Jude the Dude

Death By Bridle

Death by Bridle (A Josiah Reynolds Mystery) by Abigail Keam
• Perfect Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Worker Bee Press (March 22, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1467517356
• ISBN-13: 978-1467517355

Josiah is back on the trail of a murderer. Arthur Aaron Greene III is one of Kentucky s most prominent horse men but he is found hanging from the rafters in a horse barn with stones in his pockets and a bucket of water under his feet. The only witness is a nine year old boy who can’t seem to remember exactly what happened. Relentless in her pursuit of the killer, Josiah stumbles into decades of lies and deception that include her dear friend, Lady Elsmere. Josiah discovers that she must go back to 1962 if she is to find out the truth at all, while making the rounds of quirky characters that can only be found in the lush Bluegrass horse country. Fighting an unknown enemy in the glamorous world of Thoroughbreds, oak-cured bourbon, and antebellum mansions, Josiah struggles to uncover the truth in a land that keeps its secrets well.

Abigail Keam has once again given us a clever mystery for feisty, middle-aged character Josiah Reynolds. This quick read, although presenting a new mystery, also picks up on the storylines from her previous two novels, Death by a Honeybee and Death by Drowning.

I love Josiah because she is a real woman and reminds me of myself, with all her faults, aches and pains. She is a great role model for the “imperfect” women who love to read. The supporting cast of characters is well developed, each rich with his or her own eccentricities, from the flamboyant Franklin to the handsome Matt to the cranky Lady Elsmere.

Kentucky Author Abigail Keam is also an excellent beekeeper from the Bluegrass Region, having won sixteen honey awards at the Kentucky State Fair. In her spare time, she started writing books and is quickly becoming well-known outside of Kentucky.

Mrs. Keam has written a fun, exciting and humorous book. She throws in locally known areas like the Lexington Farmers’ Market and Al’s Bar. Ms. Keam writing is more like lyrical prose, leaving the readers wanting to know more of Josiah's life and clamoring for the next book.

Battle Scars Anthology

I am happy to announce, I have had a poem printed in the Battle Scars
Anthology edited by Jerome Brooke

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 70 KB
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B006WWGTIM

********

Isles - Astarte - Zylophone
Monograph
GoodSamaritan Press
2012
****
Eugenia Fain - Ron Koppelberger - Bobbi Rightmyer
Gordana Culibrk - Christina Murphy
Published by GoodSamaritan Press
Copyright 2012 GoodSamaritan Press

Weaving A New Eden

Weaving a New Eden by Sherry Chandler

• Paperback: 108 pages
• Publisher: Wind Publications (March 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193613828X
• ISBN-13: 978-1936138289

Sherry Chandler is a high caliber poet and author of two chapbooks: Dance the Black-Eyed Girl is #13 in the New Women’s Voices series from Finishing Line Press and My Will and Testament Is on the Desk is #4 in FootHills Publishing’s Poets on Peace Series. Weaving a New Eden is her first full-length book of poetry.

Weaving a New Eden takes us back to the beginnings of Kentucky, back to 1774 with Daniel and Rebecca Boone. I have lived my entire life in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, home of the first permanent settlement West of the Alleghany Mountains, founded by James Harrod, but visited by Daniel and Rebecca Boone and their family. The poems in this powerful book interrelate with the female heritage of Chandler and the frontier life faced by Rebecca Boone.

One of my favorite poems is “No More” because it reminds me of the death of my mother. Although my mother was 65 and Chandler’s was 91, the similarities of their deaths haunted me. Watching a parent, especially a mother, take a last breath is always hard, even if it comes at the end of a long illness. While many relatives may rush to claim treasures after the funeral, the last lines of this poem reverberated through me because it is similar to what I did when my own mother died:

“Last chance,”
he says,
“to claim what you want.”

I break a branch,
a blossom
from the hard winter pear.

“The Grandmother Acrostics” is a legacy of recollections from the women of Chandler’s past: Lettice, born ca 1774, who kept a Kentucky tavern; Lydia Simpson ca 1799, whose father kept a public house; Ambie W. True, October 1870, had seven children; Katherine B. Keith, September 1917, born weighing 14 pounds; and Chandler, February 1945, “dancing the figure of the Black-Eyed Girl.”

