Monthly Archives: February 2020

A Very Special Book Review: Life’s Rich Tapestry Woven in Words by Sally Cronin

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Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in Words is not your usual book of poetry – not at all. Sally Cronin’s stunningly beautiful book is a work of art to be read again and again. It is the kind of poetry and enchanting stories that lift you up, touch your heart, and make you see the world in an entirely new way.

This beautifully crafted book, with verse for every season of the year and a treasure strove of all things human too, is one of a kind. There are enchanting fantasies where fairies and other folk are at play and Sally’s portrayal of the beauty of the natural world will take your breath away. Her love of animals is represented here as well as she celebrates her love of pets, and all pet lovers will treasure this heartfelt telling that will capture your heart.  Sally speaks to the past eloquently of soldiers old and young that are remembered here and speaks of those that are forgotten.

The beauty of her philosophy of life she represents in random thoughts that I see as a gift to all that will enrich everyone’s sense of being and opens the door to growth within our hearts and souls. Her superb writing talent is portrayed in micro fiction and short stories that are a wonder to read.

Last but not least at all, is Sally’s ode to The Duchess 1917-2012.  I read this first and I felt Sally’s great love for the Duchess that brought tears to my eyes.

 

****I look forward to when the print version of Life’s Rich Tapestry Woven in Words is released. I can’t think of a more beautiful gift of love to give to all those that I love – my family and friends.

Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Updates- #Reviews – #YAParanormal Karen Demers Dowdall, #Relationships Alex Craigie, #CrimeReference Sue Coletta

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This weeks must read from Sally’s weekly book reviews from Amazon! I am thrilled and these three reviews are great 5 star reviews.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Welcome to the Cafe and Bookstore update with recent reviews for authors on the shelves of the bookstore.

The first review is for Karen Demers Dowdall for Garrett’s Bones. A YA Paranormal Mystery

About the book

Anna and Garrett are ordinary teens growing up in a small farming community in Connecticut in 1960. They have been best friends since first grade and now their relationship is changing to something more. While walking through their beautiful forest preserve, Anna and Garrett happen upon the ravaged body of a young girl and find themselves as suspects in this horrific murder.

Garrett believes that the evil man that murdered the young girl, will kill again. When Garrett and Anna find ancient bones buried in the forest, Garrett knows it means something. It is their mission, they believe, to save their community and the Indian spirit who now roams the forest.

Things get…

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Smorgasbord Poetry – Colleen Chesebro Weekly #Poetry Challenge – #Etheree – Two Hearts by Sally Cronin

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Sally Cronin writes a beautiful heart-felt poem about true love that lasts over time.

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

It is Valentine’s Day and whilst it may be quite commercialised now,  it is still a day to celebrate love. (I do think it should be celebrated every day even after 40 years of marriage). This week on  Colleen Chesebro Tanka Tuesday Poetry No 164 the prompts were very appropriate,’Love and Harmony’….. I have selected the synonyms ‘Passion and Rapport’

Etheree – Two Hearts

When
you meet
that someone
who sparks a flame
in your heart and mind
passion is ignited.
Even when the years have passed
the rapport that has developed,
energised with a sense of humour,
binds your two hearts together forever.

©Sally Cronin 2020

If you would like to participate in this week’s challenge here is the link again: Colleen Chesebro Tanka Tuesday Poetry No 164

You can find recent reviews for my latest release and other books: Sally’s books and…

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left dry (and unworldly)

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This stunningly beautiful poem portrays the one source that humans and all living things can not survive without – water, and in such a way, that it brings the truth to the surface of all our fears.

Frank Prem Poetry

how will we drink
the dust

can you tell me

we are burning
from above
draining
from below

there’ll be nothing left
soon
but the holes
where we mined
and the cracks
in the earth
that were once held together
by water

and still it’s not
enough

we have to take
another barrel out

send it
all the way
to china

like taking
your own heart
and selling it
to the highest bidder

leaving you
behind
like a husk
after harvest

rattling empty
with every passing breeze
that passes
by
where we are left
to stand

a ragged bunch
of scarecrow skeletons
still craving

not knowing
yet
that we have already
died

and the dead
can no more serve
any
worldly purpose

~

From the News. The miserable bloody news.

