Website Updates And Writing More Poetry - April 22nd, 2025 Newsletter
Hello, fellow readers and writers!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter during this past weekend, for those who celebrate!
Also, thank everyone who supported the Poetry Palooza sale that happened this past April 12th-April 14th! I really appreciate all the support you gave to me and my fellow poets during this time.
Literally two days before the Poetry Palooza Sale, I randomly lost access to using Microsoft Word - resulting in me being unable to use it for about 4-5 days. Given that I write the vast majority of my books and poetry using Microsoft Word, this meant that I couldn’t edit or write anything using that software.
“But Claris,” you might say, “Surely there’s a way to get it fixed! Surely there’s some mistake!”
I won’t go over the agonizing details of what happened for me to try to fix this. However, I consider myself lucky - it’s not the end of the world if I can’t write an entire book on Word. Other writing software exists (including ones that can export your files as Word documents anyway). If I was writing a report for an office administration job or finishing up a presentation for a work meeting, however, this would be the kiss of death for getting that work done, no matter how long (or short) the delay was in resolving this. I’m lucky that the situation didn’t get worse, and I hope this doesn’t happen again in the future.
I Have Poems Published In Poetic Reveries and In The Margins!
Yes, I have two poems published as of earlier this month! 🎉
One poem, “Regrowth,” is published in the tenth issue of Poetic Reveries. My poem is featured on page 12-13 of the magazine.
The other poem, “Morning Glory,” is published in the first issue of In The Margins, a new lit mag run by the Margins Club.
Thank you to the editors of both Poetic Reveries and In The Margins for accepting my works!
I Was Interviewed By Night Beats!
I was interviewed by Night Beats last week about my poetry chapbook “Refilling The Well!” Thanks to the team for interviewing me!
What Am I Writing Lately?
I put writing edits for the Etheron Trilogy on hiatus (again).
I realized early on that I have several chapters and events in Book 2 out of chronological order. It’s a mess to sort out all of them, and I know I’ll have to do all the rearranging at some point. However, I haven’t been able to focus on the Etheron Trilogy at all during these past several weeks. I’m putting edits for the trilogy on hiatus until I finish other projects.
I also will be honest: I haven’t really had any motivation to write fiction lately. I’ve been writing even more poetry lately instead, and not just because it’s National Poetry Month. It’s been easier for me to focus on writing poetry, where I can capture the experiences, feelings, and expressions I have about many things going on in life. Said experiences range from the state of world events to every day moments in life. Given this, I’ll focus on writing poetry for the rest of the Spring season, possibly longer.
I also am experimenting with different forms of poetry writing. Most if not all readers know me best for writing short haiku, tanka, and/or free verse poems. I mean, my entire poetry chapbook “Refilling The Well” is filled with short free verse poems, and several of my published poems in other projects are incredibly short.
One of the types of poems I’m experimenting with is the sonnet. Yes, I’m talking about the form of poetry that Shakespeare is well-known for. Each line has 10 syllables, and the rhyme sequence goes as follows:
A
B
A
B
C
D
C
D
E
F
E
F
G
G
Every A line must match with the rhymes, the B lines must match with each other, etc. It’s more challenging than it looks for me, but it’s quite fun to try writing.
What Have I Done Other Than Writing Lately?
I updated my author website!
I mainly updated the homepage. However, I also now have a separate page for my upcoming YA fantasy short story collection “Stay Magical!”
What Have I Heard Lately?
I’ve been listening to authortube cafe, a podcast run by brielle writes, an author youtuber (or as they call them, authortubers). Brielle, in this podcast, interviews other author youtubers about “all things writing, publishing and more.” There aren’t too many episodes of this podcast so far, but they’re pretty insightful.
You can find all episodes on brielle writes’ Youtube channel.
Episodes I recommend include:
you owe it to yourself to write the book (ft. Becca) | authortube cafe ep. 4
take your writing seriously, even if you don’t have a book deal (ft. Alyssa) | authortube cafe ep. 2
What Have I Read Lately?
I haven’t read too many books this month, mainly because I spent much of this month writing poetry and preparing for (and celebrating) Easter! However, I did read some entertaining books, as listed below.
Other books I read lately include:
“MWF Seeks BFF: My Yearlong Search For A New Best Friend” by Rachel Bertsche
“Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism” by Sarah Wynn-Williams
“And Then There Were Nuns” by Jane Christmas
Thank you for following my writing journey!
I hope you look forward to seeing more of my writing process and work. I also look forward to giving all of you more frequent updates as well, so stay tuned for more!
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at clarislamauthor@gmail.com! I’ll respond within 48 hours (except on weekends and holidays).