Hello blog friends! Today poet Colleen Chesebro invites us to write a tanka prose. She offers a detailed explanation of this poetic form on her website (linked above). 

My poems are a verse envelope - a tanka/prose/tanka. It reflects upon a recent heartbreaking tragedy that occurred in the small town of Uvalde, Texas.  My poems --

In the small town of Uvalde, Texas, a disturbed shooter and multiple mistakes by professionals left all of us bereft. Violence is senseless and has no favorites, even the tiniest can be its victim. And I wonder, have we forgotten how to love? ​​

I hope you have a fabulous week, my friends. May blessings abound! 💗

 Hello blog friends, it's Tanka Tuesday and author Colleen Chesebro invites us to create a syllabic poem using color. My poem is a butterfly cinquain of 9 lines with the pattern 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2. 

As many of you know, I walk in the early morning. By 6 AM, I'm on a desert path accompanied only by wildlife. The local birds and the occasional bunny are my companions. And always, with the sunrise, my spirit soars.  

Whatever calms your heart and allows your spirit to rise, I wish that for you today. 💗

​My poem...
​

Have a wonderful week, dear friends, and may blessings abound.  

Hello blog friends! It's Tanka Tuesday and author Colleen Chesebro has a special challenge for us. She asks that we share our day, and I'm delighted to do so. 

Just before 6:00 AM, I went for a walk along a desert path. I'm always struck by the beauty of this area, especially in the morning light. The flowers and other vegetation fill my soul.

​Though my walks are solitary, I'm never alone. Birds are everywhere present and always playful. Most endearing for me are the ravens. Because they see me every day, they recognize me and always want to chat. I've learned to say hello and only then will they be quiet. 

My two tanka try to capture this morning experience - - -
​

Have a wonderful week. I hope you're able to find time to enjoy the wilds of your area. 💗

Hello blog friends! Today author Colleen Chesebro invites us to respond to the theme useful. I've decided to be a bit playful and focus on the lowly washcloth. Here's my take on the theme. 

The little guy looks guilty, but I suspect he's not the culprit. Chocolate is. I keep a stash of this special delight in my desk and find plenty of excuses for taking a nibble. And yes, sometimes I've needed a washcloth.  😊

✨✨✨

​​Hi, Gwen. Thanks so much for hosting me today. It’s always wonderful to visit with you. Here’s a little bit I’d love to share about my latest book of poetry …

This poem comes from a period when the first flush of head-over-heels love has settled somewhat.
 
Cuddle is about the deep connection that forms once a couple finds they’ve become best friends as well as lovers. The amount of love and belonging that can be conveyed in a simple cuddle is so profound and goes far beyond words and intellect. I hope you enjoy this poem and would love to know what you think. ​

​ 
 


​
​CUDDLE

 
Silence

filled so full

darkness

lit so bright

as you hold me

through the night
 

BLURB:

Life & Soul is the second book in the Soul Poetry Series by acclaimed author Harmony Kent.
 
This beautiful collection of over fifty poems will take the reader through the highs and lows of everyday life via contemporary poetry in a range of styles and themes. Within these pages, you will find reflections on the Lonely Soul, the Seeking Soul, Brief Soul, Friendly Soul, and the Loving Soul—states of mind and living and longing we each experience over the course of a life.
 
Life & Soul offers something for lovers of poetry from all walks of life.
 
 
PRAISE for Slices of Soul, Book 1 in the Soul Poetry Series:

• "I found my answer in this wonderful treasure-trove and have already read it three times." Robert Fear

 

• "I found in Slices of Soul something approaching aesthetic bliss, a sense of being connected in some way to other states - like tenderness, kindness, ecstasy - where art is the norm." Colm Herron

 

• "A stunning collection of poems that I read in one sitting! Unable to simply put this down until I had read the last. I love the clarity of the short poems, such clear images created in so few words or phrases. Many of them touched my heart and I will be giving them a 2nd and 3rd read!" Audrina Lane

PURCHASE LINK:  Amazon


CONTACT LINKS: 

I hope you have a magical and heart-filling week. Till we next meet, be well! 💗

Hello blog friends, it's #TankaTuesday -- time for poetry!

Today author Colleen Chesebro invites us to write a Butterfly Cinquain, an unrhymed poem of 2-4-6-8-2-8-6-4-2 syllables per line. My thoughts immediately went to current events.

