tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43054320536507622322024-03-05T21:01:14.873-05:00Scribblers Chamber Writing Communityby J Snow<br><i>Author, Poet, Survivor, Neurotic Disaster </i><br><br><center>இڿڰۣ-ڰۣ—<br>
The Scribblers Newsletter<i><br>
a must have for every author!</i><br>
<a href="http://blogspot.us16.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=4277cb86dd60a7f59e539b53f&id=2e41c82540">SUBSCRIBE</a><br></center>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-7757542327649362222022-10-21T15:57:00.001-04:002022-10-21T18:01:38.888-04:00Vanessa Zisman: Author Spotlight <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div><p dir="ltr"><i><b>Vanessa Zisman </b></i></p><p dir="ltr"><i>Van, V, Storm, The Writing Wench, Erotic_goddess, The Wild Child, Mom, The Problem Child... no matter the name, I'm known as a poet and writer by night and a mother of six and slave by day. Though I've never been published, officially, I picked up my pen when I was seven and never put it back down. I am most known for my dark, morbid, and sometimes erotic, poetry and prose, but I have written several short stories and even a novel that I am still currently writing titled, </i>The Curse of Eden.<i> It's a story of a young woman tortured and killed by a sexual sadist only to haunt and seek revenge as a spirit. </i></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-23555ee3-7fff-094c-0267-ba9a0a5ad23e"><b>Instagram</b>: @vanessalynnzisman</p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-23555ee3-7fff-094c-0267-ba9a0a5ad23e"><b>Website</b>: <b><u><a href="https://deepundergroundpoetry.com/poets/Erotic_Goddess/">Erotic Goddess</a></u></b></p><p dir="ltr"><b>Facebook</b>: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100036868223611"><b>StoRm Between The Bites</b></a></p><p dir="ltr"><br></p><p dir="ltr"><b><i>Awards</i></b></p><p dir="ltr"> Deep Underground Poetry:<br></p><ul id="docs-internal-guid-c606eafb-7fff-f3db-64b1-ba110f4d100e"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Poet Of The Month, April 2016</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Valentine Crushing Season Competition Winner, March 2020</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">When A Lie Is The Truth Competition Winner, January 2021</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Breakout Competition Winner, November 2017</p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Sensuality Competition Winner, March 2016</p></li></ul><div> Scribblers Writing Organization:</div><ul><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Writers Choice Poetry Winner, January 2017</p></li></ul><div><br></div><div><b><i>Interesting facts</i></b></div><div>I didn't have an easy life. I was fourteen when I survived a sexual sadist who initially cloaked himself as a trustworthy friend.</div><div><br></div><div>At fifteen, I was an addict. My dad took me away from Charlotte, NC, where I'd lived all of my life, and took me to Raleigh, NC, where I got clean and started working in one of his offices. </div><div><br></div><div>At sixteen, I lived on my own with the man who became my kids' father (he was twenty-seven at the time) and who I later found out was a narcissist. I was with him for fourteen years; the last seven were a living hell. At thirty-one, I finally left him.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Inspirations</i></b> </div><div><div><br></div><div>My six kids: Tyler, Abby, Sara, Ethan, Autumn, and Chloe.</div><div><br></div><div>My four step-children: Alissa, Leah, Gavin, and Eden.</div><div><br></div><div>My son's fiancé, whom I consider my daughter, no matter where she is: N'dia.</div><div><br></div><div>My son-in-law, Austin.</div><div><br></div><div>My parents: Wade and Andrea. Especially my dad, who has been pushing me to do what I was meant to do and pursue my writing since I was a child.</div><div><br></div><div>I also have a small group of very close friends who keep me grounded and drive me crazy, but push me to succeed every day!</div></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Hobbies and Such Things</i></b> </div><div>Obviously writing …cooking, dancing (even though I'm definitely terrible at it), ax throwing, laser tag, shopping, engaging in real intelligent and informative conversation, writing music, and literally anything that involves spending quality time with my kids and the people I care about!</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><i>Why should we read your work, watch you grow as a writer, follow you, love you? Why?</i></b></div><div>You never read the same thing twice with me. I aim to keep the reader guessing until the very end. Every piece of work is a new ride. Might want to buckle up!!!</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><b><i>A Letter to My Readers:</i></b></div><div><b><i><br></i></b></div><div><i>I want to give a huge thank you to the people who have inspired and pushed me to not only follow my dreams, but also tell my story! </i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i>As a wise woman once said: "When I finally get the opportunity to sleep, I can't. The writer in me won't let me be until I weave, and the people I love won't give up until I sleep!" </i></div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-49307181-7fff-50c7-563a-dc24f71ee48f"><i>Thank you to all those who voted for me. It's an honor to be seen for my writing and not my appearance for once! </i></p><p dir="ltr">~ Vanessa Zisman</p><p dir="ltr"><br></p></div><p dir="ltr">Read Vanessa's Contest Winning Short Story: <a href="http://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2022/10/octobers-short-story-contest-winner.html"><b><i>DECISIONS</i></b></a></p><p dir="ltr"><br></p></div>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-25469390776843765562022-10-21T15:32:00.000-04:002022-10-21T18:02:16.171-04:00October's Short Story Contest Winner<h4><br></h4><h4><br></h4><h4>DECISIONS <br></h4><h4><i>by <a href="http://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2022/10/vanessa-zisman-author-spotlight.html">Vanessa Zisman</a></i></h4><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div><br></div><div><br></div><div> </div><div><br></div><div> It's difficult to see the world through blind eyes once you've learned your cozy cushion of a life was a fasade.</div><div> Every family has secrets. Every family has a mask they parade around for the public while the walls inside their homes wrap the horrors and the lies in pretty red ribbons of deceit.</div><div> I was turning eighteen that summer. Alot of things would fall on my shoulders. My father in his passing had passed his legacy down to me, and I was about as thrilled as an orphan on Christmas morning knowing there would be no presents. My life was not my own.</div><div> Whatever it was my father before me had done was now to be my responsibility, though I was ignorant to what that meant.</div><div> I dressed in my best suit and allowed my father's handler's to lead the way to the west corridor of my families mansion. I'd lived here all my life, and yet, I had never ventured to this section of our home.</div><div> One of the handlers, a dangly man with wire-rimmed glasses three sizes too big for his shrunken head, retrieved a key from his vest pocket, opening the red stone door to my left and ushered me along.</div><div> Inside the room, the faint scent of whiskey and dust made my nose twitch and my eyes water.</div><div> "Jacob!" my mother exclaimed, shaking me back to reality.</div><div> "Sit, there is much to discuss!" she continued, gesturing to a recliner across from hers.</div><div> Reluctantly, I did as she asked and waited for her to speak.</div><div> "Jacob, there are things we've kept from you, my son." She paused, fiddling with her skirt. "Secrets that have been kept by our family for generations." She explained, gesturing to a female handler.</div><div> Another door opened to the right of the room, and I watched as three young women no older then myself entered. They were beautiful by every extent of the word — red hair curling down their backs, eyes the color of emeralds.</div><div> I probably would have taken more time to admire this beauty had it not been for the iron shackles they all bore on their wrists and ankles.</div><div> Sensing my uneasiness, my mother continued her explanation:</div><div> "Jacob, four centuries ago, a family of bandits and murderers began coming every year to take the first born son of our bloodline. The goal was to create a new bloodline between royalty and thieves and murderers, thus creating a new race that would be the undoing of pure blood."</div><div> She stopped, letting me take this information in.</div><div> "Two centuries ago, in an attempt to stop our bloodline from dying out, our ancestors began kidnapping the daughters of our adversaries. In doing so, leaving them without a mate, for they would be captives of our bloodlines."</div><div> She paused again, reading my expression. I rocked in my chair uncomfortably, waiting to hear where this was headed.</div><div> "Both bloodlines began to dwindle leaving us with only one choice: to make a deal with our enemies," she explained. "Making a deal with snakes is never easy. We wanted one mate every eighteen years. Instead, they give us three. Two of which can and will destroy us if given the opportunity and one who is to be mated. They saw it a fair deal for fate to be decided by our own hands." </div><div> She waited for me to react. I just stared ahead, trying to make sense of it all.</div><div> "In making this deal, we've created a race that is both strong and smart and ruthless and sneaky, making us untouchable," she finished.</div><div> "I don't understand…." I trailed off, overwhelmed by what I was being told.</div><div> "Jacob, one of these three girls is to be your wife. The other two…they must be bled dry…"</div><div> "That's ridiculous!!!" I yelled, bolting upright. "What the hell kind of freak show was I born into? I'm no murderer!"</div><div> "Part of you is, son!" my mother replied softly, a darkness in her eyes I had never seen before.</div><div> It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was one of those she had spoke of — a race between royalty and snakes.</div><div> I stood there, mouth ajar, at a loss for words.</div><div> "I know this is a lot to take in, Jacob," she said mockingly. "But it's time for you to follow through with the family's legacy. Choose wisely!" With that, she stood and exited through the red door followed by the handlers. The door slammed shut behind them, leaving me alone with the three shackled girls and a sickening feeling in my gut.</div><div> "I'm Joanna," the girl in the middle exclaimed.</div><div> "Kylie," grumbled the girl on the left.</div><div> Joanna nudged the girl on the right.</div><div> She sighed. "Sasha."</div><div> I remained quiet, trying to make sense of what I was meant to do and how everything I had known had been lies.</div><div> "Jacob, you have to choose, but choose wrong and…." Joanna trailed off.</div><div> "Choose wrong and what?" I demanded. </div><div> Kylie snickered, and Joanna elbowed her in the side harshly.</div><div> "Well, if you choose correctly, you won't need to worry yourself with that now will you?" Joanna cooed. </div><div> I looked at Sasha who was eyeing the floor quietly, humming to herself while her partners seemed to be amusing themselves toying with my mind. No way this soft-spoken, shy, childlike demeanor could exist in the same mind as a murderer.</div><div> I jumped from my seat, bolting across the room, taking Joanna by the neck.</div><div> "No more games! What happens if I choose wrong?" I spat through clenched teeth.</div><div> She laughed, taking me aback. Something evil lurking in the cackle of her throat echoing through the room.</div><div> "Stupid boy, you don't scare me!" she spat back.</div><div> Kylie laughed. Her eyes met mine, mocking my ignorance.</div><div> "Better hurry, coward!" she warned.</div><div> They both laughed, sending chills the length of my spine.</div><div> "Shutup!!! Just stop, both of you! He didn't choose this anymore than we did!" Sasha broke her silence, tears trailing her cheeks.</div><div> I released my grip on Joanna's neck. Backing away to gather my bearings.</div><div> "Aww, look at lil Sasha trying to protect her lover boy!" Joanna hissed harshly, swinging swiftly and precisely into Sasha's nose, sending her on her bottom on the cold hardwoods.</div><div> Kylie wrapped the chains conjoining her shackles around Sasha's frail neck and pulled tightly. Sasha struggled against the chain, trying to breathe and choking.</div><div> In that moment, I was so sure I knew the right choice that I flung all of my weight into Joanna, sending her body crashing against the wall, lifeless and limp.</div><div> Gaining my composure, I peered across the room to see Sasha's eyes bulging and begging me. I barged across the room, grabbing Kylie off of the ground by her hair, her shackles loosening enough for Sasha to break free and crawl away.</div><div> With all of the strength I could muster, I flung Kylie's head against the hard stone of the fireplace and watched as her lifeless body collided with the floor.</div><div> "Ooooo…." My breath caught in my throat as pain ricocheted through my body.</div><div> I turned my head to see Sasha grinning, an evil seeming to have possessed her that wasn't there before. Blood dripped from her nose to her mouth, staining her teeth.</div><div> "But…I saved you!" I cried out.</div><div> She pulled the knife from my back.</div><div> I screamed as, again, pain rippled through my body.</div><div> I fell to the floor, the room seeming to spin.</div><div> "Get off of him! Leave him the fuck alone!!!" Joanna yelled.</div><div> <i>Joanna</i>?</div><div> Everything went dark.</div><div> My eyes fluttered open. Disoriented, it took me a minute to realize I was in my bed. I tried to roll over and almost yelled out from the pain.</div><div> "Easy, cowboy. You'll tear your stitches," a familiar voice soothed me.</div><div> I looked up to find Joanna's soft smile, her emerald eyes looking over me, concerned.</div><div> "You really are a stupid and brave boy, aren't you?" she teased.</div><div> "Wh..a…?" I stammered</div><div> "Risking your life to save the wrong girl!" she replied.</div><div> I raised my eyebrow quizzically.</div><div> "It's always the quiet ones!" she laughed.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2022/10/vanessa-zisman-author-spotlight.html"><b> Vanessa Zisman: Author Spotlight Page</b></a><br></div><div><br></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div><i><br></i></div>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-78622454749843864162021-04-24T10:48:00.001-04:002021-04-24T10:57:46.977-04:00Author Spotlight: Janine Pipe<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIlbHHrJSMrUVNw3sK7_OroYp3rVmNv032-7Z9qjHq2UapjeSQLWVB6JImKbPlaBue7AWNWKbEGlg-7JHfQBYQcLCTKwNBq-2uqA6Y0qJcVOSwDfJTNT34ppeh6f3-H7p1_8yR8gZwtw/s960/169475545_10157640863671372_7470519947845771758_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIlbHHrJSMrUVNw3sK7_OroYp3rVmNv032-7Z9qjHq2UapjeSQLWVB6JImKbPlaBue7AWNWKbEGlg-7JHfQBYQcLCTKwNBq-2uqA6Y0qJcVOSwDfJTNT34ppeh6f3-H7p1_8yR8gZwtw/s320/169475545_10157640863671372_7470519947845771758_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><b><i>Interview</i></b> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Please introduce yourself.</b></p><p>Hi. I’m a writer from Swindon in the UK. I’m an ex-police officer, happily married with an 11 year old daughter.</p><p>I love all things horror and Disney, and as well as writing, I am a publicist and editor at <i>Kandisha Press </i>with my amazing BFF Jill Girardi and a reviewer for <i>Scream Magazine, Horror DNA, Horror Oasis </i>and<i> Night Worms</i>. I have a booktube channel where I waffle about books and interview other authors, usually with my review bestie Ben Long, and I co-host a podcast with another BFF, Lou Yardley. </p><p>I read as much indie horror as I can, and my favourite authors are Glenn Rolfe, Hunter Shea and Tim Meyer. I also love delving into Ketchum, Laymon, Keene etc. and learning from the masters. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>What inspired you to write the <i><a href="http://mybook.to/JaninePipe">TTT</a></i> (<i>Twisted: Tainted Tales</i>) collection of stories? </b></p><p>I really enjoy flash fiction and short stories. I had a plethora ready to go just waiting for a home and I just suddenly thought, what am I saving these for, why don’t I just put out a collection and that was it! I have a couple of novellas which are still very much WIP and I wanted to get something of my own out into the world. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Why is this collection a must read? </b></p><p>I think <i>TTT</i> is a must read if you like the 80s, some humour and fun injected into your horror, pop culture and a lot of blood. A couple of the stories are always very sexual as that often goes hand-in-hand with splatterpunk and extreme but it is very much tongue in cheek. There will also be a ton of names that you may recognise. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Which story was most fun to write? </b></p><p>The most fun was for sure <i>Paradise City</i> which let’s just say involves a magical hole in a tree and some very horny teenagers …</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Which character from the collection is your favorite? Which was hardest to write? </b></p><p>I have a real soft spot for Sam from <i>They.</i> Teen boys are my favourite characters to write apart from cops. They are just so much fun and swear even more than I do.</p><p>I’m not sure any of them have been that hard, even my villains and monsters have been quite fun to create. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Do your stories tell themselves or are you the plot and plan type? </b></p><p>Total pantster. I have the gem of an idea and then just sit and write … it’s the only way I can work. This is likely another reason why I struggle with longer works. What I need is someone looking over my shoulder and telling me to get on with it. I’m the queen of procrastination. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Do you feel your stories are more character driven or plot? </b></p><p>100% character – I love banter and camaraderie with them – for some reason I also find boys/men easier to create. There is often an homage to someone I know or another fictional character I love in my work. I have some very vague plans for something in the future that’ll be heavily influenced by Fox Mulder and Will Graham. