Visit the #RRBCBooksBudzHolidayPopUp24 Blog! #RRBC #Holiday #Christmas Joy by @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I just wanted to pop in quickly and share with you that I've written a Christmas poem for the #RRBC Books & Budz Holiday Pop-Up Bookshop 2024. This is a free event for everyone to enjoy! I'd love for you to stop by and check out my poem. I hope to see you there! :-)

#RRBC Books & Buds Holiday Pop-Up Bookshop 2024! #freebooks #booksales #readingcommunity #authorreadings #games #Christmaslists #holiday #BooksBudzPopUp @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! It's that time of year - the #RRBC 7th Annual Holiday Books & Budz Holiday Pop-Up Bookshop 2024! If you love the holidays and reading, this is the perfect place for you. Fabulous RRBC authors are sharing their stories, with many of them on sale. There are games to play, books to buy, and authors to listen to as they read from their stories. There is also a blog with a different post every day from the various authors of RRBC. I've provided links to various parts of the event below. I hope to you see you around the site!

Reading Room - Come listen to authors read excerpts of their stories!

Shop 'Till You Drop - Check out the books available! They are sorted by author, genre, and price. 

It's Game Time! - Have some fun playing a few games with us!

Grown Up Christmas Lists - Check out the wishes for the world!

Come Party With Us! - It's always a good time in our party lounge! Meet authors and make connections!

New Blog Daily - Read inspiring holiday blogs during the season!

This is an event you will not want to miss, and it's free for all! Enjoy! :-)

Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, & Experimental Tanka #NewRelease #poetry #tanka #tankapoems #poetrycommunity #poetryanthology @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I am thrilled to share with you today this beautiful collection of poetry! Sunflower Tanka: An Anthology of Tanka, Tanka Prose, and Experimental Tanka is an incredible collection of various tanka poems. It truly is a delightful read. Here is the book blurb:

Sunflower Tanka, edited by Robbie Cheadle & Colleen M. Chesebro, is an annual anthology of contemporary tanka, tanka prose, & experimental tanka from a broad mix of new and established poetic voices from across the world.

Our theme, "Into the Light," draws inspiration from the way a young sunflower bud constantly turns to face the sun. Poets delved into the realms of death, love, and the natural world, capturing their human experiences in the timeless form of syllabic poetry.

Contributors to the first edition of the Sunflower Tanka: Suzanne Brace, Yvette M Calleiro, Kay Castenada, Luanne Castle, Robbie Cheadle, Colleen M. Chesebro, E.A. Colquitt, Melissa Davilio, Destiny, Tamiko Dooley, Lisa Fox, Cindy Georgakas, Chris Hall, Franci Hoffman, Marsha Ingrao, Jude Itakali, JulesPaige, Kenneth, MJ Mallon, Brenda Marie, Selma Martin, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Lisa Nelson, D. Wallace Peach, Freya Pickard, Dawn Pisturino, Gwen M. Plano, Jennifer Russo, Aishwarya Saby, Reena Saxena, Merril D. Smith, Nicole Smith, Ivor Steven, Ben Tonkin, Trilce Marsh Vazquez, Cheryl Wood. 

Three of my experimental tanka poems are included, and I am honored to have been a part of such a great collection of poetry. This is the second poetry anthology in which my poems have been published. If you enjoy reading poems, I highly recommend this collection. 

Plus, the cover is just beautiful! With the holidays right around the corner, this would make the perfect gift for a loved one. 😉

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #AmericanCinquain #grounding #tarotcards #oraclecards @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet Colleen Chesebro invites us to become inspired from three Oracle cards she chose from Judy Mastrangelo's Oracle deck. Here are the three cards she chose:

While all of them are beautiful, I was instantly drawn to the first one, Love of the Earth. I feel a great connection to nature and enjoy being surrounded by it. It's one of the reasons I love going to the beach and camping. 

I chose to write an American cinquain. This poem form has five lines with a 2-4-6-8-2 syllabic pattern. The lines should build up in drama, with the fifth line being a pivot line. I'm not sure I brought much drama, but this is what came to me.

(courtesy of @congerdesign on Pixabay)

grounding

dig feet in sand

release bad energy

absorb Earth's gift of great healing

live well

Would you like to choose a card and write a poem? Join us here.

A Christmas Homecoming #NewRelease #ChristmasStory #shortstory #holidays #bookgift #readingcommunity #comingofage #adoption #findingbirthparents @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I am excited to share with you my newest short story, A Christmas Homecoming! I started writing this story for a holiday blog tour, but when the word count exceeded the limits for the blog, I decided to turn it into its own book. It's a heartwarming story about a girl searching for her birth parents during the holidays. Here is the book blurb:

Mary always knew she was adopted. When she turned seventeen, her loving parents died in a car crash. After a year of living with an uncaring grandmother, Mary received her inheritance, including the address of her birth parents. With nothing left to lose, she hopped on a plane right before Christmas to search for them. Would they accept her into their lives, or would she find herself utterly alone on Christmas?

A Christmas Homecoming is now available on Amazon here. 

You can also find this story on Smashwords by clicking here.

