Aussie and Californian Offer Love Poetry to the World

Valentine’s Day may be the holiday best made for poetry.

Trouble is, the poetry often found on the inside covers of commercial greeting cards is often corny and cliché laden. Carolyn Howard-Johnson and I are once again coming to the rescue with Cherished Pulse, a chapbook of poetry just right for tucking into an envelope or sending off as an e-mail attachment to loved ones.

Right now, Cherished Pulse is available free for a limited time.  All you do is go to http://bit.ly/Vs07hV on Jan 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15^th and click (or click on the book cover above).

There is plenty of time for you to share with someone you care about before February 14^th.

It's a mini-gift and greeting card in one.

Cherished Pulse includes many of the science-inspired poems I have a tendency to write (yes, science love poems...), as well as Carolyn’s nostalgic poetry.

Chapbooks in the Celebration Series have won many awards including MWSA’s highest honor of gold and several from USA Book News.

It’s you who had me dreaming lilacs, 
breathing April’s sweetest 
tears…

For more information on the Celebration Series chapbooks, contact either of us, or visit media rooms at or http://magdalenaball.com. Vicki Thomas contributed the beautiful watercolors used on the cover and interior. To see her selections of her work, go to http://www.vickithomasartist.com

 Free Kindle books are available for about any format or reader you prefer, even if you don't have a Kindle, including PC, iPhone, Android, Mac, etc. Just download the appropriate free app. The one for PCs is at http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000426311

Skip the card this year

I'm not normally a sentimental girl, but it never hurts to say something real and loving (yes, both at the same time) to someone you love on Valentine's Day (or anytime).  I have to admit that, having just thrown out another batch of high priced Christmas cards, I'm loathe to invest in any more cliché laden pieces of pretty cardboard. Instead I thought I'd spend my Valentine's Day immersed in a little love poetry.  One of my favourite love poetry collections is Luke Davies Totem.  I also like ee cummings' "speaking of love", and Amiri Baraka's "In Memory of Radio" - two unsentimental but stunning poems that instantly come to mind when I think of love.  Since Feb 14 is fast approaching, I thought I'd do a little recording of one of the poems in the "unconventional love poetry" collection I co-authored with Carolyn Howard-Johnson titled "The Ocean". 

The Ocean

Spotting your face
not for the first time
the transportation
that fractured place
between absolute familiarity
(near invisibility)
and the shock of new.
 
There’s no feature
(as familiar as my own)
not a wrinkle
I haven’t traversed.
 
Yet you turn your profile
in the gentle
fluorescent light
and my audible
(inaudible)
gasp
is the voice
of a girl
discovering
the bountiful
ocean.
 
From now until the 17th of Feb, drop by Smashwords and use coupon code EL42C for a completely free copy of Cherished Pulse.  If you prefer a hard copy, which does make a very attractive (and unsentimental) gift just drop by Amazon.  Happy Valentine's Day to you.  XX

Something unique for Valentine's Day

Yes, it's just around the corner, and yes, I'm going through a rather anti-consumerism phase that coincides with the secret greenie novel I'm just completing (though I'm always happy about consumerism that involves my own books - same too I think for authors of anti-consumer books! May as well be honest about it.) and with the completion of my Marketing degree (I'll never go to the dark side, even if the cookies are good).  But I will say that a) greeting cards tend to be ridiculously over-priced and mostly get thrown out, and b) good poetry lasts, has a transformative effect, and basically is wonderful value however you look at it.  Especially when it comes in such a pretty, and inexpensive package (with such beautiful artwork - Vicki Thomas is a star).  So to appease my super fantastic marketing partner, and also to offer something just a wee bit better than artery clogging chocolates, or landfill clogging cards, I thought I'd reprint a review of the book of love poetry I wrote with Carolyn Howard-Johnson.  Free ebooks for the first 3 people who email me and ask for one.  Happy Valentine's Day all you lovers out there. “Love is the voice under all silences, the hope which has no opposite in fear; the strength so strong mere force is feebleness: the truth more first than sun, more last than star...” ee cummings


Reviewed by Molly Martin

Cherished Pulse: Unconventional Love Poetry
by Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson
with artwork by Vicki Thomas
Paperback: 36 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1449546052, Oct 2009

Magdalena Ball presents the first 10 poems; from the haunting lyric found in ‘The Ocean,’ strength of ‘Great Sky,’ and stark reality of ‘Dark Matter,’ poet Ball moves the reader toward her final though provoking reflective work; ‘Baker’s Dozen’. Other titles by poet Ball include; Event Horizon, Personality, Body Language, Aurora, Galactic Collision, and Oubliette.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s poems begin with the delicate refrain found in ‘A Woman's Heart.’ ‘Dreaming Lilacs,’ move the reader into a scented, heart felt remembrance before moving on to a playful stanza ‘Hallmark Couldn't Possibly Get This Right.’ Poet Howard-Johnson’s last offering is a poignant introspective ‘Loving Lance.’ Other titles by this poet include; Watching My Daughter Say Goodbye To a Fleeting Love, Another Day, déjà vu?, Discovery, From the Observation Deck, LA Love Story.

Poets Ball and Howard-Johnson have joined forces to create an oeuvre of exquisite work. Readers are offered a rhythmical extravagance as Ball and Howard-Johnson draw upon their journey of life to give rise to an tour de force of superlative work. These bards have crafted an admirable read for their target audience of those who enjoy lyrical offerings. Readers are sure to be captivated in a most charming manner while reading the words offered by this pair of sensitive, forthright women whose evident ardor for life is aptly captured on the pages of this work.

Cherished Pulse Unconventional Love Poetry is a pleasurable collection of buoyant, spirited poetry sure to pique the interest of the most discerning reader who is looking for a nice afternoon’s read. Each of the verses is a true delight. There is something for everyone. Language use is not predictable, nevertheless Cherished Pulse is an invigorating read of agreeably constructed stanzas presented in a satisfactorily rounded assortment. The reader will be drawn into the verses’ rich stitching of sentiment, passion and sensation. Magdalena Ball and Carolyn Howard-Johnson move the reader along an voyage of poignant remembrance and encouraged expectations through the panorama of emotive setting. The authors have shaped a enticing publication of some of their most excellent compositions. Verses entice the reader with a multiplicity of intensely felt verses penned about human emotion. Fervor for life surges from the page as these rhymes are enjoyed. Verses filled with tenderness, perceptiveness and consideration are included. Those who are admirers of poetry and those who are not, are certain to find much to enjoy Cherished Pulse. Everyday issues of life tuned into an appealing work is not an easy task. Ball and HowardJohnson have succeeded admirably.

Cherished Pulse is meant to be read and then re-read as longing and inclination strikes. Each rhyme only gets better. The work lends itself well to the gift book tuck in market. Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend. A delightful read for all poetry lovers whiling away a lazy afternoon in the porch swing with a tall iced tea or mint julep nearby.