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>What is your writing process? What do you enjoy/hate most about it? </b></p><p>I write when I can. Just sit and write. That’s it, that’s the extent of my ‘process’. It’s worked so far, lol. My husband is almost always my tester/alpha reader and then I send it off to trusted others for feedback and then it’s either sub and sweat or I keep it for later.</p><p>I enjoy the creativity and I hate the time constraints. But that’s life.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Are you working on another collection or book? What other goals lie ahead? </b></p><p>Yes, I will be starting my second collection as soon as the launch of <i>TTT</i> is over. I still have two WIP novellas and there are a few collabs on the table for the next couple of years which will keep me busy. Also all the editing stuff with <i>Kandisha</i> including a BIG Top Secret project which is going to be epic. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>Why do you choose to self publish? </b></p><p>Mainly because collections are hard to sell to publishers, not that many presses take them on and I wanted to get this out ASAP. It was hard, I’m not going to lie, but mainly because I am so un-tech savvy. I’m used to the promoting side of things, but actually putting it together and getting it onto KDP was not easy. I have to give a HUGE thank you to Jason Brant and Lou for helping me with that. </p><p><br /></p><p><b>What is your advice to other indie authors? </b></p><p>Keep writing, keep reading, keep honing your craft. Keep an eye on open calls and work on something that you love. Write what you want to read and what feels right for you.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>As a writer, what do you feel is your biggest accomplishment? Biggest letdown? Biggest dream? </b></p><p><i>Biggest accomplishment</i> – being invited by Glenn to submit to a sampler for his press (<i>They</i> and <i>Alien Agenda Publishing</i>) AND Glenn writing me the most amazing foreword for <i>TTT</i> and comparing our writing. Many, many tears …</p><p><i>Biggest let down</i> – not really sure, I have subbed a few times to <i>Flame Tree</i> and not got anywhere. Don D’Auria would be the Dream Editor to work with alongside Ken McKinley. </p><p><i>Biggest dream</i> – to collab on something with Glenn and to have something published by <i>Silver Shamrock</i> and <i>Flame Tree Press.</i> </p><p><br /></p><p><b>What was the toughest criticism you received as an author? The biggest compliment? </b></p><p>Criticism would be from people that don’t like the splattery side of my work, as it is something that I try hard to make work especially as a woman writer. </p><p>Compliment is anytime someone compares my writing to Glenn’s.</p><p><br /></p><p>Read an <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/04/footsteps-excerpt-from-janine-pipes-ttt.html">excerpt</a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv1-RSxAv7tBTZLPLzSXCMDZEF1uFk4n3MaFQtt1GqLsP5-DU4SKOFrLZfSYouUHB8-O-jiw6MLMRSBfbxIoujqceBUZBVoBHmulrJf1eK_j3EKwKrxph5iA0VQ0vzq8r77vBKjQ-VWw/s2048/TTTfullcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1573" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGv1-RSxAv7tBTZLPLzSXCMDZEF1uFk4n3MaFQtt1GqLsP5-DU4SKOFrLZfSYouUHB8-O-jiw6MLMRSBfbxIoujqceBUZBVoBHmulrJf1eK_j3EKwKrxph5iA0VQ0vzq8r77vBKjQ-VWw/s320/TTTfullcover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><a href="http://mybook.to/JaninePipe">Buy Twisted: Tainted Tales</a></p><p><b>More</b> ... </p><p><a href="https://amzn.to/3ejfHyy">Janine's Published Works</a> </p><p><b>Twitter:</b> <a href="http://Www.twitter.com/janinepipe28">@janinepipe28</a></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC32B_iUm0Kxy95mcsPfr-QQ">YouTube</a> </p><p><a href="https://www.patreon.com/Janines_ghost_stories?fan_landing=true">Patreon</a> </p><p><a href="http://ko-fi.com/janinepipe">KoFi</a> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyxi2xQY0TcNMSm0UPL7iexR-3rZfL4No7qzda01rilWJFBMcwwmNOfI4AInCz1Pvr9f_lebv076quj9LI6qDjrkq70_OcAAZRS1-STMAcl4yWUISD5h-tEwFAS8juNc9aFuXrFg3CgQ/s2048/174157357_460041611901619_7805958452113865739_n.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeyxi2xQY0TcNMSm0UPL7iexR-3rZfL4No7qzda01rilWJFBMcwwmNOfI4AInCz1Pvr9f_lebv076quj9LI6qDjrkq70_OcAAZRS1-STMAcl4yWUISD5h-tEwFAS8juNc9aFuXrFg3CgQ/s320/174157357_460041611901619_7805958452113865739_n.png" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-22589334817541945802021-04-24T10:44:00.001-04:002021-04-24T10:54:38.202-04:00Footsteps: An Excerpt from Janine Pipe's TTT Anthology <p> </p><p style="text-indent: 48px;">By <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/04/author-spotlight-janine-pipe.html"><b>Janine Pipe</b></a> </p><p style="text-indent: 48px;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7ZuEJOO4oey3awErPaIea0_jhnn7-4WzoC5pJsrGrTpvLTwEffGQaHjq1EFvX1B7N3MNvD734Xrgtblx7xU6hlkgREuzR4aWAWRO6_V_yWDBrETXkDy1fRbAr4FcJdf1wdfuKaSyClU/s2048/Twisted-Tales-Small2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1280" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj7ZuEJOO4oey3awErPaIea0_jhnn7-4WzoC5pJsrGrTpvLTwEffGQaHjq1EFvX1B7N3MNvD734Xrgtblx7xU6hlkgREuzR4aWAWRO6_V_yWDBrETXkDy1fRbAr4FcJdf1wdfuKaSyClU/s320/Twisted-Tales-Small2.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-indent: 48px;"><br /></p><p><u style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prologue</span></u></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Come on, just a few more minutes. </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kelly was desperate. She tried to convince herself that her bladder was not about to explode all over her new Ford Escort. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Please, please, please.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She hadn’t planned to leave quite so late and had in no way intended to take the winding, no-cats-eyes route through the forest. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was about fifteen minutes at least until she would arrive home. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Duran Duran’s latest hit blasted out from the radio.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lady Luck was not on her side. She felt a sharp pain and realised with annoyance that not only did she need to pee, but her sanitary pad was now sodden too.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She pulled the car over.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God damn it!</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She sat for a moment considering her options. She in no way wanted to do what she was now considering. She was not uncouth. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet, if she didn’t get out and change her now useless pad, she risked leaking menstrual blood all over the cream interior of the new car.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Needs must.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She grabbed her bag and a bottle of water and turned the headlights on to full beam. It was pitch black in the woods and she hadn’t seen another car for miles. With the added light of her open driver’s door, she would be able to pee, change her pad, bag it up, rinse the ground and her hands and be on her way. Desperate times, desperate measures. She would never speak of it.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She stepped out onto the grass verge, pulled up her dress and squatted. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Relief was short-lived. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Crack.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She froze, knickers around her ankles, pad in hand.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What the—</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kelly didn’t even get the chance to scream.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">***</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> ‘Have you got all the cameras, the batteries, the extra batteries? Everything is charged and ready to go?’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Yes,’ Felicity replied, feeling exasperated. They had already gone over this several times. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Tent, maps, torches, food? I really don’t want to get stuck out in the woods tonight without adequate provisions.’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘It is all sorted,’ she promised, rolling her eyes. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘And we know where Loz is waiting for us?’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Yes, Becky! Loz is <i>exactly</i> where she said she would be, like we have discussed. Chill!’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was looking forward to their overnight adventure in the woods. It seemed a bit cliché, rite-of-passage, but the girls thought it would be good for their book research. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Becky, however, was getting a little fanatical about what they were taking with them. She was not an outdoorsy type of person and was paranoid that they would forget some ‘can’t spend the night without’ essential. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She was dressed as if she was off to a party rather than hiking through the forest. Low-rise jeans with a floral peasant top might be perfect for a night at the Student Union, but not so great for traipsing through the woods. At least Felicity had managed to convince her she needed hiking boots, to protect her from twisting an ankle.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Growing up with three older rough-and-tumble brothers, Felicity had spent many days climbing trees; and many evenings camping as a Brownie. She had chosen sensible cargo trousers and a ribbed turtleneck sweater. Her long blonde hair was tied into a ponytail under a Von Dutch baseball cap.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She did feel some trepidation. Only insofar that whilst researching several of the so-called local legends of the area, she had discovered that there were many tales regarding unexplained disappearances. But she was a sceptic. Despite thoroughly enjoying digging through the old lore, she didn’t think anyone could just vanish. Truth be told, she was just hoping to get some good photos. One might prove worthwhile for the cover of her book, if it were to ever be published of course.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sighing deeply, she listened as Becky continued to fret about whether they had packed enough food for the one-night sleepover and making sure they didn’t have anything that would attract ‘wild animals’. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Felicity snorted. ‘I’m pretty sure there aren’t any bears or wolves in Dorset. Maybe a nosey pony?’ She checked the bags and camping apparatus were secure under the trailer tarpaulin and got into the Range Rover she was borrowing from her dad for the trip.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Just get in!’ she ordered, and as always, Becky dutifully obeyed her. Sometimes it was more like having a puppy than a best friend. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘You certain you know where we’re going?’ Becky asked as Felicity put the 4x4 into gear and tore off the pebbled driveway. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Yes, it’s not far. And it’s a <i>huge</i> forest. How damn hard can it be to find? Besides,’ she added, ‘Loz is already there, remember.’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Becky furrowed her brow. She often seemed stressed these days. She fidgeted for a bit and then played with the radio, settling on some classic 80s rock.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Felicity turned and looked at her friend. ‘Try not to think about him, Bex. This is for us. Fuck him.’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Becky blinked a few times, as if fighting back tears. Then she rummaged in her bag and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. Her ex had never liked her to smoke.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She put one in her mouth, lit it, and took a long drag.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘Yeah!’ she shouted. ‘<i>Fuck him</i>! Oh, that reminds me.’ She turned, sighing. ‘Typically, I’ve got my period today. I can’t believe the timing of it! Because being all bloody in the woods is so convenient. Not.’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">She concentrated on driving. It was typical that Becky would have to suffer some sort of minor setback on the trip. This was less than ideal, but not the end of the world. I understood what was implied. At least that bastard hadn’t left her pregnant.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They drove on in companionable silence. It took around half an hour to find the start of the woods. It seemed to go on for miles and miles. And as was to be expected, the GPS and mobile phone coverage was now intermittent.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘So’, she said, glancing over at Becky, who was holding the map, frowning. ‘Where exactly is Loz?’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Becky turned the map upside down, and then gave an exasperated sigh. ‘I just don’t know!’ she whined. ‘You’re the expert – <i>you</i> find her.’</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, Felicity continued to drive down the windy dirt path, until they came to an area that seemed as though it had been used by campers before. And there, thank goodness, was Loz’s battered Mini. She parked the car and hopped out, enjoying a luxurious stretch as she did.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">‘This should be it.’ She could see a well-trodden path in front of them, and the trees appeared to be a little sparser in the distance. They didn’t want to traipse too far in. Hopefully they’d soon spot Loz who had texted earlier that morning to say she was on the way, but her phone was about to die. Typical of her. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They hauled off the tarp and pulled the heavy packs onto their backs. They grabbed the tent and the foodstuff, and Felicity made sure the Range Rover was secure. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then off they went into the woods.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; margin: 12pt 0cm 8pt; text-indent: 36pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">~~~~~~</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">An <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/04/author-spotlight-janine-pipe.html"><b>Interview</b></a> with Janine Pipe</div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-28746674477569372992021-03-08T15:12:00.002-05:002021-03-08T15:12:32.679-05:00The One that Got Away: Women of Horror Anthology V3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoS9H7tGmZ5WIVxat_DaL3UfwjGO20r4Ul0KkiXjtxnQMalLdNN6MzSTBKVOTCd-NizLrc4z6JWVGML_GwQ-Ide_41YbOZ8IIj2hGKJt6IuRDfj80wh-TLPxn_VWb1xyPtxdzts9dc5EM/s1600/1614379955911030-0.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoS9H7tGmZ5WIVxat_DaL3UfwjGO20r4Ul0KkiXjtxnQMalLdNN6MzSTBKVOTCd-NizLrc4z6JWVGML_GwQ-Ide_41YbOZ8IIj2hGKJt6IuRDfj80wh-TLPxn_VWb1xyPtxdzts9dc5EM/s1600/1614379955911030-0.png" width="400" />
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</div><div><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-edc7345e-7fff-8b3b-03ca-20b6844cff73" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-edc7345e-7fff-8b3b-03ca-20b6844cff73" style="text-align: center;"></p><ul><li style="text-align: left;"><b>Kandisha Press</b></li><li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.kandishapress.com">www.kandishapress.com</a></li><li style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://Kandisha14@gmail.com">Email</a></li></ul><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>SYNOPSIS</b>:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>What doesn't kill me, might make me kill you!</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">30 women authors from around the world were challenged to write about The One That Got Away. Here you'll find tales of unrequited love, blind dates gone wrong, stalkers and their prey, cursed guitars, alien symbiotes, sinister letters, and bitter acts of revenge. Dive into these murky depths and discover what hides inside the minds of women scorned.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">With Foreword by Gwendolyn Kiste (Bram Stoker award winning author of The Rust Maidens). <span style="text-align: left;">Edited by Jill Girardi.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">Reviews</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href=" https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3811205467" target="_blank"><b style="text-align: left;">'Mother Horror' Sadie</b><b style="text-align: left;"> Hartmann</b></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3801617028" target="_blank">Jennifer Soucy</a></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;"><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><p></p></div>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-84152812895163953742021-02-01T19:20:00.000-05:002021-02-01T19:20:26.162-05:00February 2021 Poetry Contest Winner<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWPpii6rPKRA9cZXSS9G-khBgvgc0gf-IQpZzdO32-0yRu1VoB6pdukNxan6gZNXrNGRIQpP2mGq5k9RanvHyE_3zoqcLrk9BdLe9Hwc9yb05mLpGFSrNWss7mxiEyRSfeZjNkV7AiIA/s1200/winter-road.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiWPpii6rPKRA9cZXSS9G-khBgvgc0gf-IQpZzdO32-0yRu1VoB6pdukNxan6gZNXrNGRIQpP2mGq5k9RanvHyE_3zoqcLrk9BdLe9Hwc9yb05mLpGFSrNWss7mxiEyRSfeZjNkV7AiIA/s320/winter-road.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: center;"><h4><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">CANDY COATED CRAPOLA</span></h4><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">by </span><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/colin-palmer-author-spotlight.html" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Colin D. Palmer</a></i></div><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br /><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dark persistent pleas,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a proclivity to disdain </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">from the cold-hearted bitch.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A smiling sneer</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the sole, initial recompense</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to forlorn supplications.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Deign to prayer?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sweet sarcasm oozes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">between blood-red lips.