Welcome to my author spotlight guest posts where I introduce you to independent authors from various genres from around the globe. You never know. You might meet your new favorite author!

My guest today is Kohr Hui-Min. We met through Twitter and share a love of poetry. I always marvel at how our blogs allow us to connect with people from all over the world. Khor lives in Malaysia and her blog is called Project Prose. She also writes about meditation, and the environment, all things dear to my heart.

Poet & Author, Khor Hui-Min

Khor Hui Min thinks of life as a continuous learning process and believes in a healthy balance between work and life. She is a freelance writer, who is active in publishing poems and short stories. She moonlights as a face painter for the Malaysian Nature Society and also enjoys creating and carving pottery. She has a Bachelor of Computer Science and Master of Science (Environmental Science). You can read more of her writing at https://projectprose.wordpress.com/ and https://huiminskitchen.wordpress.com/

Meet Khor Hui-Min:

I have always loved to write. In my student days, I would write perhaps one poem a year. But in 2014, I attended a writing workshop by author Zen Cho at the Cooler Lumpur Festival, entitled ‘Inspiration, Influence, and Interaction’. I wrote a poem as an assignment at the end of the workshop.

Something in me changed. I decided that I would start a writing blog, and post something once a week. It turned out that when I sat down to write, what invariable came out was poetry. I wrote poetry every week. To find inspiration to keep the momentum going, I searched on the Internet for writing prompts, and those have been very helpful, even if the prompt was just a single word. I would challenge myself to think of something to write, anything. What came out was, of course, poetry.

I also liked to read about stories of myths, legends, and magic finding them very interesting. They are a source of inspiration to me too. That was how I came across Colleen’s blog, which I follow with interest. I also follow her on Twitter.

“I told myself that at the rate I’m going, in a few years’ time, I would have enough material to produce a book.”

In 2017, I took a leap of faith – I quit my editorial job in the educational publishing industry to become a self-employed writer. For a few months, busy with my new direction, I forgot about my intention to publish. But in April 2018, as the dust settled, my dream of publishing surfaced again. It just so happened that a friend in a writers group had published with Kindle in Amazon.com, so I asked her how to do it, and she patiently answered all my questions.

So, I published on 27 April 2018. The book has a collection of 53 poems, mainly focusing on nature and life. Nature has always been the No.1 inspiration for me, and it is reflected in my poems and articles. I also write poems on life.

I have always wondered why there are so many unhappy poems out there – people write poetry on heartbreak, general unhappiness, and as an outlet to vent their frustration and dissatisfaction. I, on the other hand, like to write happy, positive and uplifting poetry. There is so much negativity in the world. Why add to it?

Instead, I want to bring more light and joy into the world instead. When people are down, they can pick up my book, flip to a random page, and read something that makes them feel better.

Here is a poem about forest folk from the book, which I hope you will like.

MOON DANCE

Dancing, twirling, in the moonlight
Skirts of petals, shimmering bright
Light as air; fluttering, gliding
Pleasant laughter like bells, tinkling
Twirling round in a ring, so wide
Graceful and lively, side by side
Dancing and singing, with delight
Pretty elves and nymphs, what a sight
Springtime homage to mother moon
So alluring; makes young hearts swoon

© Khor Hui Min, 20 May 2015

 

Here’s how to find Khor Hui-Min:

Facebook at Khor Hui Min

Twitter at @MinKhor

Blogs: projectprose.wordpress.com and huiminskitchen.wordpress.com

Poems of Nature & Life is available in paperback and Kindle ebook format from Amazon.

You can see the paperback version here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1980944490

And you can see the ebook version here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CPBLK63

 Thanks for stopping by to meet Khor Hui-Min. I look forward to reviewing her debut poetry novel, “Poems of Nature & Life.” ❤

By the way, would you be interested in appearing in my Author Spotlight – Guest Posts? I’m looking for posts dedicated to the themes of fairies, myths, and magic where published authors can show off their writing skills by stretching their wings and stepping out of their genre comfort zones if need be.

I want self-published authors to share their books and to tell us about the magic it took to create them.  If you are an enthusiastic published author and would like to be featured on my blog, please click HERE to find out more.” ~Colleen~