Category: Smart Cookie PR

#PressRelease: Tampa Poet Published in Literary Magazine Neptune

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

April 24, 2024

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

                                            Tampa Poet Published in Literary Magazine Neptune

        James W.A. is no stranger to epiphanies but recently he received his first credit in a literary magazine in Tampa based bi-annual journal Neptune. His poem, Words Amongst Ashes, talks about his life as a writer, and all that it encompasses. You can check out his and other poets work in the newest issue of Neptune which you can find at the following link: https://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/10229810/dde501e6de9c36500760aeb56a92d696b0fbc39a Congratulations James at such an epiphanic achievement.

About the book: 

In his sophomore title and first pure poetry collection, James W. A. explores the duality

found in the journey of one’s soul. Drawing from his own history, observations, and

imagination, he conjures the misery of younger days, the peace of more mature ones,

and the meanings of life and love in both. Found within these pages are stories,

musings, dreams, hopes, and emotions that show a progression from sorrow into joy,

and the shades of each in the other. Pour a glass, open your heart, and prepare to

venture forth with the titular concepts to experience for yourself the darkness of

Desolation and the triumphant elation of Epiphany.

About the Author: 

James W. A. was born, raised, and lives in the Tampa Bay area. After graduating from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg’s Honors College, he

published his first book, In the Library, in 2015. Since then, he has honed his ever-

evolving, contemporary style, both creatively and as a professional content writer. While

moving away from the dark subjects of younger days, James W. A. seeks to use his

experiences, joys, sorrows, and wonders he sees in the world around him to lead others

to truth and beauty and share meaningful stories to last the ages. 

The author is available for interviews, readings, appearances, and features. For bookings and information, contact his publicist at chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

#PressRelease: Tampa Poet Celebrates Recent Epiphany

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

April 24, 2024

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

                                                     Tampa Poet Celebrates Recent ‘Epiphany’

      James W.A. recently won two Bookfest Awards for his second collection Desolation and Epiphany. He won both for Outstanding Cover Art, Second Place and Contemporary Poetry-Modern, Third Place. Both awards were awarded during the Spring Bookfest Ceremony  ending on April 7, 2024. You can see a list of past and previous winners on Bookfest’s website here: https://www.thebookfest.com/book-awards-spring-2023-first-place/ Congratulations to James and artist Ashton Lay for their subsequent award wins.

About the book: 

In his sophomore title and first pure poetry collection, James W. A. explores the duality

found in the journey of one’s soul. Drawing from his own history, observations, and

imagination, he conjures the misery of younger days, the peace of more mature ones,

and the meanings of life and love in both. Found within these pages are stories,

musings, dreams, hopes, and emotions that show a progression from sorrow into joy,

and the shades of each in the other. Pour a glass, open your heart, and prepare to

venture forth with the titular concepts to experience for yourself the darkness of

Desolation and the triumphant elation of Epiphany.

About the Author: 

James W. A. was born, raised, and lives in the Tampa Bay area. After graduating from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg’s Honors College, he

published his first book, In the Library, in 2015. Since then, he has honed his ever-

evolving, contemporary style, both creatively and as a professional content writer. While

moving away from the dark subjects of younger days, James W. A. seeks to use his

experiences, joys, sorrows, and wonders he sees in the world around him to lead others

to truth and beauty and share meaningful stories to last the ages. 

The author is available for interviews, readings, appearances, and features. For bookings and information, contact his publicist at chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

#PressRelease: Poet Releases Second Poetry Collection Centered Around The ‘Art of Job Hunting’

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

November 7, 2023

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Poet Releases Second Poetry Collection Centered Around The ‘Art of Job Hunting’

Anastasia Fenald is no stranger to the job hunt. With a B.A. in Global Studies and an M.A. in Globalization and Development respectfully, she knows the anguish, torture, and frustration of the endless cycle of applications, assessments, job interviews, and rejection emails which led her to write her second poetry collection about just that. With stout observations and blunt truths sharper than a 24k ballpoint pen across company letterhead, Fenald’s new collection is sure to showcase capitalism for what it is: a corporate game of russian roulette while still appealing to the unemployed and corporate game players alike. The collection releases everywhere in paperback, ebook, and audiobook on November 28, 2023 from Riot of Roses Publishing.

About The Book: Capitalism got you down? Me too.THE ART of JOB HUNTING is Anastasia Helena Fenald’s second poetry collection, a classic one-two punch of humorous satire and blunt truth. While taking inspiration from job applications, skill assessments, and interview questions, each poem delivers wit and sarcasm sprinkled with plenty of uncomfortable (read: honest) vulnerability. THE ART of JOB HUNTING is for anyone living paycheck to paycheck, plotting to cannibalize the rich, and still hopeful enough to think they have a chance against nepo babies.

About the Author: 

Anastasia Helena Fenald (b. 1992) is a second-generation Ukrainian-Hispanic-American

poet from California’s windy High Desert. She has a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Riverside, California (2014) and an M.A. in Globalization and Development from the University of Sheffield, United Kingdom (2015). Known for her energetic attitude and poignant poems, she spends most of her free time devouring fanfiction, performing at open mics, and forgetting to drink water until bedtime.

