A collection of poetic pieces about love, sensuality and relationships with various sections including: love as fuel, (food and coffee love,) the summer and winter of love, lost love/discovering love, forgiveness, strangers in love, quirky aspects and nature as sensuality.Inspired in part by daily prompt poems written for #the365poetrypromptchallenge, observations of places and people on my travels.
Alternatively, I’d be delighted if you’d like to support me by downloading a copy.
Currently on kindle preorder, releases June 2nd, paperback thereafter.
One of the poems in the collection is a collaboration between myself and the lovely originator of the amazing #the365poetrypromptchallenge, Melissa Davillio.
Tuesday – October 17 – M J Mallon (Reading) & Christa Planko (Interview & Guest Post)– Undawnted
Wednesday – October 18 – Chris Barili (Guest Post) & Paul Kane (Guest Post) – Patty’s Worlds
Thursday – October 19 – Julie Jones (Reading) & Keith Hoskins (Guest Post) – Robbie’s Inspiration
Friday – October 20 – Michaele Jordan (Reading) & Mario Acevedo (Guest Post) – Writing to be Read
Saturday – October 21 – Patty Fletcher (Guest Post) & DL Mullan (Guest Post & Video) – Roberta Writes
Sunday – October 22 – Sonia Pipkin (Guest Post) & Roberta Eaton Cheadle (Reading) – Kyrosmagica Publishing
Monday – October 23 – Closing Post –Denise Aparo (Reading) & other stories – Writing to be Read
Thanks to D L Mullan for this feature, 17th October with myself reading from my story the Cull, and an author interview with fellow contributor, Christa:
20 authors bring your nightmares to life in 23 stories of ghosts, paranormal phenomenon and the horror from the dark crevasses of their minds. Stories of stalkers, both human and supernatural, possession and occult rituals, alien visitations of the strange kind, and ghostly tales that will give you goosebumps. These are the tales that will make you fear the dark. Read them at the Midnight Roost… if you dare.
Kaye Lynne Booth, Chris Barili, Christa Planko, DL Mullan, C.R. Johansson, Joseph Carrabis, Keith J. Hoskins, Mario Acevedo, M.J. Mallon, Michaele Jordan, Patty L Fletcher, Paul Kane, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Rebecca M. Senese, Zack Ellafy, Sonia Pipkin, Denise Aparo, Robert Kostanczuk, Isabel Grey & Julie Jones
Thank you so much to Willow for this lovely review, and beautiful blog post about new book which is currently on kindle preorder, releases November 25th.
Review quote: I really enjoyed this very personal book by Marjorie, her past, present and her future, her family and her friends . The magic she finds in the every day, her love of insects, creatures and trees her love of life. Don’t be put off by the word personal, this book is so welcoming. I strongly recommend it to you all.
Do What You Love Fragility of Your Flame Poems, Photography & Flash Fiction is a personal poetry collection celebrating how the fates may have a part in all that we do.
With special poems and short reflective moments inspired by family, flowers and nature, love, scrumptious morsels, places I’ve visited, lived and intend to live in, the friendships and hopes I have for the future.
The overarching theme is to live a life well lived… And to do what you love.
Thank you to the kindness of the writing community, to fellow authors, and bloggers who kindly featured me and/or reviewed around the time of the release.
A small and perfectly formed collection about finding your way in life.
Do What You Love is simply lovely. Marjorie Mallon bases her collection on an iterative image of and conversation with the Fates as well as the concept of doing what a person loves and she affords the reader a personal insight into her life and family as she does so. I really recommend reading her author introduction in advance of the rest of the book because it sets the scene so beautifully.
Given that this is a very personal book, I was concerned that it would be too specific to the author. Not a bit of it. There’s a wide range in Do What You Love that encompasses poetry, prose and photography so that there really is something for every reader. I particularly enjoyed the variety of writing style. The first entry, Fragility Of Your Flame, feels very traditional in style, reminiscent of traditional fables and this is continued throughout the collection, giving balance to the shorter entries as the author imagines conversations with the Fates that enable her to reflect on her life and family.
There’s such a range of emotion in Do What You Love. Parents will experience the pain of letting go of their children even whilst they might be immensely proud of them. Marjorie Mallon illustrates love, joy, sadness, pride, the impact of nature on an individual and so much more. Her sense of place and history comes through with just a tweak of her pen and she so celebrates a childlike sense of awe and joy that she helps readers connect (or indeed reconnect) with their own happiness. I especially enjoyed the entries about trees because the author reignited my love of nature.
