New Release: Origami Stars and Hot Air Moon
I’m so thrilled to be able to share my first poetry collection, Origami Stars and Hot Air Moon, with all of you! Today is the official release day and you can now purchase this book in print or eBook.
This collection is about a journey through grief, writing, love, and healing. Here’s the book blurb: “To get past grief, we must go through it. In Origami Stars and Hot Air Moon, Mandie Hines traverses through the process of grieving, finding understanding of what loss is, and what it is not. These poems take you through a journey of reclaiming hope, remembering love, and rediscovering memories, while taking you down a path that eventually leads to healing.”
I’m reminded of a line I wrote in a poem called “Paper Trails” about the journey of writing about grief that says “It will lead to a place where dreams don’t die when the ones we planned to share them with do.” For me, this line in part, meant that I still had this dream of being a published author, and at that point, I was discovering the heartache of not being able to share that journey…or the publication of this book…with three of my grandparents. I had to fight my way out of this hole where I couldn’t remember my dreams or how to pursue them. I had a hard time picturing how to accomplish these writing goals when I couldn’t share the accomplishments with the ones I’d lost.
To know that this book, the first item in print where I’m the sole author, sprung out of a place of such deep grief, shows that when something has ended and feels like part of you has been lost forever, something new and beautiful can arise from the darkest of times. I found light and life after great loss.
And that is a little insight that’s exclusive to those of you who faithfully read my blog and perhaps the lucky few who stumble across this post.
Thank you all for your kind words over the years as I’ve shared my writing with you, the excitement of finding homes for my pieces in various literary magazines, disclosed my hopes and fears, and given the best writing tips and tricks I’ve accumulated.
Congrats, my friend! 🎉🎉
Thank you so much!! I’m so excited and nervous about it. I’ve learned so much about writing the last several years, but all my knowledge about the publishing part of books is theoretical. I guess this is the on-the-job training part.
Many congrats on your book! I do have some experience in book publishing. It’s difficult, but rewarding in the long run 🙂
Thank you, Gary! It’s wonderful having a book out, although, mostly it’s a mind game I think we have with ourselves as writers as to what marks we want to hit that we’re convinced will make us feel a little more legitimate. It’s almost as though I decided my goal in life was to jump off a cliff and I ran and ran toward the edge until I finally jumped, and immediately had the feeling of, well, now what do I do? So there’s a bit of anxiety involved. But I’ve decided my strategy is what it’s always been, just keep plugging along.