“Jemima Boone Speaks of Abduction, Boonesborough, July 1776” is a lyrical look at the torment Miss Boone at the hand of the Cherokees, Shawnees, who

“knew me for Boone’s child. We have done pretty well for Old Boone this time.”

“Rebecca Boone Speaks of Fidelity” starts out as,

“You should have staid home and got it yourself.”

What woman hasn’t thought this thought at one time in their lives?

At the end of this lovely book of historical poetry is a note section, letting the reader know about some of the research Chandler gathered in order to put this book together. This book is well-worth the read, especially, put not limited to, the women of Kentucky. History woven into poetry is a magical thing.


Sherry Chandler’s poem “Relics” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by qarrtsiluni in 2010. She won the Betty Gabehart Award from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference the Legacies Award from the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, the Kudzu poetry prize for 2006, and the Joy Bale Boone Prize for 2006. In 2005, she received a scholarship to attend the Kentucky Women Writers Conference, in 2007, she received a scholarship to attend the West Chester Poetry Conference where she studied with Molly Peacock, and in 2009 she received the Katherine Osborne Scholarship to attend the Wildacres Writers Workshop. She has received professional development funding (2005, 2009) and Professional Assistance Awards (1989, 2007, 2009) from the Kentucky Arts Council, and an Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women (2008).

The Unbreakable Child

The Unbreakable Child
by Kim Michele Richardson

Paperback: 218 pages
Publisher: Behler Publications; Second Edition edition (October 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1933016914
ISBN-13: 978-1933016917

"The Unbreakable Child is an act of courage, a book that insists on the primacy of justice, no matter how long the delay. Kim Michele Richardson, an author determined to give traumatic memories a rightful meaning, is one indestructible woman." —Jason Berry, author, Vows of Silence

In a story of incredible cruelty and injustice, Kim and her three older sisters were taken from their neglectful mother by the Commonwealth of Kentucky when Kim was a toddler and placed at the St. Thomas/St. Vincent Orphanage The beatings began almost immediately and lasted until the girls’ mother regained custody again. By this time Kim and her sisters had endured nine years of systematic abuse at the hands of the cruel nuns.

It is sometimes hard to read the unimaginable abuse the children suffered in the care of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Kim’s honesty will drew you in and her truthfulness oozes from many of the horrific pages. Her voice speaks clear in this page-turner, touching every emotion leaving you drained from the pain and the joy, from the crying and the laughter.

Ms. Richardson also appalauds the courage of one man, William McMurry, the blistering, but empathetic attorney who uncovered and effectively brought to justice, the methodical concealment of decades of orphan abuses. Although you would think this story of cruel and inhuman practices was evil without end, it is an accolade to the flexibility of the human spirit and a victory to see Kim and her sisters overcome their situation with determination and resolution.

BIO: Kim Michele Richardson spent over nine years in the care of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth in her native Kentucky in the 1960’s. That grim experience and her subsequent legal action against the nuns are the subjects of her book, The Unbreakable Child.

As the Kentucky spokesperson for SNAP, The Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, Kim is a go-to contact for news media for the endemic clergy abuse crisis and has appeared on national radio, news print, TV news channels, and on PBS stations.

Kim mentors teen and adult writing workshops and has initiated student reading groups and has also implemented and designed successful programs to help homeless shelters - programs that taught students about giving back to their communities.

Kim has been an active community worker doing volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity and a local shelter for the homeless, as well as helping younger students with reading and writing. She works closely with abuse victims and survivors of all types of abuse. Kim is also a contributor to The Huffington Post, writing about societal issues.

Bag of Bones

The True Book Addict at Castle Macabre blog is hosting:


One of my favorite Stephen King books, Bag of Bones, has been made into a television mini-series, set to air on December 11 and 12 on A&E (in the U.S.). In honor of this momentous event, I have decided to host a read-a-long!

Here's how it will work:

Each week we will read approximately 125 pages (give or take), beginning on Sunday and posting thoughts/discussion on Saturday. Now, I know weekends are busy so if you're a couple of days late posting, that's absolutely no problem (if you don't have a blog, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments). Please stop by and leave the link to your post in the comments. Also, feel free to comment on my post. I have been known to run behind on read-a-longs so don't worry about being dropped from the list. I understand that life gets in the way. Incidentally, since I am hosting, I will make my best effort to NOT fall behind. Any questions, leave me a comment or email me at truebookaddictATgmailDOTcom.

