Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
Our hearts are greatly saddened by the death of Pope Framcis and all that He brought to leading the World toward Love and Support for all People
"Who Am I to Judge?--Pope Francis
All during the Holy Week Month we have The Pope, The Family, News Hosts and Congressional Representatives, a minister or two and news about protests in all 50 states... as well as Corrie Ten boom are all speaking out! Personally I've been watching from the beginning...
People are afraid, people have been fired for no documented reason. People have been "disappeared" from the nation's streets, including one "known" American citizens leaving behind an austic son in his car and flown to another country where the president has paid $6M for housing non-white people...Hints of citizens are already being planned. Nobody is outside of this president's reach or notice...
Lies, lies, lies are spewed from about 95% of the republican party in government right now; only a few have spoken out against what is happening...
This administration doesn't pay attention to law/judges and flaunts the fact to the nation...
And then proclaims that they are holding an entire Easter event...
In one of the churches I've attended, each service would start with choruses to move into a prayerful attitude before the service started...
In our church the Easter Season began with Palm Sunday, On that day we would have palm leaves to distribute to those who were there. But as you can see by the videos I choose, they rarely relate to any specific religion or denomination, but rather to share the historical event that occurred during that last week of Christ's life... We would sing songs that appeared in our hymnals for that day, such as the following...
I remember these words from a cantata I was once singing in a choir from various churches. I loved that short vwrse sung--I am crucified with Christ, yet I live, but not I. Christ liveth in me... I sang the solo part. But I could only find one individual putting the words to music... It's not sung like I did, majestically, but I wanted to share how the words sound musically...
But that was afterward...after Jesus was crucified, of course. But my favorite of that event was On a Hill Far Away...
But the song I most liked to sing solo, was The Robe of Calvary. I'm going to go out to see if I can find it... When I saw this one by a woman, and heard the opening, chills rose up on my body. I hope you can hear me singing; I'm a strong singer like Jilly, LOL.
But the most powerful experience for Easter happened many years later when I had moved to Morgantown, WV, and invited to attend a church that at that time was meeting in what appeared to have been a large furniture store--hundreds were seating there in foldup church as a new church was being built... The song was Were You There (when they crucified my Lord?)
The congregation had sung the first verse and was moving on to the second...you know the words...Were you there when they nailed him to the cross... BUT, just as we sang the word nail, over the loud speaker, suddenly the soldier was hammering the nails...slowly keeping time to the song, as we heard the nails being pushed into the body of Jesus! I felt I was there being crucified with Christ... The steadiness of the pounding of the nailes as each one was placed and broke the skin of Our Savior... I know I cried that day... But, even now, as I close my eyes remembering that Moment, I know I felt the pain of Jesus as he was nailed to the cross...for...me... For You...
But then three days later we would sing again! Low in the Grave
Normally somebody from my family would sing a solo. My brother especially liked this one...
One day an elderly woman in church asked me to sing Living for Jesus as a solo. My sister would be my pianist and she wasn't sure about the chorus; broader finger range, while I didn't think I could reach the high notes any more... We delayed until one Sunday she looked up at me expectantly, but it was not the song, so I explained afterward that I had tried but could no longer reach the higher notes. She looked at me and said, simply, well, then go lower... Me the soprano who was always selected to reach the high notes in our choir had never even thought of "going lower..." LOL But I did... I always loved this song and had sung it many times as the following singer, although I have a stronger voice than this singer... Note that the chorus is sung as a duet, which my sister and I had done as well at other times. She is a soprano, so I normally did harmony, the lower part since I had the ability to "hear" different parts as a song was played...
Poetry, like other forms of creative arts such as painting, music, sculpture etc. is a way for the poet to share life experiences - feelings, emotions, images - and thus express his or her personality. Most human beings (Earthians) have a desire to be with others and one of the ways this is done is through communication by whatever means are available. Poetry is one way of expressing one's self.
The poems in this book offer glimpses into the poet's soul. They touch on a myriad of themes that are common to all who have undertaken the journey through this particular life in this place known as Earth.
