Sunday Interview with Kay Salady

Visit Kay Salady today..To enjoy her fantastic poetry!

http://kaysalady.wordpress.com/

http://ateardropfell.com/

There are so many talented poets/writers, there are also many well established writers around our blogging community, the choice to get published is up to the writer oneself...along the way, we find that Kay Salady has stunning poetry talent, and she has chosen to self-publish her work...eventually,we have a chance to speak to her and thus, this interview is born.....

Why did you decide to get published? 

There was a woman in my town who thought my work should be published. Her name is Kay and she helped me secure a grant to finance my writing. During this time, I met a woman who was affiliated with promoting Stephenie Meyer from Scottsdale. Rosie was instrumental in giving me sound advice on how to promote myself via the internet.

What kind of book do you have there? 

I have a book of poetry written in journalistic entry.

How long have you been writing? 

Actually, I began writing as a young girl. I majored in English and took creative writing classes. However, I became a serious writer in the year 2006.

Do you have previous publishing experiences? 

A Teardrop Fell is the first book that I’ve published.

What is the reason you chose the host of your publishing? 

I had decided to self-publish due to the fact that I wished to maintain my copyright. 

What is the cost of getting everything done? I had done all the work on my book cover-to-cover including all the editing. The conception of the cover design was mine. However, a good friend of mine from Morocco actually painted my book cover. The publishing cost was $1,699.00 plus alteration charges of $1,236.00.

Which part of the book do you believe to be the most charming to readers? Please include 2 or 3 poems in your book.... 

Passion’s Tree

“I awoke tonight at the same hour, the same old tree still in my mind.”

I found you there beneath that tree

With your sweet smile awaiting me

The moonlight all aglow

And as I gazed into your eyes

Sparkling as stars to fill my skies

And light a lover's path

I ran to you in the velvet night

Filled with passion and such delight

At the thought of your embrace

You reached for me under our tree

A hand outstretched so willingly

To take me to your heart

Intoxicated and filled with bliss

By the wonders of your kiss

I fell into deep desire

Passion burning oh so deep

The promises I longed to keep

Fed fire to the flame

Taken by a love so tender

Hands are touching we surrender

Melting to the ground

To feel your breath upon my skin

The warmth of you without within

Consumes me so completely

We roll like thunder in the rain

Lightning strikes us once again

Beyond desires' dream

Within the mist I realize

As I slowly open up my eyes

You've left me all alone

Passion's tree eluded me

Disappeared so silently

Somewhere within the storm

I Love You

If I could have but just one wish, I'd wish for you to find

The peace of downy angel wings that lies within my mind

A night so clear that's filled with stars in open velvet sky

Moon to shed her glorious beams as she passes slowly by

If I could hold the universe, so vast, within my hands

Climb the highest mountain, travel across the distant lands

If I could swim the deepest sea to reach the farthest shore

Gather the finest gold and silver, that, and so much more

Lay the world upon your feet and wash them with my tears

Give you all the love within me for a thousand years

There are no words or earthly means that ever could describe

Just what you are or what I'd do to show what's deep inside

I love you far more than anything that I have ever known

This love surpasses anything that life has ever shown

For all my life, I love you and I love you deeper still

I love you, dear, I love you and I know I always will

The Beating of My Heart

In the silence of the night

Knowledge sheds her glowing light

And the beams of reverent dreams

Smooth the cutting shattered screams

As they echo through my mind

I'm unsettled; yes, I am

As these thoughts through my head swam

Around and 'round they whirled and twirled

They made no sense as they unfurled

All I can feel is hollow fright

This indecision's killing me

I'm all alone; I'm lost at sea

All I can do is think of you

The only one worth running to

So you could hold me for awhile

I need to lie down in my bed

If just to rest my weary head

My heart is breaking so and I

Feel such pain I feel I'll die

To breathe another breath it's true

And if tomorrow's sun won't rise

If I don't see your lovely eyes

I'll have no chance to say how much

I've longed to know the very touch

Of your sweet hand in mine

I'll ask the angels up above

To whisper down to my true Love

Within the falling rain

The harmonious refrain

Of the beating of my heart

Do you have any hints on how to get published? 

If I did, the rest of my work would be inside the pages of a book. I am so ready to embrace traditional publishing. I’ve met some wonderful authors who are quite famous. They’ve told me the writing arena is not doing so well at present. Perhaps things will pick up. It’s important to get your work out there. Get noticed. At present, I’m a featured author in an online magazine. I have a lot going on as far as my social activities. People know me globally due to my being an activist.

Do you have a favorite author? 

I don’t have any one favorite author. Growing up, I liked Robert Frost and Robert Louis Stevenson. Books were always a way of escaping into another world. I spent many hours sitting in my closet with a book. I worked in the school library acquainting myself with the Dewey decimal system and loved the smell and touch of yellowed pages sitting on dusty shelves. I adore Stevie Nicks, Rumi . . . anything to do with passion. I have great respect for any writer that can take me with them on a journey or move me to tears. Listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Anthony Kiedis as he sings his poetry. Wow! Words are so incredibly powerful.

