I Hereby Resolve...

 

February 2021 Blog

Like all who put pen to paper, I would not be forgotten.

 

Writer’s Resolve: A Haiku

I would spread my words

Upon the ether so that

They might never die.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

I feel the need to share, so I'm thinking of posting short excerpts from my novels and poetry chapbooks  to my blog on a semi-weekly basis. I would say weekly, but I’m not sure I could keep up with that pace.

I’m inspired by Amanda             Gorman‘s presentation at the inaugural ceremony on January 20^th. She was brilliant. I consider her to be the new Maya Angelou. As James Corden said on his “Late Late Night” talk show, she has made poetry “cool” again.

So, I’ll start this month with an excerpt quoting Eldreth from “The Castleweaver’s Tales: A Dozen Glimpses of Medieval Madness”  25^TH Anniversary Edition.

Of course, Eldreth is a madman, so his contemplations could end in no other way. I love that he allows me to combine horror and the Medieval Time period with poetry. It makes me feel closer to one of my favorite poets, Edgar Allan Poe. Not that I’m anywhere near approaching his genius. But I plod on.

If I never achieve his acclaim, at least I know my words will abide in the ether as will his.  It is amazing that we live in an age where as authors, words may never die. Not something E. A. Poe could ever have imagined.

Finishing my WIP’s is taking me more time than I anticipated. The time never seems to open up to sit down and write. Guess I’ll just have to make more time somehow. Anybody know of a time stretcher?

I’d be obliged. Without one, I’ll just plod along as best I can and do what I can.

At least I’m not confronted by certain daily idiocies. I’m just biding my time until I can get an appointment for my vaccine. I’m in that 75+ age group, but the vaccine seems s to be in short supply here. Hope we all get ours soon.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content, all the while looking forward to enjoying our lives even more in the coming months. Let’s keep the faith.

Hard to believe that I have eleven books published, All are available on Amazon for your pleasure.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

 

 

Happier New Year 2021

 

January 2021 Blog

Hard to raise a resounding cheer replete with mask and gloves, but here goes.

 

Happier 2021: A Haiku

The clock has struck, and

I have held my breath too long;

My cheer is silent.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Happy New Year! I am imploring 2021 to do better by us. It’s predecessor was such a cruel, deviant monster. It would be difficult to survive two such years in a row.

I know nothing has changed overnight, but there is hope on the horizon for better days ahead. I’m actually looking forward to getting a shot in the arm. Also, looking forward to less daily chaos surrounding us all. The sooner, the better on that front.

After things settle down, I’ll look forward to finishing at least two novels this year, along with a couple of Haiku chapbooks.

Sometime this month, the Audible version of “The Seasons of Sam Rock” will be live. I’m  listening Steve Hamm’s upload now. It sounds great! He really brings Sam Rock to life. Would love to see him star in a Sam Rock movie someday. I’ll settle for him doing the audible for the Sam Rock sequel now titled “The Secrets of Raven’s Roost: A Sam Rock Novel”, if he’s available. I like to dream big.

I’m also dreaming of a healthy world at peace. I’m thinking that is not so far-fetched with the changes coming this month. We can only wait and see, but the signs are encouraging

Maybe I’ll be able to concentrate more on my writing this year. There is so much I need to catch up on that’s been so difficult to do this last year. I spent way too much time worrying and waiting for the worst to happen. Maybe this year is my year to anticipate the good things left in life.

I’ll also look forward to going to a restaurant and enjoying the company of others. I’m even looking forward to getting in a car and going somewhere to enjoy the scenery and the people. And, although I don’t like crowds, I’d love to attend a gathering of people and not have to worry about coming in contact with someone with something I might get that might kill me. Oh, and I’d like to see a movie at a theater with popcorn and everything.

I ‘m hoping this New Year finds all my friends well and safe. It’s been rough for all of us. We’ve all gone from crisis to crisis with barely a chance to breathe in between. May we all find the inspiration to follow our dreams instead of reliving our nightmares on a daily basis.

