Category: Fairies

Q & A with D.G. Kaye

Q & A with D.G. Kaye featuring Colleen Chesebro and her #Newrelease – Fairies, Myths, & Magic II

Published on by dgkaye125 Comments

Welcome to my last Q & A for 2022. I’m thrilled to be ending the year out with a bang with Colleen Chesebro here today talking about her brand new release – Fairies, Myths & Magic – A Winter Celebration, book II. Colleen wanted this book out just in time for the winter solstice, which makes it extra enjoyable to read during the festive season. Colleen is an author, poet, and recently began her publishing business – Unicorn Cats Publishing.

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About Colleen:

An avid reader, Colleen M. Chesebro rekindled her love of writing poetry after years spent working in the accounting industry. These days, she loves crafting syllabic poetry, flash fiction, and creative fiction and nonfiction.


In addition to poetry books, Chesebro’s publishing career includes participation in various anthologies featuring short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. She’s an avid supporter of her writing community on Word Craft Poetry.com by organizing and sponsoring a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called #TankaTuesday, where participants experiment with traditional and current forms of Japanese and American syllabic poetry.


Chesebro is an assistant editor of The Congress of the Rough Writers Flash Fiction Anthology & Gitty Up Press, a micro-press founded by Charli Mills and Carrot Ranch.


In January 2022, Colleen founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to assist poets and authors in creating eBooks and print books for publication. In addition, she creates affordable book covers for Kindle and print books.


Chesebro lives in the house of her dreams in mid-Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes with her husband and two (unicorn) cats, Chloe & Sophie.

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Get this book on Amazon

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Blurb:

In this second book in the Fairies, Myths, & Magic series, step into a world where dark fairies and other magical beings converge in a collection of poetry and short stories inspired by winter and the celebration of the winter solstice.

From autumn’s scary fairies to the forgotten female characters of Yule, prepare to embrace the magical winter solstice myths from around the world. Meet Frau Holle in the Wild Hunt, Befana—the Christmas Witch of Italy, and the Japanese goddess Ameratasu who controls the springtime. Prepare to embrace the Scottish trows, the Irish Goddess of Winter—the Cailleach Béara, and Snegurochka—the Snow Girl.

Learn how to make Yuletide rituals part of your celebration by embracing the symbols of Yule by decorating with evergreens and crystals.

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Celebrate the Landvættir

each Yule, we pay homage
to the land spirits,

Landvættir—guardians of the terra firma
earth, air, fire, and water
jointly bound as one

where the ley lines converge
strength and energy
exist in a parallel space, winter-worn
bronzed leaves on barren trees

watchers of the truth

birth, life, death, and rebirth,
earth magic abounds

reflected in the stormy clouds of winter

for keepers of the land
another year dawns

© Colleen M. Chesebro

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See my recent 5 Star Review for Fairies, Myths, & Magic II

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Welcome

Let’s get to know a little bit more about Colleen

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What hobbies do you enjoy when not writing?


I’ve been so busy lately, but when I have spare time, I like to crochet with thread. I make old fashioned doilies. Just like I count syllables in my poetry, I count stitches in my crochet!

This is a photo of a doily I crocheted as a gift for a friend. Working with my hands as always been something I enjoyed.

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D.G. – You are multi-talented Colleen. That’s beautiful. .💜

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Where do your book ideas grow from?


It seems I always have a book idea rolling around in my mind. Most of the time, something pops into my mind and I’m off to write down the idea, so I don’t forget it. I have a notebook full of ideas! The notes app on my iPhone is full of
ideas too. If I don’t write them down… they’re gone!


Writing poetry and short stories is something I enjoy. Not long ago for one of my #TankaTuesday poetry challenges on Word Craft Poetry, our prompt was to choose a color. The next thing I knew, I’d written a poem about the throat chakra
featuring the color, blue.

the blue throat chakra…
a nexus to the divine
blue hues of heaven
serene, calm, tranquility
found in a blue sky,
slow down, make time to be still
listen to your voice

obey the stillness within
blue the color of pure mind
uncluttered by thoughts
in silence, one can perceive
blue—the purest mind
open wide… the throat chakra
your seat of creativeness


© Colleen M. Chesebro

From that single poem, I birthed the idea to write a book called Chakra Poetry. See how easy it is to be inspired?

