Some Good News This Week

My book is out!

The last two weeks my newsfeed and e-mail inbox have been filled with mostly dark, foreboding information. On top of everything happening nationally and globally, my son came home with norovirus which has been its own special kind of hell (if you know, you know). It’s been challenging to push myself to look for the light, but last week If Adam Picked the Apple was officially published and is finally making its way into your hands. My publisher is working to get all pre-orders out in the next few weeks, so if you pre-ordered my book, be on the lookout.

While poetry can’t save the world, it is a testament of human resilience in the face of oppression. I know when I’m struggling most, I return to my favorite poets for solace and reinvigoration. My deepest hope is that this book will be a book you return to again and again, particularly in the next few years. Because others are better able to articulate how they feel about this book, I’d like to share a review that brought me to tears by a fellow talented writer

Maverick L. Malone

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Her debut poetry collection, If Adam Picked The Apple, is equal parts feisty-I-am-woman as well as tender, raw and deeply honest. The current socio-political landscape is not favorable to women, and it is for that reason and these unsettling times we’re navigating as a collective, that I feel this book is so needed.

Danielle uses her unique voice to bring awareness to the female experience in the intention of connecting with and empowering others. Her poetry and prose are carefully crafted, with beautiful imagery and evocative storytelling. Even if you are someone who doesn’t “like poetry,” you will like this book. The language is accessible and easy to read, but not so easy that it doesn’t invite self-reflection.

This isn’t a book of ho-hum micropoems that can be read in 20 minutes that say either absolutely nothing or reiterate the same tired, repetitive poems that others have already said. This is thought-provoking, unique, raw, and very real, and it is a collection that clearly demonstrates Coffyn’s knowledge of and passion for the craft.

If you sleep on this book, you’re doing both women at large and yourself a disservice. This book deserves to be in the hands of everyone and should be mandatory reading (especially for men, for maybe then they will finally understand what it’s like to be a woman).

We were “born to eat the apple, the pomegranate / ruby red juices dripping down my fingers, between my thighs,” as Coffyn so eloquently puts it. This book is exactly that: a sumptuous and nourishing piece of literature that will leave you satiated and pumped full of renewed purpose.

I’m deeply grateful to those early readers and reviewers. Word of mouth is incredibly important for independent writers without the power and prestige of a major publishing house behind them. For those of you who order and read the book, please take a moment to write an honest review of it on Amazon, Goodreads, and/or Storygraph. It takes just a few minutes and can make a huge difference for me as a writer.

One final note, I continue to think about how to use my platform, my writing, and my voice to combat the harm this current administration is enacting so quickly, so January 24th (publication day) through the end of February, 20% of all profits from If Adam Picked the Apple orders will be evenly split and donated to Everytown, a nonprofit dedicated to ending gun violence in the United States, and Keep Our Clinics, an organization working to keep independent abortion clinics open and accessible.

If you know someone who might enjoy a copy, might I suggest ordering it as a gift? It’s never too early to think about birthdays, book clubs, Galentine’s, Valentine’s, Christmas, Hanukkah, or any other holiday where you might gift someone a book of poetry.

I am deeply grateful to this community. Thank you for supporting my writing and this book (my publisher is small, and they received more pre-orders for If Adam Picked the Apple than they ever have for any other book published). Thank you for pre-ordering last fall so we could collectively contribute profits to The National Indigenous Resource Center. I remain committed to mutual aid, and your support helps to enable my ability to do so far more than I could on my own.

Yours,

Danielle