Luanne Castle's Blog, page 7

Day 1 of WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 4 Book Blog Tour

Welcome to the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature” Book Blog Tour

I’m blessed to have poetry and a few photos in this delightful collection, alongside these other wonderful poets.

Until April

Four years ago the gardener and I visited Costa Rica. The pandemic started while we were there. In our hotel room, someone who cleaned our room left a small bottle of sanitizer. I remember being so grateful as I cleaned our airplane trays, etc., on the way home.

While in Costa Rica, I heard some stories that have inspired my own writing. One of my stories, a 50 word dribble called “Aftermath of a Childhood Accident,” was published in 50 Give or Take (hint: it has howler monkeys in it):

https://preview.mailerlite.com/l6x1f4e6p3/2432770394009115561/n3s1/?fbclid=IwAR0L4NZHoQy1TRHvXEWTOFmNj7R5U69KXx4BJL9xhh26dmPb5DZHML42TWc

I have been writing every day since February 1, and for the last three weeks taking care of my baby grandson every day while his parents are at work. I have other stuff going on, too, so I probably won’t post until in the early part of April.

What’s Going On

Editor Jeff Harvey at the brand new really hot lit journal Gooseberry Pie published one of my stories. The journal only publishes six sentence stories. Try to write one if you haven’t. They are really fun.

And You Thought it Was Just a Headache

Another thing going on is that Mad Swirl journal has published their annual anthology, and along with many stories and poems, they have featured the work of four artists. One of those is me, if you can believe it. Two of my collages. The anthology is available on Amazon.

It sounds like I’m busy, and I am, but mostly with taking care of my baby grandson all day! What a cutie. The only trouble is fitting in work, writing, art, and my daily walk. We’re working it out though, and he’s been so good today. However, yesterday, I typed a 100 word first draft with one hand while I held him!

I’m closing comments just because I it’s hard to respond one-handed–at least until I get used to it!

The Past Holds No Reality for Me at Masticadores USA

Editor Barbara Harris Leonhard has published my Remedios Varo inspired flash fiction story, “The Past Holds No Reality for Me,” at Masticadores USA. More surreal fun!!!

“The Past Holds No Reality for Me” by Luanne Castle

I would love it if you comment over there, if you have time. Turning off comments here. Hope you are having your best kind of weekend!

Flash Boulevard: Three Stories, Art Inspirations

The famous-for-flash Flash Boulevard has published three of my flash fiction stories. A big thank you to Editor Francine Witte, who is a well-known flash fiction writer.

I’m very excited to have my stories published at Flash Boulevard because they publish the best flash fiction writers, so to think that my stories are keeping company over there is dreamy.

The first two stories are inspired by Remedios Varo stories. The third was written after seeing Frida Kahlo’s “Wounded Deer” painting, although the story is not itself ekphrastic. Instead, it is about living with a variety of illness and health conditions. They are all surreal and yet relate to matters of the human heart. Please feel free to comment at the site. I will close comments here.

LUANNE CASTLE: When the daffodil doesn’t fit the scene

Uncatitional Love, Award-Winning Story at Writer Advice

My 100-word story, “Uncatitional Love,” was one of nine winners at the Writer Advice Flash Micro Contest. I won $30, which is quite extraordinary!

This story was inspired by all the cats who have ever been part of my life. My story is listed first of the nine when you go into the link, but enjoy some of the others while you’re in there. Image is from Pexels, not one of my cats.

https://writeradvice.com/the-contest-winners-are/?fbclid=IwAR0uz3jLk53BTkkVF7Us3eR5IQlz224QJaMTwKQgd2v0QGPpHsfJi90hrEg

I’ve been very migrainatious for the past week or more, so I didn’t participate in #TankaTuesday last week. Not sure if I will this week or not as it depends how I am feeling. So we will see . . . .

UPDATE: Early Spring in Arizona and Writing News (#TankaTuesday)

In this post I forgot to mention a reading that Storyteller Journal had this past weekend. I read one of my poems from Kin Types, a poem I’ve never read aloud before. Here’s a link if you’re interested. My poem is at the 20 minute mark.

The challenge for 24 Seasons Syllabic Poetry Challenge, No. 21 is Early Spring, Part II. I wrote a Butterfly Cinquain because I liked the name and the idea of it for early spring. I have bolded the kigo words, “coming of spring.”

The Weather Has Shifted Toward Spring

Today

I celebrate

the coming of spring days

the sun has turned up its wattage

I smile

without even realizing

so glad for sun-kissed skin

for blossoms tipped

upward

###

The Power of the Feminine I, Volume 1, a poetry anthology edited by Christal Ann Rice Cooper and Donna Biffar is one of the most exciting anthologies I’ve read. The perspective of each poem is from a feminine speaker, and the inspirations come from mythology, history, the female body, and the contemporary world. The breadth of subjects is astonishing, and the poems well-crafted. I am thrilled to have a poem in this book, keeping company with work by many of the finest poets. I expect Volume 2 to be just as exceptional as this one.