Happy reading! :-)

Smashwords 2024 End of Year Sale! #smashwords #EOYsale24 #booksales #freebooks #YAbooks #paranormal @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! From today until January 2, 2025, Smashwords is having a fabulous sale of a crazy amount of books from indie authors, like myself, and publishers. This is a great opportunity for you to fill your TBR list for 2025. They have so many genres to choose from! Books are categorized by genre, by price, and by length. There is something there for everyone, so check it out! To find the main page of the sale, click here.

If you are interested in downloading one of my books on sale, click here. Below, I've given you a little more information about each of the books. 

The One Chosen: A Diasodz Short Story

Valerie is eager to learn the skills needed to become a Diasodz warrior, but when she meets her new trainer, all she can think about is him. Nolan is a master trainer who has taught thousands of fledglings throughout his life. He has never had a relationship with a student nor does he plan to. When Nolan and Valerie are thrust together on a routine mission, nothing goes as planned. If they want to survive, they will need to trust each other. But how do you trust someone who has rejected you? Nolan and Valerie must find a way or lose each other forever. Note: This short story is related to the Chronicles of the Diasodz series. It takes place in the early 1600s and sets the stage for a major conflict in the series. It can be read alone, but if you enjoy it, I encourage you to read the series.

Breathless: A Short Story

What if the fairy tale kiss that always awakens the damsel in distress takes a sinister turn? What if prince charming’s kiss no longer produces a happily ever after? Silena’s infatuation with William hits a speed bump when he rejects her. After all, she is just a maid, and he is a young, rich aristocrat in the 1920s. Why would he have any desire to waste his time with the help? On one particularly lonely day, Silena calls upon her magic to transform into a sexy flapper for the night. Her dream to enjoy one night with William is finally in her grasp, but her magic comes with consequences that neither William nor Silena could ever imagine. BONUS! This short story is followed by a preview of a book written by the author.

HYPE

Cici’s junior year in high school is going to be the best year ever. Popular co-captain of the varsity cheerleading team, she’s dating the starting quarterback. Even her jealous co-captain’s attempts to steal her boyfriend can’t curb her enthusiasm. When her mom moves in with her fiancé, a handsome, wealthy man, only one small detail threatens Cici’s perfect life. The school’s social pariah is about to become her stepsister, and Cici wants nothing to do with her. Everything changes when someone Cici cares about throws her life into a tailspin, and the one person Cici couldn’t stand becomes her only ally. Warning: This story contains scenes of sexual assault.

The One Discovered: Chronicles of the Diasodz, Book 1

How do you choose when both options have dire consequences? Sofia is a 17 year old girl who is quite content with her life. She has a caring boyfriend who also just happens to be her best friend since birth. She has a loving mother. She is successfully completing her last year of high school and enjoys her part-time job. She can’t imagine wanting more from her life…until Ar’ch (pronounced Ar-rick) enters her dreams, sparking a burning flame inside of her that she can’t seem to extinguish nor does she want to. Ar’ch is a Diasodz (Die-ah-sodz), a species created by the Goddess back when God created humans. Diasodz were made to heal and protect humans, but when the Diasodz turned their backs on helping humans and left Earth to live in their own world, the Goddess abandoned them. Since then, their powers and their very lives have been fading. A prophecy foretold that a young girl born on Earth would be the Diasodz’s savior. Ar’ch and his brother, Angel, travel to Earth to retrieve her and bring her back to their world before her death day in order to save their kind. Ar’ch knows the drill: find the target, capture her, and safely bring her home. But what happens when the target captures his dormant heart? Choices create action. Actions have consequences. When faced with the truth, what choice will Sofia make? Will she be able to accept the consequences that follow?

Please share with your friends! Happy shopping! :-)

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #tankaprose #Ekphrastic #Ekphrasticpoetry #cats @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet Lisa Smith Nelson encouraged us to write a poem based on the picture she provided (see below). 

I decided to write a tanka prose, which is a paragraph followed by a tanka poem. For those new to poetry, a tanka poem has five lines with a syllabic pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. Tanka proses are titled.

Queens of Yore

Eons ago, my kind was worshipped. Considered magical, pharaohs revered us as conduits to the gods and goddesses. Even in our passing, we were treated with respect and dignity. Then, society began to fear us. People ran away when they saw us, frightened we would cast a spell upon them. Insignificant humans perceived us to carry evil omens and house the devil within us. Little did they know their perception of us was simply a reflection of their own souls.

once a prized heirloom

centerpiece of living rooms

cast aside with time

ignored and broken, worthless

discarded for new treasures

Would you like to write a poem about this picture? Join us here.

#TankaTuesday #Poetry Challenge - #Syllabic #poem #poetrycommunity #Sekarageng #VietnamWar #Cherries @pdoggbiker.bsky.social @pdoggbiker @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! For this week's #TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, poet David Bogomony, aka ben Alexander, invited us to write a Javanese form called sekar ageng. This poetry form consists of a quatrain (4 lines) with 17 syllables each. Each line has three sections of 4 syllables, 6 syllables, and 7 syllables.

