Author Archives: Joanne Guidoccio

Excerpt Tour: Mind Expressions

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome poet Alysha Potente. Today, Alysha shares her new release, Mind Expressions.

Blurb

This poetry book has a total of over 130 poems, and most feature alongside: beautiful photography art. All of the poems are different from the next, in meaning and technique.

Analytical in nature, each poem dives into various topics. With this are also syllable counts, where the number of syllables per line are counted and arranged. This brings forward a technical side to poetry writing, where it is precise and balanced.

It is a skill that requires practice, where you hear the word for what it is, using mathematics while rhyming words together. All of the poetry features different rhyming forms.

Excerpt

THIS SHAPE IS THAT OF A TRIANGLE.

This shape is that of a triangle..
Three times a 90 degree angle..
A trio side that makes it acute..
One 90 degree makes it obtuse..
These pyramid’s that are in Egypt..
Are written in a hieratic script..
The tip of the point reaches quite high..
A standout in the desert that’s dry..
Created these centuries ago..
Constructed by the Pharoah Khufu..
The biggest that’s built is in Giza..
Jump on a plane, paid with your Visa..
One of Seven Wonders of the World..
According to statistics it’s earned..
Explore the inside of it with tombs..
There’s many built in separate rooms..
It’s a triangle made of strong stone..
How they were truly built is unknown..
Three sides that form all these pyramids..
These people back then weren’t primitives..
It’s amazing to think how they’re built..
No cranes to help them being instilled..
Go visit them to see their beauty..
Egypt itself is stunning truly..
A desert of dreams upon hot sand..
Spacious with history on the land..

Syllables: 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9= perfect patterns.

Every two lines rhyme together.

Purchase Links

Amazon US | Amazon AU | Amazon CA | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Author Bio and Links

Alysha has been a self- taught creative writer, since the age of 16, in her hometown of Perth, Australia. Her passion for it developed on its own, the need to express herself in a different way other than verbally, was what motivated her to keep up this passion. The use of words was captivating for expression and the love of rhymes was also heard by ear.

Alysha’s first poetry book that she read was actually in Primary School and it was called ‘Revolting rhymes’, which was a retake on nursery rhymes but in a humorous way. This book started this creative side in her at a young age, that, and also her love for art in general.

In 2015 she studied a short course at Berklee, where she was introduced to the notion of syllable counts. In fact, though she had actually been doing syllable counts unconsciously with her poetry in general. By using the same measurement of lines going off of sight, had in turn created similar syllable counts/patterns in her work.

Her book ‘Mind Expressions’ is a technical side of poetry writing that’s come to life. It’s the use of mathematics, along with creative writing. She wanted to give the reader a breakdown of each poem within, in order for them to delve into each poem further and analyse it using a different set of eyes. The poems are analytical in nature, along with syllable counts (some perfect) and perfect rhymes. This really showcases poetry at the highest skill.

Alysha is multi-talented in Art itself and is also a perfectionist. For where her passion lies in different artforms, is where she crafts her skills to a perfection standpoint.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

Giveaway

Alysha Potente will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Find out more here.

Follow Alysha on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

What is Yours to Do?

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Bestselling author Barbara O’Neal shared the following excellent advice in recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog:

A short time ago, a minister I knew passed away. We had not been in contact for quite a long time, but it was still piercing. He went too young, and it was a surprise, and as we all know, those are the deaths that catch us off guard, and I found myself thinking about him, about legacies, and what I learned from him. His most compelling physical trait was a twinkle in his eye, like he knew something magical he was about to impart.

And he did know magical things. The best thing I learned from him was something that keeps me company all the time:

What is mine to do?

What is MINE to do?

It’s a great phrase to keep in your back pocket. It can help sort out big and small questions alike: a busy holiday meal with too many people: what is mine to do here? Everything to make it the most perfect holiday of all time? Probably not. It’s probably more like feed everyone and make sure they all have a place to sit.

And a big question like, in writing, what is yours to do?

This is a pretty magical longing, this desire to write. Writing is healing, not just for you, but for the people who need your work, and I don’t mean in a self-help, elevated, or even literary way. Books don’t have to be mighty, big things to be powerful. Who among us has not been saved by a book, maybe many times?

