February 2018 – Darlene A. McGarrity

Dim

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How is everyone? I have been so busy and it is driving me nuts because my busyness is focused on things I must do (work, laundry, school – not doing well in biology) instead of things I want to do (writing, editing, exercise). I am still telling everyone my second book will drop on March 27^th! Pre-order your physical copy today. I can’t do a presale for the Kindle book for some reason… KDP is starting to get on my nerves. My writing future surely is dim if I don’t figure out a better way to market myself and my work.

I did, however, receive my first payment as an author! ❤ It went into my bank account this morning.

Besides two books of poetry published and a novel due to publish later this year, I have been thinking about my next project:

A MEMOIR.

But here is the thing… I have been blessed with so much craziness and irony in my life that I am having a hard time narrowing down which part to write about. My psychic advisor told me to write my life story, but I am not famous yet so no one cares about my entire life. So, I want to write about a part of my life that will help or inspire people to know they can overcome obstacles in their life.

Here are a few of the topics I would like to write about:

My journey through my last year of addiction and into my first year of sobriety.
Being married, 19 and pregnant, and raising two small children while living in a bar motel room for a year from 1991 – 1992. (It was pretty crazy)
My last full year of addiction, which was ridiculous.

So those are a few topics I would like to write about. I am strongly considering the second choice. Which would you choose?

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/dim/

Image: Pixabay

Poetry: Book Number Two

51JUXoillXL Hey y’all. Hope everyone is doing well… and if not, I truly hope that things pick up for you soon.

Now, I told you I am getting some final edits done on my novel. In the meantime, I have written a new book of poetry that will drop on March 27, 2018. Yes! Very exciting. The 27th is my son’s 29th birthday. He is currently in jail which makes me sad. He had a pretty rough life and I hope and pray that he will see the light soon and follow a righteous path. Until then, all I can do is keep talking to him, sending him books and letting him know that he is not alone. I won’t go into detail but he truly should not be where he is right now. I know my book titles seem sad, and I truly hope people will read the description before they think these books are pages and pages of sad, mopey, woe is me prose.

In a way I guess you could say it is, but then it really isn’t. It is a comfortable way for me to express myself and let others know that it is all going to be okay. We have all been through our share of shit. But every day what do we do? We hide it, put on the plastic face, and tell everyone “I’m fine. Everything is fine.” Even if it is far from effing fine.

I like to help people; I always have. That’s a good thing, right? However, I suck at personal interaction with people. I always have. So, writing is my way of giving back. I have been writing since I was a kid and never thought to pursue a career with it. In my twenties, I started writing again, but me being me, lacked the oomph to go that next step. Even now, I struggle with self-promotion.

So… below is a link to my Amazon Author Page. I have one book currently for sale and the other will be ready soon. Thank you to every single one of you! I truly am grateful for your following this blog, commenting when you want to and even giving a quick like here and there. ❤

Darlene’s Amazon Author Page

To Conjure… or Not

nature-2025864_960_720 Good day everyone… hope y’all had a terrific weekend. I’m excited to announce (unofficially) that I will be releasing my second book very soon!

Poetry Through Heartbreak will drop on Amazon on March 27th! I am really going to try to do a better job at promotion this time around. If I could conjure up a bit more self-confidence and outgoing-ness, I think I’d do better. These are all previously unpublished, fresh pieces of poetry and there are no haikus. There are a handful of micro poems and the book is about ten pages longer than the previous one. I am calling it the Through Series, though it is not officially branded a series on Amazon. Also, it is THROUGH. I had to put up a better description on Amazon… I want people to know that the poems are to get you through the Darkness; get you through the Heartbreak. The books are to let you know you are not alone.

As far as conjuring… I don’t think I have ever conjured anything spirit like or demon-esque. Why would I do that? I watch shows that portray people who conjure spirits using black magic and that is a big no-no. It is one of the first things I learned when I was studying Paganism.

I do consider myself Wiccan/Pagan, which is often grossly confused with Satanism – I can’t figure out why. I read a lot about Wicca and Paganism after being around friends who practice (and asking questions) and seemed pretty happy about their faith of choice. Traditional religion just wasn’t working for me. I mean, it didn’t make sense to me to worship or pray to something or someone that was going to punish me if I didn’t ‘do it right.’ I’m not saying all Christians and Catholics think this way, but I was around enough to feel like they did think this way and it was nothing I wanted to be a part of.

I did a lot of homework and research and rested modestly knowing that my already having a deep connection to the earth, elements, and nature was basically my inkling that it was in me all along to follow a more spiritual path than religious.

I just live and let live, follow the rule of three and try to be a good person every day.

I don’t put spells on people. Nope, don’t conjure demons or spirits of any kind. I do have a black cat, and a broom… oh, and a mini-cauldron. But I don’t stir anything in it; it’s too small. I don’t even consider myself a witch. I know witches, they are super cool people. I’m not at that level yet. And the witches I know, know better than to conjure anything.

Also, I do not mess with Ouija Boards. They are real, and they work. Even those cheapy toy ones at the stores. If you use it with intent and believe your words, it really works. You will conjure something and it won’t be good. There is a shop in New Hope, PA that sells some haunted things and one of the items is an Ouija Board. It is still for sale as far as I know. My husband and I kid around about buying it when we go in there, but we know better.

Have you ever conjured anything spirit-like (accidentally, purposely, unknowingly)?

via Daily Prompt: Conjure

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/conjure/

Image: Pixabay

Bewildered

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Bewildered. Floored. Muddled. Thunderstruck. You get the gist.

