Author Spotlight: Anastasia Lindsey

A creative at heart, Anastasia Lindsey (Ana) finds joy in expressing herself through various artistic outlets, though poetry holds a special place in her life. In addition to writing, she enjoys painting and creating with her hands. In 2017, she courageously auditioned for The Voice, a thrilling experience that surprised many who know her as a quiet and shy individual.

Ana also finds beauty in life’s simple pleasures. She loves meditating, spending time with family, and indulging in cheesy romance shows on Netflix. A Midwest native, she embraces her small-town roots and appreciates being present in every moment.

Anastasia Lindsey (Middle). 

Q. How long have you been writing and what inspired you to start writing?

AL: So I've actually been writing since grade school, and I'm in my 30s now, so what inspired me to keep writing was actually my response that I received from my teacher when I turned in one of my poems. I really didn't even know it was a poem or I was a poet at the time, but we had a poetry assignment, and we had to turn in a poem, and when I did that, her response that I got back actually, like, meant a lot to me, like, as a kid, you know, growing up and trying to find your place in the world, her response that I got to my poem is what really made me want to be like, Okay, I can do this. I have something that really is mine, you know.  I never stopped writing from there and it wasn't until, maybe high school, when I really started picking it up and using it as an outlet to release and work through the things that US teenagers go through. So that's kind of like my background. I think I was born with it, and then my teacher kind of showed me, like, “hey, you are really good at this. I think you're a natural born poet”.

Q. What time of the day do you usually write and describe a typical writing day?

AL: Okay, so usually it’s first thing in the morning, or really late at night when I can’t sleep, or during the day when I’m getting too wrapped up in what’s going on around me. Then I’m like, ‘Okay, I need to focus on what’s going on within me.’ But I love writing first thing in the morning, before I do anything. Like, I wake up, and I just journal. It doesn’t have to be about anything; I just want to write. And then late at night is when the creativity hits me. Like, if I’m experiencing insomnia that night, then I turn to writing. That’s my favorite part of not being able to sleep—just writing.

Throughout the day, sometimes I’ll just see what’s going on around me, and that’s like my break. So, if I have a busy day, I turn to my writing. That could look like anything. Sometimes I pull cards, like writing prompt cards, or I’ll do journal prompt exercises, or I’ll just reflect on how I’m feeling, and I’ll write about that. If I’m overwhelmed or emotional that day, I can usually get five to ten poems written, just based on my own emotions. So, I would say my emotions are a big driving force for my writing.

Q. Tell me about your first published book? What was the journey like?

AL: It took me about a year to write. Honestly, when I was writing the book, I didn’t intend to make it a book. I just knew that what I was going through was really, really heavy at the time, and naturally, I resorted to my poetry as a means of release since all of my past trauma was resurfacing. It was really, really dark. I just couldn’t find happiness. So, I was writing poems to find happiness and joy again.

What I found was that it felt really isolating. I felt really alone at the time. It was kind of scary to be writing all of this. That’s when the book idea came to me. I thought, 'If I’m experiencing all of this right now, there have got to be others who feel this way too.' It’s really scary to feel alone and face your own trauma—that’s not a good feeling, you know? So, I thought maybe it was time to put these poems into a book and get them out into the world. Maybe this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I led with that thought and decided, 'I’m going to do it.'

That’s how I came up with the idea to write the book, to do the scary, vulnerable thing, and put my poems out there. The title is Ocean, and I came to that through meditation. I like to meditate a lot, and I was trying to think of a word that would describe what these poems are. They were very emotional, like me, and I thought of something water-based. Then the word 'ocean' came to me, and I knew, “Okay, this is it. We’re doing it”.

Q. What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

AL: So, I always try to use the word ‘strong’ or ‘influential,’ because to me, good and bad writing is subjective to whoever is really reading that poem. I even think about my book in this instance because when I first put it out there, I thought, ‘What if people don’t like my book? What if they think my poems are bad?’ I had to get rid of that thinking. I realized there’s going to be someone out there who doesn’t think my poetry book is that good. But equally, there are going to be people who do think it’s good. I had to shift my mindset to understand that there’s no such thing as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ It’s more about how moving it is, how inspirational it is, or whether it’s transformative.

Those are the things I look for in books, poems, or literary pieces as a whole: does it create movement within me? I can say it’s ‘good,’ but for me, that’s what moves me to say it’s a very powerful piece. So yeah, that makes sense.

