My year was essentially a good year. Not many extraordinary things happened, but I feel settled, serene and mostly content with where I am and with who I am. I have a beautiful family with amazing young people to share their world views with me. I have a husband who I love. And I have friends. Not many, two or three, but I cherish them. I love my job and I got to listen to a lot of amazing music this year. And I wrote. A lot. It was one of my most productive years ever. And that’s what this post will be about. Writing and my publications. You see, this year I published my tenth book. It’s a milestone. And although it may sound conceited not many independent poets reach that milestone. What will follow is a small recap of the books I wrote and published since 2018. That’s right, I have been publishing my own poems for 7 years now. Not because I think it is the best poetry out there, but because I needed it for myself. I wanted and needed to hold my poetry in a printed book. And in doing so, it became available for everyone else too.
Poetry. This one was born out of inner pain. My first publication with my name on the cover. I felt exposed yet oddly proud. 2018. It was a time of change and I was only slowly turning into someone with a voice.
Poetry. The cover of this one is intriguing. I was slowly finding my writing voice. Still written from inside a wound, bleeding on the page. I don’t write like that anymore and yet it deserves to be there.
Novel. I love this book and the story. It’s a romance novel about two men. But it is different than you may think. There are no clichés, just good a story.
Short stories. It’s a thin book in a different format than the others. A little taller. It is filled with short stories and flash fiction I wrote until then (2020). I am thinking about publishing a second Volume soon, but the plans are still vague and written in the clouds.
Poetry. When I talk about my books, this is most often the one I forget to mention. I don’t even know why that is.
Poetry. The essence of me. Perfect Imperfection.
Poetry. It’s an anthology compiling all the poems I had written until then. It was released on my 40th birthday. A brick of a book. I am very proud of this one.
Poetry. One of the most beautiful covers I ever did.
Poetry. This one stayed very much under the radar. Almost as if it wasn’t there. Maybe the Weight of Light is too heavy after all.
Poetry. A collection written during a sleepless week in August. It demanded to be born. I didn’t have a choice. Book number 10.
Once I let go of the poems and put them into books, they become yours to read, to hold, to experience. They never need my explanation or interpretation, because we all live and read poetry with different eyes, with a different heart. My only hope is that some of my words reach the people who need to read them.
There is another post on my blog where I wrote about these books from a different angle and shared some of the feedback I received. It’s worth taking a look, I think. I don’t receive much feedback. My poetry isn’t loud. It asks for silence and for room to breathe. But when people do share their thoughts, it matters. A lot. Or, as someone recently said to me when I praised their work: “It means the world. You never know how these things are going to land.”
If you ever consider buying a copy of one of my books, you can purchase them through me
http://paypal.me/micqu. Right now they are all pay what you want. And they will be sent out in January 2026. They are also available on Amazon for those who don’t want to wait.
I would also mention again that a couple of my poems can be heard on SoundCloud. Either narrated by me or by Daniel Cavanagh (founder, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentiste in Weather Systems).
I admit, I take some pride in this. It’s an achievement; at least for me it is. The prevalent theme in my poetry is love, loss, mental health, relationships… Always a bit on the melancholy side of things, but I like to think quite emotive and relatable too.
So here is a little reminder of the books I published:
Unquiet Minds
Unquiet Minds was my first ever published book with my own full name as the author. It was an amazing feeling to hold this little poetry collection in my hands. Just the thought that this was something I had created, completely on my own. Every word written in this book, every editing mistake, I did it all. And I also took this absolutely awesome cover pic myself. It is a heavily edited soap bubble. Yes, that’s right. It’s no drawing and nothing mysterious. Just a soap bubble in the sky.
Drowning in a Sea of Voices
This one was published almost a year after the first. On the cover is me. Oh, don’t let me fool you, contrary to what you may think, my name and my face on a book was terrifying. Even more so knowing that I took that particular selfie in the bathtub. I am demystifying every mystery about the covers of my books in this post. Anyway, it is another little poetry collection; and again, I did everything on my own. I had asked online for a bit of help, but no one offered (I even offered to pay). I kind of like the cover of this book. Dark. Then again, that seems to be something my book covers have in common.
