Sketches: the book

I promised myself I’d be better about telling people about my new book. It’s been out over a month and I’ve mentioned it in passing twice. Oh lord, tara. Great start.

The first book I published, I had high hopes for. Mostly because I was told by over fifty people they were going to buy a copy. That did not, as I’m sure you can imagine, actually happen.

With my second book, I understood that it wouldn’t be picked up by many, if any. I made it more for myself, as an experiment in combining photos with the poetry.

One day in, was it 2022? I said to myself, I’m going to do a third book. And this one I broke some of my own publishing rules, and within a couple days time I had put together my third book and it was beautiful. I didn’t “overthink” it (I hate that term). It was experimental (like the other two in some respects). But it felt Good to do this one. They all felt good but this one I was really proud of, though in a different way. I told no one. Just put it out.

A few months back I decided to look in my WIP folder to see where I was at with the many projects I have started over the years. I have always considered myself a storyteller who sometimes writes poetry. I share my poetry here because it’s easy. Helps purge the everyday things and is an artistic outlet. But mostly, I like telling stories. Whether in painting, drawing, writing, stained glass, tattooing, whatever the art form I choose… I like to tell a story.

I had completely forgotten about a flash fiction collection I had rounded up for possible release at some point. There it was in the folder. Waiting. I picked it up, dusted it off. Finished some pieces I had incomplete. Rewrote. Tightened. Removed. Added. Rearranged and organized.

What I finished with became my fourth book. Sketches: Fables, Allegories, and Parables. It’s about a hundred pages. Short fiction and flash fiction and also some non-fiction meditations.

“TARA CARIBOU weaves tales of love, loss, growth, and trials in this collection of micro-fiction and short stories. In Fables, she uses nature and animals to represent moral universal truths within humanity. With Allegories, she represents them in symbolic or abstract stories. In Meditations, you’ll find personal reflections laced with deep internal thought. Literary Fiction is a collection of stories to touch your heart and mind. And finishing with Parables, she illustrates truth and principled lessons using analogy and comparison.”

So there you have it. Book number four. I’m going to keep doing this. I know that my writing and art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I’m okay with that. I’m going to keep creating. I’m going to keep telling stories. It’s what I was made for.

Oh and incidentally… I actually put this one up on Amazon for once. As much as I despise Amazon, it’s where a lot of people order from and this book being non-poetry, I wanted to make it more accessible to potential readers. Maybe that’s you. Maybe it’s not. But I’ve done it, either way.

If you do happen to pick up a copy of the book, available on Lulu, Amazon, and directly from me (in the US), then I hope you’ll either share with me your thoughts on the book, either by message or even a review. I’d love to hear feedback. If you don’t pick up a copy. well, that’s okay too.

Have a great day, guys.

-tara

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