I sure have been. So many times.

What is yours to do?

Who do you want to communicate with? Think about that. Maybe it’s your depressed, despairing 15- year-old self. Maybe it’s your professor from junior year in college, or your mom, or your future self, or the woman who is going through a divorce and doesn’t know how to get through it.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote that book, Eat Pray Love, and the women who responded in such enormous numbers knew exactly what she was saying to them. She was saying, it’s going to be okay. You can do this. You will find magic if you are true to yourself.

Source: Writer Unboxed

Six More Second Acts

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

Since July 2013, I have interviewed over 150 women for the Second Act series on my blog. Originally, I had planned to feature only boomer women and their older sisters, but I have expanded to include women of all ages from across Canada, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom. The only criteria: an inspiring reinvention story.

Continue reading on the Soul Mate Authors blog.

Happy September!

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

September derives its name from the Latin word “septem,” which means “seven.” In the original Roman calendar, September was the seventh month of the year. That changed when the months of January and February were added.

Here are ten interesting facts about September:

1. The aster and the morning glory are September’s birth flowers. A symbol of love and patience, the aster comes in various colors, from purple and pink to white and red. The morning glory is a trumpet-shaped flower that blooms blue, pink, purple, and red. It symbolizes affection and mortality.

2. In the second verse of her poem, “September,” Mary Howitt provides the following vivid description:

There are flowers enough in the summertime,
More flowers than I can remember—
But none with the purple, gold, and red
That dye the flowers of September!

You can read Mary’s poem here.

3. The birthstone for September is sapphire. This gemstone is associated with loyalty and sincerity and is thought to encourage divine wisdom and protection. In the past, some people believed that if a sapphire was placed in a jar with a snake, the snake would die.

4. People born between August 23 and September 23 fall under the sign of Virgo, and those born later in the month fall under Libra. People born under Virgo are wise and highly analytical. Compassionate and empathetic, Libras dislike conflict and avoid confrontation.

5. September is a month of remembrance, a time to honor and remember those who have made sacrifices for their country: Patriot Day on September 11, POW/MIA Recognition Day on September 18, and Gold Star Mother’s Day on the last Sunday of September.

6. Labor Day, the first Monday of the month, is observed in Canada and the United States.

7. This year (2023), the Autumnal Equinox occurs on September 23. On this day, the sun is directly above the equator, and day and night are equal in length. In the Northern Hemisphere, this marks the start of fall.

8. September has been designated Hispanic Heritage Month, Blood Cancer Awareness Month, National Suicide Prevention Month, National Self-Improvement Month, National Chicken Month, and National Happy Cat Month.

9. Famous people born in September include Estee Lauder (September 1, 1908), Keanu Reeves (September 2, 1964), Beyoncé (September 4, 1981), Colin Firth (September 10, 1960), Sophia Loren (September 20, 1934), and Stephen King (September 21, 1947).

10. September has more pop and classic songs with its name in the title than any other month. Some of the more famous songs include “September” by Earth, Wind & Fire, “September Song” by Frank Sinatra, “It Might as Well Rain Until September” by Carole King, “Maybe September” by Tony Bennett, and (my favorite) “See You in September” by The Happenings.

Write Something for Yourself

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In a recent post on the Writer Unboxed blog, writer Kelly Allgood shared the following excellent advice:

About a year ago, I was feeling completely stuck in my writing. I’d finished the third full rewrite of a book I’d been working on for years, then trunked it after feeling so bogged down in the details of its convoluted plot that I couldn’t tell up from down. I’d drafted another book that felt like it was between genres, and had no idea how I’d pitch it to agents once I got to that point. I felt, in essence, like writing was quicksand, and that I was rapidly sinking beneath all the pressure I’d been putting on myself to write something good, to get an agent, to get published, to start my career, and on and on.

I wish I could remember what prompted me to do this, but one cold winter’s day, I decided to sit down and write something that would never see the light of day. No pressure to publish, to get feedback, to make it good. It could be the worst piece of writing that ever existed and it wouldn’t matter, because no one would ever see it. So I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. The block I’d been sitting before shattered in front of my eyes.

