welcome to ghost town cover reveal

hey everyone!!! i know it’s been a very long time. i hope you are all doing well. life has been really busy and honestly i haven’t read this year at all (i mean i read one book and i didn’t even love it tbh) but that’s for another post! i’m currently writing this and super emotional because this second poetry collection wouldn’t be here without any of you. this poetry collection started here on this blog in august of 2016 as people i once knew. i remember posting about two poems a month in regards to this blog series. and your feedback and love for each and every poem is something that has really helped me write this book. this collection has been really hard to write and a different process from love, and you. here’s the cover to people i once knew now titled welcome to ghost town.

welcome to ghost town is divided into 25 ghosts (parts) and each has the original poem that was on this blog plus 2-5 more shorter poems after. this is the synopsis:

these are the stories of
people i once knew.
they have come and
gone like ghosts in
the night. you might
not be a part of my
life anymore but
you’re still the ghosts
who haunt me.

– welcome to ghost town

this collection releases october 23rd and you can officially add it on goodreads!

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i would love to know your thoughts on the cover, i miss you all dearly! let’s chat in the comments ❤

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

this is a poem of how i break my own heart

this is a poem of how
i break my own heart

every single time
with every person
that has crossed
paths my way

i think about all
the ways you’ll
hurt me before
you ever see
my first smile

i think about how
much i’ll long for
you when we both
walk away from
whatever this is

i think about each
breath and how i’ll
become obsessed
reading your text
messages over and
over again just to
wear myself out

i think about how
i’ll see you with
someone else and
cry over the sadness
about how i’m going
through the same
shit again

and so i never
commit to anything
because i’ll be broken
before our first date

love, and you turns one! and other news

i cannot believe it’s already been a year since my debut poetry collection came out and now it’s a year old! ahh!!! thank you all so much for your love and support throughout my journey. it all started here on this blog, posting poetry and getting tons of support. some of the pieces that are in love, and you were first published in this very blog and wow i can’t believe its come a long way. thank you thank you thank you! without you, the book wouldn’t be where it’s at now. i’m still in shock with how many lives this book has touched. i’ve received the loveliest messages of what this poetry collection has done to people’s soul. in the beginning i didn’t understand why i went through what i did but it all makes sense now.

 

 

as a thank you for the love and support alongside the celebration of turning one;

from now till the 8th of april
love, and you is FREE ON KINDLE WORLDWIDE!!!

here are some links, please check your
countries amazon if i have not listed it:
amazon usa | amazon uk | amazon ca

never heard of my book? it’s fine! here’s the synopsis and you can add it to goodreads here

one day i met a guy
who stole my heart,
we created a world
for ourselves.
and another day
he broke my heart
and shattered
my soul.

i took the tattered
pieces of this
broken soul and
became anew.

– here lies the hurting, the healing, and the learning

(please be advised this book has mature content)

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in other news

i know this was a very long time ago, but remember that poetry blog series i had in 2016 titled people i once knew? guess what?! it’s officially going to be a book with a new title ‘welcome to ghost town’ and it will be released in october of this year! add it to goodreads here.

in case you’re wondering, i did change the name because i thought it was more fitting since it’s about the people who have haunted me and left a mark. if you’ve been around since people i once knew days, remember how i used to title them “people i once knew – part 1” “people i once knew – part 10” etc. ? well i left the parts in but now each part has a name with an additional 3-5 poems. i’m more nervous about this collection than anything because it’s different. there’s no healing pieces, there’s no self-discovery, it’s all about most people who have marked me. i hope you like it!

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it’s national poetry month

it’s national poetry month and amber @ YA Indulgences is dedicating her blog this month to poets. each and everyday there is a different feature. today on my one year anniversary, i wrote a guest post titled “benefits of reading poetry”. i would love if you’d check it out and leave some love. amber is also running a giveaway. click on the photo to be directed to her blog.

