The Gift of Words: Season of the Sorceress – Melody Lee

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

Bestselling poet Melody Lee brings us her third book, Season of the Sorceress. The collection is broken down into four sections: Fireflies, Wildflower Moon, Black Widow and Rebirth. Lee paints personal experiences and tragedies elegantly into poetry and prose: life lessons of hope, empowerment, enlightenment. She brings the reader with her on her journey of enlightenment and rebirth. Lee has a magical way of connecting her reader to her stories, her poetry, her heart. She begins with self-reflection, by takings us back to her childhood, tapping into memories and base emotions. Her words flow like water from a sacred fountain. Lee writes about love—agape, eros, philia— being broken by it, growing and finding enormous strength from it. “Without love we are empty vessels, a mass of nothingness. There is no greater power than love, even when it burns us and hurts like hell. Always there is something divine that emanates from love.” She scatters ashes of romance in each chapter, interlaced with mystical and witchy themes. And true to her free spirit, you feel the gypsy heartbeat pulsing throughout the book.

“Reading Season of the Sorceress brought me heart-deep into the kind of poetry and prose that wakes us up and creates space within the soul. Melody’s work reveals the beauty of words in a deep, earthy way. My witch’s heart was captured without apology. Each story, each poem took me further into mystical imagination. There is integrity and passion on each page, but more than that, there is raw freedom of expression, which makes for a truly memorable book. If words are magic, then Melody knows how to cast a spell. The rhythm of the seasons, the mystery of the elements, the truth of vulnerability, and the strength of memories collide between the pages. Season of the Sorceress inspired me and left me thinking of possibility; and that is what great art is all about. Wildly recommended.”

– Monika Carless, The Dark Pool Trilogy  

Season of the Sorceress is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: 978-1732800038

About the Author

Melody Lee has published five poetry/prose collections, including Moon Gypsy, Vine: Book of Poetry, Season of the Sorceress, Lilies & Lace & Dark Pretty Things, and Mystic Meadowlark. Her poetry has been featured live on Shrimp Shack Ipswich Community Radio, based in the UK; A Better Media Today, an online magazine; Creative Talents Unleased; Indie Blu(e) Publishing; and Her Red Pen.

Coming April 2021, Poems for Girls Becoming Women, an anthology from Workman Publishing.

Indie Blu(e) looks to 2022 with excitement

For many, 2021 has been a continuation of the difficulties of 2020. Our world has been irrevocably changed by the deaths of so many and the uncertainty due to Covid.

Indie Blu(e), like so many other micro and small publishers, has tried their best to weather the economic uncertainty that the Pandemic has wrought. Bringing out AS THE WORLD BURNS was our voice in these turbulent days.

Despite ups-and-downs and some pretty lean times, we’ve survived the storm and hope to continue to publish astounding voices in 2022. Our line up is not yet complete but we’re intensely excited to see some real talent coming together.

For those of you who have not yet signed up for Indie Blu(e) updates, consider doing so to keep in the loop. Despite being a small publisher, we’ve been hard at work throughout the Pandemic; producing works we believe need to be read.

Our goal at Indie Blu(e) is to continually source those voices that need to be heard and give them a platform. We especially cherish the historically marginalized voices, and 2021 demonstrated this with two anthologies on mental health and invisible physical illness.

If you are an incredible writer and you seek a responsive, creative and committed publisher for your work – consider submitting to Indie Blu(e) and becoming one of our 2022 stars. See submission details in full.

We look forward to connecting with you again in 2022 and bringing you more of the best work out there, for lovers of poetry, thinking, prose, and fresh voices.

Thank you to all who have supported Indie Blu(e) throughout this Pandemic. It is thanks to you we survived and we hope small companies like ourselves can continue to flourish with the backing of our community and the sustaining strength of our people.

The Gift of Words: Conversations With My Higher Self – Rachel Finch

As you finish up your holiday shopping, the Editors recommend adding one (or more!) of our fabulous titles to your list.

British poet Rachel Finch is the powerhouse behind the Bruised But Not Broken community on Facebook, which provides support and healing for trauma survivors. She is a symbol of hope and light throughout the world. She returns a year after the release of her 5-star debut A Sparrow Stirs its Wings with her second book, Conversations With My Higher Self.