It is honestly some of the best writing I have ever done, and it would never have existed had I not given myself permission to write badly.

Source: Writer Unboxed

Spotlight on Ten Stories that Worried My Mother

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome back multi-published author Winona Kent. Here’s Winona’s new release:

Popular Canadian mystery writer Winona Kent introduces her eleventh book with the publication of Ten Stories That Worried My Mother, an anthology of short stories spanning her four decades of creative writing, with a Foreword provided by well-known BC author A.J. Devlin (The “Hammerhead” Jed crime fiction series).

Ten Stories That Worried My Mother begins with Winona’s first published short story, Tower of Power—about one night in the life of a rock and roll radio newsman—which won first prize in Flare Magazine’s fiction competition in 1982. The journey finishes with two mysteries starring Winona’s professional musician/amateur sleuth, Jason Davey: Salty Dog Blues and Blue Devil Blues, the former being shortlisted for the Crime Writers of Canada’s Awards of Excellence for Best Crime Novella in 2021.

Between these two milestones are seven more pieces of short fiction featuring an unhinged Saskatchewan farmer; a bored secretary in England taking on an opinionated tea lady named Mrs. Thatcher; a shy high school kid with a crush on his soon-to-be-married social studies teacher; a creative writing instructor whose main claim to fame is one episode of the 1960s TV spy series, The Man from U.N.C.L.E.; a subversive temp working at a Canadian government office responsible for administering grants for cows; and two adventures featuring Winona’s time-travelling romantic heroes Charlie Duran and Shaun Deeley.

The collection includes four prize-winners, three mysteries, two previously unpublished works and one where the hero manages to spare-change John Lennon at the premiere of A Hard Day’s Night in 1964.

And yes, these stories really did worry Winona’s mother…

Author Bio and Links

Winona Kent was born in London, England but grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC and a Diploma in Writing for Film and TV from Vancouver Film School. She’s the current BC/Yukon Representative for the Crime Writers of Canada, and is also an active member of Sisters in Crime-Canada West. She lives in New Westminster, BC.

Ten Stories That Worried My Mother is published by Winona Kent and Blue Devil Books. It’s available in e-book and paperback formats on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Apple Books and Kobo.

Author Website | Blue Devil Books | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Five Qualities of Joyful People

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

I look forward to receiving weekly emails from Robert Holden, a British psychologist, author, and broadcaster, who works in the field of positive psychology and well-being. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

Describing joy is very difficult and very worthwhile. The more you tune in to joy and let yourself feel it, the more you learn about what true happiness is. I encourage my students to describe joy by meditating on joy, by painting joy, by singing joy, by dancing joy, by crafting a poem on joy, or by finding a symbol, in nature, for instance, that represents joy. What emerge are commonly felt qualities of joy, five of which I will share with you now.

Joy is Constant

When people tune in to the feeling of joy, what often emerges is an awareness that this joy is somehow always with us. Joy is quietly, invisibly ever-present. It is not “out there,” and it is not “in here”; rather, it is simply everywhere we are. Joy feels somehow beyond space and time. Joy does not come and go; what comes and goes is our awareness of joy. Ironically, we often feel the presence of joy the most when we stop chasing pleasure and we stop trying to satisfy our ego.

Joy Inspires Creativity

Upon discovering this joy, many people experience a greater sense of creativity that rushes through them. Your ego may get the byline, but really joy is the author. Joy is the doer. Joy is the thinker. Joy is the creative principle. In one of my favorite Upanishads, classic sacred texts of Indian literature, it is written: “From joy springs all creation, / By joy it is sustained. / Towards joy it proceeds, / and to joy it returns. No wonder so many artists take the course.

Joy is Often Unreasonable

I like to describe joy as “unreasonable happiness” because it doesn’t seem to need a reason. It is a happiness that is based on nothing. In other words, it doesn’t need a cause or an effect in order to exist. Certainly good things, favorable circumstances, and a happy state of mind can make you more receptive to joy; but joy still exists even when you are not receptive to it. Joy needs no reason. And this is why we can be surprised by joy even in the most ordinary moments.

