OAG 6 Days Blog-Hop #8

Welcome to the #8 stop of the 6 days OAG blog-hop!!

Visit every blog that participates in this fun blog-hop and collect 12 words hidden in the text of the posts between 6 asterisks.
If you visit every blog on the list at the end of this post and collect the 12 words, you'll have a quote about writing.
At the last stop enter the correct quote in the CONTEST ENTRY form.

 

The #8 secret word is hidden on this page, in the text, between 6 asterisks.

 Find my secret word within this article between 6 asterisks.

 

Tooting Your Own Horn

 

Writing a book is hard.  Deciding just what words to use, exactly what wisdom or vision you wish to share is a monumental task. As authors, our blood and sweat soak the pages of our work. Every letter is a piece of our being, part of our soul offered to the world. 


Our hearts feel every slice as we consider our editor's suggestions.  We nip and tuck in hopes of creating a masterpiece. Finally, we proudly press publish and our essence is once more sent into the cosmos. One more book has joined the world's perpetual library. Sighing, we are relieved, believing the hard part is over.


No matter how difficult we found the creation process to be, promotion is worse.  Yes, I said promotion! Tooting your own horn! It is a discouraging task. What worked before doesn't any longer.  There are so many others trying to get a piece of the pie that you doubt there is enough for you.  


Advice is everywhere: "join this group", "get on twitter", "you need a blog", "make a Facebook page".  The problem is, everyone is doing all those things.  Books are the main post on every website. How do you make yours stand apart from the rest? If you are like me and read a lot, you may even wonder if yours should be out there at all..


It is very hard to find just the right teaser to ignite interest in the masses.  For me, I wonder if I have chosen the correct poem... should I share the whole thing? 


I never have been one to say anything I did was good enough. I do not want *** are *** to be in the spotlight, in front. I love my poems, each and every one of them.  They are all part of me.  But, why anyone else would or should, I have no clue. 


That being said..

TOOT

I raise my horn up to the sky
Toot my worth, at least I try
But doubt and insecurity fill my head
My notes fall flat, my song is dead
Promotion game shouldn't be so hard
The deck is stacked, who cut the cards?
Fame and fortune not my destiny
But I will write for eternity


All my books can be found:

http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html

The list of the participating blogs

#1 stop May 12

https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/my-thinking-board

#2 stop May 12

http://www.weigandchris.com/blog

#3 stop May 13

https://www.goldenboxbooks.com/blog

#4 stop May 13

https://rtranbooks.net/

#5 stop May 14

http://sonnetodelldustypages.blogspot.com

#6 stop May 14

https://www.hrhobbsbooks.com/blog

#7 stop May 15

https://www.rmgarino.com/blog

#8 stop May 15

https://cindysvoices.blogspot.com/

#9 stop May 16

http://pattymacfarlane.weebly.com/blog

#10 stop May 16

http://paperpenandinkwell.blogspot.com/index.html

#11 stop May 17

https://urbanhype101.wordpress.com/

#12 stop May 17

https://www.authorerikamszabo.com/my-thinking-board

Thank you for playing with us!
Hop on to the next blog to find the next hidden word

A Touch of Poetry

My life is an open book of poetry

I am a poet.  Poetry gives me the ability to write anything I am feeling without worrying about paragraphs or punctuation.  I don't need to develop scenes nor do I need names for characters that may appear.  It is simple, short and sweet.  I say what I want, how I want and then move on.  

Today I thought I would share some of my new poems, poems not published yet.  All are copyrighted.  I hope one or two will touch you and make your view of the world a little clearer.

HAIKU #5

Nose to the grindstone

Her back up against the wall

Freewill just a dream

 

This next poem was inspired by my sister, Rae.  She said she had these three lines in a binder to keep her heart open.  "AN OCEAN OF REGRETS ,  A RIVER OF HOPE, AND A WATERFALL OF FAITH".

 A RIVER OF HOPE

One drop
That is all it takes to start
Just a minute amount of faith
Slight belief in the possibility
The chance that things could go right
Everything could work out for the best
One drop of hope
Turning into a storm
A chain reaction of "mights"
Replacing the worried "what ifs"
Slowly multiplying
Joining together
Building in strength and power
Becoming a waterway
Flowing into hearts
Giving all the will to try
Showing them success
Is found when you travel
The River of Hope

One final poem to stir your heart.