Do What You Love is a highly personal collection to Marjorie Mallon, but at the same time as giving readers a glimpse into who she is and where she has come from, she gently guides readers to contemplate their own lives, to live more positively and to appreciate each moment. This is such a wonderful message. and a much needed one in today’s world.
MJ Mallon has written a heartfelt book with memories, prose, and poetry, incorporated with stories of life, love, family, and nature. In some of her stories, she is in conversation with the fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, the three Moirai representing the cycle of life – birth, life and death, past, present and future. We will read shared conversations about meeting her husband, her homeland of Scotland, stories about children that grow up and leave the nest, and nostalgic stories of growing up with her parents. There are many beautiful images MJ intersperes amid her stories.
Stories from the heart is what I would classify this book – poignant moments that left indelible imprints on the author and will touch the reader, a reminiscing through life and new adventures. This book is a wonderful slice of life celebrated and spoken by the author through beautiful written words.
Favorite Quote: Long lasting marriages must be friends…”
“Do What You Love” is a beautiful collection of words and photos that invite the reader into Ms. Mallon’s life. It is connected uniquely through the three sisters of fate: past, present, and future, and their insights. Whether it’s a trip abroad or down memory lane, it found a way to tug at my heart or engage me in her experiences. It is a wonderful way to share reality and engage others with flowing words and mythical beings. A quick but satisfying read that I can easily recommend to any poetry, prose, or memoir fan.
This is a beautiful and personal account through poetry, prose and photographs, of the emotional highs and lows of the poet’s life. The poet is accompanied on her walk down memory lane by the three sisters of fate, the Morai: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos with whom she engages in conversation about the particular moments in time highlighted by the poems.
While the poems are personal, their themes are universal which makes them relatable to the reader and facilitates emotional engagement with the particular set of circumstances detailed in the various syllabic poems. The poems are accompanied by beautiful photographs, many of which are nature orientated. I particularly liked the Botanical Gardens Cambridge UK.
One of my favourite poems in the collection is My Daughters. Perhaps this one appeals so much to me because my own sons are standing on the cusp of adulthood and will soon be flying the nest. This is a short extract:
“Now the drama’s nearly over. I tremble. Expecting the next crisis to come rippling around the lake. The waters swaying. It’s stiller now. They’re wiser.”
This is a book that is best savoured slowly over a glass of wine.
As other reviewers have said, this is an overwhelmingly sweet and positive collection that will not fail to make you smile during these tough times. A well written and thought provoking collection of poetry, flash fiction and photography, this is an inviting read and can be read quickly in one sitting. I loved the conversations with the Fates, as the author reflects on stages of her life. There was a lot I could relate to in this book, and as with her other works, I appreciate the author’s love and appreciation of nature. A wonderful, heart-warming collection
‘Do What You Love’ is a little memoir that captures beautiful moments of life, giving an insight into the author’s experiences, hopes and adventures. A delightful concoction of poetry, photography and flash fiction, imagination and reality merge here to share the stories of her life in a succinct manner.
With the symbol of hibiscus flower, Marje introduces herself as a giggling and carefree child whose mentor is Lachesis – the goddess of future. How creative! It is her innovative style of writing that would capture your heart, as all three “sisters of fate” – Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos remain close to her and offer her friendly advice at each step of life.
With a pang in her heart and tears of pride in her eyes, the empty nester also shares the story of her successful daughters and is reassured by Atropos that they have to take their own path. So relatable! It is fascinating to watch the poet conversing with “sisters of fate” and the moments we cherish come alive through her poems.
Marjorie sent me her wonderful new book to read. When I say wonderful I mean it is a book full of wonder. Marjorie takes us on a journey through her life from when she was a small child up to now where she is on verge of yet another life adventure.
In this little book of delights Marjorie introduces us to the three sisters of fate who basically are in charge of spinning out life, measuring the length of life and the ending of life. I won’t tell you anymore about them Marjorie will introduce them to you and then you can eavesdrop on their conversation and their jokes.
I really enjoyed this very personal book by Marjorie, her past, present and her future, her family and her friends . The magic she finds in the every day, her love of insects, creatures and trees her love of life. Don’t be put off by the word personal, this book is so welcoming. I strongly recommend it to you all.
Oh what a lovely book, filled with poetic gems and beautiful prose! I enjoy reading MJ Mallon’s poetic fiction, where she ties poetry with prose, and have read several of her previous books written similarly. Do What You Love is almost autobiographical in a sense that she has taken her memories and written them in poetic form, and the fictional, almost fantastical element is where she meets the three sisters of fate through her journey of reminiscences, and they talk about her different memories. It’s not linear, but no conversation ever is, is it? Memories jump from the more recent to the older ones as they come tumbling into your mind. I felt a keen connection to the poems about her daughters, and the autumn trees. Autumn is one of my favourite seasons. A lovely book with a personal touch.