To download Anastasia’s Press kit, go here.

PressRelease: Tampa Native Releases Brand New Poetry Collection Celebrating Trials and Triumphs of His Personal Journey

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

October 15, 2023

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist
chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Tampa Native Releases Brand New Poetry Collection Celebrating Trials and Triumphs of Human Experience

Tampa, FL native James W. A. releases his sophomore collection Desolation & Epiphany. The book officially released on October 1, 2023 with a release party being held at Coppertail Brewing Company in Tampa, FL. The book is available on Amazon, Apple Books, and Barnes and Noble. To see pictures from his festive release party, visit https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx8MkXwsnmh/?img_index=1. 

About the book: “Welcome to a wondrous display of

beauty, vanity, humor, and sorrow, a tragedy of squander and a comedy of enlightenment.”

James W. A. Desolation & Epiphany

In his sophomore title and first pure poetry collection, James W. A. explores the duality

found in the journey of one’s soul. Drawing from his own history, observations, and

imagination, he conjures the misery of younger days, the peace of more mature ones,

and the meanings of life and love in both. Found within these pages are stories,

musings, dreams, hopes, and emotions that show a progression from sorrow into joy,

and the shades of each in the other. Pour a glass, open your heart, and prepare to

venture forth with the titular concepts to experience for yourself the darkness of

Desolation and the triumphant elation of Epiphany.

About the Author: James W. A. was born, raised, and lives in the Tampa Bay area in Florida. After graduating from the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg’s Honors College, he

published his first book, In the Library, in 2015. Since then, he has honed his ever-

evolving, contemporary style, both creatively and as a professional content writer. While

moving away from the dark subjects of younger days, James W. A. seeks to use his

experiences, joys, sorrows, and wonders he sees in the world around him to lead others

to truth and beauty and share meaningful stories to last the ages. The author is available for interviews, readings, appearances, and features. For bookings and information, contact his publicist at chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

To download James W.A’s current press kit or to hire the Smart Cookie for your PR needs, visit https://thesmartcookiephiles.com/tsc-pr/

#PressRelease: Author of ‘Sticks & Stones’ Interviewed on Podcast Themed Around Resilience

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

June 23, 2022

Chelsea DeVries, Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Author of ‘Sticks & Stones’ Interviewed on Podcast Themed Around Resilience

Chou Hallegra, mental health consultant and owner of grace & hope consulting, recently interviewed Chelsea DeVries on The Grace & Hope Consulting Podcast. The 17 minute episode is focused on DeVries’s experience working in a toxic workplace and how it impacted her mental health but yet she found the strength to overcome from that experience by writing and compiling her poetry collection Sticks and Stones: Full Story Edition. This episode is available here or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

About The Podcast: This podcast is an outreach marketing effort expanded on Grace & Hope Consulting, LLC is a person-centered and community-focused company providing mental health, personal development, and inclusion supports to individuals, families, organizations, churches, and communities. Through con

sulting, counseling, coaching, training, writing, and publishing, we help individuals achieve mental and emotional wellness, reach their full potential, and live fulfilling lives. We are committed to promoting social-emotional learning, human potential, diversity, inclusion and belonging. Find out more at www.graceandhopeconsulting.com

About the Author: Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out as her next publication. She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of two dogs.You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @onegirlrevolution26_, and her squad at @dasquad26. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

Sticks and Stones is a Four Time Best-selling Poetry Collection

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Upon first releasing the poetry collection in 2020 during a pandemic, Sticks & Stones has now charted on Amazon Kindle Top 100 in Inspirational and Religious Poetry four times. The first was on Amazon India at #54 which held for an entire month following the release of the collection. The second time was on Amazon Canada at #11 upon releasing the Full Story Edition, the third was on Amazon US at #67 and the fourth time was #74 on Amazon US alongside other world renowned poets in that category such as Rupi Kaur and Morgan Richard Olivier. DeVries just held her first LIVE poetry reading last week on May 25, 2022 in Pasco County, FL in conjunction with Mental Health Awareness Month.

About The Book: In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one’s heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. Newly expanded with more full color photos, 41 new poems, and a rewrite of Drowning in An Ocean of No Tomorrows, DeVries shows a full poetic picture of turning pain into poetry in order so you can rise above whatever is pulling you under.

Author Bio: Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out as her next publication. She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of two dogs.You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @onegirlrevolution26_, and her squad at @dasquad26. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

#TampaPro2022: It’s All Love At Tampa Pro

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

Tampa Pro is my favorite event of the year. And there are many reasons for that. You can get a tattoo or a massage right at the contest. You can get free drinks each day of the contest. And you can literally walk right up to hometown heroes like Jake Illardi or Olympic athletes like Felipe Gustavo and wish them luck. Yet, my favorite thing about Tampa Pro and as an extension visiting Skatepark of Tampa is the hospitality and love you feel when you walk into the shop, the park, or talk to anyone who works there or is a fan/spectator themselves.