It is the author's hope that the reader will be able to identify with, to understand and perhaps to empathize with the various situations, dilemmas, conflicts, miseries, euphoria etc. that are shared by means of his verses.
Glimpses is the author's first poetry collection of a non-limerick genre.
Captain No Beard and his pirate ship The Flying Dragon set sail for a voyage of the imagination with his fearless crew of four: First Mate Hallie, Mongo the Monkey, Linus the loudmouthed lion, and Fribbit the floppy frog. Normally a young boy named Alexander, his cousin Hallie, and three stuffed animals, once they board his bed their world is transformed into a magical vessel, sailing the seven seas on dangerous and exciting adventures! Captain No Beard - An Imaginary Tale of a Pirate's Life named to Kirkus Reviews' BEST OF 2012 for Children's Indie Books, and garnered the star of remarkable merit! "Roman charms with an imaginative,whimsical picture book that will entertain even the oldest pirates."
Captain No Beard and the crew of the Flying Dragon welcome a new crew member, when Cabin Girl Cayla joins the ship. Responsible for his little sister, Captain No Beard is not very happy because he finds his newest charge a distraction. When faced with danger, the captain must find a way to escape. While learning valuable lessons about strangers, the crew realized not to judge somebody because they are young or small. Strength comes in all sizes!
When the wind stops blowing, Captain No Beard and his crew, including First Mate Hallie, Linus the Lion, Fribbet the Frog, Mongo the Monkey and Polly the Parrot, are stuck on a desert island. Maroon with nothing to do, they begin to play and enjoy themselves. However, Captain No Beard has other ideas, bossing his crew around and making playtime cheerless for everyone. Soon, Captain No Beard decides he has had enough and storms off. When his ship is attacked by a giant squid, he realizes he needs his crew more than ever. Captain No Beard and his crew show young readers that's it's important to cooperate and share your belongings. The crew teaches us that if you want to have friends, then you must be a friend too.
The crew of the Flying Dragon are sailing again. This time, new crewmember, Pepper Parrot is having a hard time keeping up with the drills. Captain No Beard and his mates join together to help Pepper achieve her goals with patience and tolerance.
*****
Avi recently discovered that he had accesss to a treehouse! In the shape of a ship! Now this one in the picture sits on the ground, but just imagine what you could see when you are up above the earth shouting "Ahoy Mate!" So I decided to revisit a series of books by Carole P. Roman about her pirate friends!
And Carole is right her in the midde of all the characters in these fun books!
Cassandra Lynn!
And, by the way, did you see the baby in the first picture, and then in the above book, where the child is now on the ship? Here's a recent pic that will allow you to meet Avery's new Sister Cassandra Lynn! Isn't she beautiful?!
Here's Avi introducing his new sister to his pirate life, note his costume and his sword sticking out along his side... Cassie? She's not quite ready to assume her new role in pirate adventures! I wonder if she will take to this playworld like her big brother does!
After a fierce battle with a storm, the crew goes in search of treasure. Alexander, that is, Captain No Beard uses a map to locate it on the ominous sounding Snake Island. Bravely they dig until they find the best treasure ever!
Note: I've included this reading video for some of you. I do not read with music...LOL
I buy all of my books now, sometimes they are free, sometimes not. The main reason is that I am no longer able to easily read printed books and review them... so I've had to make many adjustments requiring ebooks now... Like giving to charity all the TBR books I had on shelves that I knew I would never now read...
I've joined BookBub which provides discounted or free books daily... Now that they have the ability to post reviews, it has allowed me to be more active there... But, this is not a recommendation for the site... I've discovered that there is a cost for authors, so I recommend authors do a search of the site and decide. A number of reviews can be found on YouTube, FYI... For me, it's been many years since I actually accepted a book review request from authors (if you have a book you'd like me to review, tell me the name of your book and I'll check it out... If I think I'd like it, I'll buy the book to provide a verified purchase review on Amazon--I consider this payback for all the free books I've received over th 20 years I've been reviewing) other than those I've been working with for years and feel a personal commitment to--because I love their books! On the other hand, I've also enjoyed finding and reading authors that I'd never read before... So this works for me at this time...
