writing Archives - Page 28 of 82 - Trisha Sugarek, Author, Playwright & Poet

In Honor of National Poetry Month

I’m a humble poet, a rambling rhymester, a free verse fanatic, a Haiku sycophant. I love other poets and their scribbles and I worship at the altar of Charles Bukowski. For the month of April I celebrate National Poetry month with some of my own scribbles.

Fragrance of Life © Trisha Sugarek

Cool rain drums on blistering
asphalt, the scent streams into
the nostrils–hot, grassy smell of
summer, freshly cut-smoky
cedar lingers on the air

Fresh popcorn drenched in
butter, I sit in the dark, musty
movie house. Childhood
memories of Tom Mix dashing
across the screen

A breath, deep of rain-damp wool,
heady peat of whiskey
neat. Old butt-imprinted leather
and the dusty, pulpy smell of a
well thumbed book as the page
is turned

The mule drawn plough turns the
rich, boggy earth beneath an
autumn sky. With luck and some
rain the larder is full at harvest
time

Wrapped in strong arms, nose
pressed to warm skin smelling of
soap and outdoors. Drinking the
heat in with the smell of the
man, your man

Sweet puppy breath. Pure
doggy conviction that you will
love him as much as he loves
you

Candles and incense in the
great cathedral… the heart fills
with faith, hope, and
expectation

Soft curls, sweet skin, the babe
squirms closer… powdery
newness, innocence, and trust

Briny, sharp tang of the northern
sea. Balmy, yielding, essence
under the Southern Cross
Green aftertaste, fishy decay
and salty fresh scent of the
clean-swept beach

Sultry air twines itself through the
Quarter, crushed sugar, wet
pavement, yeasty bouquet of
hot beignet. Warm beer,
praline sweet, heady grape
Old river water slugs along

Stifling, coppery smell of blood
be it the battle field, hospital,
crime scene, butcher shop, or
birthing room…

Cloys in the nostrils sticks in the
back of the throat like old
mucus,

Icy sweetness of winter air,
frigid sting of snow to come…
sharp pine tantalizes the senses,
as harsh breath smokes the air

Steaming manure in fresh straw,
roasted peanuts, pink spun
sugary sweet…
the pungent animals stalk the
cage. Sawdust under old
canvas glows like old gold in a
shaft of sun light.
The Big Top!
Childhood rushes back

The smell of her on your
mustache… you don’t want to
wash your face… lose the
intoxicating scent of her love

New trees struggle to rise above
a sea of old petroleum.
Pine sol lies still on the cold tiles,
stale baloney on old bread.
Rancid tired clothes reek of
cheap cologne
The truck belches halitosis

Move on down the highway

Sharp fall gusts through the
quaking aspen,
pitchy sap barks in the
crackling fire,
snowy air assaults the senses

The loon sings, warming and
plucking at the heart.
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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning, April: Poet, Joe Albanese and May: Boo Walker
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

‘Windstill’ ~~~In Honor of National Poetry Month

Windstill © by Trisha Sugarek

Subtle silence
Windstill
trees await the next
message on the air

Windstill
not a whisper of birdsong
not a leaf-rustle intrudes
as it falls
fluttering to the ground

The wind has departed
beyond the next hill
leaving in its wake
Windstill

Will it return? The breeze
dancing amongst the leaves
to the tune of the forest

Shall the still wind haunt
amongst the trees?
or come roaring back, shrieking?
Windstill
********

There isn’t anything lovelier than receiving reviews from my fellow poets as I celebrate Nat’l Poetry Month. My free verse, “Dear John” was featured on the home page of Poetrysoup.com and received these:

‘Trisha,this poem spoke to my heart. Very raw with emotions and beautifully written, Keep that fire burning,it will light up the pathway for your John.’ Chinwe Igbozurike

and

‘Trisha, I really enjoyed stepping behind your eyes for a brief eclipse with your heart! Wondrous writing!’ red barchettadrive
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Publishers…What’s in Your Wallet?

Traditional Publishers used to own the whole game. Indie authors, like you and me, spent most of our time chasing an agent so we could chase a publisher. Back in the day, ‘self-publishing‘ was a dirty word. You were putting out a ‘vanity book’. You were looked down upon.

This post is about three categories of Publishers in today’s writing world:

Traditional Publisher: Who, for the most part do not accept ‘unsolicited manuscripts’. By that they mean that you have to have a literary agent representing your work and hawking it to the publishers. Don’t get me wrong, there is a small percentage of writers out there that are able to get an agent and ultimately a publisher. They pay on a royalty only basis. If you are very good and very lucky the publisher will pay you an advance to support you while your writing the book.

