Top Ten Tuesday

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Today’s Top Ten List as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish is the Ten Bookish People You Should Follow on Social Media.

As much as I love to read, I must admit that I don’t follow too many “bookish” people because I am a writer, I follow “writer” people.  So I can list Four Bookish People that I think you should Follow on Twitter and one on Facebook:

Twitter:

  1.  Glenn Soucy @GlennSoucy1
  2. Faydra Deon @faydra_deon
  3. Readers Gazette @ReadersGazette
  4. Gary Lindberg @gary_lindberg

Facebook:

1.  Mindy Detweiler

Now, since writers write good books for the bookish people and because writers are bookish people too, here are five writers that I follow on Facebook that I think you should follow:

  1.  Grace Greene
  2. Jeanette Lavellie
  3. Shelley Adina
  4. Mike Dellosso
  5. Marsha Hubler

Life of a Bookworm

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For my first poem for April – National Poetry Month, I have decided to attempt to write a couplet.  I hope you enjoy it!

Life of a Bookworm

Page after page I turn,
the midnight oil I’ll burn
because I cannot stop
til the climax I top.
I have a need to know
to whom her heart will go.

 

Have you written any poetry for April yet?  If so, leave a link in the comments section below.

Flash Fiction Friday: New Life

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Janice watched her daughter observe a chicken egg hatch under an incubator lamp.

Sally’s eyes were wide with wonder.  She held her breath as a tiny beak broke through the shell.  She  squealed with delight when a wet, scrawny little head popped out.

When the chick finally fully emerged it was wet.  Sally could see a lot of pink skin.  The chick was wobbly.

“Oh, Mommy, it’s so ugly.”

Janice smiled.  “In a few hours when it is fully dry, it will be a yellow ball of fluff.  Let’s go have our breakfast.”

After breakfast Sally ran out to the barn.  The chick was indeed drying out, but it still looked unpleasant.

In the afternoon Sally went to look again.  The chick was indeed a little yellow ball of fluff. Sally and her mother giggled as they watched the chick eat a bit of growing mash, gather some water in its tiny beak and tilt its head back to let the water trickle down its throat.

Together, mother and daughter marveled at new life.

Upcoming Writers’ Conference in Lancaster County

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PRESS RELEASE: LANCASTER CHRISTIAN WRITERS HOSTS ONE-DAY CONFERENCE ON APRIL 16, 2016, AT LANCASTER BIBLE COLLEGE

Are you an aspiring writer seeking to hone skills, become market savvy, consult personally with editors/authors—all on a budget? Then join us at Lancaster Christian Writers‘ Super Saturday 2016!! April 16th, 2016, from 8:30am-4:30pm at Lancaster Bible College, 901 Eden Road, Lancaster, PA, 17601. This one-day writers conference offers a dual track of workshops in fiction and non-fiction. Early registration price of $50 is due by Wednesday, April 13, and includes soup/sandwich buffet lunch and LCW membership. Registrations after April 13 and walk-ins day of the conference are $60.

Non-fiction faculty include writers conference director and author Marsha Hubler, professional writer/editor Hana Haatainen Caye, transformational speaker and novelist Tracy Higley, and award-winning Toastmaster speaker and author Michele Chynoweth. A fiction track will be taught by award-winning novelists Gayle Roper, Mike Dellosso, and Dwight Kopp.

Workshops cover such topics as:

  • Can You Say Satisfying? Creating the Inspiring Moment.
  • Keep ‘Em Wide-Eyed! Sure-Fire Techniques for Writing Hi-Octane Suspense
  • From Book to Bestseller: You Are Your Own Best Publicist
  • The Delicate Art of Creating Villains
  • Non-fiction That Sells: Making Your Article or Book Irresistible to Editors
  • Style: Uncovering Voice and the Power of Identity.
  • The Business of Writing: Making Money as a Freelance Writer.
  • Impactivity: Pursuing Your Writing Dream with Passion, Balance, and Joy

A conference bookstore will offer a wide variety of writer resources and faculty titles. Personal consultations with faculty are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Author/editor/conference director Marlene Bagnull and award-winning novelist/collaborative writer Jeanette Windle are among auxiliary faculty offering personal consultations.

More information, including the Super Saturday 2016 Flyer/Registration Form and Press Release can be found at Lancaster Christian Writers Today (http://lancasterchristianwriterstoday.blogspot.com/) OR email LCW president Jeanette Windle at jeanette@jeanettewindle.com.