D.G. – I think many of us have that same syndrome – forgetting great ideas shortly after they arrive, lol. Yes, writing down is essential. 🙂

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Would you like to share with us what upcoming projects and/or ideas for books you’re working on?


I find inspiration everywhere but most often I’m motivated by other poets. One day, during one of my poetry challenges, another poet asked me about the difference between the Japanese poetry forms: zappai and haiku. I didn’t know
the answer. Well, that lit a fire under me to find more!


I love to research, so off I went. I had to learn everything I could about these two Japanese forms. In fact, I’ll take this a step further and add senryu poetry to it. My next non-fiction book will be called “Haiku Craft: haiku, senryu, & zappai.” Of course, this is a tentative title and can always change. My main objective will be to take a deep dive into these forms by showing examples and creating some poetry of my own to use as examples.


I’ve also been playing with the idea of a book called Tarot Poetry. I think it would be fun to research each tarot card and write poetry inspired by the different cards. I like the blend of non-fiction and poetry. I will need to find a tarot card artist who is willing to allow me to use their tarot card images (with permission). Much of what is found on the card is what characterizes the meaning.


I won’t share all my secrets because I like to have a few things left to dazzle my readers.

D.G. – Oh! I love that idea about writing about Tarot cards! 🙂

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What’s your opinion on self-publishing?


Self-publishing was a dirty word for many years. However, it’s been my experience that self-published books are as good as those published by major publishers. I’m a self-published author, and proud of it!


I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited, the Amazon sharing program. I think I pay $9.00 a month to borrow novels from any author who participates in the program on Amazon.com. What I read; I review. The author gets paid a stipend for the number of pages read. In fact, some months, I make more on the stipends than I do in book sale royalties.

So, it came as a shock when I found the likes of Dean Koontz and other well-known authors participating in the KU program. These authors have publishing contracts, and they are competing with self-published authors for the same stipends! Suddenly, self-publishing doesn’t look all that bad, does it? Seriously, if you’re an author you should be listing your books in the KU program. It’s another revenue stream.


To make self-publishing easier, I founded Unicorn Cats Publishing Services to help poets and authors publish their books. One reason I undertook this mission was because of the font licensing, which is a huge concern for authors and bloggers. If you self-publish your book using Word, you could face issues with font licensing. Read: Font Copyright Laws for Books: Your Print Book Could be in Violation


I use the Atticus publishing program recommended by Kindlepreneur for manuscript preparation. The fonts are owned by the program. They continue to research different licensing options to protect all our authors as well as ensure
everything is safely and legally handled through Atticus.

I also offer affordable book cover options using Canva-Pro. Canva has an extensive selection of fonts. When you subscribe to their Pro plan you are covered under their licensing for fonts.


I believe self-publishing will continue to be the wave of the future. The big publishing houses won’t even read your manuscript unless you are famous. If you can get picked up by a small press, that’s wonderful news. Write ON!

D.G. – Thank you for sharing that all with us Colleen. I would have to guess that many self-published authors aren’t aware about the copyright laws of publishing from Word.

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Special thanks to Debby for her friendship and support. I appreciate you! 💜

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Find Colleen on all her Social Sites:

Colleen’s Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Colleen-
M-Chesebro/e/B01N9MV2RX

Amazon Universal Link: https://mybook.to/FairiesMythsMagicII

Word Craft Poetry: https://wordcraftpoetry.com


Colleen M. Chesebro, Author, Poet & Unicorn Cats Publishing Services: https://colleenmchesebro.com


Facebook Page: Colleen M. Chesebro, Poet & Author: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100085941528913


LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/colleen-m-chesebro-6b856b237

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©DGKaye2022

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Fairies, Myths, & Magic II – A Winter Celebration by Colleen Chesebro

Published on by dgkaye97 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. I’m thrilled to be reviewing Colleen Chesebro’s new release – Fairies, Myths & Magic II. Colleen brings us into various fairy worlds, explains the myths and celebrations of pagan traditions, and stories inspired by the winter solstice.