2. The Publisher who asks the author to ‘invest’ in their own book : In my opinion (and it’s only my opinion), AVOID these. For the most part, these are internet publishers who expect you to pay them to publisher your book. You pay them at the front end and then if your book sells they get a percentage at the backend. They don’t do much in the way of marketing your book, outside their own website, and it ends up still being a crapshoot for the author. There is no team of editors, publicists, and publisher that you can only get with a traditional publisher.

3. You, the Publisher: Indie-publishing is, today, a respected and practical way for you to publish. There are many platforms out there that you can go on, for FREE, and build your book with the end result being that your book appears on all the major book store websites and can be ordered in a ‘stick and mortar’ bookstore. But as an indie-author you have to be your own team: marketing, editing, and publishing. You can hire out the first two services but it gets spendy. You get paid (usually) around 60% royalty for each book sold.

I know, through my interviews with best-selling authors (and friendships that have developed out of those), many best selling authors’ new books are rejected by their publisher, not because the writing is bad, but because the book doesn’t fit with their idea of what’s ‘hot’ right now. You see, it’s all about the $$$$. These best selling authors go right out and self-publish the rejected book.

Get off the hamster wheel of trying to get a publisher to look at your book, trying to get an agent to sign you so a publisher will look at your work. Trying to get an agent to sign you…being rejected by the publisher because you don’t have an agent, trying to get an agent to sign you so a publisher will look at your work…well, you get the idea. Fine, chase the agent/publisher but while you’re doing that, publish your own work. Don’t let anyone stop you. Go for it! Yes, you can self-publish while you are waiting around the for coveted agent/publisher gig!

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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning, April: Poet, Joe Albanese and May: Boo Walker
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Haiku ~ In Honor of National Poetry Month

Haiku and Renku Poetry © by Trisha Sugarek

Haiku

to write haiku is
to distill to perfection
with only three lines

Memories of the South

spanish moss shimmers
slave ghosts of days long gone by
hanging from the trees

stain on Old Glory
dark time of subjugation
when man enslaved man

memories forever
then bodies, now gray moss hangs
tears, blood-darken roots

Samurai Song

delicate blossom
rests in the still gnarled hand
bruised petals weep tears

weary eyes open
tiny cuts, the body bleeds
peace still years away

sun rise breaks the hill
heralds another battle
draw your sword and charge

Life after Death

Dark, cold days of grief
think you can no longer breathe
great loss, emptiness

Summer woods
a single leaf floats
deer creep along well worn paths
fish leap with delight

rings spread on the pond
katydids shout their presence
goslings paddle near

breezes stir the trees
the forest floor perfumes rise
a lone bird exults
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In Honor of National Poetry Month

I’m a humble poet, a rambling rhymester, a free verse fanatic, a Haiku sycophant. I love other poets and their scribbles and I worship at the alter of Charles Bukowski. For the month of April I celebrate National Poetry month with some of my own scribbles.

FOGGY NIGHT © Trisha Sugarek

The white orb, tidal
saturated with huge flows
pierces through the veil
a ghost ship shrouded
in fog slips up the channel
Night gulls sing and cry
day is gone, night creeps
fog seeps in, the tide rolls out
water glistens, gold

Night soft, edges blurred
trees in ebony, drift by
damp seeps into bones
Fog casts tents of light
Hunters of the sea own night
swoop, dive, attack, eat
Fishers, feathers stark
white against the night shadows
palm trees shape the gauze
brushes hard with paint
Pilings sway, waists cinched with rope
the craft finds its home

There isn’t anything lovelier than receiving reviews from my fellow poets as I celebrate Nat’l Poetry Month. My free verse, “Dear John” was featured on the home page of Poetrysoup.com and recieved these:

‘Trisha,this poem spoke to my heart. Very raw with emotions and beautifully written, Keep that fire burning,it will light up the pathway for your John.’ Chinwe Igbozurike

and

MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning, April: Poet, Joe Albanese, and May: Boo Walker
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Interview with Poet, Author, Joe Albanese

Joe Albanese is a writer from South Jersey. his work can be found in publications across the U.S. and in ten other countries. Joe’s the author of For the Blood is the Life, Caina, Smash and Grab, and a poetry collection, Cocktails with a Dead Man. If you are frustrated with the brevity of this interview, don’t despair. He lets it all hang out in this wonderful book of poetry.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

JA. Most of my writing gets done at the dining room table. Although sometimes I write in front of the tv, just for the ambient noise. Poetry I’ve written all over, mostly on my phone, then transfer it so my computer later.