Here is the schedule:


November 13-19--Chapter 1 - 9
November 20-26--Chapter 10 - 15
November 27-December 3--Chapter 16 - 21
December 4-10--Chapter 22 - End
If you would like to sign-up, please leave a comment with your blog link.

CARter CAR and His Wild and CARazy Birthday

CARter CAR and His Wild and CARazy Birthday written and illustrated by Debra G. Watts

Pages : 36
Book Format :Square 8.5 x 8.5
Subject :JUVENILE FICTION / Fiction / Childrens Book
ISBN10: 1-4628-4864-8 (Picture Book)
ISBN13: 978-1-4628-4864-5 (Picture Book)

Today is CARter CAR's birthday and he is very excited. He and his friends CARissa, CARmen, CARina, CARly, CARlton, CARlos, CARson, CARol, and CARey celectrate a little too CARazy throughout the day. See how his party gets a bit out of control.

This is a wonderful children's book written by local author Debra G. Watts. Debra wrote the book for her nephew, Carter, and she has also illustrated the book named after him. Children will love the brightly colored pictures and the amusing escapades of Carter and his friends.

Debra G. Watts is a retired educator who presently resides in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. She has authored a teaching guide entitled "Listening Guides of America's Greatest Musicals" and she is currently a University Coordinator mentoring practicum and student teachers for the University of the Cumberlands.

You can contact Debra at noteworthy.watts@yahoo.com. The book is published from Xlibris and is available by contacting Debra directly or contacting Xlibris at 1-888-795-4274 ext 7879.

I think this quirky little book is perfect for the little boy or girls who still love to play with cars. It would make a wonderful Christmas gift or stocking stuffer.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente

• Reading level: Young Adult
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312649614
• ISBN-13: 978-0312649616

Bibliophilic wyverns, enchanted woods, an evil Marquess, a magical talisman, dwarven customs agents, djinns, velocipedes--and that doesn't even take into account what's in the title of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. A fantastical tale that's somewhere between Lewis Carroll and Terry Pratchett, Cathrynne Valente's book follows twelve-year-old September, a girl from Omaha, Nebraska, who finds herself whisked away by a fast-talking gentleman called the Green Wind to the world of Fairyland where she has to retrieve a witch's spoon from the fickle Marquess. Still, Cathrynne Valente's imaginative cast of characters and spirited prose turn what could be a standard heroine-on-a-quest story into something on par with the best (and weirdest) classics. --Darryl Campbell

Precocious and bored, 12 year old September – and no smarty, she was not born in September – is whisked off by the Green Wind into Fairyland. She is cleared through customs – whoever heard of customs in Fairyland? – and is left to fend for herself. This charming and whimsical book is full of imagination and sass, making it hard to put down, even if I am 49 years old.

Being a lover of Young Adult fiction, this book will finally take you away from the vampires, werewolves and zombies that seem to be creeping up all around us. September is a vicious child with a wild imagination, but she is not fool-hearty and takes her time in making decisions. She is not a quitter and she never gives up.

Valente’s writing just flows off the page and I was lapping up every luscious word. She has a way of telling a story that puts her in the category with Neil Gaiman, J. K. Rowling, Brandon Mull and James Dasher. I can’t wait until my granddaughter is old enough so she will sit still for chapter book reading. She is going to love it.

I recommend this book highly, especially to the middle-school crowd. Elementary and middle school teachers are going to love this book and librarians are already giving it rave review. The book was written with an obvious sequel in mind, which I can’t wait to read, and I hope it turns into a series and not just a trilogy. September is a girl I want to learn more and more about and Valente will show it to all those who read.

Etcetera's Mistress

Etcetera’s Mistress
Thom Ward

Accents Publishing

Paperback: 60 pages
Publisher: Accents Publishing (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936628031
ISBN-13: 978-1936628032

Accents Publishing launches its Full-Length World Poetry Series with a daring new collection of poetry by award-winning author Thom Ward, complete with original cover art by acclaimed artist DeLoss McGraw.

From reading the very first poem, the reader realizes Ward has an overabundance of imagination and brilliance. His words rush in and out like the high and low tides slapping against the beach.

