Make your dream a reality!

Whispering Tears is done! I am finalizing the book cover and my copyright and then I will be able to publish it on Amazon. Isn't life amazing? I have wanted to publish my work since I was a little girl. I always knew that I would write, but then as I got older I realized how hard it is do become a published author. Now that I am here, it feels surreal. Right now, I am making the dreams of the little girl I was become a reality. A reality that feels unreal, but a reality nonetheless.

If you have ever imagined yourself doing something, or becoming something that you now think is impossible, think about it again. Many dreams are possible, and we can make them come true. The problem is, they don't just happen. You have to make them happen. You have to fight, you have to work, you have to do research, and you have to go out there and do what needs to be done to turn your dreams into reality. If you have ever told yourself that your dreams are not possible, stop telling yourself that lie. Tell yourself the truth. Your dreams will never come true if you do nothing to make them come true. So don't keep yourself from achieving your dreams.

I have overcome many obstacles in my life, and I have achieved a lot more than I ever thought possible. I will never doubt anyone who tells me what they hope to achieve. Instead, I will tell all the dreamers that I meet that they can make it happen, and offer any advice that I can along the way. I am not a math person, I am a creative person, and a philosopher. Another way to put it, I am a dreamer and a thinker. But, I am about to use numbers to drive home the importance of making your own dreams come true. The following data is statistical, but I will try to keep it from getting too "mathy" so my dreamers out there don't get anxious. 

• Less than 2% of teen moms earn a college degree by age 30. (DoSomething) 
• Less than 1% (.75%) of the US population currently serves in the military (ABC News) 
• 7% of the US population are military veterans (ABC News) 
• 8% of the US military veterans are female (ABC News) 
• 5% of the US population has a master degree (US Census) 
• Less than 1% of the US population has a doctorate degree (US Census) 
• Just over 1 in 5 applicants are accepted to a doctoral program in psychology (APA) 
• The average publisher rejects more than 99% of the manuscripts they get (Mentor) 

I am sure if I continue to research, I would find more writing statistics, but since I am just beginning, they don't help me all that much at this point. Looking at the stats above, I know that I am capable of beating the statistics again. Consider this: 

• I was a teen mom at the age of 17, yet I completed an undergraduate degree at the age of 31, and my master degree at the age of 33. Technically, I missed it by a year in the stats, but I am sure the number wouldn't vary much in that 1 year if at all. 
• I served in the US military from 2007 - 2010 
• I am currently a female US military veteran 
• I have completed a Master degree and additional graduate courses 
• I have been accepted to a doctoral degree in psychology, scheduled to begin August 2014. 
• Finally, in just a few days I will be an official self-published author. 

So, if you have that dream in mind that you have not yet realized, or you long ago gave up on. Make it a reality, make it happen. I know that in some cases, the phrase "it's never too late" doesn't apply, but if it does take advantage. And if its technically too late to realize one dream, don't hesitate to modify your dream into a reality that you can still achieve. Go do it!

Whispering Tears: A Book of Poetry. Click the link here to get your copy today!

Sun & Stars - Some more recent work (written spring 2013)

If there are any A Song of Ice and Fire or Game of Thrones fans reading this, you may notice that this poem was inspired by the story.

Sun & Stars 

The moon cannot live without the stars,

For without the stars the moon has no reason to shine.

The moon cannot live without the sun,

For without the sun the moon is but a rock.

The moon cannot shine without the sun,

The moon has no will to shine without the stars.

Without the moon, the sun will still shine and the stars will still twinkle.

The sun and stars can live without the moon,

Yet the sun and stars may yet need the moon.

The moon is an anchor for the sun,

With an offer of calm amidst chaos,

The moon provides company for the stars at night,

With an offer of comfort in the darkness,

The sun has only to glance in the darkened sky,

And the moon will be there shining brightly.

The stars have the nights to share with the moon,

No matter the distance of time and space between them.

The moon will always have the sun and stars,

Even when in distance and time they cannot be seen.

The presence of the sun and stars is known by the glow of the moon.

The sun and stars are always there for the moon,

Just as the moon is always there for the sun and stars.

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Too Late... & Times Bandage - My Poetry at 16 years old

I felt as though this would be a great place to share some of my poetry. I have a few poems that I wrote when I was 16 years old. I know that I have many more somewhere, but they are not saved anywhere electronically as these were. I found it interesting to compare them to my more current work.

Too Late...

Where are you when I need you?

Why did you go so soon?

I didn't get the chance to tell you, 

all I wanted to say. 

I miss you so much,

and I think of you every day.

Now what do I do? 

Now where do I go?

When will I see you again?

Will I have to wait until the end?

The end of time? I wish I could see you,

just one more time. Just go back to that day.

That awful day, your last day,

I want to tell myself to call,

not to wait any longer,

Now is the time, never wait.

Never wait to say how you feel.

Never wait,

because sometimes it will be too late....

Too late to say....I Love you!!

Times Bandage

They say time heals all wounds,

But time only wraps them up,

Tighter and tighter so the pain weakens,

But the pain is still there,

It will never be healed,

It will never be gone,

It will only be lessened by times bandage,

The scars underneath are still there,

Just like they have been all along,

Your heart tries to forget,

Don't let your heart forget,

Because the memories that cause pain,

Are the only memories that you have,

They are all you have to hold onto,

Don't let times bandages take them away,

Because the most important of all,

Is the memory of pain,

And the memory of happiness,

Sometimes you have to bear the pain,

To remember the happiness.

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Long nights...

This has been a very busy week. Building my new website this week has taken up a lot of my time, and that's okay. I am sure that I will be more than happy with the finished product, but why am I having such a hard time? Choosing the photos to use on my site is the hardest part. Not only do I need to come up with an idea, I have no idea how to find exactly what I need. There are plenty of "free" sites that allow you to download and use their photos, but they require that you register and the only photos that seem semi-close to what you are looking for are not actually free. I may just need to get someone else to help me out in creating photos of my own.

The good news is that I have been much more available on my social media this week then ever before and I am hoping to grow my audience quite a bit. I have gathered some information on possibly self publishing and its quite exciting. I have also completed some of the much needed research for my book that had held me up for quite some time. I am now thinking that I will be able to have my first book completed (before edits) in the next four weeks.

Keep checking back, I plan to post weekly updates from now on. Since I am no longer working a full time job, I expect that I will be able to keep it up.

AnnMarie Stone

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