I will try to maintain a positive attitude for this coming year. I’m planning on getting everything organized and clean and neat and tidy. Okay – now I’m getting into resolution territory. I hate doing that, because there’s always so much room for disaster and failure.

So, I’m not making any hard and fast resolutions this year. I’m just going to do the best I can, which is really the best we all can do.

I’ll be happily reading and writing and editing and publishing to my heart’s content. And I will be encouraging my writer friends to do the same, so all our reader friends out there can continue to follow our journeys and enjoy themselves.

So, again, Happy New Year! Cheers to a much better 2021!

Hard to believe that I have eleven books published, All are available on Amazon for your pleasure.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. Look forward to the best of the coming year. I have a feeling...

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, all were able enjoy some holiday festivities, and we can look forward to enjoying our lives even more in the coming months. Let’s keep the faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfond Farewell

 

December 2020 Blog

Not sorry to see 2020 go. In fact, good riddance, bad rubbish.

 

Unfond Farewell: A Haiku

One useless, cruel year

Coming to its end. Hope the

New Year brings better.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

Not given eternity, I have but the rest of my life to get things done. So I’m putting all my eggs in next year’s basket.

I am sitting outside again, smiling at my platitudes. Hey, at least it’s a reason to smile. This has been one unbelievable year. It’s not like any other in my lifetime and I’ve lived a long, long life.

I would take a deep breath and shake this year off as December’s passing brings it to a close, but it’s not safe to take a deep breath. It may not be safe to do so for a long time yet.

I’m betting a lot of us will be happy to see this year go away and take its nightmares with it. We’re for sure hoping 2021 will restore our health, our outlook and our sanity. I’m not certain I could stand another year like 2020 has been.

So, I’m spending December planning for the future. During November’s NaNoWriMo, I wrote most of the sequel to the “Seasons of Sam Rock”, tentatively titled “Ravens’ Roost”. I may finish it in December, or I may just work on a myriad other things that need doing sooner rather than later.

I’m also hoping for the freedom to go places and do things outside the house besides grocery shopping and doctors’ appointments. Maybe even have access to a viable vaccine that may end at least part of the nightmare that is 2020. And it really would be nice to go somewhere without donning a mask and gloves.

With 2020 behind me, I’d like to embark on a new and more productive cycle of writing, editing, publishing and marketing. I may spend part of December planning for that. It’s hard to keep to a schedule if you don’t make one first.

I am thinking of publishing at least three novels, two or three new Haiku chapbooks and lots of audio book releases from my print and ebook back catalog.

First novel, of course, will be the “Seasons of Sam Rock” sequel. Then, probably “The  Early Years” prequel to the “The Chronicles of Acqueria”. Not sure what will follow that,

Then I have another full chapbook of Haiku for a “Global Warning” sequel, and I’ve been collecting Haiku for a chapbook on my personal outlook on life. (Not sure that won’t be mostly depressing.)

I’ve been promised the completion of my “Seasons of Sam Rock” audio book for Christmas. It will join the already available “       The Cottage”. Also looking forward to putting the “Aurora UFO Incident” out there and maybe the “Black Oak” series.

I might even make the “The Castleweaver” poetry series available in audio, I’ve been trying for a couple of years to figure out how to  make an ebook version available. It’s rather difficult considering all the artwork involved. But it should be doable. I’ll have to keep studying that.

So, there’s plenty to do in 2021, assuming we can successfully get  past 2020. I hope my faithful readers and fellow writers can look forward to a good new year as well.

I, for one, will ring in the new year joyfully, after burying 2020 somewhere in a landfill, where it belongs.

If you’re still looking for books for gifts, all mine are available on Amazon for your gifting pleasure.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. It will help pass the lonely hours of isolation and quarantine.

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, this month we may enjoy some holiday festivities and next month will find us able to enjoy our lives even more. Let’s keep the faith.

 

 

 

 

Stop the World

 

November 2020 Blog

Not even sure whom I am petitioning anymore. Doubt anyone has the answer these days.

