When nobody held my hand, poetry held my heart. Amid the depth of pain and hoping for a change, words became my forever friend. I don’t even remember the exact year but what I know is that I wrote every time I felt a strong emotion and had nobody to express it to. I used to write on the last pages of my notebooks, only to throw them away in fear that anybody would read them. I didn’t want anybody to read my words, for they contained my deepest and darkest secrets. But then the internet happened!
The internet felt like a safe place. I could easily create a pen name and post anything that I want. Nobody would know that I wrote it, and yet I would be heard. That’s how I started posting my writings on Wattpad. Those were the days when paid stories were still not a thing, so, I would spend literally hours on the app. I read to escape reality, and I wrote to vent. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a writer.
But writing is easy, being a writer not so much. Damn! It’s tough. Especially if you have a writing job, it’s really difficult to find some words for yourself after work. So, when I started this blog three years ago, I posted a poem and forgot about it until almost 2020.
2020 was crazy! By 2020, I mean the end of 2019 till a few months into 2021. This was the crazy rollercoaster ride that I’m still somehow surviving.
2019 was great. I had an amazing job, I wrote ads that played in movie theaters, and I was finally with my parents. Then, I quit my job hoping to pursue a master’s degree, and that’s when the pandemic hit. So, I was jobless and had nothing to do and I remembered that I had created this blog. Thanks to all the meaningful connections I made here, you made 2020 bearable.
Besides awesome WordPress friends, 2020 was bleh. Jobless and stuck at home, I found the cure to boredom in sad poetry. And I guess that’s when I wrote a book, a poetry collection to be more precise. This book wouldn’t have been possible with each and every encouraging words by fellow writers and readers on this blog. So, thank you so much for being a part of this journey.
Valentines Day of 2021 was when my book was supposed to be released. A perfect book for single people. 101 emotions that they wouldn’t have to feel. But then life happened, and procrastination happened, shifting the release to April 1st. It seemed like a perfect date. A book dedicated to everyone who has been fooled by love, releasing on April Fools Day.
But damn! Kindle Publishing is not as easy as it seems, not for first-timers anyway. I’m definitely going to talk about all the unexpected things I came across.
You can find the ebook version of Chronicles of a Broken Heart at https://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Broken-Heart-Reasons-Fall-ebook/dp/B091CGFFPZ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=chronicles+of+a+broken+heart&qid=1617208714&s=digital-text&sr=1-1
And yeah, I know it’s published two days prior to the planned date of release but I have an explanation (more like a rant) for that too. For people who prefer the feel of paper, the paperback version will be available soon. Most probably, within this week itself.
To people who’re trying to make sense of the blog title, it’s writing. Writing is my one true love, my lifelong romance.
While I can’t make any promises, I really am hoping to be super regular and follow the NaPoWriMo 2021 prompts.
Much love,
Shreya Joshi
