Cynthia A. Morgan's Blog, page 116

#WordlessWednesday – Meander

[image error]

.

[image error]

.

[image error]

.

[image error]

.

[image error]

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Photographs found on Pinterest. Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original Photographers

#RomanticTuesday #LovePoetry – One Single Word

 

[image error]

.

This part of me that Waits

In Silence

Singing Sweetly in the Hush

Stillness Clamoring to be Heard

Through the Heartbeat of

One Single Word

Spoken, yet Whispered

Unheard; Still Shared,

The Vastness of Time

Quieting the scared

With vestiges of Hope

Singing Sweetly in the Hush

Neither Shouting or Debating

Amid the Flowers

Fertile and Lush

Blossoming from One Single Word

Shared intangibly,

Yet Inexorably Heard!

.

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Original Artwork by:  Michael & Inessa Garmash 

#RomanticTuesday #LovePoetry – As You, Most Beloved

[image error]

.

Touch my hand with Your Enticing Warmth,

Draw me in like a Sweet Breath

Under the Blissful Balm of Starlit Night,

Where the Heavens Reach in spangled Glory.

Tapestry of Dreams,

Song of Echoes,

Stirring the Wandering musings of my mind

In Dizzy spells of Enchantment,

As You Do, My Most Beloved One.

Lean Near to me beneath this Shrine of Ancient Light,

Allow me to Gaze in Breathless Wonder

Into the Remarkable Depths of Your Lustrous stare,

Beguiled and Bewildered

By the Intoxicating Allure I See,

Spinning my Senses with the Wealth of Splendor

Spanning O’er our Heads,

As You Do, My Most Beloved One.

Press Your Perfect lips to mine

In the silhouette of Luminous Moonlight,

Undo my every notion with the Blush of Your Sweet Kiss,

And Listen to the Heartbeat of my Pure Elation,

Like the Mystical Symphony of Harmonious cosmos

Singing in Resplendent tones of Purest Joy,

Matchless in its Exquisiteness,

As You Are, My Most Beloved One.

.

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Photograph found at: themetapicture.com

#WorkInProgress – Angel of Mercy – A #PostApocalyptic #Psychological #Romance #Teaser

[image error]

.

Two brief excerpts from my current (third!) Work In Progress.  Not entirely sure how to categorize it yet, maybe you can tell me…Its set in the future, AFTER the Apocalypse.  It’s about mortals and Immortals, Hate and Love, Fear and Romance.  Yes it will have STEAM, Violence, Spirituality and a hint of Dsytopian flair.  I don’t know…would that make it A Psychological/Metaphysical Romantic Thriller?

.

Year 296 of the 4th Era after the Great Cataclysm: Le Bastion de la Résolution, – Marçais, Olde France

She was only a scullery maid.  Nothing.  No one.  She was as unimportant as the scraps she cleaned up and just as forgettable.  She had been her entire life and nothing would ever change that. She knew it and she expected nothing.  Ever since she was five years old she understood that those around her were far better than she.  Her life was trivial and meaningless; she accepted it.

Those she served were as far above her as she was above the barn rats.  Her betters were interesting, beautiful, wealthy, and above all, powerful.  When they spoke, others rushed to serve; where they wished to go, others made way.  They were inaccessible and inescapable.  Officers of the Eminent Protectorate and their families, they outranked even the nobles of the land and none questioned them.  The Eminent Protectorate were the elite of society and to serve them was a privilege most could only dream of in a world where poverty was common-place, where being healthy was a rare distinction among the masses of Mortal Plague, and where Time had stopped……..

Every night she could hear the screams.  Harrowing, they kept her awake many long nights while she leaned from her small window in the servant’s tower desperately trying to locate their source, but the stone walls of the bastion sent echoes pealing in all directions.  They broke her heart, at first, but after many weeks of hearing them she’d grown accustomed to the noise.  It wasn’t so much that they didn’t affect her anymore, but she accepted them, just as she accepted her own plight. The Eminent Protectorate could not and would not be questioned about them, or about anything they did, so whoever the poor soul was, they were doomed to bear whatever was happening without any more hope of rescue than she might wish for.  Less.  ……

Year 276 of the 4th Era after the Great Cataclysm: The Coast of Calais, Olde France  

He stood on the vast ocean shore, his back to what was left of a once vibrant land as his deep violet gaze searched the empty miles of gray water.  His essence listened for any sign of life, a heartbeat remaining among the silence of the deeps, but not a single pulse broke the deathly hush.  Pestilence had done his job too well.  Nothing remained.  All that was once beautiful, colorful and diverse was gone.

