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kaycastaneda90

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Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl

kaycastaneda90

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Sep 6

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Read my post about prayers and Saint Therese of Liseaux. Thanks!
Photo of Therese, age 20, in 1889 when she acted in a play about Joan of Arc.

https://bookplaces.blog

#bloggingcommunity #WritingCommunity #saint #strongwomen #faith #prayer #perseverance #believe ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Aug 13

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The black sheep are the artists, visionaries and healers of our culture, because they are the ones willing to call into question those places which feel stale, obsolete, or without integrity. The black sheep stirs up the good kind of trouble. Her very life is a confrontation with all that has been assumed as tradition. Her being different serves to bring the family or group to consciousness where it has been living too long in the dark. As the idiom implies, she is the wayward one in the flock. Her life’s destiny is to stand apart. But paradoxically, it’s only when she honors that apartness that she finally fits in. The world needs your rebellion and the true song of your exile. In what has been banned from your life, you find a medicine to heal all that has been kept from our world. We must find the place within where things have been muted and give that a voice. Until those things are spoken, no truth can find its way forward. The world needs your unbelonging. It needs your disagreements, your exclusion, your ache to tear the false constructions down, to find the world behind this one.⁣

~ Toko-pa Turner. You can find Belonging here: https://amzn.to/45pZQqN

art | Caitlin Connolly
https://www.caitlinconnolly.com/about

#midwivesofthesoul #rebellion #beingdifferent
#voicescarry #unbelonging #healing #strongwomen #poetrycommunity #writerscommunity #writersofinstagram ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Aug 12

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Ireland Loves Sinead🩷 The message is visible from the sky.
Poem read at Sinead O`Connor`s funeral by her brother Joseph, a novelist. #songforsinead #beautifulvoice🎤💕 #irelandsbest 🍀

BLACKBIRD in DUN LAOGHAIRE- a poem by Joseph O’Connor
There’s a blackbird in Dun Laoghaire
When I’m walking with my sons
Through the laneways
Called ‘The Metals’
By the train-tracks.
And he sings among the dandelions
And bottle-tops and stones,
Serenading purple ivy,
Weary tree-trunks.
And I have it in my head
That I can recognise his song,
Pick him out,
I mean distinct
From all his flock-mates.
Impossible, I know.
Heard one blackbird, heard them all.
But there are times
He whistles up a recollection.
There’s a blackbird in Dun Laoghaire –
And I’m suddenly a kid,
Asking where from here to Sandycove
My youngest sister hid.
I’m fourteen this Easter.
My job to mind her.
Good Friday on the pier –
And I suddenly can’t find her.
The sky like a bruise
By the lighthouse wall.
We were playing hide-and-seek.
Is she lost? Did she fall?
There’s a blackbird in Dun Laoghaire
And the terror’s like a wave
Breaking hard on a hull,
And the peoples’ faces grave
As Yeats on a banknote.
Stern as the mansions
Of Killiney in the distance,
As the pier’s granite stanchions,
And Howth is a drowned child
Slumped in Dublin Bay,
And my heart is a drum
And the breakers gull-grey.
The baths. It starts raining.
The People’s Park.
And my tears and the terns,
And the dogs’ bitter bark.
There’s a blackbird in Dun Laoghaire,
And I pray to him, then,
For God isn’t here,
In a sobbed Amen.
And she waves from the bandstand,
Her hair in damp strings,
And the blackbird arises
With a clatter of wings
From the shrubs by the teahouse,
Where old ladies dream
Of sailors and Kingstown
And Teddy’s ice-cream.
And we don’t say a word
But cling in the mizzle,
And the whistle of the bird
Getting lost in the drizzle.
Mercy weaves her nest
In the wildflowers and the leaves,
There are stranger things in heaven
Than a blackbird believes.
– Joseph O’Connor, 2010 ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jul 27

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By Kris Kristofferson, written after Sinead was boo`d off the stage at a Dylan tribute show, and Kris comforted her in front of everyone
🩷. RIP Sinead

I`m singing this song for my sister Sinead
Concerning the god awful mess that she made
She told them her truth just as hard as she could
Her message profoundly was misunderstood

There`s humans entrusted with guarding our gold
And humans in charge of the saving of souls
And humans responded all over the world
Condemning that bald headed brave little girl

And maybe she`s crazy and maybe she ain`t
But so was Picasso and so were the saints
And she`s never been partial to shackles or chains
She`s too old for breaking and too young to tame

It`s askin` for trouble to stick out your neck
In terms of a target a big silhouette
But some candles flicker and some candles fade
And some burn as true as my sister Sinead

- Kris Kristofferson, "Sister Sinead

#nothingcompares2U #artisticsouls #voicelikeanangel #mentalillnesssucks
#womenspeaking #voicescarry #dontstoptalking #singyourheartout #irishangel #irelandsbest #heartofbravery
#sisterangelheart #restinpeacesinead ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 14

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What Happens To The Children?

