Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #Poetry Lockdown Innit: Poems About Absurdity by M.J. Mallon | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Thank you so much to Sally Cronin for this wonderful feature on her blog for my new release Lockdown Innit Poems About Absurdity (which is currently on pre-order on Amazon.) Releases February 26th.

Preorder Buying Links Lockdown Innit Releases February 26th

Universal link for kindle: https://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit

Source: Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – New Book on the Shelves – #Poetry Lockdown Innit: Poems About Absurdity by M.J. Mallon | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

#TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 211, #ABHANGA, OR #POETSCHOICE

The Abhanga is written in 4 line stanzas with the following pattern, 6 -6-6-4

The second and third line rhyme.

I’m intrigued by the new form Abhanga that Colleen mentioned on her blog, https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2021/02/02/tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-211-abhanga-or-poetschoice/ so I’m giving it a go – using this photo as inspiration.

You know I love superheroes!

Used to be Bateman Street!

Spray paint vandals, a whim

Batman, you’ve heard of him?

Vigilante.

***

Perhaps the joker’s deed?

To paint all of these signs?

Funny road, what a bind,

Where’s batman now?

Yes, Bateman street does exist. I can vouch for that. But what about Batman street? It exists until someone gets rid of that red paint!

I haven’t been there for a while so it could still be Batman street!

Before I go, I have a new release coming out soon which is currently on pre-order. A poetry collection, Lockdown Innit, Poems About Absurdity. Release date scheduled for 26th February!!!

It is available to pre-order:

Preorder Buying Links Lockdown Innit Releases February 26th

Kindle Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VW81Q53/

Kindle Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VW81Q53/

Universal link for kindle: https://mybook.to/Lockdowninnit

BLURB

Lockdown Innit is a poetry collection of eighteen poems about life’s absurdities and frustrations during lockdown. Wherever you live in this world, this is for you. Expect humour, a dollop of banter and ridiculous rants here and there. Amongst other delights, witness the strange antics of a swan posing by a bin and two statuesque horses appearing like arc deco pieces in a field. Check out the violin player on a tightrope, or the cheeky unmentionables wafting in the lockdown breeze!

Have a restful Sunday, stay safe and well. x

Authors Websitehttps://mjmallon.com
Authors Amazon Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-J-Mallon/e/B074CGNK4L
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
#ABRSC: Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

#TANKA TUESDAY #POETRY CHALLENGE NO. 209, #POET’SCHOICE – #Tanka

Congratulations to Colleen who has now moved into her new home in Michigan. I wish her much happiness, and many happy writing and reading days there.

NEWS – My poem this week is one to be included in a new poetry and photography book I am currently working on called Lockdown Innit, a light-hearted collection highlighting the absurdity of this time. I am also working on another poetry book called Do What You Love! It is a race to see which I will finish first…

So, about this Lockdown Innit, or a particular a swan who I saw during the first lockdown.

A Swan’s Confusion (Tanka)

Did you see that swan?

Beauty posing by a bin

White against the green.

Hurry up, come over, quick.

He’s guarding that green waste bin!

***

How could that happen?

A swan escapes the river

It’s lockdown innit!

Anything is possible

And nothing’s at all certain.

© M J Mallon 2021

That’s one of the poems I am working on, first draft. Hope you enjoy!

All of my published writing under my Kyrosmagica imprint includes poetry and prose.

I’d love it if you could be so kind as to share my current pinned tweet for Mr. Sagittarius – https://twitter.com/Marjorie_Mallon/status/1352617431827673094

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Buying Link: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Here’s my media kit for the anthology and compilation about Lockdown featuring so many wonderful authors and bloggers (who I urge you to read!) This Is Lockdown has also received 5 star reviews.

Kindle Universal link:
mybook.to/Thisislockdown
Paperback Universal link:
mybook.to/Thisislockdownpb

I hope you enjoyed a sneak peak at the new poem for Lockdown Innit.

The link to Colleen’s latest prompt so you can join in: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2021/01/19/tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-209-poetschoice/

Keep safe and well, find a little joy however and wherever you can. x

The Swansong Conspiracy – #Book #Review (The Eldritch Twins #1) by Nick Vossen

Synopsis:

After a near cataclysmic worldwide event shook the foundations of society and unleashed numerous supernatural hazards onto the Earth, twins Quincy and Lilly just want to lead their lives as normally as possible. However, this proves to be quite difficult. The twins are the heirs of legendary horror writer and occultist W.A. Swansong, who has been declared a prophet now that many of his gruesome creations appear to really exist.

