Tag Archives: writing

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A Little Poetic Teaser

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Photo credit: wilhelm Donkor Pinterest

See if you can figure out WHY I wrote this poem…. Hint is in the title!

Nonagon

Odd numbers are no good for parties
(so the experts say)
but we nine always did just fine
We had no desire to couple-up
just dance & drink
chat & get high
Then one
by
one
we drifted apart
’til none but I
reside

©March 2020, Lori Carlson

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It’s Been A Long Time…

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As most of you have probably noticed, it has been a long time since I’ve posted original writings of mine here on WordPress. I’d love to say that I have tons of work just waiting to be posted, but I don’t. It has probably been a good four years since I’ve written anything. No poetry, flash fiction, short fiction or novellas. I allowed a personal issue to knock me down into a deep depression and even after I came out of that, I had gotten out of the habit of writing every day and just stopped. The irony of it all is I still call myself a writer, but how can one be a writer if one never writes?

So here’s the deal: Next month is poetry month. My intention is to join a poetry prompt thing for April and write a poem each day. Since it will be prompted, I will be posting these poems over on Promptly Written.

In the meantime, I am going to try my hand at some impromptu poetry here just to wet my whistle again. It probably won’t be good poetry, but hopefully it will get me in the habit of writing again. Eventually I will dip my toes in the shallow end of the pond and create some flash fiction and short fiction and work my way to the deep end for a novella or two.

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#BookPromo – The Children Are Not People by Logan Rutherford

The Children are Not People by Logan Rutherford is a short story of approximately 10,000 words. It is to be released on July 31st. See below for details to purchase it.

LoganRutherfordTitleCover

Description

Thirteen months ago, all the children in the world began to get sick. Twelve months ago, they all died. Eleven months ago, they all came back.

Thomas Austen has spent the last eleven months traveling through the wasted country on foot. He has to see his little brother. He has to learn for himself if Gabe is a zombie.

And Thomas has to be the one to kill him.

Now, twenty-five miles away from home, at the end of his long and dangerous journey, Thomas faces one of his biggest obstacles yet.

He’s determined to put his little brother out of his misery, but he can’t do that if his brother gets to him first.

Genre: Horror (Zombies!)

Where to Buy:  Pre-order on Amazon for $0.99!

For more of Logan Rutherford’s books, please see his Amazon Profile where you can find his First Superhero Series as well as other novels in his works.

About the Author

LoganRutherfordpicLogan Rutherford is a full-time author living in Los Angeles. Born and raised in Texas, he’s been writing for his entire life. First publishing at 16, he’s been doing so ever since.

He writes a variety of series, although he’s most known for his First Superhero series, the first book in that series being The Second Super.

Website | Mailing List | Facebook  | Twitter | Email

 

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#BookReview – The Secret Life and Death of Josie by Angela Kay

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A fourteen year old cold case. A mother desperate to have her daughter’s murderer brought to justice. Det. Lexi Dixon has been handed the case in hopes that fresh eyes can solve it. The victim: Josie Parker – a teenager with a secret life,  a ballet dancer with a boyfriend no one had met, not even her best friend, and a mother, Jenny Parker, who controlled her life. And then the unthinkable happened, Josie was murdered in an alley beside a bar. Dixon and her partner, Det. Zach Montgomery delve into the case, slowly uncovering clues that prior detectives hadn’t. Was it the mother’s secret that led to Josie’s demise? Josie’s affair with an older man? Jealousy between friends? Can Dixon and Montgomery solve the case before their boss pulls the plug? Will Josie’s murder remain unsolved? These are the burning questions the reader will ask until the very end.

The Life and Death of Josie is Angela Kay’s fourth novel and what I consider her best yet. Kay creates a lead character, Det. Lexi Dixon, who is both strong and vulnerable. Dixon is a dogged detective, driven, and meticulous. In her personal life, she is the victim of domestic abuse. When we meet her in the story, she’s found the courage to divorce her husband and fight for custody of her son. It is that strength and vulnerability that pushes Dixon to solve Josie’s murder and fight for her son even though the odds for both are stacked against her.

Kay’s other characters are also well-defined – from Dixon’s partner to Jenny Parker, to the ballet coach and his family, to Josie’s secret friends and the other witnesses and suspects in the case. There are no flat, two-dimensional characters in this novel. Kay shows them to us with their beauty spots, warts and all – egos, jealousy, envy, addiction, and rage.

The plot of the story is also well thought out. From the moment Dixon takes over the cold case, the reader is drawn into not only the twists and turns of the case, but also becomes invested in the secret life of Josie Parker and the domestic challenges facing Dixon. Kay intricately weaves these two women’s stories together. The reader cheers for Josie’s case to be solved and for Dixon’s personal life to be resolved successfully.

If you enjoy a good mystery with a police procedural driven narrative, then this is the novel for you. I highly recommend this novel.

Rating: 5 stars

Genre: Mystery

When Available: May 10, 2019

Where to Pre-order: Amazon

Other Novels by Angela Kay

The Murder of Manny Grimes (Jim DeLong Mysteries Book 1)

Blood Runs Cold (Jim DeLong Mysteries Book 2)

I Can Kill (SA Aidan O’Reilly Thriller)

Short Fiction by Angela Kay

The Naked Eye

About the Author

Author PhotoEquipped with a professional writing degree from Augusta State University, Angela Kay always had the imagination and passion of a writer. She has written many, many short stories in her lifetime, most of which won’t ever see the light of day!