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Get This Book on Amazon

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Blurb:

In this second book in the Fairies, Myths, & Magic series, step into a world where dark fairies and other magical beings converge in a collection of poetry and short stories inspired by winter and the celebration of the winter solstice.

From autumn’s scary fairies to the forgotten female characters of Yule, prepare to embrace the magical winter solstice myths from around the world. Meet Frau Holle in the Wild Hunt, Befana—the Christmas Witch of Italy, and the Japanese goddess Ameratasu who controls the springtime. Prepare to embrace the Scottish trows, the Irish Goddess of Winter—the Cailleach Béara, and Snegurochka—the Snow Girl.

Learn how to make Yuletide rituals part of your celebration by embracing the symbols of Yule by decorating with evergreens and crystals.

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My 5 Star Review:

This is book 2 in Chesebro’s FM&M series. In this edition, there is a delicious sprinkling of poetry, ancient pagan myths and legends, faery folklore, celebrations of winter solstice, and short flash stories with accompanying poems to highlight the stories.

The book begins by explaining the magic folklore and legends and some of the rituals of the winter solstice, pagan rituals, and an eerie faery story, the Changeling, about a little girl gone missing as revenge by an evil faery queen because of a generational curse. The way the author evokes the story is not only engaging, but the folklore in her stories give us insights as to the varying rituals pertaining to each subject.

In the Changeling, Trisha and David are filled with woe when Trish discovers her little four year old has gone missing from the back yard without explanation. When David arrives home from work and hears this news, he begins searching for the little one and discovers a piece of cholla wood in his garage with an engraved image of his daughter, making him realize, it was time for him to pay his debt to the faeries, otherwise known as the ‘good people’- despite them not all being good. David explains to his wife the curse and the story about how the dark faery queen shows up when it’s time to pay the debt for the accidental death of a baby killed back in David’s Irish ancestral history. The myth goes back to when the gentry would snatch a child and replace them with a changeling and send the human child to the ‘Otherworld’. But the people learned how to deal with these evil faeries and knew how to get their children back. In this story, the original plan of return backfired and so the penance for David’s family was that they would never know when the queen would show up and snatch one of their children.

David searches frantically through archived Gaelic scriptures in hopes to find out more about how the curse worked, while Trish searched online how to deal with the faery. David wants to sacrifice himself in his daughter’s stead, but Trish finds a different solution worth trying before sacrificing her husband’s life for her daughter’s. On Halloween, the next night, David and Trisha stood in the desert under a full moon and waited for the faery queen to appear. In a whirlwind, the queen appeared and swooped them right up and took them into her world. Trish gives an offering to the queen in exchange for her daughter and discovers her daughter and another changeling who looks just like her daughter. You will have to read on to discover if a bargain is struck and who is this other child. A few other of my favorite stories – Trash or Treasure? – The old saying – ‘One man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, Night of the Mothers – a Germanic holiday that celebrates motherhood and female ancestors. The author talks about Yuletide and takes us through the celebrations of solstice from various countries around the world – Germany, Italy, Iceland, China, Japan, and more.

Yuletide is the time to release the darkness and back to the light – making way for the sun’s return to spring. We will learn the significance of holly, ivy, mistletoe, and everything else tied in with this celebration, foods eaten to celebrate, and more. Did you know the foliage of the Evergreen trees represent immortality and mistletoe represents luck, love and fertility? Where did the usage of Christmas trees originate? Read this book to find the answers and more.

©DGKaye2022

Booklauch

New Book Promotion for Marjorie Mallon – The Hedge Witch and the Musical Poet – Poems and Flash Fiction

Published on by dgkaye49 Comments

Today I’m happy to be sharing my friend, Fey sister, and author/poet, Marjorie Mallon’s new release – The Hedge Witch and the Musical Poet. This is a lovely book with a magical story, some flash fiction stories and some touching poetry. I’d also like to add that our other sister – Colleen Chesebro from Word Craft Poetry, has recently opened up shop with her Unicorn Cats Publishing, and she formatted Marje’s book and also created the beautiful cover. Check out Colleen’s publishing page if you’re looking for some help in your self-publishing.

