Announcements:
I hope you enjoyed my interview on Whispers in the Dark last night. If you didn’t have a chance to listen to it, don’t worry! You can listen to it right now by clicking here.
In other news, People Like Books posted an interview with their review of Take Me Tomorrow, and you can read both by clicking here, but here is a small quote from both:
Review: “The pacing of this book is also top notch…I’d say if you are a fan of Divergent, Marie Lu’s Legend, and heck maybe even Alex Bracken’s The Darkest Minds, then you’ll like this book. (Hopefully LOVE it – just like I did.)”
Interview: “…my characters change dramatically in different ways, but a reader might need to read it a few times to realize that. I don’t like making things too obvious. I want readers to experience the book one hundred times and realize something new every time.”
Lastly, Miss Heliotrope Reads also reviewed Take Me Tomorrow here, stating, “Thompson has come up with a good story and has, very impressively, managed to find a niche in a highly saturated genre.”
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Coffee & Cats: Episode 6
It’s that time! After four Fridays, you have voted, commented, and shared four poems, and based on your activity, I have read your favorite poem. The winning poem is The Autumn Railroad, and the winning fan is Steven Sanchez. If you haven’t already, click the links to check them both out. Below, you can watch my reading of the poem, but I had a bit of a cold! So I apologize if I sound sleepy. I tried my best. And just like last month, I have put smaller explanations below the video as a back story to the inspiration.
I hope you enjoy it!
The grave of my teenager daughter
Opening line:
is a restaurant she was born at 16.
This isn’t about losing a child. Not to me anyway. For me, it’s about burying your teenage years behind you as you move forward into adult hood despite the lingering pain many teenagers have to go through: first loves, first jobs, first drugs, etc.
Opening line:
We sat on the floor as you began, and
This also resides in younger years, and the inspiration comes from many stories combined together, the main one being how a parent can teach a child many things, like cooking, but they never get the full opportunity to tell them the entire story. The second one is a combination of losing friends and realizing exactly what they brought into your life afterward – including different cultures, stories, and learning experiences. And, yes, I seriously cannot peel oranges.
Opening line:
it was a place of great indifference, the type
This poem can be read two ways (or possibly more) but most readers seem to enjoy it as a metaphor for the season, which I can definitely see, but it’s sadly based on a true story that happened near a town I used to go to. Two boys died on the railroad tracks while biking, and the accident left a haunting glare on the area. The tracks also got shutdown shortly after, but I was told it wasn’t from the accident, so I think – in a way – it did become this horrible real-life metaphor for fall and winter, coming and ending on a single day.
To the Anti-American Teacher…We Knew You Were Pro-World
Opening line:
A clause in your contract slated your signature for patriotism.
The last poem is the closest poem to a completely literal story. I had a government teacher in high school that did refuse to sign his contract (not because he was anti-American, but because – as he explained – he was shocked the teaching demanded such a thing.) He did, in fact, remove his flag, and he decorated his room with all the flags around the world, but no, he wasn’t fired for it. I seem to recall him getting in trouble, but I don’t know the full extent of it. However, I truly appreciated how he took the time to teach us about other countries in the spare minutes we had, and a lot of his teachings came from his personal experiences when he traveled the world. I can admit that I barely remember the classwork, but I remember every time he spoke about his travels. The Dr. Seuss quote is included in this poem because that was a quote my high school used a lot.
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Hope you enjoyed the explanations and the reading! Can’t wait for the next poems to come out on my Wattpad every Friday. Remember to share, vote, and comment for your chance to be mentioned.
~SAT
Shannon A. Thompson 
Brilliant! I loved this poem. My favorite line is “where the leaves don’t seem so red anymore.” It definitely gives the feeling of something lost in time, like memories preserved but in the process instead became haunted. It’s true to the feeling of fall and winter.
Thank you! I am glad you enjoyed the poem.
~SAT
Every day, if I’m lucky, I learn something new. Sometimes, it’s even useful. And you gave me my daily lesson. Thank you so much. Silent.
I like not making character transitions too obvious, but more subtle. I would take that to mean some people won’t show much external change, no matter what’s going on inside. Others will be completely destroyed. I must go back to my WIP and see where I might apply this.
I am glad to hear it! I hope you enjoy returning to your WIP and trying out new things. Thank you for reading and commenting!
~SAT