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that is all for today! i would love to chat in the comments! i know it’s been a while ❤

instagram: @chicnerdreads
twitter: @chicnerdreads

this piece comes with no ending

tell me then
about all these changes
the life imagined
a place of familiarity

where
problems
no
longer
exist

tell me about
how we came here
the wrongdoings
of our actions
and we no longer
dream of the
life imagined

tell me then
how love no longer
lives in our homes
and about the times
we forgot to live
because we became
so busy in our minds

poetry book haul

hello everyone! i am here today with a poetry book haul. i was gifted a barnes and noble gift-card for christmas and was like ” P O E T R Y  B O O K S !!!” lol so without further ado lets get started!

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Sea of Strangers by Lang Leav

Synopsis: Sea of Strangers by Lang Leav picks up from her previous international bestselling books including Love & Misadventure, Lullabies, and The Universe of Us, and sets sail for a grand new adventure.

This completely original collection of poetry and prose will not only delight her avid fans but is sure to capture the imagination of a whole new audience. With the turn of every page, Sea of Strangers invites you to go beyond love and loss to explore themes of self-discovery and empowerment as you navigate your way around the human heart.

 

 

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the boys i’ve loved & the end of the world by catarine hancock

Synopsis: ‘the boys i’ve loved and the end of the world’ is the long awaited poetry and prose collection by catarine hancock, popularly known by the user “evanescent.love” on instagram. known for writing unique, raw and captivating pieces on everything from love and politics, to abuse and womanhood, catarine knows how to tug at both your heartstrings and your mind.

cover art by mikaela bailey.

 

 

 

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from scars to beauty by nicki naomi

Synopsis: From Scars to Beauty is a poetry collection based on the epiphanies of a woman as she heads down the road to self-discovery during a difficult time in her marriage. She is blind sighted by the events of her traumatic childhood that rushed back to her during the process, although she had been pushing them aside for many years. She begins to write, hoping to organize her thoughts. Instead what she found was: truth, healing, a reborn passion, a voice, forgiveness and most of all, herself.

 

 

 

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soft in the middle by shelby eileen

Synopsis:
“there are so many words I’ve left unsaid
so instead of going another year or five or ten
in brutal, crushing silence
don’t waste this opportunity
don’t be scared when the full weight of my heart
tests the strength of your hands
I’m trusting you with something I barely trust myself with
this knowing
this telling
this momentous uprooting
I’m here
I am
I am right here in these words”

A debut poetry collection about love, heartbreak, body image, how absolutely breathtaking girls are, flower blooms and starlight.

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Lovely Seeds by R.H. Swaney

Synopsis: ‘Lovely Seeds’ is a collection of poetry that touches on the topics of mental health, self-love, and loving others with bite-size pieces that are meant to provoke thought and self-exploration.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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and that is all for today! i really cannot wait to read these. i don’t know which one to pick up first lol. i did read a sampler and reviewed shelby’s collection before. however, now that i have the full book in front of me, it’s a must read. all of these poets have instagram that you can check out for more poetry. a kindly reminder to please cross-review on both goodreads and amazon, it helps us indie authors in a great way. that is all for today, thank you!

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instagram: @chicnerdreads
twitter: @chicnerdreads

Secrets of the High Priestess by Nicole Tone Poetry Review

Title: Secrets of the High Priestess
Author: Nicole Tone
Publisher: Magnolia Press
Format: e-book
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Pub. Date: Jan. 2nd, 2018

Synopsis:

Secrets of the High Priestess explores trauma, recovery, and the role of women in a world that’s begun to change physically, with melting ice caps and changing sea levels, and socially, as we accept new definitions of truth and gender roles.

 

 

 

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*thank you to the author for reaching out to me*

Poetess, Nicole Tone, reached out to me and asked me for an honest review or to blurb her book. I decided to do both because this book needs to be read. Before going into my review, here is what I wrote as the blurb:

Nicole Tone’s poetry will have icicle’s ripping through reader’s hearts with every single word. Secrets of the High Priestess is a raw collection of cold truths that will leave you wading for more in a sea of self-reflection. Be on the lookout for this poetess, she will not disappoint.

