Mercenary at Midnight

A Collection of Gutsy Verse by Nicholas Ryan Howard

Amazon Best Seller
#1 in American Poetry

Amazon Best Seller
#1 in Poetry about Love

Amazon Best Seller
#1 in Love & Erotic Poetry

Mercenary at Midnight is a blazing assembly of provocative verse by author, philosopher, and creator Nicholas Ryan Howard. Crafted in the moments of utmost vulnerability, and always after the midnight hour had struck, the poet journeys without allegiance into the harrowing land of introspection armed only with a combination of daring, desperation, and mettle.

Praise for Mercenary at Midnight

“Nicholas Ryan Howard’s collection is at times unconventional and often emotionally raw-edged, all while revealing a lithe earnestness. Taking turns being conversational and directional, the poems collect into a kind of novena, a recurring group of prayers venerating the author’s experience in the realms of love and lust, of creation and destruction, of heaven and hell on earth.”

Rosa Nadine Xochimilco Sánchez

Author of Blue Bones, Blood Roses, Black Eyes and Hearts Aflame, Still Burning

“Mercenary at Midnight is unfiltered, raw, sensual, tactile, and untethered in its complete dismissal of self-justification. These are poems that leave us questioning our own motives, and echoing our unadorned desires. Nicholas Ryan Howard explores the anxiety of love and the dangerous brutality of idealism, moving seamlessly through the gambit of human experience. He is all at once proud, insecure, helpless, tortured, hot-headed, ashamed, and depleted—yet never afraid of a fight.”

Kaitlin Weichsel

Musician and host of the Show Me Yours poetry event in Hollywood, CA

“Nicholas Ryan Howard’s verse is the definition of mastery and skill. Mercenary at Midnight grants its readers an up close and personal look into his life’s journey through all of its love and pain, and he never shies away from vulnerability. His words are carefully crafted, yet still provide a relatable experience that will allow you to tap into your own heart’s journey.”

Julisa Wilson

Rapper and songwriter

“His choice to weave the fantastical into the explicitly temporal gives the reader a chance to reflect on their own experiences and emotions following along with the wry spirit of the inherent storytelling. Mercenary at Midnight is at once a dark path in a deep forest and a cocktail on a streetside patio in a busy metropolis—and wherever you find it takes you—that is expressly where you are meant to be.”

Rosa Nadine Xochimilco Sánchez

Author of Blue Bones, Blood Roses, Black Eyes and Hearts Aflame, Still Burning

“He writes in the tone of a man on the second floor of a burning building. A journey with this self-proclaimed ‘Midnight Mercenary’ will bring any reader a cathartic reward for their time spent wide-eyed and face-first in the fields of harsh human realities. Face your fears and go into battle alongside this gifted wordsmith to receive your spoils of war.”

Kaitlin Weichsel

Musician and host of the Show Me Yours poetry event in Hollywood, CA

Julisa Wilson

Rapper and songwriter

The Book

The 100 poems, tales, and reflections within showcase the author's rebellion against complacency, rage against submission, and insurrection against resignation. Packed with vigorous wordplay and a razor-sharp wit, the writing burns like a shot of whiskey and sparks like an exposed wire sizzling in the rain.

The Audio

This collection of verse is also available in the audio format featuring powerful readings of each piece by the author. Nicholas Ryan Howard has performed his work at readings and events around the world, and his performances are filled with vigor, honesty, and vulnerability. Similarly, the audio version is an excellent companion to the written word, and enables the listener to hear the unique rhythms and rhyming schemes intended for the material.

The Collection

This book contains two thematic collections:

Broken Love

Relentless reflections of a raging, raucous, ravaged heart.

Dragon

Never kiss a dragon,
for though they taste of passion,
they'll leave you charred
and smoked
and scarred
and make your heart
so ashen.

Parables of Circumstance

Revelatory tales born of the macabre, the mighty, the minuscule and the magnificent.

Knife

If the wound
is where
the light
enters,
perhaps
my job
is to be
the
knife.

About the Author

Nicholas Ryan Howard is an author, philosopher, and expert in the field of Creativity. He was educated at The University of Southern California in Communications and trained as a Master Facilitator in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica, where he later served as a Director. As a media producer and content creator he has worked on such properties as The Bourne Identity, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, and in the technology sector he has overseen projects for corporations such as Mattel, Sony, and Panasonic. He is the visionary behind the epic Legends of the Grim Reaper saga, the best-selling poetry collection Mercenary at Midnight, and the podcast Of Tears and Blood. Currently he spends his time dreaming up new worlds, counseling individuals on their expansion of consciousness, consulting with organizations, and speaking around the globe.

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