When a mysterious inheritance falls into the twins’ hands, a strange and violent secret organization becomes hell-bent on finding them. Quincy and Lilly are forced to flee their hometown of New Orleans, leading them on a wild, supernatural chase throughout the southern United States. With only a handful of allies and a trapped Fire Vampire named Tim, the twins uncover a great mystery tied to their inheritance, the source of ll pandemonium, and even the true origins of mankind.

My review:

Many thanks to the author for an ARC copy. Apologies for taking a while to review.

I loved this. I loved how crazy it is… The characters of Lily and her twin brother Quincy are awesome, as is the Fire Vampire, Tim. I especially liked Tim and his character arc was just brilliant. It’s a very fast-paced read and there are times where you shift from the twins to Sean’s scenes and you kind of go, whoa… hold on there… whose this? And what’s about to happen now? This took a bit of getting used to… But, I guess it’s intentional. It’s the kind of novel that will have you gripping your seat, or howling with laughter.

The strengths of The Swansong Conspiracy lie in the characterisation, (particularly via the dialogue,) the humourous and engaging plot and the well written action scenes. The banter between the twins is spot on. There are also some amazing descriptions in the book and the story is unusual and weird but in a good way.

So, a definite recommend for me especially if you would like to read something a little less ‘normal.’

While reading The Swansong Conspiracy I kept on having this sensation as if an animated reel of all these ghostly, strange, horrific and dangerous characters was going on in my head. I can see The Swansong Conspiracy transferring well to film. Great debut, Mr. Vossen. Highly imaginative. I’m impressed. 

My rating: 5 stars

Author Bio:

Nick Vossen was raised on blockbuster films from the 80s and 90s as well as fantasy and sci-fi novels, comics and games. No matter the medium, his love for storytelling grew ever larger. Having always had a fascination with the fantastical and weird, he quickly grew fond of authors such as Terry Pratchett, H.P. Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman and many more. During the winter of 2017 Nick released an anthology of short, weird fiction entitled The Fissures Between Worlds, which delves into the strange places on Earth where time does not flow as it should. It was received quite favourably, and so Nick’s desire to tell more stories grew. He has since been privileged to appear in several other anthologies, magazines and short story compilations and has quite a few projects still in the works. His biggest fascinations and inspirations are old forgotten woodlands, the deepest depths of the oceans and the unsettling, uncanniness of retro futurism.

Nick graduated in Media- and Culture studies at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. He is currently working as a freelance creative writer and author. He also frequently works on projects in the Dutch indie-film industry, putting his talents to use in art-direction, set-dressing and of course screenwriting. His first novel, The Swansong Conspiracy (book 1 of the Eldritch Twins series) is set to be released at the end of 2020 by Parliament House Press. The book will offer a unique blend of coming-of-age comedy, supernatural horror and mystery.

Authors Website: https://nickcronomicon.wordpress.com/

And a great article to read:

https://www.parliamenthousepress.com/post/nick-vossen-on-tour-the-inspirations-and-process-behind-the-swansong-conspiracy

Have you read The Swansong Conspiracy?

Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 177 #SynonymsOnly

The prompt words this week are: transition & harmony but we have to find synonyms for our poetry. For transition I chose – metamorphosis and for harmony – peaceful.

Recently, I went on a walk with my two daughter to the nearby river. We crossed a bridge over the lock, looking down I noticed a stone frog hidden under the ramparts of the concrete bridge. I’ve walked over that bridge but have never noticed it before. Perhaps, being a writer and a poet has made me more observant than most people – particularly during Lockdown!

I took an ‘instant’ video of the frog. But it was so swift and almost impossible to see.

My daughters walked ahead and didn’t see the frog. Next time, we walk over that bridge I will point it out to them. Unless of course I imagined it!

A metamorphis

Is an extremely long word!

Peaceful writer’s eyes

Observe a hidden surprise.

A walk, a river, a frog!

https://colleenchesebro.com/2020/05/12/colleens-2020-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-177-synonymsonly/

Hope you enjoyed the poem.

I am included amongst some wonderful poets in Colleen Chesebro’s poetry book store: https://colleenchesebro.com/poetry-books-for-sale/

I’m thrilled to share a new 5 star review for Mr Sagittarius from Miriam Hurdle: https://theshowersofblessings.com/2020/05/11/book-review-mr-sagittarius-poetry-and-prose-by-mj-mallon/

Available for free on kindle unlimited and to buy in kindle and paperback: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

COVID Diaries 4th May – 6th May #Family #Diaries #COVID19 #Coronavirus #Writing #Blogging #Fashion #Guest #Features

Time to catch up on my COVID Diaries… I’ve been very busy of late finishing edits on my second book in my series The Curse of Time Book 2 Golden Healer. They are now finished and I am pleased to say I have now passed my manuscript on to Heena Rathmore Pardeshi https://crazycatwriter.com/ for a critique and proofread service.

