The Poetteer

Hello Poetteers, 1. Take a playlist and press shuffle 2. Pick 7 songs 3. Write down the titles and/or lyrics 4. Play around and poem! Disney Frozen cold dry or hot it's a circle of life in the corner of Arabian nights or under the sea you got a friend in me Just a spoonful of sugar or building a snowman you got a friend in me. Just dream more fun cuz dreams are wishes your heart makes you got a friend in me. you got a friend in me you will be in my heart forever and always. Stay inspired, Fida For future reference, download the PDF of the soundtrack poetry prompt . 

Hello Poetteers, What I'm Writing: The first two weeks of feb I wrote everyday like I wanted to. The third week I wrote just three days. We're on the fourth week, I hope to redeem myself with lots of writing. I did write several poems for my WIP these past couple of days. If you didn't see on twitter or Monday I found a book to be a comp for my WIP, so I'm really re-inspired. What I'm Reading: The fourth book I read this year and the one I refer to above is THE PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer E. Smith: It's a short, fun read. I really loved it. It's fun seeing the common things the two have and the differences they hide. It's just fun seeing how the puzzle pieces of seeing each other fit. I'd give it 4.5 stars. My next two reads with be DRAGON SEER by Heather McCorkle & ELEVATED by Elana Johnson. The books I want to read are all on my TBR list but the tops ones are this month's releases, especially MAYBE ONE DAY and BRIGHT BEFO

Hello Poetteers, • HER OLIVES has been out in the wild for a week! • I didn't say this in the review , but it took me three tries to finally read ZEITOUN. I'm really glad I did, I really love it. • on both days of the weekend I attempted an internet free day, but lasted four to five hours both times. • I finished reading THE PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. I know what book will be the comp for MAYBE LOVING YOU. • my friend is attempting to write in Arabic to me. • whatever coffee my dad got from the ROYAL CUP is very yummy! Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, A while back I was at goodwill and got some books. One was ZEITOUN. And I finished it earlier this week. Here's my thoughts: This book has annotations. Mostly in the beginning, then stopped. It's a humbling feeling seeing Quran verses in this book. Seeing someone love the words of the Quran. There is lots of annotations about dismissing instinct vs wanting to give into it. This person knows what to highlight. I like the quote, "if a sailor finds the right port or right woman he'll drop anchor." I loved reading the story of how Zeitoun and Kathy met. "She had a wide, shy, electric smile. He wanted that. He wanted to make her smile like that. He wanted to be the reason." I really loved reading her friend's and Kathy's convert stories. It will make you fall in love with Islam. It did for me even though I am a Muslim. It's all in how the message is given. Seeing it made me smile and tear up. I love what he did with the fishes. Hi

Hello Poetteers, I answered some prompts from POETS ON A PAGE and thought I should share (: Arid Dirt roads, ghost town old, empty, alone a mailbox, a flower still stands A sign, someone lost gives hope, settles a house, a store comes up Once arid, now alive. Love Hydrate myself for the day giving love to a cute, little furball to expand my giving love for later a garden, a ball mysterious to guests receiving roses find one, a lover reveal myself, we escape we dance I leave letting my head fall into dreams of seeing him again. They Say They say write without thought without critique I do this everyday they say do something different I can't if it'll ruin my love if it'll cause me to think too much just let me be. Sick Why write of such a sad thing yet I started this love with sorrow but now I look back glad I did it helps us heal but now may be different I get sick, I laugh I won't question anymore God is here, helping me. Winter Dark and cold bringing aches and sorrow

