Earth Day Celebrated by Poets

Sublime Planet

Authors: Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Authors' Web sites:
Carolyn: http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm
Magdalena: http://magdalenaball.com
Photos: Ann Howley
ISBN: 978-1482054705

Reviewed by Karen Cioffi

Gearing up for Earth Day, Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball are releasing a brand new collection of poems titled Sublime Planet. The collection features relevant poems by Carolyn and Magdalena that demonstrate the interconnections of the world around us, including life, family, and love, along with the growing concern for the earth’s preservation.

This is a beautifully written collection that allows the reader to pause and take note of the world around her.

One of my favorite poems in the collection is one by Carolyn titled “The Giraffe:”

A tongue generous

as my head he reaches

for me, barriers no match

for his long neck, sniffs

my hair, kisses my face.

He unaware

he is endangered.

I unaware he might

be dangerous.

This poem is a powerful, yet simple tribute to a majestic creature that is now an endangered species. Can you imagine a planet without the giraffe?

Another poem in the collection that struck me is “Tipping Point” by Magdalena Ball: “[. . .] you eat and eat through four billion years of evolution now held loosely by one thread. [. . .] The future waits impatiently your decision.”

Again, powerful, and revealing.

Sublime Planetoffers moving insight into the world around us and into a world that is in need of attention, and it certainly honors Earth Day. I highly recommend it.

For those who aren’t aware of what Earth Day is, Senator Gaylord Nelson created this special day in the spring of 1970. The purpose behind it was to make everyone aware of all the toxins being spewed into the air and dumped in nearby streams or other waterways by manufacturing companies.

At that time, there were no regulatory or legal safety nets to protect our planet, our environment. Senator Nelson took a stand and his cause quickly caught on.

The earth is our planet, our home, our responsibility, and we’re not doing such a good job protecting it.

Sublime Planet celebrates Earth Day (April 22nd).

The poems "Giraffe" and “Tipping Point” are from Sublime Planet, a book of poetry in the Celebration Series coauthored by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball. It will be released before Earth Day. In the meantime learn more about Carolyn's poetry books (including that Celebration Series!) at http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm. And, learn more about Magdalena’s poetry and fiction at http://magdalenaball.com

About the reviewer:

Karen Cioffi is a multi-award-winning author, freelance/ghostwriter, and author online presence instructor. Give your writing and marketing efforts a boost with The Writing World newsletter. Get weekly tips and guidance, plus updates on free webinars, and TWO ebooks! Go to http://thewritingworld.com and sign-up today.

Networking as Sharing and Caring Book Marketing

Those fans of Frugal Book Marketing needn't be convinced of the value of book promotion. Nevertheless, Magdalena Ball allowed us to recycle her interview of the photographer who contributed her talents to our collaborative poetry book that celebrates Earth Day. And today is that day. So I'm including this becayse the story of the two poets and the photographer s an example of what great marketing is. It's not about sales. It's about caring networking. Ann's cards were given to Carolyn Howard-Johnson  by a talented writer and leader of a critique group she belonged to and she remembered her work! The time came that aspect of networking--sharing and caring--found its perfect moment to benefit all of us and poet Magdalena Ball agree. We hope the rest will be history for those who want to celebrate our planet with us.   

An Interview with Ann Howley

Interview by Magdalena Ball

As some of you may already know, I've got a new book scheduled for release on Earth Day (April 22nd). There are a few aspects of this book that particularly excite me. One is that it's another poetry collaboration with talented poet Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Another is that it's a full-length poetry collection which is all environmentally themed, and we're partnering with a sustainability charity, using the profits to support a wonderful cause (more on that soon!). I'm also very excited about the amazing photographer we've partnered with: Ann Howley. Ann's work is so exquisite, inspired by her travels, her love of the natural world, and by what is clearly a very well-honed eye for the visual. Ann's work appears on the cover and inside the book and I've invited her to drop by the blog for a little chat.

Your images are so evocative - what inspires you?

I think I’m inspired by the moment. Since each moment is different and I am different in each moment, I am attracted to different things all the time. That makes it fun to look back at images from previous photo outings to relive what I was seeing at the time.

There's obviously a relationship between the looking, and the moment when you decide that what you're seeing has to be captured on camera - frozen in time or turned from perception into art. Talk to me about that and how you know when to take a photo.