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flashing eyes follow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the icy road, a route</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of beauty and brutal finality.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Close your eyes,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">remember the vista,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">attach memories of pleasure.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They will be your last,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you know this, for she</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">foretold, and forewarned.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet you did not see</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or hear beyond the</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sexual innuendo she imbibed.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Close your eyes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and remember that once,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once you were a man.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Envisage her long, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">smooth thighs, the delicate lace</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lingerie, gossamer silk panties.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recollect the soft fingers</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">caressing your face and neck,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as she weighed your subjugation.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The road to destiny</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is protracted and icy,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as will be your dissolution. </span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No more prayers or pleas,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">face it like a man,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the man you once were.</span></p><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She bettered you effortlessly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perchance the cold-hearted bitch</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is a better man than you.</span></p><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">© <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/colin-palmer-author-spotlight.html" style="opacity: 1;">Colin D. Palmer</a>, 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-family: "lucida console", sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-87419652798801302302021-01-01T08:47:00.002-05:002021-01-01T08:47:50.352-05:00January 2021 Pictorial Prompt Poetry Contest Winner<p> </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Brave</b></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/01/chris-young-poet-spotlight.html" style="opacity: 1;">Chris Young</a></i></span></p><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiNANBxnmDNDbFurjJVjZL73_xNq6Dtp0J7QBjmQ4z4VLUvp3hayU1d1wWm3OhHvcULLPmgJ5nRhT7PToDmWF4D4qCirhYWVg7m2D_Moc-X6dnG3X5gbeCQ6xmr7RJkmJ_NAbDM11GCA/s1130/Screenshot_20201231-165650.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="1001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCiNANBxnmDNDbFurjJVjZL73_xNq6Dtp0J7QBjmQ4z4VLUvp3hayU1d1wWm3OhHvcULLPmgJ5nRhT7PToDmWF4D4qCirhYWVg7m2D_Moc-X6dnG3X5gbeCQ6xmr7RJkmJ_NAbDM11GCA/s320/Screenshot_20201231-165650.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">She stands on the track with that defiant face.</span><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">That perfect stubborn child’s face.</span><div><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Defiant against the train oncoming?</span><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Defiant towards the one who wants to save her?</span></div><div><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">She fears not the one,</span><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">and needs not the other.</span></div><div><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Stares down one</span><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Shuns the other.</span></div><div><br style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">The bravest girl I know.</span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Read more about <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/01/chris-young-poet-spotlight.html">Chris Young</a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p></div>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-69764660602325092782021-01-01T08:34:00.007-05:002021-01-01T08:49:09.351-05:00Chris Young: Poet Spotlight <p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1k2Vb0RAbL9P8hbIR8mFI9CauKHinC2I0df1M4_67h1lyaDkVCtEhSxMsLg0rXnmvdGRmSJ2K-unWvKW14g8YLlg8s6qTytJwdb0Y8NKKAw4WzffDB4H-LcGtREtIDUGGap6vGW6QK8/s1044/20210101_082811.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1044" data-original-width="978" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP1k2Vb0RAbL9P8hbIR8mFI9CauKHinC2I0df1M4_67h1lyaDkVCtEhSxMsLg0rXnmvdGRmSJ2K-unWvKW14g8YLlg8s6qTytJwdb0Y8NKKAw4WzffDB4H-LcGtREtIDUGGap6vGW6QK8/s320/20210101_082811.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;">Chris grew up in Springfield, Illinois. A little neighborhood called the cabbage patch because, well it was a cabbage patch that got uprooted to put in housing for people working at Allis Chalmers. It was World War Two and my dad went to the South Pacific and my mom went to factory.</span></p><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">They never left that little house once dad came home.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Chris is the 5th child of 5. His first experience with reading was walking to the library with his mom. He as five years old and it was about a 3 mile walk. He would walk that every week just to keep checking out Where the Wild Things Are. He loved that book. As He got older say 10 or 11 he would sneak the books from mom’s bookshelf he wasn’t supposed to read. He would do that on Sunday morning while his mom and dad were at the bowling alley for an hour and a half. It took him six months to read The Exorcist.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">When he became a teen he read voluminously and began to think he could write better than some of the books he was reading. He couldn’t, but he can now. He first realized he could write while in the Navy. He responded to a Dear John letter a friend got. She wrote back and wanted to meet Chris instead of the friend he wrote the letter for.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">He has been writing every since for shear pleasure. 7 years in the Navy and 20 years on the road has been a boon to his writing. He continues today.</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><br /></span></div><span face="sans-serif" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">As for the poem, he loves picture prompts, and this one reminded him of someone special. A couple of someones as these are the kind he is drawn to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>See Chris's Contest Winning Poem <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2021/01/january-2021-pictorial-prompt-poetry.html">Brave</a></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><br /></div></div></span>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-61920514779131773292020-12-19T14:42:00.008-05:002020-12-19T17:13:25.782-05:00David Painter: Poet Spotlight<p style="text-align: center;"> <img height="297" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/aT6gLtZiFH2tESwKVO7zgzoc4sHADMPpCjyjN7woSLDR7b6J8QaWLb1nryw1V6hSKG6ApGD51UZtzmfFDzQeW1e7PtMElVnPnXRA3gQOu8un6W1IPt6x3YuOFRikTLooynGrpxzU" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;" width="411" /></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><b>David Painter</b></i> is a Northeast Ohio poet and photographer. His aim is to ca</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">pture his point of view on the world through nature, culture, architecture and</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"> history. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dave’s love for photography began in the 1970s with the purchase of his first Mi</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">nolta SLR camera. Through his keen eye, Dave became a member of the Cl</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">eveland Photographic Society and the Chagrin Valley Photography Guild. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the last decade, Dave has added poetry to his creative repertoire. Ex-pa</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">nding his interests to the human condition, fiction and history; his favorite </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">era being the Civil War. Much of Dave’s poetry is inspired by his photograph</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">y; the perfect marriage of his two passions. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dave is a member of many poetry groups including <i>Allegory Alley, Scribbles </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Writing Organization, Poems and Unpoems, Writers Writing Poems</i> and <i>Out of</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> Your Write Mind</i>. Additionally, he is active in <i>The Pixel Photography Club</i> an</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">d his local historical society.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dave was born and raised in Charleston, W.V. but has made the Greater </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">eveland area his home for the past fifty years. He is married with two kids. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Twitter</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@davepainterphotography</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>See David's Contest Winning Poem</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2020/12/december-2020-poetry-contest-winner_19.html?m=1" style="opacity: 1;">The Crow and the Man</a></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-6677416414278501492020-12-19T14:38:00.013-05:002020-12-20T01:47:23.841-05:00December 2020 Pictorial Prompt Poetry Contest Winner<p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Crow and the Man</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2020/?m=1" style="opacity: 1;">David Painter</a></span></p><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveQk4cwnr5G0nchznMdyNkjgOxxLw6aggzCrtLqpjBWA2qbRL2nXPdJsWJU1ANcyPobU3eNsqkg9bE33qkjzTr9QE0yRYbBOBSfUh9bAN0wKI4HHlpmZCtWjOvIs375bbhwQqgisLw1o/s906/Screenshot_20201220-014047.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="906" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhveQk4cwnr5G0nchznMdyNkjgOxxLw6aggzCrtLqpjBWA2qbRL2nXPdJsWJU1ANcyPobU3eNsqkg9bE33qkjzTr9QE0yRYbBOBSfUh9bAN0wKI4HHlpmZCtWjOvIs375bbhwQqgisLw1o/s320/Screenshot_20201220-014047.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I sit for long days on end</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting where the nurse places me</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t always so</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once the sun was bright on my shoulder</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Briefcase in hand, train to the city</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Funny, not ha-ha but funny never the less</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">how I started to slip</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">like too much rain on a California hill side</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">or a room full of marbles</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until the asylum of my mind became a silent refuge</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and I forgot about you.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I watch as a crow lands with his road kill</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and picks at the dead carcass</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">pulling off bits of flesh and</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">swallowing them whole</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I feel as if it is my mind you know.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">~~~~~~~~~~</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">Read more about <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2020/?m=1" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; font-style: italic; opacity: 1; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Painter</a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-68937281317790518002019-02-08T16:08:00.001-05:002020-12-19T17:12:05.100-05:00Pictorial Poetry Prompt Contest Winner: Colin Palmer<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<br /></h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mm4fK1gMn_mUF2vA_ncSdFAjcQ1dSDkTJYyNsHVp0nmmJY0Mqx0GhLT254LGeLUXPNs8ML3FpQtj9QmKDDessxYx-KwU1Xdm-saR5eYIYyhmnxLI8QfSiRgqgDAlTIqoDdC31bH-ViQ/s1600/Screenshot_20190208-125023.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="488" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2Mm4fK1gMn_mUF2vA_ncSdFAjcQ1dSDkTJYyNsHVp0nmmJY0Mqx0GhLT254LGeLUXPNs8ML3FpQtj9QmKDDessxYx-KwU1Xdm-saR5eYIYyhmnxLI8QfSiRgqgDAlTIqoDdC31bH-ViQ/s400/Screenshot_20190208-125023.jpg" width="395" /></a></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><u><br /></u></i></b></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<b><i><u>All By Myself</u></i></b></h2>
<h4 style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/colin-palmer-author-spotlight.html?m=1">Colin Palmer</a> </h4>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear didn’t know what it was </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The climb was clear, air like silk</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The roaring waves</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Steps of foam</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pounding only in her head. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Ticking, a constant annoyance</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But no hesitation,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A desperate desire to roam.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The first tentative step</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Unleashed a flow of
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Forward momentum, up,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The only way to go.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The obscure wreckage </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
An inanimate distraction,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Simple to ignore</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Obviously not foe.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She paused only that once </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
At the first step,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Life will be better, anywhere,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her own voices said. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mired now with confidence</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Internal heart of steel </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Onward she went, and upward,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Following her head.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Almost half-way, memories, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dread, thoughts and fears</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Horrors from before</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Crossed her mind.
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She did not falter, lost in </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Visions of ogres, monsters,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Terrors she’d escaped, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That of the human kind.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A loathing so deep</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No hate has surpassed,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of parents manipulating</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Their one and only child.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear was so fair,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her mother grotesque,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Father the leader </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A pack worse than wild. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Regular, daily, unholy demands,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No child should be wounded</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By those that should
Love and respect.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Suffer she did, every day</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
At times so bad,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Leaving the home,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