There's no butterfly to be found in protests and war zones, but there's often lingering hope. The traces of light may be difficult to see, but within the human heart, there's always possibility. And so, I've entitled this poem - MAYBE.
​

 
​I hope you have a wonderful week, replete with instances of hope. 💗

All the best,
​Gwen

Last month author Sally Cronin sent out an invitation to writers to respond to the theme, I wish I knew then what I know now! Today she features my response and if you'd like to read it, here's the link to her site. 

It begins....
When I was a child, I knew that life had ups and downs. It was everywhere visible on the farm. But I didn’t understand that each moment is a gift. It’s only these latter years that have helped me realize this fact. I’ll backtrack a little to explain what I mean. (...) 

Have a wonderful day dear blog friends!

Hello dear blog friends! Today is Tanka Tuesday and author Colleen Chesebro invites us to respond to a new prompt, a theme selected by Yvette Calleiro. The theme is Beginnings and Endings.

My tanka is a reflection on time. I hope you enjoy it.

​Maybe you'd like to join in the fun and submit a poem as well. If so, just click on Colleen's name, and you'll travel to her site where you'll find helpful information.

​Have a wonderful week! 💗

I hope you have a truly wonderful week, filled with moments of bliss. 💗

​Hello blog friends. Today I have a treat for you. Author C.S. Boyack is celebrating a new release, and he is visiting to tell us a bit about it.

If you've read any of the books in The Hat Series, you know that they are full of intrigue, delightful imaginary characters, and they tell a story you won't forget. I'm eagerly looking forward to reading the fifth book in the series, Good Liniment. 

Early reviews sing the praises of Craig's latest. "A fun and imaginative tale," reports one reviewer. Another mentions that she is "impressed with Boyack’s creativity, his humorous dialogue, the cringe-worthy actions and quest of the zealot, and the intriguing mystery." 

Sounds great, doesn't it? Let's hear from Craig ...

                                                                     ~  ~  ~  ~
Thanks for having me over, Gwen. I’m here to talk about Good Liniment, the newest publication in The Hat Series. This is not a series where you have to read in order to keep up. I designed them to be stand alone stories using the same characters and environment. They’re also short novels, which are so useful in the modern market. You can read one in an afternoon.

These are dark humor involving a regular girl, Lizzie St. Laurent, who came across a magical
being in the form of a hat. They form a symbiotic relationship that gives them more abilities than
a normal person would have. By using her fingers, the hat plays the upright bass. Lizzie sings,
so they formed a small cover band that helps bring in a few extra dollars.

They also fight monsters at night. Dark humor to me means while there is blood and death in
the stories, there are tons of snark and situational bits of humor to balance it.

At the fifth book in the series, people might start wondering what’s next. I can tell you that book
six is a finished manuscript at this time. I have three more roughed out in my mind, there’s the
one with gremlins and national security, one involving the Kentucky Derby and a very specific
monster who doesn’t like animal abuse, and one involving a talent competition in combination
with the possible end of the world. There are loose ideas involving a demon moth, a trip to the
actual crossroads, and something involving a gravedigger who might merit a story, or he could
show up in one of the others.
​
My point is I have a lot more coming. Good Liniment involves the local witch’s coven asking Lizzie and the hat for help with someone who is  murdering witches. I’ll glance off quite a few new characters that I can use in subsequent books. As an example, the next title will be called The Midnight Rambler. It involves a member of the coven who goes missing and his “son” needs Lizzie’s help. All this goes down while the hat’s ancient enemy, The Midnight Rambler, is looking for him to exact some revenge.

I think Lizzie and the hat have a lot more mileage in them, and things just keep coming together. I found a news blurb out of Japan that I can pirate into a way for my moth demon to show up, and other inspirations keep finding me. In the same vein, humanity just keeps providing me with crazy things to work into the humorous side of these tales. People fix their hair with Gorilla Glue, spread conspiracy theories, and more.

Give Good Liniment a chance. I think you’re going to have fun. I made sure it’s available for Kindle Unlimited so members can read it for free.

BLURB
Someone is murdering members of the local witches coven. They turn to Lizzie and the hat for
their unique skills that might help eliminate the killers.

A religious zealot might be a monster, but is still a human being. This task isn’t the same as
staking vampires or shooting zombies. It isn’t the usual project Lizzie takes on for her night
work.

This all takes place during a recovery period for Lizzie. She needs to keep her cover band
together and find a new way of getting them gigs. More bands and less venues are making
finances tight. The hat didn’t make things easier during her absence, by spreading rumors about why she took her sabbatical.

Someone killing others over a point of view insults Lizzie’s sensibilities. She has secrets to
keep. Her employers have secrets, too. It doesn’t make for a comfortable working environment,
but she agrees to do what she can.