The thought pained him and he closed his eyes, bowing his head to mourn what had been sacrificed and all that had been lost.  No terns cried upon the ocean breeze; no laughing gulls sang praise to the skies, there was only the sound of the waves rushing and breaking upon the rocky shore and the hollow moan of the wind. Without wings to dance upon it, the air itself was barren and grief-stricken.  The ruddy glimmer of the late day sun, slowly fading into a crimson haze since Time had ground to a halt, played through the waves of his blonde hair and sparkled across the perfection of his features.  Standing there at the beginning of endless emptiness, he was the most beautiful sight for countless miles.

Behind him, a thunder of hooves pounded across the beach and the voices of men cursing in anger accosted the quietness.  He did not turn to face them as they formed a perimeter around him, barricading him against the sea, nor did he immediately answer when they demanded to know who he was; instead, he closed his eyes and sighed wearily.  Nothing had changed, even after the cataclysm that had shaken the foundations of the world; hate, suspicion and fear still ruled those who remained…..

.

[image error]

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Original Artwork  by Jules-Joseph-Augustin Laurens (top) and by aenaluck.deviantart.com (bottom)

#MusicandMuseMonday – Platinum Maiden #MusicalPoetry

 

.

[image error]

.

Light that Sings, Soft and Supple,

Phantom Luminance Guiding Erebus,

Entrancing Goddess, Lonely and Temporal,

Trade your Dalliance with Boisterous Apollo

And Rule in Gentle Splendor

While Silver Silence Dances on the Waters.

Shadows Bow in gothic Reverence,

Soliloquy Encompasses Lore,

Dance, Fair Maiden, of Platinum Complexion

While Terrestrial mortals Conjure Yore.

.

~Morgan~

.

.

.

The Music and Muse category by Morgan shares Poetry and the Music which Inspired it.

.

Beautiful Original Artwork by: Josephine Wall

Lamentation by: Delirium

#GuestBlogger #Author Mary Deal Shares some #WritingTips!

[image error]

.

Explanatory articles covering myriad intrinsic details such as these related to writing are included in my self-help volume, Write It Right – Tips For Authors – The Big Book. The Amazon URL: https://tinyurl.com/yanfjdeh

The Letter S

Drop the letter s. If you believe that one letter couldn’t possibly cause you to receive a rejection, I encourage you to think again, especially if the same mistake recurs throughout your manuscript.

Incorrect usage comes from the lax attitude about our English language. Most people speak in jargon or a brogue that comes from a certain locale. I call it family hand-me-down language.  Truth is, no matter from where you hail, your written grammar must be correct for the broader reading audience.

I’m speaking of the letter s. Check out these sentences:

She ran towards the garage.

The ball rolled backwards.

Look upwards.

These sentences are all incorrect. That is, the use of the letter s is incorrect.

The letter s denotes something plural. In the first sentence, moving toward something means you can only go in one direction. Toward.

If the ball rolled backward, it can only go in one direction. Backward.

To look upward, you can only look in one direction. Upward.

Not surprising, an example of an exception is:

She leaned sideways.

The rule here is that when leaning, you can lean sideways in more than one direction, therefore the use of the letter s.

You’ll find many other words that are incorrectly used with s endings. When you find these, make note of them, maybe a running list. You’ll have the list to refer back to when you question your own writing.

This is but one of the finite idiosyncrasies of producing better grammar when writing stories and books that you hope to sell. Study your own language and speech.

Watch how the s is used or omitted in books that you love to read.

Get into the habit of listening to the speech patterns of others. Think critically of what you hear, but never criticize of a person who speaks that way. Instead, mentally analyze what you have heard. Learn the right from the wrong of speech and your writing will reflect your knowledge.

Those S and ES Endings

These endings have always troubled me until I finally decided to get it right. Compare the versions and pick out the correct usages in this name ending with the letter s.

The Joneses came for dinner.

The Jones’s came for dinner.

The Jones came for dinner.

 

John Joneses car stalled.

John Jones car stalled.

John Jones’s car stalled.

 

That Jones’s girl.

That Joneses girl.

That Jones girl.

 

The correct sentences are:

 

The Joneses came for dinner.

John Jones’s car stalled.

That Jones girl.

Some tips:

When a name ends with an s, and when speaking of the family as a group, add es, as in Joneses.

When speaking about something John Jones owned, it is his property and, therefore, an apostrophe and s shows ownership, as in Jones’s.

When speaking about a person in the singular, use only the name Jones.

However, when speaking about a group of girls all named Jones, you would write that sentence: The Jones girls. Notice that the name stays the same but the s is added to the word girl, stating more than one exists with that name.