Joy is Untroubled

Unlike pleasure and satisfaction, joy does not have an opposite. It does not swing up and down, as our moods do. And it does not wrestle with positives and negatives, as our mind does. Joy does, however, have a twin. If pleasure’s twin is pain, and satisfaction’s twin is dissatisfaction, then joy’s twin is love. When people describe joy to me they always mention love—even the lawyers, the politicians, and the psychologists.
Like love, joy is fearless and untroubled by the world. It is as if nothing in the world can tarnish or diminish the essence of joy. As such, it is free.

Joy is Enough

Many people describe a sense of emptiness and a “fall from grace” that follows an encounter with great pleasure and satisfaction. This is not the case with joy, however. One of the most beautiful qualities of joy is the abiding sense of “enoughness.” Unlike the ephemeral states of pleasure and satisfaction, joy does not induce a craving for more, because joy is enough. If ever we feel joy is missing, it is because we are absent-minded-caught up, probably, in some grief over a passing pleasure or preoccupied with a new object of desire.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Robert Holden’s website.

Book Blast: And Then I Met You

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome author Mackenzie Lee. Today, Mackenzie shares her new release, And Then I Met You.

Blurb

Have you ever wondered whether your beloved watches over you from their heavenly post? Have you often had the feeling that your loved one has remained right by your side, even after the final goodbyes? And Then I Met You is the true story of a love so enduring and eternal, it transcends the barriers of time, space, and life itself.

In these pages, you will meet two people whose love is challenged at every turn. The countless barriers that stand between them and true togetherness seem endless. And then the unthinkable happens–and all the barriers vanish in the most unexpected and miraculous of ways.

This epic love story will linger in your thoughts long after the last page, and remain as a twinkle in the sky and a smile in your heart. Who knows? You may even look at life, love, and death in a whole new light.

Excerpt

“Have you heard from Mike for your birthday?” asked my friend Angie.

It was late October of 2018, a full month after my birthday. We were sitting at Willie’s Steak House at the time, having a belated celebratory dinner.

“No, I haven’t…and it’s been too long. Even for him.”

Mike and I always managed a phone conversation on or near our birthdays, no matter how far apart we might be, geographically speaking. He wasn’t usually able to call me on my actual birthday or his, but he always snuck in under the wire and called me sometime in my birthday month (and his).

Close enough. As long as he got the month right, that was good enough for me. After all, we were separated by many miles now, with me being up north and him down south.

Circumstances were such that I couldn’t call and had to wait for him to call me. First, July—Mike’s birthday month—came and went and I didn’t hear from him. When September—my birthday month—rolled around, and I still hadn’t heard from him, I felt a little uneasy. But I hadn’t paid any attention to the vague emptiness I felt until I heard Angie’s question.

“What’s his full name?” she asked, pulling out her phone and going onto Google. “Oh, no, is that him?”

I looked at her phone and saw the website of a funeral home. “Oh, dear God. It can’t be him…but it is.” All I could think was, Oh, Mike, don’t let me down.

Don’t let me down…I’m in love for the first time, Don’t you know it’s gonna last, It’s a love that lasts forever, It’s a love that had no past… (The Beatles)

“…He died peacefully at his home,” read the death announcement. Mike had died on May 18th, 2018, five months earlier. Photos of him, along with words that had been written about his passing, stared back at me.

Author Bio and Link

Mackenzie Lee is an aspiring author known for her ability to weave heartwarming tales that touch the soul. Her book, “And Then I Met You,” is a poignant and uplifting true story that explores the depths of enduring love and its ability to transcend the boundaries of time and space.

Amazon Buy Link – https://www.amazon.com/Then-Met-You-Unbelievable-Story/dp/0228887739

Giveaway

The author will be awarding a $10 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner. Find out more here.

Follow Mackenzie on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.

Book Blast: Slightest in the House

Posted on by Joanne Guidoccio

I’m happy to welcome award-winning author Barbara Casey. Today, Barbara shares her new release, Slightest in the House.

Blurb

On some level she was aware that an elderly woman had come out of the darkness and put her arms around her. Meredith heard her say that everything would be all right. But on another, more conscious level, the one where all of her senses saw, felt, processed and recorded what was happening, Meredith watched two black body bags being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Then she watched the ambulance turn around and drive off in the opposite direction. Her long, tumbling mass of blond curls hung loosely over her face, shielding it. For Beth, the reality of what had taken place would come later. But Meredith had seen what had happened and understood. That knowledge was now seeping through every pore of her body.

