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Review of Sleeping with Ghosts

jodiwebb9




“Beautifully crafted and luminous, these poems take the reader on an intimate and unforgettable journey of love found and lost, the joys of creativity, and the power of memory.” — Judith Liebmann, Ph.D.,Poet Laureate of Branford, CT


Sleeping with Ghosts is not an ordinary ghost tale. Jen’s latest collection of writings is a poignant meditation on a life of love confronted.” — Mary O'Connor, author of Say Yes! to Your Creative Self


More About Sleeping with Ghosts


Known for her meditations and musings about our outside world, Jen Payne takes readers inside this time…into the heart and mind of a poet, where memories wander, hearts break, and ghosts appear in dreams. Those ghosts — her lovers, soulmates, and muses — reveal themselves slowly, one at a time, chapter by chapter, in this wistfully reflective, time-traveling memoir.


More About Jen Payne


Jen Payne is inspired by those life moments that move us most — love and loss, joy and disappointment, milestones and turning points. When she is not exploring our connections with one another, she enjoys contemplating our relationships with nature, creativity, and spirituality. Ultimately, she believes it is the alchemy of those things that helps us find balance in this frenetic, spinning world.


In addition to Sleeping with Ghosts, Jen has published four books: LOOK UP! Musings on the Nature of Mindfulness, Evidence of Flossing: What We Leave Behind, Waiting Out the Storm, and Water Under The Bridge: A Sort-of Love Story


Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the international anthology Coffee Poems: Reflections on Life with Coffee, the Guilford Poets Guild 20th Anniversary Anthology, Waking Up to the Earth: Connecticut Poets in a Time of Global Climate Crisis, the 2024 Connecticut Literary Anthology, and The Perch, a publication by the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health. 


Jen is the owner of Words by Jen, a graphic design and creative services company she started in 1993, based in Connecticut — where she keeps house with a cat named Molly. 


My Thoughts on Sleeping with Ghosts


I remember a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away when...somehow I ended up in a poetry class. Did I need the credits? Was it at an advantageous time? Was a friend taking it and wanted a buddy? I have no idea but it only revealed what I had suspected for a long time. I didn't get poetry. I misunderstood the symbolism. The poems seemed either too long or too short. All in all, I remember it as a frustrating experience.


So I was wary when I began Jen Payne's Sleeping with Ghosts. But my experience reading her poetry was not what I had anticipated.


Sleeping with Ghosts consists of 103 poems that trace a memoir in verse of sorts through Payne's past relationships. It feels both extremely personal and universal. Despite the poems drawing on Payne's experiences, many times I felt as if she had looked through a magic lens at my past relationships and emotions. Where in the past I had despaired at symbolism, with this book I was happy to contemplate certain phrases, wondering if she meant this or that. The book is divided into various sections with titles that tantalize and illustrations to liven up the pages.


Although I do not have rich knowledge of poetry, I found Sleeping with Ghosts to be a rewarding experience.


Want a Free Copy?


You could enter to win a copy of Sleeping with Ghosts and learn more on the WOW-Women on Writing Blog Tour on the Muffin. You only have until October 27 to enter to win HERE!



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1 Comment


Words by Jen
Words by Jen
Oct 26, 2024

Jodi! I am so glad you were able to enjoy the poetry in Sleeping with Ghosts! TBH? I sometimes struggle reading poetry myself, so I understand the apprehension. I'm happy to hear you liked it and could relate to the stories!

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