 OVER THE FENCE

The grass is greener and softer there
No weeds or rocks of which I am aware
It looks so inviting, it calls to me
"Hop over the fence," it dares me
I decide to go for it, take the chance
I'll jump the fence, in the yard I'll dance
Get a running start, and then I'll fly
Nothing is gained if you don't try!
Sail over the top, floating on the breeze
Then I crash land with a thump on my knees
Smiling I stand and look around
Sure paradise is where I came aground
I look behind me and am amazed
There's a field of soft green within my gaze
Glancing down I see crabgrass and rocks
To find them here is quite a shock
Showing a world through rose colored glasses
Will hide the real truth from the masses
If the grass looks greener, please realize

It could just be paint used as a disguise

 Blog:
https://cindysvoices.blogspot.com
Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter: @cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

 

Marketing Experiment

Rhymes Through Time

books2read.com/Rhymes-Through-Time

I was getting frustrated trying to figure out how to market poetry books.  I had two out, Voices In My Head and They Won't Shut Up but sales were flat-lined. Those that had the first two wanted me to publish again, but I really could not find a legitimate reason to pour more money down this seemingly bottomless pit. 

Cost was not my only deterrent. I had the poems, I had more than enough of them to publish another book.  The problem was I could not find a cover that would connect to the first two books.  I figured I would wait it out and see if a solution would come to me.

Suddenly an idea light-bulb had appeared inside my head!  Amazon had Kindle Unlimited!  I could have a small book with samples of the first two and some new stuff and offer it there!  I would be letting people see what I do and advertising all three books at the same time!

A dear friend, Wren Liddle, created a beautiful cover for me and I set about deciding how to do the interior.  Since it was a sample book, I decided not to sort the poems into sections like I had the first two. Instead, I decided it would be completely random. I selected poems from each book and from those unused on my computer by pulling their titles out of a hat.  Then I placed all the selected titles in the hat and picked the order they would appear.

I published Rhymes Through Time only as an e-book and submitted it to Kindle Unlimited.  Unfortunately, by the time I decided to play with KU, the rules had changed and not in a way that benefited a poetry book.  I removed it from the service but left it available as an e-book.  I assumed that since it had poems already available in print no one would care to have it in paperback. It was several years later that I was talked into having a print version created.  With a back cover poem already written, and the help of my friend Erika Szabo, https://www.goldenboxbooks.com, I quickly had my third book in print.

It has been a while but, Rhymes Through Time is again being used as an experiment.  At the suggestion of Erika, I submitted it to be formatted as an audio book.  It is being narrated by Linda A. Hynson and will soon be available on ACX!  In fact, I just listened to the first 15 minutes and accepted it!  To hear my poems read by such a talented woman is a surreal experience.  I am beyond excited!  Erika again came to my rescue when she informed me a new cover would be needed for the audio book as it had to be designed as a square.  This is the gorgeous cover she created for me!

 

I  am looking forward to hearing the completed book!  Will more audio books be coming?  I am not sure.
Find Cindy on her:
Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

Kindness comes in all shapes

Gifts Of Love

Created for me by Martha Perez

 

I write poems, that is basically the extent of my talents.  My abilities to create promotional material is very limited.  I had begun to figure out PicMonkey and Animoto then they both became paid sites so that ended my attempts at mastering anything.  My internet is flaky at home because I live in the middle of nowhere (and Verizon cannot even decide which state I live in so it jumps towers).  As a truck driver, it jumps towers so much I lose most of what I am trying to upload.  So I basically gave up.

 

As you can see from the above picture, I did not give up much!
Lucky for me I have friends who are kindhearted and create stuff for me.  Jessica House has created numerous pictures for my poems and even created the cover design for Words On The Wind!  

 

 

 Other friends created my videos and other promotional pictures.  Barbie Liddle, Jenny Bynum,  Karina Kantas ,  Aileen Aroma and  M.C.V. Egan to name a few.

