This & That

ETCHINGS OF THE HEART

by: Donna L Martin

All those crystal clear memories

you’ve etched in my heart

to help soften the pain

during the times we’re apart.

And when clouds threaten my skies

I open that little door

to release a small memory

filled with Love, Hope, and More.

Love when you made me care,

hope when you spoke of we.

And More when you revealed secrets

of how you’d like things to be.

But memories are all I have

now that we’ve drifted apart

to remind me you’re still there

in the etchings of my heart.

******************

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.  ~ Douglas Adams

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.  ~ Douglas Adams 

You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  ~ Dr. Seuss, OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO

It is better to read a little and ponder a lot than to read a lot and ponder a little.  ~ Denis Parsons Burkitt

Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. ~ Harry S Truman

This & That

To Hell With My Diet

by: Janet Lavergne

To hell with my diet

and attempts to lose weight.

Wouldn't you disagree

with numbering everything you ate?

Up with chocolate bars

and down with all vegetables.

I'll eat that spaghetti

til I can't get up from the table.

Duncan Hines, Sara Lee,

Dolly Madison, Pepperidge Farm;

Aunt Jermima's pancakes

with maple syrup would do no harm.

Give me meat and potatoes

and all the ice cream I can find.

To hell with my diet!

I'm just expanding my mind.

***************

"Indeed, learning to write may be a part of learning to read. For all I know,writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading."  — Eudora Welty

"The things I want to know are in books. My best friend is the man who'll get me a book I [haven't] read." — Abraham Lincoln

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."  — Emilie Buchwald

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."  —Groucho Marx

"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."  — Jacqueline Kennedy

"You may have tangible wealth untold. / Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. / Richer than I you can never be – / I had a mother who read to me."  — Strickland Gillilan

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island."  — Walt Disney

This & That

Changes In The Air

By: Donna L Martin

Red, orange and gold sway to and fro

as leaves dance across the path I stroll down.

What are the chances things will be the same

once I return to the places we used to go?

My footsteps hesitate as I see the tree where

we once picnicked in the spring.

Now there are children playing in the leaves

and I feel the changes in the air.

There is the bridge where you carved my name

within a heart you told me was mine.

My own heart races at the thought

of how my life will never be the same.

My cheeks are suddenly damp as I near

the place where you left me behind.

Its been two years since you’ve gone

and the fog has finally begun to clear.

Just like the leaves, the world spun away from me

when they told me of how you died.
Then long months of mourning when all I could do

was breathe and dream of what used to be.

But life goes on even when we might not care

and my world is slowly becoming the color of these leaves.

I may not be ready to greet the spring time,

but I can finally welcome the changes in the air.

***************

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes.  Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams

Becoming a writer means being creative enough to find the time and the place in your life for writing,    ~ Heather Sellers

If you can't play all the instruments in the orchestra of story, no matter what music may be in your imagination, you're condemned to hum the same old tune. ~ Robert McKee

A hero knows it takes hard work and a long time to get published; a fool thinks it should happen immediately, because he thinks he's a hero already. ~ James Scott Bell 

A story consists of someone wanting something and having trouble getting it. ~ Douglas Glover

This & That

The Snow On The Stairs

By: Janet Lavergne

It was all in my mind,

but I loved playing the game.

To pretend to have it all

when the grey morning came.

But I opened my eyes

and felt the cold air

from the hole in the door

and the snow on the stairs.

*************

One must be drenched in words, literally soaked in them, to have the right ones form themselves into the proper pattern at the right moment. ~ Hart Crane

The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. ~ Edwin Schlossberg

If a true artist were born in a pigpen and raised in a sty, he would still find plenty of inspiration for his work. The only need is the eye to see. ~ Willa Cather

Becoming a writer means being creative enough to find the time and the place in your life for writing.~ Heather Sellers

Writing is the only profession where no one considers you ridiculous if you earn no money. ~ Jules Renard

This & That

LONG DARK KISS

By: Janet Lavergne

Once the candle burned.

I waited and I watched;

believed in all that you tried.

I wanted and hoped.

I did it all for you

and would have lied.

I gave you all that I wished

and sent you away

with a long dark kiss

on a journey that would

make you grow and learn.

Though it has been months,

the candle still burns.

**************

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say. ~ Anaïs Nin

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. ~ William Wordsworth

Writing is a struggle against silence. ~ Carlos Fuentes

Write your first draft with your heart. Re-write with your head. ~ From the movie Finding Forrester

Writing comes more easily if you have something to say. ~ Sholem Asch

This & That

Now that GUTGAA is almost here, I've been blessed with a few more followers who might not know about the Blog Contest I have going on until September 6th.  You can read all about it here...http://donasdays.blogspot.com/2012/08/its-that-time-again.html,,,there's still time to give a shout-out for my blog and have a chance to win some great prizes!

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Inside every fat book is a thin book trying to get out. - Unknown

The long-lived books of tomorrow are concealed somewhere amongst the so-far unpublished MSS of today. - Philip Unwin

The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair. - Mary Heaton Vorse

A story isn't about a moment in time, a story is about the moment in time. - W. D. Wetherell

I never want to see anyone, and I never want to go anywhere or do anything. I just want to write. - P. G. Wodehouse

I'm writing a book. I've got the page numbers done. - Stephen Wright

It is my contention that a really great novel is made with a knife and not a pen. A novelist must have the intestinal fortitude to cut out even the most brilliant passage so long as it doesn't advance the story. - Frank Yerby

Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up. - Jane Yolen

This & That

A MOTHER’S LOVE

By: Donna L Martin

Alas, my poor fair-haired child

With eyes that twinkle so,

You’ll never meet your own mother,

Her hugs you’ll never know.

You’ll never know all the times

She held you late at night.

Kissing away your little tears,

Making it all seem right.

You’ll soon forget all the times

The love she showered on you,

When making your first halting steps

And saying your first words, too.

But as each year passes you by

When closing your eyes at night,

Try to remember your mother’s love

Shining out like a heavenly light.

Even though she’s left too soon

When her warmth you needed to find,

She may have gone to some other place

Yet she’s left her love behind.

***************

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. - Sidney Smith

The vital point to remember is that the swine who just sent your pearl of a story back with nothing but a coffee-stain and a printed rejection slip can be wrong. You cannot take it for granted that heis wrong, but you have an all-important margin of hope that might be enough to keep you going. - Brian Stableford

Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short. - Henry David Thoreau

An essential element for good writing is a good ear: One must listen to the sound of one's own prose. - Barbara Tuchman

The test of any good fiction is that you should care something for the characters; the good to succeed, the bad to fail. The trouble with most fiction is that you want them all to land in hell, together, as quickly as possible. - Mark Twain

This & That

At The Gate

by: Janet Lavergne

I will steal a glance

across the waves

and meet you at the gate

standing before the house,

warming you in the night,

 keeping you from the rain.

Grant me the chance 

to find you there at the gate

with the smile I remember

and the eyes that sparkled blue

and the sweet, soft voice

I often hear in the breeze.

To reach for a place

across the waves

would be too distant

for one less caring

and I might say

 the journey is too much

if I were not me.

I am called a dream

and do admit to a mind

that often wanders

beyond reality

and reaches the bay.

I see me there with you

at the gate.

Together at last under the start

seeming to blush with shame

at the brilliance of your eyes

and we share a kiss.

I am the dreamer they accuse

and wait to be cast away.

Still my vision exists

of the distant shores of Scotland

where you watch from the window

and steal a glance toward the gate

where soon we will meet.

*******************

Write quickly and you will never write well; write well, and you will soon write quickly. - Marcus Fabius Quintilianus, circa 65 A.D.

The only reason for being a professional writer is that you just can't help it. - Leo Rosten

Engrave this in your brain: EVERY WRITER GETS REJECTED. You will be no different. - John Scalzi

Resist the temptation to try to use dazzling style to conceal weakness of substance. - Stanley Schmidt

Reading and weeping opens the door to one's heart, but writing and weeping opens the window to one's soul. - M. K. Simmons

This & That

THE JOKE

Donna L Martin

I wait to breathe

            I breathe to live

                        I live for love

                                    I love to laugh

                                                I laugh at life

                                                            Life’s a joke

                                                                        The joke is on me

                                                                        I am a joke

                                                            The joke is my life

                                                My life is a laugh

                                    I laugh with love

                        I love to live

            I live to breathe

I breathe while I wait.

************************

All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary -- it's just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences. -Somerset Maugham

When you take stuff from one writer, it's plagiarism; but when you take it from many writers, it's research. - William Mizner

Don't sell yourself short; dare to dream. You might sell to a top market before you ever sell to a non-paying market - you won't know unless you try. - Rheal Nadeau

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. - Linus Pauling

Perhaps it would be better not to be a writer, but if you must, then write. If all feels hopeless, if that famous 'inspiration' will not come, write. If you are a genius, you'll make your own rules, but if not - and the odds are against it - go to your desk no matter what your mood, face the icy challenge of the paper - write. -J. B. Priestly

This & That

THE CHANGING SEASONS

By Donna L Martin

The calmer days of Autumn

Are drifting through my mind,

Carrying the softer memories

Of a love I left behind.

The chilly days of Winter;

Are reaching with icy fingers

To touch the fires of passion

And cool the dying embers.

The blossomed days of Spring’

Are lending a new start

To a soul once forgotten

And the pain of a broken heart.

The sunny days of Summer;

Are brightening my world of grey

And lifting the corners of my life

To create new plans each day.

The slowly changing seasons

Are passing through my mind,

To erase the painful memories

Of a love I’ve left behind.

***************

I am a part of all I have read.  - John Kieran

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer. - Barbara Kingsolver

This manuscript of yours that has just come back from another editor is a precious package. Don't consider it rejected. Consider that you've addressed it 'to the editor who can appreciate my work' and it has simply come back stamped 'Not at this address'. Just keep looking for the right address. - Barbara Kingsolver

You may be able to take a break from writing, but you won't be able to take a break from being a writer. - Stephen Leigh

All the information you need can be given in dialogue. - Elmore Leonard

This & That

Match Of The Century

By Donna L Martin

It was the match of the century, everyone said.

Goliath over Davey by more than a head.

But Davey knew how this usually goes

As he led with his left and lightening fast toes

With a jump spin side kick that dazzled and dazed

And left poor Goliath with eyes a bit glazed

His friends later asked how he won with such ease?

“It’s really no secret, I just eat my wheaties!”

*******************

My aim is to put down what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way I can tell it. - Ernest Hemingway

A writer never has a vacation. For a writer life consists of either writing or thinking about writing - Eugene Ionesco

Half my life is an act of revision. - John Irving

The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do. - Thomas Jefferson

I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged...I had poems which were re-written so many times I suspect it was just a way of avoiding sending them out. - Erica Jong

This & That

ON THE PROWL


by Donna L Martin

Foul fowl on the prowl,


With gnashing beak and beastly scowl.


What hunger makes your tummy growl?


Little mice that dart and cowl,


Run away fast from that ol’ night owl!

***************

If you start with a bang, you won't end with a whimper.  -T. S. Eliot

Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good.  - William Faulkner

Don't be dismayed by the opinions of editors, or critics. They are only the traffic cops of the arts. - Gene Fowler

If you haven't got an idea, start a story anyway. You can always throw it away, and maybe by the time you get to the fourth page you will have an idea, and you'll only have to throw away the first three pages. -William Campbell Gault

A writer will seal his own coffin,
And the interests of readers will soften,

If the author insists

On the usual twists,

And he goes to the Wells once too often.

- Mark Grenier

This & That

LOVE AGAINST THE ODDS

(A Flash Fiction Challenge)

Labored breathing and the machine’s hum breaks the silence.  Breath for breath his matches hers as fingers entwine.  Lifetime of memories dance about the room; first kisses, that first secret touch, and a promise to love forever.  Then comes doubt, a misunderstanding and room for regret to linger between the then and now.  Years later, a chance meeting and a love reborn.  Now he wonders how he will live without her.  Can he live without her?  Breath for breath he matches hers, brushing hair from her eyes and breathes in her scent as he sits wrapped in her love. 

**********

There is no mistaking the dismay on the face of a writer who has just heard that his brain child is a deformed idiot.  - L. Sprague de Camp

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.  -Peter de Vries

Make everybody fall out of the plane first, and then explain who they were and why they were in the plane to begin with. - Nancy Ann Dibble

If it has horses and swords in it, it's a fantasy, unless it also has a rocketship in it, in which case it becomes science fiction. The only thing that'll turn a story with a rocketship in it back into fantasy is the Holy Grail. - Debra Doyle

If you start with a bang, you won't end with a whimper. - T. S. Eliot

This & That

Which author based one (or perhaps two, depending on your perspective) of his most famous characters on the fascinating case of William Brodie, respected Edinburgh businessman by day, leader of a gang of thieves by night?  Robert Louis Stevenson  Arthur Conan Doyle  Daniel Dafoe  James Fenimore Cooper

The reason 99% of all stories written are not bought by editors is very simple. Editors never buy manuscripts that are left on the closet shelf at home.

- John Campbell

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don't see any.

- Orson Scott Card

It is perfectly okay to write garbage--as long as you edit brilliantly.

- C. J. Cherryh

Next to doing things that deserve to be written, nothing gets a man more credit, or gives him more pleasure than to write things that deserve to be read.

- Lord Chesterfield

Put down everything that comes into your head and then you're a writer. But an author is one who can judge his own stuff's worth, without pity, and destroy most of it.

- Colette