Conversations With My Higher Self recounts Finch’s personal experience with a near death, out-of-body life-changing event during the delivery of her eldest daughter. Written in beautiful and mesmerizing verse, Conversations With My Higher Self is a provocative book. Honest, spiritual, and cathartic, Finch gives us a tantalizing glimpse of what is on the other side- transformation, light and love.

“I am outside of myself,

more whole without shape and

I exist as a spectra of light,

nebula shining bright,

I am matter

and more.”

“This book is a book like none you’ve read before and that alone is a powerful testament to Finch’s artistic brilliance. She executes her near-death and resurrection experiences in such a way as to bring the reader with her to this incredible other-world. As Finch evolves, I felt myself evolving. “She is not quiet, the evolving is an unfolding and I am origami in the wind.” CWMHS has the power to change you, the reader, to change your mindset and see yourself and your life in an entirely different light. This book is a must-have for all lovers of poetry and anyone who has had or who has known someone with a near-death and out-of-body experience.”

-Melody Lee, author of Moon Gypsy, and Season of the Sorceress

“Conversations With My Higher Self is mesmerizing, breathtaking, poignant, and painful, it is every single beautiful and tragic thing that turns simple poetry into something timeless.”

-Nicole Lyons, The Lithium Chronicles: Volume One and Volume Two

Conversations With My Higher Self is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters/Indigo, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1732800052

About the Author

Rachel Finch is a UK-based writer who originally started using poetry as a way to accurately express herself after a number of traumatic experiences in her young life. She is the founder of the online community ‘Bruised But Not Broken’ which was started with the purpose to raise awareness of abuse and trauma as well as to provide a place of comfort and support throughout the healing process. She firmly believes that it was with the support of this community that she was able to recover from sexual abuse. Rachel is mother to four young children and dedicates her time to her family and to guiding others on their own healing journey.

Rachel’s other titles include A Sparrow Stirs its Wings and I am Draped in Soul, It is a Nakedness.

You can connect with Rachel on Facebook, Instagram, and WordPress.

The Gift of Words: Arclight – John Biscello

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John Biscello is not simply a novelist and poet, but an alchemist of verses. In Arclight, Biscello captains a voyage that transcends the physical world with graceful introspection, and philosophical wonder. His reflective nature invites us to ponder our own life experiences and ideals. Arclight is a true tribute to the human heart. “I always saw the humanity behind his thick-lidded eyes, the small child, begging for a banquet of golden crumbs to appease the motherache churning in his heart and stomach. A thousand lions pitted against a studded chain smoking beer gutted gladiator, I saw that too, he, the lions, the gladiator, the arena, the smoke and booze, all of it…” from, ‘I See Myself’.

“Biscello has that very rare quality of being a natural born poet. His use of words is so sublime and striking, it has the power to cast into shade, most other poets. Such is his radiance, I find the consideration of light for the subject matter of this book to be very apropos. Biscello understands words and language, his mind is vast and deep and he is able to mine the very depths and bring to the surface, language that takes your breath away. It has been a very long time since I have sat quietly entranced by a poet. . . I found myself entranced by his capture and the vivid landscapes of his mind. The turn of prose and poetry interspersed with a sense that this is his only true language, took my breath away and left me reeling with envy and respect for someone so nimble at playing poetry’s pipe. . . Biscello is a bard of language and emotion, and it would not be premature to pronounce him among the finest living male poets of his day.”

– Candice Louisa Daquin, Pinch the Lock

Arclight is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1732800021

About the Author

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, writer, poet, performer, and playwright, John Biscello, has lived in the high-desert grunge-wonderland of Taos, New Mexico since 2001.

He is the author of four novels, Broken Land, a Brooklyn Tale, Raking the Dust, Nocturne Variations, and No Man’s Brooklyn; a collection of stories, Freeze Tag, two poetry collections, Arclight and Moonglow on Mercy Street; and a fable, The Jackdaw and the Doll, illustrated by Izumi Yokoyama. He also adapted classic fables, which were paired with the vintage illustrations of artist, Paul Bransom, for the collection: Once Upon a Time, Classic Fables Reimagined. His produced, full-length plays include: Lobsters on Ice, Adagio for Strays, The Best Medicine, Zeitgeist, U.S.A., and Werewolves Don’t Waltz.

