Award Winning Poetry!

My good friend Claudia Messelodi has recently won an award for her poetry.

You can read about it at her blogsite a stream of small stones

If you don't already follow her, you should! Her poetry is calming, illuminating and just so exciting to read.

If you have time, please pop over and show her your support!

(She also appears frequently on my other blog site Pure Haiku)

Sight - 26

grey, veiling cloud making ghosts of nearby trees

hints at the rising, falling land towards

the hidden horizon

Sight - 25

a slashed red dawn

blood soaked horizon

staining grey cloud

that now mars

the star-bright sky

Sight - 24

a single drop, a flattened disc, pressed against the window pane

too light to feel the pull of gravity

joined by another and another

I need to get the washing in

Sight - 23

the robin within arm's reach;
the brown feathers on his neck, back and wings
have an orange tinge - 
I've not noticed this before

Review by Emma of Dragonscale Leggings

I read this fabulous book in under two hours; loved it and I can't wait for the next exciting installment. It is definitely one of those types of books that once you start you cannot stop. Well done Freya - you're heading for more successes I'm sure. 

Emma Pope

You can read more reviews at Amazon

Sight - 22

the green, dimpled landscape touched with hints of brown;

a lack lustre landscape beneath high grey clouds that

threaten but do not disgorge rain

Sight - 21

a yellow-green pattern on soft, oval leaves
a texture like a minute mosaic
fragrant with growth

Sight - 20

grey shapes loom out of the gloaming

I know they are trees but the mist

obscures, conceals the detail

Sight - 19

the flat grey sky of an English autumnal day suddenly becomes layered and interesting when one stops to notice the clouds blowing in opposite directions and the lighter greys against the darker

Sight - 18

pale bulbs hidden in the secret places of the earth

non-descript bulbs waiting for spring

and the explosion of greeness

colour and scent

Sight - 17

gleaming whiteness of freshly cleaned bath, catching
the light with its pureness even though
grey clouds outside darken the house

Comments about Clippings #3

The Poet & I: Yes, I recognise a kindred spirit poet in this one. Loneliness in the dark is particularly emotively recognisable to me. 

The Ice Maiden's Tale; I did love the story of Isu and Sama. What a fabulous hero, and what a brave heroine, who never doubted his strength and noble purpose. Truly, lovely fantasy love story. 

Connecting With Nature; What a lovely (and for me personally proud) coupling of photographic imagery and poetic imagery. Mick was really thrilled and I do love the sentiments of the poem that so aptly accompanies it. 

from Linda Turner, England

Review by Olga of Dragonscale Leggings

This is my second book I read in English...I prefer to read in my mother tongue language (Russian) as it is easier and more relaxing for me, but I really enjoyed reading it!

I loved the heroine's character. She is brave and funny. The dragons are surprisingly interesting/smelly creatures :-)...

Very positive feelings during the reading.

 

I am waiting for the continue now... Hope she will meet that musician again ;-)

For more reviews visit Amazon

Sight - 16

oozing squirminess of glistening snail;

green-brown dimpled foot trailing transparent slime across my plants

thin whorled shell, tiger-striped in black-brown

protects his vulnerability

Sight - 15

robin at sunset in the dead magnolia tree
orange breast catching the dying sun
as he sings his sweet, piercing, rippling song
then waits, for my applause

Better Off Dead by Matt Rowe now available on Amazon

"Matthew Rowe is a recently radioactive, paranoid earthquake survivor from Louth in Lincolnshire England, but now lives in the very shaky city of Sendai, Japan. He attempts to write and teach English while being distracted by movies, games and photography. He likes revelling in darkness as much as he enjoys rolling in the aisles. So you can expect some blood, sex and depravity but be assured that the characters will probably feel guilty about it afterward.

His debut collection of short stories, 'Not All Of Them About Zombies', was published March 2008 by Lulu and has since received consistent critical acclaim. He has recently published a YA urban fantasy comedy of a novel called 'Better Off Dead' and is currently working on a Sci-fi comedy follow up. "

So, what's the book about?

"A world where sorcerers are saucy, vampires are a pain in the neck and everyone is clawing to be on top.

