Candice O’Reilly has released Sea Legs and Other Stories, a collection of poetry.
Sea Legs and Other Stories is a compilation of poems inspired by Candice‘s feelings and experiences, connected by an underlying sense of anxiety or worry, as well as a lot of sea metaphors.
“The majority of the pieces in Sea Legs began life as notes on my phone,” Candice tells TenEighty, “and a few weeks ago I decided to back up a bunch of photos and files on my phone because it’s slowly dying, and I realised that there were some interesting pieces of writing that I should probably do something with.”
Some of the pieces are years old and others were written as recently as last month. Candice says that she has no recollection of her reasons for writing some of ‘diary entry’-style ones. “I guess that’s when writing is at its most therapeutic,” she remarks, “when you can write about something then move on and forget about it.”
Candice is wary of the term ‘poetry’ to describe her collection, and has often referred to the pieces as ‘scribbles’, saying that for her “nothing feels honest unless it’s more like prose with the occasional rhyme thrown in”.
She announced the collection on Twitter to support from her followers, including fellow poet Savannah Brown.
@candysomething oooohhhh!! gimme a piece of this!!!
— savannah brown (@savannxhb) March 2, 2016
@candysomething I definitely do not regret buying that, honestly loved the poems, they gave me such feels 😀 seriously though amazing work 😝
— EvilHrnyUnicorns (@EvilHrnyUnicrns) March 2, 2016
@candysomething I'm trying to save money and there's very little I will spend on, but £2 for some sure-to-be lovely words? I can do that 😊
— Oddimaginer (@Oddimaginer) March 2, 2016
Candice says that Savannah Brown’s poems on YouTube and Rosianna Halse Rojas‘s Abstract and Brief Chronicles of Time were constantly in her mind while compiling the collection.
She also tweeted her thanks to Dodie Clark and writer and blogger Bee Stevenson for their help and support. “[Dodie] reads a lot of the stuff I write and is so encouraging,” reveals Candice. “I value her opinions because she’s such a talented songwriter and she seems to have a healthier attitude to sharing what she creates than I do.”
Bee suggested a couple of changes to a few of the pieces, as well as encouraging their release. “She would’ve pestered me to share the collection with people for the rest of my life if I hadn’t,” says Candice.
Candice admits to feeling nervous about sharing her writing, especially for sale as opposed to on YouTube, but she is very happy with the response it’s received.
“I hope people find something that resonates with them in my words, or at the very least, it makes people feel better about the strange things they think about in the middle of the night,” she says.
Sea Legs and Other Stories is now available to download for £2.
Want more?
Savannah Brown spoke to TenEighty about her first poetry book, Graffiti (and other poems). Alternatively find out more about Charlie McDonnell’s upcoming science book.
For updates follow @TenEightyUK on Twitter or like TenEighty UK on Facebook.
