“The Weight of a First Book”

As The Witching Hour gets closer to publication and I have started posting about it, I am beginning to get some attention. The whole experience feels pretty intimidating. I am not the kind of person who feels comfortable drawing attention to myself.

This book is very personal to me. In fact, I think my next poetry collection will lean more toward scary stories and be less focused on such personal themes, at least to some degree. It is interesting how I feel like I have set a precedent with this first installment of The Nocturnal Journals. I am not sure I can do it again, at least not in the same deeply personal way.

I also find it surprising that now, having completed one book, I feel more confident in my ability to write another. At the same time, I feel less certain about whether I can capture the same spirit as the first.

Then again, I started the first one full of self-doubt too. I suppose I will have to stumble my way through this next project as well. After all, it is not like I am going to stop making books now.

This has become such an important part of who I am.

Happy Tuesday!