This month, I have been reading a book by a Vietnam War veteran and fellow RRBC author, John Podlaski. In his book, called Cherries, he shares his experiences while overseas during this horrific war. I have not finished reading it yet, but his retelling of those painful moments linger with me. So, I decided to write my Sekar ageng about his journey.

unwanted war ~ horrors seen by young men ~ many never to come home

bounded brothers ~ joined by circumstances ~ protected one another

earth's humid hell ~ trekking through booby traps ~ surrounded by enemy

jungle of death ~ war's end brought no relief ~ survivors burdened with grief

Would you like to try to write this poetry form? Join us here.

November Book Reviews #bookreview #books #amreading #readingcommunity #paranormal @SusanneLeist @dlfinnauthor @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! I cannot believe I haven't posted a book review since August. Actually, I can believe it. This school year has been extremely busy. I think I'm just now starting to find a routine I can keep. I did read a book in August/September, but I had a hard time enjoying the story, so that review will not be posted here. This space is to share books I enjoy. 

Meet Me In Maine

by Susanne Leist

Genre: Romantic Fantasy, Supernatural Mysteries

Pages: 253 pages

Book Blurb:

Elizabeth Reading and Scarlett Harding travel from New York City to Blue Harbor, Maine, hoping to purchase a bed-and-breakfast in a peaceful town, but what they discover is much more sinister.

After settling into an apartment building and unpacking, Elizabeth and Scarlett visit a local ice cream parlor. As they approach the counter to order, a man rushes through the doorway, clutching his throat and dying in a pool of blood at Elizabeth's feet. When the police arrive, Elizabeth stares at the dashing, blue-eyed David throwing questions at her, stunned that she agreed to a date with him a few hours ago.

When they return to the apartment and Elizabeth begins to pack her bags to leave Blue Harbor, Scarlett pleads with her to keep the appointment at the inn. The next day, they fall in love with the quaint inn and eventually sign the papers, despite Elizabeth's misgivings about the death a day earlier.

After they move into the bed-and-breakfast, they hear of residents dying under unusual circumstances and rumors of a curse placed by the Penobscot Indians on the descendants of the town's original settlers. On their first weekend as innkeepers, a violent storm hits, and two guests are slashed to death in their beds. Then the lights go out.

Will Elizabeth and Scarlett sell the inn or stay and fight the curse alongside their new friends as bodies fall around them?

My Review:

I've read this author's vampire series, so I was curious about this book. Plus, the cover is just gorgeous! This story follows Elizabeth and Scarlett as they head to Maine to buy an inn and start their lives over. Unfortunately, they arrive just as a string of murders begin to take place. They find themselves in the midst of a cursed town where the original settlers want revenge.

The book is packed with action. In fact, I don't know if the characters ever had a moment to rest. Lol! Both main characters had distinct personalities, and I could feel the strong friendship between them. They both found themselves quickly into relationships that I had a hard time getting into. That could also be because for the longest time, they were part of the suspect list. Speaking of suspects, the author did a great job keeping the murderers' identities under lock and key, and I loved that!

The curse wasn't always clear to me. I got the anger between the original settlers and the descendants, but how they identified the cursed ones and had to kill them, no questions asked, was a bit unsettling. And then, I couldn't understand why the curse continued. I have a feeling some of it was left a mystery for a second book. Still, the characters and the action kept me turning the pages. If you enjoy paranormal mystery, I think you'd enjoy this book.

Miracles and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection

by D.L. Finn

Genre: Holiday Fiction

Pages: 153 pages

Book Blurb:

Miracles and Ghosts: A Christmas Collection’s eight tales bring light in the darkest of circumstances. In the novelette, A Perfect Ghostly Christmas, Julie has survived the foster care system and finally comes home. She now owns her grandparents’ house and has received an offer that appears too good to be true. On top of that, the family she felt had abandoned her during her difficult times has reentered her life. But it’s the otherworldly experiences that lead her to something her grandparents left behind. This discovery changes everything and opens a door to danger. The seven short stories explore fractured families, a widower's loneliness, a mall shooting, financial struggles, strained relationships, woodland kittens, and a woman haunted by a red truck. Whether it’s a ghost, an angel, or Santa, some unseen force is there to provide help when needed. A reminder in the busy holiday season or anytime we are never alone, and miracles are possible.

My Review:

I absolutely loved this book! It starts off with a longer short story about a girl who returns to her grandmother's house after many years to figure out what to do with the house. Memories resurface about how her grandparents died while others bring danger to her doorstep. It's a story that sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages until the end. 

The rest of the book is filled with short stories, each one focused on the holiday season. The author takes tragic moments and sprinkles each one with the Christmas spirit so beautifully. My favorites include Christmas Reunion, A Man and His Cat, and The Christmas Eve Walk. This is a wonderful collection of stories to read, and it would make a great gift for others.:-)

Have you read any good books lately? I'd love to hear from you. :-)

Grateful #HappyThanksgiving #Thanksgiving #Gratitude @YvetteMCalleiro

Hello, beautiful readers! On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to give thanks to you. I am grateful that you visit my blog and interact with me. I appreciate you for reading my poems and stories and for sharing them with others. Truly, I am blessed to have each of you in my life. Thank you! 💗