 

Erika M Szabo  is another dear friend who has done so much for me.  She has created a gif for me of all my books, reformatted and uploaded them all to D2D.  My latest books which make up a 4 book collection, she enhanced creating visual masterpieces.  Her tender heart found a way to honor my daughter even more in the section of her poems.

I wish to thank them all.  Their generous offerings are so appreciated. They were not obligated to do anything for me, it was just their kindness, pure and simple.

So, when you read about "authors" who send "trolls" out to defile someone's name and talent, consider these wonderful people and know the bad apples are not in the majority!

Find Me:

Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

How It Came To Be

Words On The Wind

 books2read.com/Words-On-The-Wind

I decided to have all the new poems I had written since Rhymes Through Time edited.  QUIET! Please? was to be my next published book, but I could not find anyone who could make a cover that would connect to the first two. (To be honest, after seeing how easy it was to just randomly select poems instead of sorting them, I was not looking very hard.) Several Facebook friends who had been reading my poems as I wrote them kept asking me to publish another collection.  So, I made a poll and asked, "If I were to publish another book using randomly selected poems, what would you name it?"  Several people offered suggestions.  One, Jessica House, not only suggested a title, she actually created a cover for the book!  How could I possibly ignore such love and support? I let them decide how many should be included then set about choosing. I pulled out my trusty hat, put all the titles in and picked poems.  The order is the way their titles were picked.

POEM

You feel the rhythm
And also the words
Mind creates a path
Where once all was blurred
The voice you're hearing
Is really your soul
Listen, it can heal
Your heart, make it whole
This poem is all you
The words and the rhyme
See thoughts you've hidden
Deep down in your mind
If you see nothing
You must be afraid
To let the real you
Escape from the shade

Find Cindy on her:

Blog:
https://cindysvoices.blogspot.com

Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter:  @cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

A Taste of Poetry

A MEMORY

A wrinkle in time
That's what it is
Just a bump in the road
A blip in life's continuum
Hands of a clock sticking
Popping backwards a little
Pausing for a moment
Before moving forward
Reflecting what was
What could have been
Then it rushes onward
Ticking away the years
Striving, reaching out
Stretching towards the future
Until it pauses once again
Allowing the past to return
Become real again
Another memory relived
Heartache or happiness
Either way it is the past
Wrinkling the fabric of time

© Cindy J. Smith

Full sentences written by a poet!

Can it really be done for an entire read-worthy post?

Well, no way to find out until we try.  Are you game?

Poetry is really a very easy genre to write.  I never have to worry about coming up with names or background info to keep people interested.  Poems are short, not much time is wasted should one not meet a readers personal taste. I think that is why they will often give a poet more than one chance to tantalize.

Personally, I believe English teachers are the main reason people shy away from poetry.  Having a person in authority telling you what you think a poem says to you is not correct will certainly curb your desire to read more.  In fact a teacher is why I did not share my poems for most of my life.  I turned one in for an assignment and was in shock when it was returned to me. I had never seen that much red ink on something with my name on it!  I did rewrite it to meet her criteria.  Unfortunately, although it was a nice poem, it no longer said what I did in the original version.

Instead of cringing when someone asks if you will read a poem, think for a moment.  Poetry is everywhere and you do too like it!  The songs you sing, the cards you send, even the advertising jingles that are stuck in your head are all poems! How they make you feel is absolutely what the poem means.  The meaning of poetry lies in the heart and soul of the reader, not in the ink flowing from the poet's pen.

LIFE JOURNEY

Each moment is a step towards our future

A journey into unknown territory

Fraught with potholes and pitfalls

We try to avoid as we move forward

With relentless determination

To be elsewhere

Believing we pave the road to our life

Creating a straight path to our past

Which we can travel at will

But as we try to return there

We find the way unclear

For all the pitfalls and potholes we missed

Or maybe we just crawled our way through

Still dot the way

Hidden in the shadows 

And we fall into them

Forming a new past

That will lead us to a different future

As we pave the detour

In our life journey

Re-blogged: Voices In My Head

Poetry from the Heart

books2read.com/Voices-In-My-Head

Voices In My Head is the first collection in my "Jasmine's Wish" series. My daughter, Jasmine, organized poems I had written over the years in an attempt to get me to publish.  After her death, and because of the encouragement of friends on Facebook, I added all the new poems I'd penned to her categories. The poems cover all aspects of life. Nature, time, feelings, politics are all fodder for my rhymes. I recommend this book to anyone seeking understanding as many viewpoints are examined.

