Read an eBook Week #Tbt

Ah I vaguely recall my start as an independent writer; it almost seems like a lifetime ago.

I can’t even remember how I found [the oddly named] Smashwords, but I am glad we connected. Mark Coker’s publishing platform really simplified my life.

And then Draft2Digital with Books2Read came along with their pretty little layouts and boom I had a new crush. And a new distributor.

But I never left Smashwords.

By the way, it is true Smashwords and Draft2Digital are merging and I think that’s a good thing.

I’m not sure if Smashword’s support of the annual Read an eBook will continue in the years to come, but it is going on right now through March 12th. I, of course, am participating. Several of my books are available free or at a drastically reduced price. Just scroll through and check it out.

I believe The Perpetual Series was the first, or one of the first books I published with Smashwords; that was in 2013. Can you believe that?

I recall making the cover from a photograph I had taken of a flower blooming in the yard. Sadly, that flower never returned.

… that flower and so many other things.

Sigh

Happy Thursday Y’all. XoXo

Another Spring (Another #NPM )

Audio podcast available

Another Spring

You were hiding,

waiting there beneath the frost

so much more patient than I.

My soul beckoned from a wintry slumber

Fretful and anxious

Weary and depressed

fearful you had abandoned me and then

as promised,

you appeared.

Breathing life into the naked limbs; into the bare breasts of Mother Nature

until Summer’s heat met autumn’s leaves
and reminded us that change is inevitable.

Now…

too soon,

you will be nothing more than a bright spot

Getting Me Back is available at your favorite retailer.

Write on!

As If #NPM

As If

As if your shoulder brushing against my breast

in a crowded room meant anything to me…

As if your smile would thaw my frosty heart…

As if your constant assurance could overcome my cynicism…

As if the invisible boulevard would never rise up and beckon.

The street lamp glows in the bleached mist only three floors below us.

I blow streams of smoke into the black night and hum to the drone of the unseen road.

Be steel my bleating heart!

Be quiet! Be silent, hard steel.

As if wearing your tee-shirt made us lovers.

You can listen here.

From Getting Me Back (The Voices Within)

It’s April 1st and That Means …

Yep!

Why Poetry (from Getting Me Back)

Because it hurts deeper

Tastes sweeter

It is time to kick off National Poetry Month. #NPM Sooo- let’s get this party started.

Laughs louder

And lets me know I’m alive

The view from my wilderness sanctuary.

Write on!

Listen throughout the month via podcast

Crazy Conversations (Just Another Dull Day with the Family)

I haven’t posted a Crazy Conversations in a long time so here is a short video to make up for it.

Cotton, peas, your friends, your seat, your nose… There are a lot of things you can pick. Family isn’t one of them.
Disclaimer: Life is crazy, people are crazier and my family… well they get the crazy award if there is one. I

Saint Patrick’s Day (Throw Back Thursday)

Here’s a little something from 2015.

And ya know what? I think I understand now what that old man was talking about.

About those Snakes…

An old man once told me, “Saint Patrick ran the snakes out of Ireland and now they rule the world.”

I am not 100% certain as to what that means but I do reflect on it every year.

In the mean time…

Saint Patty's Day Card

International Women’s History Month

Happy Friday y’all!

March is Women’s History Month so I thought I’d share this bit with you.

Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month by presidential proclamation. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history.

The poem below was inspired by the sage advice I received years ago from an elderly lady who truly fought to make a difference in the role (and treatment) of women in society. I feel she made a historical impact by influencing the small groups around her. She certainly left an impression with me.

I won’t name her because her M.O was to act subtly and not bring attention to herself. Surprisingly she got a lot accomplished with her (ur-um) antics. RIP A

Women’s Liberation

We did not burn our bras but wore them proudly; Holding–supporting–glorifying the mammary glands that would feed the next generation;

For the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

We did not give animated voices to our vaginas for the world to hear but let them speak in secret whispers that moved mountains.

We did not make a spectacle in the streets to prove our equality For we knew in our hearts [already] that we were superior.

The above poem is from Getting Me Back (The Voices Within)