Maybe she was one of the trafficked children I read about. Blond, about ten years old, a pretty girl. I noticed something odd about the way she looked at me. We both got out of our vehicles at the same time. She stepped down from the cab of a semi, that little girl could barely make her way down to the step so she jumped out and landed with a crouch the way a cat jumps down from a high place. Their knees bend and their feet stay gripped to the ground a half second later then spring forward before going full speed. The cat flees whatever was chasing it before they jumped. That`s how the girl exited the semi. We were both walking into the rest stop on some highway in Tennessee or Oklahoma or Texas, I forget where. It was a rest stop built by the state for the convenience of travelers. She kept pace with me almost walking by my side as we made our way up the walkway toward the restroom. She followed me into the Women`s Side and entered the stall next to mine. I think we opened our doors at the same time. A few minutes later, she followed me to the sink. I always took a look at myself in the mirror, I guess to see if I`m still there. As usual, I talked to whoever would be in the room with me.
"Look at my hair. What a mess. That`s what happens on a long trip."

Read the rest of the story on Substack https://kaywriterwarrior.substack.com/p/what-happens-to-the-children

#childtraffickingexposed #savethechildren #sextrafficking #closetheborder #childpornographyischildabuse ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 7

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Post about your main character`s morning routine. Twelve year old Emmie O`Brien must be responsible for getting her younger sister Janey to school. She also checks on her mother who often smokes in bed and changes her baby sister Cissy`s diaper. Emmie must make sure everything is alright each morning.

#WriterFriendsChallenge Day 6 #emmieofindianapolis #youngadultfiction #comingofage #familystory #alcoholism
#sistersforever❤️ #sisters #indianapolisindiana #midwestgirl #indiana #neighborhood #schooldays ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 4

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#writerfriendschallenge Day 3. Post about a favorite library or bookstore.

The Indianapolis Central Public Library is in downtown Indianapolis. In my novel, Emmie of Indianapolis, Emmie and her friends study at the library every day for a month to practice for their school Spelling Bee. Since they lived near the library, it was easy to walk there. The library was built in 1917 and the interior looked as the photo when Emmie visited. There have been additions that are more modern but the main parts are the original.

#indianapolisindiana #indianapolispubliclibrary #indianapolispublicschools #educationmatters #schoolmemories #friendships #booksbooksbooks #youngadultfiction #readersofinstagram #readingcommunity #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #studyhard #spellingbee #teachersofinstagram #library📚 #neighborhood ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 3

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Writer Friends Challenge Day 2

I am excited to go through my book, Emmie of Indianapolis: The Story of an American Girl, with a fine-toothed comb for the 200th time. Well it feels like that many. My book has been accepted for the Heartland Booksellers Expo Fall Forum. Since my novel is set in Indianapolis, I hope the cultural and historical themes will appeal to the buyers. I know it would be perfect for middle schools and high schools to read and study! Book buyers and librarians will be checking it out to see if it would be a good fit for their school libraries. My book will also be included in the Winter issue of a catalog that`s sent to all the libraries and buyers. It will have the book information with a few blurbs and reviews. I have to get busy reviewing my Ingram account to make sure everything is correct. Book orders are fullfilled through Ingram and shipped to the schools and bookstores.
I`m updating my Amazon author page plus my blog and social media. Ĺinks! Do my links work alright? Does my website load fast enough? Do I have SEO optimized, whatever that is? Will I have enough coffee, tea and chocolate to get me through this project? My laptop keeps crashing. I must buy a new one. Aaaaahhhhh! Our internet service is a nightmare. I live in a small town and the internet goes out for hours, sometimes for the day.
Please send good thoughts, wishes, prayers and any bits of advice. Thanks. I will post about my progress here.
🥰🥳🙏😍😊

#writerfriendschallenge #writingcommunity #writersofinstagram #indianapolisindiana #midwestgirl #heartlandofamerica❤️ #thestoryofanamericangirl #emmieofindianapolis #keepwritingyourstory
#amwriting #historicalfiction #youngadultfiction #familystory #sistersforever❤️ #immigrationstory
#friendships #prejudice #culturestories #neighborhood #religiousintolerance #schooldays ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 2

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I hope I can keep this up! I write YA fiction, poetry, short stories, memoirs and non-fiction. I published my novel Emmie of Indianapolis:The Story of an American Girl and I`m writing a series with Emmie as a teen detective. It should be out in December. Here are five writers I`ve met in my writer`s journey.

@cheadlerobbie @lindakane8955 @lizzie_chantree @justinfarleypoet
@author_stephen_bentley

#writerfriendschallenge #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #writerslife #writerssupportingwriters #writinginspiration #writersconnection #writers #writtenword #writinglife #writerswrite #writingmotivation ...

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kaycastaneda90

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Jun 1

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The Writer Warrior

Things I`m Not Afraid To Write About-Culture
Religion Literature Art The World
#writersofinstagram #dontbeafraid
#thewriterwarrior #poetsofinstagram
#womenwriters #authorsofinstagram

People who know me say I have an opinion about everything. A lawyer once asked me too many questions then got angry because I answered them all. She said that I thought I knew it all, but I don`t. I just told the truth.

If I don`t know the answer, I`ll say so. Then I`ll go read and research so the next time you ask me I`ll be ready.

What`s wrong with having opinions? Beliefs? Convictions? To know what`s right and wrong is one of the best weapons humans can have. You can argue against injustice and fight off evil even though your enemy may seem bigger than you. Words both spoken and written can be weapons at times. Speaking out can disarm your opponent because your words might confuse them. People are afraid sometimes of strong opinions. They feel more comfortable to be one of the crowd. It`s easy and gives them security. But that comes with a price. A weak heart and an empty soul.

I don`t mean to insult anyone. This is just my teacher`s and writer`s mind working.

Warriors don`t always win. They continue fighting, trying and never quit. And they keep on writing. ...

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