Often during these days of such chaos in America, I withdraw into books to escape... I recently picked up a book and later discovered it was the second book in a series... I fell in love with the book and immediately moved on to the third and fourth book...and finished the series except for the first book.
“A brilliant book. I couldn’t put it down and I never guessed who the murderer was!” —Reader review for Only Murder ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
But by then, I had been startled to realize what I considered a major breach of the norm for anybody reading or writing mysteries... I was so shocked that it continued to happen in the four books I read. Then I had to decide, do I go back and read the first book, even though... But, let me start at the beginning and close this part with the Quandry I faced...
Should I rank the book(s) based upon this breach? I decided that, even though many book sites have a way to designate reviews that give away information that shouldn't occur--why would reviewers be punished if the author is the one that did it, I wondered... But I had loved the books, even with this breach... I decided that I needed to give the ranking I felt about the books, as opposed to what the writer had done... Let me know in comments whether I should have changed my public ranking based upon this issue... in your opinion...meant for a discussion as opposed to anything else... Here's what happened... I did decide not to write my usual reviews for these books, other than today's post, well, just because...
I bought this book...
This is the second book in a series. It is listed as the favorite (probably because it is still free?)
The main character is a professional restorer of art pieces. She goes into the homes, normally of the rich and famous--those who can afford such pieces for their homes. What makes them mysteries is that, during the work on the painting, something is discovered that is, somtimes within the picture itself, or is found in some other way. In essence, the main character becomes the amateur detective in all cases, and persists until discovering and solving the mystery. I loved the concept of merging mysteries within the art world and having a restorer of older paintings needing some type of work be the one that discovers, even cold cases, and solves them...
I bought the remaining books at regular cost as they were numbered in the series... But then I noticed a name being used as part of a main character flashback...
It happened again...
It was, I later confirmed, the murderer in the very first book... Do you get the point? If not, scroll back up to read a short blurb review which was used over and over in each of these books...
The reviewer proudly didn't guess who the killer was and that helped them give 5 stars... In fact, I do just the opposite, I applaud when I was unable to guess in advance of the actual naming that the author had succeeded in allowing me the pleasure of assuring my readers that this mystery was so good, that, "even I, LOL" did not guess the villain of the mystery! After all, isn't that part of the mystery and the enjoyment for mystery readers? Surely, everybody knows that??? But, here
the writer has used the actual murderer's name in referring to the flashbacks of the main character!
Ok, I don't know about you, but I was shocked.
Now realize, that I'm somewhat of an expert in picking up errors of content in books... So, at this point I had only made an assumption that, indeed, the author had revealed the name of the villain of the first book, within later books...
Am I the ONLY reader that has purchased a book, that later is discovered to be a series and buy all the others to know the whole story? But, did I want to go back and pick up The Unknown Woman to verify that, indeed, I was right in my assumption about the author's, in my mind unforgivable error?
Of course I had too...
I began to read the first book. Frankly I noticed a difference in the writing immediately. Ok, this was first in series and maybe the writer's first in series was written more to set up the series. Let me tell you what I mean... In the other four books, the main character is totally in control of telling her story. She's in her element--her expertise of being able to correct any problem, which included, by the way, the repair/restoration of a painting where somebody had thrown paint on the painting! In any event, the fludity of the last four books, the meticulous activities of the main character pulled this reader to turn pages, moving through the book(s) one right after the other, as if it was one book, rather than four...
Going back to the first in series, I found the first book where the author was in control. The writing was stilted as, seemingly, she was getting the mechanics of her new series down sufficiently so that she could move on to the next book... If I had read it first, I would not have caught this since I would not have been reading the first book after all of the others...
