Author: Marcia

#Bold&BlatantSelfPromo – #SummerMagic – #Poetry

/ Marcia / 36 Comments

Thought I’d take advantage of this being a slow week on TWS, and you know what that means? Yep. Gonna share something I wrote with you, namely a poem from my book Summer Magic: Poems of Life and Love. If you enjoy this one, there’s more where it came from in this little book. (And it can be yours for the low, low, low price of just $.99!! Hmmm. Better be careful here. It sounds like I’m hawking pillowcases on tv, doesn’t it?) 

Seriously, if you enjoy poetry, I hope you’ve already checked out my offering, but if you haven’t yet done so, maybe this post will encourage you to take a look. EITHER way, I hope you enjoy today’s offering!

Bruises

Pale blue eyes,
Fringed in black,
Look out at the world
With the wild, free spirit
Only a ten-year-old boy
Knows how to nurture.

A shock of black hair falls over his brow
As he frowns thoughtfully,
Examining a scab on one knobby knee.
A souvenir from yesterday’s hike,
Acquired while showing off for Dad.
Again.

Long and thin, his scraped-up legs
Have become maps of small hurts,
Tracing each day of his summer.
A scratch here, from picking
Wild blackberries,
And a bruise there, from
Swinging on a low limb.
Those and so many more,
Injuries acquired while calling,
Watch, Dad, watch!
See what I can do!

Badges.
Attesting to his bravery,
Marking his adventures,
And confirming in his mind
His place among Immortals.

His dad sighs, all too aware
More bumps and scrapes
Lie ahead.
No way to guard him
Against the future bruises
Life will bring.
His boy will be marked,
Abraded by time and
The world around him,
Though some scars will be
Much less obvious than others.
And someday, scabby knees
Will be counted as nothing,
When weighed against
Those invisible wounds.
                                     … By Marcia Meara

BLURB

Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love is a collection of contemporary poetry about exactly that–life and love. The first part of the book features poems about the magic a young boy discovers while camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The second part of the book has a sampling of poetry about love, life and death, autumn, and dreams coming true.

A FAVORITE REVIEW

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful collection of poetry!

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2021
Verified Purchase
“Summer Magic” is a wonderful collection of poetry presented in two parts. The first part was based on a character, Mac, from a favorite series of mine, Wake-Robin Ridge. The poems are an amazing glimpse into his childhood and the mountains he grew up in. The second half of the book offered beautiful images that tugged at my heart or took me on a journey. Here are a few of my favorite passages:

“Stars, he thinks, pulled loose/From the fabric of the sky,/And flung toward earth/Trailing silver and gold,/And bringing a piece of Heaven/To those watching below,”

“Caught in that space between/Daylight and dusk,/When all things seem possible,/And the ordinary,/Remarkable,”

“Reminds me of those early days/When all water rushed clear and cold,/And teemed with Promise so bright/You could almost catch it in your hands,”

and “Bees moving slowly from/Flower to flower,/In dance weighed down by heat.”

This is a collection I highly recommend, and I’ll definitely be reading it again.

Download Your Copy of Summer Magic HERE
for just $.99!

#ThorsDaySmile – #AmLaughing – #Humor

/ Marcia / 38 Comments

Thor has reminded me, it’s time to start catching up on my regular features again, beginning (of course) with HIM! He said he was in the mood for some animal memes, (and goodness only knows, I do like to humor his moods)so here are some critters I hope will give you a laugh or two. 

And there you have today’s #ThorsDaySmile!
Hope you enjoyed it!

#GuestDayTuesday – #TenThings – And Other Guest Openings

/ Marcia / 45 Comments

Good Morning, Everyone! Just wanted to remind you all that I am ready to schedule 2023 guest posts on The Write Stuff. If you would like to take part in any of my regular features, now’s the time to have me hold a date for you.

#GuestDayTuesdays:  For this one, I’m looking forward to sharing your news, whatever it might be. New book, cover reveal, old book with a review worth bragging about, or even something about you, as a writer … where your ideas come from, how you go about the process, things you’ve learned over time (including what NOT to do). I’m very flexible with the #GuestDayTuesday posts and will be happy to feature you and/or your work in various ways.

#TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAboutMe: This is a fun way to let others learn more about you as a person, as a writer, as a blogger, or from any other angle. If you’ve haven’t already been a guest for this one, take a look at some of the previous posts, and I think you might be interested in taking part. If you HAVE taken part in the past, that’s all right, too. We could do a “TenMOREThingsYouMayNotKnowAboutMe” post. Or “FiveMore.”

