 Author Adrian Morales, author of Poems ADRIAN, IT IS SO WONDERFUL TO HAVE YOU! Hello, and thank you. Now I KNOW YOU ARE A POET AND LOVER OF NATURE. TELL US MORE ABOUT YOURSELF. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? Well, I live in Romania. My family members were actually Saxon colonists who left their country in search of a new home, having settled in Transylvania. Our family has always been blessed with strong and capable women to lead the way, starting with my great-grandmother. From her, I have learnt to love and protect the natural environment. I am very proud of my heritage. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A POET? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST POEM ABOUT? Writing is a gift, I personally believe. I first discovered it when I decided to write a poem about my mother. I really do not think it is my best work, but she still keeps the yellowed piece of paper I tore from a school notebook to write it down. I LOVED THE GRAPHICS IN YOUR CHAPBOOK, POEMS. DID YOU DRAW SOME OF THOSE? WHICH ONE WAS YOUR FAVORITE TO PUT TOGETHER? They were either drawn or made by my mother. She happens to be an amazingly talented artist. Umm… My favourite piece would have to be the horse that is fighting not to be roped. It is the same with us humans, is it not? Everyone just wants to be free and enjoy life, yet we must constantly fight for our freedom and independence. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE POETRY GENRE? I adore narratively driven poems. Most consider that poetry is a bit abstract and difficult to comprehend, so I always try to tell a story through my verses. Hopefully, more will come to appreciate the rhythmic beauty that is Poetry. WHAT GENRE(S) WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN? I would very much like to be effective in the Art of Writing, irrespective of genre. That way, I can write anything I want. YOUR POEMS ARE AN INTERESTING MIX OF POEMS WITH MORALS, PERHAPS FOR CHILDREN, TO LOVE POEMS. DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE IN THE COLLECTION? I love all of them, of course. If I had to choose, it would have to be, “What Is Writing?” The multifaceted answer is the reason why I continue to do this. WHAT THREE KERNELS OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER? A SEASONED WRITER? I am also in the process of learning what works and what does not. If anything, I could also use some advice. Ultimately, I think one simply has to sit down and write. This is what we writers do. YOU HAVE GREAT ENCOURAGING ADVICE IN SOME OF MY FAVORITE PIECES. WHICH POEM IN YOUR COLLECTION DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST UPLIFTING? It definitely has to be, “Try Again.” Failure is the mother of success, after all. The key is to brush off the dust and get back in the saddle. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE AUTHOR, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY? Mark Twain. He was such an incredibly wise person. I often quote him. Also, his stories are still emulated today, and we do not even realise it. HAS THAT AUTHOR BEEN A LITERARY INFLUENCE? IF NOT, WHICH AUTHORS HAVE BEEN? Of course. Jules Verne too. Everything that we take for granted today, he predicted in his novels. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS, WHAT SHOULD MY READERS LOOK OUT FOR? I am currently working on a new collection of poems. Also, I wish to publish not just verse, but prose too. I adore short stories and fables, so it will be something similar. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO, HOW? “In the beginning was the Word…” That was how everything began, with words. Not only can they create an entire world, but they can also break it. As such, we should use them with love and care when we interact with others, both online and offline. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Facebook: facebook.com/imaginativewritings Twitter: @AdrianM_twits Wattpad: @AdrianMoralesWriter ADRIAN, THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME FOR US. I LOOK FORWARD TO INTERVIEWING YOU IN THE FUTURE. My pleasure. Take care. A Book Review of Poems 
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 Author Eric Allen Yankee ERIC, IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU! NOW, I KNOW YOU ARE A PROFESSIONAL ROMANCE WRITER, BUT YOUR POLITICAL POETRY IS AMAZING. I’M A HUGE FAN OF YOUR INSTAGRAM POEMS. WHEN DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE A POET? WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST POEM ABOUT? I used to write poetry as a teenager. It was angst filled unrequited love poetry. It was often intended to be song lyrics even though I had no idea how to write music to go with them. But in grad school, I started writing more serious poetry and translating the thoughts I had about society into poetry rather than keeping those thoughts to myself. I felt them as if I had discovered my true purpose in life — poetry. I think that’s one of the major things I’m here to do. I AM ALWAYS IMPRESSED BY THE VARIETY OF PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON: POETRY, ROMANCE, SMUT, NOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PRESS. CAN YOU OFFER A GLIMPSE OF HOW YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORKS? My writing process for fiction: Sit in the chair and make it happen. No excuses. Write. My process for poetry: Poetry just comes to me. I could be walking along, and a poem will hit me. Then I have to stop and write it down. This sometimes happens as much as five or six times a day, so I have a lot of poems to sift through for my upcoming book . . . . HOW INVOLVED IS YOUR CAT IN YOUR WRITING PROCESS AND IS SHE A HARSH CRITIC? HOW OFTEN DO YOU REWARD HER WITH CATNIP? I had to rent a coworking space to get away from my cat. When I’m home, she is intent on keeping me from work. She gets catnip every now and then. Not often enough if you ask her. She likes my poetry, but thinks the romance novels could use improvement. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE POETRY GENRE? Favorite Poetry Genre? Hmmm. Poems about social justice issues, of course. Since that’s what I most often write about. I write these poems in hopes that someone who needs them will hear them or read them, and it may inspire them to fight back against our oppressors. Reading this kind of poetry at open mics and other venues often means I am not the most popular person in the room, but that’s ok. If anyone wants to upset their Republican relatives they should buy them one of my books for Christmas. WHAT GENRE(S) WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE IN? I started posting Instagram poetry because I’m trying to disrupt the usual Instagram poetry that is mostly very simple love poems or poems about depression, etc. I got poems about depression, but they’re often too long and complex for Instagram. So I’m trying to write a little shorter, but stick to my usual topics of the various societal issues like homelessness, inequality, Donald Trump’s endless lies, etc. I want to be more effective at getting my point across in fewer lines — so that my poems can be more Instagram friendly. WHAT THREE KERNELS OF ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE A NEW WRITER? A SEASONED WRITER? Advice for new writers: 1.) Don’t quit. 2.) Write often. Writer’s block has no power over you unless you allow it to. 3.) You aren’t a writer unless you write. If you really want this then you have to sit in the chair and do it. Advice for seasoned writers: Don’t quit. You’re gonna want to quit everyday at some point during the day. You’re gonna hate what you wrote and then hate yourself, because clearly you must be a fraud, right? Push through those feelings. Don’t be discouraged. Smoke some weed. Drink some Irish coffee and get right back to it. You are someone’s favorite author — I have had people write reviews where they say that I’m their favorite romance writer. I must not be as terrible as I sometimes think I am! I THINK AS WRITERS, WE ALL FALL INTO PITS OF DESPAIR. IF YOU GET DOWN, WHAT GETS YOU OUT OF THAT CEREBRAL AND EMOTIONAL QUICKSAND? I get out of the emotional quicksand by taking a deep breath and putting my fingers back on the keyboard where they belong. IF YOU COULD MEET ONE AUTHOR, DEAD OR ALIVE, WHO WOULD IT BE? WHY? I wish I could meet Neeli Cherkovski. His “Elegy for Bob Kaufman” is one of the most stunning books of poetry I’ve ever read. Also Jack Hirschman. Meeting Sarah Menefee was beyond amazing. PLEASE, TELL US ABOUT YOUR UPCOMING WRITING PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY YOUR NEW PRESS WHICH I AM EXCITED ABOUT. WHAT MAKES YOUR PRESS UNIQUE? SPEAK TO THE CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS. There are no calls for submissions yet for Honeybees for Peace Press, but there will be early next year after I publish issue 3 of Caravel Literary Arts Journal. The press is intended to publish books of political activist poetry. ONE LAST FANTASY QUESTION: DO YOU THINK WRITING CAN TRANSFORM THE WORLD? IF SO HOW? Writing can transform the world. It does for me anyway. Even if all it accomplished on any given day is to fill my mind with beauty or hope then it has changed my world for that day. But when people hear poetry about the issues in our society, I hope that it gets us thinking about how we might change the world. We can have a world based on cooperation instead of corporate greed, and writing a vision for that new world can help get people out and fighting for change. Maybe someone reads a poem that you wrote about homelessness and then goes out and fights for housing rights/healthcare for all/etc. It can and does happen — I’m sure of it. WHERE CAN READERS FIND YOU ONLINE OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA? Find me on Instagram as @commiepoet and on Facebook as Eric Allen Yankee Poet. Twitter: @ericallenyankee ERIC, I KNOW YOU ARE SUMPREMLY BUSY. THANK YOU FOR SPARING A BIT OF YOUR TIME FOR ME AND MY READERS! I HOPE WE DO THIS SOON. A Book Review of The Sun Will Become Fireflies   Leila commands you to buy Eric's books! #3 Saturday Book Promotional Article: "Amazon Ads, Pros and Cons" from Penned in the City12/10/2019  Photo by: https://www.pexels.com/@mccutcheon Writers use different methods to advertise and promote their work. I have used Facebook ads for short ad campaigns. Heck, I've even used Pinterest ads. When it comes to getting actual sales and book reviews, I have had the most success with Amazon ads, but you have to be patient and think long-term game.
Right now, I have three ad campaigns for two books I published this summer for a total of six campaigns. My sales aren’t amazing by any means, but I make two times the sales that I spend on the ads. Pros: 1. The ads are paid per click; more than likely the people who click will be interested in your book. 2. You can set an automatic and manual campaign; automatic ads generate the keywords for you, and you set the keywords for manual ads. (I recommend setting both automated and manual ads for print and Kinde books of the same title.) 3. You can control what keywords to keep. So if people are clicking on a keyword, but not generating sales you can retire it. 4. You can set the amount per click, although usually, the average per click is about $.10 cents. 5. You can set your daily spending budget. I set mine to $5 per campaign. 6. You can set up to 1,000 keywords for free, per book. 7. You can keep a record of keywords in an excel spreadsheet that you upload for manual ads. 8. You generate the ad text, so keep it short and enticing! 9. You can set your ad campaign to run over a short time or indefinitely. Cons:
(This article was originally posted in my Facebook Group Penned in the City. One main purpose of the group is to promote writers, especially indie writers. Join in!) You can see more of my poetry in the Poetry section of my site.  I have: 2,795 Twitter Followers!!! Let's celebrate this victory. Follow me for a chance to win a Clarendon House Books anthology! See the pinned post on Twitter and enter a comment for a chance to win. Your name will go into a drawing after I reach 3,000 Followers. https://twitter.com/drmariajestrada  Photo by: Tirachard Kumtanom I've got the poetry writing bug real bad and have been posting poems, mostly for my friend Jay M. who is recovering from an illness and loves poetry. I am also excited to be helping my friend Daniel Brooks edit and design his first poetry chapbook. Below is a recent example, I crafted using canva.com. Do you MEME poems? Post your handle or MEMES below (I'm looking at you @commiepoet on Instagram).  |
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