Adele Marie Park: Pandemic Poetry #COVID19 #Lockdown

I’m pleased to announce that Adele Marie Park is to be a contributing author in my new project: This Is Lockdown, a compilation of diaries, short stories, poetry and flash fiction to be released soon.

Here is her touching poem which will no doubt resonate with many.

Rain falls on parched empty streets,
A child’s face framed by a window, eyes watch,
No school today no chance of play either,
A frown creases an unlined brow,
Not understanding, but sensing echoes of adult fear,
Something is very wrong in this new world,
The grown ups cry and they shout,
She turns away from the grey wet streets,
And wishes and wishes for the old world again.

© Copyright Adele Marie Park

Thank you so much to Adele for being part of this project and for supporting me in many ways in my writing journey.

This is my review of the Adele’s first book Wisp : https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2018/07/07/abrsc-review-of-wisp-by-adele-marie-park-ya-fantasy-lgbt/

Soon, Adele will be releasing the second in her series: Wisp II, which I had the pleasure of beta reading recently. I look forward to featuring her soon with her new release.

Bio:

Adele Marie Park was born in the north-east of Scotland, and at the age of six months, she moved to live with family on the Orcadian island of Rousay.

Her childhood was surrounded by the tales and legends of old, and these became the
themes and beliefs she’s carried with her through life as they now emerge and live within the pages of her books.

Adele’s first published book is Wisp. A tale of murder, passion and intrigue set in the mythical world of Edra.

She has won awards for her short stories and many have been published in successful anthologies.

Her writing crosses genres between fantasy and horror but is always character driven. Transforming the pictures and characters in her head as if by magic onto the pages of her books. Her belief in magic, faeries and the paranormal has never wavered.

She connects with people through her writing and her wish is for them to live every moment of the story and feel as if they have been on the journey with the characters.

When not writing, she enjoys painting and playing music. Her preferred instrument is the guitar although she has been known to play the tin whistle.

Adele’s blog: https://firefly465.wordpress.com/

More about This Is Lockdown soon!!!

D G Kaye : Isolation Writers #COVID19 #Thoughts #Isolation #Etheree #Poem

Marje, thanks for inviting me to share my thoughts on Covid19 and my observances. I’ve written an Etheree to express my thoughts.

It’s my pleasure Debby, so glad you can join me to discuss these challenging times.


These are most certainly strange times. Covid19 has put the world on pause. These uncertain times give us opportunity to reflect and step outside the box of life as we knew it, urging us all to take a good long look at our world. Across the globe there are people hiding safely in their homes, people who worry about losing their homes, and many who protest the lockdown rules by defying them.

Question marks still abound about this mysterious disease as there is still much we’ve yet to learn about the contagious Coronavirus. Countries are doing their best to keep ‘the curve’ down from spread and it’s up to each one of us to do our parts in both dodging and keeping from spreading it in our tracks. But human nature is always a factor, and there will always be those who oppose the rule of law.

I’m a writer, so I observe life and its contradictions. From my vantage point I’ve seen a lot of the world expose itself through this unprecedented time, from the good to the bad, from the obedient to the defiant. I’ve seen images of waters clearing and fish once again swimming in places not seen for decades. I’ve seen images of nature from afar, otherwise camouflaged by smog. This pause is revealing to us what’s wrong down to the core’s nub of this world. I’m seeing the greed of man and the kindness of strangers. I’m seeing how seniors in many places are being forgotten with age, but I’m also seeing that the next generation is taking a stand in crime, climate, equality and racism, and convinced it is they who will most-likely be the generation to save the world. I’m seeing despair, but I’m seeing the hope. The purge is on and we are observing and living it.

There’s always upheaval before building anew – first comes the demolition, and from that will rise new beginnings. We are in the moment of the pre-new beginnings. We have one last big chance to keep the movement going for the change to come. The change for last chance to make the world better in every possible way. This is what I see.