Again, I’m very flexible with any of these posts and can even squeeze in some random guest posts on other days, if it’s more helpful for what you want to do. 

For Info on what I’d need from you, you’ll find all my Blog Rules and Instructions HERE:  https://marciamearawrites.com/welcome/

And most of all, remember that I’ll work with you in any way I can. The object is to 1)promote you or your work and 2) to have fun. (Or both!)  I’ll be waiting to hear from you and get your special post scheduled, so drop me an email at marciameara16@gmail.com

Thanks!

 

#Let’sTalk – Blogs vs Websites

/ Marcia / 58 Comments

Good Morning, Everyone!

After a wonderful afternoon at Enterprise Museum, sharing some wildlife info with some terrific folks and friends, I’m feeling pretty inspired today. I’m ready to take on some long-postponed tasks (including writing) and get ON with Life once again! Hope you are all feeling inspired, too.

One thing I’ve been wondering about is whether or not it’s worth the trouble to set up a website in addition to my blog. I never gave it much thought before, but since I’ve promised myself I’m going to do more marketing this year, I thought it might be a good place to start. The problem is, I’ve never had an actual website before and have no idea as to the particulars of setting one up, OR the benefits to be derived from one. So, my question of the day is, how many of you have separate websites and how do you use them? Are they worth the effort? Or would I just be adding more work to a stack of things I’m already behind on?

Inquiring minds wanna know, so I hope some of you will share your experiences, both pro and con, with us today.

#EnterpriseMuseum – #CentralFloridaWildlife – #HugeFun!

/ Marcia / 28 Comments

Off to visit with the good folks at Enterprise Museum today, to chat about two  of the more unusual critters which live here in Central Florida: opossums and armadillos. It’s been months since I was feeling well enough to give one of these presentations, and I’m looking forward to this one more than I can say! Especially since I’ll be talking about two animals which are so very interesting, yet so misunderstood.

If you happen to be in the area, come on by and see exactly what I mean for yourself! The little restored 1930s schoolhouse is worth the trip all by itself!

See you later, folks! Have a great Saturn’s Day!!

#ClassicPoetry – #HenryWadsworthLongfellow – #The Village Blacksmith

/ Marcia / 28 Comments

This was one of my favorite poems when I was in middle school, and I realized I still love it today, especially the message it shares. After all, some things are eternal.

The Village Blacksmith
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – 1807-1882

Under a spreading chestnut-tree
     ⁠The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
     With large and sinewy hands,
And the muscles of his brawny arms
     Are strong as iron bands.

His hair is crisp, and black, and long;
     His face is like the tan;
His brow is wet with honest sweat,
     He earns whate’er he can,
And looks the whole world in the face,
     For he owes not any man.

Week in, week out, from morn till night,
     You can hear his bellows blow;
You can hear him swing his heavy sledge,
     With measured beat and slow,
Like a sexton ringing the village bell,
     When the evening sun is low.

And children coming home from school
     Look in at the open door;
They love to see the flaming forge,
     And hear the bellows roar,
And catch the burning sparks that fly
     Like chaff from a threshing-floor.

He goes on Sunday to the church,
     And sits among his boys;
He hears the parson pray and preach,
     He hears his daughter’s voice
Singing in the village choir,
     And it makes his heart rejoice.

It sounds to him like her mother’s voice
     Singing in Paradise!
He needs must think of her once more,
     How in the grave she lies;
And with his hard, rough hand he wipes
     A tear out of his eyes.

Toiling,—rejoicing,—sorrowing,
     Onward through life he goes;
Each morning sees some task begin,
     Each evening sees it close;
Something attempted, something done,
     Has earned a night’s repose.

Thanks, thanks to thee, my worthy friend,
     For the lesson thou hast taught!
Thus at the flaming forge of life
     Our fortunes must be wrought;
Thus on its sounding anvil shaped
     Each burning deed and thought.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include Paul Revere’s Ride, The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline. He was the first American to completely translate Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and was one of the Fireside Poets from New England.

Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, which was then still part of Massachusetts. He graduated from Bowdoin College and became a professor there and, later, at Harvard College after studying in Europe. His first major poetry collections were Voices of the Night (1839) and Ballads and Other Poems (1841). He retired from teaching in 1854 to focus on his writing, and he lived the remainder of his life in the Revolutionary War headquarters of George Washington in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Longfellow died in 1882.

Longfellow wrote many lyric poems known for their musicality and often presenting stories of mythology and legend. He became the most popular American poet of his day and had success overseas.

Hope you guys enjoyed this one
as much as I did!