So, let’s go back in time…

4th May

I slept badly the night before so I’m feeling tired. My eldest daughter Tasha and I still did our workout session but it was a gentle one. We both thought it would suit a granny! Which is just as well…We finished it off by doing some yoga.

I tidied my office and did some editing of the second book in my Curse of Time series. Later, my hubby and I went to the supermarket. My friend Hanna was in the queue too, so we stopped to chat to each other – following the social distancing rules – of course. You can’t exactly talk quietly due to the distance imposed, so I shouted across the queue about the fire…

What fire?

IVC is the local secondary school that my kids went to. Apparently, a skip lit and the fire spread to the roof of the performing arts block. Strange, sounds like arson to me. A friend of my daughter heard two large explosions, they thought it was an earthquake, or something. Everyone is so on edge at the moment that any loud bangs, or noises would be enough to trigger an attack of the nerves.

I wonder how the fire happened?

Getting back to the shopping trip with hubby. Whilst inside…

We argued down the aisles, in a feisty banter kind of way and I saw one of the local mum’s smirking at us.

Our shopping trip was so distracting. Both hubby and I bought four packs of onions, so we’ve got lots of onions to eat!

Next time I’m going on my own! Hubby’s idea of shopping consists of ample supplies of alcohol, and no treats apart from one bar of chocolate! How to survive lockdown with no crisps, nuts… Mind you, judging by our horrendous food bill perhaps we should start a starvation diet.

Oh, and I had a couple of guests in my Isolation for Writers Series:

First up was Jeannie Wycherley:

https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2020/05/03/isolation-for-writers-guest-author-jeannie-wycherley-guest-author-isolation-collaboration-thoughts-family-cov19/

And then Chantelle Atkins: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2020/05/04/isolation-for-writers-chantelle-atkins-isolation-writers-covid19-ya-author/

5th May

It’s been a funny day. Aren’t they all? I finally cleared out my office. I am such a hoarder! I found things stuffed behind things that I didn’t even know were there. Nevertheless, it was interesting. We discovered three large bags of old photos and an airmail letter from my dad when he’d been working abroad in Swaziland. My eldest daughter Natasha has never seen an airmail letter before! What a lovely find. His writing was atrocious though. What a job I had reading it. Basically, it was to congratulate me on the birth of baby Georgina! And to send his love and well wishes to hubby’s dad who was ill at that time. Sadly, hubby’s dad passed away shortly after that letter was sent and Grandpa James never got a chance to see his new grand-daughter in person, which is especially sad as he always wanted lots of grand-children.

Also, I came across an old newspaper cutting of Tasha when she was three years old with her Grandma (my mum, who must have been about my age at that time,) at a hospice event.

How young my mum looked. Time flies by too fast.

I also found some old photos of hubby and I when we were young! That was funny, me draped all over him looking loved up… There was one of me wearing a leopard skin crop top and tight matching leggings. We were going to a fancy dress party. Memories, yes, it was a day of memories.

Other than that we did our gym session in the garden around 11am. Me, and the girls, and then we had lunch afterwards.

Hubby decided to climb up a ladder to sand the outside windows for painting. This made me very nervous as he’s so high up. He decided to wear his bike helmet for protection but at that height if he fell…

At one point, I went upstairs to pass him the sander and I saw this wasp on the window ledge. I was too frightened to tell him it was there in case he fell off the ladder. Later, I realised the wasp was dead!

Then Gina had an almighty melt down brought on by us all making so much noise whilst she’s completing her university assignments. Hubby was making this annoying sound with his sander, or yelling at me to get him something he needed. What a job I had calming her down. She said she wanted to go back to Manchester. No chance of that – no one can go anywhere. So, I suggested we sit in the car for a while. She brought her laptop and we looked at it together, with tears in her eyes. Bless her. Then hubby came out, looking at us as if we were bonkers. He asked why we were sitting in the car! I explained about the noise and he said he’d finish for the day. Thank goodness it’s quiet now. Phew, it’s just as well I used to be a therapist. Sometimes, I need to be to calm this lot down…

Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I hope it is a bit calmer…

6th May.

I had a terrible night’s sleep. Stress of yesterday? Perhaps it was also exacerbated by hubby teasing, saying that he was leaving the long ladder by our bedroom window for a thief, or Romeo to come in. I woke at 3.30am. I thought I heard someone climbing up the ladder. No doubt it was just my imagination! One of the hazards of being a writer is you always imagine the craziest things. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I crept out of bed and started blogging – as you do!