About Marjorie:

MJ’s favourite genres to write are Fantasy YA, Paranormal, Ghost and Horror Stories, various forms of poetry and flash fiction. She celebrates the spiritual realm, love of nature and all things magical, mystical, and mysterious at her blog home:


https://mjmallon.com 


She is a reading, blogging and photography enthusiast!


M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained, and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of living and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began bolstered by these vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives in the UK, in the Venice of Cambridge with her six-foot hunk of a rock god husband. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile.


MJ writes fantasy/magical realism because life should be sprinkled with a liberal dash of extraordinarily imaginative magic! Her motto is to always do what you love, stay true to your heart’s desires, and inspire others to do so too, even it if appears that the odds are stacked against you like black-hearted shadows.

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Blurb:

The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet is a collection of poetry and flash fiction celebrating the beautiful vulnerability of the forest kingdom. It begins with the poetic tale of the kind-hearted Hedge Witch, Fern, who discovers an injured stranger in desperate need of her woodland spells and magic.

The sweet pairing learn from each other and through Fern’s guidance, Devin embraces the power of magic to leave behind his trouble past to become The Musical Poet.

Poetry/flash fiction titles in section one of the collection include:

The Hedge Witch & The Musical Poet, Rain Forest Love, A Forest Baby Boy, A Forest Baby Girl, A Modern Witch, Rock of Mine, Chester Don & I, The Network of Trees, More Trees Not Less, Two Boys Watching War, Mum Climbing Trees, Let’s Play, The Scorched Tree, Owl’s Holiday Home, A Man’s Holiday Home, A Child’s Excitement, The Teddy In The Woods, Run! The Organutans, All Hallow’s Eve Candy Girl The Forest Bash, Dreaming At Halloween, A Face on Bark, Golden Willow Tree, Rainbow – Parasol of Light, Lollipop Sunshine Tree,

In Section two I pay tribute to the following poets: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, Ruby Archer, King Forest, Bliss Carman, Woodland Rain, Emily Dickinson, Who Robbed the Woods, Rupert Blake, Stopping by The Woods on A Winter Evening,Oscar Wilde, In the Forest.

With my poetry:

The Forest Weeps, The Forest King, Raindrops and Childhood Dreams, The Woodland Treasures, Winter Woodland Moon, Child Me.

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My 5 Star Review:

This is a lovely book by MJ Mallon. She brings to life stories of her loving family, in poetry and flash fiction stories. The Hedge Witch and the Magical Poet is a short story about Fern, who rescues a man she names Devin, distraught and parched, found under a tree. When he recites a poem to her in such lyrical fashion, he sounded like an instrument. We also find some touching poetry in mixed styles, reminding us of some yesteryears of the past – some spoken by the trees. These poems recall some of the easier days of the past when children played in nature and climbed trees – and not on their digital devices, as the trees lament.

In other poems, like, ‘Let’s Play’, the author calls for reforestation to improve air quality and shade, as climate change is taking that away. The flash story of ‘The Network of Trees’ is another lament as the trees discuss among themselves what will become of them as they are cut down and are replaced with cement and buildings.

There are some wise words here from both Mallon and the trees about life in simpler times, stories about nature, childhood memories in snippets of flash fiction, as well as some whimsical Halloween tales. One of my favorites was ‘All Hallows Eve’ – Candy Girl, with rich magical descriptions.

Mallon’s love for trees and nature shine through all of her stories. If you love nature and enjoy lyrical prose and poetry, you will enjoy this book.