Some of his primary influences and creative heroes include: Henry Miller, Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway, John Fante, Anais Nin, Jack Kerouac, Knut Hamsun, Yasunari Kawabata, William Saroyan, Dr. Seuss, Dylan Thomas, Julio Cortazar, Patrick Modiano, Marguerite Duras, Dylan Thomas, Haruki Murakami, Paul Auster, Raymond Carver, Sylvia Plath, David Lynch, Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, and the list goes on and on and on.

You can read more of his writing at John Biscello

The Gift of Words: The Myths of Girlhood – Christine E. Ray

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Imagine that Myths of Girlhood is a tapestry; feel the varying textures, and observe the movement of its patterns. In your hands, you hold the fibers of Christine E. Ray. For this book is much more than an arrangement of words. Myths is an experience—an exploration of madness and strength of will, illogic and rationality, all of which coexist inside a woman who is unafraid to let her soul speak. We were introduced to her exquisite truth-telling in Composition of a Woman. Myths of Girlhood is not a mere continuation, but a glass-breaking roar.

“The Myths of Girlhood by Christine E. Ray is a powerful collection of poems and Christine’s voice is raw and almost primeval at times. I loved reading these poems and could actually feel the surge of energy that bounces off the pages. These are poems that any human being would identify with, but especially women who have gone through struggles and trying times, whether it is sexual assault, domestic violence, mental health issues such as depression, addiction, or even simply a lack of equal freedom and opportunities in what still is predominantly a male-dominated patriarchal world. This is the voice of millions that Christine expresses and echoes through these poems. I liked almost all of the poems but some that stood out for me were Where My Ghosts Come Out to Play, Unrepentant, Survivor’s Guilt, Backside of the Night, Young Wolf, Blue Moon, Magical Memory, and more. This is a poetry collection that I would highly recommend.”

-Gisela Dixon, Readers’ Favorites

“The Myths of Girlhood by Christine Ray is an insightful and beautiful collection of verses that gives readers a peek into the many stories of the lives of women, the pain we carry, and the strength that lies within us, along with sharing skeins of her personal life that have led her to analyzing the psyche of girlhood and womanhood. She helps women readers look into the dark side of their lives which have left them crippled yet given them the immense strength to emerge as survivors. Dealing with the past, embracing the demons inside, and walking towards freedom form the crux of her poetry which is an encouragement to all those who are survivors.

It is a collection of self-discovery, courage, conviction, strength, and transformation, one that speaks to all poetry lovers. There is an element of pain and angst that runs through her verses, and the minimalist expressions and starkness bring this out, making them tangible. Her words capture the vulnerability, helplessness, and remorse of a survivor, which stands out in the poem ‘Introductions’. Every poem in the book is well worded and effective and will hit readers with unexpected beauty and profundity. ‘Breathe Out In Black’ is another poem that caught my attention with its darkness. For those readers who love poetry and poetic expressions, this collection is a must-read. They will love the honesty and straightforwardness that lingers in the poems and the way the emotions have been expressed is palpable while one is reading this collection.”

– Mamta Madhavan for Readers’ Favorite

The Myths of Girlhood is available for purchase at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, IndieBound, Chapters, Waterstones, Book Depository, and from other major online retailers.

ISBN-13: 978-1732800014

About the Author

Christine E. Ray (She/Her) lives outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A former Managing Editor of Sudden Denouement Publications, she co-founded Indie Blu(e) Publishing with Kindra M. Austin in September 2018. Ray is the author of Composition of a Woman and The Myths of Girlhood. Her writing has also been featured in Through The Looking Glass: Reflecting on Madness and Chaos Within, As The World Burns: Writers and Artists Reflect on a World Gone Mad, SMITTEN: This Is What Love Looks Like, We Will Not Be Silenced: The Lived Experience of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Told Powerfully Through Poetry, Prose, Essay, and Art, Anthology Volume I: Writings from the Sudden Denouement Literary Collective, Swear to Me (Nicholas Gagnier), and All the Lonely People (Nicholas Gagnier).

Read more of her work at https://braveandrecklessblog.com/.