Counting the days!

Time is flying, minutes are passing by at lightning speed, the days are staying lighter a little longer, and tomorrow, Wednesday, January 31st, is the last day to vote! Again, thank you to Dagmara and her team for publishing my work. I’m honored to be nominated for this award, and to be among wonderful friends who are amazing writers! As far as I’m concerned, we’re all winners! 🎉🎉

To vote, you’ll need to log in, and I know this can be challenging. But I do appreciate your time, effort, and support! I really do! 🙏

I’ll leave you with a poem from my book (the poem from which my book found its title) to guide you through today and days to come. I’ve shared it before, so enjoy for another reading!

Ever So Gently

Sometimes we get lost
in our thoughts…
losing focus of the stars
lighting up the night sky.
We tumble too deeply
into the frontal lobe,
allowing negative thoughts
to awaken, to throw a tantrum.

Remember, the breeze carries
burdens down rivers
and across oceans,
majestic trees sway with joy,
sheltering from shadows,
and the light shines even if only
a slight glimmer slips through.

Its glow will grow ever so gently
into a bright beacon of hope
rising with the golden sun
bringing clarity to our vision.

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

A collection of poems about nature,
love, and the mysteries of life.

Click on the image to purchase your copy.
Thank you! 💚

Nomination for 2023 Author of the Year from Spillwords Press!

Dear Family and Friends,

What a surprise I discovered last night to find an email from Dagmara at Spillwords Press informing me that I have been nominated for Author of the Year for 2023!

The following nominees for Author of the Year are:
 
SmithaV
Michelle Ayon Navajas
Cindy Georgakas
Lauren Scott
Suman Pokhrel
Verity Mason
Nial Crowley
Vidya Venkataramanan
Caroline Ashley
Adele Evershed
Rob Wilcher
Dawn DeBraal
Ernie Stricsek

A soft reminder, I was voted Author of the Month for May 2023 where I shared that exciting news here: https://baydreamerwrites.com/2023/06/01/spillwords-press-author-of-the-month-for-may/

I also had the pleasure and privilege of doing an interview with Dagmara, which I shared in the post below:



A Big Thank You to Dagmara K. and her team for recognizing my work and for this wonderful nomination!!!!

** Please remember that you’ll need to log into Spillwords to vote, and voting is happening now and will end on Wednesday, January 31st!

Good luck to all the amazing authors!

Thanks so much for your kind support! ❤️🙏🏻
Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.com


Photo credit for flowers goes to me.
Spillwords logos from Spillwords Press.

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

A collection of poems about nature,
love, and the mysteries of life.

Click on the image to purchase your copy.
Thank you! 💚

Baby steps are good!

This past Christmas, Santa brought me an inspirational journal with some coloring options. I haven’t owned a coloring book in decades, probably since my youth. Maybe I joined in the fun with my kids when they were young. I honestly don’t remember. Anyway, I thought I would give it a try because it sounded relaxing. Well, after the strawberries came to life, my neck began to bark at me. Who knew that coloring could be tough on the body! I sat at the table with my head down, all concentration geared towards keeping the red within the lines. I suppose with any activity, some part of our body will begin to bark sooner or later. So, baby steps, right?

For any goal we set, we begin by taking baby steps. No one starts out at the top. Everyone finds their starting point at the bottom then the climb begins until the destination is reached. This doesn’t mean we won’t stumble, but we will press on. So, I’ll return to this beautiful image, and soon the blooms and leaves will come alive in their wardrobes of oranges, yellows, purples, pinks, and greens. One small step at a time.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for dropping in to my little corner of blogland! ❤️

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

A collection of poems about nature,
love, and the mysteries of life.

Click on the image to purchase your copy.
Thank you! 💚

A Milestone to Celebrate!

January 21, 1989

The constellations
the moon
the sun
the whispers in the trees
the breeze around
our faces
the waves
kissing the shore
They all knew
before we did…

When we first met, the future gave no intimation as to what it held for us, but what evolved was a love without a finish line, deepening as we basked in each moment spent together.

Whatever path we chose in the past, whatever path we choose in the present, we walk hand in hand facing the unknown, facing the adventures.

His life is built around mine. My life is built around his.

I wrote about how we met here. But how we’ve stayed together is an entirely different chapter in our book. Of course, love is the key component, but the other significant elements that follow love are friendship, unselfishness, wanting each other to be happy, communication, and listening. And though we’ve had disagreements, we’ve never had turbulent fights, nor have we stooped to name-calling. My mother-in-law gave us a card that had sage advice for newly married couples. One piece of advice was never to go to bed angry. We never have. So, we feel proud to reach 35 years, but we also feel fortunate to have found each other to share our lives with, and we hope to celebrate many more anniversaries to come. ❤️

He and I became us.

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

A collection of poems about nature,
love, and the mysteries of life.