I’ve read this author’s work before: young adult novels, poetry and flash fiction, and I love her imaginative handling of the magical, the phantasmagorical and surreal. This short book is no exception to the quality of MJ Mallon’s output. I found her exploration of her past life captivating.
We may consider that the inclusion of often very personal material in a compilation of this sort would make it difficult for the outside reader to find a way in. This is not true at all of MJ Mallon’s poetry and prose: in many places, I related so much to what she writes, especially about a daughter ‘flying the nest’ to a faraway country. I particularly loved the device MJ Mallon uses to draw all this together: she presents it as a conversation with Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology: the Morai.
Atropos presides over the past. I thought this worked extremely well as a central metaphor. It had me googling the three Fates, and reading all about them: Clotho, who spins the threads of life, guardian of the present; Lachesis, who measures the length of life with her measuring rod, and is guardian of the future: and Atropos, who is the guardian of fate and destiny, and who chooses the manner of death by snipping the threads of an individual’s life.
MJ Mallon has had a fascinating and varied life experience: born in Singapore, she spent her childhood in Hong Kong and her teens in Edinburgh. She now lives in Cambridge. Every culture she has lived in, I believe, has influenced her imagination, her interests and her approach as a writer. In this book, we find a compilation of words and images which draw us in: poignant, sensitive, delicate, playful, as she opens up for us her past and present relationships, the places she has loved and spent time in, and her thoughts and feelings about it all.
This is a delightful poetic and reflective collection of poetry, photography and flash fiction. In the company of three sisters of fate, the Morai: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, the author travels back in time to showcase meaningful moments of love, family, adventure and places close to her heart.
The three mythical sisters allow for interaction and exploration behind the meaning of events, meetings and connections to nature. This makes the collection very intimate and also heart-warming as the reader is reminded of their own special moments in life.
As with other collections by Marjorie Mallon nature is a key element to the narrative with flowers and trees in particular receiving their moment in the spotlight.
Family is also given the prominence it deserves, with parents and childhood memories celebrated. The love and pride for the achievements of daughters are touched by the sorrow of an inevitable parting of ways, despite the knowledge that both have inherited strength and talent that will enable them to thrive.
This is a gentle recollection of exotic places, nature, family, memories and excitement for new adventures in the sun of Portugal. The reader is left with a sense of hope and a reminder of their own lives and moments they treasure. Recommended.
This is a delightful poetic and reflective collection of poetry, photography and flash fiction. In the company of three sisters of fate, the Morai: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, the author travels back in time to showcase meaningful moments of love, family, adventure and places close to her heart.
The three mythical sisters allow for interaction and exploration behind the meaning of events, meetings and connections to nature. This makes the collection very intimate and also heart-warming as the reader is reminded of their own special moments in life.
As with other collections by Marjorie Mallon nature is a key element to the narrative with flowers and trees in particular receiving their moment in the spotlight.
Family is also given the prominence it deserves, with parents and childhood memories celebrated. The love and pride for the achievements of daughters are touched by the sorrow of an inevitable parting of ways, despite the knowledge that both have inherited strength and talent that will enable them to thrive.
This is a gentle recollection of exotic places, nature, family, memories and excitement for new adventures in the sun of Portugal. The reader is left with a sense of hope and a reminder of their own lives and moments they treasure. Recommended.
M J Mallon’s new release is a wonderful mix of poetry, photography and flash fiction which leads us on a journey of discovery with the author.
The three fates advise and help our author through all phases of her life. Offering advice, sympathy and love these otherworldly beings are as much a part of the journey as they guide the young Marjorie and advise the older one.
Through each epoch of her life, we stand beside them, witnessing every decision and happiness with the author.
The mix of poetry, flash fiction and photography is something M J Mallon does very well. She combines them as part of the journey and the adventure she leads us on. She is a very skilled author and this newest release is a joy to traverse.
And Do What You Love is also available in paperback with full colour photography.
I am thrilled to say that two of my poetry collections, (Mr. Sagittarius Poetry and Prose and Lockdown Innit,) have been requested by prestigious libraries in the UK: The British Library, The Bodleian Library Oxford University, the Cambridge University Library, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and Trinity College Dublin for Legal Deposit.
The cover of the paperback and kindle have been designed by Colleen Chesebro who has a new service for authors which I can highly recommend. Colleen also designed the interior and cover of The Hedge Witch And The Musical Poet. Link to her portfolio:
Poetry also features in my highly acclaimed YA Fantasy series. Each chapter begins with a short poem. The Curse of Time Book 1 Bloodstone and Book 2 Golden Healer are published by Next Chapter Publishing.
