*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.
Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challengeevery Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.
The first of the month is ‘Poet’s Choice‘ at Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Prompt Challenge. I chose to share a poem by Julia Donaldson, that’s sure to make you fall in love with books.
I Opened a Book By Julia Donaldson I opened a book and in I strode. Now nobody can find me. I’ve left my chair, my house, my road, My town and my world behind me. I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring, I’ve swallowed the magic potion. I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king And dived in a bottomless ocean. I opened a book and made some friends. I shared their tears and laughter And followed their road with its bumps and bends To the happily ever after. I finished my book and out I came. The cloak can no longer hide me. My chair and my house are just the same, But I have a book inside me.
I hope you enjoyed the poem. It’s one of my favorite poems about books and reading. I also wanted to share my reviews for a book and two short stories I read recently.
Click on image to buy on Amazon
The Altar Boy is a true to life coming-of-age story. Carl Sanders grew up in the 1960s in a Catholic household. The Catholic Church was revered in those days, and so were its clergymen, but for Carl and his family, a priest brought nothing but pain.
I didn’t like Carl’s mother; she was selfish and hypocritical. His father was not perfect either, but he did try his best to keep the family together and didn’t deserve what happened to him.
Looking at the life of this Catholic family in the 60s through Carl’s eyes as a young boy was both hilarious and heart wrenching. Carl’s mischievous antics made me laugh while his fear, confusion, and unconditional love for his mother chipped away at my heart. Prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions.
If you enjoy stories with well-developed characters that make you feel an array of emotions, this book is for you.
Click on image to get your .99¢ eBook on Amazon!
The Author, Rhani D’Chae in Zombie Dawn, brilliantly chronicles the dawn of the zombie apocalypse. The author wasted no time building tension and providing an overall sense of horror from the beginning. I sat at the edge of my seat until the end of the story and then wanted more.
This is the story of a small neighborhood where everyone knows each other. The kind of neighborhood where you can leave your doors and windows open and youngsters can walk the streets at night without fear. That is until an elderly man named Elmer Duncan dies of seemingly natural causes only to open his eerie milky eyes as he was reanimated as a zombie. From this point, the story escalates into a chaotic set of events that’ll have you quaking in your chair. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and read it in one sitting. The story is well written, fascinating, and descriptive. If you’re a fan of zombies or horror, you will enjoy this short story.
This short story is FREE on Amazon Kindle! Click to get your copy.
This short story is a metaphoric expression of the author’s life growing up in an abusive household.
Her mother was a narcissist, and the author did a great job of relating the frustration she underwent dealing with a person who lacked the ability to love and feel empathy for others, including herself. Others were blind to her mother’s abuse because, as a narcissist, she knew how to cover her tracks well. The author’s father and other family members and friends unknowingly defended and enabled her mother, adding to the detriment of the child.
This is an inspiring, powerful, and compelling read that many readers will relate to whether they have suffered abuse at the hands of a narcissist or not. In the end, the daughter escapes her abusive prison.
Connect with these authors on social media!
@psteph55 on Twitter
@ChristinaWinds on Twitter
@rhanidchae on Twitter
Just a quick reminder that all my eBooks are on sale for .99¢ through Sunday! Get your eBooks!
Click on image to go to Amazon and get your .99¢ eBooks!
I hope you enjoyed today’s post! Let me know what you think in the comment section below. Thank you for a visit, and have a Happy Friday and weekend!
This month we will use a photo chosen by last month’s “Photo-Prompt” Poet of the Week ~ Linda Lee Lyberg.
My contribution this week is a Butterfly Cinquain. I hope you enjoy it.
She yawns spreading her wings blinding the stars with light chasing away the dark shadows of night angel of dawn heralds another day clouds set aflame with amber glow birds rise
As Thanksgiving Day approaches, I wanted to thank everyone that follows and visits my blog. I’m grateful for your friendship and support. I get excited whenever I post a poem, story, or article in anticipation of your visits and comments. Thanks for being so great!