An impossible prospect.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lest those outside</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Should see her scars,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Ask questions</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For which she could not respond. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Always the threat hung near,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Inside her pretty head,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Impossible to forget --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Never tell, never abscond. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her last birthday,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A fleeting memory</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of happiness for a brief time,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Until the monsters acted.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She’d run to her room,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Short elation dissolved</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Celebrations over,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Worst fears protracted.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The abuse, the beatings</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Went on for years.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not a single kind soul </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sort to interfere.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The escape unplanned,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For self-preservation,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From pure clarity of thought</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She forever strove to hear.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And now, as those</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Final steps loomed, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The bouncing hands of time</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Annointed her presence.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Faster and faster they spun,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asking questions, giving choice, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Wanting answers, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Providing acceptance.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear announced her desire</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Poised on the top step,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The spinning hands propped,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A doorway appeared. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Come home,” the vile voices</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From behind, inside her laughter,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Followed by screams and threats --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her inner strength persevered.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She stepped through the door</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Nary a look at what might follow,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In front was life’s colours</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind was only black.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Welcome, welcome,”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A new sing-song voice intervened,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The doorway closed,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Sealing off her flashbacks.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Wide eyes full of wonder</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A delight never before shared</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of comfort and warmth,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No more despair.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She grew accustomed to </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her new surrounds </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But stood still, trembling, a little, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
All was new here.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A giant green panda waddled past</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Glanced at her face</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Laughed with glee!</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then to her surprise,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Approached and spoke</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But not aloud </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Inside her head,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The umbilical eyes.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not a trace of fear</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Did she feel </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As she slid into the </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Friendly embrace,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of her new, furry green friend</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
One of many to come
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Here, in her new home,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her new safe place.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The panda, his name was Joel,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Flopped down in a funny motion </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Gestured for her to follow</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So he could give her the juice.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He swept his paws often</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To make a point
But never once asked</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
About her abuse.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
It seemed like days passed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As Joel talked and talked</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His questions about desires and dreams,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not where she came from.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
When finally she voice</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Why he didn’t ask of the past,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He winked and sang, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“of glum we are numb.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Accept and move on</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Forever forward, his lesson --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Do what you can</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Always remain positive.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With new found delight</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She hugged him with glee</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Thankful for his</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Formative, forgiving, narrative.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A generation, more,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Millennia went by,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear lived her life happy</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Completely obliterating the past.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She swam in warm waters</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Coddled by fairy-tale creatures</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Always smiling in return</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Confident at last.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind her neon world,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind the loving beasts of </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Heavenly nature,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind the
clock of spinning despair. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind the wreckage,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The surging, tugging surf,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind the steps she’d taken,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The climb up the stairs.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Behind, the light above </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The prostrate form of a little girl,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lay in coma </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In a hospital room.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Six months they had waited</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For her to pull through,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then extracted the baby</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From her near lifeless womb.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The excuse from the fleeing pair,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Monsters of her past,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Never to be known.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A lesson for their new prey --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Act sooner than her mother did</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Or perhaps her birth mother</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Shall awaken, or return,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Neither best not delay.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In the hospital bed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pupils crawl behind tight eyes,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In the other neon world</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She goes on, reality in abeyance.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Inside, a slight stirring</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of recognition</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of loss and regret</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But no time for patience.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The years go on</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The baby of course grows,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And one night, fueled on alcohol,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The ogres overwhelmingly react.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The girl in the hospital room</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Pulls herself erect,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The other girl in her neon world</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Suddenly, aspires to go back.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Joel is full of sympathy</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And heady, straight advice</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Plus warnings of more literal kind,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That she cannot return.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Once gone is gone,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But he understands, and </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lies prone her to mount --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Speed he must burn. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“What of you?” Asear asks.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her immediate concern </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That Joel should get back safely --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In her world he’d be at risk.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His permanent smile appraised her</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Friendly grin suggesting jest</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Do not be afraid, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Put your mind at rest.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear hugged him</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Warm tears of gratitude,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then leapt upon his furry green back</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Clutching desperately to his pelt.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A tear splashed down,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His green did dissolve</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To her horror, his jerky reaction</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Showed he had felt.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She dismounted quickly</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Before Joel came to stride,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Cupped his huge woolly face</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With the permanent grin.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“I’m killing you with my tears,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This cannot be, I love you,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I will not see you hurt,”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear sobbed to him. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Nonsense, my dear”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Joel did smile,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“climb aboard, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We have no time for this --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In dire need is your child.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear’s tears flowed at
Joel’s kind words.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He went on, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Hurry sweet girl, hurry,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We’ve no time to bide.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He lurched and sprang</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With Asear safely hitched,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They streaked like a green cloud</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Trailed by green mist,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Across the neon lands they soared</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Through the clock of despair,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The stairs in one leap, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The crashing waves a mere tryst.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Only seconds passed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But Asear felt the change</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As her adroit mind began</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To open, her body grew.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She glanced down in awe</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Saw two legs that were not hers,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The legs of an adult</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As her reality broke through.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Their arrival at her</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Home from the dark past,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Coincided with a young woman</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Who smiled, “together at last.” </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The two halves co-joined,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Combined to make one whole,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
An impervious, maternal blend </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That knew to act fast.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With Joel at their shoulder</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His coat half green and half white</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They thundered inside</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not a moment too soon.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Their young daughter did they snatch</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From the arms of their dark papa</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The glare of their monstrous mama</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They faced off the mismatched.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The father roared, made a </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Desperate dive, not wanting to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lose his prize.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No recognition</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Of the daughter he’d abused</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And forever lost.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Who are you? Give her back,”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He yelled from screwed face,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Not opposed to using fear as a ruse.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear quickly swivelled,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Shielded her girl,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Lifting one arm to fend</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Off the advance.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But Joel leapt forward</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Propped between she and he,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Opened his gigantic maw</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Negating any chance. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Father halted, shock at</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This green and white monstrosity</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That could not be real,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Absolutely no possibility.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
He darted and lunged, and yelled,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
His triumph premature</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As Joel swallowed him whole</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Like some delicacy.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To the mother Joel faced,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her terror and fear etched</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Into her hideous features but</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear stepped forward.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She intervened, cradling her dear</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Child in protective arms</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Studying her once mother --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A monster now cornered.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She turned her back</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
On the slinking woman</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And spoke instead to</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her child and Joel,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“We have a place, a home,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With safety and warmth,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Leave this wretched thing,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I’ll not be so cruel.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Joel’s grin never faded</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As he nodded assent,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear, without a glance,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Walked out, expecting he’d follow.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She cupped her girl’s arms,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Let her slide to the ground,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Saw her own face,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Cheeks sunken and hollow.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“I’m you’re mama, sweet girl,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Did those, those monsters</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Give you a name?”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The little girl nodded.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her soft voice cooed,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“I am Claudia,