Heart of Stone
Now this was something else, something that still makes my heart swell with pride. Heart of Stone is a novel that I had written and posted on a site called Wattpad. But, it never felt quite finished; the characters never really left my mind, and so, one night I sat down to rewrite and edit the entire story. Chapters were added, characters were dropped or added and overall, the story came out more polished and more rounded than it was before. Now, the subject is not for everyone, in fact it is quite niche. It’s a love story. Romance. It’s a story about two men meeting at the right moment in time, when everything around them seems to shatter and they are the ones who can make the other whole again. Mental health (anxiety attacks) are a subject explored in this book too. I would say it is not cliché, but maybe I am the wrong person to judge. Riley Stone and Emerson Heart are probably the most developed characters I ever wrote. (Of course, as always, the editing and the cover were done by myself. This time I had actually found a beta-reader who gladly took the money but never got back to me with any tips or editing. I doubt they even read the manuscript… water under the bridge now) The cover is of a stone shaped like a heart, I saw it years before this story even took shape in my mind but suddenly, it all made sense. Heart of Stone.
A Life in Frames
With this release, I wanted to show off my writing skills, as boastful as it sounds. Many short stories (flash fiction) I wrote can be found in that book. It felt a bit like wrapping up things. I had published poetry, a novel, and now this anthology. I wasn’t sure if there was more writing in me, but there always is. Creativity is a well that rarely dries up, it’s just that the mind sometimes holds us back and tries to make us feel like failures. I can wholeheartedly recommend A Life in Frames though. It’s a good little book. Good writing. (As before, all done on my own, hehe – do you see a pattern there? The cover photo is a light bulb in the dark)
Out of the Dark and into the Light
This one should be called “the book that doesn’t exist” I barely advertised this one and only sold a handful of copies. I am not sure why it was difficult to get this poetry collection going. I suspect it was me leaving Facebook that made this advertising thing harder than it should have been. But I also admit, I barely remember anything about the process of writing the poems for this one or how and why the cover is the way it is. And to my dismay, I have to say, I don’t even own a printed copy of this either. (Cover pic – light in a hallway, and editing done by yours truly)
Perfect Imperfection
With this book, I had some help. The cover picture and the title were suggested by a good friend of mine – a creative person too. After reading a couple of poems from the manuscript of this book, the friend came up with the title – there’s a poem of the same name in this collection. Perfect Imperfection was also the first more official release. Or it felt that way. It was published with a local ISBN and was the first that could be found in the Luxembourgish National Library, that’s why, on Amazon, it says published by Bibliothèque Nationale de Luxembourg. It’s the book that made me a bit more visible nationally. I like this one, but maybe that’s because of everything that happened after the release of the book (referring to the visibility that I mentioned before)
Word Thief
To date, this is my last publication. It was released on my 40th birthday. In this book, you can find most of the poems that can be found in the other poetry collections too and then some. As you can see, it’s me again on the cover. Again it was a suggestion by my friend I mentioned above. The name Word Thief came about when I noticed that I do borrow words sometimes. No, no plagiarism, but I often use songs as inspiration when writing and I end up using words I heard in the songs I listened to recently. I am not sure if that makes sense. For Word Thief, I had a couple more polished angles to advertise; like the two songs Daniel Cavanagh recorded for me and put on his soundcloud site for instance. I was a bit disappointed at first that this book didn’t do as well as I expected it to do. Was it the price? Was I overestimating myself? All of the above? If you are a creator you probably know the feeling of feeling very strongly about your latest project only for it to fall on deaf ears. That’s what happened here. I tried many things to make it work but in the end I understood that I am just a grain of sand on this earth. I have no impact, no outside voice that matters. All I have is the passion to write and to keep doing what I started doing in 2012. The fact that I am not writing in my native language is something that adds to my insecurities sometimes, but then again, I couldn’t write as emotionally in my own language. It doesn’t sound the same. Anyway, I have many copies left at home of this one, mainly because of a printing error. There were white pages in the books that should not have been there – and for once it was not my fault, it happened at the press. I personalised every one of those copies with a little drawing (I am very bad at that) or/and a little note.
