AUTHOR INSPIRATION: GUEST POST WITH JESSICA KRISTIE

I’m so pleased to have author and poet Jessica Kristie back here today. For those unfamiliar with her honest, beautiful poetry, you are missing out. I’m always fascinated by my author friends’ writing lives. Here’s a wonderful peek into Jess’ mind. Please read and check out her books and her latest work, designed to help the writer in all of us.

 

You’ve heard it a million times, I write because I need to. In most cases this is not an embellishment. There is a need in dispelling the emotions, especially the intense ones.

I have this sort-of dueling personality that I know Rachel loves. I vomit rainbows and butterflies and beg the world to forgive, let go, and move on. This is at the core of me. Yet, inside my books you will find that darkness and grief reveal itself time and time again. Here is where the proof lies in regards to the need for me. I take on the world and I do it happily. I am the go-to girl for the listening ear, and I love it. This has been me since I was in Junior High. I told my mother I wanted to be a therapist and she told me I couldn’t handle it. I would take everything home with me, and she was right.

One thing I pride myself with, and feel is unique in my writing process, is that I can slide right into another’s shoes. Even when I write first-person, it is not always about me. My recent collection, Threads of Life, follows a series of bad relationships and touches on the issues of physical abuse. There is a toxicity that flows through the pages which is eventually expelled, and forgiveness is found. Although I am not a complete stranger to physical or mental abuse, these stories are not about me. They came from you. I am so touched by others’ journeys that I take them in, feel them deeply and let them back out. My writing helps me to bring on the world’s grief and release it in a healthy way.

Writers are an amazing group of people; imaginative, witty and resilient. I admire what people are able to lay out for the world to read. I am in awe of the creativeness that is in so many. This is where my rose-colored vomit and excessive hearts come into play. We are so consumed by our disparaging moments that we forget to find the joy in the everyday things. Not to mention the wonder in the inspiring people around us. I spend enough time playing into the sadness through my poetry that I am going to find happiness in passing on some joy on a day-to-day basis. This has blessed me in more ways than I can say. I think I live a healthier life not living inside a bubble of constant brooding emotions.

Don’t be selfish with your joy, your hope, or your magic. Share it with the world. ♥

Working with the wonderful authors and writers that I do has called me to write this small offering to the creative world. We all seem to share so many of the same joys and disappointments, and I wanted to give an extra tool that will inspire you to keep going and do it in a healthy way.

Book Blurb:

Writers and creators can often face a rollercoaster of emotions that build unnecessary barriers to the artistic flow. Weekly Inspirations for Writers & Creators contains fifty-two topics followed by affirmations and writing prompts, tips and inspiring activities to engage and build confidence. Each week you will have an idea to focus on and a small task to complete that help you in your journey to overcome, and keep creating.

Jessica Kristie is the author of several poetry books, and the co-creator for the ArtPlatform book Inspiration Speaks Volume 1 which is now available in print and eBook through all major retailers, and benefits ColaLife.org. She is also the founder of the Woodland, CA, poetry series, Inspiring Words—Poetry in Woodland.

Dreaming in Darkness is Jessica’s first volume of poetry; the winner of the 2011 Sharp Writ Award and nominated for a 2011 Pushcart Prize. Jessica’s second book, Threads of Life, is available through Winter Goose Publishing along with her eBook offering to writers, Weekly Inspirations for Writers & Creators.

Jessica has been published in several online and print magazines such as Zouch, Muse, A Writer’s Point of View and TwitArt Magazine. You can find all of Jessica’s appearances under her Press Page at JessicaKristie.com.

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Jessica Kristie discovered her passion for writing as a child. Her inspiration comes in many forms, often inspired by just a word or quickly fleeting emotion. Through years of writing she has been able to capitalize on her experiences, whether they are painful or joyous. She hopes to draw you close to her world through shared emotion while inspiring you to forgive, remember, and heal.

Follow Jessica:

Jessicakristie.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JessKristie

Twitter: @jesskristie

Related articles

• Dreaming in Darkness by Jessica Kristie (edenbaylee.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Inspirations for Writers & Creators (jessicakristie.com)
• Writer and editor Loren Kleinman dishes up the “yummy center of indie.” (tobyneal.net)
• Inside the Author’s Mind – Jessica E. Subject (edenbaylee.wordpress.com)
• Lucky 7 Lines: From Two Justin Bog Books (justinbogdanovitch.com)