It’s after midnight here in my corner of our little planet. And I decided that instead of sharing a poem this week, I’d share my late night thoughts with you in its stead.

It can wait til some other time to be posted – which probably makes it the most patient poem I’ve written so far.

Maybe they’re growing older. I have no freaking idea. Only time will tell. Maybe I’m growing older – that I can attest to. And as you grow older, you realize that time always knows best – and mothers of course.

In the meantime, it’s been another busy week for me – just the way I like it. It’s one of the reasons that I started writing in the first place.

I’ve gone back to being a substitute teacher this year by the way. And I love my work. Being a substitute teacher offers many perks – one of which is affording me the luxury of writing in my spare time. A luxury that I will never take for granted – not ever. As I type, I can hear my inner child repeating the words after me. Did I really sound that cute?

Although it’s only been a couple of years since I started writing, I can no longer imagine myself not writing.

And as I mentioned in my last post, I’ve finally decided to publish my first book of poems. The idea is still a little scary, but I don’t focus on the fear. Absolutely not! I focus on my love of writing instead. It’s been working for me so far. So fingers crossed!

I’ve decided to use Pressbooks to help me with my newborn dream. Thanks to the past two years using WordPress, I’m already familiar with its platform, which makes the process so much easier. I can only hope the finished product will turn out as I envision inside my cluttered brain.

I’ve just about completed the first section of my book – well the rough draft anyways. But it’s a great start. I also have a tentative cover created using Canva.

The most important thing that I’ve learned so far is the amount of editing required after a rough draft has been written.

I’ve been going through my poems, and choosing which ones to include in my collection. To date, every poem has needed some form of editing. One poem in particular required so much editing that it’s now half the original length. But at least now, it’s worth reading – or so I think.

I’ve come across a few of my poems that need so much work, they’ve been put aside for now.  Whether they can be salvaged remains to be seen. Again time will tell.

The whole process is certainly a humbling one. I can’t believe that I actually posted some of them in such a raw state. Perhaps that’s why this week’s poem decided to take a step back and smell the proverbial roses. There’s no actual roses or any other flowers left here to smell for that matter – not counting the local flower shop.

We kinda bypassed fall and went straight to winter. It was snowing here again today. And yes, I did say again. Although I will admit there’s something beautiful about watching the snow fall ever so gently while the leaves are still covered in their reds and golds.

Now back to what I was saying – I tend to go off track more often than not. My grandfather was fondly known as a teller of tall tales – who would sometimes go off on a tangent. I know because I enjoyed listening to more than one of his tales as a child. Maybe I take after him. Somehow, I think he’d like that.

And before I go off on another tangent, I just wanted to add that I’ll probably publish through Kindle Direct first, then take it from there. So I’d love to know your preferred format when reading a book. Do you prefer Kindle, epub, or paperback? And from where are you most likely to purchase a book?

Until next time, take care of yourself!

Image courtesy of pixabay CCO