Waiting For A Voice, by Ashton Nyte [Review]

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I’ve been an Ashton Nyte fan since I discovered his work with The Awakening [link] way back in 2011. I was new to the goth scene at the time, and what an introduction those albums were. Even after nearly 10 years, his work (both solo and with his band) remains some of my favorite.

Ashton Nyte’s latest album, Waiting for a Voice [link], is the album I’ve been listening to on repeat as I write. I normally don’t listen to albums on repeat like this. But I’ve found that once “Icicles” ends, I hit the play button on “Waiting for a Voice” again.

“Dark Star” might be one of my favorite songs on the album. I adore the violins that appear on the breaks in the track. This is also one of the catchiest songs, it’s often stuck in my head long after I stop listening to the album.

The stripped down acoustic arrangements really allow Ashton Nyte’s voice to shine. It also fits the melancholic lyrics of songs like “This Isolation,” and “I Asked For Nothing.” I’ve started learning how to play “This Isolation” on guitar, and I have to say his guitar work is amazing in it’s simple beauty.

“Soon It Will Be Morning” is the song that hits me the hardest. Not only does the stripped down, near a Capella beginning put Ashton Nyte’s voice front and center; the lyrics are so hopeful. A song like this is just what I need right now.

This album is amazing, both as music to write to, and simply as something to listen to. This might become one of my favorite albums of the year. I regularly listen to a wide variety of music; that I keep going back to this album on repeat says a lot about how much I’m enjoying it.

Fallen Glowing Lights

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For the trees are turning
and we are yearning
like we did so long ago.
Lights set everything aglow
evening turns to night,
now the stars alight;
ghosts whisper in the snow
lingering songs sweet and low.
On raven wings we fly
when we can reach the sky;
in dreams we dare not speak
now we hover near the creek.
Ghastly whispers and song
linger here, linger long.
In autumn’s untold chill
ghosts whisper on this hill.
Half in sunlight, half in shade
tonight I am not afraid;
so this night my soul shall fly away!

This poem was originally posted on my Patreon [link] back in September.

My joking description of this poem is “I got possessed by the ghost of Edgar Allen Poe,” since it’s so different than what I typically write. While I love writing acrostic poetry, it’s typically more stream-of-conscious style poetry, rather than a specific rhyme scheme like this poem has.

As I wrote the first few lines, I realized the poem was rhyming. I stared at my screen for a minute, then shrugged and started deliberately writing it that way. I’m still really proud of this poem, and it was a good way to stretch my poetry writing muscles.

A Faint Blue Light [Fantasy]

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“I swear I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Monica backed away from the box on the shelf.  What was she to do, take the thing her grandmother had given her and throw it into the sea?  Maybe it wasn’t even anything special, maybe it was a shell or something that had gotten worn away creatively by the water.  She could ignore the presence she felt from inside of it.

“The heart of a mermaid is a very dangerous place to be,” her grandmother had once said to her—but that had been years ago, when she had been a young girl.  Surely a warning like that meant nothing now….

Read the rest of the story HERE [link]! Patrons get all writing three days before the rest of the world, and access to exclusive writings.

Welcome!

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I’m Varian Ross (he/him or they/them pronouns.)

I’m an author of short fiction and poetry. I write a mix of genres, ranging from sci-fi, to horror, to romance. I also write poetry.

This is just the start of my website, so expect some dust as I get it to being the most accessible I can make it. I’m legally blind myself, and that not only influences my stories, but also my web design.

I live in the Midwestern U.S. with my family and our dogs.