This author has written other series, so this was not her first. Perhaps all of her readers get a notice that another of her series is starting and they buy the first book first... I can tell you from experience that the average reader is moving from writer to writer and rarely knows or remembers whether they have even read the book before. Unless they are specifically told that the book being placed on sale is actually second in a series and we should make sure that we read the series in order to avoid being told the name of the villain that is identified in book 1...
Readers! Pop Quiz... Do you buy a book based upon author or genre? My answer is genre...
If it is a series, do you buy a book on sale, even if you don't know it is a series in advance? In this case, I did not know it was a series so I bought it. Hey, it was free, I normally can't resist a free book from anywhere...LOL If I really hate it, I can feel free to delete an ebook or send a paperback to charity...Unless a book has been damaged, I never throw a book away...
I also hate book banning... just so you know... We all are free to be in a democracy (except now)!
Bottomline, I did confirm that the villain who was named as a killer in flashbacks by the main character in later books was actually correct as being the killer of the first in series book. Now the author could have created the flashback without actually using the name of the killer and the emotional impact of her first emotionally charged event could have still been felt by readers. The names are normally irrelevant in a book unless they are primary characters--at least once the book has been read.
So, why did this author choose to use the actual name in a flashback scene? To me, the reader, I don't really care. It might have been standard for this author. It may have been an oversight--a mistake... Or maybe she really didn't consider that each book should be considered free-standing in all cases so that the reader can choose whether to read the entire series or not, at least in my opinion... Because, you see, my opinion does count... I am the only one who will decide whether I add this author to my mental list of writers I'll be willing to read again... Or NOT... What I do know is that, I loved four out of five books in this series and, if this breach of norms had not occurred, I would probably have been willing to read her further. I am not now that individual. I once told an author that each typo in a book jars my attention... Writing back he cringed. Then I went on to say that each superflous vulgar term hurts me... He crossed me off his list...
Except I bought the book myself, read it. I thought it was satire and enjoyed it. It wasn't meant to be a satire; the author hated my thoughts. LOL
Words matter. What every writer must realize early, unless they are writing for their own enjoyment or a diary, is that everybody who reads their writing will be a fan or a critic Based UPON What They Read... This was his first book. I advised him to start reading, since his storyline seemed to be based on television programs or movies, rather than continuing to write first... That's about all I could do...
So, my Blog readers, next question of your quiz. If you realized that the author of a series had given away the name of a villain in another of the series books, would you blackball the writer for the future like I did? No, it won't change my opinion, but it may influence me whether I contact the writer or not in the future. And, yes, I did love the concept and the main character... Seeing a series villain's name in a flashback--No, can't accept that!
But this was my personal opinion, I did rank based upon the overall quality of the books... What would you have done?
"I acknowledge my feeling and gratitude for life by praising the world and whoever
made all these things."
~ Mary Oliver
Happy National Poetry Month!
This is always one of my favorite months
because not only do I get to review my latest favorite poetry books, but it's a time
when there's a lot of national focus on poetry. In my hometown, this month, we elect
our new Poet Laureate, who typically holds a two-year term. It's also a time when
there are numerous poetic events to attend around town.
I'm also excited about the number of poems I've had published in the past few
months, especially my new favorite form of haikus and haibuns. Many people have
told me that they think I've found my form. While I'm still mastering the form, I
must say I'm really enjoying the challenge.
If you have not written a poem since grade school, then this month might be a good
time to try. If rhyming intimidates you, don’t worry, because modern day poetry has
very little rhyme. I'm a fan of narrative poetry because, like memoir writing, it tells a
story.
Poetry, the voice of the soul, is a free-flowing form of expression. The best poetry
happens when you write about feelings, observations, and images as they come to
you.
To become a good poet, it is important that you read a lot of poetry for inspiration
and ideas about form. You can also listen to CDs of poetry being read aloud.
Here are a few prompts to consider:
1) Title your poem “I remember.” Recall an event in your life and share all the
details in your poem. The reader should feel as if they are remembering along with
you.
2) Write a poem about a secret you never told anyone.