Click on the image to purchase your copy.
Thank you! 💚

Reconnected

He had just entered the world
his body tiny and delicate
a bundle needing to be loved
His skin darker than theirs
but this made no difference
Joy danced in their hearts
when he became family

but with each passing birthday
the skin color confused him,
badgering his emotions
like poison flowing
through his veins
causing him to act out
in unforeseen ways

their circle was broken
when he walked out the door

leaves on the trees
changed their wardrobe,
falling over and over and over again
his silence shattered their world

until he walked through the door
realization in his heart
realization in his soul
embracing them for the love,
for the home they gave him

skin color irrelevant
they were family
reconnected

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

Just click on the image to purchase your copy,
and if you enjoyed this collection,
please consider sharing a review
on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Reviews are like hugs.
 💚

The Old Way

We pull the album from the shelf,
its 12×18 glory weighing as much as
a large sack of potatoes,
the cover the shade of a redwood forest

one of nineteen just waiting to be
reminisced through
for another wave of nostalgia

We open to the first page
then turn to the next
and the page after…
the eyes
the smiles
bring life to the moments captured
power in love weighs more
than any possession

it’s like holding a valued book in our hands
but technology holds the wheel
so, with its navigation
we move into the future
digital folders at our fingertips
and the memories tag along

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.
Credit in putting the photo albums together goes to my
husband, who spent hours writing in dates, places, and
adding commentary.
❤️

Just click on the image to purchase your copy,
and if you enjoyed this collection,
please consider sharing a review
on Amazon and/or Goodreads.
Reviews are like hugs.
 💚

Kym shares her elegant review of Ever So Gently!

Dear Friends,

I normally don’t post back-to-back, but since I was on holiday break and upon my return, I have been unexpectedly surprised with more praise for my book, Ever So Gently. I apologize if these posts are getting a bit old, but how can I not share? From Brian’s fabulous post to Kym’s, along with 4 amazing reviews from Kimber, Darlene, Gwendolyn, and Yvette. You can find reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Okay, now it’s time for some happy dancing on Cloud 9! Join me if you’d like! 💃😍🎶

Lauren’s latest book of poetry is an intimate tapestry of love, wonder, gratitude, and an impeccable scale of observation stroking the tender senses of family, the sherbet-colored skies and sounds of nature, the celebration of life and unconditional love, along with a sense of being. Lauren’s poignant reflections make us wonder about the larger picture of life, connecting to us intimately and passionately.

Please click on the link below to read the rest of Kym’s lovely review. And if you’d like to order a copy of Ever So Gently, just click on my book image at the bottom of this post.

Thanks again, Kym! You gave me more reason to dance! Big hugs to you! 🎊🎉❤️

And another thanks to you all who have read my book and written amazing reviews! I am beyond grateful! ❤️🙏

As always, I appreciate your visits! ❤️

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.
Author image is mine, but the image with my quote is credited to Kym!

Just click on the image to purchase your copy,
and if you enjoyed this collection,
please consider writing a review,
a hug for indie authors.
 💚

“Sweet, sweet poetry to my ears” from Brian! A Big Thanks from Kym and I again!

I am honored to be featured on Brian’s site, writingfromtheheartwithbrian, in the best company of Kym Gordon Moore who authored We are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook. Kym is a wonderful writer who always has you pondering the deeper meaning of life. If you haven’t met her yet, please take the time to visit her site: frombehindthepen. You’ll be glad you did!

In Brian’s post, he shares his vulnerability while writing about his early tumultuous relationship with poetry. His humor is what I absolutely love about his blog posts. I know he’ll always make me smile – he simply has that gift. Here’s a brilliant example of how he expresses his feelings about poetry, “I would see the poetic beauty of some of my favorite songs, but poetry and I kept our distance. We were like two shy seventh graders at a school dance. I didn’t come near poetry, and poetry didn’t come near me. We kept our eyes on each other, but didn’t dare talk or ask each other to dance.”

And then he read Kym’s book and mine, and his feelings about poetry shifted…

“But, if it’s possible to turn a large team of sled dogs in the Yukon wilderness like old Sam McGee, before his unfortunate demise, then I think there might be hope for me yet. In fact, I have two poetry books I can’t recommend strongly enough: fellow bloggers Kym Gordon Moore’s We Are Poetry: Lessons I Didn’t Learn in a Textbook and Lauren Scott’s Ever So Gently.

Kym reminded me why I love writing and why poetry matters. “We write because we have a story to tell and emotions to express. We are touched and moved in unexplained ways and want to connect with others who experience the same bottled up emotions as we do.”

Kym’s essays remind me that poetry is a personal thing. It’s meant to be taken in and no one can tell us how to feel. We feel what we feel. I read her poem “Like An Eagle I Soar” and felt myself soaring too:

my strength is renewed, with wings as an eagle
graceful, strong, and courageous I take flight
to heights I never imagined were possible

I was lucky on two fronts, first to come across Kym’s book and then to find Lauren’s and to race through her book, captivated by her use of imagery and the scenes that she lays out for the reader. I especially found her use of language pulled me deeper into the writing and the nature around us. In her poem “I Wonder” she playfully asks if pine needles “wiggle in delight until they float to the earth.”

I don’t know about other readers, but I read that line and I was hooked. She had my undivided attention. My very adult worries and responsibilities were far from my mind. I was a little kid again looking up at the leaves in the trees…I had to read the next line and the next and the next. She continues:

“I know I would cheerfully slip on my dancing shoes
if the sky above me suddenly exploded in vivid oranges
as though hope itself pushed through all the debris
that I’ve allowed to clutter my mind.“

Thanks so much for stopping by! ❤️❤️❤️

© Lauren Scott, Baydreamerwrites.com – All rights reserved.

Just click on the image to purchase your copy,
and if you enjoyed this collection,
please consider writing a review,
a hug for indie authors.
 💚