Tone’s poetry really marked me. This poetry collection isn’t the pretty kind. There are poems about eating disorders, gender roles, love poems. Nicole writes about the girl she wants to be and yet shares who she was, these are her secrets. The unfiltered secrets that leave you at grasp. She takes us deep into her thoughts. Secrets of the High Priestess has both short poetry and long poetry.

i really look forward to reading more poems from this poetess. here are some of my favorite poems from this collection:

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a crack in the ground split open

the earth yawning wider

swallowing up every

magic white rabbit

every mad queen

until there’s nothing but a cliff

on the edge of a void

that today we call beautiful

but tomorrow

will be sold to the

highest bidder

— wonderland is a lie

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we train wild animals

break them

bend them to our will

and call them our partners.

how can we be equals with

creatures we demand submission from?

how can i find freedom

on the back of a broken thing?

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i celebrate the anniversaries of the times

i lost pieces of myself,

the way other people celebrate birthdays.

on this day,

i gave you pieces of my heart.

on this day,

i gave you the shattered pieces of my soul.

i celebrate the days i lost the things

i can never get back

if only to remind myself

how

far

i’ve

come.

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and that is all for today’s review! happy release day to nicole tone! a kindly reminder to cross review on goodreads and amazon, it help’s us indie authors get noticed. this poetry collection will also be sold worldwide ❤

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Instagram: @chicnerdreads
Twitter: @chicnerdreads

new year, new changes on chicnerdreads

hey everyone! happy new year! i hope you all had a wonderful holiday and i hope that if you’re like me, you can breathe easy now that the holidays are over lol. i know that 2017 was a total blog fail for me and i’ve been hard on myself, especially since i don’t read as much as i used to. i have a whole blog post about what’s been going on here. i’ve been trying to maintain the same themes on my blog meanwhile having internal turmoil when i want to write about other things. at last!!!!!!!! i told myself to just do it and now you will see new things (i mean if you stay of course lol). i even changed my blogger header to this:

my blog will consist of the usual:

• book reviews
• tags
• poetry
• bookish memes
• book hauls

but now it will include these new type of post:

• poet interviews
• make-up hauls
• make-up related post (routines, skincare, etc)
• fashion haul
• fashion related post (seasonal inspo, etc)
• plan with me post
• planner sticker hauls
• conspiracy theory thursday
• discussion type of post

and maybe some other things. who knows. i am super excited for all the new things coming this new year on chicnerdreads. i am learning to accept things as they are and to be kinder to myself. thanks for sticking around. i really appreciate it ❤

how was your new year?

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instagram: @chicnerdreads
twitter: @chicnerdreads

i would’ve never thought i would suck at blogging, yet here i am

well hello there, hi, long time no see. wow this feels so weird. i’m sitting in front of my screen with a blog post open and typing away. i miss those days, of losing myself in a blog post. i don’t even know where i’m going with this post but like i just need to write this out.

you know i’ve been asked by 2 important people in my life if i’ve given up blogging for good and the answer is no i haven’t. so now you’re probably wondering, well then why haven’t you been blogging if you didn’t give up? if someone would’ve said to me that my life was going to change this much when i published a book, then maybe i would’ve expected this. the less blogging, little to no reading, being busy with writing, and life period with many exclamation points of adulting. i would’ve warned all of you if i knew this.

i refuse to shut down my blog. i have been stressing a little too much over my blog, my presence here, stressing over coming back, being accepted, and keeping things with how they used to be. instead, i’ve been thinking of changing things up here on chicnerdreads and starting fresh for the new year. with all these changes in less than a year, i have changed too. i’m still playing with some ideas for the blog and trying to balance my very hectic time-limited schedule. cause if you don’t know, i’m currently working on other projects, i have family here from PR that came immediately after Hurricane Maria, and now the holidays are here.

all in all, i wanted to say hey hi, i miss you all and think about you often.

come out come out wherever you are

oh monsters
oh monsters
come to me
and show me
the secrets that
lurk beneath

oh monsters
oh monsters
in the dark
we sing
about ghost
who haunt
our dreams

oh monsters
oh monsters
come to eat
we have plenty
to share
and the sorrow
you need

oh monsters
oh monsters
i have in me
they scream
and shout
begging to be
f r e e