Kay Castaneda
Kay Castaneda is retired from a career as a college English instructor in Indiana. She received a B.A. and M.A. from Indiana University. Her articles about education and sociology are included in Sage Publication’s Education and Society Reference Book. Her poetry and creative nonfiction have been published in literary journals. Kay is currently researching the history of Ireland and Scotland for a novel based on her ancestors, in addition to editing her poetry manuscript. Kay’s hobbies include reading biographies, memoirs, traveling and baking.
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Review of Night’s Redemption by Stephen Bentley
Night’s Redemption: A Detective Matt Deal Thriller Book 5 Night’s Redemption tells the story of a small-town lawyer who risks everything to seek justice for an innocent man, like Atticus Finch in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Night’s Redemption is set in current-day Montana, whereas the setting of ‘Mockingbird’ is 1960s Alabama. Ignorance, fear, greed, and corruption are still trying to control people’s lives. Jimmy Grant left the life of a biker gang member in Florida where his handle was Night. With help from the FBI Witness Protection Program, Jimmy flees trouble in Florida to become a lawyer in Cut Bank, Montana. Jimmy assumes a new persona as…
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Welcome to the “Poetry Treasures 5: Simple Pleasures” Book Blog Tour
WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures Tour Banner Giveaway This tour we’re giving away digital copies of Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures to three lucky winners. Follow the tour and comment at each stop, so we’ll know you were there. You’ll be entered for another chance in the giveaway at each stop. Winners are chosen through a random drawing by WordCrafter Press. We’ll be watching for your name. Welcome everyone! Today is Day 6 on the Virtual Blog Tour for Poetry Treasures 5: Small Pleasures, edited by Kaye Lynne Booth & Robbie Cheadle. I’m happy you chose to join us at Bookplaces.blog today. Reading of “Daybreak“, by DL Mullan…
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Long Way From Home
Hi everyone! Today I thought I’d participate in Tanka Tuesday Challenge. It’s been awhile since I wrote a syllabic poem. Melissa from Mom With A Blog https://melissalemay.wordpress.com/ is host for this week’s challenge. Here are the guidelines. For this week’s Tanka Tuesday Challenge, I’d like us to write Double Ennead poems. The Double Ennead is a form created by our very own Colleen Chesebro. Here is a description of the form: The Double Ennead comprises five lines with a syllable count of 6/5/11/6/5, (33 SYLLABLES per stanza) 3 STANZAS EACH = 99 SYLLABLES, NO MORE, NO LESS! You can add rhyme schemes or not. Title this form. Let’s write about the…
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Winning and Losing Writing Competitions
Revised Originally published May 19, 2022 My favorite poet Emily Dickinson sent her poems to The Atlantic Monthly Magazine in 1862. Editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson promptly rejected them. Emily suffered deeply from the rejection. What did Emily do when she received the news that the editor was not interested in her writing? She wrote even more poems! Emily turned something negative into something good. The communication between the editor and writer turned into a relationship based on poetry that lasted for many years. If there’s a chance the winner might only receive a virtual pat on the back, why do people enter writing competitions? They might lose. Sending your writing to…
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author's life, Awards, Books, Contests, Female Poets, Poetry, Poetry blogs, Rejection, the writer's life, writing
Winning and Losing Writing Competitions
Originally published May 19, 2022 My favorite poet Emily Dickinson sent her poems to The Atlantic Monthly Magazine in 1862. Editor Thomas Wentworth Higginson promptly rejected them. Emily suffered deeply from the rejection. What did Emily do when she received the news that the editor was not interested in her writing? She wrote even more poems! Emily turned something negative into something good. The communication between the editor and writer turned into a relationship based on poetry that lasted for many years. If there’s a chance the winner might only receive a virtual pat on the back, why do people enter writing competitions? They might lose. Sending your writing to a…
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Literary Quotes-Who Said This?
“All you had to do was pull a book from the shelf and open it and suddenly the darkness was not so dark anymore.” Ray Bradbury Born Ray Douglas Bradbury · August 22, 1920 · Waukegan, Illinois U.S. Died June 5, 2012 (aged 91) · Los Angeles, California U.S. Education Los Angeles High School Spouse Marguerite McClure · (m. 1947; died 2003) Children 4 Resting Place Westfield Memorial Park Occupation Writer Period 1938–2012 Do you know this author? Have you ever read any of his books?
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Literary Quotes-Who Said This?
Who Said This? In What Book Can You Find This Quote? Give this quote a glance to see if you have heard it before. The full poem is at the end of the post. When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft look Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep; “WHEN YOU ARE OLD” – by William Butler Yeats When you are old and grey and full of sleep, And nodding by the fire, take down this book, And slowly read, and dream of the soft…
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Happy New Year!
Hello! I’m Kay Castaneda whom many of you know from writing groups, classes, blogs or social media. I thought it was time to update you about my writing and other news. You are receiving this newsletter either because you signed up for it or you follow my blog BOOKPLACES or on social media. If you no longer want to receive emails from me, you can unsubscribe at the link below. I hope you don’t, but if you aren’t interested or don’t remember signing up, I understand. How are you? I hope you are getting a chance to wind down for a few days. Thanksgiving and Christmas are over at our…
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Day 4 of the Wordcrafter “The French Winemaker’s Daughter” Book Blog Tour
Hi! Welcome to Day 4 of the Wordcrafter “The French Winemaker’s Daughter” Book Blog Tour. Today we have a guest post by the author, Loretta Ellsworth. I haven’t had the chance to read Loretta’s book yet. I plan to read and review it soon. Here is Loretta’s guest post. About The French Winemaker’s Daughter Set during World War II, an unforgettable historical novel about love, war, family, and loyalty told in in the voices of two women, generations apart, who find themselves connected by a mysterious and valuable bottle of wine stolen by the Nazis. 1942. Seven-year-old Martine hides in an armoire when the Nazis come to take her father…
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Tanka Tuesday Poetry Challenge, Specific Form, Shadorma, 11/19/24
The author reflects on participating in Tanka Tuesday, exploring the Shadorma poetry form while expressing profound concerns about war, its history, and personal experiences.
