#writing

Mary K Gowdy

Oct 10
4 min

Meet My New Novel - The Damned Ones

Hello everyone! I have a new novel coming out soon 🎉 In June 2020, I released the first in my fantasy series The One and the Other. The One-Sided Coin begins the story with Monoria Fledyia who is trapped in a mental institution and forced to decide who she can trust: a scientist with questionable methods or the mystical parasite he's trying to save her from. You can read more about it here. In just a few months, I'll be releasing the prequel in the series, The Damned Ones. R

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2 Ways to Strengthen Your Poetry (With Examples)

Mary K Gowdy

Aug 25
7 min

2 Ways to Strengthen Your Poetry (With Examples)

If you found your way onto this page, poetry must have you in its sweet smelling, thorn-tipped grasp. Don't freak out. I know you're scared, but making you bleed is poetry's way of showing love. It's quite a demanding little sucker. Too bad you've already fallen for it. If you're here, you must either be in the anxious oh my goodness I don't know what I'm doing throes of infatuation, or maybe those rose-colored goggles have gone a bit askew and you fear your poetry ain't that

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Mary K Gowdy

Mar 29, 2020
5 min

10 Questions about my Debut Novel

10 answered questions about my fantasy debut novel The One-Sided Coin

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Mary K Gowdy

Jan 26, 2020
6 min

2020 Resolutions

Welcome to 2020! I can't believe we're back in the 20s. I have big things planned this year, but before we get to that,

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Mary K Gowdy

Jun 28, 2019
2 min

I finished my book!

It's been a while but I wanted to wait till I had something worth updating about. I have several things actually! Most importantly, I have finished edits for The One and the Other Volume One (except for line edits but I won't be doing that till I'm preparing to publish it). It feels. . . weird. I thought I would feel ecstatic but I almost feel like there's this void in my life that I'm not sure how to fill anymore. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I'm finished, but I worked on th

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Mary K Gowdy

May 2, 2019
2 min

Update

I haven't made a monthly goals post in a while, partly because I've decided to retire them and partly because I've been busy (*cough* and procrastinating *cough*) updating this blog. I felt that the monthly goals were getting repetitive. And when I haven't been achieving my goals (which has been happening a lot lately), I find that they discourage me more than encourage me. So, this post will be just a short, general life update. In my February Goals post, I hadn't yet starte

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Mary K Gowdy

Apr 25, 2019
6 min

6 Common Mistakes Beginner Poets Make

Video Transcript: When I tell other writers that I write poetry, one of the responses I get the most is that they themselves have tried to write poetry once but it came out cliché or sounding like Dr. Seuss so they never attempted it again. They might understand rhyme and meter and whatnot—they have the tools—but they don’t understand how to avoid the pitfalls of bad poetry. This post will cover the 6 common mistakes new poets tend to make. 1. Cliché In case you don’t know, c

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Mary K Gowdy

Jan 1, 2019
5 min

Moving On To 2019

2018 has been a year of big changes and special firsts. But most of all, I think 2018 has been the year I've become more serious about my writing career. Though I've been writing seriously for several years now, I hadn't started building my author platform till late 2017 but really this year. This year I've: posted regularly on my website started a YouTube Channel performed my poetry for the first time sent my novel to beta readers published my chapbook and released the recor

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September Writing Goals - A Few Weeks Till Sensuality.'s Release Date!

Mary K Gowdy

Sep 3, 2018
4 min

September Writing Goals - A Few Weeks Till Sensuality.'s Release Date!