Heading to the shop on Friday to buy a Tampa Pro tshirt to commemorate the event, we talked to one of the guys in the shop helping ring us up for the shirts.

“It’s true. We love everyone at Tampa Pro.”

Everything about the contest screams that message including this year the course design by french artist Lucas Beaufort.

It is true. I’ve been visiting the contest since 2006 and back then the contest was run by the SPOT, they had one hot dog cart and a beer cooler.

March 12, 2006: My first Tampa Pro contest with the legendary Shecks!

And I remember how cool I thought it all was.

Then, later that year, I returned to SPOT to be an extra in the indie film Street Dreams. It was ghetto for a movie set but this was my chance to be caught on camera next to the sport’s heavy hitters. We were filming a scene until all of a sudden Rob Dyrdek was in front of me and said that I had to move to the back of the scene. He put his hands on my shoulders as everyone in that hot metal warehouse was looking at me.

It was a surreal moment of divine timing and alignment. And those are commonplace for SPOT and at Tampa Pro but what stands out is that I always feel welcomed, accepted, and a part of something bigger than myself.

One thing is for sure at Tampa Pro, you will come for the hype and good vibes but you will leave with love in your heart, every single time.

Third Place: Jake Illardi, 23, Osprey, FL
Congrats to the winner: Jamie Foy, 25, of Deerfield Beach, FL been coming out to Tampa Pro since 2017.

#PressRelease: Chelsea DeVries to give Author Talk at Centenniel Park Library

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

April 18, 2022

Chelsea DeVries

Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Chelsea DeVries to give Author Talk at Centenniel Park Library

Author To Read Poems From Her Collection ‘Sticks and Stones’ 

Chelsea DeVries, local poet and author of Sticks and Stones Poetry and Prose: Full Story Edition will do a reading/discussion or author talk at the Centenniel Park Library on Wednesday May 25, 2022 from 4-5:55 p.m. A small signing will follow the live reading and discussion of her poetry. The author talk event is Chelsea DeVries’s first live local appearance regarding her poetry collection that details the story of her experience working in a toxic workplace with themes of mental health, suicide, love and heartbreak. The Centenniel Library is hosting her during May in order to honor Mental Health Month, and the library is located at 5740 Moog Rd, Holiday, FL 34690. For more about the event, visit https://pascolibraries.evanced.info/signup/calendar?&lib=1 or contact Chelsea DeVries at chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

About The Book: In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one’s heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. Newly expanded with more full color photos, 41 new poems, and a rewrite of Drowning in An Ocean of No Tomorrows, DeVries shows a full poetic picture of turning pain into poetry in order so you can rise above whatever is pulling you under.

Author Bio: Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out as her next publication. She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of two dogs.You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @onegirlrevolution26_, and her squad at @dasquad26. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

Sticks and Stones Wins Book of the Year from OnlineBookClub.org for 2021!

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

For Immediate Release

January 1, 2022

Chelsea DeVries, Publicist

chelseadevries@thesmartcookiephiles.com

Sticks and Stones wins 2021 Book of The Year in Poetry from OnlineBookClub.org

Sticks and stones by Chelsea DeVries, which is a collection of prose and poetry for anyone healing from a painful experience bringing up themes of mental health, suicide, and love and heartbreak, voted by fans and readers, the poetry collection took the title of 2021 Book of the Year in Drama & Poetry by OnlineBookClub.org.

The book is available in both hardcover and ebook wherever books are sold.

About the Book: In Sticks and Stones, DeVries paints a poetic picture of rising above toxicity, love found and love lost, and delves into what it means to find strength in the human spirit. Through poetry, the reader finds a voice of strength and the rebuilding of one’s heart a home with all the sticks and stones thrown upon it. About the Author: Chelsea DeVries wanted to be a writer at the age of 7. Her first publishing credit came at the age of 14 with a poem in a student anthology. She then wrote nonstop while doing IB classes in high school. She published two YA novels while still in high school which after over 10 years she rewrote as a NA romance that she looks to put out in the coming year. She is a seeker of justice and uses her words to free this world’s outcasted, peculiar, and underdogs from the chains that bind them. When not writing she runs and does PR for authors and musicians with her bookish brand The Smart Cookie Philes. Though she’s Florida born and raised, she has New Jersey in her veins. She currently lives in Port Richey, FL with her squad of three dogs.You can follow her on Instagram and Facebook at @onegirlrevolution26_, and her squad at @dasquad26. In October 2020, DeVries was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of Autism.

#SmartCookiePR: My first time attending the Tampa Indie Author Book Convention…. — One Girl Revolution

Posted on by The Smart Cookie

It happened. The dreaded moment in an author’s book launch when social media was no longer pushing sales.. so i took a page out of the book I always use for my clients as their publicist and said: you need to be out in the open and meet people in real life. So I found […]

My first time attending the Tampa Indie Author Book Convention…. — One Girl Revolution