Arlene Lagos's Blog, page 11
February 16, 2013
Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors
As many of you know, I have been involved with a writers group of sixteen authors that have been writing short stories to be included in two anthology’s under the pen name, Professor Limn. I’m happy to announce that Book I, “Giant Tales Beyond The Mystic Doors” is now available on Amazon.com. Read below for more details and check out the link.
Now available for purchase on Amazon.com for $2.99
The three-minute stories in this anthology, Giant Tales Beyond the Mystic Doors, are full of suspense, surprise endings, and fantastic thrillers, which will surprise you, alarm you, and take you to unexpected places beyond the mystic doors.
Sixty-one stories written by sixteen authors, each tale is sure to take you to a new place with new characters. Moving with surprise twists and turns, this work of fiction is a real page-turner.
Take an unexpected journey beyond the mystic doors where you will experience all new stories, fresh and first-rate workmanship.
In essence, the three-minute tales of fantasy and thrillers will keep you turning the pages for more.
Stay tuned for the launch of the second installment of Professor Limn’s short stories in book two, “Giant Tales From The Dismal Swamp” coming soon.
February 11, 2013
An Interview With Musician Juliet O’Day
At what age did you realize you loved music?
I started taking piano lessons when I was six. It was tough to get really good at that age because I would rather be outside with my brother and his friends than practicing. I took-up sax when I was 13. I played in a school stage band and a jazz band that ended up going to Europe one summer and playing in the Montreux International Jazz Festival. I kind of stopped with the instruments when I went to college. I refused to play in a marching band and that is what you would have had to do to be able to play in the school jazz program; it wasn’t for me.
What events in your life do you think shaped you as a musician?
After my freshman year at college, my brother and I were in a car accident. My brother died two weeks after the accident, and I had a head injury that put me in a coma for 6 weeks. It was, and still is very tough because he was my best friend. A few years later I started to get back into playing the guitar. I then did a little banjo, bought a drum set, and learned a little bass. I started to write my own music and that has been really fun.
Who are some of your musical influences?
I have really loved Pink Floyd most of my life. Melissa Ethridge and Sheryl Crow are the ladies I prefer to listen to now. Dave Matthews is a great artist. I really love the alternative folk sound. But, I also love to give all types of music a chance. There is so much out there and you really can miss out if you limit yourself.
Is there any music you won’t listen to and why?
I try to be open-minded about a lot of stuff out there, but sometimes it’s hard. I find a lot of the Hip Hop very degrading to women and find it difficult to think about the young girls listening to it and thinking that they have to do or be involved in some of the crazy junk that they are singing about. I believe it also teaches young boys that this is what girls like and that those things are normal. I can’t believe some of the stuff I hear. I sound like my parents!
What do you want your songs to be about?
I like for people to hear things they need to hear when they need to hear it, to be inspired, something that can give them hope.
Just Released:
My interpretation of Amy Grant’s “Breathe of Heaven” Juliet O’Day- vocals, guitar, and sax. Additional guitar by Craig Smith
If you would like to hear more of Juliet O’Day Music just click on the link.
You can also “like” her page on Facebook by clicking here.
February 10, 2013
Furnishing Your Home on a Budget
Furnishing Your Home on a Budget
So you’ve finally found the perfect place to hang your hat, but now you can barely afford a hanger. As you compile a list of all the things you need from couches to coffee cups you become overwhelmed with the idea of visiting yard sale after hopeless yard sale. It would be so much easier to look for things from the comfort of your own computer and guess what? You can. Here are two of the best ways to furnish your house from top to bottom for…FREE.
That is not a typo, free. Having been in this position, I can tell you that with the diligent use of just two websites, I was able to fully furnish my entire three bedroom home with free couches, chairs, coffee tables, televisions, bedroom furniture, clothes, toys, plates, utensils, appliances and more! If you don’t own a computer, you can visit your local town library and use there’s for free.
If you click on Craigslist and search for your region, go under the sale column and you will see a link that says free. Click on it and it will take you to every free item in your area. An easier way to widdle down that list to towns near you is to simply type the name of a town you live near into the search box. You would be amazed the items people no longer want. One of the first things I got off of Craigslist for free believe it or not was a coffee maker! It was a restaurant style one with four burners that came with both regular and decaffeinated glass pots (think orange tops). From bed frames to area rugs you will find what you are looking for and most of the time in better condition than you would expect. www.craigslist.org
‘The Freecycle Network™ is made up of over 5,000 groups with close to 9 million members around the world. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns.’ The idea is simple and the membership is free. Simply go on the website and pick a group that’s closest to where you live. You can post things you “want” or you can wait and see what people have to “offer”. Everything is free and is available on a first come – first serve basis.
The first time I used freecycle I posted that I “Wanted” a washing machine. Someone from the group emailed me the next day that lived in the same town as me and now I have a free washing machine that is only two years old and is probably worth about $900.
I furnished my entire home in less than a month for free and continue to look for things I might want but can’t afford such as a used Xbox machine and games for my child. The greatest thing about this is that you are not only saving money, but you are saving the environment!
