Vannie's debut book Emerald Rose features a series of prose and poetry making a home within these pages. These words tell stories of love,heartbreak and healing

If you only had 48 hours to make a decision that would change your life forever, what would you do? What if it meant leaving everything you’ve ever known behind and never looking back – the only man you’ve ever loved, the life you’ve built together? What about your children? This is the life altering decision she must make in 48 hours…

Pieces of me, is a poetic collection expressing personal and intimate perspective on love and how these four letters completely change and influence lives of people. The book strives to express these overwhelming emotions that sometimes push us to have various types of experiences and sometimes "unrealistic" expectations. Each piece is different for every single reader.

Pandora's Box is a compilation of my poetry, written over the course of thirty years. From the beginning I knew the title, because letting my words out was very much like the opening of Pandora's Box. The following are brief glimpses of whole poems; pulling back the bandage, exposing the surface of the wound to the air. Nancy Lister Swayzee

For Bobbi Jo the poem becomes a way to express what she is feeling on the inside. Manifested thoughts translated into text. A verbally non-verbal expression of thought. Some are created with pen to paper. Scratched and scribbled until the piece emerges from the inked chaos. Words written straight across the page while others are squeezed in the margins or squished in between the lines. Words lining the top or bottom and sometimes sides of the paper waiting to see if they will be used in th...

The journey we experience and the circumstances we encounter daily shape the exasperating emotions that bubble up in our minds, which can often attack our consciousness. We commonly refer to it as ‘Mental Health’. Mindfulness represents my journey through anxiety – a constant weight on my mental health. This compilation of poems aims to spread awareness and encourages strugglers to build their journey of hope. The book covers four sections of my journey: Stress and Anxiety, Change, Happine...

This is a collection of short stories and poems on life, love, loss, faith and dreams. It explores the many obstacles and struggles—both external and internal—that people go through in between the "Once upon a time…" and "…happily ever after"; that is, if they ever get to the happy.There will be THAT stranger and the chemical stolen glances you keep giving. There will be THAT crush whom you can't get up the nerve to talk to. There will be THAT friend whom you have a confession to m...

Inside Me is a small collection of poems dedicated to the Love and Passion of my life; may all my fellow women—wives, fiancées, girlfriends—who have ever loved a man or found the very perfect, completing match for their soul, find their love and passion for their man renewed, rekindled, refreshed.*Note to readers: 25% of all profits goes to ALFA, a charity helping adults with autism and other developmental disabilities in Southern Illinois live more full and abundant lives!*

There are unique spaces in each of our hearts for passion, romance, and true love. These spaces are exclusive and usually only made available to those we find ourselves uniquely attracted to for one reason or another; even if the reason seems to be without reason. Love is many times without logic. At the same time, these same others are others like no other in our eyes, in our hearts, in our minds, and in our lives. They spark a flame within that may burn white hot. Sometimes the flame is ...

Soaring is full of emotion, stillness and beauty. From fun child-centered poems to sadness, grieving and topics about the world, this book will take you anywhere you want to go. Jeanne writes through her pain and moods of all kinds and encompasses the awareness and the wholeness that remain. It is her vision of the world and is all about her life and experiences and how she takes all the knowledge and filters it through poem after poem. She lets go of the negativity and writes for anyone w...

This book of poetry will enlighten you and give you the inspiration to live life more abundantly.

Hardening of a Heart - If you read these words with your brain, you will think I am insane. But if you let them penetrate your heart, you may prevent it from being torn apart. Hindsight is a great teacher, so don’t think I am being a preacher. I am just trying to prevent more heartbreaks; you can learn from another’s heartache. Many may say heartache is inevitable, but it doesn’t have to be regrettable. Heartache may be part of the human experience, but it is vital to use your senses. Hear...