Thank you so much to S. C. Skillman for this wonderful 5 star review of my latest poetry, flash fiction and photography book Do What You Love which is currently on preorder on Amazon.
Releases 25th November.
REVIEW:
I have read this author’s work before: young adult novels, poetry and flash fiction, and I love her imaginative handling of the magical, the phantasmagorical and surreal. This short book is no exception to the quality of MJ Mallon’s output. I found her exploration of her past life captivating.
We may consider that the inclusion of often very personal material in a compilation of this sort would make it difficult for the outside reader to find a way in. This is not true at all of MJ Mallon’s poetry and prose: in many places, I related so much to what she writes, especially about a daughter ‘flying the nest’ to a faraway country. I particularly loved the device MJ Mallon uses to draw all this together: she presents it as a conversation with Atropos, one of the three Fates in Greek mythology: the Morai.
Atropos presides over the past. I thought this worked extremely well as a central metaphor. It had me googling the three Fates, and reading all about them: Clotho, who spins the threads of life, guardian of the present; Lachesis, who measures the length of life with her measuring rod, and is guardian of the future: and Atropos, who is the guardian of fate and destiny, and who chooses the manner of death by snipping the threads of an individual’s life.
MJ Mallon has had a fascinating and varied life experience: born in Singapore, she spent her childhood in Hong Kong and her teens in Edinburgh. She now lives in Cambridge. Every culture she has lived in, I believe, has influenced her imagination, her interests and her approach as a writer. In this book, we find a compilation of words and images which draw us in: poignant, sensitive, delicate, playful, as she opens up for us her past and present relationships, the places she has loved and spent time in, and her thoughts and feelings about it all.
Faced with a task that could turn them into monsters, Sarnd and Jessa must decide whether to run away or save the world.
Six years ago, twins Sarnd and Jessa thought they’d rid their world of the malevolent Serpentstone. Since then they’ve worked hard to set their shocking past behind them.
But the Serpentstone has returned, and they’re asked to carry it to an abandoned mine where it will be sealed deep underground. The Stone appears to be much weaker than it was, but they learned the hard way never to trust it.
The Stone starts to regain its terrifying power, and while Sarnd is desperate to complete their mission so he can go back to his new life, Jessa has other ideas.
As their mission becomes a race against time, can the twins learn to trust each other again and avoid becoming the creatures they fear the most?
Buy the thrilling sequel to The Hungry Fire and enter a world of chaotic magic, treacherous allies and underdog heroes!
Release date: 23rd July, available to preorder now.
Review
Thank you to the author for an advanced reader’s copy which I read and review freely and without bias.
This is book 2 in the Serpentstone series. I managed to read book 2 without any problems. But ideally, it would be best to read the 1st book in the series: The Hungry Fire (Serpentstone Book 1) which is available at special offer price via this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08TCFWY8B
SARND: “I’m a monster, created by my so-called parents as a weapon using the corrupted power of the Serpentstone.”
The Poison Ember is a story of magic, power, fighting, sparring, revenge, adventure and secrets. “Known to the Academy as the Orufasu, the Stone was the greatest concentration of magical power ever discovered.”
“The Stone was so mighty, and had the power to strip away all that she thought she was, turning her and Sarnd into projections of its own violent and callous will. How could they be deluded enough to think they could come near it and survive?
And now, here he was, carrying a bag that held the greatest concentration of magic ever found. Against his will, he was caught up in a new adventure—one likely to end in tragedy rather than triumph.”
It’s a tale in which you suspend belief and take a magical journey into a land created wholly by the author’s imagination. Amusing in parts, I appreciated the revelations about the stone, the sibling banter, and uncertainties of trust played out between Sarnd and his twin sister Jessa.
The latter chapters of the story became more exciting as the adventure continued.
Overall, this is a well written, high fantasy adventure tale. Please note: a fair amount of dialogue and the story is delivered with quite a few characters to get to grips with, which is (not uncommon with high fantasy books, but usually there is one central character who is the main focus.) In this story, there are three main protagonists – the twins, Sarnd and Jessa, and of course the stone, who also becomes a character in many ways.
My rating: an enjoyable 4 stars. Recommended for high fantasy, epic fantasy, adventure, sword and sorcery fans.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Author Bio:
An Australian living in the United Kingdom, A.M. Obst has always loved to daydream and make up things about places that don’t exist. An avid reader of fantasy novels, he has also been spotted holding books from other genres, including science fiction, crime, thrillers, horror, romance and historical adventures.
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M J Mallon YA Author and Poet 