This Time

I'm not used to promoting myself.

Even when I've been part of an anthology, I promote for the collective, the greater good.

But this time it's just me.

Cover Reveal 
From Vine Leaves Press

From Vine Leaves Press

Time and Circumstance
by Theresa Milstein

Publication date: March, 2017

“The trunk of this family is lost to history / Photo fragments remain as shadows”

With subtle wit, and poignant imagery, the unrelenting passage of time connects the  vignettes in Theresa Milstein’s Time and Circumstance. This reflective collection of real and imagined poetry and prose, speculates on an erratic childhood, the uncertainty of adolescence, and the reality of parenthood, through flashbacks of love lost and found.

“This everyday, why again, sometimes / ignored tune has measured time in notes, / seconds, minutes, days, years, and so it goes. / It’s a measure of the man he will become.”

Cover Reveals and Giveaways

This is an exciting month for my Write On to Build On writing support group. One member is revealing the cover of her third book in a trilogy. The other is revealing her first cover. And my cover will be revealed next weekend!

Without further ado, Crystal Collier:

TIMELESS (#3 Maiden of Time) by Crystal Collier #CoverReveal

Book Title: TIMELESS (Maiden of Time #3)

Author: Crystal Collier

Genre: YA Paranormal Historical

Release Date: November 1, 2016

TIME IS THE ENEMY

In 1771, Alexia had everything: the man of her dreams, reconciliation with her father, even a child on the way. But she was never meant to stay. It broke her heart, but Alexia heeded destiny and traveled five hundred years back to stop the Soulless from becoming.

In the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Church has ordered the Knights Templar to exterminate the Passionate, her bloodline. As Alexia fights this new threat, along with an unfathomable evil and her own heart, the Soulless genesis nears. But none of her hard-won battles may matter if she dies in childbirth before completing her mission.

Can Alexia escape her own clock?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy/sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror, or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and friend (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her Blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or follow her on Twitter.

Want the first chapter free? Sign up HERE.

And now Sheri Larsen:

AMAZON | GOODREADS

Description: Forget having a lively after school social life, 

Ebony Charmed is fighting to keep the entire Afterlife alive.

Ebony’s less-than-average spirit tracking abilities are ruining more than sixth grade at Motley Junior High: School for the Psychically & Celestially gifted. Her parents argue so much her dad moved out. And, even though he’s scared of his own shadow and insists on bringing his slimy, legless lizard everywhere they go, Ebony wouldn’t survive without her best friend, Fleishman. 

When Ebony’s Deadly Creatures & Relics’ project goes missing, she learns her missing project is one of the keys to saving the spirit world. Now Ebony and Fleishman must battle beasts from Norse Mythology to retrieve her project before spirits are lost, the Well of Urd dries up, and Ebony loses all hope of reuniting her family. But someone lies in wait, and he has other plans...including creating a new world of spirits without them in it.

Motley Education has been aligned with Core Standards for grades 4-7. A guide will be available on the author’s website to download for FREE after the book’s release date of October 10, 2016.

Sheri's also unveiled her new website - Motley Education friendly with kid fun stuff, Motley Mulisha Reading Club, links, school visit pamphlet, & more!
She's also offering up a giveaway! Five lucky winners will each receive a signed bookmark and assorted swag! Contest runs from 09/15/16 to 09/23/16. Winners will be chosen my random.com.  

Giveaway HERE! 

Untitled

Good morning.

Bad things happened in the world

While you were sleeping

As usual,

But this time it hit closer to home

I’m left here

Feeling hopeless, powerless

Because I can’t protect you

Never could

But now the big, bad world looms

Bares sharp teeth

And extends its razor claws

Videos, memes, likes, and shares

Not a match

Against ignorance and hate

Reason’s snuffed

By blasts of bullets and bombs

Sound bites, headlines, and rants

Let’s snuggle

A little longer before we face this day

- Theresa Milstein

Wonder Woman?

Wonder Woman?

I think I’m making progress

But more likely I’m in regress

I digress

Unsure of what I’m working toward

I keep moving onward, forward

Or backward

This success for which I’m striving

There’s more thrashing than there's thriving

I’m depriving

This fear I’m spinning round and round

An affirmation won’t be found

It’s aground

Each passing year, I’ve become bolder

Time has made the trail much colder

I’m older

Who said I had to be the hero

Time to go on with the ebb & flow

Let it go

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2016/01/mag-303.html

Angels, Analogies, and Anthologies

I’ve known Robyn Campbell for several years. We first met each other through blogging and then she joined my online writing support group. Over the years, I’ve learned about her son who has Sturge-Weber syndrome. He’s constantly dealing with scary symptoms, tests, more tests. And she’s constantly dealing with making decisions between something with bad side effects and something else with bad side effects, or worse. As a parent, we want to fix our children. 

What do you do when there is no fix?

Recently, Robyn decided to put together an anthology to raise $ for the foundation Sturge-Weber Foundation that provides hope for the families of children who suffer from this disease. I wanted to be a part of it. 

To find out more, read Robyn’s post HERE.

As everyone wrote and revised and shared what they wrote, I started a stressful teaching job. I felt like I wasn’t helping as much with the anthology as I could have. Even with my busy schedule, I critiqued and was impressed by quite a few authors’ pieces. The energy from everyone amazed me.

Finally the time arrived for the cover reveal.

At the same time, I began dealing with someone who had a personal crisis. I thought of Robyn and her son many times over these weeks. I, too, often felt powerless to help and felt like I had no idea if any decision I made was actually the right decision. So much of my energy was turned inward.

I missed the cover reveal.

Slowly, the personal crisis seems to be ending. So here I am.

I want to get the word out that there's a wonderful anthology for children at a reasonable price in both  Paperback and Kindle. 

There’s some nice artwork in there too. As you think about supporting charities as the year ends, please buy this anthology and/or DONATE.

The Kissed by an Angel anthology includes 10 stories and one poem featuring children who are gifted or have special powers. Some are ordinary people, others are extraordinary, and several aren’t what they seem to be. Read on and be enchanted. Wander with us onto a magical island ship, uncover an amazing secret, and solve a very fishy mystery. Discover a World War II codebreaker, captivating garden, time machine, undercover agents, bug master, plus more. And meet a special boy who was kissed by an angel. This anthology benefits the Sturge-Weber Foundation. Children who have Sturge-Weber are born with a port wine birthmark, which varies in color and size, and stays with them their whole lives. “You were kissed by an angel” is how author Robyn Campbell explained to her son Christopher, who suffers from Sturge-Weber syndrome, about his tell-tale birthmark. He is the creative genius who helped choose some of the names of the characters, and he is our inspiration.

Pssst... my story has the magical island ship!

Amazon purchase details  HERE.

Thank you for your support. 

P.S.  For a thorough post by our editor, Lynn Kelly, click  HERE.

1972

1972

Sunday gravy

Bubbling

On the basement stove

Family gathers

Below

Clusters of cousins

Dining room for

Events

Not for family

Plastic folding

Tables           

Topped with market plates

No fine china

Set here

Who’s there to impress?

Aunts and uncles

Laughing

While Grandma serves us 

Spaghetti’s perfect

With peas

I’m on Grandpa’s knee

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2015/11/mag-294.html

Still Life

Still Life

Poppies bloom in fields

Memorializing scores of

Buds never blossomed

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2015/11/mag-293.html