Variety Poetry: Britney Gulbrandsen

Another talented poet who sent me three poems to choose from, and of course, I chose the sweet, touching, romantic poem. See for yourself:

Green Apple Gumballs

The song in my head is a subtle reminder,

A memory of last June,

    A portrait of us—

    Bright red doors,

    Jumping by fountains,

    Lollipops and bubblegum,

    Rain and umbrellas.

Variety Poetry: Jewel Leann Williams

And National Poetry Month Celebration continues with a poem from Jewel Leann Williams.

Leann sent me three poems to consider and I knew the minute I read her first one, it must be posted. You will probably feel the same. 

From Leann:

This first was from a poetry challenge, which was to use the words red, marble, and bloom in a poem of exactly 20 lines....

Passion

Fill to bursting, screams of red
barely kept behind my teeth
Pulse throbbing, pounding rage
boiling in my blood to seethe
Jaw clenching, eyes burning
Brow marbled by bulging veins
Black roses, stinking deathweed
Brought to bloom by your cursed name

Variety Poetry: Stephanie Abney

Stephanie submitted a bunch of really great poems. We established last week that I'm certainly no expert, so I just picked the poems that appealed to me. And probably to my romantic heart, as I seemed to choose the ones that tended toward romance. :)


From Stephanie:

In one of my favorite poetry forms: cinquain

Comfort

Feeling secure

Where judgement has no place

Wrapped in the safety of your arms

Husband

Stephanie Abney ~ ©1998

Variety Guest Post: Introducing the "Sweet Peas in a Writer Podcast"

In an effort to mix and mingle in a rather personal way with their readers, author Theresa Sneed and author Betsy Love are spearheading a new and exciting writer podcast called, Sweet Peas in a Writer Podcast, which airs April 4, 2012 at 5:00 pm, with new podcasts following every Wednesday. Theresa and Betsy will have recorded a month of podcasts before the first one airs and are covering topics such as brainstorming for book ideas, the writing process, and not waiting—but making time to write. Their intention is to take their readers from the beginning of finding ideas, creating captivating storylines, and the importance of revising and editing, all the way through publishing and marketing their work. Each podcast is around fifteen minutes in length and comes with a writing tip and a writing challenge for the week. The third Wednesday of each month is a live podcast with a variety of guests like,  Linda Mulleneaux, editor for Walnut Springs;  Marsha Ward, author, and creator of ANWA; author, Amanda Sowards; and Lisa Mangum, author, and editor at Deseret Book, among others. All podcasts will be transcribed and posted along with the links for each podcast at sweetpeasinawriterpodcast.blogspot.com.

Variety: Personal Essay by Me

Just a few years ago--really--when I was in college, I took a creative non-fiction class. It really pushed me. My voice is not meant for non-fiction. My voice is quirky and fictional and very commercial, so non-literary. I've known about my non-literary voice for a long time. I'm okay with it. But then I had to take creative non-fiction and figure out what my literary voice was. 


So below is an excerpt of an essay written about the birth of my first child. I laughed as I read it because I think it might be the most complete description of that very long moment that I have.


Untitled Personal Essay
by Ranee` S. Clark
Written March 2007

When I think about the less-than-blissful hours I spent in labor with A.J., I don’t just wonder, I seriously question how I actually came through it alive, or for that matter, why I’ll even consider doing it again! Nobody wants to hear a story about thirty minutes of labor and a six pound baby.  Nine pounds, six ounces, that’s a good story. A kid with a head as big as his chest (fourteen inches)? That’s something people’s ears perk up for. Twenty-one hours of labor that climaxed in a full two hours of pushing? That is a good story.

Variety Excerpt: "Dark Days of Promise" by Shaunna Gonzales

I am SO excited about today's Variety Excerpt from Shaunna. I got to help Shaunna as a beta-reader for "Dark Days of Promise" way back, so it's so exciting for me to see the fruits of Shaunna's labors be successful. "Dark Days of Promise" will be released on September 21, 2012 by Desert Breeze Publishing, but because Shaunna's such a good writing friend of mine, we get a sneak peak to whet your appetite!

Variety: Short Story "Roller Rink Guy" by Jennifer Griffith

Jennifer Griffith is the author of the upcoming BIG IN JAPAN, a sumo wrestler love story, as well as three other published novels. She's also an award winning poet and essayist. She received first place in the Arizona American Mothers, Inc., 2010 essay contest, and second place in the national American Mothers Essay Contest. She writes a book review column for the local newspaper and is a member of the American Night Writers Association. She's working on a fifth novel and a children's book.