As a writer, the isolation part doesn’t affect me because I’m always writing or clicking away on a computer, working best in a solo environment. The only affecting part is going out for groceries and having to wait in a line, 6 feet distanced from the next human, in order to enter, and same procedure to checkout. I abhor grocery shopping in a normal world. Covid19 just exacerbated the issue. I am very much missing human engagement – talking in person, hugging a friend, and seeing a compassionate, genuine smile, not hidden behind a mask.

Cabin Fever

Anxiety exacerbates within.
The pandemic reigns on human life.
We grieve the lost art of living.
While idling in neutral,
We remain suspended,
Awaiting normal,
A new concept.
Lessons taught.
Observe.
Breathe!

©DGKaye

Bio: Debby Gies is a Canadian nonfiction/memoir author who writes under the pen name of D.G. Kaye. She was born, raised, and resides in Toronto, Canada. Kaye writes about her life experiences, matters of the heart and women’s issues.

D.G. Kaye writes to inspire others. Her writing encompasses stories taken from events she encountered in her own life, and the lessons taken from them. Her sunny outlook on life developed from learning to overcome challenges in her life and finding the upside from those situations. Her refusal to accept the word No or the phrase I can’t, keep her on the path to positivity. Kaye loves to look for the humor in whatever life can dish out, and when she isn’t writing intimate memoirs, she brings her natural sense of humor into her other works. She writes with a rawness and honesty, leaving readers with something to take from her stories.

Social Links:
www.dgkayewriter.com
www.goodreads.com/dgkaye
www.amazon.com/author/dgkaye7

www.linkedin.com/in/DGKaye7
www.facebook.com/dgkaye

http://www.amazon.com/author/dgkaye7

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts Debby and for the wonderful Etheree poem which captures the essence of our times so well.

I’m thrilled that you will be a contributing author in This Is Lockdown – more about that soon!

New Book Release: Claire Llewellyn – Rhyme & Reason Facets of a Life #Poetry

Welcome to Claire Fluff Llewellyn, she is sharing news about her new book.

A collection of rhymes for troubling times; reaching out to the weary with a virtual hug!

From poems about sleep to murderous sheep! It’s an eclectic mix of sincerity, sentiment, satire and silliness, served up as three “facets of life”: LIFE, LOVE, LAUGHTER. Share in the joy & sorrow, or re-live your own! Puzzle at the twisted, dark humour of drunken Santas & Hollywood Hookers!

Life’s a roller-coaster of ups & downs, smiles & frowns. Won’t you take a ride in rhyme?

The Amazon sales link:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089GGY64P
UK link:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B089GGY64P/

Also, I’m running a competition for verified ebook purchasers to win a signed print copy of the book. In the poem titled: JUST LIKE THE MOVIES: The Twisted Tale of a Hollywood Hooker, I used 36 movie quotes. To enter send proof of purchase plus all correct movie quotes with the movie title to: bloodybritproductions@gmail.com

Details of my first book: LOVE is a KILLER:

Love is a Killer is a compilation of poems and songs on the subject of LOVE; more specifically: HEARTBREAK.But WAIT!…

This is no ordinary collection of sorrowful musings: split into four parts, this book explores the dark depths of not only the fragile human heart, but also the twisted mind of love-crazed killers and love-sick monsters.

This is HEARTBREAK; with a twist of madness, and a splash of Rock ‘n’ Roll! https://www.amazon.com/dp/1798690268
UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/LOVE-KILLER-Claire-Fluff-Llewellyn/dp/1798690268/

Author Bio:

Born in Worcester, England, Claire Llewellyn first took an interest in poetry at an early age through primary school readings of Roald Dahl. She also developed a penchant for music, and the horror genre. Her schooling required her to write crea$vely in all formats and she soon acquired an affinity for it, constantly writing rhymes and short stories. 

In her late teens, she pursued her musical interests and formed a band, ‘Stir Crazy’, performing classic rock covers and original material. She headed the band as lead vocalist and lyricist. When they disbanded, she bounced around musical groups and added the nickname “Fluff” as part of her persona in a new theatrical rock band venture that never came to fruition. However, it was her musical pursuits that lead her to move to Illinois in 2004.