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We are one and the same,” --</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear was besotted.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“It’s true my sweet Claudia,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
We are more than just one.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Then frowned as she realised</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Joel had not come.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She spun around,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The door stood ajar.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No sound came to her,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
From inside the slum.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
At the same time her mind </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Was asking her this:</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>A green panda?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Surely,
Surely you jest?</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No warm waters,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Friendly, furry beasts</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No spinning clock</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No steps on the beach.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She looked back at her child</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Her frown disappeared</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The innocence of youth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
So appealing and fresh.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear held out her hand,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
An
invitation Claudia did not miss.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Home sweet home</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A family refreshed.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
They walked together inside</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Comfortable with their kin,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Closed the door on their</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
New, special beginning.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mother and child</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Separate once but whole again, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
No trace of the horror</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
That once was within.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In a far away place,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A strange big green bear</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With huge white splotches</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
In his mangy fur,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Stood over the cringing</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Form of a desperate</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Crying woman, pleading</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
For the bear’s succour.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“Not a single chance,”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The bear grinned at her,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
“You will be my meal</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Forever more.”</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
She dropped her arms</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
As the bear leaped,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Mouth agape, teeth bared,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This daily encore.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The next day was the same,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And again after that,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Forever waiting, knowing </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Yesterday, today, tomorrow her fate.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Because she failed in her duties </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
To her daughter in need,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
The trial, her punishment, her </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Daily death she must meet.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Asear and Claudia, mother and</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Child lived full happy lives,</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
With no recollection of</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
What passed before.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Except now and then both</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Share a shining dream, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A smiling green panda, a clock, </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And strange stairs on a seashore.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">~~~~~~~~~</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Read more about <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/colin-palmer-author-spotlight.html?m=1">Colin Palmer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-17236391973537326572018-01-17T18:18:00.000-05:002018-01-17T18:18:41.437-05:00Out of Isolation<h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></h4>
by: <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/writers-choice-poetry-contest-winner.html?m=1" target="_blank">N<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">essa Zisman</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9Hxg5d09C1EJ-n8gEg9o44g7Y1OUel-CWDO8_o2uiVywnZ8rfMUHKQH03n1FDW4Mnz2aBR2gJjYZzSEwdTzq2sC8FUg5mEyDgJM8ldAqWwCktilAjTm8qBUajnPKxwZ2PDGEnrdAuaM/s1600/20180116_213507.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="1440" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9Hxg5d09C1EJ-n8gEg9o44g7Y1OUel-CWDO8_o2uiVywnZ8rfMUHKQH03n1FDW4Mnz2aBR2gJjYZzSEwdTzq2sC8FUg5mEyDgJM8ldAqWwCktilAjTm8qBUajnPKxwZ2PDGEnrdAuaM/s320/20180116_213507.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Contained in the isolation of my contentment, doing what brings one happiness and savagely bruises the egos of those who wrote the fictional scenes in which I conform to such rules and regulations given in borrowed speculations.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">There...There where the nails divy themselves through splintered wood passing through this heart as it screams for individualized characteristics to set one apart from the shepherds herd.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Eyes sewn shut in passive aggressive opinions that sight is what is seen reflected in my blue ignorance.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Imagination trumps the weight of blindness forced upon me at birth, I see more than meets the judging eye, but all that is hidden in the space between the soils of the burdened and the untouchable depths of the heartless.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Could be the infinite fire that toasts the forest trees from beneath the mask of bark shielding the blind that believe they have seen all able to be seen.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Feel it...Feel the breeze grow warm in the brewing pot of gurgling slop fed to us on silver spoons to choke upon.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Choke up these words in haste as they search for the pages that rewrite the ending they created, as an army sets forth to stand against all that I mold into their imprint, disfiguring the image they have in mind.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Cut loose these fraying ropes tying me to this hole in midst of fictional stories they repeat in my ears as would a taunting lover, hoping to caress me with falsified promises to submission in protecting arms.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">No hold is needed for I cloak myself in these lines, baring this flesh to the world to be scorned for the evil doings of brilliance inked in the blood of the mocking voices in my head at all times.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Aim to cut through this barrier, to relinquish the walls around me to ash at the feet of the defeated and walk among the lilies, basking in the sunlight rehearsing mornings in a glance.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The dew sticks to my skin, feel the perspiration of new days flood this sight with vengeance. Seek out I do, what truth lies in the no man's lands of these corridors that allow me venture in thought...</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Carry on this walk...feed me all that is and quench my thirst in the notion that there is always more than is presented in a meeting.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Kissed the clouds in their ever changing, ever tricking the eye appearance, knowing at second glance they be untouched, newly formed desires to drink of.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Spun a web to catch the insults that haunt the throned surface of my walk under the moon in all its glory, overshadowed by this ever-bending branch I lay to dream, to bed.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Where one rests a weary head, the mind sleeps never reinventing the second hand striking time pass by the minutes of breath to weave.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Reconstructed criticism overheard and this pen shakes in pain, in loss of the unrequitted, unraveled mystery it fights to bring life.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Rituals be mere burdens, lighting candles to consummate this moment in bask of shadows on the walls of my sub conscious swaying undirectional in this rendition of spasms as they claw and mark the memory at the clocks hour.</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Soured are the fruits of cunning tongues preaching their disillusion within the winded speech. As long as this air flows least a bit, long live the words on my pages. Even in fires dwindling to soot beneath the mantle, my picture holds a pen to continue the scrawl...though the canvas has aged, though skin bare the life lines, though death move closer with every moment, my ink seeps through the years....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Cursing all in the memory of the day the barriers burned in my fire.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And those that dare see, leave me to wake again to feed their desire....</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Desire is need and I need for everything, but nothing.</span></div>
<br />J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-57253156309837934452018-01-17T18:17:00.000-05:002018-01-17T18:17:11.293-05:00Writer's Choice Poetry Contest Winner<div class="mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images " style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; margin: 16px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">
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<b><i><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/poetry-contest-winner.html?m=1" target="_blank">Out of Isolation</a></i></b><br />
by Nessa Zisman<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgizpiKwxELBcGNH7sYjAo8oorvUaxLX_VzIDyt4KfZLPK3i6ghOIXyyjpdApnBE6dP57kma3Kt8U7CArMa9lgktVSOsbwjebg7gzs0tNWNNQ8I-lEqbxYiVsgcdsiQwTccbiH-KpKXs/s1600/286eb8afb8a81f8e20180117061336158_0_img.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgizpiKwxELBcGNH7sYjAo8oorvUaxLX_VzIDyt4KfZLPK3i6ghOIXyyjpdApnBE6dP57kma3Kt8U7CArMa9lgktVSOsbwjebg7gzs0tNWNNQ8I-lEqbxYiVsgcdsiQwTccbiH-KpKXs/s200/286eb8afb8a81f8e20180117061336158_0_img.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<b><i>What genre(s) do you write?</i></b> </div>
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Non fiction, poetry, Sci-fi, psychological thrillers.<br />
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<b><i>Which do you prefer to write: short stories, poetry, novellas, novels, essays, nonfiction… ?</i></b></div>
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Poetry, Novels.<br />
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<b><i>What genre(s) do you read?</i></b> </div>
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I try to keep an open mind, but am typically drawn to the horror genre.<br />
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<b><i>What made you want to become a writer? </i></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Writing has always been a big part of who I am, I picked up my pen at 7 year's old and felt at home and free to express myself or escape into my own creations, for me it was better then facing reality at times.</span></div>
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<b><i>What is your first memory of writing?</i></b> </div>
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I remember writing fairy tales (imagine that) For my younger sister when we were growing up, we would often turn them into plays and act them out for our parents at bedtime (embarrassing)<br />
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<span style="font-style: italic;"><b>What and /or Who inspires your writing?</b></span> My kids are by far my biggest inspirations.<br />
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<b><i>What is your favorite book?</i></b><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span> </div>
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<i>100 love sonnets</i> by Pablo Neruda</div>
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<b><i>What turns you away from a book?</i></b> </div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Flaws in a plot line</span></div>
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<b><i><br /></i></b></div>
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<b><i>Who is your favorite author(s)? </i></b></div>
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Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Pablo Neruda</div>
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<b><i>Are you a published writer? If so, what have you published? If not, are you planning to publish or is writing simply for pleasure? </i></b>No, I am currently in the final stages of publishing my first novel C<i>hildren's Books Shouldn't Be Written, </i>a psychological thriller set for release April 3rd.</div>
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<b><i>Learn more about Nessa Zisman: </i></b><b style="font-size: 12.8px;"><i><a href="https://m.facebook.com/The-Writing-Wench-130495504236955/?ref=bookmarks%20%20https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?refid=7" target="_blank">The Writing Wench</a></i></b></div>
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<b>Read her winning poem: <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2018/01/poetry-contest-winner.html?m=1" target="_blank">Out of Isolation</a></b></div>
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J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-55343659424115030472018-01-16T22:01:00.001-05:002018-01-16T22:01:05.495-05:00Rabbit Hole Prompt Contest Winner<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-0203-164e-90d6-68a8bdb8f4f9" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Fucking Love Yourself</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">All the best people—think they're crazy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">All the normal people—aren’t.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Which side of the looking glass is real?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Which side is not? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Butterflies and birds</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Bats and mosquitoes,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">They fly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">They fly above all,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">First and foremost,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Forget questioning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">~ CL Steele~</span></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHTECwfYZ2wBgesQclVWKlYx3GH8PEnwMTmgBQCY1zuN4YDYzUnI1vSNkF9W36GBZVddrgWl0isDPh5E2krxoXgFEuFhLAnsFLyWclAk-3vfOaxQsjHj9E4umN7qCOF03-ImrR8Was3s/s1600/20180116_215319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="332" data-original-width="442" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbHTECwfYZ2wBgesQclVWKlYx3GH8PEnwMTmgBQCY1zuN4YDYzUnI1vSNkF9W36GBZVddrgWl0isDPh5E2krxoXgFEuFhLAnsFLyWclAk-3vfOaxQsjHj9E4umN7qCOF03-ImrR8Was3s/s200/20180116_215319.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-28345225769688200472017-11-27T10:26:00.000-05:002017-11-27T15:53:58.827-05:001977<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZDak_Ei1kk9UsFtH-n2Y5I5p5lTSzyeJ63L95yXpWs4bvCegEDj4y4twXijUb0qVgvFzhfetSX8JICktM3ZRGZOhLx27uEY5pcZaGmpX8iB0rvbwqZbAbjAKlEN2z0mpiiK_vZRp5Dk/s1600/430f8c72c76d2551a78738267b2aba36--scream--surf-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="498" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZDak_Ei1kk9UsFtH-n2Y5I5p5lTSzyeJ63L95yXpWs4bvCegEDj4y4twXijUb0qVgvFzhfetSX8JICktM3ZRGZOhLx27uEY5pcZaGmpX8iB0rvbwqZbAbjAKlEN2z0mpiiK_vZRp5Dk/s320/430f8c72c76d2551a78738267b2aba36--scream--surf-art.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">by <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/10/rosti-author-spotlight.html?m=1">ROSTI</a></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The needle slipped in so easily</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And created a profound change.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I was sickened first from the hepatitis my patient transferred to me</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">But there was more.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A madness that turned me from normal</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">To having long periods where no rest could be found</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the narcotics, the barbs, the benzos.