That is me since I released my first publication in December 2017. Now, to be fair, only .000000001% of the world population even knows I exist and when you look at those numbers, the fact that ten people bought ebooks, 37 people downloaded free copies and 3 people bought physical copies (I bought the other ten) is pretty effing good. It’s even better since I absolutely suck at self-promotion. I always feel like I am annoying people, being a nag… you know, like a gnat only bigger.

Bzzzzz………………………..

I just need to get this idea out of my head that I annoy people when I tweet, FB, Pinterest, Google+, or LinkedIn a link to my book. I think I also need to realize I am comparing myself and my stats to other people and I need to stop doing that. Like, now.

And I don’t mean poets like Maya Angelou or Emily Dickenson (is there any comparison, really?); more like poets I see on Amazon in the same category as me. But I have to put it in perspective to keep my sanity. Who the hell knows how long their books have been for sale? I mean, who the hell do I think I am? My book has literally been available for nine weeks.

There are so many doors of opportunity for me and patience, hard work, and determination will help me get through whichever I choose. That I know. I cannot give up.

When I first started this blog/site in 2007, it was actually called The Daily Woman and it was my daily posts about how to do great things. I did that about a year despite my lack of commitment along with my severe lack of networking and marketing skills. No one was interested in anything I had to say.

So, I made it a blog about addiction and kept the name. Despite the fact that there are hundreds if not thousands of blogs and websites about addiction, my story was unique. So I shared my journey through addiction and sobriety with everyone. I stuck with that a while and met some really great people that I maintain friendships with today. But like I said, everyone was talking about it and in such a dynamic way, my site was basically just a “Living Sober” testament that it could be done.

Then, I just stopped. For a good two years. I went outside, stretched in the sunlight, and broke up with my boyfriend of six years after I realized how toxic he was.

But I still had to write. I couldn’t not write.

So I made DAMSWriter after a great presentation I watched by Jeff Goins. And here I am. Still sober, still goofy, and still writing.

Maybe my bewilderment is based on fear… I mean, I let most of myself out in my writing, but I have yet to let all of me out in my writing. What would that look like? Should I really write the same way I journal? Hmmm…

I am working on the second book of poetry – not giving up! Also, still working on Consequences, which I hope everyone will love as much as I do. ❤

Thank you to every single person who bought or downloaded a free copy of Poetry Through Darkness. It truly means so much to me! You all rock.

via Daily Prompt: Bewildered

Image: Pixabay

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/bewildered/

Permit Me

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The devil paid me a visit

Whispered I was beautiful

Told me I was the one

Then he opened my heart

Swallowed my soul

He spit out my bones

That seed of self-doubt

Hangs on like a long, final note

That rancid shadow of misery

Permit me to tell you

That I’ve had enough

Permit me to introduce myself

I am raging glory

And I own this moment

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/permit/

Image: Pixabay

Puzzled Petulance

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Puzzled are the few who walk the lonely path

Damaged senses overtake

Dubious; the many who hold the key to vengeance

Silence feels like a cloaked friend

Shaking down the dark is how I live my nights

And feeling up the stars keeps it all serene

There is no sound like the cries of the forsaken

Warriors are born in unkempt places

My scars are my armor

As I walk this puzzled journey

Petulant, maybe

Yearning, forever

Image: Pixabay

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/puzzled/

Poetry Through Darkness Free This Weekend!

DIGITAL_BOOK_THUMBNAIL — Available at Amazon!

Will be free this Saturday and Sunday to commemorate Groundhog Day! One has nothing to do with the other but I love animals so I figured I’d give away copies of the kindle edition of Poetry Through Darkness this Saturday and Sunday.

Please do me a huge favor and leave a review if you read it. Reviews are so helpful. ❤

Profuse

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Profuse means a lot. A whole heck of a lot. I will tell you, I am profusely annoyed these past two days despite maintaining a positive outlook on life and my hours between wake and sleep modes. My husband and I decided (not a New Year Resolution) to get in shape. I just turned 45 on January 30th and I not only feel old… but look old and feel totally fat and gross. So we found this thing called the Max Trainer and researched it profusely. It turns out that it is a good little machine and will help us. I also bought a scale and seeing that number (for each of us) shocked us into reality. We are old. We are out of shape. I think that pretty much sums it up.

Where I am profusely annoyed big time, is with this company that is supposed to come out and put this thing together. “Oh, we’ll call you in 24 to 48 hours after you get the machine.” Okay, they called me three days later and told me when they would be out. I said, “no way, that doesn’t work.” They asked me for three new times and told me again, they’ll call me back in 24 – 48 hours with a new time.

What the………………….? Am I trying to get an exercise machine put together or see the Ark of the Covenant? Come on people, get your **** together.

So now, we wait. We do have the option to assemble it ourselves and if this doesn’t go the way we would like (meaning, having the thing assembled by this weekend and working out!) we’re going to do it ourselves. There is a video and a lot of people said it takes about an hour and is fairly easy to assemble.

We’re trying to avoid self-assembly… but for them to take over two weeks to come out and assemble it is ridiculous to me.

So, we’ll see! Let’s keep our fingers crossed. 🙂

In the meantime, we are also changing our diet. Can I tell you we decided to eat all the junk food in the house up until after Sunday (GO EAGLES!) and then, we are on a quest for healthy mind, body, and soul!

Does anyone know any groups for keeping weight and goal accountability? I am in one on Facebook, but it is hard to keep up with it.

Rock your day today you awesome person you!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/profuse/

Image: Pixabay

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