As new opportuni$es arose, she became embroiled in a different kind of stage performance as an assistant to a Gothic illusionist. This adventure exposed her to the world of independent horror film making. She branched out into acting and ultimately formed her own small production company, ‘Bloody Brit Productions’, through which she directs her own screenplays.


Whilst fond of traditional rhyming verse, which she mostly ascribes to, maturity has afforded her the confidence to experiment a li7le. Poetry, and writing in general, has helped her through some tough times, allowing her to express difficult emotions, and even showcase that cheeky British humour.


She mostly publishes dark, and some$mes humorous, poetry that is both fictional and nonfictional under her own imprint: Bloody Brit Press.

Social media links

Social Media Links:
FB: – https://www.facebook.com/britpoet
IG: britfluff

Always lovely to discover poets and to share their work. Definitely, one positive of lockdown is ‘meeting’ new authors.

Wishing Claire much success with her new poetry collection.

Some news: My Blog Now Has A Mailing List!! Wannabe Subscribers!!!

I’ve finally taken the plunge after six years… yes it has taken me this long to add a subscribers email pop up. You can also subscribe by clicking on the image above, (that will take you to a landing page to subscribe.)

Newsletters:

04/12/2022 Newsletter Dec 2022 – New Poetry Book and Cover Competition for Golden Healer

29/09/2022 Newsletter May 2022 – Come Join My Team

27/01/2022 Newsletter – Launch of YA Paranormal Fantasy Golden Healer 

09/25/2021 – November Blog Tour, plus Reviews and Community News

08/22/2021 – Incredible 5 star reviews for Bloodstone, votes and MJ’s own reviews.

 07/23/2021 – An Invitation To Join My ARC Team  –  Book Sirens

05/06/2021 – Thrilled To Announce I Have A Publishing Contract!!!

03/02/2021 – FREE FOR SUBSCRIBERS NEW RELEASE!!!

 02/27/2021 – Welcome – New Release: Lockdown Innit Poetry

02/23/2021 – FREE FOR SUBSCRIBERS NEW RELEASE!!! 

01/22/2021 – January Newsletter: 5 star reviews of Mr. Sagittarius  and a free kindle offer today 22 January on Amazon

12/13/2020 – Happy Holidays! December Newsletter Kindle and Paperback Sales and much more! 

10/26/2020 – Halloween News, reviews and authors features

09/20/2020 – Want to Be Spellbound? Do You Dare?

08/12/2020 – Bookish News, and Photography Tips

 07/16/2020 – Blog Tour and Release of This Is Lockdown

06/30/2020 – First Official Newsletter – Book Alert & Free Book! 

Why?

I had a feeling it would be tricky to do and I was right.

In fact, it is probably the worst blogging job I’ve ever had to do… EEK…

But, the good old happiness engineers helped me. So, I hope it works…

I’d love it if you would test the subscribe to my blog via the pop up! Yes, there is a pop up on my blog which you can add your email address to. I promise not to spam you with lots of unnecessary emails. Just the odd hello, some freebies and news from time-to-time.

Thank you in hopeful anticipation.

I’ve created these three social media thingy me jigys via Canva

Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 180, #Poet’sChoice #Garland #Cinquain

This week I decided to share a garland cinquain. Colleen also shared a garland cinquain so I thought I’d use her example to help me write one too: https://colleenchesebro.com/2020/06/04/the-old-gods-garland-cinquain/

In Colleen’s words: ‘This poem is created with a 2/4/6/8/2 syllable count for each of the five stanzas. The last stanza is where it gets interesting. You take line one from the first stanza, line two from the second stanza, etc. until you’ve created the last refrain.

I especially like this form because it combines the brevity of syllabic poetry into a longer verse poem that tells a story.’

This is inspired by my photo of the copse of trees. My daughters and I were taking a walk during lockdown. We’d often taken this walk before but this time we stumbled upon a different pathway to the left.

