Spotlight On Writers
Kellasandra Ferrara
- Where do you originate from?
I am originally from the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio – I truly had one of those idyllic early childhoods that are admittedly hard to believe. I actually did move from a bustling city called Cleveland Heights with a white picket fence to a more rural area named Chesterland, complete with a pony, rabbits and other animals with room enough to play kickball and softball games with my younger brother till parents called you in for dinner. I was able to participate in 4-H, softball leagues, Girl Scouts, etc. My father was in the Military – a Helicopter Pilot in the US Army, and I was always the most well prepared girl for the Scout camp outings with an Army green camouflage Military grade sleeping bag with mosquito netting, the most complete version of a multi-tool Swiss Army Knife a child shouldn’t have access to, and MRE’s, just in case…
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
My memories of where I call home encompass many wonderful chapters in my life, mostly the people, I was shaped by many, and all of whom I’m eternally grateful to. From my time in Cleveland, mostly my amazing parents and extended family after their divorce. A best friend I still have to this day from that period. I have now been in South Florida for almost the entirety of my adulthood and am a part of all that this tropical paradise has to offer. Also this is where my children were born and raised so the Sunshine State is so, so special. I do miss the change of seasons but I do still visit my family in October, so I can see the autumn leaves and sometimes even snow. Those seasons will always be a part of me.
- What ignites your creativity?
Originally for poetry, I loved the challenge of daily prompts given by wonderful like minded writers on Social Media during COVID and my rebirth of finding my writing self, along with the initiation of being an empty nester. I like to visualize my musings and the daily/weekly postings engaged me to share on these platforms which eventually turned into my debut collection ‘Time Spent Under My Broken Umbrella’ in 2022. And then some of those haikus, tankas and poems themselves ended up being the continuation of expanded stories with the addition of the short fiction collection ‘Time Spent Under My Broken Sky.’ One such prompt was for a Tanka and the word ‘Fireflies,’ which had the line ‘like angels with burning wings.’ When I write, I listen to music via YouTube because I like having the words and visual images as well (in case I’ve been singing the wrong lyrics) and I came across the video for ‘Saturn’ by the band Sleeping at Last. First of all, it’s visually stunning, with over a 100M+ views so I’m not the only one who agrees. At the 1:02 mark, you see the fire sparks flying upwards and I literally took that visual and it became a 12,000 word story because it looked exactly like what I had described, like fireflies, like angels with burning wings…
FIREFLIES
my moments of slumber
float like fireflies around me
in hypnotic darkness
like angels with burning wings
rising across the night sky
- Do you have a favorite word, and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
I would have to say that Time is the word that encompasses most of my thoughts and I have written about in countless musings and stories. I described it best in the Prologue and also the Book Overview section on Amazon for the first book – I wrote
‘My collection is all about Time – Time dreamt of, time lost, time misspent and even the expiration of it. Moments in my life where I’ve come to accept the time I have already used and defend what is left. Thank you for spending your time with me…’
- What is your pet peeve?
I would have to say waste or misuse – my time is compromised due to illness which in turn circles back to my favorite word. It hurts when I see time wasted on frivolity or nothing at all. It really is true that you don’t realize how much is wasted until you find out you have an expiration date that’s sooner that you possibly have thought could happen.
- How would you describe the essence of Kellasandra Ferrara?
I believe I have always had somewhat of an artistic soul. From my restaurant/bakery days, creating recipes out of ingredients that had no business being paired together yet worked. I believe that my writing is exactly formed from that same recipe – putting together my chaotic musings into something that can speak to others. The message that I hope readers can take away from my writing is that I take complete ownership of my Time. I have accepted the gravity of my illness but will not let it diminish its brilliance. I create the space I live in, even if it’s a bit of a sterile bubble sometimes. The poem that I believe describes me best is about the inevitable expiration of my time, a conversation with the Grim Reaper, per se. It came from two prompts that came within days of each other. The first one was if I was given such an opportunity and I could, how would I want to say goodbye? There was an additional prompt during the same time period about female writers with respective quotes that asked this same question for me. Among the listings of authors, I chose Emily Dickinson’s “Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me,” which with the combination of these two prompts, I created this poem titled ‘My Dickinson.’ It is the poem I am most known for but most proud of…
my departure is calling me
his outstretched hands cradle my fears
accepting tomorrows that will never be
and asks for my final prayers…
kiss me with lips goodbye
and for those I leave behind
can I stand still in your memory
can I be the north star in your sky
can I be a beacon in your lost ocean
can I still be your lullaby
I promise to rest in time
if this flawless ending is kind
kiss me with lips goodbye
and I made departure mine
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