Visit Marje’s books

Marjorie has also contributed to several anthologies:


Word Weaving #1: A Word Craft Journal of Syllabic Verse
Moons of Autumn by Colleen Chesebro (Poetry,) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09DWDMXWK

Poetry Treasures 2 Relationships compiled by Kaye Lynn Booth & Robbie Cheadle: https://books2read.com/u/3kP8aK


100 Ways To Write A Book Alex Pearl (proceeds to Pen International.)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09R2CQGWS


Stay Home A year of writing through lockdown – Chantelle Atkins (Chasing
Driftwood Writers Group.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stay-Home-Writing-Through-Lockdown-/dp/B09HVB6SZ6/


Contributions to Best Selling Horror Anthologies:


Nightmareland compiled by Dan Alatorre
“Scrabble Boy” (Short Story)
Spellbound compiled by Dan Alatorre
“The Twisted Sisters“ (Short Story)
Wings of Fire compiled by Dan Alatorre
“The Great Pottoo” (Short Story)


Nightmareland: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZG3ZXP3/


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZG3ZXP3/


Spellbound: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08DM83XKR/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DM83XKR/


Wings & Fire: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08KJ5SQND/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KJ5SQND/


Contributions to Ghost Anthologies: 


Ghostly Rites 2019 compiled by Claire Plaisted “Dexter’s Creepy Caverns“ (Short
Story) https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07ZQV2Y4Q/


Ghostly Rites 2020 compiled by Claire Plaisted  “No. 1 Coven Lane” (Short
Story) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M9HYBLH

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Find Marjorie on her Social Links:

Linktree: (all my links in one place.) https://linktr.ee/mjmallonauthor


Author Blog: https://mjmallon.com


Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/M-J-Mallon/e/B074CGNK4L/ 


Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon


Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon


Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mjmallonauthor/


Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/


Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mjmallonauthor,


Bookstagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjm_reviews/


Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/m-j-mallon


Spiritual Sisters: https:/www.facebook.com/5SpiritualSisters/


Authors, Bloggers Rainbow Support Club #ABRSC:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1829166787333493/

.©DGKaye2022

Bitmo Sunday book review

Sunday Book Review – Tree Fairies and their Short Stories by D.L. Finn

Published on by 30 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Book Review. I’m delighted to share my review for D.L. Finn’s middle-grade story – Tree Fairies. Truth be told, I ordered the paperback copy for my young niece, and of course I had to read it first! This is a wonderful book for any age to read this enchanting story with lessons learned through the wise trees and fairies.

 

 

 

Blurb:

When reality and magic meet in the forest

It’s 1969, and twelve-year-old Daniel Burns is camping in the redwood forest with his family. Danny wants to listen to his music and read, but his family has other plans. S’mores around the campfire and stories end their first day. The family is sleeping soundly in their secluded tent when Danny wakes up and finds his sister, Colette, is missing. Assuming she went to use the outhouse, he goes after her. When he finds his sister, they discover there is a thin veil between reality and fantasy. Two bonus short stories offer a glimpse into the magical world that finds Danny and Colette. These hidden beings not only share our world but have a role in protecting their forest.

 

 

My 5 Star Review:

Finn takes us into a fantasy world of fairies and humans working together to save the forest. Danny and and his sister Collette and his parents go camping 1969, one night while Colette sleepwalks into the forest, Danny noticed her gone and goes to find her. It’s outside at night they meet the fairies – the protectors of the forest. The fairies know Danny’s mother is a writer and ask if she could write a book to help save the forest. The Wise Old Trees offer help with their wisdom.

The book consists of 3 parts, 3 continuing stories. The next generation – Danny and Colette and their kids go camping in the same forest in 1990 and learn about some baddies dumping barrels of waste in the forest. Danny, now a writer with his kids Wren and Sierra, and Colette, now a movie director, come back to the forest to visit the fairies and wise trees and to take care of bad business happening to nature. Mom is still writing and dad is retired and they are both living off the grid.

The three stories are linked and all have the same characters as not to confuse young readers. It deals with different issues, from clear cutting, to stopping toxic waste dumping, to catching and sending away poachers, all while offering entertaining fantasy characters from the forest, yet teaching life lessons on the importance of working to keep the environment clean and sustainable, demonstrating the humans working together with the fairies to help save the forest.

The author has a wonderful way of weaving a magical story with real life issues and lessons the children learn about nature from the fairies and trees.

 

©DGKaye2021