Guest Post

HAVE A BOOK TO PROMOTE? Lyrical Pens welcomes guest posts. Answer a questionnaire or create your own post. FYI, up front: This site is a definite PG-13. For details, contact cjpetterson@gmail.com cj

Sunday, September 18, 2022

On hiatus . . . but

Lyrical Pens blog is on hiatus until October 9 … but

you can still contact me at

cjpetterson@gmail.com or at my Facebook page.

 

COMING ATTRACTION 

  Coming to Lyrical Pens on October 2...a guest post by Anastasia Pollack, the protagonist in book 11 of the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Series from Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston.

(Lois writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction.) 

 cj

  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are now low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed paperback copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us   

➜ Follow me on . . .           
➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6


Sunday, September 11, 2022

Remembering and honoring . . .

cj Sez: Today is a day to remember the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and to honor all the victims in the buildings and the first responders who rushed into burning infernos to rescue as many people as they could.

Photo Credit @Heath Satow

  At the Rosemead, CA, City Hall - The sculpture consists of an iron beam pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center held up by two stainless steel hands. The hands holding it up are constructed from 2,976 individually crafted stainless steel doves - each representing a victim of the attacks. (Ironworkers)

  Burned into America’s collective memories—like The Alamo and Pearl Harbor—the September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks. Nineteen members of al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger-filled, commercial airliners and committed murder and suicide. Two aircraft were deliberately flown into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City, a third tore into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, and the fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.

  I will never forget where I was that awful day. Do you remember where you were?

§§

  The political jabberwocky being produced in the news media every day is making me crazy. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m being exposed to the following kind of propaganda: 

Gaslighting Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

“The meaning of GASLIGHTING is psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem, uncertainty of one's emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.” 

  How to protect *oneself? Read and listen with an inquiring mind to more than one source of information/news media.

§§

For readers and writers
  From a Google search:  The difference between *oneself and one's self is not just a matter of grammar. The meaning is different. While “oneself” means that someone does something to or for themselves, “one's self” refers to the “self” that belongs to “one.”

  Because I cringe when I read: “We lead all the way yesterday, and we won!” The past tense of the verb lead is led, not lead, (Yeah, I know, the correct spelling of the past tense of read is also read. We all know the English language is difficult.)

§§

Lyrical Pens blog will be on hiatus until October 9 … 

but you can still contact me 

at cjpetterson@gmail.com or at my Facebook page.

  
  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety.

cj

  No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting suspense/thriller ebooks, are now low-, low-priced at $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed paperback copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  

➜ Follow me on . . .           
➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6 

Sunday, September 4, 2022

It's all about reading . . . and writing

cj Sez: If you’re in the Mobile area today (Sept 4), throw your wheelbarrow in the trunk of your car or back of your pickup and head on down to the original location of The Haunted Book shop. Why? Because there’s a spectacular sale going on to celebrate their move to new quarters and recent re-grand opening:

  Okay, here’s a little history about one of Mobile’s favorite independent bookstores: The Haunted Book Shop.   https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/ 

  The Haunted Book Shop carries the name of the beloved former bookstore that operated in downtown Mobile from 1941 to 1991. That bookstore was founded by Adelaide Marston (later Adelaide Trigg) and Cameron Plummer and named for their favorite book, The Haunted Book Shop, by Christopher Morley. The current owner, award-winning author Angela Trigg and the granddaughter of Adelaide, re-opened the shop to loud applause of local customers who greatly missed the convenience of a downtown shop.

  Carrying new and used books, the services of The
Haunted Book Shop are more than local…they’re just an email away from any reader looking for a special book. Their signed book stock certainly includes local authors but also books from internationally famous authors like R. L. Stine.

§§

  I was searching through my archives for ideas for today's post and thought these questions might evoke some interesting answers: 

…Do you have a huge to-be-read pile on your nightstand threatening to topple over?


… Is there one particular book you can point to as THE BOOK that captured your imagination and started you reading more and more and maybe thinking about being a writer?


… As a child, did you have a parent read to you?

… Did you have a home library of books?

Here are my answers:

… Nope, I have a small TBR pile and another small list of TBR Kindle books. I’m a very slow reader…unless I get “in the zone” and then I might read all night.

… Yep, THE BOOK for me is Last of the Mohicans, by James Fennimore Cooper. At age ten or so, when it was still safe for a kid to walk the city streets at night, I spent some wintery evenings crunching through icy snow to go to the library in Detroit and find a quiet corner to read a few chapters. Based on the French and Indian war and touching on interracial love, the story whetted my appetite for exciting adventure. Of course, I had to see the movie and fell in love with Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis).

… Nope. Or at least I can’t remember that either of my parents read to me. 

… Nope, no home library, although I do remember reading comic books and being
fascinated by some Golden Books. I don’t think the Golden Books were mine, though.

  All of that is to say, don’t compare your writing or reading life to anyone else’s. Sometimes, all it takes is a single story to bring about a love of books and spark one’s imagination.

  I do believe I can point to my not being introduced to reading as a child as at least one reason why I am such a slow reader and writer. But I love the lyrical syncopation of words and syntax, and I continue to write and publish.

  What sparked your love of reading and/or writing? Can you pinpoint a single story? Or was it the cumulative effect of childhood experiences?

§§

  By the by, as the masthead at the top of the page says, if you have a book (new or old) you want to promote with a blog post, drop me a note. We can arrange a blog date…the only caveat is that this site is PG 13.

§§

  That’s it for today’s post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for your health and safety. 

cj

No inflation here: THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA, my fast-paced, exciting, thrillers ebooks, are now low-, low-priced at only $2.99.

P.S.  The Haunted Book Shop has signed paperback copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact The Haunted Bookshop here:


➜ Follow me on . . .           
➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page
➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6