Q. Do you have any special rituals or quirks when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

JA. Yes, I try to avoid writing at all costs. So I clean up a lot beforehand, do any chores that need or don’t even need to be done before I can sit down and write.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

JA. I’m probably done with my writing career. I have two more books I am trying to get published, but then I’ve finished. Or at least I’ll be taking a long break while I try to find a “real” job.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

JA. Usually the middle of the night. There are the least amount of distractions.

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

JA. Just sit your ass down and start typing. Something good will eventually come.

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

JA. I try to see how they relate to me first. Are they similar, or completely different? Then I try to get into their mindset in terms of how they’d react in the story.

Q. What first inspired you to write?

JA. My friend was high and asked if I wanted to write a screenplay. I haven’t looked back.

Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?

JA. Mostly situation. Then I try to figure out which characters would be most fun in that situation.

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

JA. Not really. When I’m writing, I think about it a lot, but I never really get lost in it.

Q. Do you have a new book coming out soon? If so tell us about it.

JA. My novella, For the Blood is the Life, just got published in March. It’s crime-horror.

Q. When did you begin to write seriously?

JA. A few years ago. After my friend stopped writing with me, I got more into it.

Q. How long after that were you published?

JA. A few years before my first short story was published in Sheepshead Review.

Q. Do you think we will see, in our lifetime, the total demise of paper books?

JA. I hope not. I can’t read on a tablet.

Q. What makes a writer great?

JA. Someone who can bring truth to untruthful situations.

Q. and the all-important: What does the process of going from “no book” to “finished book” look like for you?

JA. Well, I have a lot more grey hair now than when I started writing.

Q. How has your life experiences influenced your writing?

JA. Yes, my poetry collection is mostly personal, dealing with my anxiety and depression mostly.

Q. What’s your down time look like?

JA. Ass in a chair, watching bad tv and movies.

Q. Have you or do you want to write in another genre`?

JA. Most of my fiction is crime. I guess I could one day, but my brain loves coming up with criminal characters and situations.

Note to Self: (a life lesson you’ve learned.)

JA. It’s okay to be yourself.

Did you miss my review of Cocktails with a Dead Man?

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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning, April: Poet, Joe Albanese, May: Boo Walker
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Book Review~~Four Funerals & Maybe a Wedding by Rhys Bowen

5 out of 5 quills ~~ A Review

By far the best in the series, the Royal Spyness Mysteries. I love this series. In Four Funerals…. there was not a single misstep by its author. The story weaves faultlessly to the final pages. Ended by a deep sigh of satisfaction from this reader.

All the elements were there historically. Queen Elizabeth as a child, Prince Edward and the notorious Wallis Simpson. Even Hitler as a black cloud on the horizon. But we pick up with Lady Georgiana (Georgie) preparing for her wedding and worrying about where she and Darcy will live on their meager combined income. It appears to be hopeless. Add in Fig and Binky, Georgie’s granddad and a band of slap-dash servants. And my favorite character, Queenie (the maid) is back in full force.

The whole story is delightful from the first page to the last.This is a must read for fans, old and new, of Rhys Bowen. I highly recommend it.

To Purchase Click here

Did you miss my Interview with Rhys Bowen?
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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! December: Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) January: Molly Gloss. February: Rick Lenz, March: Patrick Canning and April: Poet, Joe Albanese
To receive my posts sign up for my On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

To Purchase

Book Review ~~ Marry in Scandal by Anne Gracie

5 out of 5 quills ~~ A Review

Delicious from the first page to the last. Anne Gracie is one of my favorite authors and it’s always a pleasure to read and review her latest offering. Marry in Scandal was no exception. It’s always a hit for me when Gracie adds old people or young kids as characters in her stories. Lord Galbraith, grandfather to the hero, is painted with subtlety and quiet humor. Edward has dark secrets from the war, that block him from enjoying his family. Lily has secrets of her own that she must divulge if she is to find and keep love.

The writing is superb as always. The ‘Marry in...’ is an entertaining series and should not be missed.

Did you miss my Interview with Anne Gracie?

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To Purchase

Jackpot!! My Children’s Play Produced in Ontario, Canada

Euphoria!! My full length children’s play, The Exciting Exploits of an Effervescent Elf is being produced in Ontario, Canada!