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Relax!
February 1, 2013
Making A Scene by Trudy Doyle
Move over Ana, there’s a new girl in town and she doesn’t have soft or hard limits, just fifty shades of red-hot writing! Today debut’s the release of “Making A Scene” by Author Trudy Doyle.
Crimes & Misdemeanors, Book One
Pamela Flynn, author of a hot detective series, has one week to get her sexy alter egos to finally drop the double entendre and make it real. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but ever since Pam caught her live-in boyfriend in bed with her oldest friend, she’s been cursed with the continual blank page.
Enter the smokin’-hot owner of the neighborhood’s new coffee bistro, ex-cop Roark Carmelli, who is only too happy to help Pam crush her writer’s block. Inspiring her in ways she’s never dreamed, he brings all her fantasies to life on a stake out, in a limo, and during one unforgettably erotic night overlooking Central Park.
A Romantica® contemporary erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Excerpt:
I walk in the door and it’s all wood paneling and velvety sofas and chairs, each low table lit with cozy little hurricane lamps. The piano player has some slow and bluesy riff going, and I take a seat at the backlit bar and order. But when I push a twenty at the bartender as he sets my sherry down, he shakes his head and says, “It’s taken care of.”
“What?” I ask. “By who?”
He tilts his head to the right and I look to the other end of the bar.
“By me,” says Roark. “Good evening.”
Good golly. I’m lucky it’s dark in there because just the sight of my fantasy incarnate must have me flushing as red as a whore’s nightlight. He looks delicious, his dark hair tousled from the wind, his cheekbones even higher than I remembered. I smile and, lifting my glass, say, “Thanks,” adding, much to my own disbelief, “Why don’t you join me?”
TRUDY DOYLE has worked as a newspaper reporter, advertising copywriter, mortgage loan officer, casino slot cashier, proofreader and bookseller, and is currently an Assistant Professor of English, all while writing some of the most cogent and incisive novels known to modern literature. Besides continually exceeding the bar, she believes 70% cacao chocolate should qualify for a tax deduction, James Carville and Rush Limbaugh ought to settle it once and for all in a naked Jell-O pit fight, and Maureen Dowd is the new Mark Twain. Trudy lives, writes and waxes political deep in the heart of Southern New Jersey.
January 31, 2013
Still Beating
Still Beating
Trusted and believed in all the words which were spoken
The heart that you deceived lay ‘neath my feet harshly broken
Three times uncharmed, should know better by now,
Three times, played a fool- quite a show, take a bow
Deafened by the words you speak
I fall so fast, trust so easy
Words aren’t as strong, if actions are weak
Don’t tell me, show me how you’ll please me
Actions speak louder than any man’s lies
Love should be displayed, not hidden in disguise
Never again will I settle for second best
Love me honestly, or disappear like the rest
Everything that I am, only an honest heart can see
Bound together with the heart that beats inside of me
Time has passed, my heart hides upon a shelf
One day I will again share it with someone else
But only when I learn to first love myself.
Afterword:
This poem is about being played a fool by love. But it is not love who plays you for a fool, it’s your belief that you need someone else’s attention or validation in order to exist. Freud and many after him believed that in the stages of development and growth, one’s own identity should come before the stage of intimacy is approached. For how can we fully give ourselves to another if we are not even sure who we are? Many try to find someone to fill their void, define them, and make them feel whole. That’s why the love doesn’t come. It can’t. Love comes out of truth and identity. You cannot ask someone to love you if you do not love yourself. Start there, then you will know at the very least, what real, unconditional love looks like.
January 29, 2013
Waking
WAKING
It feels like I’ve been running for hours. Surprisingly, my feet don’t hurt even though their covered in cuts and bruises. Stopping to check my left side where I hit the road after jumping from the moving vehicle, I see a large gash and some dried blood. Shock must be setting in because I feel nothing at all. Sliding down the side of a large maple tree beside a muddy swamp, I hold my head in my hands trying to put the pieces back together.
We had been arguing in the car; Jake was driving, swerving, drunk. He struck me in the jaw; I was rolling down a hill and into the woods. Jake wasn’t perfect. He drank a lot and sometimes he got loud, and sometimes I got hit. I knew when to keep my mouth shut. But this time was different, this time he seemed unable to control himself.
Staring into the swamp I see something move and distance myself less I be eaten. The wind gusts up a cyclone of leaves that surround me. Frightened, I walk fast in the opposite direction. A few minutes later I find myself back at the swamp.
“How on earth?”
“You can’t leave,” says a voice.
Spinning around I find a young man in his teens standing in front of me. His face is pale and lifeless. Darting as fast as I can in the other direction, I try to outrun him, just to find him standing in front of me.
“How did you do that?” I gasp
“I’m dead. I died here a few years ago. They still haven’t found my body, so they probably won’t find yours either.”
He points to a small area near the edge of the swamp where I see my hand jutting out of the leaves, my favorite bracelet dangling off the end of it.
“I don’t…”
“You don’t remember, but I saw the whole thing. That man beat you in the side of the head with a rock and buried you in the ground just a few inches from me. That’s why you can’t leave. You’re soul is tied to your body,” he said.