It led us to:

A copse

Of trees past fields

I’ve never seen before

Like tiny balls of knitted wool

Airy

***

Blue Gaps

Vast space beyond

Quiet and still the grass

My mindful feet touching the earth

Six eyes

***

Wander

Ahead, one foot

Treads to infinity

Taking our feet somewhere special

Perhaps?

***

My girls

Daughters join me

Walking in the sunshine

As we move in sweet steps forward

In time

***

Waiting

For something new

A sight we haven’t seen

As we turn beyond the grasses  

New dreams

***

A copse

Vast space beyond

Treads to infinity

As we move in sweet steps forward

New dreams

© M J Mallon 2020

I hope you enjoyed the cinquain garland poem. I’ve never written one of those before. I liked how it told a story! When we drive everywhere we miss so much. It’s great to walk in nature and find little gems.

My new book is coming soon! It is currently with first draft beta readers. There may be some changes and a few more writers to add to the collection.

This Is Lockdown, is a compilation of my diaries during lockdown, plus short stories, flash fiction, and poetry.

The ‘Isolation writers’ who featured on my blog sharing their thoughts on isolation during COVID19Richard DeeAlice May, Jeannie WycherleyRitu BhathalJackie CarreiraFiona PhillipsAndrew Neary, Ceri William’sKatherine Mezzacappa, Peter Taylor-GoobyChantelle AtkinsSharon MarshiselloTracie Barton-BarrettCatherine Fearns, Lynn Fraser and Miriam V. Owen, plus poetry from Sally Cronin, Marion Wood, Debby Gies, (D G Kaye Writer,)

and Willow Willers.

An Interview With … Marjorie Mallon

Thank you to Emma for this wonderful interview at her blog Books And Wine Gums.

Today I’m joined by the very creative Marjorie Mallon to talk about her writing, her photography, and where all the ideas come from.

Hi Marjorie – first off then, tell us a bit about the thinking behind Mr Sagittarius. What’s it about?

Read the interview here: https://booksandwinegums.wordpress.com/2020/06/06/an-interview-with-marjorie-mallon/

Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction #Racism #GeorgeFloyd #Flash #Fiction #Dedication

Photo by Anya Snyder from Pexels

The prompt from Charli Mills – June 4, 2020, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story about justice for all. It does not have to take place in America. Injustice exists anywhere. What is the story behind justice for all? Go where the prompt leads!

This was probably one of the hardest pieces of flash fiction I’ve ever written. There were many revisions, I hope it does some justice.

This blog does not tolerate racial hatred. This blog does not tolerate sexual discrimination, or religious bigotry.

This blog believes men and women are equal.

This blog is about unity. One world.

Who am I? I’m mixed race, my mother is Asian, my father Scottish. I’m very proud of my cultural heritage. I grew up valuing people of different races. I owe this to my mum and dad, like me they believe that cultural diversity makes the world such an interesting place. Acts of racial violence and hatred stem from ignorance.

My mother worked for a time as a housing officer, in the course of her work she was racially abused. One of the council’s tenants called her a Paki. She put him right! I also had similiar experiences when I was younger, being picked on for being different. I learnt to stand up for myself. Sadly, sometimes racists end up in positions of power, what happened to George Floyd is a tragic example of that.

The following flash fiction piece is dedicated to the memory of George Floyd and all those who have suffered at the hands of racial injustice, or who have lost their lives to cruel, racial hatred.

Jordan vowed to protect his world from deranged, hate-filled people. He vowed to be a braver man, to speak up against injustice, standing unified with his loving wife beside him.

His words: “Racism kills. It divides and discriminates.”

Her words: “We are one, we refuse to let the racists win.”

After the protest, his wife’s creamy fingers cupped his obsidian skin. Her loving eyes filled.

They both wept, remembering George Floyd.

Their thoughts raged no more hatred, ever.

Denounce racism, curtail this relentless boot inflicting suffocating death. Stop it now, end the pain.

