I have been silent for far too long, but it has been for a great reason! I am officially Co-Owner of Currant Thyme Publishing. What does Currant Thyme do?
I’m glad you asked! Currently we are only functioning as a newsletter service for holistic health professionals with our newsletter, Medicine Talk Pro Shareable. This newsletter is a shareable product designed to be passed along to healthcare clients.
Shareable is designed to cover all content needs of holistic health professionals, including:
6 professionally written articles
Fully formatted email newsletter
Original social media posts
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Here is a taste of the material we release each month to our subscribers:
Letters for Dead Lovers is doing amazing! As a first time author, I was increasingly worried about how to promote this collection. I can honestly tell you, I needn’t have worried so much. After careful consideration, I have set a date for an Author reading and signing event at Books and Mortar in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I even have a flyer for it. If your in the Grand Rapids Are November 19th please check it out! Books and Mortar is a small, local bookstore, and an absolute joy to work with.
Letters for Dead Lovers flyer for author reading and signing event at Books and Mortar November 19th from 3-5 PM
Copies will be available on site, but if you already have Letters for Dead Lovers, be sure to bring yours with! Books are also available at O’Flynn’s Shoppe in Cedar Springs as well as Schuler Books in Grand Rapids. Books are also still available through the publisher, Bottlecap Press.
O’Flynn’s Art Gallery and Craft ShoppeLetters for Dead Lovers in the window at O’Flynn’sLetters for Dead Lovers inside O’Flynn’sLetters for Dead Lovers at Schuler Books in the Michigan Author section
In other exciting news, I have decided to make the trip to Seattle for AWP this year. I will be flying in an meeting with some of my fellow Queen’s graduates for four days of literature, lecture, and everything books! I can’t wait. More information will be forthcoming as my plans become more solid in the upcoming months.
And… last, but not least, I am proud to announce my piece, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting Nothing” has found a home with Beyond the Veil Press. This series of poems will be available as part of their third mental health anthology, How to Heal a Bloodline. The anthology is available for pre-order tomorrow (November 1st) with an anticipated release date of November 15th. This piece marks my sixth publication this year and I am proud to have found it a home so willing to stand up for mental health awareness.
As strong advocates of mental health awareness, Beyond the Veil Press donates 10% of their anthology book sales to mental health non-profits. Please consider ordering a copy of this amazing anthology!
Letters for Dead Lovers has received some great reviews! You can check them out here. The book itself is beautiful. October is my birthday month, and in celebration the publisher has the booked listed at a discounted price. If you still haven’t purchased a copy now it a great time to do so. Check out the link here, to do so.
Letters for Dead Lovers author copies
Thank you to everyone who has helped me get this collection out into the hands of readers, especially Craig from Bottlecap Press. Your patience are endless and your work ethic astounding!
In other publishing news, Beyond the Veil Press is publishing one of my poems in their upcoming anthology. Look for it November 15th. I’ll be sure to post more updates as the the publisher gets ready to go live. It will be available in both digital and print. A portion of all proceeds go toward mental health awareness. It is a solid collection for a good cause, please don’t miss out.
I’m so excited to announce my brand new chapbook with Bottlecap Press! I’ve been working very hard on this for the past few months and it’s finally here to share with you all! Letters for Dead Lovers is about the embrace and betrayal of love and represents the known and unknown buried deep within intimate relationships. It is a confrontation of pain and loss so that the path to self recognition can begin. This collection is inspired by events all too common and it offers insight into the darker side of humanity by asking simply, “how do we hurt the ones we love most?”
Chapbook Cover, Letters for Dead Lovers by Jessica Blandford
I’m so proud of this work and I’m so proud to share it with you. Check out the excerpt below. If you love what I’m doing as much as I do you can purchase the collection today by clicking here!
Excerpt from Poem, If Only You Stayed–If Only I Asked It–If Only the World Weren’t Ending; included in Letters for Dead Lovers
Chris Belcher’s memoir, Pretty Baby, begins the same way as many other new beginnings — without a clear destination. It is a collage of moments pieced together, seamlessly building the narrative of Belcher’s life and the journey of her coming out not once but twice.
In this memoir, Belcher offers moments spent with her father, friends in elementary school, her first serious girlfriend, and her emerging identity as a dominatrix. These images are woven together so that one memory shares space with the next until the entirety of Belcher’s journey becomes clear. There is little filter offered to readers in this memoir; this is a brutally honest collection of images focusing on a life spent redefining what it means to be feminine.
Belcher’s contemplation of identity, and by extension femininity, begins early on in the memoir. In chapter two, just after Belcher’s failed attempt at losing her virginity…
Here is another review I put together for the Southern Review of Books! It is always a pleasure working with them. If you have yet to check out their webpage please do so. The Southern Review is doing some GREAT things!