Seventeen-year-old Meredith and her four-year-old stepsister, Beth, face the numbing reality of suddenly losing their parents in a freak accident. With no other family, they are taken from their mobile home in Georgia to go live with a grandmother they have never met in a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida. Beth soon adjusts to her new environment; but Meredith withdraws from everyone and everything, unable to blot out the image of the horrible crash that killed her parents. It is only when she reaches out to a homeless woman that Meredith is finally able to find herself and face her demons. With the help of her grandmother’s long-employed staff, a family doctor, a museum curator, an attorney who is more than just her grandmother’s legal advisor, and, of course, her conniving grandmother who is dealing with her own guilt for having been estranged from her son and his wife (Meredith’s and Beth’s parents), Meredith is able to pull herself from the depths of despair into a life filled with faith, hope, and generosity.

Slightest in the House is a contemporary novel with strong, interesting characters from different walks of life, brought together because of life’s difficult and often unexpected circumstances, and bonded together by their faith and belief that everything works out as it should.

Excerpt

After saying goodbye to Meredith, Ellen walked back toward the ocean hoping to find Matt on her bench. Much to her disappointment, no one was there and the wind was blowing so hard she couldn’t stay. With nowhere else to go, she walked back to the parking deck and the public restroom. By now it was raining hard again, and this time it didn’t let up.

The streets were practically disserted, and the parking deck was empty of all but a couple of cars. Ellen waited in the restroom until her watch said 4:45 p.m. Then, after refastening her straw hat and cinching the strap of her tapestry bag a little tighter, she fought her way down the street through the gale-force wind and driving rain toward Chapel Hall. “Surely Matt will be there,” she repeated over and over. But even as she said this, she knew something was seriously wrong.

There was no line of people waiting when Ellen finally got to Chapel Hall. In fact, there was no one around at all. She walked up the steps to the front door. Her dress was clinging to her legs, and her wet feet sloshed inside her open-toed shoes. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. Then she saw a note someone had tacked inside a glass frame on the side of the wall: No meals served until further notice due to hurricane.

Ellen was stunned. She had heard of hurricanes, of course, but she had never been in one before. If only she could find Matt. Matt would know what to do. She began to shiver. One thing was certain, she couldn’t just stand there. She had to find shelter.

She started walking back the way she had come—back toward the parking deck. This time the wind was to her face. Blowing sand pelted her bare skin, and the noise of the pounding waves of the ocean nearby was almost deafening. It was completely dark. Even the street lights were blackened by the amount of rain falling from the sky.

Slowly Ellen forced her way back to the parking deck. This time she climbed to the second level where she and Matt had slept the night before. Even holding onto the guard rail, it was a struggle, the pavement was so slick. Twice she fell, scraping her knees and bruising her arm. When she at last got to the second level, she was horrified. The concrete wall that had made a safe buffer for Matt’s bags the night before was now a natural rain gutter. As Ellen stood clutching her tapestry bag to her body, ankle-deep water gushed down the deck like a small river.

Author Bio and Links

Barbara Casey is the author of over two dozen award-winning novels and book-length works of nonfiction for both adults and young adults, and numerous articles, poems, and short stories. Several of her books have been optioned for major films and television series.

In addition to her own writing, Barbara is an editorial consultant and president of the Barbara Casey Agency. Established in 1995, she represents authors throughout the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Japan.

In 2018 Barbara received the prestigious Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and Top Professional Award for her extensive experience and notable accomplishments in the field of publishing and other areas.

Barbara lives on a mountain in Georgia with three cats who adopted her: Homer, a Southern coon cat; Reese, a black cat; and Earl Gray, a gray cat and Reese’s best friend.

Website (Author) | Website (Agency) | Goodreads | Amazon Buy Link |
Barnes & Noble Buy Link

Giveaway

Barbara Casey will award a $20 Amazon/Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Find out more here.

Follow Barbara on the rest of her Goddess Fish tour here.