I’m always striving to be a better writer. My goal is to make sure my writing is the best it can be. I want every book I publish to be better than the one before.
Writing every day is a good way to realize my goals. Reading every day is also extremely important. I used to read only books in my favorite genres, but now I read books of all genres because I realized that they help with the different aspects of my writing. I used to read only books by famous, proven writers, but I’ve learned that there are excellent indie writers out there. I read more indie books than ever now and truly enjoy them.
I’ve also discovered some helpful and informative books that have helped me grow as a writer. I will be sharing some of those with you today.
Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.
DeSalvo describes the work habits of successful writers (among them, Nobel Prize laureates) so that readers can use the information provided to develop their identity as writers and transform their writing lives. DeSalvo skillfully and gently guides writers to not only start their work but immerse themselves fully in the process and create texts they will treasure.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White is a classic. Reviews all those rules you should only break if you have a really good reason.
Good Prose—like Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style—is a succinct, authoritative, and entertaining arbiter of standards in contemporary writing, offering guidance for the professional writer and the beginner alike. This wise and useful book is the perfect companion for anyone who loves to read good books and longs to write one.
There are of course many more writing books out there but these are informative and beneficial to new writers as well as experienced ones.
I write from the heart Through the darkness of genres I purge my sorrows
To all my writing friends participating in NaNoWriMo Happy Writing and may the Muse be with you!
Have you heard about rapper T.I.’s podcast interview in which he revealed that he checks his daughter’s virginity? I saw this on TV, but it’s all over the internet. In case you haven’t heard, this is the gist of it: Grammy-winning rapper T.I. (Clifford Harris) told a podcast that he forces his teenage daughter to undergo an annual virginity test at the Gynecologist. The day after her birthday, he takes her to get her hymen checked to ensure that she’s still a virgin.
To say I was outraged by this is an understatement. Firstly, how backward and ignorant do you have to be? Having sex isn’t the only way a hymen gets torn. It can happen in many different ways. Secondly, what lessons is he teaching his daughter? That she’s only worthwhile if she’s a virgin? Her entire worth as a woman is based on her virginity status? Her word has no meaning because instead of asking her if she’s sexually active and trusting in what she tells you, you need medical proof? Why doesn’t he make her wear a chastity belt?
As if this yearly ritual wasn’t humiliating enough, he revealed everything on a podcast heard by thousands of people. His daughter is eighteen. Even if you don’t know who rapper T.I. is or listen to his music, you need to know that this goes on right here in the USA. And you know what? Even if you’re a fan, you have to admit this is insane.
To top it off, T.I. has a fifteen-year-old son who disclosed that he’s sexually active, and the rapper is fine with it. What? It’s okay for his fifteen-year-old son to have sex, but his eighteen-year-old daughter has to prove her virginity by going to a gynecologist and getting her hymen checked? This is a huge double standard, and I can’t stand it.
I guess T.I. doesn’t care if his son impregnates several girls his daughter’s age or younger, and either he doesn’t know or care about all the sexually transmitted diseases his son could easily catch. Why can’t this man talk to and educate his children, so that they can learn to make the right decisions on their own?
I understand some fathers are overprotective with their daughters, but in my opinion, this is going too far. Deyja Harris is T.I.’s daughter, not his property. And his fifteen-year-old son is in danger of contracting aids, herpes, hepatitis, among other diseases – not to mention getting someone pregnant.
A woman who speaks her mind is not a bitch. She doesn’t need men to validate her. She’s not his sex toy or a baby machine. She’s who she wants to be. Society won’t make a puppet of her, because she’s a woman.
Thanks for the visit. Please, let me know what you think in the comment section below.
*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.
Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challengeevery Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.
I dance around flames Outstretched arm cast magic charm But now you’re the witch making me forget my name Your sweet, sweet love is to blame
I hope you enjoyed the Tanka. I used magic charm and sweet as synonyms for spell and treat. Thanks for the visit!
This month we will use a photo prompt chosen by last month’s “Photo- Prompt” Poet of the Week ~ Diana Peach.