In Goldfinch, Cockroach:

Once in a while my soul exits this body,
Goes shopping for another house of flesh.

Reminds me of times when my soul is tired of grieving and goes in search of something more cheery.

In Actually, However:

He fell, and fell hard, like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River….

This poem brought back visions of The Sopranos, the hit HBO television series.

My favorite part of this book is the section on the Howhatwhywherewhen Bone, a collection of 13 poems all having to do with how, what, why, where, and when. In the Contraband of the Howhatwhywherewhen Bone:

crosses all borders
and disappears
into marrow intelligence

what is to say
bone understands

Thom Ward is sole proprietor of Thom Ward's Poetry Editing and Proofreading Services (thombward@gmail.com). Ward's poetry collections include Small Boat with Oars of Different Size (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2000) and Various Orbits (Carnegie Mellon, 2004). Ward's poetry chapbook, Tumblekid, winner of the 1998 Devil's Millhopper poetry contest, was published by the University of South Carolina-Aiken in 2000. His collection of prose poems, The Matter of the Casket, was published by CustomWords in 2007. Ward teaches creative writing workshops at high schools and colleges around the country, tutors individual poetry students, and edits poetry manuscripts. He is a faculty and advisory board member at Wilkes University's Graduate Creative Writing program in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Thom Ward lives in western New York with his girlfriend Jennifer and their cat Phantom.

The Deer at Gethsemani: Eclogues

The Deer at Gethsemani: Eclogues by Frederick Smock
Accents Publishing http://www.accents-publishing.com/books.html

"Like Virgil's before him, Frederick Smock's eclogues give us the sense of an earned peace in the clear voice of a man at home in the world. These poems are richly allusive, elemental moments of experience and insight. The Deer at Gethsemani is a well-made house of poetry, and it is a true pleasure to spend time in its rooms." - Greg Pape, Author of American Flamingo

Eclogues are a set of pastoral poems, made most famous by the Roman Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid, one of the greatest epic poems in human history.
In Smock's poem VI Cave Hill, both lyrical and rhyming:

Come to the window, look out and see
the road that leads down to the cemetery …
The swans are lovely and mean.
The peacocks beautiful and vain …

Vreads:

The geese have returned again to campus,
to the roof of the library where they make their nest,
where they can look out over Beargrass Creek
and the elms of Creason Park.

XXII is:

The lamps turned on at four
in the afternoon barely glow,
but as the sun goes down
these rooms slowly fill with light.

On the surface, these eclogues may seem simple little poems, but delving into the hidden meanings is a strong and powerful undercurrent of lyrical reality.

Frederick Smock is associate professor of English at Bellarmine University, where he received the 2005 Wyatt Faculty Award. He has published four previous collections of poems with Larkspur Press. He is also the author of Craft-talk: On Writing Poems, and Pax Intrantibus: A Meditation on the Poetry of Thomas Merton. His poems have appeared in The Antioch Review, The Hudson Review, The Louisville Review, The Merton Journal (UK), Poetry East, Trajectory, and other journals.

Of a Bed Frame

Of a Bed Frame
Accents Publishing
Winged Series

• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Accents Publishing (February 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984411895
• ISBN-13: 978-0984411894

"From the coldness of the Nebraska winter to the heat of a lover's bed, Dan Nowak takes the reader on a compelling lyric journey. He shares intimate moments with his audience, crafting his words so that we feel the scratchiness of the seldom worn suit, the skinned knuckles from the loading bays, and the sweat of a lover's skin. There are poems here to savor and reread and then reread again." - P. Andrew Miller, Author of The Legend of The Turquoise Knight

Dan Nowak's first book, Recycle Suburbia, won the 2007 Quercus Review Poetry Series Award. He also has a chapbook, Burning the Arson Dictionary: Poems for Thomas McGrath published by RockSaw Press. Dan is co-founder and co-editor of Imaginary Friend Press and an editor for New Sins Press. Dan lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and enjoys that Lakefront Brewery is less than a mile from his home.

The poem “Dead Center” is full of vivid imagery and works hard to pull you in with potent words.

We drink down Nebraska
In giant starry cups. The dirt
Falls down our throats past
Our primes …

“I Come From Hands” is a list poem that will leave you breathless and raw.