By the time hubby was up, I’d had enough, so I went back to bed and managed a couple of hours sleep before Tasha came looking for me. I didn’t join in with a keep fit, or yoga workout today, or take part in Writing Sprints. Shame. Instead, I edited some of the Curse of Time, beta read and finished a poetry collection for Sarah Northwood, Poetry for The Heart and Soul which I loved. Here is the link to her beta reading group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/877149636124566/

As well, I started working on a blog post about my daughter Georgina’s fashion/social media profile.

Which you can see here: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2020/05/09/photography-shoot-daughter-fashion-business-student-modelling-clothes-hair-accessories-makeup-lashes/

Georgina seemed a lot more cheery today. She was all dressed up, make up on and had made excellent progress on her assignment. She even mentioned that it wasn’t as hard as she originally thought! Kids, hey… They give you such grief and then say everything is okay…

Oh, and Tasha and I sneaked out for a ride in the car. What an adventure! We didn’t go too far but it was nice to see neighbouring villages.

What have you been doing during this difficult time. Please share in the comments.

Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 173 #SynonymsOnly #Haiku

This haiku is inspired by the river walk near where I live. Yesterday, my daughter and I saw two swans, one was tranquil and the other angrily hissing at two guys on their barge. The two swans couldn’t have been any different!

Believe this Swan’s cute
Elegant fellow’s so calm
Near me’s no problem

Swan wife’s intention
Her whim is to hiss angry
At barge men in boats!

Synonyms of Idea and fancy : belief, intention, elegant, whim.

https://colleenchesebro.com/2020/04/14/colleens-2020-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-173-synonymsonly/

I have a new review for Mr. Sagittarius to share with you from Willow, that cheered me up no end as I haven’t been feeling too well today. Thank you Willow for reading and reviewing. 🙂

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R3MH2KY5PXN0GX/

Available for free on kindle unlimited and to buy in kindle and paperback: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Coronavirus #Bloggers #Artists #Writers #Creatives #Isolation #AprilFool’sDay

Well, it’s April Fools Day and I reckon we’re the fools and we don’t need no jester. Instead the politicians and leaders of the world seem to be making a right ass of everything. I can’t help but think that if we had acted more decisively, and more quickly to Lockdown sooner, our situation in the UK would not be as grave as it is.

Anyway, I don’t want to make this a political rant. Instead, I’d like to talk about the impact of isolation.

The human race is not meant to be cooped up, or to spend long periods of time alone. Neither are we meant to go day after day without physical contact, a hug or a kiss.

We’re meant to be out skateboarding like Homer from the Simpsons, surfing the waves, chilling on a beach, or sipping coffee in our favourite cafe with our friends and family.

Instead, we are jumping over a Gorge everyday. Let’s just hope we make it to the other side of this Coronavirus.

During times like these we definitely need some humour to lift our spirits. Tik Tok to the rescue, some Jack Black Quarantine Dance.

So, let’s spare a thought for those people who are currently in Lockdown isolation who are at the mercy of Jack Black’s quarantine dance day in and day out! Lol. Only joking. I love Jack Black.

I was chatting to my Malaysian blogger friend Tiffany yesterday about her beautiful bird paintings. These birds make her happy and grateful during this time. I casually asked her if she was with family, friends or alone during Lockdown. She said she was alone.

Please visit her blog to see her beautiful paintings of birds. As we can’t travel at the moment let us go virtually to Malaysia for a visit! http://www.bulanlifestyle.com/

Here she Day 3 of Lockdown on her YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=OTRH4-Y_SpE&feature=emb_logo

Her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ-QuBQ_1Wwrhl2bqPTLcqA

She is doing a diary of her paintings during lockdown.

So do pop to her blog to say hello.

Some links:

Book Sales Surge as Readers Seek Escapism and Education: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52048582/

This could be why some get symptoms more severely than others: https://myhomefarm.co.uk/coronavirus-and-viral-load

https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/25142/20200328/101-year-old-spanish-flu-and-world-war-2-survivor-has-now-beat-covid-19-as-well.htm/

Do you have any friends, or family in Lockdown alone? Or do you know of any bloggers and writers in a similar position?

Oh, and whatever you do don’t forget to check out Jack Black’s Tick Tock Account: https://www.tiktok.com/@jackblack

Available for free on kindle unlimited and to buy in kindle and paperback: http://mybook.to/MrSagittarius

Colleen’s 2020 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 164 #SynonymsOnly

Love & Harmony were the prompt words this week.

For love I went for lust and passion! For harmony I chose balance and peacefully.