AURORA BOREALIS

In the land of the midnight sun

Before months of forever night

The fairies gather up their dust

To perform their astral delights

They fill the sky with light

Weaving their slender silken threads

Using only the palest hues

Of lavenders, yellows, and reds

Fairies fly on gossamer wings

Trailing their glowing webs behind

They dance together in a show

Making ever-changing designs

The Aurora Borealis

Fills Alaska’s sky at twilight

Fairies bringing sweet hope to all

With their gift of Northern Lights

Find Cindy on her:

Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter:  @cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/

My Voices

My published books

Cindy J. Smith has written poetry, and with every experience in life, she has found inspiration. Wife, Mother and Grandmother, she has a myriad of beautiful memories to draw from. Never having been good at playing the part of "starving artist", she has had many careers, but her current one, an over-the-road truck driver with her husband, Dave, has provided amazing opportunities for inspiration in her later years.

books2read.com/Voices-In-My-Head

 Ever want to get a second opinion on life? In this first book of poetry series, Jasmine's Wish, Cindy has had voices giving her theirs all her life. With straight talk and sarcasm, they rhyme their views to her. In this first book, she offers you a glimpse of the path she has been traveling while seeking her way in this world.

books2read.com/They-Wont-Shut-Up

 In this second book of poetry, Jasmine's Wish, Cindy's voices continue their relentless sharing of their opinions.Touching on many of the emotions and life situations humans encounter, they offer their viewpoint in the hopes of finding the path to peace. At the end of the book, Cindy has shared a small section spotlighting the works of her angel daughter, to whom this book is lovingly dedicated for her Birthday. 

books2read.com/Quiet-Please

After being alluded to many years ago in Rhymes Through Time, I have completed QUIET! Please?, the third book of Jasmine's Wish. This selection of poems is arranged in categories as are the first two books in my "Jasmine's Wish" series. My voices have been writing poems for my entire life. Their constant jabbering is taking its toll. Despite my begging and pleading for quiet, they keep talking. Come on over and see how they can write about anything at any time. The categories may be set, but the topics are as varied as grains of sand.

books2read.com/SilenceByCindyJSmith

This is the final book in the Jasmine's Wish collection. Life is too short to get stuck in a rut. Luckily for me, the voices show me many different views of the same situation so that is never an issue. Despite their varied revelations, I am relieved they've finally begun to give me moments of peace. (Perhaps it is because I forced them to work everyday last year.) Whatever the reason, I do enjoy the quiet even though I miss them when they are gone. When they do return, I am still amazed that after all these years their rhymes are still unique blendings that reveal truths I never noticed.

 books2read.com/Words-On-The-Wind

This time we float along like an Autumn leaf on a breeze, pausing here and there before catching the wind and flying once more. Each stop is a unique view of life and the world before us. Come on in, and see if you can catch the words on the wind.

books2read.com/Rhymes-Through-Time

You will not find sex, violence, blood or gore, and nor will you find vampires, zombies or ghosts. You will find poems about fleeting and elusive moments captured in rhyme through the sands of time.

 books2read.com/365

This collection was created from my 2017 New Years Resolution. Seeing and hearing various remarks about the new year being "a clean slate" and that "each day is a new page in life write something fresh" inspired me to vow to write a poem everyday. I do write almost everyday so I challenged myself to collect the very first poem, no matter the topic, as the day's offering. No theme was involved, everything was fair game. I wanted to be able to look back and see if perspectives really do change daily. I offer everyone a ride on this poetic rollercoaster, where life changed at the speed of a turned page.

books2read.com/Caesar-And-The-Bluebells

Caesar lives on a farm with his owner, Lori. Caesar is a retriever who loves playing in the field of bluebells while protecting the farm. Lori puts two gnomes in her garden for decoration. Caesar thinks something is not right about them. The next May when Lori and Caesar visit their bluebell field, it is destroyed. The fairies are worried. Their queen is missing! Caesar knows the gnomes are involved. Can Caesar find the Queen and fix the mess?