Amber Showalter

Born to be a rock star, but also born completely tone-deaf, Amber Showalter learned early on to use the written word as a weapon, as an epitaph, as her own spoken siren song.

A self-proclaimed type-A personality and grown-up punk, Showalter has been writing poetry since she was fifteen years old. Showalter's work takes the form of raw, harrowing writings peppered with curse words, but also laced with streaks of vulnerability. Showalter isn't afraid to write what she thinks, and isn't afraid to tell the reader exactly where she's been. While her writing styles have changed over the years, she never quite lost her edge, and in many of her poems, readers can see that punk kid with a big heart coming through her words.

Showalter currently works as a nurse, with cardiology being her most well-versed discipline. Her lifelong career, as well as a few broken heart metaphors, infiltrate her writing as well.

Her first book, The Carrion of Songs, is a mixture of her writing styles over the course of two decades, and is divided into two parts in a cause-and-effect fashion. Her sophomore collection, Esteem Punk, is a book of her earliest poems that takes the reader on a dark journey, yet a journey that still needs to be traveled all these years later. Her latest book, Death Will Be Our Curfew, chronicles her experiences through the five stages of grief, but does so Cinderella-style, ensuring the reader reaches acceptance by midnight. All books are available on Amazon.