M.L. Desir's Blog, page 29

A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 21

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Donal Og Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory Translated from an anonymous eighth-century Irish poem It is late last night the dog was speaking of you; the snipe was speaking of you in her deep marsh. It is you are the lonely bird through the woods; and that you may be without a mate until you find me. You promised me, and you said a lie to me, that you would be before me where the sheep are flocked; I gave a whistle and three hundred cries to you, and I found nothing there but a bl...

A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 20

 

The Red Flower Henry van Dyke, 1852 – 1933 June, 1914 In the pleasant time of Pentecost, By the little river Kyll, I followed the angler’s winding path Or waded the stream at will, And the friendly fertile German land Lay round me green and still. But all day long on the eastern bank Of the river cool and clear, Where the curving track of the double rails Was hardly seen though near, The endless trains of German troops Went rolling down to Trier. They packed the windows wit...

A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 19

Prayer at Sunrise James Weldon Johnson, 1871 – 1938

Now thou art risen, and thy day begun.
How shrink the shrouding mists before thy face,
As up thou spring’st to thy diurnal race!
How darkness chases darkness to the west,
As shades of light on light rise radiant from thy crest!
For thee, great source of strength, emblem of might,
In hours of darkest gloom there is no night.
Thou shinest on though clouds hide thee from sight,
And through each break thou sendest down thy light.

...

Genre Word Count Guide

Writing your first novel-Things you should know

You ever wonder how many words you need to have an acceptable novel? Well, it varies depending on the genre. I pulled the following list from Writer’s Digest and The Manuscript Appraisal Agency. There are slight differences in their numbers, but they are within the following range.

 Flash Fiction                                                   500  Novella                                                             10,000 – 40,000 Adult Mai...

A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 18

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Déjeuner Sur L’Herbe Edith Sitwell, 1887 – 1964

Green apples dancing in a wash of sun—
Ripples of sense and fun—
A net of light that wavers as it weaves
The sunlight on the chattering leaves;
The half-dazed sound of feet,
And carriages that ripple in the heat.
The parasols like shadows of the sun
Cast wavering shades that run
Across the laughing faces and across
Hair with a bird-bright gloss.
The swinging greenery casts shadows dark,
Hides me that I may mark
How, buzzing in th...

A Poem a Day Series – Day 17

[image error] Halloween Madison Julius Cawein It was down in the woodland on last Hallowe’en,    Where silence and darkness had built them a lair, That I felt the dim presence of her, the unseen,    And heard her still step on the hush-haunted air. It was last Hallowe’en in the glimmer and swoon    Of mist and of moonlight, where once we had sinned, That I saw the gray gleam of her eyes in the moon,    And hair, like a raven, blown wild on the wind. It was last Hallowe’en where starlight...

A Poem a Day Series – Day 16

Emancipation Day is a holiday in Washington DC to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Compensated Emancipation Act, which president Abraham Lincoln signed on April 16, 1862. It is annually held on April 16.

On Liberty and Slavery George Moses Horton Alas! and am I born for this, To wear this slavish chain? Deprived of all created bliss, Through hardship, toil, and pain! How long have I in bondage lain, And languished to be free! Alas! and must I still complain-- Depri...

Public School Students are Being Erased From TV, Movies and Other Media

gadflyonthewallblog

 

Ninety percent of America’s students go to public schools.

But you wouldn’t know that if you opened a book, turned on the TV or went to a movie.

The media is engaged in a disinformation campaign erasing public schools and public school students from our entertainments.

It’s another way marketing and advertising is forced down our throats and into our leisure hours.

Not only do the multi-billion dollar corporations who fund these entertainments want to convince us w...

Plagiarism, Citations and Footnotes #amwriting

Life in the Realm of Fantasy

I write posts for several other blogs besides Life in the Realm of Fantasy. During the week, I make a note of any interesting topic that might make a good blogpost. Today, the subject of citing sources came up again in conversation, so I am going back to an article I first published here on September 4, 2017.

This post pertains only to blogging. To use copyrighted material in your book, you need to contact the publisher. Follow their guidelines to obtain the righ...

A Poem a Day Series 2019 – Day 15

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Ts’ai Chi’h Ezra Pound, 1885 – 1972

The petals fall in the fountain,
the orange coloured rose-leaves,
Their ochre clings to the stone.

 

This poem is in the public domain.