The Attraction of Poetry – An Interview on Shaz’s Book Blog

What attracted me to writing poetry and where do I get inspiration … One of the topics covered in this lovely interview on Sharon’s beautiful blog.

“Today it’s my pleasure to welcome author Camilla Downs to the blog to talk about her book of poetry Words of Alchemy.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your writing journey started?

Hi Sharon! Thank you for having me on your lovely blog. I grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and Houma, Louisiana, moving to the Seattle, Washington area when I was 19-years-old. The next move in 2006 took me and my two kids to Reno, in Northern Nevada, where we currently live. We absolutely love living here. I enjoy going for walks, writing, reading, and taking photographs of nature.

I’ve been single parenting Thomas and Lillian since they were one year old and five years old. They are now 14 and 18. I have homeschooled them for the past 4 years, with Lillian graduating June 2019. Thomas and Lillian each have a published book, with my 2nd book being published December 2019.

I loved writing when in elementary school, but I don’t remember being incredibly encouraged by the teachers and adults around me, perhaps even discouraged with the red marks and comments on my writings. So, I did not pursue it, except for writing in a personal diary. I had several traumatic occurrences as a child, and I must have intuitively known that writing in a diary would help in some way.

When I divorced in 2007, something told me that I needed to learn about this popular online writing tool called blogging. This began my journey of learning all I could about blogging, blogging platforms, and social media tools. At this time another shift happened, in that I felt an intuitive nudge to begin sharing my life experiences publicly via blogging and social media. I began to write and share life narratives, with a shift to free-verse poetry beginning in 2012.

What attracted you to writing poetry and where do you get your inspiration?

I didn’t set out to write poetry, an accidental poet, perhaps? I began an incredibly deep and profound healing journey after my divorce. A major part of the healing was going for walks, lots and lots of walks, allowing nature to help me in healing. When in nature, poetic words would simply bubble to the surface of my thoughts. That was the original inspiration. Following this, I began to receive intuitive nudges to take photographs while on these walks. So began the practice of taking nature photographs and posting on social media. One day I sat to look through the photos, choosing one to share, and as I began to type the accompanying message, a poem landed on the page! It was incredibly magical.

What do you think are the ingredients needed for a good poem?

I don’t feel I’m the least bit qualified to answer this one, as my poetry is free-verse, not fitting a textbook definition of poetry. Before gathering the six years of poetry I had written, I spent a few days researching the “definition” of poetry and what makes a poem a poem. There seemed to be much argument, with firm beliefs about what is and what isn’t poetry.

I will say that the main ingredient for writing poetry, for writing of any style, is to simply write. Let go of judgment about what comes out when you write, and just write. Write, write, write. The second ingredient is tenacity. The third ingredient, write.

Has your idea of what poetry is changed since you first started writing?

This is going to sound pretty crazy …. In the past, I have not read much poetry. I know. It doesn’t make sense that I would write poetry for six years, and not be reading it. However, that has changed. My eyes have been opened to the beautiful world of poetry and I have been choosing to read it more often.

What advice would you give to someone who would like to try writing poems?

I’m not sure I’m one to hand out advice on writing poetry, since my experience was quite different. Except to say, if you want to write a specific style of poetry, to read as many books of poetry in that style as you can get your hands on. Read them until they soak through to your very core, until you’re sweating, bleeding, crying, laughing poetry of that style. HA! Whether you want to write free-verse or a specific style, write daily.

What is the first poem that you read that made you think; I would like to write something like that one day?

I cannot recall reading a specific poem that caused me to think this. However, the more I immersed in nature during my walks, the more nature poetry moved me.

And finally, what can we expect from you next?

2020 is the year of rejuvenation for me. The past 13 years have been intense. I will continue to market all of our books, nurture myself, and will focus on family issues, taking time to do some of the things we’ve all wanted to experience and have not been able to experience, due to financial constraints.

There will be more books at some point. I get the feeling the next book will be authored by all three of us. We shall see. I never really know until I become focused on the book’s creation.

Thank you Sharon for having me and thank you for putting so much thought into these questions. I have enjoyed answering them! … Follow the link to read the full interview …

https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/author-interview-camilla-downs.html

Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

“Words of Alchemy” has arrived, December 2019! A free-verse poetry memoir covering the last 6 years of my life. The poetry of nature, the poetry of healing, the poetry of appreciation, the poetry of love, in one beautiful book.

Amazing news! My 18 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here

Wonderfully exciting news! My 14 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.

 

Latest News: Meeting the Authors

I have fun and wonderful news to share!

About three weeks ago I launched a website titled, Meeting the Authors, with the main purpose of the site being to interview authors. I have sent interview questions to somewhere around 100 authors in about a 3 week time frame! This is a ton of work! Yet, also fun and enlightening! I am meeting so many wonderful people around the globe!

This website was born from a love of writing combined with a love of reading what others have written. The site hosts fun, quirky, different than the norm, and interesting author interviews and short book reviews.

Being in this arena since 2012, I noticed the need for seasoned and newly published authors (whether traditional or indie) to have online outlets to receive more exposure. There are many, many incredible writers in our world and this is my small way of helping others who love the written word to know about them.

Authors have worked incredibly hard creating these books. Writing the book is only a piece of the process. The book must be edited and designed and formatted for printing as a book. There’s no relaxing once the book is ready to be birthed to the reading world! Marketing the book and keeping the momentum must be stepped into vigorously. Again, this is my small way of helping.

The site features interviews with authors and book love reviews. The book love reviews are short posts to let you know about books I’ve read and loved. I do not have the time to write full reviews. However, if I’ve read a book I enjoyed, I’ll give a brief reason why and a description of the book.

The plan is to eventually have either a podcast featuring author interviews and/or live interviews open for reader questions. You can use the “search” feature on the website to search for books in your chosen genre.

It is my hope that you discover a new author or book that inspires you, helps you to heal, teaches you something about history you never knew, ignites your imagination, delights from head to toe with romantic tales, or helps you tap into your inner detective and sleuth to solve mysteries. And everything in between!!

If you are an author or blog tour organizer, please visit the Contact page to see further details and get yourself on the list to be featured. The interviews are currently booked through November 2019 (can you believe that? after only THREE weeks). However, I have left room to accommodate book launches and am happy to continue scheduling interviews.

If you’d like to support this endeavor, click on over and check it out. Go here for Meet the Author interviews and here for Book Love. And for further support you can “like” the facebook page, follow on instagram, and sign up to receive new posts through email or through WordPress Reader (right hand side bar of website).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, fingers, and toes for your love and support!

Blessings,
Camilla
See It. Share It. BE IT … Spread Love Everywhere You Go!

Coming Soon!! “Words of Alchemy” is the latest book coming to life! Cover is currently being created and we are shooting for July 2019 for release date!

Amazing news! My 17 year old daughter, Lillian Darnell’s debut book, “Where Would You Fly and Other Magical Stories” was published January 2018. Learn more and order here.

Wonderfully exciting news! My 13 year old son, Thomas Darnell‘s book, Biggest Little Photographer is published. Be inspired! Learn more and order here.

Go here to see latest soul writings. xoxo