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Why You Should Never Stop Reading Fairytales!

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Never Stop Reading Fairy tales! by Karen DeMers Dowdall 

I thought it would be nice to re-post one of my favorite posts about fairy tales. Considering that I am really into fantasy, paranormal, fairytales, and witches, this new blog title suits me to a T…Once Upon a time…. It is far better than just my name (it is way too long). This new blog title really makes me happy. I love fantasy stories that begin with Once Upon a time…Madeleine L’Engles, A Wrinkle in time, however, does not begin Once upon a time…it begins with, “It was a dark and stormy night”…that works too.

I have collected volumes of fairy tale books, everything from all of Hans Christian Anderson to all of the Grimm’s Fairy tales, Scotland Folk Tales, Irish Myths and Folklore, among many other volumes of Fairy tales. Perhaps, one could say, I live in a fairytale world of my own making. So true. I can’t think of a better place to live…especially in the world as we live in today.

Also, my collection of books includes my favorite books of tales about Princesses, Dragons, Monsters, and of course…Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and all his friends, too. Less I forget to mention, my love of everything in King Author’s Court and the Knights, especially, the Wizard Merlin, and also,the Hobbit’s Gandalf the Grey. So many magical creatures that do often represent the best and the worst of humanity.

These stories tell me that most, that perhaps all of humanity is redeemable, because we are not given an instruction manual for raising babies, toddlers, and especially teenagers – God love them, one and all. Oh my goodness, it can be a real juggle out there for those growing up and with our delicate egos at risk…anything can go wrong.

Perhaps, that is why I love Fantasy, Fairy tales, Paranormal, Greek Mythology, and Science fiction too. Quoting the famous words of Albert Einstein, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” Well…perhaps it doesn’t work with everyone. I am still learning.

I will add to that quote, if I may, my own philosophy:  “Never stop reading fairytales. No matter how old you are! We are forever learning, and not much teaches us more than a good Fairy tale!”

by Karen DeMers Dowdall June 4th, 2019

 

 

ODE TO A MADMAN

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ODE TO A MADMAN

 

The cunning words, that rings so true, bring me but dark memories,

From a time and a place, best forgotten, yet always, just beneath,

The surface of a black night, filled with anguish and loss,

Of fear, trepidation, horror, not of this world, not now, I pray,

but then it crawled into being, by what force, I do not know.

They say, nonsense, but it lives, somewhere, now,

To come again, to crush, destroy, all the goodness

The world has ever known. The pinnacle has arrived,

Once again, we face, the face of evil incarnate, we see it daily,

But a few do ever acknowledge what we see, we feign ignorance,

Deny what we see, yet, it creeps to our door,

Seeps under the floor, the poison of its words,

It lies so beautifully. ~ Karen D. Dowdall

 

WORDS

Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.

~Yehuda Berg

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/yehuda-berg-quotes

 

ANGER

Hatred is corrosive of a person’s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation’s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation’s progress to freedom and democracy.

~Liu Xiaobo

https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=Liu+Xiaobo+Hatred

 

LOVE

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.

~Ann Landers

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/ann_landers_143025

 

PEACE (AND LOVE)

Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth.

`Menachem Begin

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/menachem-begin-quotes

 

SADNESS

Even a happy life cannot be without a measure of darkness, and the word happy would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. It is far better to take things as they come along with patience and equanimity.

~Carl Jung

https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=Carl+Jung

 

Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have – life itself.

~Walter Anderson

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/walter-anderson-quotes

 

FEAR

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

~Nelson Mandela

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/nelson-mandela-quotes

Happiness

There is only one happiness in this life: to love and to be loved.

George Sand

https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/george-sand-happiness

 

Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present.

Jim Rohn

Https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/jim-rohn-happiness