… that refused guns in the house
that packed gunpowder in hungry cannons
that felt a limp and died
that believe more in cutting grass than Jesus …

Another poem that made me look at my life differently was “Worth,” will make you reexamine your life as a factory worker.

Sometimes I try to write something smart, something that sounds
Like I’m worth
The seventy thousand dollars my brain and bill collectors placed
My price tag at,

But then remember I’m a factory-rat sin. I belong in the stall,
next to the man …

This slim blook of outstanding poetry is a must read for anyone who loves poetry.

Bee-Coursing Box

Bee-Coursing Box by Matthew Haughton
Accents Publishing
Winged Series - The Winged Series features selections from the Accents Poetry Chapbook contests

•Paperback: 32 pages
•Publisher: Accents Publishing
•Language: English
•ISBN-10: 0984411863
•ISB-13: 978-0984411860

"Matthew Haughton's debut collection honors and extends Kentucky's great literary heritage, which stretches from Greenup to Bowling Green, the 18th century to now. In poems that dare 'pray there's a heaven for snakes,' and dare see a man 'growing like a sycamore out of the untamed earth,' he adds his worthy voice to the chorus." - Frederick Smock, Author of Guest House

This is Matthew Haughton’s debut collection of poetry, written with honest and powerful poems. His well-crafted work is tight and straight from the heart.

The title poem “Bee-coursing Box” follows a man as he returns to a bee tree year after year. This could be an author returning to a piece of work again and again trying to get it right.

I mark the tree and return
Year after year
We grow old
together
Deep into his second life.

“Deer Tongue: A Conversation about Tobacco”reminds me of my times spent in the tobacco fields when I was young.

Crushed leaves
Make smoke,
The senses snap …

I also enjoy “Tracking Seeds” part ii Whirlybirds:

Little pink
fans
spill from
the tree
limbs …

I can vividly see these little whirlybirds flying through the air during the early parts of summer, twirling and swirling.

Haughton writes honestly from nature’s backyard and this is a book worth reading for anyone who is serious about poetry.

Fading into Bolivia

Fading Into Bolivia
Richard Taylor
* Paperback: 30 pages
* Publisher: Accents Publishing
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 1936628058
* ISBN-13: 978-1936628056

Richard Taylor is a professor of English and currently serves as Kenan Visiting Writer at Transylvania University. A former Kentucky poet laureate, he is the author of six collections of poetry, two novels, and several books of non-fiction, mostly relating to Kentucky history. A former dean and teacher in the Governor's Scholars Program, he was selected as Distinguished Professor at Kentucky State University in 1992. He has won two creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and an Al Smith Creative Writing Award from the Kentucky Arts Council. He and his wife Lizz own Poor Richard's Books in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Dr. Richard Taylor has been a writing force in Kentucky for many years and his latest collection of poetry will also stand the strength of time. With minimal, but powerful words, Taylor weaves a poetic journey through a variety of lyrical and narrative poetry.

Writing Slump contains the title of this newest book of poetry:
"... In an act of unwitting collaboration
That describes her state and mine,
My mother calls to say, "Some days
I feel I'm fading into Bolivia."

If you do not know Dr. Richard Taylor, you will learn very quickly he is a college professor from his poem "Grading:"

"Reading term papers ...
I trudge an endless trail of print,
Switchbacking down and across"
Page after page after page."

In "For a Newfoundland Drowned in a Farm Pond," Taylor mourns the loss of a family pet:

"... Missed at feeding time ...
Three days later, I came upon her
Bloated in a siege of flies ...
The pond dried up ... the place
Where I buried Boo Boo."

Richard is a professor English and currently serves as Kenan Visiting Writer at Transylvania University. A former Kentucky Poet Laureate, he is the author of six collections of poetry, two novels, and several books of non-fiction, mostly relating to Kentucky history.

How Swallowtails Became Dragons

How Swallowtails Become Dragons by Bianca Spriggs

Accents Publishing

Winged Series

• Paperback: 24 pages
• Publisher: Accents Publishing
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936628015
• ISBN-13: 978-1936628018

How Swallowtails Become Dragons is one of the Accents Publishing Winged Series, featuring entries from the 2010 poetry chapbook competition. Pushcart Prize winner and National Book Award Finalist Patricia Smith calls Bianca's work "an aggressive signature that is deftly crafted, insightful and often achingly lyrical." Having lived most of her life in Kentucky, Bianca s poems reflect the trials and triumphs of growing up as a woman of color in a border state.