What are your major inspirations?

I am inspired by love.

Love is from the infinite, and will remain until eternity.
The seeker of love escapes the chains of birth and death.
Tomorrow, when resurrection comes,
the heart that is not in love will fail the test.
-Rumi

What’s your writing plan for the future? 

I have enough material for another book of poetry and I’m working on a book of fiction and a book of non-fiction. I write daily.

Poetry Paradise Book Review #5

Today's poetry review involves a quick hop across “the pond”. Beyond the misty moors of England to romantic city of London where we meet Orna Ross.

Irish by birth Orna lives and writes in London.

Married and the mother or two, she derives her pen name from the names of her daughter Ornagh and son Ross.

Already an accomplished and published author of two novels, Ms Ross defines herself

as a writer and poet and some of her poetry can be read here.

http://www.ornaross.com/novels/poems/

While each of her poems are little gems in and of themselves, I chose one to share with you today. I chose it for its ability to touch me (and I hope you the reader) to the core.

Surfacing. A Poem.

Down by the river bank I http://www.ornaross.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/IMG_0290.JPGsee
a life-ring on a line,
and think of how we used to swim
in talk, your hands
in mine,
our arms encircled round your wound,
that never-ending need.
Your life was so unfairly hard,
you felt, and I
agreed.
So when low words rose from your depths
and surged forth, spitting froth,
I let them ooze, I held on tight.
‘We’ll surf these swirls’,
I thought.
And so we went till cancer came,
insisting I should see,
commanding me to cast away.
A knife, it cut
me free.
It showed the ring my thought had made
was twisted as old bone,
that our two hands were not conjoined.
I clutched, alone,
my own.
Down by the river bank I weep
for how we went astray:
the harsh, embittered things you felt
the love they flung
away,
and my fierce need to go too deep,
the blood and breath I gave
to trying to buoy up a life
that was not mine
to save.

~~~~~

I found all of Orna's poems highly read worthy. She has a lot of range and a compelling way of expressing that range.
She brings her personal passion to each work she pens.

Here is a quote of hers that I love:

“writing isn't produced by a place but by a human imagination in harness to a blank page.”


It seems to me that Orna Ross is to that blank page what yeast and sugar are to flour. Just as those most basic and elemental ingredients combine to produce any number of wonderful breads, she uses the basics of human thoughts, emotions and life events to serve up food for the soul. Her words nourish, sustain, comfort and inspire.

Her first book of poetry is coming out this fall entitled "Ten Thoughts About Love"
Ms. Ross told me the last poem for the book is proving a bit unwieldy.
Boy don't we all know that feeling!

Thank you Orna Ross for taking time out of your busy schedule to email me and I will give my readers here at Bluebell a heads up when "Ten Thoughts About Love" comes out in a few months.

Web site for Orna Ross: http://www.ornaross.com/

review was done by Indie for Bluebells Poetry Paradise.
http://onegirlonepen.blogspot.com/

Falling Hard - 100 Love Poems by Teens

Hi Everyone,

Today I am sharing Falling Hard - 100 Love Poems by Teens edited by Betsy Franco with you.

When I picked up this book of adolescent poetry I was ready to find plenty of intense emotion and declarations of undying love. Instead I found an intriguing mix of vulnerability, honesty, obsession, humor, emotional awakenings and quirky tales. The poems Franco has chosen deal with the complexity of teenage life without weighing the reader down with intensity. The stories strike a palatable balance by dealing with topics such as new love, being stood up, fitting in, crime, acknowledgment of loved ones and lost love in a variety of styles and emotional approaches.

One of my favorite poems from the book is Pledge of Affection to a Nerd (page 23). Written by 16 year old Laura Tabor, the humor is so mature that I found myself laughing aloud at the affection and subtlety of the verse, just beautiful.

Pledge of Affection to a Nerd

I...
...drift, lazy, on the comforting breeze
as you rhythmically speak
computer jargon.
...can't get over how blue your eyes are:
talking about Star Wars.
...couldn't be prouder of you as you recite:
forty-seven digits of pi.
...will listen, though I may never understand:
you beat the final level of Escape from Modor!
...want to stay in your arms all evening while you talk about:
ancient war strategy, lunar eclipses, molecules...

whispering sweet algorithms in my ear.

LAURA TABOR

And the short and sweet Love Poem (page 22) by Juan Nunez, age 15...

Love Poem

I am
the flour
to your tortilla,
baby.

JUAN NUNEZ

Personally I felt privileged to get this glimpse into the lives and hearts of these talented individuals. The sensitivity, awareness and humour of so many of these young poets is apparent and blasts many stereotypes surrounding teenagers out of the water.

A rewarding read that I highly recommend.

Cynthia Marston