Alison B. Emery

I began writing poetry at the age of twelve. I was inspired by a writing assignment in my English class in the eighth grade to write a poem. This was my discovery of poetry. It was not until my mid-twenties I decided I wanted to write stories. I began writing a young adult fantasy story which is still currently unfinished. It is called ‘The Golden Winged Unicorn’. I plan to finish that someday. In my early thirties, I wrote a young adult, coming of age, magic realism story called, Violet’s Kismet, The Crazy Darkness’, which is being re-edited and will be published Spring of 2025. My poetry book, ‘Softening the Creature, Little Treasures of Poetry’, will be published June 5th, 2025. I enjoy studying Non-Duality / Spirituality, and a lot of my poetry and work reflects that. I mostly write freeverse and brevity poetry but dabble in a variety of poetic forms. My favorite poem to write is the haiku. Some poetic inspirations have been, Kahlil Gibran, Charles Bukowski, Emily Dickinson and Maya Angelou. I plan to publish a children’s books as well. Two of my favorite authors are Stephen King and Edgar Allen Poe, who’s writing styles have influenced me to write this story.

I have been a Nurse for 15 ½ years and work as a charge Nurse at a Nursing Home. It is both challenging and rewarding. I also have a little book publishing company with my husband called Shoestring Book Publishing, where we help authors self-publish by formatting book interiors and book covers. I enjoy dabbling in photography and art. I am happily married to the love of my life, (and co-author of this book) Allan Reed Emery. I have three spoiled bunnies. I am blessed with two nieces, a nephew and a great niece who I love dearly, and spoil whenever I can.

I spend most of my time either working, writing, reading, staying fit, shopping online, napping, traveling, watching T.V., snuggling bunnies, or enjoying nature and hiking. My favorite activity is swimming. Outside of work my husband and I do everything together, we are attached at the hip! We live in the lovely rural state of Maine and are rugged from the winters up here in the Mountains! Ayup!

I write what is in my heart because that is the best form. As many times as I have felt discouraged from writing I am reminded that it is about the journey. I have met many bumps in the road in my writing experience, but I have never let the sometimes-uncomfortable feelings stop me from doing my best. I figure, all I have to do is keep going, and someday I’ll get there. It seems I have finally learned the ropes of the self-publishing journey and I can see a reflection of the past where I had no idea what I was doing but I never gave up. If I could leave one message for the people of the world after I am gone it would be this: Don’t ever give up on your dreams. Keep going because even though sometimes it may seem too difficult, it’s only a little bump in the road that looks like a mountain up close. When you look back, you’ll be glad that you didn’t give up on yourself just because of a little inconvenience. It’s not meant to always be easy. If it was always easy to follow your dreams, then you wouldn’t have the wonderful memories of how you overcame those struggles to get there. The hard work is all part of the journey! Never say never.