#ForgottenWords – #AnswerOfTheDay – “Crinolines”

/ Marcia / 65 Comments

Okay, so far, I’m loving this idea of Forgotten Words, and it looks like some of you are having fun with it, too. Being a firm believer in the benefits of FUN, I plan to do a few more of these now and then, for sure. But now … it’s time for an answer to today’s forgotten word: Crinoline.

Let’s start with a quick glance at one of the most popular styles of the 1950s and early 1960s: Dresses with extremely full skirts that needed a bit of help to stay full and twirly, like these. 

Enter the crinoline, defined thusly:

“A crinoline (pronounced CRIN-o-lin) is a “stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a woman’s skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair and cotton or linen which was used to make underskirts or a sewn-in dress lining.”

Not surprisingly, it’s hard to find a good picture
of a really full-skirted crinoline today, but here is one example. 

In earlier times, crinolines were usually floor length
to support much longer gowns and dresses.

However, more often, these longer gowns
were supported by hoop skirts, such as this one.

Hoop skirts also made an appearance in the 50s too, but they were very “swingy” and tended to flip up in the air. This made them awkward to wear with shorter dresses, and most chose one … or two … or even three crinolines, one on top of the other, to result in the fullest skirts possible.

When I was in junior high and high school, full skirts with multiple crinolines under them were the rage. You either used as many as it took layered over each other to make your skirt stand out about five feet wide (and thus making sitting at a classroom desk a real challenge), or you wore what we called “straight” skirts, instead. (Sometimes called “pencil skirts.”)

Here’s another example of a shorter crinoline designed for the full skirts of the 1950s, though mine were starched to stand out much farther all the way around.

As  you might imagine, washday was a real treat. (NOT!) My mother would launder my crinolines and then dip them in a tub of heavy starch and spread them out flat over two or three clotheslines outside. They would dry in a huge, flat disc that would only bend when a full skirt was draped over it.  What a production! And blinkin’ uncomfortable to spend the day in, too. (Not to mention that no one could get closer to you than 4 feet or so, even when the crinolines began to droop.)

Here is a more recent interpretation of a short skirt (much shorter than we wore them in the 50s) with attached crinolines trimmed in red. While my dresses and skirts were  at least a foot longer than these, well below my knees, this one is about the right width for what we wore. (See why sitting at a desk was tricky?)

And now those of you too young to remember have seen what a crinoline is, and what stylish young ladies of the 1950s wore more often than just about anything else. Jeans or slacks were against dress code at most schools, so skirts it was, and usually, the fuller, the better, thanks to those starched crinolines we wore beneath! 

Hope you had fun with this “forgotten word,” and I’ll be back with more over time. Thanks for playing along!

#NewSeries – #ForgottenWords – #DoYouRemember?

/ Marcia / 57 Comments

Lately, while reading this or that, I’ve found myself brought up short by the use of one  word or another seldom heard these days. I’ve begun to take note of some that I’ve merely read here or there, and some that I definitely remember from days gone by. It occurred to me that they might make a quick and easy fun series  of posts to share now and then on a slow week, so … here goes the first one!

How many of you remember the word “crinoline?” Is it something you stumbled upon while reading and decided to look up, or is it something you are personally familiar with? Inquiring minds wanna know! (No cheating by looking it up NOW, though. It’ll be more fun to wing it.)

Familiar or not, I’m betting it isn’t something that’s currently a part of your life.

Okay, your turn now!
If you don’t know, feel free to make a guess. 

 

#HappyNewYear – #TenThings – #GuestDayTuesday

/ Marcia / 37 Comments

Happy New Year, Everyone!
Here’s Hoping 2023 Is a Great One for Each of Us!

To get The Write Stuff off to a great start this year, I’m putting out an official call for guest posters:

If you haven’t yet taken part in #TenThingsYouMayNotKnowAboutMe, I hope you soon will. It’s been one of the most popular series I’ve had on the blog, and we’d love to learn more about our friends and fellow writers. Email me to save you a date. (It runs every other Wednesday.)

Also, #GuestDayTuesday runs every other … yes! … TUESDAY. For those who have upcoming promos, new releases, cover reveals, or anything else they’d like to share, writing related or not, please email me, and I’ll get you set up for a visit. 

I also have some ideas for a few new ways guests can avail themselves of some extra exposure here, but will get back to you on those later. For now, we’ll focus on the two above, and I’m hoping I’ll get lots of folks who’d like to visit. Can’t wait to get things up and running around here again!

Hoping to hear from some of you soon!