 

Cease and Desist: A Haiku

Stop the world and let

Me off, or barring that, give

Respite from the storms.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

But I do have #NaNoWriMo in November. So, for one whole month I can lose myself in writing my next novel.

I am sitting outside in the warm sunshine right now, which wouldn’t be strange except that we had eight inches of snow yesterday from a constant snow from two days before. Now it’s supposed to be over 70F in a couple of days.

It would be no wonder that everyone is getting sick, except for the fact that everybody has been getting sick for the last six months or so from that thing that has been going around that shall remain nameless from now on.

Not sure what my writing project for #NaNoWriMo will be. I should be able to finish the two novels I’ve been working on for the last two years – the sequel to “The Seasons of Sam Rock” and the prequel to my “The Chronicles of Acqueria: Blood Moon Treachery”. A combined 50,000 words should do it.

I am currently basking in the glory of my newly released Haiku collection, “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis”:  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KWQ6SHK/

For the remainder of the year, I am donating $1.00 from each book sold to https://www.planetbee.org/

They are dedicated to the education of children and adults on just how important bees are to our survival on this world.

At least I will feel that we have done something positive for the environment besides throwing words at the problem.

I hope all my readers and fellow writers have survived the Summer, and are heading into the Fall and Winter in good shape. We will need all our survival skills and a lot of luck to come through to the Spring intact.

I know a lot of things have to change before we can breathe easy again and expect to get some joy and satisfaction out of life. I won’t go into what changes we need to make.

All of my friends know where I stand and of what I write. I’m hoping the normal that was my life for so many years may be so again, and soon. I would like to spend my waning years with a modicum of the hope and pleasant anticipation for the future I grew accustomed to.

I smile just thinking about how I used to welcome the thought of retirement and leisure and travel and restaurants and concerts and ballgames and crowds – all maskless and gloveless. And, oh how I would love to hug someone.

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for my publication announcements:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, next month will find us all in the mood for some holiday festivities, as this month has not. Not anticipating any family gatherings or even going out to our favorite restaurant to enjoy their wonderful cuisine. Maybe some take-out, but somehow it’s just not the same.

 

 

 

Dichotomy

 

October 2020 Blog

Nothing ever changes; nothing remains the same.

 

Dichotomy: A Haiku

Morning has broken,

Yet the night will not yield, and

The darkness prevails.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

I stand by that first sentence, seeming conflict or not.

I am sitting outside watching the birds scouring the ground for seeds and nuts. (The pecan tree is providing its harvest.) Even the hummingbirds are still visiting their summer nectar. (I provide a colorful feeder, since I cannot grow flowers on this Godforsaken piece of earth.) The squirrels are cavorting up and down the tree trunk, doing their Fall dance before they retire to their nesting place.

All appears to be well. The long, hot  Summer has broken and Fall seems to be on its way.

But all is not well. We are warmer than ever, and all of us are not well. We are sicker than ever – in body and spirit.

Amidst all this, I am launching my latest Haiku collection, “Global Warning: Climate in Crisis”.

 

With its release, I hope to sway some of the folks who may not yet realize that our Earth is in deep trouble, for there’s not much mention of it these days. I’m not sure we even realize how deeply our nation is in trouble with the current pandemic. There are so many other distractions out there. (The upcoming presidential election sitting front and center.)

So, we have been here before in history, and we have never been here before. I see it all as a matter of how a pendulum swings. Either the pendulum will swing in ever widening arcs until it breaks away and flies off in who knows what direction, or – most likely (as pendulums are wont to do) it will swing in ever decreasing arcs as it loses its momentum until it stops dead, fini, complet, the end.

I would hope for better. I would hope we all would vote our conscience in the upcoming election and somehow get back to a more normal life with the health and wellness of all humankind and this planet Earth as our all-consuming concerns – or is that too altruistic of me?

     I guess this book couldn’t be released at a more appropriate time, as we are at the crossroads of a need to react or be doomed. The tipping point is fast closing in on us. As I say in the book, I may not see the demise of life on this Earth, but perhaps our children’s children’s children will. And that is an atrocious legacy for us to leave. One that should haunt us all in whatever final resting place we languish in until we are reunited with the rest of the stardust in the Universe before we wink out into nothingness.

