Hi folks, it’s been a while. To be succinct, depression and chronic fatigue have been getting me down. When I’m depressed, I don’t write. So I’m trying to change that.
One thing I have been working on for the past several months, even though some pretty rough depression, has been my first ever poetry collection. I am pleased to reveal both the title and the cover to you today.
Presenting Left Sock, Right Sock:
This collection is all about mental illness and is the most personal thing I have ever written. This is the blurb.
The debut poetry collection by author Claire Olivia Golden explores the reality of life with debilitating mental illness. The poems discuss stigma both from society and from within. Everyday life is a battle and sometimes you’re too tired to fight. What does it mean to value yourself when the world doesn’t want to acknowledge your struggles? When you’ve never known a mind without anxiety, can you ever find peace? And is it possible to have a life worth living when your own mind is your worst enemy? These questions and more are explored in Left Sock, Right Sock, an honest and personal look at mental illness.
The cover is designed by katmakesthings on Etsy, who also created a full paperback spread for the book. You’ll be able to see that if you get a paperback copy when it releases!
It’s true that this is my second poetry collection – the first one is called The Button Jar: A Poetry Parody. But that one is a parody of poetry and this new collection is actual poetry. (I hope it is, anyway. I certainly tried my best.) Also, The Button Jar was co-written with my husband Lewis, and Left Sock, Right Sock is a solo act.
The collection will release sometime this year. I am still hoping for by the end of November.
In my next newsletter I will share one of the poems with you so you can see the kind of work that’s inside.
Let me know what you think of it!