces together, I transcribed them into a document where they again sat for years, waiting for me to be ready to release them to the world.

This past summer, I was in a vibe of pushing myself out of my comfort zone. ( I wrote and performed music for a live audience and all, but that’s another post.)

When I revealed that I had completed the collection, my friend, fellow writer and editor Christy O’Callaghan-Leue offered to edit. Her insight and encouragement were integral in pushing the work to publication.

It took me a month to read her edits. Afraid to face criticism yet excited to have valued feedback. I thank her again for her kindness in leading towards the best draft.

I was taken aback buy the recurring theme of lonesomeness that continues throughout the book. I didn’t know I was so needy. But, I was, then. And I still am, in many ways, and that’s okay. I don’t buy into the illusion that any of us makes it through on our own.

Once I read through and revised, I designed the cover, and again, I set it aside.

A few weeks ago, I was at the Mac and Meeka Show, sometimes I’m in their live audience for their grown and sexy podcast taping, it’s fun. That night they had Edgerrin James as guest, he promoted his book. I love the title. It’s called “From Gold Teeth to Gold Jacket”. If you’re unfamiliar, gold teeth symbolizes being hood rich and a gold jacket is what you get when you get to the NFL hall of fame. I look forward to reading his story.

A couple of days later, a friend invited me to a writing workshop. It turned out to be amazing. We meditated, we talked, we wrote, we ate, we performed our pieces. All good energy.

The next day, I went to take another look at my book. Most of the work for the ebook release was already done. Still, I felt that hesitation, not wanting to be vulnerable through my work. Then, I heard Brene Brown in my mind talking about there’s power in vulnerability, we’ll see – cnakeesha. So I set up the pre-order and gave it the April 6 release date, it’s my birthday.

Some of the pieces are personal and specific. Some of the pieces are general and universal. All of the words stir from my soul with the authenticity felt in the moments they were written.

I hope you will join us for a reading, where you will get the opportunity to get called on to have your favorite piece read and discussed. Remember your number 1-101, it will be fun. Check back, dates are added to the calendar as they are confirmed.

Thank you for your support.

Praise God.