You know my love for poetry. You may know or not know of my love for Palestine. I combined both into a beautiful book collection. I put my heart out there more than any other poem. It's about struggle. Hope. Victory. I hope you come celebrate its release with me. Goodreads | CreateSpace | Amazon | Barnes & Noble Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Her Olives comes out tomorrow!! Here are some behind the scenes: 1. Other titles I was thinking of was JASMINE AND OLIVES, JASMINE AND HER OLIVES or HER OLIVES. 2. My sister almost made a cover for the book. 3. It took me three years to write all the poems. Poems require inspiration not force. 4. My drafts went from a collection of poems in order they were written to a story. Then back to a different order of collection will see when the book is released! 5. Until two months before publication I was still adding poems. The gray area of advantage and disadvantage of self publishing. 6. This was mostly inspired through twitter. The other half is my mind. I didn't meet anyone hinted in my poems. Except for my dad and grandmothers obviously.  Now onto the blessings of the week: • Had an awesome weekend on twitter with the Love-a-Thon. • My mom's homemade bread. • Last but not least the wake up calls/reality checks God gives us with all these news of

Hello Poetteers, I have put my heart out there with my poems, but I'm about to do it with a letter. It's personal and hard for me, so be kind, please. Thank you! And here's my love letter poem (: Dear Fida, Habibti, no matter how bad and hard it is right now you will be in a better place with awesome people, old and new. Those who listen to you, understand your silence and wait for you to talk. Know you need a heart to heart, but sometimes just want a hug and their presence beside you. You will overcome your disability and fears. You will get out of that job and get a new, better one. You will see your writing succeed with love, touched souls. You will find someone who loves you more than your crush or maybe it is him or not. You will get to do more travels. You will be inspiring, a good role model and mentor. You will get to be more you. Love, Fifi

Hello Poetteers, This challenge is all about mash-ups. We have to put together our bookish life with a non-bookish passion. It's easy once you know your passion. I love reading and writing stories and poetry. I love music, food and travel. I want to travel everywhere. Backpack in Europe. Explore Asia. Help Arabia. Try all the different foods. Probably with the characters of PAPER TOWNS. They have a good plan in place. You got to listen to music when you're driving or on a plane. UNWRITTEN is a bookish song. Or anything Natasha Bedingfield. Or anything bought for my phone. I just like background noise when I read or write. Yet I like to hang out with the songs I first heard of when introduced to music, instead of the newer ones. Maybe in our travels and meals we bump into my favorite artists and get to do some cool stuff like write, sing or just explore with them. At the end and even during the adventures I'd keep a journal of poetry and what we did. There I got everything I

Hello Poetteers, I have a story for you: One day, I was WRITING with PARK. Out of the blue, a CAT came out of nowhere! It was so FAT, SLOW and ORANGE. At first, we were afraid, we were petrified, but we RAN. We hopped on CAR to make our getaway. As we escaped, we turned up the radio because UNWRITTEN came on and made me HAPPY. Everything was extremely smooth sailing until a DOG appeared in the middle of the road. We swerved to avoid it, but while PARK stayed on CAR, I got thrown onto my side in the woods. I couldn't get up, and felt SORE as I lay there staring up at the trees. What was I going to do? I heard a RUSTLE among the leaves, and felt SCARED. Surely, this was going to be my end. As my eyes fluttered shut, the last thing I saw was a head of BLOND hair and BLUE eyes. When I woke up again, I was on a BED. My body hurt a whole lot less, and I could sit up. There was a ROOMMATE and NURSE in the room, along with SANDWICHES and WATER. The door suddenly opened to reveal LEVI, a