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">My unwanted companions for 13 long years.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And between the hyperactivity,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Bone-crushing depression for which I sought help</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">From amphetamines, cocaine, meth.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Over that decade plus,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I treated myself, a fool for a patient,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Having more and more trouble</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Modulating these foreign moods</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Which had become commonplace and routine.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">4 marriages, 3 divorces,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Another marriage on the rocks.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And becoming habituated to my chemical compounds</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">At one time thought of as friends but now enemies.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It was this fourth marriage on the skids</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And my separation from my son that wore me out finally.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I chose the barbs as my exit tool.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Lying there conscious of the fact that I needed to remember to breathe.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Somehow a friend I had known from years’ back</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Just happened to show up,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Just happened to find me in a stupor,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Just happened to act rapidly to call 911,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Just happened to.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I was comfortably numb during the resuscitation,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Thank God!</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I really have no recall until I was transferred to Rehab</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">For detox and a 30-day drug and alcohol program.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">After detox I was diagnosed…</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Bipolar 2 was the name they gave me.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">“And, oh, by the way, you have AIDS, too.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I recall the perfunctory way the doc</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Just slipped that test result in front of my face</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And said only, “Don’t do any more drugs.”</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Not noticing how dumbstruck I was</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Offering no compassion.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Perhaps he knew the relationship of AIDS to Bipolar?</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Maybe not…</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">But I uncovered it and thought back to 1977.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">That gave me insight.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Whenever I’m sick</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s best for me to create a mental picture of my illness.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">So now I had one.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A link back to that patient in 1977</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The one with dementia</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And weight loss</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And cryptococcal meningitis</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">After all those years I had, unknowingly,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Made one of the very first AIDS diagnoses.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A dis-ease I had given myself!</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite tremendous personal, financial and professional issues,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the cognitive impairment that went with that diagnosis,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Despite the endless array of varying combination of pills and potions,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I aligned myself with the BEST practitioners I could find.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I followed treatment plans to the very letter.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Rigorously…</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I enrolled in experimental protocols.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I struggled to survive</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Not one, not two, but three</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Life-threatening illnesses…</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">After 25 years, it finally paid off.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The lynchpin was dumping the “drug of choice”</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And starting an atypical and two antidepressants-</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">An SSRI and SNRI.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I suddenly became calm</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And normal like I hadn’t been since before the fateful day</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Back in 1977.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It was almost as dramatic as flipping a light switch</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And flooding an unfamiliar room with light.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">To see the unseen for those thirty plus years.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">To be back in my own skin again.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">To achieve normalcy.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">After those eighteen years of work</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The rubrics cube of me was finally aligned correctly.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, I’ve been in the same relationship for over a decade.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, I’m residing at the same place for fourteen years.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, I’m an effective father and spouse.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, I have personal responsibility for myself</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And my remission.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Today, I engage in activities that are congruent with my nature,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Which is that of an intelligent, empathetic, resourceful person,</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Able to deal effectively with life on life’s terms</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And share my successes with those who would have them.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The takeaway?</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Recovery IS possible</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">As long as one has the capacity to work hard</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">With themselves</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And their healthcare team</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">IF I could do it</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">That means it IS possible</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Like anything of value</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It requires effort</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And courage</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">And, I’d guess, a bit of luck.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">© <a href="http://aim-med.com/">Richard A. Martin, Jr. MD CPC</a>, 2016</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Read <a href="http://aim-med.com/2016/09/1977/">this</a> and <a href="http://aim-med.com/">other poems</a> on Rosti's website</span>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-25131890633734372562017-11-21T21:38:00.001-05:002017-11-21T22:07:16.040-05:00Archaic Word(s) Definitions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLVfOxCfTJyK50TfdsqzzeHCk6nVkH0ZrrfhNuhCvIz2vgWsEbaAH8SnfuPDj9N42GsTnd-6fZa4jNqTXo0DsfMRw651oEKxPZ16Df2SZZRS6MQhgvx9A_3cinePcegO4Ok0AVBMQLYc/s1600/167289477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1100" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYLVfOxCfTJyK50TfdsqzzeHCk6nVkH0ZrrfhNuhCvIz2vgWsEbaAH8SnfuPDj9N42GsTnd-6fZa4jNqTXo0DsfMRw651oEKxPZ16Df2SZZRS6MQhgvx9A_3cinePcegO4Ok0AVBMQLYc/s320/167289477.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Archaic Words</b></div>
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Definitions of the words for the <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/11/archaic-words-d-poem.html?m=1" target="_blank">Archaic Word(s) Poem Contest</a>. </div>
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<b>abroad</b>: out of doors</div>
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<b>ague</b>: malaria or a similar illness</div>
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<b>bedlam</b>: an asylum; an old woman</div>
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<b>billow</b>: a large sea wave</div>
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<b>blow:</b> produce flowers or be in flower</div>
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<b>camelopard</b>: a giraffe</div>
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<b>corse</b>: a corpse</div>
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<b>crankum</b>: an elaborate decoration or detail</div>
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<b>dandiprat</b>: a young or insignificant person</div>
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<b>dark:</b> ignorant (as in dark poetry, not a racial slur) </div>
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<b>dot</b>: a dowry from which only the interest or annual income was available to the husband</div>
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<b>doxy</b>: a lover or mistress</div>
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<b><u>drab</u></b>: a slovenly woman</div>
J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-69188496060987000312017-11-21T21:34:00.001-05:002017-12-06T13:37:50.511-05:00Archaic Word(s) (A-D) Poem Contest<div dir="ltr">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRw9RHGfLul42VxjhLRaT651cvndhkR4FOopUPCH7ngVEwrZIcROlpNMaocVAAPty3JxV5AyyUqz778Xi7HmPyU9UvISZ6X5h-e_Dcd3FHJWHlQXqQRdlO5hphua5Ir9IfeGmfKbBxPE/s1600/images-189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIRw9RHGfLul42VxjhLRaT651cvndhkR4FOopUPCH7ngVEwrZIcROlpNMaocVAAPty3JxV5AyyUqz778Xi7HmPyU9UvISZ6X5h-e_Dcd3FHJWHlQXqQRdlO5hphua5Ir9IfeGmfKbBxPE/s1600/images-189.jpg" /></a></div>
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<i>English Oxford Dictionary</i> defines archaic words as those ‘no longer in everyday use or have lost a particular meaning in current usage but are sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned flavour to historical novels, for example, or in standard conversation or writing just for a humorous effect.’</div>
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Some are fancy, floral, roll off the tongue with all the lyrical elegance and sophistication of an eighteenth century philosopher. Some are just damn goofy. No in between.</div>
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This contest has two options. Below those options is the list of words to choose from. Have fun with this one :)</div>
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<b>Option One</b>: Use as many archaic words as possible in a poem… without looking up the definition! Use each word only as you think it should be used.</div>
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<b>Option Two</b>: Choose one word. That's the title. First stept, use the association you have for the word, what you think it means, to write a poem. Second step, focus on the <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/11/archaic-words-definitions.html?m=1" target="_blank">archaic meaning</a> to add to your poem, but don't erase anything written. </div>
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<b>Hint</b>: I'll probably publish every single entry so long as directions are followed</div>
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<b><i>abroad, ague, bedlam, billow, blow, </i></b></div>
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<b><b><i>camelopard, corse, crankum,</i></b></b></div>
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<b><b><i>dandiprat, dark, dot, doxy, drab</i></b></b></div>
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</b>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-37767726851695445112017-11-21T02:25:00.002-05:002018-02-01T16:12:20.538-05:00Author Spotlight — Riya Zach<br id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-dd74-e9fc-cef1-06d4865581a6" />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Monthly Choice Award Winner</span></div>
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<a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/11/monthly-choice-award-winner.html?m=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">My Life, I Author</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">by Maria Zach</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">How did the prompt inspire your story?</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The idea that somebody else controls my life - I've always found that scary. I guess I have this innate desire to be in control at all times. At the same time, I've no wish to know what's next; I like the unpredictability of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What genre(s) do you write?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I've dabbled in Fantasy, SciFi, Crime, Horror and Romance. I say dabbled because I find it hard to draw lines and place my work into boxes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I've mixed Crime and Paranormal; SciFi and Romance. I find a lot of enjoyment in mixing genres.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Which do you prefer to write: short stories, poetry, novellas, novels, essays, nonfiction… ? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">When I started, I wrote mainly nonfiction and poetry. Since then, I've written short stories, flash fiction and nonfiction. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I've started on a longer piece now. I don't know yet whether it'll be a novella or a novel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What genre(s) do you read? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Everything. Every fucking thing that I can get my hands on. But my (current) favorites are fantasy and speculative fiction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What made you want to become a writer? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I hold conversations with imaginary people. I have imaginary conversations with real people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Every. Single. Day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">My imagination has helped me through a lot. I developed that from the books I read as a child and young adult. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Initially, I just wanted to get the voices out of my head. Now, I'd like to share the gift of imagination with other people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">What is your first memory of writing?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I have no first memory of writing. But the first time I thought of myself as a writer was as late as 2013.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What and /or Who inspires you to write?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The imaginary people - they need an outlet!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">What is your favorite book?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Too many favorites.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, A Town Like Alice, Water for Elephants, Letter from Peking, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Rebecca</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> - to name a few.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What do you look for in a book? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Realistic characters. Suspense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">What turns you away from a book? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A weak opening doesn't necessarily turn me away. I like to give the book the benefit of the doubt so I try to make it through the first 2k-3k words before giving it up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">But bad grammar and obvious plot holes are an instant turnoff; they tell me that the author is not interested in their readers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Who is your favorite author(s)?</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Jane Austen, George Orwell, J.K.Rowling, Enid Blyton, Agatha Christie, Shirley Jackson, Paulo Coelho, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Are you a published writer? If so, what have you published? If not, are you planning to publish or is writing simply for pleasure? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Like I said before, initially it was all for pleasure. Recently, I've started looking at publishers. I've sent out a couple of poems, a flash or two. Besides </span><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/11/scribblers-chamber-writing-group.html?m=1" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Scribblers Chamber</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.121words.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">121words</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">, I've received only one other acceptance so far. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><img height="718" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/qU0KG0VO41--ccmlP95kJg85rfxyRKzTYU8snyZIgfTQ_RzvbfVLTAEne3ALQ1vYVRRivLjn6TdAAmHq4dlbPgiPMVsDsTXCWJM3272NegaQIZyWn0N-N_o0GWZiu3kvc1cQOUoE" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0.00rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0.00rad);" width="531" /></span></div>
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<br />
Read Riya Zach's story:<br />
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<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 26.6037px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;">My Life, I Author</span></div>
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<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 26.6037px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 26.6037px;"><i><b>And remember... Write like it's criminal! </b></i></span></div>
J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-76014759179133006682017-11-18T02:23:00.000-05:002018-02-01T16:13:17.046-05:00Monthly Choice Award Winner<div dir="ltr">
<b><i>My Life, I Author</i></b><br />
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by Maria Zach</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQg7SHpgLEgr2yVbFjAFpKxHx1TBsCo-o-JFX6aiRHUwFTav04rQOw_I1yDiEliJqCRnK-zfY2TdGOxdF55uIqJiHYh_Wpu30naGAr8r1miAYIKi7xPH80KoqqK-uUXsgn0yhdvH-Fvjo/s1600/magic-book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="704" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQg7SHpgLEgr2yVbFjAFpKxHx1TBsCo-o-JFX6aiRHUwFTav04rQOw_I1yDiEliJqCRnK-zfY2TdGOxdF55uIqJiHYh_Wpu30naGAr8r1miAYIKi7xPH80KoqqK-uUXsgn0yhdvH-Fvjo/s320/magic-book.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-e7b6-2f86-8e5d-b129a4541dc4" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I close the book and replace it upon the shelf and walk slowly down the stairs. My bare feet slap against the wood of the staircase. Taking a glass off the counter, I fill it with water from the tap. I take a sip. Another. It's eerily silent. Of course, it's silent - the children are at school. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I return my attention to the glass of water in my hand and realise I've been following the book word for word.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It gives a minute by minute account of my life until the day I die some twenty years into the future.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I throw away the rest of the water. I'm not going to let some book dictate my life, I decide.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I rush, my feet now pounding upon the staircase, and return to the kitchen with the book. Banging it down onto the counter, I skim feverishly to today's date — 28, September.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm supposed to be setting lunch now in anticipation of the kids. Then I get a bit of work done and afterwards go to the gym while the kids are at their homework. Basically the same routine I've been following for the past four years. As if on cue, the smell of burning paper pierces my nostrils. Oops! The pie. It's probably burnt to a crisp.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I slam the book closed and leave it upon the counter. I run up the stairs two at a time. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Opening my wardrobe, I take out a duffel bag. I stuff some clothes into it - two pairs of jeans, three or four blouses, a jacket and some rolled up underwear. I change into a fresh pair of trousers and pull on a freshly ironed blouse.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Swinging the duffel bag onto my shoulder, I hurry into the kids' room and shove a similar set of clothes for each of my two girls into a medium-sized haversack. As I heave the haversack onto my back, I hear the kitchen door jiggle open; the kids are back. There's a moment of doubt.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"Mom?" The clatter of crockery. They'll find the chars soon enough if I don't hurry. I pull my hair out of its messy bun and tie it up in an acceptably messy ponytail. Taking a deep breath, I start down the stairs.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Nyla is sitting slumped at the kitchen table. She raises her head as I come down the stairs and cocks one reddish blonde eyebrow. Viva, her long black hair hanging loose about her frame, finishes arranging the spoons and looks up to grin at me. The grin soon blossoms into a beam. I motion them toward the truck and throw the bags into the back of my Tundra.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Viva is bouncing on the balls of her feet.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"Mom, are you OK?" Nyla asks me, an uncertain tone.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"What's that nonsense, young lady?" I ask her. She shrugs and gets in the back.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I return to lock up. Viva's school bag is lying on the floor near the kitchen counter. I leave it there and snatch up the keys. Perhaps, it would be a good idea to take the book too. I toss it in with the bags and get into the driver's seat. Viva is already strapped into the passenger's.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">As I turn the key the ignition, I eye Nyla in the rearview mirror. She's staring out the window. Her face is glum. Something has happened at school. I sigh — 14 year olds can be very hard on themselves; and on others.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">She senses my gaze and turns to look at me in the mirror. "I'm hungry," she tells me, eyes of one with great suffering. I almost laugh out loud. 14 year olds can also give you well needed reality checks.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"Just 10 minutes. At the nearest drive-in," I promise her.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I turn off the drive and Viva chimes in, "Mom, where are we going?"</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"I'm not sure sweetie. We'll take the seaside route and set up someplace we like before sundown. How's that sound?"</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">"Cool!" she responds.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I glance at her. The beam is still plastered to her face. This time I do laugh out loud. Thank God for sparkly eyed ten year olds.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Three hours later, we check in to the 'Turquoise Bay Guesthouse'. Viva and Nyla — school woes forgotten — run out to the beach to catch the last rays of the sun. I'm tempted to take the book along as I follow them. Plopping myself down on the sand, close enough for the waves to touch my feet, I grin as I watch them splash around.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I open the book to today's date once again. As I read over my day, the grin slides off my face. The book has updated itself!</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I turn the pages and skim over the events of the next couple of days. Apparently I'm going to spend an extended weekend here and then return home on Sunday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Humph, let's see about that! Whoever thought I was going to let myself be outsmarted by a book would have to think more than twice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I close the book and set it beside me. A strong gust of wind pushes the cover open and blows the pages back to the date. Horrified, I watch the words spell themselves out:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>... outsmarted by a book would have to think more than twice... </i></span></div>
J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-20365083004295938042017-11-17T12:40:00.001-05:002017-11-17T12:43:12.890-05:00Author Spotlight - Vincent Piazza<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr06aVsfVuw2GVW9ndjbakWap1i5XNfSSUEAwhHdDnXzv11v36fft2zbLqHaZaY0j4BJdONFbz8EDSaL1OyO06KfU9EBPv9buZeVlh1LfrRozVxfGYG_QKWJ2e1UJjylCUGQRWEpOKKAM/s1600/Screenshot_20171117-120954.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="866" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr06aVsfVuw2GVW9ndjbakWap1i5XNfSSUEAwhHdDnXzv11v36fft2zbLqHaZaY0j4BJdONFbz8EDSaL1OyO06KfU9EBPv9buZeVlh1LfrRozVxfGYG_QKWJ2e1UJjylCUGQRWEpOKKAM/s320/Screenshot_20171117-120954.jpg" width="173" /></a></div>
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<i>Vincent Piazza is one of the Old or Ancient Ones, the Elder Gods, of cosmic good, and those of cosmic evil, bearing many names, and themselves of different groups, as if associated with the elements and yet transcending them: for there are the Water Beings, hidden in the depths; those of Air that are the primal lurkers beyond time; those of Earth, horrible animate survivors of distant eons.....</i><i>or perhaps he’s just some asshole who waits for words to come scrabbling out of his head, clawing at his skull, skittering upon a keyboard in New Orleans, you decide.</i><br />
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<b>About... </b><br />
Artist,Writer, Taoist, Manager at Heads Up Emporium, I have many hats…This most of all: I ask myself in the most silent hour of night: must I do Art? I dig into myself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if I meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then I build my life in accordance with this necessity; My whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, I try to create what I see and feel and love and lose and gain from the path I walk…<br />
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<b>Inspirations... </b><br />
I’m inspired by the odd and unsure. Starting something I have no idea how to finish, witnessing people go for something new and strange – anything that has the potential for failure, walks dark corridors, wins in spite of itself, gets my heart and creativity pumping.<br />
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<i>I am honored to have Vincent as a dear friend. He is not only an amazingly talented writer, but an extraordinary artist as well. I have several custom pieces commissioned on canvas (the above being my favorite) and, because I'm lucky like this, I also have his piece featured in an episode of NCIS! I have done a bit of stalking to bring you the art exhibits below. Enjoy...</i><br />
<i>— J Snow</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.rawartists.org/vincentpiazza" target="_blank">Raw Artists</a> (epic sideshow and where I stole a bit of his information *shhh*)<br />
<a href="https://www.behance.net/vincentpiazza" target="_blank">Behance</a><br />
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Read Vincent's <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/11/fast-flash-fiction-contest-winner.html?m=1" target="_blank">winning poem</a>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-90228018097890675232017-11-17T12:07:00.003-05:002017-11-17T12:08:15.925-05:00Fast Flash Fiction Contest Winner<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-ca09-ee57-236a-2c0ae19ef431" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i>Always Raining </i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i>By Vincent Piazza</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It was raining, always raining.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Wet, dripping off the tip of his nose like a grainy black and white Kodak photograph.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The street smelled of crisco tinged anal sex and sour pomegranates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">His long drawn out sigh Extended out into the fourth dimension, bellicose spiders cutting out paper dolls with titanium scissors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The green and red laser beams reflected off of the dirty oil slicked street water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">She smiled, and licked the rainwater off of my nose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The bus never came, the rain never stopped, and his time was coming to an end.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">He turned to watch his life pass in a slow splash of an oncoming car as he stepped off the curb.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">She wept, and still, it never stopped raining.</span></div>
<br />J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-15347583407547277222017-11-17T12:03:00.004-05:002017-11-17T12:03:36.033-05:00The Cover Letter<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-caed-ae54-f023-4ac5369d67e4" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><img height="320" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/9Q9MGKgqeEloLBtpaYyUpDT3u2efcmtFH2fn4n8YABWK82oAI_3VNwL9cQ2oRawHvY7RtPgAnngxUcEEqlhlTXlrVuRsbOx2zySd-6FaklfGhWuEPUbalJCGgWyqkFwEk5XwgC1i" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="250" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The cover letter is easy. Let's keep it that way. Though it is not a necessity, it is regarded as rude and unprofessional to send a manuscript without a cover letter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Cover letters are not the same as query letters, but it is the first impression you make on a publisher. It is the hello and handshake upon meeting a potential employer, one you greatly desire to work for. The cover letter is the equivalent to looking someone square in the eye when introduced. It sets the tone for the relationship that will ensue, be it one of mutual trust and respect or one of worry and fear your lawyers will soon come banging on their doors in the middle of the night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Long story short —</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">1 page</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">3 paragraphs</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Simple</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Direct</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Signed</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Viola! </span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Paragraph One</span></div>
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<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Blurb</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Title </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Genre </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Word Count </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Target Audience * </span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Paragraph two</span></div>
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<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Introduction</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Interesting Facts (if relevant to submission) </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Published Works </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Credentials</span></div>
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<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">education</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">literary awards</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">writing organizations </span></div>
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<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: square; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">memberships </span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: square; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">affiliations</span></div>
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</ul>
</ul>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Qualifications to be Writer of Book </span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Paragraph Three</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Bio **</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely,</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A Respectful and Professional Writer</span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">* Target audience refers to your reader base (eg, ‘young adult/picture book/middle grade’ or ‘YA/PB/MG’ or ‘horror fans’ or ‘readers of true crime’ or ‘insert who would be interested in your book here’)</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">** Author Bio is written third person and approximately 300 words, basically your entire resume chopped to a paragraph</span></div>
J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-72415695444630543712017-11-17T11:40:00.001-05:002017-11-17T11:40:38.580-05:00The Query Letter <div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-cad8-cb40-e8bb-7f32f27b1668" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A query letter… well, that's an entirely different beast than the cover letter. Don't confuse the two. It's the pickup line, the light, enticing touch of a lover's lips on an earlobe, the fingernail lightly tracing well defined ab muscles, the tantalizing strawberries and cream waffles with whip cream.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><img height="251" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/NsUvJ98bcXpxnQoEoBvqk3J2X077OdIm05EhJWYCybKY2OYq-kOAAyxjZOg9V1I_yvUWvoMhlthM59g4UNN1l_HrLPB1S1iMfmAUEk2-vcyj_hf-qQU8swDuq_9Ep_sqyZ91iJTX" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The purpose is to make the publisher want more. Make them beg for more. Polishing a query letter to a glistening sheen is time well invested, but don't make the mistake of losing your professionalism in the process.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">On the not-so-romantic angle is it is a tactic used by the publisher to cut the number of manuscript submissions, thereby creating another difficult hurdle for the new writer. Not only does your work need to be next-to-godly-high-quality, but your query letter has to seduce the only people on the planet sick to death of being seduced.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Your query letter should be short yet contain a strong sense of your writing style and the story you're pitching. The problem is fiction is a matter of taste so the letter needs to be targeted expertly and individually to each publisher. Do not rely on the one-size-fits-all tactic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Do not query unless your manuscript is complete, polished, and ready for publication. Querying prior to this stage shows a publisher you don't understand the basics of the profession, and they will shy away from your future queries. Do consider including an excerpt from the manuscript, the beginning paragraph if it's a stellar hook, but be sure the guidelines do not prohibit doing so.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">In Short…</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">One Page</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">12pt Times New Roman</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Single Spaced</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Elements (approx 200-400 words (see below)</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Brevity is best — Get in, get out</span></div>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Elements of the Query Letter</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Approximately 200-400 words</span></div>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Personalization</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Customize the letter for the recipient</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The What</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Genre</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Category</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Word Count</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Title /Subtitle</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hook (100-200 words for most novels)</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Protagonist</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Protagonist’s Conflict</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Protagonist's Options</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The sizzle</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Bio</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Third Person POV</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Fiction Writing Credits</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Nonfiction Writing Credits</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Writing Credentials</span></div>
</li>
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Education</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Memberships</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: circle; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Awards</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Special Research</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Thank you’</span></div>
</li>
<li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Sincerely, </span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Author I. Name</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kgnD02ly2x2zynFFmmqI3VoOn43ug6tRXjZtB4iFoqTlbMPYhUw0fy6FL0Q_lH9opR2oJcJ7gnE1QDDGFefDNriT6vv4kCT1xbuQ9ldcafnBv1OcZggr8-54thcIakD4FKZ3kSqH" style="border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" /></span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Mwuaah and Viola! Query letter! Good luck on that book deal, and don't forget… </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Write like it's criminal! </span></div>
<br />J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-33903600800727309862017-11-17T11:19:00.001-05:002017-11-17T11:19:09.908-05:00Industry Standard Formatting Guidelines for Manuscript Submissions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZs8N8l5gdU4NISGzyK4dDKyIcrQkIywGZOxCVv4lXD4i1Lyqrde6FuZNWdt-ZEnA_Iouh23EBSzQqfqcywml3HYjGn2L5VPfkJ_uB0ijmzTNBN1NMyP_VvUVP02_BQ88pkZLz2v2_ilg/s1600/images-58.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="174" data-original-width="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZs8N8l5gdU4NISGzyK4dDKyIcrQkIywGZOxCVv4lXD4i1Lyqrde6FuZNWdt-ZEnA_Iouh23EBSzQqfqcywml3HYjGn2L5VPfkJ_uB0ijmzTNBN1NMyP_VvUVP02_BQ88pkZLz2v2_ilg/s1600/images-58.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The preferred formatting method of most publishers for manuscript submissions is as follows, but, again, read the guidelines as outlined by each publishers on their website before sending a single word. One mistake could cost you the deal of a lifetime!</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Do not treat the choice of a publisher to not define a particular font as an open invitation to be creative. If not specified, it's because the publisher expects the writer to know the industry standards regarding formatting. Show them you do. Show them you are professional and intelligent. Show them respect and they will return it. It doesn't mean they will publish you, but it does mean you leave a favorable impression on them for the next submission. Make that a primary goal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 26.6037px;"><b>Standard MS Submission Guidelines </b></span></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<ul>
<li>1” Margins (top, bottom, right, left)</li>
<li>Double Spaced</li>
<li>12pt Courier or Times New Roman *</li>
<li>Black Ink on White Paper, Always</li>
<li>Left Align (Do NOT justify align)</li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>First Page</b></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><ul>
<li>Header</li>
<li>Upper Left Corner:</li>
<li>Legal Name</li>
<li>Address</li>
<li>Phone</li>
<li>Writing Society Memberships (if applicable)</li>
</ul>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Upper Right Corner</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Word Count (rounded to nearest 100th; example: 54,635 should be written as 54,600)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Midway Down Page:</b></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Title (centered)</span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Two Spaces Below Title:</span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Byline (pen name if used)</span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Two Double Spaces Below Byline:</span></div>
</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 26.6037px;"><br /></span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Start Story</span></div>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">All Following Pages</span></b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><ul>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Header</li>
<li>Upper Right Corner:</li>
<li>Last Name</li>
<li>Title</li>
<li>Page Number</li>
<li>Begin first paragraph of each chapter or section at the margin</li>
<li>Indent all succeeding paragraphs</li>
</ul>
</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Bottom of Story Ending Page</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">“THE END” (some of you don't want to do this, some outright refuse, but remember, one single page removed or out of order, something easily done in the hands of another, and you get to stand at the finish line but never cross. Publisher suggestion. Not mine.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">So now you know the correct way to submit your work to a publisher. <i><b>Write like it's criminal! </b></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span>J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4305432053650762232.post-27128927386068058252017-11-17T11:07:00.001-05:002017-12-20T11:57:13.460-05:00The Scribblers Newsletter Authors <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm7admZnZlMxNlxnXqycl1dp3CZfcg3Fq4p8sXtI4xGIFBD0_Jq6H4YxxaG28cT2wTtGupjTNWpDGJUzfmZ2ZXu-d4pLGWrjqYEo8Sdaz5hal8RzHAf2kZMzjNZu3bD48KarEoOsSv0E/s1600/FB_IMG_1512585602143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="1048" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm7admZnZlMxNlxnXqycl1dp3CZfcg3Fq4p8sXtI4xGIFBD0_Jq6H4YxxaG28cT2wTtGupjTNWpDGJUzfmZ2ZXu-d4pLGWrjqYEo8Sdaz5hal8RzHAf2kZMzjNZu3bD48KarEoOsSv0E/s320/FB_IMG_1512585602143.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Yes, we have a <a href="http://us16.campaign-archive.com/?u=4277cb86dd60a7f59e539b53f&id=0c2c8c7ca4" target="_blank">newsletter</a>.<br />
Yes, it's amazazazing.<br />
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Check out our <a href="https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=4277cb86dd60a7f59e539b53f&id=2e41c82540" target="_blank">past issues</a><br />
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<h3>
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Each issue includes, but it's not limited to<br />
° Submission Calls (tons of these!)<br />
° Agent and Publisher Spotlights<br />
° Writing Competitions <br />
° Author Spotlights w/ submitted pieces<br />
° Writing Prompts, Tips, and Tricks<br />
Our focus is bringing new and underrepresented writers publishing opportunities to help reach larger audience. Check out the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1218065064964921/" target="_blank">Scribblers Facebook Writing Group</a> for more contests.<br />
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Want your work considered for publication? See our <a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/submission-call.html?m=1" target="_blank">submission call</a>!<br />
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<br />
<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-ce44-6c9a-8430-26b635c9da63" style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">Meet the Scribblers Chamber Newsletter Staff… </span><br />
<div>
<span style="color: #b6d7a8; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 30.3556px;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOSZROKSosJR-hhQ2tULoi8mvyXYwYdPqVcKntMCsoHSffRYOtE7igFQvG7z6WLf9-ycLba9mPEPxxYkMLPcfewbWdtNE7vdt3FbnO7Ev6ZxyU99Jb0tCkkgDNRlGSdzsKbhx_6yK-Lk/s1600/FB_IMG_1510930787315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="854" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOSZROKSosJR-hhQ2tULoi8mvyXYwYdPqVcKntMCsoHSffRYOtE7igFQvG7z6WLf9-ycLba9mPEPxxYkMLPcfewbWdtNE7vdt3FbnO7Ev6ZxyU99Jb0tCkkgDNRlGSdzsKbhx_6yK-Lk/s200/FB_IMG_1510930787315.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScribblersChamber/" target="_blank">J Snow</a>, creator, editor, author</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />J. Snow is a poet and author of psychological thrillers and tales of terror whose work has been described as disturbing, visceral, haunting, and powerfully evocative. Snow pulls inspiration from personal experience to provide readers a peek inside the splintered psyche of an abuse and abduction survivor while utilizing her unique insight of the depravities hidden behind the smiling faces of sociopaths to breathe life into harrowing characters that have both horrified and fascinated those of conventional morality for generations. Snow has had six short stories and fourteen poems accepted for publication in various anthologies, is the founder of the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Scribblers Writing Organization, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">editor of its newsletter and author, co-administrator of its online writing community, and Co-founder of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Blood Puddles — Silent Screams in Liquid Darkness: A Literary Journal of Horror</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">, and still finds time to write daily. She is currently working on a debut novel and the first in a planned series of memoirs, a means to battle the stigma surrounding mental illness and give voice to abuse victims struggling to speak for themselves. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/09/josh-darling-author-spotlight.html?m=1" target="_blank">Josh Darling</a>, author</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-cb1a-f738-1684-00a0669cb09b" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Born on Long Island, Josh Darling's first short story was published while he was still in High School. Struggling with learning disabilities, he dropped out of college and wandered across America. He worked oddball jobs to make ends meet, including short order cook, answering phones at the Home Shopping Network, and telemarketing for conmen. When not fishing, he's a full-time ghostwriter and editing guru. Currently, Josh Darling lives in Central Florida with the love of his life and their son.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://jensnowauthor.blogspot.com/2017/08/colin-palmer-author-spotlight.html?m=1" target="_blank">Colin Palmer</a>, author</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Colin is young man of fifty-nine years who has been putting pen to paper over fifty of them. He began as most do, school environment with short essays receiving acclaim from both students and teachers. Beginning his first novel 14, using imagination and local knowledge, he set the scene for an epic novel that would take him almost 40 years to complete. During the 1990’s, a short-lived experience with an international publishing group somewhat soured his literary ambitions; however, taking the professional editing skills he learnt during this sojourn, he began the journey of improving upon that novel,then a second, and a third in quick succession. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Colin self-published those three novels plus a compilation of short stories in 2016. Colin still actively writes, the need never waning. He strives to write “different” for the sake of the art and for his own entertainment. The majority of his work is “old fashioned” story telling style in a surprising collation of genres ranging from horror to romance with heavy dashes of fantasy and paranormal. Colin's wish is for more people to read for pleasure, an escape from the critical world we all now live while he, born and bred in Australia, currently lives in Eastern Europe as the darkness is much more cathartic for creation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">“I write all of my work to entertain myself, and sometimes, the icing on the cake is that somebody else likes them as well!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">— </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Colin Palmer</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.facebook.com/AndreaLDelo/" target="_blank">Andrea Delo</a>, author</td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Andrea Delo is an author and poet. She will be self-publishing her first novel, In Her Eyes, by the end of 2017. She writes romance novels, and is beginning to delve into the world of supernatural romance. Andrea writes short stories, mainly of the horror genre, and her poems range from light to dark, depending on her mood. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">She is a self-described crazy girl, whose deepest thoughts are written into every piece of her work. If an interesting experience happened in her mind, it’s most likely written into a poem. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt;">Andrea resides in Pennsylvania, with her boyfriend, Eric, and her dog, Sammy. Her loves in life are coffee, reading, writing and men.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.facebook.com/author.CLSteele/" target="_blank">CL Steele</a>, author</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-cdba-bf83-a757-78f41d122d47" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>While CL Steele resides in Indiana, most of her time is spent dreaming up new worlds and magical places filled with complex characters on life journeys. Most of her work is the Sci-fi/Fantasy genre where she concentrates on Magical Realism, Near Future, and Futuristic worlds. She has been published in a few anthologies and is looking forward to the release of her novel PS--Death in 2018. As a contributing author, she hopes to write articles which help the new author get started and persevere in the writing world. </i></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://aim-med.com/category/me/poems/" target="_blank">Dr. Rick</a>, author</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Rick used to be an ER doc with over 50k encounters, all while dealing with a terminal diagnosis. After 30 years of that, he’s now retired and lives in Redmond, WA, home of Microsoft, with his husband of 14 years and their service dog, Felon. His son, a professional photographer, who will be 36 this year, lives with his wife in LA. Dr. Rick began writing free verse in 1996 shortly after the death of his “sister” of the same terminal diagnosis and has been published. He writes poetry inspired by struggles with stigma and exclusion aimed at promoting health and wellness in others as well as himself. His topics include mental health conditions, HIV-1 infections, and the intersection of the two, among other topics. A citizen of the Great NorthLeft (Puget Sound), Dr. Rick has lived in western Washington most of his adult life, minus an eighteen year hitch in and around Tampa Bay. He grew up in the Midwest and “escaped” to the northwest after university. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Dr. Rick thrives on critique and wants to thank everyone who has encouraged his work over the years. He feels extraordinarily blessed to continue to draw breath, and does his best to give back the abundant gifts he’s been given.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/bscottauthor/" target="_blank">Brandon Scott</a>, author</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-5e9d86c8-74cf-6765-e572-8ebe32512baf" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Brandon Scott is an author who scribbles macabre tales from the mountains of North Carolina and a musician who had been known to compose a lyric of two during his leisure time. His education in Clinical Psychology, where he studied the dark side of people before pursuing his writing career, has helped him create deeply haunting, multi-dimensional characters for his stories. After a stint with Scribner Inc., he took a hiatus from writing but never set down his pen. Within a decade, Brandon returned to the craft armed with some millage under his belt. His first attempt at getting published upon his return was successful with publication of his short story “Associate Boogeyman” in the Zombie Pirate Publishing anthology </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Relationship ADD Vice.</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"> He has since been a contributing author for the </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Scribblers Writing Organization</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"> newsletter, co-administrator of an online writing community, and Co-founder of </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Blood Puddles — Silent Screams in Liquid Darkness: A Literary Journal of Horror, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">and still continues to spin stories daily</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">If Brandon isn’t hiking up the mountains that inspire him, then he is dabbling in history, literary classics, or blackjack, but most nights he’s up listening to the voices — voices that pull him into the darkness with “what ifs” and he writes down every word they say…</span>
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J Snowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09489746537991456500noreply@blogger.com0