It was the mating season in “La Marisma,” and Ramita was excited because he had finally come of age, which meant he could select a mate. Who he chose was a no brainer because he only had eyes for one female. The only problem was that Orquídea was the most beautiful of the Orchid Flies in La Marisma, and she had many suitors. So, Ramita decided that the only way he could win Orquídea for himself was to impress her, but many others would try the same. He would have to impress her more than anyone. How could he do that? He wasn’t a fancy Mantis, Ulysses butterfly, or Christmas beetle; he was only Ramita.
Then an idea sprung in his head; he would give Orquídea the last Chocolate Cosmos flower in existence. It would not last long after he picked it, but she could wear it like a crown, its deep brownish-red color would complement her pretty green and blue jewel tones and she would enjoy the flower’s rich chocolate fragrance as she wore it. Yes! He was thrilled with his idea. But, there was yet another hitch to his plan. The Chocolate Cosmos flower was protected by a sorcerer snake.
His grandfather once told him that there was a field filled with these flowers and the chocolate smell was intoxicating. Unfortunately, one by one the flowers were picked until only two were left. The sorcerer snake then decided he would protect the flowers before they became extinct. Ramita’s grandfather told him that a wise creature discovered the only way to get one of the flowers was by putting the snake in a trance with music. That’s how Ramita planned on stealing the last flower. He was a good flute player.
He rose before dawn and began his journey to steal the last Chocolate Cosmos flower from the sorcerer snake. When he arrived he immediately came face to face with the snake.
“Who are you and what are you doing so far from home?” the snake asked.
“If you don’t know my name how could you know I’m far from home?” Ramita said.
The snake frowned and said, “No one lives in these parts. You’re here for the flower aren’t you?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You know it’s the last one in existence, don’t you?”
“I do.”
“But you’re still willing to rip it out of the ground and kill it knowing you’ll never see or smell another like it?”
Ramita looked to the ground. “There’s someone I need to impress and only this flower will do.”
“Really?”
Ramita furrowed his brow, making his long, thin antennae wiggle. “Well, I love her, and she’s the most beautiful creature in La Marisma. If I want her to choose me over all the suitors, I have to impress her.”
“And you think to give her a flower that she’d never be able to enjoy again will impress her? Besides, it’s not worth being with someone you have to impress all the time.”
Ramita sat crumpled on the ground, shoulders hunched, staring at his flute, looking defeated.
“Pollination and fertilization have occurred, and the Chocolate Cosmos flower will soon develop seeds. Then perhaps she can produce a field of flowers, but if you take her now, that will never happen, and the flower will be gone forever. I leave the choice to you.”
Ramita thought long and hard. “I will leave the flower be,” he said.
“Excellent choice! You could have played your flute, and rendered me helpless, and stolen the flower, but you made a wise choice not to do that, so I will help you get your mate.”
Ramita jumped to his feet, displaying a smile only someone genuinely happy can wear. “Will you use a magic spell or perhaps a love potion?”
“No, no, no. None of that is necessary. If the special one is worthy of your love, she will be so impressed by your choice that she will fall in love with you. Bring her here and let her see the flower you saved, let its decadent chocolate fragrance waft into her nostrils, and entice her. She will be truly impressed then.”
Ramita did as the snake told him. It wasn’t easy to convince Orquídea to go with him, and of course, her annoying older brother and grandmother had to come along as chaperones, but he managed to bring them to the magical place where the flower grew.
The sorcerer snake greeted them and told the story of their encounter, and the wise choice Ramita had made. Orquídea was beyond impressed, and so were her family. She chose Ramita for his bravery, kindness, and wisdom. Every year on their anniversary, they visited the snake. The exotic flower reproduced successfully, and the ground was covered with them, and its fragrance filled the air.
Today’s poetry form is called a Senryu. I hope you like it.
Too good to be true You love me, and I love you I am your love bug
“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.”
What does it mean when someone calls you a weirdo?