The city of Londinium is in a period of civil unrest, but it's not because the tube is always late, or because people are tired of zombies shedding limbs in public, nor is it because the humans are tired of trying to eke out a living only to meet a messy end in a dark alley. An unknown vampire has proclaimed himself ruler, and if there is one thing the people, both living and dead, hate more than a tyrannical ruler, it's a secretive one.

One young vampire is charged with discovering the prince's identity. The only problem: he doesn't want to. Ramses, the world's first genuine cat burglar, is far more concerned with eliminating the threat posed by the feline race rather than that of some pesky vampire lord, a dragon and civil war.

Can this undead slacker learn to grow up at last, foil this mysterious plot and halt the biggest supernatural conflict in history or will he need help from his mummy?" 

If you're still unsure whether or not to read the book, check out Matt's blog tour here on this site starting 5th March 2012 - it's not to be missed!

Thank you everyone - even if you read this far and just delete it. Matt's words will have infected your brain.

Sight - 14

diluted green of late summer trees as the autumnal veil spreads across the cooling land;

mist drifts, coating everything with clear droplets

Sight - 13

sunlit metal reflecting chairs, screens and number plates
smooth contours, distorted shapes, warped lines no longer straight
cars stand silently in regimented lines

A Stone published at A Handful of Stones!

Today you can find one of my stones at a handful of stones

Please let me know what you think!

Sight - 12

white sheets shivering and flapping in the warm wind

sun-bleached linen bellies like sails on long-extinct ships

Sight - 11

flat, blue stretch of water, a ruler's width wide with cardboard cut-out boats;
the English channel seen in lifting cloud from a high hill inland

Review by Greenpea of Dragonscale Leggings

I was recommended to read this book by a friend who thought I needed cheering up. And in these days when one's job is uncertain and the whole financial situation is looking appalling, I suppose the book did what my friend wanted it to. The central character, Dracomagan, is an engaging and entertaining person who comes alive on the first page. Although the book is not the sort of genre I generally read, it was not, to my relief full of ethereal elves and talking creatures. Well, the dragons talk and are rather rude actually! It's as if the author has held up a mirror to the fantasy genre and had a really good laugh at it. I had a good laugh too. If you want a bit of light entertainment and good belly laugh in every chapter, this is the book to buy. If there are any more follow on books I'd definitely read them.

Greenpea

Sight - 10

pale stalked tomato plants, green leaves drooping

tied against supporting stakes

watered in, waiting for roots

to grow into the ground

Sight - 9

turned earth, lovingly dug over with fork and spade
broken clods reveal a fine tilth
rich, fertile soil, pleasing
to the eye

Sight - 8

bright sunlight on dark green leaves
glittering, flickering
like a waterless ocean
as the breeze ripples through foliage

Sight - 7

bulging eye of drowned, baby rat, white and staring, seeing nothing

The Versatile Blogger Award!

A huge thank you to Greg at The Deliverers for nominating me for the Versatile Blogger Award! I'm really pleased he thought of me.

Oh, dear that means I've got to chose 5 people to nominate myself and risk offending lots of others. (Please don't be offended if I don't chose you - there are just so many excellent bloggers out there now, it is really hard to chose which ones to include...)

There are a few rules that go along with the award:

1. In a post  on your blog, nominate 5 fellow bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award

2. In the same post, add the Versatile Blogger Award.

3. In the same post, thank the blogger who nominated you in a post with a link back to their blog.

4. In the same post, share 7 completely random pieces of information about yourself.

5. In the same post, include this set of rules.

6. Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs.

Here are seven facts that you may not know about me:

1.  When asked recently to write a short piece about myself for the work's website, I replied that "I am too lovely for mere words." 

2. Often I live in two worlds simultaneously; this world and the one inside my head. 

3. I haven't been certified. 

4. Dracomagan is my alter ego or rather, me on a really bad day.

5. I think I'm normal.

6. I don't like snow.

7. This is the second time I've been awarded the Versatile Blogger Award!

Now to my nominations: -

Claudia at a stream of small stones because her haiku are like photographs

Katie at Lose Yourself Book Reviews because her reviews are succint and interesting

Emily at Keeping Time because she is an excellent story writer

Mavis at My River Of Stones because her stones are amazing

Tess at My Pathway To Books because her blogsite is so different

Hope you enjoy visiting these others sites - let me know what you think of them!