Q. How do you handle writer’s block?

AL: Honestly, music helps me. I think we sometimes listen to music either to match our mood or to uplift ourselves, but when I listen to music, I often focus more on the lyrics rather than the beat. I ask myself, 'What is this artist trying to say?' I don’t just listen to it as a song to enjoy—I listen to it as if I’m intersecting with the lyrics. For me, that helps my mind generate my own lyrics. Sometimes I think, 'What would I name this song?' or 'How would I change the lyrics to this song?' And that helps me write a poem about the song.

That’s one of my favorite ways to write—listening to a song but in a different way than I have before. It might be my favorite song or a song I’ve heard many times. I just approach it from a different point of view. I wish I could explain it scientifically, but it really does get my brain working in a different way, and in turn, it creates these poems. I think, 'Okay, that was a fun exercise.'

I naturally gravitate toward Jhené Aiko. Her music is just very soothing, and it’s different. Sometimes I try to explain her music to people who haven’t heard it, and they ask, 'What genre is she?' And I’m like, 'I don’t know. You could say R&B or soul, but she’s not just that.' She’s hard to define, and she’s definitely one of a kind. I also love Sabrina Claudio—her tones and her lyrics. Her lyrics have helped me break out of my shell because she’s so open with her sensuality and very passionate. 

Q. What was the most enjoyable and most challenging part of writing your book?

AL: I would say the challenging part was that I had no idea what I was doing. It sounds like a fun idea to write a book until you’re actually doing it and realize there’s so much more that comes with writing a book. It’s not just writing. So, I would say the challenge was uncovering all of these unknowns. There were so many things I had never thought about in the literary world, and I was like, 'This is kind of scary.' It almost made me not want to do it, but I had all of my poems done, so I thought, 'If this is the hard part, then I just need to get through it, because what’s on the other side is going to be really beautiful”.

So, I would say that was the challenging part—just trying to work through all of these unknowns, because that’s scary for me. I usually go into things knowing that I have some idea of what I’m doing. But with this, I didn’t, and I was like, 'I hope I don’t fail my book.' That was the one thing I didn’t want—to fail my book.

The most rewarding part was discovering all of these vulnerable pieces of myself and not being afraid to share them. The old me would have shied away from that and said, 'That’s too daunting, that’s too scary. I’m not going to do that,' or, 'I’m afraid of what will happen if I do.' But I told myself, 'This is really good. This is what you’re supposed to be doing in the world. This is part of your purpose.'

So, it wasn’t just writing the book; it was also becoming vulnerable. The final piece was feeling safe in that vulnerability—to write the book and to create the poems that would be out in the world one day. That was the part I loved the most: the self-discovery aspect of writing Ocean. You still learn things about yourself every day, and I learned a lot about myself while writing Ocean.

Q. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?

AL: I am working on a second book. The manuscript is technically done, so now I just have to work on publishing it. It’s the complete opposite of Ocean—the color themes, the palette, everything, even the themes. It’s called Wildfire. And yes, this book has lots of steamy, spicy poetry. It’s healing, but on a totally different level.

With Wildfire, I was really intentional about writing the poems, not only for myself, because I’m really reserved and don’t usually talk about steamy or spicy things, but a lot of people were requesting it. So, I thought, 'Okay, I’m going to try this. I’m going to try.' I also wanted to be mindful of people who have experienced sexual abuse or trauma. The poems are steamy and spicy, but there’s no vulgar language or violent acts. It’s more on the passionate side—very passion-driven—and it’s about teaching people that healthy love exists and that healthy passion is out there.

That’s the theme around Wildfire. It’s still very healing, but it brings up different emotions within the body. So yeah, I’m really excited for that one!

Q. What advice would you give a new writer, someone just starting out?

AL: I would tell them to just pick up the pen and write. Don’t worry about whether you’re good or bad, or whether people are going to like your poetry, because that will hinder you from writing at all. If you have a story within you and want to write about it, just write it. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar—that can all be fixed later.

Your main intention as a writer is simply to write. Whether you’re releasing your emotions, helping people work through their stories, or even just reciting your own story, the most important part of being a writer is just to write. Don’t let fear get in your way, because I almost let it get in mine. Ocean wouldn’t exist, it wouldn’t be out in the world, if I had let my fear win. So don’t let your fear win. Even if you’re scared to write, do it. Just pick up the pen and write. I promise you can fix all the grammar stuff later. Just write with your heart. Write what you feel, and the rest will unfold. The story will tell itself in the end.

Purchase a copy of O C E A N on Amazon and follow for more information on Ana @anamariepoetry.