Catherine Savage Brosman’s newest collection, Arm in Arm, is as wide-ranging as her many talents. An American poet, essayist, and scholar of French literature, Brosman displays the depth of her observational powers and interest in spirituality page after page in these poems. The author looks at the world personally through commonplace things, such as flowers and food, and gives new depth to their meaning. This collection includes historical figures, longtime friends and vast landscapes designed to play on emotions in subtle, complex ways.
We see this as early as the first poem, which is also the title poem, “Arm in Arm.” In it, Brosman gives insight into her personal experience as a spouse dealing with the loss of her longtime partner, spanning a lifetime together in a few choice lines.
Once, Pat and I walked arm in arm, along an aisle, new husband, wife, to happiness. … his…
Written while living in a self-destructive society on the coattails of a global pandemic, courtney marie’s second collection of poems, songs we used to dance to, has been called a “revolution overdue.” It’s perfect for those willing to take an unflinching look at self and country, like that found in “this country is a hungry fist,” a poem which looks at the ways the United States can “feast on the dreams of the innocent.” This stunning collection refuses to back down from the struggles of identity and the post-pandemic realities, as explored in the poem “nothing will ever be the same”:
in all the horror of this year one thing sets it apart from all the horrors of all the other years: the distance between us.
Through the course of the pandemic, identities changed as Americans began seeing themselves in a different light due to the vast distance…
Ann Patchett has a way of encouraging others to widen their view of the world, even when there is so much going on in her readers’ lives that it feels like there is no room for anything else. I know that has been true for me. She has done so time and again in novels like Bel Canto, Commonwealth, and The Dutch House. Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time and her latest essay collection,These Precious Days, does not disappoint. In many ways, this book is a continuation of the conversation she begins in This is the Story of a Happy Marriage as she writes about her own life story and the experiences that have continued to shape her as a friend, wife, and writer. According to Patchett, this collection would not exist without a sleepless night spent with the…
For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, here is my newest review for the Southern Review of Books. I attended Queen’s University of Charlotte North Carolina with Courtney LeBlanc. “Borrowing Your Body” was released by her press, RiotInYourThroat this past November. Not only do they continue to promote fierce feminist poetry they allow authors like Laura Passin a strong platform to stand on but they continue to push the boundaries of what women can accomplish if only they have a mind to. Congratulations on the release of a strong, stand-out collection!
Laura Passin’s debut poetry collection, Borrowing Your Body, is a heartfelt exploration of known and imagined worlds published by Riot in Your Throat — a publishing company known for its promotion of fierce feminist poetry. Taking ten years to cultivate, Borrowing Your Body centers around Passin’s experience of her mother’s dementia and aphasia, the first part of the collection beginning with reminders of death — what death can be and the sorrow one deals with when facing it—and transforming into a compilation of what comes after death for those left behind.
While this collection is unique, it draws on concepts from Passin’s other work. Her chapbook, All Sex and No Story, focuses on the erotic pressures of gender embodiment through the concepts of love, sex, the body, relationships and desire. Borrowing Your Body focuses on the betrayal of the body in death, illness, and sorrow while still exploring…
I hope everyone had the chance to spend the time gathering with family and friends. I know I took full advantage. I finished up my holiday shopping this year with Black Friday, the exact opposite of what I typically do. Everyone was over at my house this year to celebrate. Let’s just say it was eventful.
Honeyfire Literary Magazine released an artist feature page in the MOON&TIDE segment showcasing some of my latest work. I encourage everyone to take a look if you want to see what I’ve been up to. I’ve also finished the rough draft of my book. I’ve been taking some time away from it to focus on poetry and recharge before delving into the world of editing. If you have any pointers I’m all ears. In many ways editing is more difficult than the original write.
These Precious Days, Ann Patchett
My November review for the Southern Review of Books will be coming out soon, a review of Ann Patchett’s latest, These Precious Days. I don’t want to say much here because I don’t want to ruin it four you.
Borrowing Your Body, Laura Passin
Here is a sneak peak of the upcoming December book. I have chosen to explore Borrowing Your Body by Laura Passin which was put out by RiotInYourThroat Press early November. I per-ordered a copy and have not been disappointed. The book is available online through the publisher.
The Vineyard at 37 High Holly near Scaly Mountain, NC
Just before the start of the holidays I made a mad dash to North Carolina to catch my cousin’s wedding. Here are a few pictures of the venue. The service was held outside so it was a bit cold, but everything was amazing. My cousin is now the step-mom of four wonderful children. I wish her all the happiness in the world.
Jessica Blandford 