Today we meet Marissa Snowden who describes herself as a small town Missouri girl that has had the opportunity to see the world. She’s have visited 14 countries and lived in three and started writing when she was very young. Marissa has released her debut poetry book, Time and Love Blurs All, and is the first poet to appear in my interview series. So congratulations Marissa!

Can you tell me how you came to see the world?

I was raised very religiously until I was about 17 and decided that I needed my own religious views. I was home-schooled from the age of 8, and graduated high school when I was 16. I went to college for three years before joining the U.S. Army. I have been in the military for seven years. 

I am in the Air Defense Artillery Branch and being in the military has had a huge impact on my writing, without it I wouldn’t have had any of the same experiences and I would be a completely different person. Since I strive for my writing to reflect who I am, my writing would be very different if not for the lifestyle that I lead. 

Currently I live in Kaiserslautern, Germany. I love living in Germany. I have traveled to 9 countries for leisure while I have been stationed here (France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Greece). While I love experiencing other cultures I always miss being in the states and simply conveniences such as Wal-Mart being open at 3 am. No matter what other beautiful cultures I will experience, the United States will always be my favourite and it will always be my home. 

Your book, Time and Love Blurs All, is a collection poems you’ve written over the last three years. Can you describe the theme of the work?

I’ve been through many ups and downs in my life and relationships and these poems reflect that. They tell my story of the loves and losses I’ve has experienced while traveling the world.

You’ve done all of the publishing work yourself to get the book published on Amazon. What would you say was the biggest challenges?

Choosing which poems I wanted to share with the world was the first challenge, then ensuring the files were edited and formatted correctly for Kindle and paperback, but after that it is the marketing and promotion. I’ve laid out a plan to promote on different platforms for different landmarks. For example, for the one month anniversary of the book’s release I am going to offer a paperback giveaway to my social media audience.

Social media has been the greatest part of building my author platform. I already have a following on Instagram which has proven helpful. When I posted the book on my personal Facebook page, the support from my family and friends was incredible. I also have a lifestyle blog I’ve just started, marissasnowden.com.

What would your advice to new writers be?

Follow it through. It has been my dream to be a published author for about 15 years. I have written so many things during that time and had so many great ideas, but life got in the way. Don’t let life get in the way. If you have a dream, pursue it, TODAY. Make sacrifices and make the extra time. It is so worth it!

I asked Marissa to provide a sample poem for this post and she kindly provided the following beautiful example.

I know you don’t see it
But my love isn’t
Disguised for you
It’s so hard
Because I can’t
Villainize you
And it would be easier
If I could
To remember why
I had to do
The hardest thing ever
To let go of someone
I still love

Thank you Marissa for your time and sharing your story, I didn’t get chance to tell everyone about your extra vertebrae but if you want to find out more you can contact Marissa via Facebook or Instagram and her debut poetry book Time and Love Blurs All is out now to buy from Amazon. I wish Marissa every success and we look forward to hearing about any future releases.

If you enjoyed this interview then why not follow my blog where I’ll be posting more interviews soon. I regularly provide an insight into my own experiences as I work towards publishing my debut novel, In The End. If you’re an author, or work in the industry and you’ve got an interesting story to tell, drop me a line on contact@gjstevens.com