Paperback release photo

Very proud to officially announce the release of You Are Not Alone in paperback. I’m so proud of this project! Grief is something that we all go through and this collection of poems explores the complex range of emotions encountered during this very difficult time.Thank you to those who have already bought a copy.

Order here

Book release week – Update 27.4

In the world of poetry this week has been wholly positive with a successful reading at my poetry evening and the release of my new book on kindle.

First to mention my poetry open mic readings, I chose five poems to read. Two of these were paranormal poems written in rhyming verse (and under my pen name, Savannah R James). I’d practised well and as a result the readings went smoothly. Then it was a nostalgic poem about Meopham, the village where I grew up. Tracey from the host pub, The Mole, filmed this and broadcast it live. The hubby, who watched from home said how much my live readings have come along. I still haven’t watched it; I must! But I do agree that I feel a lot more confident about reading my poems now than I did two years ago when I first started. I’m so grateful to Tracey for giving me a platform to perform my poetry. Before she suggested such an event reading my poems in public wasn’t something I thought I could do.

The next poem was a letter to myself about what I went through last year and the final one was from my new book and was called I Can’t. I sat down for this one and gave an expressive performance, hopefully doing the poem justice.

I loved hearing everyone else’s work that evening. Amazing! So much talent! Well done to all.

Onto the main subject of this blog, the release of my brand new poetry collection, You Are Not Alone, a collection of poems about grief and loss. I am awaiting a proof copy so I can check the paperback layout but the kindle was ready so I released that earlier this week. Many are waiting for the paperback, which is fine. I find many people want to own physical copies of poetry collections but I know the ebook is still in demand for poetry. I’m running out of space for physical copies of books so any I can get on kindle I will!

This is a project very close to my heart and has been a highly emotive one. I hope people find solace in the poetry I’ve written during such a difficult time. Feedback on individual poems I’ve posted has been amazing. The poem I mentioned earlier, I Can’t has had an amazing response on Facebook. I Can’t is a poem about that overwhelming feeling that grief brings. The first line is ‘I can’t do this today’ which is a feeling that anyone who has been through grief will be familiar with. At the start there may be many days when you feel like this. Or you might feel like this every day. Lots of the comments I’ve had on the post have said every day is like this. I feel humbled to have had such a strong reaction to this poem and that many have felt a sense of ‘someone knows how I feel.’ This is my main wish for this new book; that, when reading it, people will find poems that speak to them and bring them comfort.

I will close by sharing I Can’t with you and then the link for You Are Not Alone

I Can’t

I can’t do this today
I feel so alone and lost
Without you next to me
Without you near
Without being able to talk to you

I can’t do this today
The house is so silent
The imprint is still on your chair
Your empty chair
I can almost see you
Still sitting there
But I know you’re not

I can’t do this today
I just heard your favourite song
I can’t breathe
I can’t speak
There are no words anymore

Jen Elvy

If you’d like to check the book out and maybe order it on kindle, click here.

Thank you for reading.

Jen x

Taunting , plus book news

Taunting was written as an extended haiku from a poem I wrote as part of my daily haiku challenge last year, when I used prompts to write a haiku a day.

Some of these haikus, is others I’ve written are going to be part of a new collection, The Perfect Haiku Prompt, a book of haikus as writing prompts to spark creative writing. I’ve now imported the file to kdp and will be working on releasing very soon.

Friday update 14.10.22

fridayupdates

It’s finally out! My sequel to The Perfect Prompt, More Perfect Prompts! 24 whimsical poems with prompts to follow each one! Thank you for everyone’s encouragement and kind congratulations messages. I submitted on Sunday initially but there were a couple of niggly issues, one being with the isbn and the other with the text on the book cover. These were quickly amended and I’m so pleased with the cover that my hubby @dan_solo_music designed from a photo I took. Such talent, don’t you think! I got the notification that it was published on Tuesday and then it was a matter of ordering an author copy to make sure it was just right! The author copies I ordered weren’t due for another week so I ordered a copy from my link and it said delivering Thursday! As it turned out, they all arrived yesterday! So exciting to have my 3rd paperback out. I actually haven’t done a kindle yet as I find my paperbacks of my poetry collections sell better but I do intend to produce one so watch this space. In other news, today I went to Harvel, a nearby village for some lunch and treats and I was calmed by how quiet and peaceful it was. I finished a supernatural poem related to the stairs in the woods phenomenon that inspired me during an episode of @reallifeghoststories! I have also been working on my A-z of Bedtime, which had presented me with the double challenge of thinking of the words related to bedtime and making it rhyme too! Not an easy task! But I’m nearly there! Lots of exciting things ahead! And I have some great prompts to work with this week for my haikus so look out for those.

Once again thank you all for your kind messages and your ongoing support! My Facebook page is growing well so thank you!

Proof copy day!!

Yay the proof copy of More Perfect Prompts is here! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉And it’s looking really good! Just a few minor tweaks and it’s ready for release!

What you see is the original with a sneaky look at part of the cover of the new book! Will be revealing the full cover very soon! My third paperback collection!

Happy Place

Do you have a happy place?

This photo depicts somewhere I would go to be calm and listen to the water.

The theme of a happy place is explored in the full poem, which you’ll find in my latest book, along with other poems and creative prompts.

You will find the book on Amazon as an ebook and as a paperback

As a bonus today, here is a picture of the book in its production stages.