Category Archives: Books

Four Play, The Poem

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This week I have
Something to shout
My fourth novel Four Play
Is published and out
It took a whole year
And at times I did pout

But now I can smile
Since Four Play is here
Want to know more?
Well, please do not fear
In the fourth Cue Ball Mystery
These issues appear

There’s a murder of course
And Jimmy Beak plays a part
Jessie’d like to get rid of him
It would be a good start
And how does she do that?
Don’t worry, she’s smart

Bad plumbing also
Is a recurring theme
This may sound boring
But it’s not what it seems
It involves sci fi monsters
Who make people scream!

But now I have told you
As much as I plan
So go buy the book, silly
It’s at Amazan
You’ll like it a lot
Please tell all your clan

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The Cue Ball Mysteries’ Producer: A Tribute

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The assistant, the producer
Whatever he’s called
My fantastical hubby
I sincerely applaud

I write my stories
And work out the plots
But hubby? He does
A whole heck of a lots

At all technical issues
I am far from astute
Without help from hubby
My books go capoot

Setting margins and font size
How does this work?
I ask hubby to help me
And with nary a smirk

He takes over my laptop
And while I’m not looking
He fixes all problems
And yep—He also does cooking!

Formatting for kindle
And website design
These skill sets I lack
But my hubby’s refined

And so as I get
My next book self-published
Claiming my self did it
All would be rubbish

I could write all I wanted
But without hubby’s assistance
Only in my dreams
Would my books be existent

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Having a Say in Four Play

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My beta readers
Are patient sorts
They’re reading my book
I await their reports

As much as I can
I revise and re-do
Beta readers get a look
When I think I am through

They read quite closely
They look for all flaws
And when they criticize
It gives me great pause

If something bores them
They let me know
I take the book back
And give it another go

Sticklers for detail
Grammarians they are
Without them my writing
Would set folks ajar

Intimidated not
They eat typos for lunch
Ah yes, I adore them
My beta reader bunch

Thanks to John, Kathy, Megan
Sharon and Jean
Better beta readers
The world has not seen!

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Four Play Soon, Someday

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It will be done in September, I say
And then I work on it day after day

When I’ll be through, nobody knows
This is how writing a book for me goes

Rough draft stinks, nothing new there
When I re-read it I try not to swear

It calls for revision, three times at least
Before I am at all with it pleased

Then some friends will read it through
Giving me more ideas to think of anew

But soon after that the book will be done
Ready to see the light of the sun

This one’s called Four Play, due out real soon
But please don’t expect it tomorrow at noon

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April: Better Known as National Poetry Month

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A poem every week
Thought I’d give it a shot
And as it turns out
I like it a lot

On Sunday mornings
I jot down a ditty
I try to be funny
Or mildly witty

It’s been over a year
Seems I’ve had some luck
A poem every week
To my vow I have stuck

In fact, I like it
This rhyming of words
Poetry is no longer
Just for the birds

And now poetry has
A month’s celebration
I’m kind of surprised
But full of elation

Thus April must be
The right time to publish
My collection of poems
No matter what rubbish

My goal is to have it
Ready before May
So putting them in order
Is my goal for today

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Breakthrough Novel?

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A writer’s contest
For beginners
From ten thousand entries
They choose one winner

I sent in my book
I gave it a go
The worst they could do
Is say thanks, but no

Into round three and I’m
Still standing
But winning top prize
I’m really not planning

From quarter-finalist to semi
That is the dream
But one hundred to five
Likely, it does not seem

Mystery-Thriller is the place
For my book
And the excerpt is free
If you want to take a look

Amazon will decide in two weeks
Maybe three
I’m crossing my fingers
And waiting to see

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Here is a link to the excerpt for the Playing With Poison Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award entry

A Tribute by Cindy Lou

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For this week’s poem a simple quiz
Do you know who Mister Geisel is?

I’ll give you some clues, although I doubt
You won’t be able to figure it out

He was born yesterday a long time ago
And when he died it was a great blow

Anapestic tetrameter is what he did
I loved his stuff when I was a kid

He counted fish and told me their colors
His imagination was like no others

Speaking of colors, he considered green
A reasonable color for eggs to be seen

His elephant had really good ears
Surely you know what the pachyderm hears?

An impish feline in a tall chapeau
By now I think you have to know

But I will offer one more clue
Then I promise we will be through

His Christmas story included a Grinch
See, I told you this quiz would be a cinch

Happy Birthday one day late
To Dr. Seuss. I think you were great.

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Lightning Writing

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Right now I am working on something called JANO
It’s crazy exciting and here is the plan-o

A bunch of writers make valiant attempts
To each write a mystery novel, no matter how unkempt

In the space of one month, in Jan to be specific
We’re to each write a book, no matter how horrific

50,000 words total, all in 31 days
We’ll likely survive, but in a bit of a haze

We’re plugging away and doing quite well
The team spirit of it all puts us under a spell

Me? Lo and behold I’ve finished my rough draft!
Although when I re-read it, I know it will be daft

But that’s okay, that’s what February’s for
To start on revising, revising, and revising some more

So thank you, Sleuth’s Inc for giving me the incentive
To write this fast and be so inventive!

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Funny Definition of Fun

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Front matter, back matter
As we put my books in print

My brain begins to feel like
It is full of lint

Hubby is the patient one
He reminds me of a saint

He sits for hours pondering details
And does so without complaint

What about back cover content, he asks
The color of quotes and blurbs?

He shows me the thousands of choices
And I try not to think it’s absurd

But we finally get it together
He told me it could be done

My book is going to look perfect
And delirious hubby will say it was fun

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