What are Haiku, Senryu and Tanka?

Remember: Senryu poems make the human, not the world around them, the subject of their creative endeavor. Humor and sarcasm are two of the most favorable elements in a Senryu and should deal with the human condition. Think about sexual matters, family relations, religion, politics, and anything that touches on the pain we experience through sorrow, prejudice, oppression, anger, and frustration. Senryu do not deal in sentimentality.

 

I haven’t written any Senryu before so here goes… I’ve written three…

 

Lusty lips

Pouted

The Viagra

Swallowed

Peacefully

Downed in one

 

His lust overwhelmed

He was so fit

Did the splits

Balanced on one leg

 

Our mismatched passion

Made me quiet

Depleted

My balance

Broken

 

https://colleenchesebro.com/2020/02/11/colleens-2020-weekly-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenge-no-164-synonymsonly/

 

Well, that was a strange one! The Senryu encouraged me to play with words to come up with some unusual results!

 

 

Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime

 

Preorder link: Mr. Sagittarius (kindle)

Happy New Year – 2020 News: #Writing #Sequel #Poetry #Prose

Happy New Year!!!

After many moons I ‘m finally making progress on the second in my YA Fantasy series The Curse of Time Book 2 Golden Healer.

It has been a long haul BUT I can begin to see encouraging flickers of light at the end of a very long, arduous tunnel.

Writing a sequel is so hard! No, scratch that, it’s TORTURE.

Why?

  1. My memory isn’t as good as it used to be.  I realised that I’d forgotten some of the minutiae of book one. Sequential aspects, patterns of speech and the like.
  2. Writing a novel isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s around 80,000 and that’s a lot of words.
  3. Structuring the bloody thing… ugh… when will I ever learn to plot?
  4. Working full-time whilst trying to wrangle it into shape. Masochist.
  5. My imagined final copy is never the final version. Betas read it and you realise you must do more work. The slog is real. It seems interminable. And then SCBWI (Society of Children’s Writers and Book Illustrators) conference goers read parts of it too and have more suggestions for you too.
  6. Then there’s the dreaded B word: Boredom. Yes, it gets to the point were you are so fed up looking at your once treasured words.
  7. Followed by the dreaded D word: Doubt. Who wants to read the bloody thing anyway? It’s such a crock of… miserable… you get the picture.
  8. And the dreaded E word: Experience. I will no longer be a debut. This will be my second novel. Perhaps people will expect more from me? EEK.

Help…

That’s when point 9 comes trotting along before no. 10 to restore my sanity.

9. Stop beating myself with my notebook, pen, keyboard whatever. Take a break. BREAK? What do writers do                 when they long for a break? Rest… NOOF COURSE NOT. In my case, I decided to write a poetry and prose               book.

I told you I’m a masochist!

10. So, now I have a poetry collection to finish and edit too. Double TORTURE. Only joking, this poetry collection              seems easy in comparison to the novel. OR IS IT?

It’s called Mr. Sagitarrius – Poetry, and Prose. It includes various short form poetry, short fiction and my photography images of the natural world: trees, a robin, a dragonfly, plus a couple of images via a young photographer Alex Murdoch – son of Sam Murdoch – who has a lovely blog about cats and crystals: https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/

Hope you like the title. Please let me know your thoughts…

Titles are interesting, aren’t they? I nearly called it The Magic Golden Willow Tree – Poetry and Prose but decided that was too wordy.

I don’t have a cover yet so….  Image via pixabay – Monfocus.

Here’s the blurb… or what might become the blurb….

Two twin brothers Harold and William love the magic of the natural world.

When Harold dies he leaves a simple memorial request.

Will his brother William and his sister Annette honour it?

Or, will the garden work its magic to ensure that they do.

 

A magical story expressed via an original compilation of poetry and prose

with photographic images.

 

Now, it is possible that this usurper poetry book might come out before The Curse of Time Book 2.

Oh. A race is on, which one will win?

In the meantime, if you haven’t read the first in the series, now’s the time… HURRY! And if you do I’d love some more reviews. I’m creeping up to 20 on Amazon UK. Can you get me from 18 to 20? 

Buy Book: myBook.to/TheCurseofTime

Unique Selling Point: Unique, Imaginative, ‘Charming, enchanting and richly layered this is purely delightful.’

“This delightful book will appeal to teens and young adults who love stories filled with magical crystals, dark family curses, and mysteries waiting to be solved around every corner. Each chapter leads you on a journey of discovery where Amelina earns the right to use three wizard stones to reset the balance of time and finally break the curse that holds her family hostage. A captivating tale!” – Colleen M. Chesebro (Editor)