Variety Excerpt: From "Small Deceptions" by H. Linn Murphy

Francesca Kennington merely wants to be left to her studies, despite her mother's best efforts to saddle her with a rich husband. Then she meets a mysterious gentleman, who leads her on a romp through the ballrooms and countryside of Georgian England. Their romance blossoms but secrets cause Francesca's house of cards to tumble. She must find a way to put her life back together, while still following her heart.

Excerpt: 

Chapter 1—Mr. Hedge

Larks trilled in the hedges, filling the warm breezes with song. It was a languid, cerulean afternoon, dotted only with a very few shreds of cloud. A russet-headed and bespectacled young lady strode rapidly down the lane, muttering to herself and occasionally swiping at the weeds at the side of the road with a stick she had found. One could almost say she stomped pettishly, punctuating her angry diatribe with swipes of her stick.

Variety Excerpt: From "To Finish The Dance" by Serena Casey

Serena Casey grew up in the wild and beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the setting for "To Finish The Dance" as well as the novel she's writing now. She and her husband and their two lazy, non-mousing cats live just a bike ride from the shore of Lake Superior. She's been writing since she was old enough to put stubby pencil to lined paper but has only pursued it in a serious fashion for the last five years.


The following excerpt is from her novel "To Finish the Dance."


COMMENTARY

I wrote most of "To Finish the Dance" during two weeks in 2006 while recuperating from a health crisis. It had always been difficult to find good romances that weren't explicit but focused instead on the love story itself, so I decided it was time to write one!

It was an incredible experience. I did most of my writing between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. each night. It simply gushed out of me like a geyser, and I felt like I was just there to take dictation. I'm still not sure I'm the one who wrote it! :)

The story takes place in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a very rural and secluded area that's sometimes a few years behind the rest of the world. I have lived there all my life and always felt it would be a wonderful setting for a love story. Especially since it's where I married my own high school sweetheart and we're still going strong over 26 years later.

The main characters in the novel, Joe and Lucy, were childhood best friends and high school sweethearts, but they have not seen each other for over twenty years. This excerpt takes place immediately after they go to lunch to catch up on each other's lives. I hope you enjoy it!

Serena Casey

Variety Critique: From "Lodore" by Ranee` S. Clark

Surprise! That's right. What kind of monster would I be if I didn't subject myself to the same torture I ask of all of you? So I've decided to try and entice more critiques out of you guys by ripping something of my own up. I chose the opening pages of a finished first draft of "Lodore." It is a light-fantasy set in an imaginary kingdom in a time period that has the feel of the twenties. (One of those historical periods I really like.) It took over two years for me to complete this draft (I set it down numerous times), and I haven't looked back at it in a while (as will be obvious by the amount of red you see below). I wish I could look at all my work with a clean set of eyes, the way I was able to see these two pages.

Variety Short Story: "Tragedy" by Rachel Rossano

In 2006, Rachel Rossano and seven other authors, two other veterans and five newbies, began an exciting venture. They resolved to write eight fantasy novels that begin and ended in the same place. The characters would be a family of eight siblings. Each writer adopted a sibling for their own and wrote that character’s story, posting each completed chapter on a blog dedicated to that character.

Rachel Rossano’s novel following Wren Romany, one of the middle siblings, took over five years to write. Three years of that time she was not writing due to pregnancy or newborns. Pregnancy and sleep deprivation make her brain disconnect. However, once she finished Wren’s story, she realized she couldn’t leave the world or the characters alone.

Tragedy is part two of a series of flash fiction pieces that follow Svhen Bejork. This installment picks up a few weeks after BlondStranger. The third installment is still in the author’s head somewhere.

Wren Romany is available free at http://wren-romany.blogspot.com/.  Currently in editing with the intention of publication, hopefully it will debut 2012 or 2013. For more information about the status of the other novels (also available online) go to http://romanyepistles.blogspot.com/.

Tragedy               

By Rachel Rossano

Rain pelted my head, ran in rivulets down my face, and plastered my wool cloak to my back. Frigid moisture seeped through to my bones. My body absorbed the cold, unable to repel the deluge. My heart declared it would never warm again.

Variety Critique: From "Word and Deed" by Rachel

Rachel, who has offered us up some truly entertaining short stories for Variety, has agreed to run the gautlet and let me critique her current WIP. The excerpt is the first chapter of "Word and Deed," which she hopes to be able to release later this year.

Word and Deed

By Rachel Rossano

Chapter One

“You are weak, Verdon. You kill like a woman!”

Variety Short Story: "Blond Stranger" by Rachel Rossano

In 2006, Rachel and seven other authors, two other veterans and five newbies, began an exciting venture. They resolved to write eight fantasy novels that begin and end in the same place. The characters would be a family of eight siblings. Each writer adopted a sibling for their own and wrote that character’s story, posting each completed chapter on a blog dedicated to that character.