Mail Super Saturday 2016 registration form (or relevant info) and check or money order payable to: Lancaster Christian Writers, c/o Jeanette Windle, 1776 Euclid Drive, Lancaster, PA 17601. For credit card/PayPal payment, request invoice at jeanette@jeanettewindle.com (preferred) or call 717-209-0011 after 4 PM.

I have attended LCW’s Super Saturday conferences for the past three years and am already registered to attend this one!  I always learn something helpful or make a valuable new contact or make a new friend, and I have heard all but one of these speakers before and they do an excellent job!  So, if you write or want to write and live in or near Lancaster County, plan to join us for this Super Saturday Writers’ Conference!

Top Ten Tuesday

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Today’s Top Ten Tuesday’s list as suggested by The Broke and the Bookish is: Ten of my Most Recent 5 Star Reads.

I have written reviews of all of these books on Amazon.com.  However, I wouldn’t say that all of these are “recent” as I do not give out “5 Star” reviews easily.  To me, 5 stars are for books that are outstanding, in their story line, in having well developed characters that I love and care about and hate to say goodbye to and in the quality of the writing.

The last book on this list, I read and reviewed in September of 2013, #9 I read and reviewed in December 2014, #’s 1-3 are the most recent – I read and reviewed those in 2016, all the rest I read and reviewed in 2015.

  1.  

2.  

3.  

4.  

5.  

6.  

7.  

8.  

9.  

10.  

Sneak Peak at April

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My friend, Sue, of Sue’s Nook, has informed me that April is National Poetry Month and she has challenged me to write more poetry during the month of April.  I told her that I haven’t written much poetry in years, and that I’ve never written poetry unless I was inspired or creating my own greeting card (that is, until last Thursday’s blog post).

I was discussing this with my oldest son who then suggested that I read more poetry, which I have not done in years.  That got me to thinking about the fact that I am completely unfamiliar with modern poets and their poetry, aside from Sue’s.

Therefore, just before writing this post, I spent about an hour reading some poetry by Maya Angelou, Margaret Atwood, John Ashberry (whose poetry I didn’t really care for), and Wendell Berry.  I am intrigued and will continue to explore modern poets and poetry over the next few days of March, and I will try to create some good poetry to share here on my blog during the month of April.

Sue also shared the following information and links with me:

Writer’s Digest will have daily prompts during the month of April  http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-april-pad-challenge-guidelines

A link that lists the different poetry forms and types:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/learning/glossary-terms?category=forms-and-types

The link to National Poetry Writing Month:

http://www.napowrimo.net/

How about you?  Are you up for trying to write some poetry in April?  If you do, leave a comment with a link in the comments below, so I and those who visit here can read your poetry in April too!

Flash Fiction Friday: Knight’s Savior

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The air was hot and dusty.  The sounds of clinking metal could be heard a mile away.  The knight with the oak tree upon its shield blocked the sword of the attacking knight.  The Oak Tree knight shoved the attacking knight backward, took a moment to look around.  The ground was littered with the wounded and the dead.  Not many remained standing, fighting.

The other knight attacked again.  The Oak Tree knight raised its shield and thrust the sword, striking the attacking knight in the abdomen.  The attacking knight fell, did not rise again.

The Oak Tree Knight walked a few paces then dropped to its knees, hung its head.  Two large feet appeared in its sight.  Two large hands lifted the helmet freeing the sweaty, golden, shoulder length curls, lifted the knight into his arms, carried the knight home.

He continued to hold the knight in his arms while she cried.  After a few minutes, he wiped away the tears, gently kissed her cheek.  “Do not fret.  I am always with you.”

She felt the burden lift from her shoulders.  She smiled into those forever deeply loving eyes.

Birds, Landscapes, Dove Dairy Goat Farm 008

I know this is supposed to be wordless Wednesday, but I feel I have to apologize if you’ve received several notifications of today’s postings because I have been trying to figure out why my “Wordless Wednesday” title keeps showing up at the bottom of this post instead of at the top.  You will note that it is still at the bottom.  I have not figured out how to fix it or why it happened, in trying to fix it, I deleted this post a couple of times and reposted thinking that my work.  It didn’t.

One more thing, I am planning on doing a few combination posts on occasional Wednesdays — “Wordless/Writing Prompt Wednesday”.  Since I am a writer and I would like to share more of my writing with you, I will occasionally share a photo that I will use as a writing prompt to write a fictional short story or poem, and when I do, feel free to use the photo on those Wednesdays as your own writing prompt and either share your writing in the comments section or on your own blog and link it to here, leaving a comment that you wrote something too.  I think it will be fun.

Wordless Wednesday

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