I've seen and heard Naomi at a number of poetry events, and I just cannot get enough of her down-to-earth poetry. This book, in particular, resonated with me, with her themes of family, love, kindness, empathy, grief, growing up, and resilience.
This book celebrates family and community. The collection gets more personal than any of her other collections. Here she taps into her childhood, her parents and grandparents, and all the others who have helped shape her life as a poet and human. It's one of those books to be kept at the bedside to be reread over and over again.
I had so many favorite poems starred in this collection, but "Freedom" really spoke to me:
I first heard Seuss read her poetry during an online poetry reading and was blown away by her voice and honesty. This new collection takes its title, Modern Poetry, from the first poetry textbook she encountered as a child and the first poetry course she took in college.
Her poems tell it like it is—feisty and musical, and many of them taking chances in writing about ordinary life occurrences, such as love and death. Her dry sense of humor coupled with self-scrutiny, offers the reader respite from the noise and chaos of the universe.
In her poem called, "Poetry," she says,
There's no sense
in telling you my particular
troubles. You have yours too.
Is there value in comparing notes?
Unlike Williams writing poems on prescription pads
between patients. I have
no prescriptions for you.
I'm more interested
in the particular
nature and tenor of the energy
of our trouble.
Yes, You Can Write Poetry: Try It This National Poetry Month By Diana Raab April 06, 2025 Hobbies
April is National Poetry Month and if you have not thought about poetry since high school, it might be a good time to rediscover its wonders. Poetry is the voice of the soul; it is a free-flowing form of expression. The best poetry comes to you when you write about feelings, observations, and images as they arrive.
Poetry is a powerful genre because it allows self-expression and thus can increase your sense of well-being. In addition, reading and writing poetry not only leads to healing and transformation, but it can make you a better writer.
The Many Benefits of Writing Poetry
In general, writing poetry fosters the development of keen observational skills because in order to write good poetry, you need to be in touch with all of your senses. For example, instead of saying that something is beautiful, it’s more compelling to show why something is beautiful. In practice, this may look like this: when writing about flowers, you might say that the color is radiant, and the fragrance is like honeysuckle. This technique is called, “showing rather than telling.”
Writing poetry can also be healing, especially when you write about events or experiences that you’re still coming to terms with or still processing.
Freestyle Poetry
If rhyming intimidates you, don’t worry, because modern day poetry has very little rhyme. I’m a fan of narrative poetry because it’s most akin to memoir writing. It is poetry that tells a story. In many ways, writing poetry can move you closer to your center of creativity. It also stimulates the right brain. Poetry can also help you claim your voice.
If you want to write poetry, my best advice is to listen to the voice in your head. Writing poetry can help transform your life and aid you in dealing with difficult issues.
Because poetry is a succinct genre where every word counts, it teaches you the power of words. Writing poetry teaches you how to be concise and get to the point of what you want to say. Poetry also encourages the creation of images and metaphors. It’s a good idea to provide many details in the poem and to be as specific as possible. When writing about someone else, consider having a photo of them nearby so you can easily visualize them.
Remember...to become a good poet, it is important to read a lot of poetry for inspiration. It’s also a way to get some ideas about form. Sometimes it’s fun to listen to poets read their poems. In fact, after you write your poem, one way to edit it is to read it out loud. This is because poetry was meant to be a spoken form of expression.
Try These Prompts
Here are some good prompts to get started when you want to begin writing:Write an ode to someone you love. Provide details about why you love them. In poetic form, write a letter of apology to someone you disappointed, or you think you disappointed. Write a poem about your first boyfriend/girlfriend and what you remember about them and your relationship. You could write a poem about someone who has passed away by framing it as a present-day event that triggers a favorite memory of them. Write a poem about a secret you never told anyone. Describe your day in a snapshot. Write a poem about all the things you love.
Final Thoughts: Do you read poetry? Who’s your favorite author? How about writing poetry – is it a favorite creative activity? What prompts do you use? If you haven’t written any poems yet, what’s stopping you?
Wishing you all happy writing.Have a great month of April!
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