Twenty-eight-year-old Kandice Jacobs-Armstrong has tried her hand and succeeded at many creative endeavors — singing, writing, entrepreneurship, poetry ...

She recently decided to take her poetry skills to the next level by releasing a book of poetry entitled “On Creating Kandice: A Poetic Journey to Spirituality and Self-discovery.”

“I was working on another book when I decided to go in this other direction,” she said. “When the opportunity came about financially, I went forward with it.”

Jacobs-Armstrong has enjoyed writing from a young age.

“I really got started in the second grade, when I entered a poetry contest,” she said. “I’ve been writing ever since, but I really got serious about it in college.

She attended the University of North Florida and Hill College. Now she attends Texas Woman’s University, where she is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree of General Studies, with concentrations in English, business and sociology.

Her book, she said, chronicles the story of her life from about 16 to 22 years of age.

“Some [of the poems] have themes,” she said. “A lot of the issues in the book are related to my personal life.

“My unique, but classic, story of a coming of age is one to which anyone can relate — no matter one’s background, ethnicity, status or current age. For personal growth is a universal struggle.”

Jacobs-Armstrong uses her spiritual background to inspire her words.

“Being a spiritual person I really try to listen to God,” she said.

Besides writing, Jacobs-Armstrong also serves as a speaker for different schools, religious groups and other organizations.

Her most recent speaking engagement was at a ladies day in Jacksonville, Fla., where she spoke to nearly 500 women, she said. She is scheduled to appear next at a ladies day at Forest Hill Church of Christ, where she and her husband, David, are members, on July 26.

She said she also spoke at Barack Obama’s rally for change April 19 at the Water Garden in Fort Worth. She has alson spoken at several schools and meetings.

Jacobs-Armstrong is a member of the Cleburne Area Business Professional Women and has spoken at many of their events.



A crowd of admirers

Since the release of her book in February, Jacobs-Armstrong has received positive reviews from several well-known poets and authors.

“How wonderful to discover the new and refreshing voice of Kandice Jacobs-Armstrong,” said Nikki Giovanni, poet and distinguished professor of English at Virginia Tech, in her review. “[The book] is definitely new wine in new bottles. How poignant to travel the different road of life only to find that Light that lights up all our lives.”

Dr. Richard L. Elam, chair of the Humanities and Social Science Division at Hill College, taught Jacobs-Armstrong.

“Kandice is a former student of mine, not much more than an acquaintance, yet when I read these words I was drawn into her world,” he said. “There is a depth of feeling and understanding here that one rarely encounters. As I read her poems, I wanted more.”

But those who know her best give her the greatest reviews.

“She writes deeply because she studies her words, and she doesn’t just put something on the page for a rhyming pattern,” said Nicola Gibson, Jacobs-Armstrong’s best friend and former business partner. “She wants to provoke people to think morally and spiritually. It’s a life-changing experience. She lives like that. That’s why it comes out in the way she writes as well.”



Long-term plans

Before moving to Texas, Jacobs-Armstrong was a Jacksonville, Fla., native. There she created a company called Genius Minds Inc., an arts administration business, with Gibson.

“She’s always been very business minded and very professional,” Gibson said. “I couldn’t think of anyone else that I would be able to work together with better.

“We were really trying our hand at something new and different here in Jacksonville, but people were welcoming.”

Gibson and Jacobs-Armstrong also released a chat book together, with shared pieces of poetry. Some of the poetry in her book is pieces that were in the chat book.

She is in a new location, but Jacobs-Armstrong still dreams of opening a center for the arts.

“I really want young people who are interested in arts to have somewhere to go,” she said. “I’m thinking really big with this project. I really wanted them to understand that they can make a living of this.”

What would make her arts center unique, she said, is that she wants to also teach people the business aspect of arts as well.



The book itself

The book is 155 pages and was published in February by iUniverse. It is available online at various bookstore Web sites such as Books-A-Million, Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $17.95.

Books may also be purchased directly from Jacobs-Armstrong for $20.

Look forward to more books from her in the future, as she said she has enough poems for two or three more volumes.

For information about Jacobs-Armstrong or to schedule her for a speaking event, visit www.creatingkandice.com or e-mail geniuschild1@yahoo.com.