Angels, Poetry, and Mountain Time
BIG News, writerly fun, and a secret poem just for you from the Blue Ridge Mountains
“If we do not embrace an enchanted cosmos… we miss the fullness of reality, the fullness of God, and we will never be able to embrace the mystery of our own lives, our tangled questions that will not find answers. To endure mystery, we have to learn to surf the teeming waves of wonder.”
—Tish Harrison Warren, Prayer in the Night
It’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks for me on this healing and writing journey. I shared with you all first a few weeks back that my debut poetry collection was going to be published in the new year.
Well, here we are! It’s the NEW year. And Blessed New Year to you!
Before I dive in with some other fun things, I want to share my official “I’m getting published!” announcement I posted on Instagram the other day—from the magical Blue Ridge Mountains of all places.
Afterward, I’d love to tell you all about my NEW writing course and share a secret poem from my DEBUT POETRY COLLECTION, OF WINGS & DIRT for my paid subscribers.
So, stick around, why don’t ya?
The “I’m Getting Published!” Instagram Post
THIS is what I’ve come HERE to the Blue Ridge Mountains (where it all began) to tell you…
So, pull up a comfy chair & fresh coffee, dear friend because I can hardly believe I am writing these words to you:
I almost died in 2021 from sepsis, aggressive Stage 4 Endometriosis, & post-surgical complications. I lost my ability to walk & have more children. I was bedridden for months. I lost nearly everything, as you know.
I didn’t want to live anymore. I need to be brutally honest about that.
More surgeries & years were needed to recover, heal, & walk again. In that time, even more was lost: my job, community, relationships, belief, support.
But God, God, God…
And Love, Love, Love…
I survived because of these two things…
Oh, and one more:
✨✨POETRY✨✨
When I was “coming back to life,” as my best friend likes to say, so did my pen.
I wrote it all.
And because HIS plans are BETTER, I am so blessed & humbled to tell you I was offered 4 book contracts in 2023.
We prayed & discerned (& kept quiet for months), but I am finally ready to tell you now…
✨✨MY DEBUT POETRY COLLECTION, OF WINGS & DIRT, WILL BE PUBLISHED WITH CHRISTIAN PUBLISHER WIPF & STOCK THIS SPRING.✨✨
This is a dream come true, but more importantly, it is a testament to what God is doing in our lives!
He redeems. He gives us a crown of BEAUTY for our ASHES. He has the final say.
God bless ALL of you for seeing me & praying for my family.
And a MOST special thanks to this dream team:
+
who wrote my foreword & gave an endorsement+
& for their mentorship & touching endorsements+
for being my confidante & the cover artist of this collection (He brought my vision to life!)+ And of course, my beloved husband, daughter, mother, best friend, & all who cared for us over these long years
🎉I’ll be inviting 50 friends to join the launch team for Of Wings & Dirt in March. I hope you’ll join me!
I also want to thank my beautiful launch team & first students for “How to Grow Your Writing Life” on sale here NOW: thewayback2ourselves.com/store. ✍🏼
You belong here,
♥️me
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NEW Writing Course Available Now
I just wanted to quickly share that my writing course is FINALLY available. Over the past four months, I have worked countless hours to pour all my heart and best writing knowledge and advice into a course I have fondly named “How to Grow Your Writing Life.” I am so grateful to say that thirty of my Instagram friends have joined me on a launch team, along with TWBTO editors and contributors. We are connecting, learning, and writing together. And we will convene in a Zoom Launch Party next month to celebrate!
If you are looking to invest in your writing life and artist-self in the new year, might I humbly suggest you give my course a try?
In this inspirational and intensive course, you get to work at your own pace with reach-out opportunities with me, as you learn about four fundamental aspects of the writing life:
1) Learn to create WRITERLY HABITS that supercharge your craft and productivity.
2) Learn to nurture your ARTIST-SELF so you can have more confidence, creativity, and calm.
3) Learn specific techniques to dramatically improve your WRITERLY CRAFT overnight.
4) Learn a direct path to find and improve your WRITING VOICE so you stand out as YOU.
The course includes lessons, resources, activities, challenges, tips, and journaling prompts, as well as research and advice from the writing greats, all in one place! You get to decide what you do and how you do it, which ignites creativity and autonomy.
So, maybe you’ll check it out? And if you do, please reach out and share your writing journey with me: thewayback2ourselves@gmail.com.
Okay, so up next is my promised secret poem, a BRAND-NEW one from my forthcoming poetry collection Of Wings & Dirt. It’s about angels, and it is a sort of complement to my poem “Angels Like Jazz.” (Please do not share or reproduce.)
If you’d like access to my poem or other content, maybe you’ll subscribe for just $5.00 a month? 10% goes to Hope for Justice to help end human trafficking. This poor poet would thank you!
Entertaining Angels by Kimberly Phinney
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