What inspired you to create A Particle of You: Love Poetry?

Cendrine Marrouat: A few months ago, David mentioned that he was interested in releasing a collection of love poetry. Since I had wanted to do it on my end for a while, I figured that it would be fun to collaborate on that project together. Our two different styles always mesh in incredible ways, so I knew that the results would be interesting.

David Ellis: Cendrine and I are always looking for unique ways in which we can collaborate together. A lot of the poetry that I write is romantic or inspirational in nature and since we both share similar poetic interests, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to explore how complementary our styles are to each other.

What makes A Particle of You: Love Poetry different?

Cendrine Marrouat: To me, our book offers an uplifting vision of love, which isn’t something we see enough in contemporary poetry.

A Particle of You is the meeting of two creatives who do not write for self-gratification or validation from others. Our poems are meant to encourage readers to seek love and learn from its multilayered moments.

David Ellis: I think that our book is very relatable to a large number of people, regardless of their circumstances in life. Since we are inspirational, caring people, our interpretation of love comes from a warm, decent, sensual place that does not dwell on negativity or spite. We both write in ways that communicate directly on an emotional level with our readers and in doing so, our book is a celebration of romantic love, the feelings that it creates, and the responses to it that should make it stand out from the crowd. We believe that our words come from a place of passion, deep from the heart, and result in stirrings of the soul.

How long have you been writing?

Cendrine Marrouat: It has been 17 wonderful years so far.

David Ellis: I have been writing for over 20 years, all the way back to childhood. I only got serious about my writing a few years ago and ever since I have teamed up with Cendrine, I have become more prolific in my writing than I ever would have thought possible. It’s part of who I am and I will never tire of it being a major part of my life.

Who or what are your biggest inspirations?

Cendrine Marrouat: There are three: Life, Kahlil Gibran and Alphonse de Lamartine. Those two artists have influenced me in more ways than one. Last year, I released a collection of haiku inspired by their words.

David Ellis: I have so many influences across the board for popular culture, from films/movies, TV shows, music, literature, and video games.

To cite specific examples, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are my top literary heroes because of their incredible writing/world-building, their touching humour, and excellent skills at getting our imaginations to work into overdrive at all times. Edgar Allan Poe and Shakespeare also have had a significant influence on me, along with all of the romantic poets, both historic and contemporary.

Musically, I have admired for many years the versatility of Mike Patton (of Faith No More and too many other bands/projects to count) on both a lyrical and sonic level. Music is such an incredibly inspirational mood enhancer, I could reel off so many female and male artists who rock my world. When it comes to films, my biggest inspiration has always been Jackie Chan because I identify with the underdog and feel like I will be one for the rest of my life, always there to try to help other underdogs through the hardships in their lives and make the most of their potential.

What is your favorite poem from the book and what’s the story behind it?

Cendrine Marrouat: My favorite is “Moments”. It was inspired by my maternal grandparents who adored each other for many decades; as well as my own experience with true love.

David Ellis: My favorite of this collection is “Changed Into Wine”. The story behind it is that I was playing with emotional expression and feelings relating to being intoxicated by people. I wanted to explore the idea of being swept up in fizzy, lusty romantic love and how it was spilling over into everything around us.

What are your goals with this release?

Cendrine Marrouat: My main goal is to show that loving oneself and others does not have to be scary or complicated to make sense. I do not believe that you can have a  fulfilling existence without deep emotions.

David Ellis: My own goal for this release is to let people become comfortable with the different nuances and notions of what it is like to be in love and how to deal with these overwhelming bouts of passion, through the form of poetic expression. I want to encourage people to put their own thoughts into words, their romantic aspirations into fulfilled dreams and make their gorgeous fantasies become vivid, enchanting realities.

Do you follow a specific process when you write poems?

Cendrine Marrouat: My creative process has changed dramatically since I started creating poetry forms in 2019. If you add my passion for photography and fractals, I can safely say that I haven’t experienced writer’s block in a very long time.

Now, every time I sit to write, I find myself working differently.

David Ellis: My writing/creative process used to be based on freeform streams of consciousness in the past that occasionally embraced unique themes and structures.

I now draw upon many different literary forms (some of them co-invented by both myself and Cendrine). The vast majority of the poetry that I write nowadays is crafted from a found poetry style that is unique to me that constantly contains elements of turning negatives into positives.

I often find that found poetry (which is also known as blackout poetry) thrilling because I am forced to use specific words that cause me to write things in ways I would have never normally thought about doing. I also never really know where the direction of the poem will take me until I am finished! It has taught me to be extremely resourceful with the material available and to use every technique that I can to make the biggest impact possible.

Has writing or publishing changed the way you see yourself?

Cendrine Marrouat: Not really. However, what writing and publishing have done is allow me to gain a very healthy level of confidence in my own abilities.

David Ellis: I would definitely say that I have evolved as a person, when it comes to my writing. As is always the case for most writers, when I was first starting out, I would write for only myself but would not publish. I would write loads of different things that inspired me. What this did significantly was help me gain more confidence in both myself and my writing abilities (along with helping to guide me to discover what I truly wanted to write), which then ultimately led to publishing because of the praise and feedback I was receiving from others, when I chose to share some of my more polished pieces.

I definitely think because of the very nature of the inspirational and romantic slants of my writing, they have let me understand better the type of person that I am, one that is constantly improving, learning, evolving, caring, and sharing to make the world a better place.

If you had to describe yourself in 3 words, what would they be?

Cendrine Marrouat: Minimalist, inspirational, and resilient.

David Ellis: Resourceful, thoughtful, and respectful.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Cendrine Marrouat: Read and practice as often as you can. Don’t be too harsh on yourself. Treat yourself and your work the way you want others to treat them. And never cut corners.

David Ellis: Work on developing your own individual style. Writing should stimulate you, challenge you and give you a thrill that nothing else can fulfill. Feedback is useful if it helps improve the flow of a piece. However, only you know what you are truly looking for when it comes to what people get out of reading your writing.

By all means, write for yourself but also think about how you can make it relatable to others as well. Even if it is buried deep in there, encourage us to learn from your experiences and to grow along with you, as we travel the journey hand in hand too.

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