Hello Poetteers, Here's my book valentine, enjoy! Dear Book Boyfriend, I can't just pick one, yet I can't cheat. I'll create one myself. I love one who is shy and sensitive. One that is willing to help me. One who shows his strength and finishes his job. One who shows his love, but respects my boundaries. Maybe I did find my one book boyfriend. Maybe it's you, Park. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, As you know HER OLIVES will be released on Tues and I thought I should do some promo, enjoy! Palestine Her olives sought the wind from mornings in Jenin, habibi (my love). Travel From rooftops of Tehran to mornings in Jenin three cups of tea habibi (my love) reclaim your heart. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, My blog title fits right in with today, lol! I couldn't share my blessings on Monday for book promo. But today's perfect! Here are the moments I felt the most loved: • Co-writing a poem with Misoon. • Spontaneous visits to my BFF. • A surprise phone call from a childhood friend I hadn't seen in more than 10 years. • When my cats come sit by me. • Being able to stay in contact with former teachers. • Chatting with friends via twitter. And many more... Thank you Kate for the inspiration, check out her post ! Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, It's day two of the blog tour. Besides the cover and poems I needed a title, too. Here's how I came to it: Jasmine and olives two beautiful things that make up Palestine Jasmine and her olives sounds like a picture book Her olives referring to Palestine as her and the olives, olives to me as her and olives as my poems. P.S. HER OLIVES is releasing exactly a week from today. Yet today is someone else's release day. After reading the six chapter sample on wattpad I knew I would have to buy it. SOLVING FOR EX is an awesome book by Leigh Ann Kopans and you can enter a giveaway! a Rafflecopter giveaway Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, It's the end of the blogfest, yet you can always go back. The link is open until the book's release. Today is the start of the blog tour. Finding the Right Girl First she was just a drawing changed to her dress was short needing too be modest found one but her seating inappropriate found a third long sleeved, skirt wearing girl in boots if you look closely she even looks Arab prefect the one for HER OLIVES. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We have reached the last day of OLIVE JAZZ, sadness. Today's prompt is simple. Write about the country you're from. You can always go back to old prompts ( day 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 ) and respond to them separately. Or... You can be cool and respond to all of them in one poem. Thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We are reaching towards our last day of this poetry blogfest. Today will be Two for Thursday. Your second to last prompt is to write about a struggle and victory or struggle vs. victory, anything like that. You try and try keep being put down but finally one small thing done more done until something big you keep going. Option two is inspired by Janet Gurtler. Write about things you thought were true. Things I thought were true that I could know only one language that all flowers are real that your actual heart looks like a heart that everything is good Things I thought were true that I was confined that I couldn't get better Things I thought were true that my faith was only about physical things that love was hard to get. P.S. I'm adding new goal. I want to reach 15k in my WIP by the end of the week. Practically have three days left. Yet my WIP is already at 10k. That means I have to write 1k one day and 2k over the next two

Hello Poetteers, Today is day three of OLIVE JAZZ. The prompt is write about a stranger and an enemy. If you want to go back: Day Two . Day One . My goal is to write everyday and edit at least a page a day of MAYBE LOVING YOU. I finished my writing for today. I still need to edit today. I did get four pages done yesterday. P.S. You should check out the BLITZ team. In small, you spread love to bloggers. One blog I think you should check out is Cafuné , if you love poems, bookstore observations and intimate things. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, Today is day two of OLIVE JAZZ!! The prompt is a little simpler than yesterday's : Write about family vs friend. Family vs. Friend Family is someone that always stays while friends come and go Family is those who understand the craziness of your family yet friends give you an outsider view on how to deal with family Family is back home where all the extended members live in the same house or at least the same street Friends are those who live near by become your family when you don't have one. P.S. A group of girls are hosting a writer recharge this month and I'm joining in. My goals are to revise a page a day for MAYBE LOVING YOU. Write 6 days a week. You can check in at #WriterRecharge. Love and thank you, Fida

Hello Poetteers, We will resume regular schedule after Feb 18, 2014. This week is the poetry blogfest for the upcoming release of HER OLIVES. Today's prompt is to write a poem about a typical day in freedom and occupation. Good luck! Here is my attempt: Occupation vs. Freedom Occupation is your land taken going trough checkpoints at every corner to enter another city waiting in long lines not knowing if you'll get through if they are in a good mood or bad mood and shoot. Freedom is living wherever getting what you need and even what you want and a good amount of it Freedom is is the ability to go anywhere without being watched or hurt. --- Celebration Yes there is Independence Day or anniversaries of loss days and harvest days and different kinds of love days Yet we need more days to show our love for the world and our countries Yesterday as a Palestinian I celebrate as a Palestinian is represented on TV Today I start a celebration of my upcoming publication of Palestinian