MY BIO

Mary Deal is an award-winning author of suspense/thrillers, a short story collection, writers’ references, and self-help. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, Artist and Photographer, and former newspaper columnist and magazine editor. She is currently writing the third story in her Sara Mason Mystery Series, and a romance novel is now being published, which is a new genre for her. Other books coming soon will include her first poetry book and a second collection of more of her short stories.

She has traveled a great deal and has a lifetime of diverse experiences, all of which remain in memory as fodder for her fiction. A native of California’s Sacramento River Delta, where some of her stories are set, she has also lived in England, the Caribbean, Hawaii, and now resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is also an oil painter and photographer. Her art is used to create gorgeous personal and household products from her online galleries.

Find Her Online

Her Website: https://www.marydeal.com

Amazon Author Page: https://tinyurl.com/3z8pm31

Barnes & Noble: https://tinyurl.com/o7keqf7

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mdeal

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mary_Deal

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marydeal

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/105175192934570097998

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MaryDeal

Her Art Galleries

Mary Deal Fine Art: https://www.marydealfineart.com

Island Image Gallery: https://www.islandimagegallery.com

Mary Deal Fine Art and Photography: https://www.facebook.com/MDealArt

LocalMe: https://www.redbubble.com/people/localme

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/1deal

.

~Mary Deal~

If you’d like to be a Guest Blogger on Booknvolume

Penniless Hearts – #GuestBlogger Eve Gaal

[image error]

April 18-2018- Thanks Cynthia for having me on your blog.

The unique thing about Penniless Hearts is that it’s hard to categorize my book’s genre as a typical romance, adventure or mystery. I’ve been told it’s humorous. Though funny in parts, it’s not slapstick funny all the way through. Some reviews call it screw-ball comedy. Some call it a beach read. I think of it as a fictional tapestry of good versus evil. Short vignettes interspersed with mild doses of pain, coming together with an emotional climax. I honestly planned the plot holes because I wanted the reader to infer my meaning, without bogging them down with too many boring details. No one ever told me the book was dull. Of course, I think it’s unique, but will you? Our publisher knows how to keep our group interesting and diverse. I’ve read several books by Creativia authors and find them fascinating. So many interesting characters!

Twists

Like everything truly enjoyable, there must be a twist. Like chocolate-twisted brioche, the more twists the better. Penniless Hearts is filled with short, seemingly unconnected chapters. Nowadays some readers have OCD or fashionably diminutive attention spans. Not you, of course. There’s also the rampant problem called limited time. Both conditions are spreading like wildfire.

One of my favorite humor writers says:

The greatest sin for a writer is to be boring- Carl Hiaasen

Even reading the book reviews can be entertaining—well they are to me anyway. The main theme is about a journey. Penny, my main character is going to Hawaii. That’s when trouble begins. In our modern, interconnected, wireless world, if you don’t charge your cell phone and lose your ATM card, strange things can keep you separated from those you love. Do you enjoy adventures that take you on a vacation somewhere?

Love

But Penny’s not sure about love. In fact, in the beginning of the book she’s pretty much relegated love to her fantasies. And like many cynical, would be lovers, true love is a make-believe creation that rides around on a white stallion and looks impossible to find.

Fortunately, in my personal life, I met a Prince from my imagination in the early nineties. No white stallion–just a beat up old, red truck and some pre-teen kids. We were married in Hawaii and it was dreamy enough to call us back to the islands for our first anniversary where the luster of our honeymoon looked different. Those cracks in the veneer of hospitality gave me a glimpse into what would someday help with the setting of Penniless Hearts. And though our love blossomed, and my daily newspaper position kept me busy, there were dramatic issues involving our stepchildren. Horrific issues. That kept me awake at night, while also providing fodder for my novel.

A Real Heroine

Finally, I left the paper and moved from Murrieta to the desert town of La Quinta, where I had time to write. Maybe I could inspire others to find true love? I had four reasons to write Penniless Hearts: First, I wanted my siblings to find spouses and thought that perhaps a sister’s words could prove there is hope at the end of the dating tunnel. Second, I wanted to indirectly thank the graphic artists who had worked hard to please me in the newspaper business. I also wanted to bring awareness to the endangered sea turtles of Hawaii. Lastly, I needed a main female character who could overcome, overachieve and triumph when facing the unthinkable. A true heroine.

Bestselling author Marilyn Collier said this about my character Penny:

“This is a wild escape fiction for someone that wants to laugh, root for or want to shake the heroine.”

Research

Those two trips to the islands, the internet, used books, old maps and travel articles rounded out my research. After watching hours of videotaped volcanic eruptions and online helicopter flights, all I needed was the tranquility of the desert to write Penniless Hearts. The added benefit is that after watching all those videos I can fly a helicopter and dodge flowing lava at a moments notice. Yeah sure, I’m kidding.