Fire & Rain
Fire&Rain is the latest addition in my self-publishing journey. It has been released on July 12th 2024 and marks the 8th book that was released with my own name on the cover. (The 6th poetry collection.) I am very proud of this book because I think it has some of the strongest poetry I’ve written to date. So far, there is no feedback about it but I will keep you updated. There are a couple of ideas on how to make Fire&Rain the wholesome release WORD THIEF was, but it is all still in the early stages. Fire&Rain is definitely worth a read if you are a poetry lover.
The Weight of Light
The Weight of Light is a collection of poems that balances raw emotion with quiet reflection. It explores the contrasts we live with: light and dark, love and loss, presence and absence. Each poem invites the reader into moments of gaslighting vulnerability, offering glimpses of the strength hidden in stillness. With simple, honest words, it speaks of connection, identity, and the way small moments can carry unexpected meaning.
For those seeking solace, connection, or simply a moment to pause, The Weight of Light offers a space to feel, reflect, and find light even when it feels heavy.
The August Current
The August Current is my tenth book of poems, and perhaps the most unexpected of them all. I hadn’t planned to release anything new this year, but in late July a sudden wave of words swept through me. In less than a week, ninety poems filled my notebooks—written in sleepless nights, carried by a current I couldn’t resist. This collection is different. Alongside the typed poems, I’ve included photographs of some of the handwritten originals. Ink smudges, crooked lines, crossings-out—all left as they were. They capture the poems in their first breath, raw and unpolished, with a truth that polished pages often lose. What makes The August Current special is that it wasn’t meant to exist, and yet it insisted. It carries storms and stillness, shadows and light, fragments of longing and release. For me, it stands as proof that sometimes the work chooses the writer, and not the other way around. Available as Kindle and paperback. Signed copies can be ordered directly from me.
Every one of those books is available on amazon worldwide, or with me – from this blog. I ship worldwide too with no additional fees.
I thank you for being here and maybe browsing this place a bit. I know, the sheer amount of written words on this blog can be a bit overwhelming but, if you like music, poetry, short stories or even some photography, I am sure there is something for you here.
Though our love dissolves into the calm of night, We cherish the colors that once felt right. Even as they blend into twilight’s gray, Their beauty lingers in the memories that stay.
The sky, once ablaze with our fiery desire, Now cools to embers, no longer a fire. But in each fading hue, there’s a whisper of light, A reminder of moments when love burned bright.
As the night slowly draws its quiet veil, We find comfort in knowing we dared to sail Through the vast skies of passion, joy, and pain, Even as the stars begin to wane.
And though the colors now fade into gentle dusk, We hold onto the warmth of the day’s soft husk. For in the stillness, as darkness begins to sway, Our love’s soft echoes will never truly stray.
Why do we shy from what comes with grace The simple paths that life unrolls? Embracing ease, our hearts embrace A joy that gently fills our souls.
The world entices with the grand and bold, Urging us toward the complex and tough. Yet true contentment, quietly told, Lies in the choices that are just enough.
Dare to tread where ease invites, Release the need for constant strain. For when we follow where lightness lights, We find in peace, our deepest gain.
Treasure the calm, the ease it brings, Relish the freedom of simple strides. In embracing what the easy road sings, Our passions flourish, our spirit abides.
1. A video for WORD THIEF – the song (in collaboration with Daniel Cavanagh) will be posted
2. Another poem from WORD THIEF (fly lady butterfly) will be put into a song (again with Dan Cavanagh) and shared here (maybe – if time allows it, another video will be posted too)
If you are wondering – WORD THIEF is written in all caps because – it looks better LOL
Cheers…
One of these days I will learn how to promote or advertise my books without feeling bad about it ❤️💜
reflections of an unquiet mind 