Rachel novel following Wren Romany, one of the middle siblings, took over five years to write. Three years of that time she was not writing due to pregnancy or newborns. Pregnancy and sleep deprivation make her brain disconnect. However, once she finished Wren’s story, she realized she couldn’t leave the world or the characters alone. Blond Stranger is part one of a side story featuring a secondary character, Svhen Bejork.

Wren Romany is available free at http://wren-romany.blogspot.com/.  Currently in editing with the intention of publication, hopefully it will debut 2012 or 2013. For more information about the status of the other novels (also available online) go to http://romanyepistles.blogspot.com/.

Blond Stranger

By Rachel Rossano

The heavy tread of soldiers’ feet across the floor boards above rained debris on my hair. I didn’t care. Huddled between the almost empty flour barrel and a bin of eye-ridden potatoes, I was safe. Breathing the scents of dirt and darkness freshly disturbed, I prayed for the stranger stranded in our barn.

Where could he escape to?

Variety Critique: From "Cobalt" by Kristin

One of my very best writing friends, Kristin, bravely offered up the first two chapters of her steampunk WIP, "Cobalt" for me to shred in front of all of you in an effort to educate the world. In it's FIRST draft -- (I don't even like to read my first drafts...), yet as always Kristin is a bad example since she is an excellent writer. :) "Cobalt" is no exception; although with some work, I did find some things to criticize her about. You can enjoy her absolute hilarity at her blog, Fairies and Pirates, etc.

CHAPTER 1

“Stay close, darling. This is no place to play.” Katerina's mother drew her close to her side. Wide-eyed, the little girl's gaze traveled up the rough plank walls of the multi-storied factory, framed from behind by gnarled branches which twisted slightly in the air despite the fact that there was no wind. Katerina pressed her hands to her ears. The staccato thock, thock, of woodcutters' axes, always a constant sound in the distance, had never sounded so close or loud. Helena tightened her arm around her daughter's shoulders and hurried them through the thick iron doors.

Excerpt from "Master of Emotion" by D. Ogden Huff

Beau’s getting loads of attention lately. Whether he wants it or not. Even if it’s his worst nightmare.

Announcing the release of Master of Emotion, a YA paranormal romance by D. Ogden Huff.

When a reclusive teen with the enhanced ability to read others’ emotions finds more teens with similar powers, he must confront his fears before a budding romance and his twin brother’s life fall into the hands of the devious doctor who created them all.

Variety Excerpt: "Falling in October" by Gina Gates

The first Variety Excerpt is truly more unique than anything I've ever come across--part-memoir, part self-help. As well as a million other things. Please welcome Gina Gates ...

When I was asked to post an excerpt from “Falling in October,” it was a challenge to choose just one passage to represent the spectrum of the entire book. The elements are diverse and fascinating. It’s a memoir, except it’s mostly about a time to come. It's about real life, but sweetly steeped in fantasy. It's quite romantic, yet it's not a romance. And it’s just as much a spiritual work as a fairy tale.

Variety Short Story: "Foreboding" by Rachel Rossano

Introducing, Rachel Rossano:

Rachel grew up reading. Her family didn’t own a television until she was twelve years-old. Instead, they read their way through the library. She didn’t discover the science fiction section until her teen years. It was fascination at first sight. Emboldened by a love of Star Trek and Star Wars, she dove into the midst, devouring everything that grabbed her fancy.

Now, after years of writing fantasy romance novellas, she has ventured once again into the strange landscape of science fiction. This time she brought her pen. The following is a teaser for her short story, Exchange, the first of many. "Exchange" is available on Amazon, here. 

Kicking off some VARIETY!

Well, thanks to the AWESOME response when I sent the call out for variety on my blog, you {readers} are about to get entertained.

So far I have a LOT of fun projects on the slate of every kind:
-some critiques for you to chime in on
-excerpts from books with author commentaries
-guest posts
-and some short stories!

Which means we need to share all this fun! So to kick off the advent of Variety on my blog, we're going to have a contest.

The first Variety post is a short story "Foreboding" by Rachel Rossano on Tuesday. From right now until midnight tonight, share this post everywhere! The number of followers we get will be the amount of the Amazon Gift Certificate I'll give away Tuesday night. So if we gain 5 followers in that time, the gift certificate will be worth $5. If we gain 50, you'll have a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate!

To enter, comment on this post! (And don't forget: the more you share, the more you win!)

**Plus, if you want in on Variety, check out the "Guest Post" tab above or email me!**