Cheery thought, isn’t it? On a lighter note – Wait, there is no lighter note. Okay, let’s create one.  Let’s look forward to the upcoming season of holidays, and make them the best we can, under the circumstances.

I’m all for eating the Halloween candy we can’t give away, and stuffing the turkey anyway. We can eat leftovers for weeks, if we freeze them. Then sing carols through our masks, send presents and virtual love and hugs everywhere to everyone. Let’s all keep in touch the best way we know how – with the click of a button and a keystroke.

I will push the publish button in the next few days and announce on Twitter and Facebook when it’s up and running and what charity I will be donating a dollar to for every book sold in October. Look for the announcement.

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there or look for the publication announcement:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, next month will find us all on the mend and on the upside of this thing, but that’s what I said the last few months, and it didn’t happen yet. However, I am still hoping...

 

 

Sakes Alive!

 

September 2020 Blog

Egads! Oh, my goodness! What a year this has been, and it isn’t over yet.

 

Sakes Alive: A Haiku

Amazing – how long

You can hold your breath waiting

For that other shoe.

by Ann Wilmer-Lasky

 

You just know it’s going to fall; you just don’t know when.

We may just yet survive the year 2020; I’m just not sure how we’re going to do it.

It’s been a toxic year for so many reasons. It’s been hard not to get burned in one way or another.

Fires are raging both literally and figuratively. Besides the devastation of the wildfires raging in the west and the Amazon, we have people raging out of control across America. And then there’s the pandemic. Haven’t seen much control over that lately, either.

In the midst of all of this, we are trying to live and make a living. Both of which are becoming more and more difficult to do as time goes by.

So who has the wherewithal to sit and read? Or to even write? Some of us do, and some of us must.

To that end, “Global Warning” will be published in September. I wish I could say it will take our minds off of “things” for awhile, but that’s not what it’s designed to do.

It’s actually designed to make us worry about one or two more things –  the “Climate Crisis” we have been ignoring since the pandemic hit, and just maybe  the current acidic political climate.

While we are ignoring the above, we are close to registering what may be the hottest summer in history, with the hottest day (130 degrees F) ever recorded in Death Valley, California. Epic storms are devastating our land with their winds and their deluges. (If only we could put that water to good use, dousing the over 500 wildfires raging in California alone.)

And then there’s the “Climate Crisis” among people. We can’t hug, we can’t shake hands. We can’t even breathe on one another. We are, however, in the wake of the lack of niceties, becoming far more hostile toward one another, unforgiving and intolerant. This may be the most devastating crisis of all, and will surely need to be overcome before we can accomplish other needed changes. At this point one can only hope for the best – literally – as it seems we are not in control of our own future. If we were, I would like to think that cooler, more intelligent heads would prevail.

But I digress from announcing the release of my latest Haiku collection. I plan on announcing its release date on my weekly Twitter chat forum, #CelebsForSmallBiz. We’re live on Fridays at 2:00 PM MDT.       It’s in the late evening in the UK from where it originates.

If you can’t catch the chat, I’ll also post it on Facebook once it’s cast in concrete (or relatively so). Look for it on Amazon around the 22^nd of September, maybe with the coming of Fall.

In the meantime, please be well and please be as kind to the people and the animals and the earth all around you as you possibly can. Kindness matters more than ever now.

Until next time, read and write to your heart’s content. My eclectic collection of reading matter may take your mind off of things. Enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/author/annwilmerlasky

As always, I welcome your reactions and responses to any of my blogs. I love to hear from my readers. Also, here are links to my Twitter and Facebook accounts, if you care to share your thoughts with me there:

https://twitter.com/awlasky

https://www.facebook.com/ann.wilmerlasky

Hopefully, next month will find us all on the mend and on the upside of this thing, but that’s what I said last month, and it didn’t happen. However, I am still hoping...