My full dive into photography came just as digital cameras were coming popular. At the time, I was learning photography basics as well as dark room printing. The shift to digital allowed me to pursue photography in a big way because of the cost reduction. It used to cost me over $1,000 to get film processed after a trip. With digital, after the large cost investment in cameras, the cost is minimal. I don’t have fear of “wasting pixels.”

All that is to say that I don’t really think about when is the “right” moment any more. If I see something that intrigues me, I shoot. Sometimes it’s one shot and sometimes that starts me digging further into what I am seeing.

In 2009, you went on a pilgrimage. Tell me about the impact of that on your work.

Yes, I walked 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago across northern Spain. I think the pilgrimage expanded my ability to see, but also allowed me to not rely so much on my camera. About a third of the way into my pilgrimage, I damaged the borrowed camera I had brought (because my camera with accessories weighed seven pounds and was not conducive to backpacking!). While the camera sounded like it was capturing images, I had no way to be sure. I had to decide if the trip was about “the journey” or “capturing the journey”. I decided on the former and didn’t stop to get the camera repaired. With that, I packed the camera and only took it out for shots I really wanted. On shots I considered “must haves,” I set the camera on automatic, thinking it might compensate for the damage. Ironically, the camera was set up for very small files, so the images I wanted most, I didn’t get.

I will be going on my second pilgrimage this May to Portugal and Spain. It will be interesting to see how my answer to the question changes.

Much of your work is nature oriented. Has this always been the case for you? Why - what draws you to your subjects?

I think of my work as originally travel oriented, but I guess my travel choices are often nature oriented. I wanted to go to Africa ever since seeing the movie “Born Free” as a child. Once I visited Kenya and Tanzania in 1995, everything connected. What I love about shooting nature and wildlife is the peace of being in a beautiful setting, far away from everyday life. I love the quiet. I could sit watching a sunset or waiting for the perfect pose of a lion, bird or even butterfly for as long as the opportunity presents itself. It’s a meditation.

Do check out  Sublime Planet today. Consider giving a surprise gift to the one person who most exemplifies someone who loves the earth. An award of sorts. You'll find it on Amazon and other online bookstores as either a paperback or an e-book.

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Contributed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Don't Get in the Doghouse. Think Ahead for Valentine's and Get One Free!

Cherished Pulse
Subtitle: Unconventional Love Poetry
By Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
ISBN:9781449546052
Genre: Chapbook/Poetry
From the multi award-winning Celebration Series of chapbooks
Amazon sales page
Author's Web site: http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm

Valentine’s Day may be the holiday best made for poetry. A rose, a poem and thou.

Trouble is, many that we find on the inside covers of commercial greeting cards may be just a little too-too for many of us. Multi award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball to the rescue with Cherished Pulse, a chapbook of poetry just right for tucking into an envelope or sending off as an e-mail attachment to loved ones.

And right now, Cherished Pulse is available free with the KDP Select free e-book feature. All you do is go tohttp://bit.ly/Vs07hV on Jan 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15^th and click.

It takes only the click of a mouse!

And there is plenty of time for you to send the link so your special person can pick up their copy before the big V.

It's a mini gift and greeting card in one!

And it’s available for about any way you prefer to read your e-books (scroll for more on how to do that!)

Cherished Pulse includes many of the science-inspired poems Magdalena is famous for as well as Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. Chapbooks in the Celebration Series have won many awards including MWSA’s highest honor of gold and several from USA Book News.

It’s you who had me dreaming

lilacs, breathing April’s sweetest

tears…

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site. She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous five-star reviews. Her novel Sleep Before Evening was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Her new novel, Black Cow, is set in Australia.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets and Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (http://budurl.com/CarolynsTracings), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on the Celebration Series chapbooks, contact either author, or visit media rooms athttp://howtodoitfrugally.com or http://magdalenaball.com.

Vicki Thomas contributed the watercolors used on the cover and interior.To see her selections of her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com .