If you read Penniless Hearts and enjoy it, please write me a note or post a review to tell me all about it.

Bestselling author Norma Beishir wrote:

“Penniless Hearts is one of the best novels I’ve read in a very long time.”

New & Fresh

We have returned to the area we lived in before we moved to the arid desert. I live in a semi-rural place called Wildomar. It’s interesting to find out historic Wildomar has been around for a very long time. While I live in a commuter-styled, suburban home, there are bucolic ranch homes with horses nearby. Unlike the desert where we had to drive five miles for a loaf of bread, we can walk less than a mile for everything. We can even drive a short distance to a dairy for fresh milk! Plus, the climate is perfect.

Anyway, I have almost finished writing the romantic sequel to Penniless Hearts. It’s called Penniless Souls and I’m still polishing it up. It’s a tad darker, and though I can’t say the subject is light and lively, Penny gets caught up in all sorts of adventure and heartache, but this time in Vegas, instead of Hawaii. The only thing keeping her sane, is the thought that life is a game of chance. But is it?

Watch for Penniless Souls soon.

~Eve Gaal~

I really enjoyed visiting. Thanks again for this opportunity. Please stop by my blog if you have a chance at http://evegaal.blogspot.com

.

If you’d like to be a Guest Blogger on Booknvolume

Truce – #Haiku

[image error]

.

A Delicate Truce

Soft Colour and Perspective

Exemplified Joy

.

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Photograph found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the Original Photographer.  Thank You~

Belief – #Inspirational #Poetry #Quotes

[image error]

.

Belief

Teaches my heart that All is Possible,

All is Ready Standing, Waiting upon my own Acceptance,

My own Belief, my own Unfettering Faith

To Set Free the wheels of the universe

And Create my Heart’s Desire;

Yet in this dark and weary place,

Where fear crushes dreams

And doubt hangs hopes,

What is Remarkably Possible if often considered improbable,

And Faith sits down in the shadows, her hands tied.

The slippery slope of lost Hope

Dashes Charisma against the rocks and shakes Vigor to the core;

Compressing Life to only what is seen, felt, heard.

Lost are the Whispers,

Lost are the Potent Promises that Move Mountains,

Lost are the Smiles of Satisfaction and Purpose.

Still, even in this dark place, where Angels wait, muted by skepticism;

When all is clouded o’re and dim,

One Word shall Lift the Indomitable Spirit,

One Affirmation will Raise the Irrepressible Soul;

Shattering cynicism, Collapsing disbelief,

And Building Bridges to the Unimagined.

~Morgan~

.

.

.

Beautiful Photograph found at: summitchristian.org

Modified to contain Quote by Morgan

#FridayFantasy #CharacterSpotlight – The Healer

[image error]

.

A Fellow author recently interviewed Me about one of my lesser known characters from Dark Fey, so I chose to share the Character spotlight in its entirety today. I hope you will enjoy learning about The Healer, who becomes one of the main characters throughout the pages of book two, Standing In Shadows.

Tell me a bit about your character. Who are they, how old are they? What do they look like? His name is Evondair and he comes into the story in Dark Fey: Standing In Shadows.  He is a youthful Healer just beginning his dedicated years of practice round about the age of 25, though I never do specify.  He is an average height for a malefey, standing 5’10”, and has a trim, powerful physique.  The golden-blond waves of his shoulder length hair accentuate the deep viridian of his eyes and his expansive white wings.  He is beautifully handsome, but far from arrogant about it.

Do they have any strange or unique physical traits? Most Fey are either telepathic, empathic or have a gift of discernment and Evondair’s gift of discernment is exceptional. He is able to understand another as completely as they know themselves and can usually tell truth from lies with relative ease. Although he has no gift of magic, as some Fey do, he is also a skilled Healer of innate ability.

Does the character have any quirks? In spite of his harmonious nature, he has an impishly mischievous side, as well as an unpredictably short temper, particularly for a Healer.

Where do they live? What’s it like there? Evondair resides within the Temple Complex of Hwyndarin in simple quarters, but the Temple is the center of all learning and contemplation for the village, filled with lush gardens, tranquil devotionaries, vast libraries, and the Healing Wards where he studied and practices. Peopled by artisans, scholars, Celebrants, and the Triune Elders, it is by far the most luxurious and beneficial place to live on the entire continent.

What is their role in the story? Are they the protagonist/antagonist, a supporting character? Evondair stepped into the story of Standing In Shadows quietly, as his nature would dictate, but he has become a central, supporting character with a clear purpose. His harmonious inclination leads him to make a choice that will ultimately guide many others; changing the entire relationship between the Fey of the Light and the Dark Fey forever.  (no spoilers here!