This is for Charli Mill’s carrot ranch flash fiction challenge: https://carrotranch.com/2020/06/04/june-4-flash-fiction-challenge-2/

I hope for a better world, one world.

Cover Reveal: This Is Lockdown #Compilation #COVID19 #diaries #shortstories #flash #poetry #Isolation #Writers

Excited to share my new writing project: This Is Lockdown.

A book of my diaries, (from a writers perspective with lots of family anecdotes,) short stories, flash fiction and poetry set during lockdown in UK.

There are thoughts on isolation and/or poetry pieces from ‘Isolation Writers’: Willow Willers, Sally Cronin, Marian Wood, Adele Marie Park, Debby Gies, (D G Kaye,) and an amusing story from Samantha Murdoch.

The collection also features the ‘Isolation writers’ who featured on my blog sharing their thoughts on isolation during COVID19: Richard Dee, Alice May, Jeannie Wycherley, Ritu Bhathal, Marian Wood, Willow Willers, Jackie Carreira, Fiona Phillips, Andrew Neary, Ceri William’s, Katherine Mezzacappa, Peter Taylor-Gooby, Chantelle Atkins, Sharon Marshisello, Tracie Barton-Barrett, Catherine Fearns, Lynn Fraser and Miriam V. Owen.

I created the ebook cover on Canva using a photograph in my own collection of images, a magical gate in Cambridge, you might perhaps have seen it before?

There’s lots of my personal stories, including baking ones…

There’s skype chats and all manner of thoughts and feelings expressed: from serious, sad, anxious meltdowns to humorous glimpses of the bizarre nature of life during COVID19.

And there’s lots of exercise… oddly shared with various members of the insect kingdom.

I share my thoughts on the politics of the moment.

I will continue writing my diaries in case there is a book two in this series. I hope there won’t be! I hope we escape a second wave but the way things are going…

This Is Lockdown is currently in draft stage and is with beta readers. There may be a few changes and some additional writers to the project.

I’m looking for blog tour hosts.

If you’d be interested in joining my street team for the book launch let me know in the comments below.

I have a small but friendly group for this project on Facebook – Isolation For Writers:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/910013342773315/

Please let me know if you’d like to join.

Stay safe and well.

Cover Reveal: This Is Lockdown #COVID19 #diaries #shortstories #flash #poetry #Isolation #Writers

Excited to share my new writing project: This Is Lockdown.

A book of my diaries, (from a writers perspective with lots of family anecdotes,) short stories, flash fiction and poetry set during lockdown in UK.

I created the ebook cover on Canva using a photograph in my own collection of images, a magical gate in Cambridge, you might perhaps have seen it before?

There’s lots of personal stories, including baking ones…

There’s skype chats and all manner of thoughts and feelings expressed: from serious, sad, anxious meltdowns to humorous glimpses of the bizarre nature of life during COVID19.

And there’s lots of exercise… oddly shared with various members of the insect kingdom.

I share my thoughts on the politics of the moment.

I will continue writing my diaries in case there is a book two in this series. I hope there won’t be! I hope we escape a second wave but the way things are going…

There are two poetry pieces from blogging friends: Willow Willers and Marion Wood.

And the collection also features the 18 ‘Isolation writers’ who featured on my blog sharing their thoughts on isolation during COVID19: Richard Dee, Alice May, Jeannie Wycherley, Ritu Bhathal, Marion Wood, Willow Willers, Jackie Carreira, Fiona Phillips, Andrew Neary, Ceri William’s, Katherine Mezzacappa, Peter Taylor-Gooby, Chantelle Atkins, Sharon Marshisello, Tracie Barton-Barrett, Catherine Fearns, Lynn Fraser and Miriam V. Owen.

This Is Lockdown is currently in draft stage and is with beta readers.

I’m looking for blog tour hosts.

If you’d be interested in joining my street team for the book launch let me know in the comments below.

I have a small but friendly group for this project on Facebook – Isolation For Writers:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/910013342773315/

Please let me know if you’d like to join.

Stay safe and well.