PS:Free Kindle books are available for about any format or reader you prefer. PC, iPhone, Android, Mac, etc. Just download the appropriate free app. The one for PCs is at
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

Valentine's Book With One Click--Free Limited Time

Title: Cherished Pulse
Subtitle: Unconventional Love Poetry
Genre: Poetry/holiday/Valentine's
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
Available FREE for Kindle or PC/Mac download
Available paperback
Poetry Chapbook o Valentine Greeting Card
ISBN: 9781449546052
Authors' Web sites: http://magdalenaball.com http://howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm

 

Valentine’s Day may be the holiday best made for poetry. A rose, a poem and thou.  Trouble is, many that we find on the inside covers of commercial greeting cards may be just a little too-too for many of us. Multi award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball to the rescue with Cherished Pulse, a chapbook of poetry just right for tucking into an envelope or sending off as an e-mail attachment to loved ones.

 

And right now, Cherished Pulse is available free with the KDP Select free e-book feature. All you do is go to http://bit.ly/Vs07hV on January 11, 12, 13, 14 and 14^th and click. And you don’t need to have a Kindle reader to benefit! It may be downloaded as a pdf to send to loved ones, or let Amazon do the work for you by sending directly from their site.

It takes only the click of a mouse!

 

And there is plenty of time for you to schedule delivery before February 14^th.

It's a mini gift and greeting card in one!

Cherished Pulse includes many of the science-inspired poems Magdalena is famous for as well as Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. Chapbooks in the Celebration Series have won many awards including MWSA’s highest honor of gold and several from USA Book News.

 

It’s you who had me dreaming

lilacs, breathing April’s sweetest

tears…

 

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site.  She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous five-star reviews.  Her novel Sleep Before Evening was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist and she just released a new novel set in Australia. It is Black Cow.  

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings ), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on the Celebration Series chapbooks, contact either author, or visit media rooms at http://howtodoitfrugally.com  or  http://magdalenaball.com.

Vicki Thomas contributed the watercolors used on the cover and interior. To see her selections of her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com .

 

 

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Support material available electronically or by post on request.

Two Poets Market Christmas E-Book by Giving It Away Free

 

Multi award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball figure nothing is more meaningful at any holiday than a poem—a real poem, not sing-songy impersonal verse from the shelves of card shops. They also noticed that many folks remember many people they forgot when it may be too late. 

Ta Da! We have are offering you our "rational" Christmas chapbook to procrastinators free. Enter the KDP Select free e-book feature. All you do is go to http://amzn.to/BloomingRedKind on Dec. 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 and click.

Anyone can send it free to anyone they'd like to have a thoughtful—and fast—Christmas gift with a click of a mouse (no not the same mouse that's in "The Night Before Christmas" poem!). The booklet Blooming Red: Christmas Poetry for the Rational was honored by the Military Writers Society of America and USA Book News award.

It's a mini gift and greeting card in one!

Blooming Red includes Maggie’s science-inspired and Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. It also includes some humorous poems for fair measure.

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site.  She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous 5-star reviews.  Her novel Sleep Before Evening was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist and she just released a new novel set in Australia. It is Black Cow.  

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (www.budurl.com/CarolynsTracings ), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America and She Wore Emerald Then won its highest honor of gold. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on any of the chapbooks in the Celebration series, contact either of the authors, or visit media rooms at www.howtodoitfrugally.com or  www.magdalenaball.com. To learn more about artist Vicki Thomas and to see her selections of her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com .

 

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Support material available electronically or by post on request.  Contact Magdalena Ball at magggieball@compulsivereader.com.

 

Idea for You Holiday Greetings: Idea for Marketing, Too

Little Known Poetry History: Chapbooks, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are named after the itinerant chapmen who travelled from village to village selling their goods.

My poetry partner Magdalena Ball and I figure there is no holiday greeting more meaningful than a poem—a real poem, not sing-songy impersonal verse from the shelves of card shops. With that in mind, we have created the Celebration Series of chapbooks and have released TaDa! Just in time for the holiday season! a chapbook titled Blooming Red: Christmas Poetry for the Rational.

Now, here’s the exciting part. Literature lovers everywhere can order these chapbooks with full-color covers by prize-winning water colorist Vicki Thomas for only $3. each. That’s only $75 for 25 of the most memorable holiday greetings you’ve ever sent to your friends and relatives. Each booklet is a card and gift in one.

