ONLY FOR WHEN IT'S GOOD FOR THEM: MAYA ANGELOU GOES ALL FULL METAL

http://patriotupdate.com/articles/politics-on-tap-maya-angelou-goes-all-full-metal-haiku/

National Book Awards

To any writer, getting a book recognized by the National Book Awards is cause to celebrate.

So I am celebrating because "She wore emerald then..." by prize-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball and illustrated with photography BY ME(!) is a finalist.

It makes a wonderful gift - for mothers, for sisters, aunts, cousins who are mothers or whose mother or grandmother has recently departed.

It's a thoughtful and sensitive book. I promise, the woman who gets it will love it.

And it's pretty, too. We went through a lot of photos before we made the choice, which was interesting because Maggie's in Australia, I'm here and Carolyn is in California.

Think Thanksgiving for a thank you for dinner gift; think Christmas and New Year's.

Here are the links:

http://www.usabooknews.com/2009bestbooksawards.html

http://www.amazon.com/She-Wore-Emerald-Then-Reflections/dp/1438263791/

Jozette's book reviews - She Wore Emerald Then...

http://jozette.webs.com/bookreviews.htm

Lovely review from Jozette on the poetry chapbook on motherhood for which I supplied images.
The chapbook is written by Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball, both award winning writers and poets.

Poetry Chapbook - She Wore Emerald Then...

Is a collaboration between Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Magdalena Ball (both award winning poets) and I - through my photography.

It's definitely not a book on motherhood that you will find in the cutesy Mother's Day aisle in a Hallmark store. It's very thought provoking and powerful. I think you'll like it. It's deep. Motherhood distilled.

I am so humbled to be in such wonderful company as these two talented women. It was my great pleasure to add to their (they will tell me "our") book.

It is available in softcover and also as an e-book.

Here's the link to the description, with reviews and where to order: http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/images/she_wore_emerald_then.htm

To Purchase She Wore Emerald Then

To buy a copy, just click the purchasing link https://www.createspace.com/3347966. then click on the Add to Cart button, fill in check out information and that's it. Watch for it soon on Amazon, as well.

Sample Poems from She Wore Emerald Then

Mother’s Bed, by Magdalena Ball

In the restless night

when mortality lurks in every shadow

the blanket won’t cover your fear

and morning is a half-forgotten dream

vague and uncertain,

slink into my bed

the pillow holds a mother’s secret

whispered charm

you can sink your head into.

There are no demons here;

no whirlwind of memory and anticipation clouding

sleep

only eternal warmth

a shared space

free from the ticking illusion

of time, motion, and change.

Here, where you are always welcome

nothing matters

except this peace

this place

containing every possible now.

Could It Have Been Otherwise? By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

At eighty-eight, she (tired

of the twenty first century

before it has become school

age) pleads, weary

before dinner, eyes

too weak to read.

I turn on the TV,

grab a VCR to cheer

her. I'm too slow, way

too slow. Instead of You're lookin’

swell, Dolly, she is treated

to Aulnay-sous-Bois'

streets aflame, backlash,

ghetto or banlieues

nothing new

in new millennium.