It's almost May, here was my April Goals: 
1.) I'm taking part in PMDD Awareness Month by (drum roll)...... writing a poem/day! There is a fun photo challenge that will be on Instagram. - While I did participate in this challenge, I realized that some poems I wrote for me....and not up for sharing. And that's okay! When I internalized certain pieces, I grew inward and stopped writing for just a bit. It got too much and I couldn't even involve myself in the Instagram challenge....that's also okay. Realizing that it's perfectly fine to step back and take a breather is key to grounding myself. One day, I'll share my thoughts on this but only when I'm ready to share. 
2.) I mentioned in my random rambling update that I am participating in a workshop called "Excavating Motherhood in/through Art," well I'd like to begin a series over on my very very neglected blog. As soon as I have enough material to cover, I'll start linking it to this site.  - I have zero material for this BUT I began a chapbook series over motherhood and identity! I finished one chapbook and sent it to two different contests, and just about to wrap up the second volume in the series - yay! 
3.) I've got one more blog tour and review with them in April and once that's done, I'll start reviewing only poetry books (and books by Penny Reid just because).  I reviewed two poetry books this month, and working on finishing up a third, hopefully before the month ends! 
4.) I started an outline for my "Letters to Heaven Trilogy" and I'm going to start working on storyboarding the first book, "Finding your way Home." This will be a follow up/flash forward on Dylan and Lenora Evers story from "Letters to Lenora." - Still storyboarding! I wrote a few scenes and researching Army life, and how faith fits into that! I realized that for this book, I want to cover the familial and faithful side of the army life. How does that affect how we form our own tribes, our own community of fellowship. I touched on Preeclampsia in Letters to Lenora, and I want to include that in Lenora's pregnancy (hey this isn't a spoiler, ok) and how pregnancy anxiety comes into play because of her mom's traumatic birth. THIS IS A HEAVY BOOK, so I started outlining more of Ethan's Epic quest and that'll cover the gorgeous Philippines. 

I'm sucking badly on blogging about "Life after Preeclampsia," that I'm thinking of just sticking with Instagramming for now. I'll be adding a photo and poetry series of life after pree for May's Preeclampsia Awareness Month......and what the what?! I was invited to speak at the Preeclampsia Dallas Promise Walk on May 19th! Super excited and grateful for the amazing opportunity and completely humbled by all the survivors I get to meet. 

So May Goals:
1.) Get it together and practice my speaking skills for the May walk....will be doing a couple of live and recorded videos in the next few days.
2.) AND I'll be going to an open mic event at a local coffee shop to get more practice at speaking in front of people. May 11th from 7 - 8:30 pm at Third Gen coffee house in The Woodlands. 
3.) Finish chapbook #2, have it reviewed and edited before finding a home for it. I've got a few chapbook contests I have my eye on.
4.) Continue with research and hopefully WRITE out a first rough draft. I'm hoping to get this done before the kid gets out for summer...I don't think I'll be getting any writing done at all this summer! 

What about you, friend? What are you working on next? Did you make your April goals? Are you looking forward to a fresh new month??
​Keep going! Keep at it at it! 

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the lovely Gayla Varna about being included in the Mar-Apr 2018 edition of We Art Friends, "Doorway to Art" edition. 
So grateful to be included among such incredibly talented and prolific poets. To download your free copy, click here, otherwise, just click on the picture. 

A few months ago I was interviewed by Jade Moore over on her site, Jade's Bookshelf. Thanks, Jade for the opportunity!
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"And this month, we have another individual, Leila Tualla, whose faith, and mental health have been present on her writing journey. Her books feature romance, poetry and personal memoir, and have proved inspiring to her readers who have been through similar experiences. I’m very proud to welcome Leila to my blog, and hope anyone reading this can take inspiration from her story."

DESCRIBE THE MOMENT YOU TRULY FELT LIKE AN AUTHOR.I’m still working on this one. Ha! Imposter syndrome is the worst.
WHAT BOOK BY ANOTHER AUTHOR DO YOU WISH YOU’D WRITTEN?I don’t think I have any. Mostly because I tend to write from some experiences in my life and I don’t know if I could create an entire world that someone else had imagined. I believe each person has a story to tell and it’s not my place to write their story.
Read the rest here.