Convincing her strong willed employers to stay indoors during all this poses another problem.
Can she keep them alive long enough to finish her task?

Good Liniment is full of magic, magical creatures, and an entire underground community living
amongst us.
​
The Hat Series consists of short novels that can be read in a single afternoon. They’re full of
snarky dark humor and can be easily read out of order. Below are the first four:

PURCHASE LINK:
Amazon

​SOCIAL MEDIA CONTACTS: 
Blog   My Novels   Twitter   Goodreads   Facebook   Pinterest   BookBub

Hello blog friends. Today is #TankaTuesday, and author Colleen Chesebro asks that we write a TANKA PROSE poem.  This form has two parts - a preface and a Tanka of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. I hope you enjoy my simple attempt. 

​Have a wonderful week! 💗

Hello blog friends, it's Tanka Tuesday and author Colleen Chesebro has a new prompt. She asks that we choose a color and feature it in a syllabic poem of our choice. Mine is a simple Tanka (5-7-5-7-7) and my color is silver. If you've watched waves break, I know you'll understand. 

Have a wonderful week!   cchoose your own syllabic form and a color to feature in your syllabic poemhoose your own syllabic form and a color to feature in your syllabic poem

I hope you have a wonderful week. And if you have a garden, I'd love to see a picture or two or three. Here's to sunshine and a plentiful harvest! 🌞🌱🌱🌱🌞

Dear blog friends, I've an unusual poem for you today. Probably we all awakened to hear of more threats of war. With this on my mind, I read today's prompt. Donna Matthews picked the theme -- Fire and Water. You can read about it here.

My poem is a Choka -- my first attempt at writing this type of poem. It is an ancient Japanese storytelling form. Its syllables are 5-7-7-5-7-5-7-7-7. I call it Ocean of Grace. I hope you like it. 

Stay well my friends and enjoy the blessings of the day. Till next week...

Hello dear blog friends. It's time for poetry and today's prompt is extra special.

Author Colleen Chesebro collaborated with Selma to choose a Degas painting related to the Russian people. They intentionally disassociated the military invasion of Ukraine with the heart of the Russian people. With that in mind, they invite all interested poets to create an Ekphrastic poem using this painting as the inspiration. My simple tanka follows: 

I hope you enjoyed my poem, and I especially hope you have a marvelous Spring day. 

Hello, dear blog friends! Today, March 10th, is extra special. It is the International Day of Awesomeness, a day set aside to recognize the heroes among us.

Each of you is inspiring and amazing, and I'm forever grateful to know you through your books and your blogs. Today, though, I'd like to especially honor one person. Someone you probably know well -- writer Sally Cronin. 

Each day Sally showcases different authors and other creative souls on her blog. She features their books or their works of art and offers reviews. Through her posts, followers meet gifted folks from around the globe. The one unifier is the love of the creative arts. 

Tireless and deeply committed, Sally generously shares her embrace of life with everyone she meets. More than anyone I can think of, she embodies the word awesomeness. 

I encourage you to visit Sally's website. You'll find multiple links to music, books, videos, podcasts, culinary delights, and so much more. And you'll discover why the Story Empire writers decided to honor her today. 

Please join us in celebrating this special, multitalented woman. Let's fill social media  with awesomeness!  💗

​Have a wonderful weekend, dear friends. Through people like Sally, the sun is always shining. And if you visit the blogs of these writers, you'll find even more praise of our dear friend.  

Hello dear blog friends! It's #TankaTuesday and poet Colleen Chesebro invites participants to try something different. Instead to using the accepted forms, she asks that we create our own syllabic poem. 

This was a fun exercise. I wrote a poem of eleven lines, four syllables each. And the beginning line is repeated in the final line. 

I hope you enjoy it. I've entitled it Memories.

Wishing you fond memories and a wonderful week! 

Hello blog friends!  On Wednesday I posted on the Story Empire website and the topic was Writers and Health. If you'd lilke to visit, here's the link. 

In the article, I make comparisons between the time of the Spanish Flu and the Great Depression - and now. Perhaps you've heard your grandparents talk about those difficult years. We seem to be living through a similar experience, don't you agree? 

Thankfully winter is lifting, COVID is retreating, the we have longer days of sunshine. There's much to celebrate. 😊

​~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For those unfamiliar with Story Empire, it is a group of writers who love the written word. 

​From the top left and moving around the perimeter to the right, we are: D. Wallace Peach, Joan Hall, D.L. Finn, Staci Troilo, Craig Boyack, Harmony Kent, Gwen M. Plano,
Beem Weeks, Jan Sikes, Mae Clair, and John W. Howell.