Friday the 13th Poem for y'all!

This poem is a Villanelle. Which is nineteen lines long, Tercets with only two rhymes. The first and third line of the first stanza alternating as the third line in each successive stanza and forming a couplet at the close. Make sense? LOL…it will once you start reading. I enjoy trying different strict forms of poetry. Forces me to go outside my comfort zone…while I like free verse, I think the fixed forms have a more lyrical sound when read aloud.





Mary’s Song


Cries carried upon the night
Pale skin, her body frail,
Poor Mary’s sorrowful plight.

To stare brings such fright,
Such a ghostly pain-filled wail,
Cries carried upon the night.

Bloody lips eager to bite,
Taunting with night’s eerie gale,
Poor Mary’s sorrowful plight.

For her curse burns ever bright,
She’ll pound your last coffin nail,
Cries carried upon the night.

Hold your blessed child tight,
Don’t let her catch you in the dale,
Poor Mary’s sorrowful plight.

As she will shed no merciful light,
And she’ll laugh at your urban tale,
Cries carried upon the night,
Poor Mary’s sorrowful plight.

Don't You Just Love Book Buying?!

I found "Take Me" by Lucy Monroe today and I swear I thought I'd hit the jackpot. It just made my day. This lady is such a fabulous author. I never get tired of her imagination. If only I had her talent!

here's a quick blurb of the book:

Jared, Viscount Ravenswood, has no choice but to honor the deathbed wish of his ailing servant. All she asks is that Jared introduce her soon-to-be orphaned daughter to the notorious and reclusive Calantha, Duchess of Clairborne. No ordinary request, for this is no ordinary child. She is, in fact, the key to the Duchess's most private secrets, and to Jared's own past-one that has branded him Lord Beast among the ton.

But when the Viscount meets the Duchess, he finds not the pitiless dowager he expected, but a lovely and wary angel-survivor of a brutal marriage left now with only her roses and the breathtaking mystery that is her life. For Jared, to solve it is to fall in love, to make her believe in the impossible, and to follow the promise that comes with the most intimate whisper of all... Take me...

Play with Me by Janice Maynard--coming January 2007




Tender and passionate and everything I love about romance!

A champagne toast between three beautiful best friends—and a pact to make their fantasies come true before their thirtieth birthdays. Catherine, Kellie, and Gina, three very different women, but with one goal and the race is on.

As I read these three stories my initial reaction is that Ms. Maynard has a created a very nice mix. She didn’t go into the more wicked world of erotic romance but it’s still not your granny’s romance either!

The first story in this trio…mmm, very hot. I know these stories don’t have the Scimitar flavor behind them, but they aren’t tame either. In Still Waters, Catherine is a painfully shy Archivist in a local Charleston museum and completely fascinated by the hard working, wealthy Phillip Trent. Feeling a moment of brevity, Catherine decides to stop by Phillip’s office, only his secretary lets her know in no uncertain terms that he’s busy and has no time in his schedule to fit her in. She leaves feeling downhearted and uncertain she’ll ever work up the nerve to talk to Phillip. Just then, Phillip comes running down the street after Catherine. He asks her out. She accepts and this story gets emotional and steamy from there. A masked ball. A promise of passion. Glorious! Catherine pulled at me the most, because I know how it feels to be so painfully shy, esp. around men. It reminded me of a modern day version of Prince Charming.

My favorite story is the second, however. This one is about Kallie and Beau. Big huge sigh here, ladies. I do so love the friendship type romances. In Skin Deep, artist Kallie Bradshaw has had a thing for restaurant owner Beau Donovan for a very long time, but she’s been too afraid to act on her feelings. Fear of ruining a great friendship while getting her heart crushed has kept her from making a fool of herself. Fortunately, Beau isn’t so immune to her as she thinks he is and he’s not plenty ready to change their friendship to something much deeper.

The last story, Party Girl, was a perfect way to wrap up this anthology. Gina is very hardened, but with such a sensitive core. Trey is the perfect man for her. He’s so kind and yet so anxious to make her his and his alone. To make up for the past. To let her know just how stupid and wrong he was about her. I love a hero like that! And when he keeps getting jealous over the two guys staring at her chest when they go parasailing, he’s also very much the typical guy--possessive and predatory. I love it when an author throws those types of feelings in there. Vulnerability, protectiveness, and a need to forget the past and start fresh. Do you see now, why this is a great way to conclude these three stories?

~It’s a truly excellent trilogy. Gentle and romantic. It’s a fairy tale/prince charming tale--only with HOT love scenes! Oh, and I loved the epilogue! What a great surprise for Gina! You’ll have to read it to know what I mean!

Schedules…do you hate them or love them?

I am the type of person who hates having schedules, but I need them. I need to have some idea of what I'm doing from day to day. I find that I hate last minute changes, big pet peeve of mine. Or, when someone who doesn't bother much with schedules calls you at the last minute wanting you to go here or there.

Writing without a schedule is like traveling cross country without a map. You may not like needing it, but you aren't so crazy not to have it as a guide. I try to give myself a set number of pages per day. I like working in the mindset that if I get my pages done, then I've put in a good day. If I get more done then that's just a bonus, it doesn't mean I take the next day off. LOL! Also, giving myself goals and deadlines, helps ensure that I get to take the weekend off with a clear mind. Nothing weighing on me.

Vacations are another story. They are great. We all need them. It gives us time to unwind and spend time with family. We eat too much and over sleep and we love every minute of it. However, my schedule goes right out the window and it seems to take forever to get back on track once vacation is over. Also, I go insane when I can't write! I'm like a little kid and someone is forcing me to sit still in a starched dress in church. Itchy and distracting and it just plain makes me want to shout!

Okay, I feel better. On with your day... :-)

Rumors...cont'd.

As I read through all the comments it's driven me to add a little more about this topic.

The main reason for the Rumors post is to remind ALL of us (including myself) that these things happen. We can't do anything about them. If someone is going to talk about you that's their problem, it's out of your control. However, maybe it will make us think twice before doing the same thing to someone else. For myself, I think it helps to remember that dwelling on issues that you cannot fix or solve is futile. It can eat away at you until, at some point, you are losing sleep or you may even do something you regret. I have two daughters. I sent the Rumors poem to both of them because let's face it, most of this sort of thing is learned by watching mom and dad. So if they see me gossiping or feeling bitter because I've been the fodder for gossip, what message does that send? On the other hand, if they see that mom has better things to do rather than sit around and talk about someone else's life, then I think they'll get the point.

Mostly, I just think it's a good idea to always learn from your mistakes. While we've all been hurt by gossip, we've probably been the one doing the gossiping a time or two as well. What goes around comes around! I'm sure that I was only getting what I deserved. Well, maybe a bit more than what I deserved, LOL. Still, it's taught me to keep my trap shut.

Lastly, it's not really a matter of who or what hurt me that prompted me to post about it, but mainly to remind myself (and maybe a few others) of what my mom used to say when I was a kid. "Use that filter God gave you, it's there for a reason." So, think long and hard before you decide to start spewing out hateful things, because they will undoubtedly hurt someone down the road.