Blooming Red includes Maggie’s science-inspired and Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry. It also includes some humorous poems for fair measure.
Here is one of the lighter-spirited ones from me:

Cruising Santa Clause©
After the season of pinescent
and candlewax, here is Santa

of the Seas, a ringer for the real guy.
Jolly round bearded face, sans a pipe

clenched tight in his teeth, wearing
his off-duty uniform, candy-cane-colored

running shoes, green gabardines, cranberry
worsted blazer, rhinestone-studded

lapel pin, and always with the Mrs, she as gray
as a Midwest winter day, beside his hollyberry

splendor. I peek discreetly. There walking
among Etruscan tombs, perched on remnants

of a Corinthian capitol at Ephesus
as if it were a stool, bright red and green

against the sand at Giza, wandering
through the ship’s casino, poking a placard

high to bid on a Kincaid canvas replica
(Ahhhh! The colored lights illuminating


the snow embellished by the master
himself). Best of all, night of nights! Santa

seated front row in the Stardust
Theater, other upfront guests volunteer
him to saw the gammy woman in red fringe
and sequins in half. He hesitates not a moment,

but went straight to his work.

The chapbooks in the Celebration Series include Cherished Pulse (for anyone you love), also with artwork from California artist Vicki Thomas (www.budurl.com/CherishedPulse); She Wore Emerald Then (for mothers on your gift list) with photographs by May Lattanzio (www.budurl.com/MotherChapbook); Imagining the Future: For Fathers and Other Masculine Apparitions (for the men in your life) (www.budurl.com/Imagining). And now Blooming Red for the special folks on your holiday list! (www.budurl.com/BloomingRed). All are available individually at only $6.95 on Amazon but are only $3. each when ordered in quantities of 25 or more directly from the poets. Put HOLIDAY ORDER in the subject line and send an e-mail to me at HoJoNews@aol.com . I will make payment arrangements with you and give you the small shipping cost for the number you order.

Magdalena Ball runs the highly respected CompulsiveReader.com review site. She is the author of the poetry book Repulsion Thrust, which was published to unanimous five-star reviews. Her novel Sleep Before Evening, was a Next Generation Indie Book Awards Finalist.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson's poetry appears frequently in review journals. She is listed in Poets & Writers and her chapbook of poetry, Tracings (http://budurl.com/CarolynsTracings), was given the Award of Excellence by the Military Writers Society of America and She Wore Emerald Then won its highest honor of gold. One of her poems recently won the Franklin Christoph Poetry Prize. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer and instructor for UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

For more information on any of the chapbooks in this poetry series, contact either of the authors or visit media rooms at www.howtodoitfrugally.com or www.magdalenaball.com. To learn more about artist Vicki Thomas and to see her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com/.

Wishing you a lovely autumn and winter season,
Carolyn

Sending the Love to Troops with Free E-Books

As many of you know, my grandson is back now from two tours of duty in Iraq and is now stationed (very luckily) near Monterrey, CA. Thus, the plight of our troops is a subject near and dear to my heart. My poetry writing partner Magdalena Ball and I are giving away e-copies of our chapbook of unconventional love poetry Cherished Pulse to 'our' troops overseas as part of Operation e-book drop. We hope it will help them celebrate our holiday of love and express our love to them--wherever they are in the world including Haiti where they're working night and day to bring relief to others.

We figured that many authors would want to do the same with their books. Find the links and more information on the program at http://www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com/.

If you prefer to send a real copy to someone, that is easy, too. It is only $6.95 on Amazon, certainly a doable gift. (The Amazon Link is in this post.) It makes a really beautiful gift with Vicki Thomas’s artwork and you can make it even prettier by tying a slender satin ribbon in the book's crease as a bookmark. Go to .

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson wrote the foreword for Eric Dinyer's book of patriotic quotations, Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Part of the proceeds for the book benefit Fisher House. Her chapbook of poetry won the Military Writers Society of America's award of excellence. Find it at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599240173/. Her novel, collection of creative nonfiction and much of her poetry is informed by interest in leading the world toward acceptance of one another. Find her web page dedicated to tolerance at http://www.carolynhowardjohnson.redenginepress.com/tolerence_and_utah_links.htm. If your Twitter followers would be interested, please pass this on to them using this widget: