Edie Roones

For poetry lovers, we have a series of blogs,  Poetry Lesson s, guest-hosted by Emily R. Dunn of Writers Ink Books.  Visit our page on every 5 th   (5th, 15th, and 25th) to see which poem has inspired a lesson in thinking and writing.  We'll also intersperse news about books. ~~ M. Lee Madder Burning Candles “First Fig” My candle burns at both ends It will not last the night But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends, It gives a lovely light. Edna St. Vincent Millay’s “First Fig” is a rich gem.  An unassuming jewel of four deceptively simple lines preceded by a clever title, the poem seems merely to celebrate the bravado and esprit of the bohemian lifestyle:  adventurous, blithe, and insouciant. Closer examination reveals the poem is crafted with a diamond-cutter’s precision, sparkling with St. Vincent Millay’s talent. Part of a collection entitled A Few Figs from Thistles and published in 1920, it heralded the Roaring Twenties.  ...

For poetry lovers, we have a series of blogs,  Poetry Lesson s, guest-hosted by Emily R. Dunn of Writers Ink Books.  Visit our page on every 5 th   (5th, 15th, and 25th) to see which poem has inspired a lesson in thinking and writing.  We'll also intersperse news about books. ~~ M. Lee Madder “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff seems a strange beginning to a post about the classic “Hotel California” by the Eagles. Stranger things have happened. To remind:  allegories are surface stories which have underlying meanings. The persona in “Hotel California” seems to relate a surreal visit to a roadside hotel that turns ugly before it imprisons him.  However, through allegory, the song relates a pursuit for fame and fortune that cost more than the persona anticipated and did not wish to pay. “O, Fortuna” The lady who draws in the persona to Hotel California is Lady Fortuna, goddess of fame and fortune, luck and fate.  Carl Orff (a rather...

One of my fellow writers at Writers Ink Books is finally publishing her first novel Weave a Wizardry Web this month.  Remi Black's epic fantasy series is called The Enclave. Check out the promotion here. http://writersinkbooks.com/ remi-black-begins-epic-fantasy / Chapter 1 Pearroc Ciele poured Fae power into the newly learned wizard spell.  Even as it flashed lightning bright, he recognized the weakness that shattered through the spell. “If you are to pass yourself off as a wizard during the Trials, you must defend as a wizard would, not as a Fae would.” He twisted his shoulders.  The aged man never missed a point when teaching wizardry.  He might be too weary to rise from the chair provided by the arena master, but his black eyes snapped onto a flaw and his quick mind decoded the reason for that flaw.  Fae spell contorted to look like wizardry:  most wizards would miss the foundation hidden by the swirling energies.  Pater Drakon neve...