“Jake…killed me?”
“Jake! I can’t believe I forgot his name. I’ll never forget that face though,” he said.
“Did you know Jake?”
“Hah! Jake was my neighbor. He’d always harass my mom and one time I told my Dad and he laid Jake out with one punch! My dad was awesome! That pissed Jake off and he hated me after that. For months he wouldn’t come near our house, even look our way. Then one day he got drunk and kidnapped me as I was walking home from school. He took me out here and drowned me in this swamp,” he said.
“You’re that missing boy, Daniel?” I ask
“Yes, that’s my name, Daniel! I almost forgot,” he said.
“You’ve been out here this whole time?” I ask
“Yes. My body was never given a proper burial, so my soul is stuck here until they find me,” he said.
Walking over to the area where our bodies were buried I try to move the leaves but am unable to. Daniel walks over and puts his arm around me but it falls through not making contact.
“That’s impossible!” he says.
“What?”
“I can’t touch you. If something’s dead I can usually touch it, but you…are… fading!”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re still alive!”
“We need to wake me up! I have a cell phone in my pocket, I can call for help! Help me wake up Daniel!” I beg.
He starts walking in circles scratching his head.
“The animals! They can hear us, they can help!”
Running towards my body, Daniel sounds a loud battle cry. Creatures emerge from the swamp and surround my body making loud animal sounds. The sound eventually stirs me. My hand begins to move. My body lifts from the ground. Fading fast I find myself back in my body, but I can no longer see Daniel. Pulling my cell phone out of my pocket I dial and patiently wait as the phone rings. The pain is setting in fast. I don’t have much longer. Dizziness sets in and I fall back. What if I can’t get through? Blood pools around me. I might not survive this. But I have to hang on, for Daniel.
“Sherman County Police, what’s your emergency?”
“Daniel’s body… by the swamp…”
I can barely speak.
“Route 23… Jake Samson… mur-der-er…”
My hand releases the phone and I can hear talking on the other end as I fade away.
“They’ll find us now,” said Daniel, holding my hand.
Moments later the sound of an ambulance siren blares in the distance, and the animals sound their sound right back, calling out in our direction.
This short story and others will be coming to an eBook near you soon! Stay tuned for more details!
January 22, 2013
I Approve This Message
“I Approve This Message” is a documentary about third parties in America. It follows 2012 Libertarian Candidate Keith Blandford as he runs for Congress US District 1 in SC. The documentary is a look inside the two party system and the possible corruption that occurs behind closed doors. Does this system even work for the people anymore? If not, then why is it so hard for us to oppose it?
“I Approve This Message” explains how more people would rather vote for the lesser of two evils than “throw their vote away”. That is a self defeating philosophy.
“Blanford was fed up with all the politicians that were working for special interests and not for him. So he decided to take a stand. It is very hard to run for Congress if you are not a professional politician. They are paid to campaign, they do not have to work. Keith would sometimes log in over 60 hours a week and still have to campaign,” -Braxton Williams, Producer.
“I Approve This Message” interviews several people including members of the Green Party, campaign managers for Dr. Stein and George Wallace, Democrats, true Independents, as well as the Libertarian Presidential Candidate, Gary Johnson and his running mate Judge Gray. It gives a comprehensive look at the history of third parties leaving the viewer walking away with a better understanding of the dilemma our country faces.
The official trailer for the documentary will be available in February. In the meantime, check out the link to the teaser trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQj5PZNrLnk&feature=plcp
For more information on the documentary, “I Approve This Message”
A clip of Gary Johnson’s interview is also on the webpage. Here is a direct link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObV3p2eZY2U
January 21, 2013
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
”We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.“
– Speech in St. Louis, Missouri, March 22, 1964 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Today I celebrate a man who died at the same age that I am right now, age 38. The feats he accomplished in his 38 years of life on this earth are remarkable. The most telling are that he continued to pursue his actions using nonviolence. He used his power of speech to invigorate and to educate; influenced by other nonviolent activists such as Gandhi.
What we can all learn from this man who gave his life in the name of peace is that you do not need to be violent in order to stop violence. You just need to have love and conviction in your heart. Thank you for the lesson Dr. King.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) was a principal leader of the non-violent Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. He not only began the Civil Rights Movement with the Montgomery Bus Boycott, he himself became an icon for the entire movement.
January 19, 2013
A Dream Within A Dream
A Dream Within A Dream
Take this kiss upon the brow!
And, in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow-
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand-
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep- while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
by Edgar Allan Poe
Happy Birthday!
January 16, 2013
Auction Item #18 - Personalized Poem by Arlene Lagos
Reblogged from Magical things. Beautiful things.:
Author and Poet, Arlene Lagos has been writing for over 20 years. She started writing poetry at the young age of 10. By age 17, she had her first poem, “Revolution” published in the International Society of Poets Anthology, “River of Dreams”. Since then, she has spent many years hosting tables at different venues giving others the chance to honor their life stories and memories in a framed personalized poem.