Bianca Spriggs has proved to be a major activest for Affrilchian poetry. She is a force of nature, carefully finding just the right words to talk to the heart.

Black Market reflects on one of America’s weakness from the past – slavery:

When I was sold this time
My new Massa don’t check to see
How many teeth been rotted out my mouth
This powerful poem sheds a new meaning on the debate of who is human and who is not. We are all human beings, cut from the same cloth, with the only difference being our color. I love my country, but it does make me sick to my stomach thing about the way slaves were treated. I feel ashamed at the atrocities slaves endured at their master’s hand.

In Werewolf, you can literally see the changing from man to beast:

At the climax of a lunar cycle
A poem stirs,
Dark tempest in my chest …
… It cracks my rips to get out

I can smell the blood, I can hear the creature devouring its pry, and see the teeth. The moon is high in the sky and the lunar cycle brings on a different kind of terror.

In the poem After Loving a Pretty Man, the line, “I’m not so easy to exchange for another,” lets the reader know a man must be cheating; but now she’s on her own two feet and won’t go down easily.

This collection of poems is brutally honest, shining the light on subjects most people we are not ready to admit to.

Bianca is an Affrilachian poet and a Cave Canem Fellow. She is a freelance instructor of composition, literature and creative writing. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies.

Numbered Bones

Bloom on a Split Board

Bloom on a Split Board by Nana Lampton
Accents Publishing
Spalding Series

• Paperback
• Publisher: Accents Publishing
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984411887
• ISBN-13: 978-0984411887

This is Nana Lampton's third book of poetry. It is part of the Accents Publishing Spalding Series, which features poetry chapbooks by graduates of the Spalding University MFA in writing program.

Nana Lampton has produced a lovely chapbook of nature poetry. With her vivid descriptions and lyrical rhythm pull you right into the poem. An excellent example of this is in her poem, “Rosa Multa Flora:”

Wild roses drape the fence in May,
blooming as they climb …

Also in Dark Energy:

Your inner light,
burning stars from midnight-black
eyelets shining through

One of my favorite poems is Sycamore:

… Hollowed out, its mottled tower leans
Over the river’s rapids and quiet pools.

These poems ring true and resonate the natural tones of the earth. Nana’s other works are: Snowy Owl Gathers in Her Trove and Moon with Sun in Her Eye .

Original Ruse

Original Ruse

Barbara Sabol

Paperback

Publisher: Accents Publishing
Language: English

ISBN-10: 0984411879

ISBN-13: 978-0984411870

Part of the Winged Series

Barbara Sabol's poetry and prose has appeared in Public-Republic, Blood Lotus, Poets 350, the Tupelo Press Poetry Project, Tributaries, and on the Akron Art Museum's website. She has an MFA from Spalding University. Barbara is a long-practicing speech therapist, living in northeastern Ohio with her partner and dogs.

This small chapbook of poetry is excellently executed with vivid powerful words. Until I read "Original Ruse," I had never heard of Barbara Sabol, but I will be on the lookout for more of her work.

To give you an example, “Winter” is one of my favorite poems in the book. She has used such rich words to describe how the coldness of winter seeps into your bones.

“Winter is a country

That settles

In your limbs, stir

The joints …”

Just reading this, I can feel the cold of winter stiffening my joints. The imagery is perfect.

“Hula Girls” is another favorite that made me laugh out loud.

“The saleswoman assured me it was fashionable revealing

Just a hint of thigh, white as twice-whipped potatoes …”

Her words are prodigious and stout and her lyrical and narrative approach to poems can’t help but make you thing about the world around you. "Original Ruse" was printed and released by Accents Publishing, “…an independent press for brilliant voices.”

A Blurb on World News

From the World News website:

"Soon to be released from Arcadia Publishing is Images of America: Harrodsburg, written by Harrodsburg’s Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer (writer) and Anna Armstrong.(photography). The book will be released the week of August 8th, but is already up for pre-order on several different websites: Amazon Barnes and Noble Arcadia
As of this moment, we are not sure when the book launch and signing will be, but we will keep you up-to-date. The book will also be for sell in several local
business, as well as Lexington and surrounding areas."