Tomah, Wisconsin Aug 19, 2026 (Issuewire.com) - Poet Charles Cottrell has released his debut poetry collection, My Life, a raw and personal body of work drawn directly from his own experiences with grief, loss, homelessness, addiction, depression, faith, love, and survival. Rather than softening life’s hardest moments, the collection tells the truth about what it feels like to live through them and to keep moving forward anyway.
At its core, My Life is about surviving pain and finding hope even when life feels broken, a theme Cottrell says came directly from necessity, not ambition.
“I did not originally set out to write a book. I started writing poetry because I needed somewhere to put what I was feeling. Writing became a way for me to survive the pain I was carrying.”
— Charles Cottrell, author of My Life
Cottrell says the idea to compile his poems into a book came from his sister, who encouraged him to share his writing more widely. “Eventually I realized that the story in those poems could mean something to other people too,” he said.
Cottrell recently discussed My Life, his writing journey, and his poem “Hell’s Not Hot” in The Spotlight Network with Logan Crawford. He has also performed his poetry at local poetry slams and has built a following through social media and online poetry communities.
ABOUT THE BOOK
My Life is a collection of raw, personal poetry that confronts real experiences with grief, loss, homelessness, addiction, depression, faith, love, and survival. The poems do not try to make pain sound pretty; instead, they tell the truth about some of life’s hardest moments and the hope that can still be found within them.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Charles Cottrell is a Louisville, Kentucky poet whose writing comes directly from his own life experiences. He began writing as a way to process pain and survive difficult seasons in his life, including the loss of his daughter, divorce, homelessness, addiction, and depression. His straightforward, emotionally honest style has connected with readers because he writes without hiding the difficult parts. My Life is his first published poetry collection.
A MESSAGE TO READERS
“If you are hurting, grieving, struggling, or feel like nobody understands what you are going through, I hope these poems remind you that it is okay to hurt. You do not have to pretend everything is fine. My Life is my truth, and if even one poem makes you feel less alone, then sharing it was worth it.”
— Charles Cottrell
AVAILABILITY
My Life is available now at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Media Contact
Prime Seven Media primeseven.media@gmail.com +1 414-286-4043 201 Helen Walton Drive, Suite #2 https://primesevenmedia.com/
