Amazon Kindle Countdown Deals!

Spring has arrived and the longer days make me happy. I get to enjoy nature without freezing. I get to grow fruits and veggies in my small garden. I get to enjoy the sun on my face or the coolness under the canopy. Above all that, I get more experience in our community. Perhaps that is the most important part of spring. We feel more able to move about freely and interact with people around us. As a writer, I absorb it all!

In celebration of Spring, I am offering two of my books on Kindle Countdown for a discount. From March 31st through April 7th, you can get Expressions of  the Soul (2015) for $1.99 and Into the Meadows (2015) for $3.99. This discount is for my e-book editions only. Please visit the following pages to obtain the deal:

Expressions of the Soul

Into the Meadow

I am so pleased to offer this for you! Please take advantage of the deal. You can then curl up in your favorite lawn chair and enjoy some poetry or a novel about Werewolves under the warm sun.

Happy World Poetry Day! From an Appalachian Writer

From a very early age, I struggled with reading poetry. As an adult, I can tell you that reading between the lines has never been my strong suit. I prefer plainly stated over overly embellished. Yet, as a poet I enjoy the same processes. I like to plainly state what I want viewed. It is something I strive for. In a fast moving world, easy to understand by many seems like the best option. Even in the complexity of poetry, I become excited when I come across a poet that has a plain speech aspect to their work.

On this World Poetry day, I am sharing with you a poem from a writer called Spiritwind Wood. You can find his poems here. Within my veins flows a mix of Cherokee, Scotch-Irish, English, and Jewish blood. As I grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains, I have come face-to-face with a history and culture I didn't live. You see, I have white skin. Despite my Cherokee blood, my skin is so fair. Yet, there is a calling inside me. In my exploration of my heritage, I reached out. I explored new authors and poets within the Native American community. I viewed history from the eyes of my ancestors. What I found saddened me and caused such sorrow. It made me sick to my stomach.

And yet...when you read the words of poems such as Cherokee by Spiritwind Wood, you get a sense of hope. A perseverance that cannot be shaken. Words that, beneath all heartache and sorrow, exist in every human being. The desire to uplift and continue to walk the path - no matter what is put in our way. Spiritwind Wood's words are uplifting especially from the views of my ancestors.

On this day, I ask you to share and explore poetry from around the world. From cultures you do not know. From cultures you may struggle to understand. It is those moments, when we reach outside of ourselves, that we begin to shape the future for our children and our children's children. Let writers and poets like Spiritwind Wood show us the world from a different perspective and gain the respect to love each other for not what is on the outside, but everything we are on the inside. Kind. Proud. Generous. Human.

Think Outside the Writer's Space

If you are a writer, you have likely read all types of tips on setting up a space to write. It has to be quiet. It has to be set aside. You should build it up to be this great space that cultivates your writing. Yet, I can assure you that if you have the determination to write, you can write anywhere. Imagine you are in a crowded square. Perhaps you are sitting on a bench. In your lap is a book that has you enthralled. You are lost to the world around you. You focus on the world inside that book. The characters are talking to you. The setting fills in the space around you. All you see, feel, and hear is that book.

Well, that can happen with writing. You can become so focused on the story that the world around you falls away, leaving you with your computer/notebook, your thoughts, your emotions, and the story. What that leaves you with is the ability to write wherever and whenever you are able!

The reason I wrote this post is to show you that writing outside can be an uplifting, inspiring choice of setting for your writing. There have been many times that sitting outside to enjoy nature's bounty provided a wonderful view point for my poetry. It can even help with writing your setting. Think of it as a way to connect to your setting.

In my poetry, I find that nature is a great companion. Stolen Moments has some poems that capture the beauty and bounty of the Great Smoky Mountains. Why? Because I live here and I go out to enjoy what nature has to offer.

So take with you the fact that a writer's space can exist anywhere and at anytime. It doesn't have to be in a designed, well-organized space. Finding the space to write shouldn't be the difficult part.

Happy Writing!

A Hint of Spring

Maybe it is the change from cold air to warmer air. Maybe it is the disappearance of snow, or the daffodils flowering across the hill. For me, life seems to open up into that renewal at an ever increasing pace. During the lengthening days, I have walked around outside and enjoyed the changing world. As I take in the scenery, I wonder who has walked the path before me. I wonder what type of life they had, who they loved, what their ultimate sadness was.

Living in Appalachia, it is not hard to imagine what type of life they carved out for themselves. Just down the road, an ancient looking stone house juts from an untouched landscape. A little further is two small stone barns with wooden beams still attached. The roofs have fallen, but the stone has stood the test of time. I look at them and can almost see the life and the people who once stood, played, loved, and laughed there.

As a writer, I love those types of moments. The moment where a snippet of the past fills my mind. As a child of Appalachia, I am immediately proud and then saddened at the scene. Proud because my ancestors helped shape the community I still live in. Proud because they withstood so much and bore so much heartache and toil to create a better future for the futures of their families. Sad because it must have been hard. Sad because life isn't better for some. There is still toil and sadness. There is still strife. Poverty still exists. Despite that, those in my community still hold onto old ways of life with such pride that they continue to pass it on to the young.

With the world waking up, these snippets of times gone by will slowly disappear under ivy and other creeping vines. Leaves will unfurl and cover the stone buildings one by one until all you see is nature. The whispers will be silenced by nature herself waiting until autumn to appear again.

Perhaps that is why I love and loath spring. I lose connection to the past and become forced to greet a new season.