Hey ya'll. I feel like it's been August for ages. Hmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that I've waiting to publish my chapbook Sensuality. in September. And September's finally here! Granted, Sensuality. won't be released for another few weeks. I know I've been reticent about exactly which day in September it will be released, but that information (along with the cover!) is coming soon, I promise. There's a lot to do when preparing a book for publication, so

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How To Write A Poem - Tips For Beginners

Mary K Gowdy

Aug 15, 2018
9 min

How To Write A Poem - Tips For Beginners

How the hell do you write a poem? You might ask. For most, writing a poem is an intimidating activity. I'm here to help you. Whether you're here because you've always wanted to write a poem but haven't known how to begin or because your English teacher put you up to this, I’ll explain the basic techniques of writing poetry such as rhyme, form, poetic devices, and more. I'm know writing a poem can make you feel self-conscious (or scare the shit out of you). So, before we get i

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Mary K Gowdy

Jul 26, 2018
4 min

Are Literary Magazines the Right Choice For You? And Other Routes You Want to Consider

Last week I wrote about the pros and cons of submitting to literary magazines. Something I realized as I was preparing for that is that there's a lot of articles about why one should submit to literary magazines but nothing about the downsides of it. They made it seem like magazines publications are the only way to get your short fiction and poetry out there other than through a big publication. And that's not true. The other 3 other ways I recommend for getting your work and

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Mary K Gowdy

Jul 20, 2018
6 min

Is Submitting to Literary Magazines Worth It?

Let me guess. You finished that short story or poem that you felt like for the first time wasn’t, like, total crap. And you thought, “Maybe this is it. Maybe I can publish this.” So you go to the Internet and find out about literary magazines, which ones to submit to and how one does that. After going through all the bureaucratic-like bullshit of researching magazines, reading their rules, making cover letters, paying submission fees, and figuring out whatever the hell is a s

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Mary K Gowdy

Jul 5, 2018
5 min

I'm Back - And With Goals for July

Hey ya'll! I'm back and am ready to start posting again. For those of you who don't know, I've been gone for the last five weeks on a study abroad trip in Spain! It was awesome. I definitely recommend that you try to study abroad if you still can. My language skills improved, and I got to see such beautiful places. I went to Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, and I even went to Austria to visit a friend, which was a lot of fun. I took tons of pictures, which I'm going to compile in

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Mary K Gowdy

Mar 6, 2018
3 min

March Updates

Hey guys! Since February is over, I wanted to look at the month in review and set some new goals for March. In my February Updates post, I made some goals for that month. Here they are and whether I accomplished them: 1. To release a poetry treat for ya'll soon ;) Accomplished! The poetry treat was a video of me reciting my poem "Her Gaze" and posting it on YouTube. Here's the link. Not only that, but I've also posted videos of "A Middle-Aged Southern Couple Reacts to Ice" an

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Mary K Gowdy

Feb 9, 2018
1 min

Her Gaze - Poetry Recitation Video

I've finally joined the growing community of poets posting YouTube videos of them reciting their poems. My poem "Her Gaze" is available to read on this site here: Her Gaze. It's a terza rima poem about war, love, and art. Follow me here or on Facebook or subscribe to my Youtube Channel if you're interested in future videos like this or even ones giving a behind-the-scenes look at the inspiration for my poems. #poetry #YouTube #writing

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Mary K Gowdy

Feb 2, 2018
2 min

February Goals

I'm doing an update/monthly review this week instead of posting a Friday Short Story. I am working on one, and it's going to be longer than past ones. The One and the Other Volume One Progress I finished revisions for Episodes 3 and 4, which (along with Ep. 8) needed the most revision. I'm so happy to have them under my belt. Looking forward, I don't think that Episode 5 will require as much revision as I initially thought, and I'm on track to meet my deadline of May 25th. If

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Mary K Gowdy

Jan 1, 2018
3 min

2018 Resolutions

It’s a new year, and I'm ready to hit the ground running! There’s several things I wanted to accomplish including things I've been putting off and goals for old projects that I want to meet this year. 1. Begin Friday 10 minute Stories From now on every Friday, I’ll be posting a short story on this blog. Most of them will have been inspired by the prompts I and my friends do in our creative writing club. Some will be longer and more polished than others, depending on the inspi

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