My poem is about a healer woman accused of being a witch. I’ll have two more in the second volume. But SERIOUSLY this is a book you want. I am so impressed with all these wonderful poems. It would also make a great gift for anyone interested in women’s voices, women’s history, feminism, etc.

This thick book is only $10.99 on Amazon–or if you prefer a Kindle version, only $3!

The Lothlorien Poetry Journal has published a new volume. Five of my poems are in there, along with lots of poetry by other poets.

If you’re reading this today, February 14, Happy Valentine’s Day. Currently, my Valentine is my grandson, who is the cutest baby the world has ever known.

Review of Britney Spears’ Memoir

The other day I finished reading Britney Spears’ memoir, The Woman in Me. It was my daughter’s book, and she read it first. I have a few thoughts, but first thought I would share the NY Times review. It does a great job of describing the meat of the book–what Britney says she has gone through with her family, career, love life, and mental health. It doesn’t mention the quality of the writing. Leave that to me ;).

If you find a paywall in the following article and would like to read , email me at luanne[dot]castle[at]gmail[dot]com.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/19/books/review/britney-spears-woman-in-me.html

***

The Woman in Me was actually written by ghostwriter Sam Lansky, a music journalist, along with Britney. So I do think that what is most important about the book is exactly what the NY Times reviewer wrote about: Britney’s life as she sees it.

But let me mention why I was interested in reading about Britney. I’m not a big fan of pop music, especially anything post 70s, but I did like “Toxic” and a few other songs; however, I wasn’t a fan per se. I’ve followed her career because my daughter, who is 5 or 6 years younger than Britney, was a huge fan. Such a big fan that when my daughter, a dancer and singer from a young age, was in callbacks for a regional theatre production (that was local to us) at age fifteen, she ran out in the middle in order to make it in time to a Britney concert.

Since she meant so much to my daughter, I kept up with Britney’s outer world. Britney started her career, truly, with her stint on the Mickey Mouse Club where she met other kids who went on to become famous, such as Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Ryan Gosling. My daughter who was very talented at dance from a young age begged me repeatedly to take her to Los Angeles to audition for . . . everything. We lived a couple of hours away, so it wouldn’t have been impossible to do this. But I’ve always thought that we have clear evidence that the life of a child performer is dangerous. It tends to screw up their adult lives. And I think in many cases–and this is true in Britney’s case–it corrupts the adults who are supposed to be safeguarding the child. I (and my daughter’s dad was in complete agreement) would not let her audition for anything out of our local area until she was an adult. By then she was off to college, studying musical theatre.

Reading this memoir confirmed for me that I had made the right decision for my daughter because what she found out as an adult is that the performing world is difficult even for adults. We see Britney now as a vulnerable, mentally ill woman, but what she has gone through has undoubtedly been horrific for her and her mental health. I still believe I was right that the #freeBritney movement was correct. Her imprisonment by her father should have led to his imprisonment in a U.S. prison, in my opinion. I wish there was better mental health care for Britney Spears and the millions of other sufferers, but unfortunately our mental health system is not good. And someone as rich and famous as Britney was a real target–especially by those close to her.

I promised I would address the quality of the writing of the book. Let me put it this way. Last night I asked my daughter what she thought about the book. The first thing she said was that she read it thinking what I, a writer, thought about the writing of it. “It seemed disjointed and choppy. Did you think so?” Yup, I sure did. Events were out of sequence for no good reason. For a ghostwritten book, it could have been so much better. I have no idea how hard it was for Sam Lansky to work with Britney or how much editing she did of the book herself, but the quality of the writing is subpar. Even so, I couldn’t put the book down because I wanted to hear about Britney’s life from her perspective, and that was worth it to me.

The Shadow’s Man at Masticadores USA

Editor Barbara Harris Leonhard has published my Remedios Varo inspired 100-word story The Shadow’s Man at Masticadores USA. Hope you like another fun time in Varo’s surreal world.

“The Shadow’s Man” by Luanne Castle

Here’s an image of the Varo:

Remedios Varo – Shadow Man (1963)
byu/earthmoonsun inmuseum

101 Words Published by 101 Words, Or the Story of a Cat and a Woman

Editor Shoshauna Shy has published my 101-word story, “Home is Where the Heart Is,” at 101 Words.

Home Is Where the Heart Is

This story was inspired by my dear cat Perry.