During college, her playwright professor had urged her to submit her one-act play to a 2009 playwright contest. To her shock and glory, she was one of 23 across the United States to win for her one-act entitled “Digging Deeper.” Because of this, she was able to spend a week in Atlanta at the Horizon Theater Company.

She’d begun writing her first novel, The Murder of Manny Grimes in 2009 during a Creative Writing college course. The first draft was well-received by her peers and professor. After seven years of writing and re-writing, the final draft of Manny Grimes became so unrecognizable and so different from the direction she initially went in. Finally, finding the nerves to show it to the public, Angela published it in 2016 with ThomasMax Publishing. A year later, she followed it up with a second book, Blood Runs Cold.

Realizing how difficult it is to break into the whole writing scheme, Angela began a blog to help other authors, many of which deserve glory. Between her busy life and keeping up with her writing, she enjoys reading and reviewing books written by both traditional authors and independent authors.

Angela draws her inspiration from international bestselling author, Steven James, as well as Agatha Christie and James Patterson.

Aside from writing, Angela enjoys watching TV and movies. Her favorite entertainers include James Stewart, Bing Crosby, Paul Newman, Mark Wahlberg, Bryan Adams, and Jeremy Camp.

Angela lives in Augusta, Georgia with her crazy calico, Maggie.

To Contact Angela Kay: Website | Website Contact Email | Email

 

 

 

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#BookPromo – The Naked Eye by Angela Kay

The Naked Eye ebook cover

Good news, my lovelies! Angela Kay’s short story, The Naked Eye, is now available on Amazon for $.99! If you are new to her work, this is an excellent intro and if you’ve read all her works (like I have!), then this is just one more great read to add to your Kindle stack.

You can check out my review here

And you can purchase a copy of The Naked Eye @Amazon (and for those of you who have KindleUnlimited, it’s free!)

Other Novels by Angela Kay

The Murder of Manny Grimes (Jim DeLong Mysteries Book 1)

Blood Runs Cold (Jim DeLong Mysteries Book 2)

I Can Kill (SA Aidan O’Reilly Thriller)

About the Author

Author PhotoEquipped with a professional writing degree from Augusta State University, Angela Kay always had the imagination and passion of a writer. She has written many, many short stories in her lifetime, most of which won’t ever see the light of day!

During college, her playwright professor had urged her to submit her one-act play to a 2009 playwright contest. To her shock and glory, she was one of 23 across the United States to win for her one-act entitled “Digging Deeper.” Because of this, she was able to spend a week in Atlanta at the Horizon Theater Company.

She’d begun writing her first novel, The Murder of Manny Grimes in 2009 during a Creative Writing college course. The first draft was well-received by her peers and professor. After seven years of writing and re-writing, the final draft of Manny Grimes became so unrecognizable and so different from the direction she initially went in. Finally, finding the nerves to show it to the public, Angela published it in 2016 with ThomasMax Publishing. A year later, she followed it up with a second book, Blood Runs Cold.

Realizing how difficult it is to break into the whole writing scheme, Angela began a blog to help other authors, many of which deserve glory. Between her busy life and keeping up with her writing, she enjoys reading and reviewing books written by both traditional authors and independent authors.

Angela draws her inspiration from international bestselling author, Steven James, as well as Agatha Christie and James Patterson.

Aside from writing, Angela enjoys watching TV and movies. Her favorite entertainers include James Stewart, Bing Crosby, Paul Newman, Mark Wahlberg, Bryan Adams, and Jeremy Camp.

Angela lives in Augusta, Georgia with her crazy calico, Maggie.

To Contact Angela Kay: Website | Website Contact Email | Email

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The 2018 WaterSedge Poetry Chapbook Contest

This Year’s Judge:

Susanna Lang, Poet, Travel Notes from the River Styx

This is a great opportunity—exclusively for poets! Submit your entry before the deadline!

The winner of the WaterSedge Poetry Contest will receive:

$500 cash prize

Publication of the poetry chapbook in both print and e-book formats

Amazon distribution for Kindle and print

25 free print copies

Deadline: October 31, 2018

Entry Fee: $20

Page Count Limit: 24-48 pages

Watch the video for more details!

CLICK HERE TO READ GUIDELINES AND TO SUBMIT

http://writersrelief.com/watersedge-poetry-chapbook-contest/

We’re thrilled and honored to have Susanna Lang as this year’s judge!

Susanna Lang has taught literacy and literature and led numerous adult poetry workshops. She has published original poems and translations in such journals as Poetry East, Little Star, Prairie Schooner, december, The Baltimore Review, Prime Number Magazine, Jubilat, Comstock Review, Verse Daily, and American Life in Poetry. She has won numerous awards, including a 1999 Illinois Arts Council Award, the Inkwell Poetry Competition in 2009, the Prime Number Poetry Prize in 2015, and multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize. She was a 2010 and 2015 Hambidge Fellow and received a 2011 Emerging Writer Fellowship from The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD.

Susanna Lang’s newest collection of poems, Travel Notes from the River Styx, was released in summer 2017 from Terrapin Books. Her translations of poetry by Yves Bonnefoy include Words in Stone and The Origin of Language.

http://writersrelief.com/watersedge-poetry-chapbook-contest/