In this stand alone sequel to “Emma and the Lost Unicorn”, Emma is held captive in Patsy, the Banana Spider’s web. No one can see her except the irrepressible elf, Cheets. Everyone in the forest has been searching for Emma to no avail and given his reputation, no one believes Cheets when he claims to have found her. Cheets can see Emma but not hear her through Patsy’s web. Emma must “act out” vital news concerning the enchanted forest. Hazard, the Lord of the Underworld is selling the forest to developers. Emma must not stand in his way! This fable tells of greed, ecology, friendship, enduring love and justice.

Most of the characters from “Emma and the Lost Unicorn” [Published by Samuel French] return to this new fable. New characters include: Thomas, the sea turtle, pedantic but loveable. Laughter erupts when the audience realizes that he speaks only in nautical expressions and sayings. Patsy, the spider represents greed. Rose, Emma’s mother emphasizes maternal devotion and the ability to believe when the magical creatures of the forest reveal themselves to her. Hazard, Lord of the Underworld reunites with a lost love. Roles for every child who auditions!

Returning characters:
Emma, the earthling girl
                                                Cheets, the elf
Stare, the rhetorical owl
                                                Donald, Emma’s faerie best friend
                                               Cleo, Queen of the Faeries
                                               Handmaidens of the Queen
                                               Assorted faeries and woodland creatures

New characters:                  Patsy, the spider
                                    Hazard, Lord of the underworld
                                    Thomas, the sea faring turtle
Rose, Emma’s mother

To Purchase

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To Purchase

Interview with Patrick Canning, Author of The Colonel and the Bee

TS. I first ‘met’ Patrick when I stumbled across The Colonel and the Bee. Something made me order it and read it. Then review it. I don’t generally read fantasy but this was different…and beautiful…and my favorite character in the book was actually the three-story basket attached to the hot-air balloon. I ask, as I do all of my interviewees, for a short bio to begin the interview. Here is Patrick’s answer.

PC. I’ll try to do it all in one breath: born in Milwaukee, grew up in Chicago suburbs, came to LA for film school, worked in film/entertainment throughout my 20’s, now trying to spend increasing amounts of time writing because I love it and I think I could be good at it with enough sweat/luck/coffee.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

PC. I rotate between a shared workspace, coffee shops, libraries, and my own apartment (where I get the least amount done). I live alone so being around people part of the day is nice. My dream work space has electrical outlets, a chair comfy enough to be in for hours but not so comfy you can fall asleep in it, ample people watching, low music, a bathroom, and if we’re aiming high, free refills.

Q. Do you have any special rituals or quirks when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

PC. Coffee and tea are almost always involved, but other than that I try to keep it as un-exotic as possible. Recently I started making the background of my Word docs legal-pad yellow. I heartily recommend this to writers who get sick of staring at bright white all day.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

PC. I’m exceptionally bad at foosball, but above average at ping-pong and pool.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

PC. Morning session/afternoon session, both 3-4 hrs. I’m still working on a more solid process and seeing what works. I heard one writer’s schedule (Dan Brown maybe?) is 4 am-11 am. That sounds weirdly alluring to me but I have yet to wake up at 4 am to give it a try…

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

PC. I think if you’re really procrastinating a lot, over and over again, it could be a case of wanting to be a writer more than actually wanting to write. I think a lot of people torture themselves over this when in reality they might just be chasing the wrong vocation. Some days are better than others to be sure, but if they’re all bad days, there’s no shame in career/hobby course correction.

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

PC. Usually they’re a part of the initial idea but I love the revision stage when they start to crystallize and sound more like themselves in the dialogue. I try not to panic if elements like that are less than perfectly clear early on because they usually arrive by the time things wrap up.

Q. What first inspired you to write?

PC. I came to novel writing through screenwriting, which I came to through a love of movies. I’ve always loved any kind of creative storytelling and the more I write, the more I enjoy it (for the most part), so that’s reassuring to me. Beyond that, it can be a matter of ‘why isn’t anyone talking about this’, or ‘this could be a nice way for people to escape’, or the ol’ reliable: ‘what if’.

Q. What comes first to you? The Characters or the Situation?

PC. The situation, followed very closely by the characters, and they become inextricable almost immediately (though both bend and change as the story takes shape).

Q. Do you ‘get lost’ in your writing?

Join us March 22nd for the conclusion of this interview with the talented Patrick Canning.

Did you miss my review of The Colonel and The Bee?

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MY BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! December: Jayne Ann Krentz (Amanda Quick) January: Molly Gloss. February: Rick Lenz. March: Patrick Canning and April: Poet, Joe Albanese

To Purchase

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