If you describe someone as a weirdo, you disapprove of them because they behave in an unusual way that you find difficult to understand or accept.
Well, some people may feel that way, but this is not my definition of a weirdo. In this day and age, it’s weird for someone to be their genuine self. It’s strange to speak your mind, regardless of others’ opinions. In these times, when so many people pop pills in order not to feel, it’s strange for someone to wear his or her emotions on their sleeve. I like weirdos. They’re my kind of people, honest, open, free thinkers. They don’t fear to be unique. They think outside the box and go with their creative flow.
It’s refreshing to be with people who are not numb to the world around them but instead embrace every emotion that makes them human.
Sometimes I’m surrounded by so much apathy and hate that it becomes unbearable. Why are there so many desensitized people? Stop popping pills every time you’re in danger of feeling something. Be a weirdo and feel. It’s normal to be sad when you lose a loved one. It’s okay to feel angry, scared, unsure, insecure sometimes. Deal with it because that’s what makes you human.
I understand that there are people who genuinely need to be on medication, but there are too many folks out there taking medications they shouldn’t be, and this has a dehumanizing effect.
I’m tired of being in the presence of cyborgs. I want to be around real people. Being a genuine person comes with a price, though. Not everyone will like you, but then not everyone should matter to you. Calling all weirdos!
*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.
Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challengeevery Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.
Photo by Tamara Bellis @tamarabellis
Here’s my contribution to Colleen’s Weekly Poetry Challenge. The Poetry form is an Etheree.
There’s no where to suffer in this dark place. Oh, my vacant life there’s no happy surprise. I pop a pill the moment I realize that I’m alive. Then I’m hollow, no feelings inside. There’s only this disguise of constant lies.
Photo by Bart LaRue ( @bartlarueeppler )
I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Have a Happy Friday!
Hello, everyone! Today is National Vodka Day, National Body Language Day, and World Smile Day. So, I thought I’d combine all three in my poem. Today’s poetry form is called a Shadorma.
The Shadorma is a Spanish poetic form made up of a stanza of six lines (sestet) with no set rhyme scheme. It is a syllabic poem with a meter of 3/5/3/3/7/5.
Drink with me Tantalize your tongue Then kiss me and hold me You’re the book I long to read A story of love
Wet your lips with your sweet cocktail Drink to life Drink to love Let your sexy body show You want me the most
I hope you enjoyed the Shadormas. I’m not a big drinker at all, but when I drink, I like a little vodka or brandy. What do you enjoy drinking?
I’m finally getting the hang of this new editor. Although I still have a lot to learn. At least it didn’t take me as long as the last time to put this post together, which gives me more time to write (#revising). Happy Friday, everyone!
*The catch is that we can only use the synonyms to these words in our poems.
Colleen hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called, Colleen’s Weekly Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challengeevery Tuesday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your Haiku, Tanka, Haibun, Etheree or Cinquain poem. She is an author and poet, and also does book reviews and so much more on her blog. Be sure to check it out.
Photo by Alex Geerts
Here’s my contribution to this week’s poetry challenge. I hope you enjoy my double Nonet.
Let Go The Things That Belong To The Past
The Autumn is a distinct season. It teaches us profound lessons about life and sacrifice. We need to embrace change. Every change is for the better. We must learn to let go
Trees lose their leaves, and it’s both sad and beautiful, painful, and needed. Yet, it lets it go without regrets and welcomes change. Dwelling on the past will stunt our growth leaving us stuck in life
Photo by Anthony Intraversato
I’ve had the hardest time creating this post. OMG! At one point, I wanted to scream and give up. That’s how bad it was. I’ve just started using WordPress’ new Gutenberg block editor, and it hasn’t been easy. Thank goodness I have a brilliant friend who’s figured it all out and has posted numerous tutorials on her blog. If you’re having a hard time with Gutenberg block editor, do yourself a favor and check out Natalie Ducey’s blog.
RT @stevenneil12: Looking for books to buy this Christmas? I read, reviewed and recommended these great authors this year: @mbiermanauthor… 3 hours ago
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