It’s now been a few days since I surprised the world by announcing the release of my first collection of poems.
Huge thanks to those who have already pre-ordered.
To those who may have been a little disappointed that it wasn’t a new novel that I was releasing, I humbly apologise and beg that you are patient with me a little longer.
I’m going to make myself vulnerable here and explain the background to Beginnings. Since last summer, when the Big Green Gummi Bear’s health began to decline, I have struggled with writing Book Baby 8. The creative juices just weren’t flowing and the creative fire became dull embers. My original plan had been that it would be Book Baby 8 that was released on 29th February 2024 but that wasn’t to be. My creative muses apparently had a different plan.
I parked Book Baby 8 for a few weeks late last summer then decided to type up what I had written and see if that triggered a fresh burst of creativity. So for several weeks I typed…. in fact I have over 30 000 words typed up. This helped me to re-connect with the tale but things with the Big Green Gummi Bear weren’t good and the real world had to be prioritised over my creative one for obvious reasons. Family had to come first.
At the start of December 2023 I picked up my pen again and began to make some progress once more….then Christmas hit…. and I stopped again…paused not stopped.
I had signed up to take part in Beth Kempton’s online Winter Writing Sanctuary over the latter part of the festive period. It’s a beautifully gentle way to stoke the creative fires. This year though the sparks it ignited were poetic ones and almost on a whim, I decided at the end of December that I would still self-publish on 29th February 2024 but it would be a collection of poems not prose. Cue a flurry of reviewing over 30 years worth of poems and deciding which ones to include and which to save for another day. Within two weeks, I had the project typed up, formatted, the cover designed ( the photo is one of my own so no licencing issues) and the paperback proof ordered. The speed that this project came together with was scary!
The plans are now all in place. Beginnings will be set free into the world on 29 February 2024.
The creative fires are gradually building and its time once more to pick up my pen and return to Book Baby 8. I might actually treat myself to a new pen in the hope that the words flow easier from it. (Weird writer quirk…just humour me on that)
With a bit of luck and a lot of self-discipline, I will have Book Baby 8 ready to release later this year. Wish me luck!
In the meantime, if you want to pre-order Beginnings, here’s the links
Beginnings – a collection of poems eBook : McCallum, Coral: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
There will be a paperback edition available in a few weeks.
Coral McCallum 