An Ability I Wish I had?

Daily writing prompt
What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

A daily writing prompt asked me to share a secret skill or ability that I have or wish I had. I don’t necessarily wish it to be secret if I had it, but I wish I could comfortably speak in front of large groups of people. I wish I could sing. I always wanted to sing. But I am not sure if singing would take precedent over my desire play the piano or guitar. The truth is, I know that I cannot sing, but I am not sure that I could not learn to play piano or guitar. I did pick a few chords on guitar in my tween years and teens, but dropped it. I sure wish I had kept up with it.

But, since I cannot stand to be in front of large crowds, maybe none of those skills would have done me much good. πŸ™‚

The Crime of a Life Sentence (another excerpt)

*Currently untitled poem*

 

I was swinging

Hair flying

Laughing to myself

Memory running wild

 

Devil’s on the playground

Here to erase my woes

God turned his back on me

Now I live where the fires glow

 

Back and forth

My memory goes

I struggle to keep my eyes shut

I need to live where the fires glow

 

Let me stay in peaceful dream

Bottomless and salty

The pitt of the damned

Where the fires glow

 

Some voices, they urge me

Face your slave master

But the fires beg me

Cover your eyes for sanity

 

Devil, he holds me

Gently in his arms

God’s gone, sweet child

So stay here, where the fires glow

 

The fires

Avengers of my goodness and dignity

I’m safe nowhere

Where the fires don’t glow

 

Wanda S. Paryla Copyright 2016

 

 

 

The Crime of a Life Sentence (excerpt)

Hello there!

Please enjoy this excerpt from my book-in-progress of original poetry, tentatively titled The Crime of a Life Sentence. As mentioned in my previous blog, the publication dates of this work as well as the sequel to Someday Always Comes – The Devil Plays Dice – have been pushed into 2017. I am expecting to publish this particular book April 2017.

The poems in this book have been written over many, many years and when I post an excerpt some will have the original copyright dates.

(Please find the link to my previous blog below this post – I’ve inserted one and there’s the link back under this post if my link doesn’t work.)

 

CRYING AT MIDDAY

Crying at midday
I cannot find the right words to say
What I feel is lost

Staring into space
I recall another time with grace
What I feel is lost

My heart breaks in two
Heart bounded by the tragedy of you
What I feel is lost

I strive to not see
Myself and you surrounded by defeat
What I feel is lost

Copyright 2015 Wanda S. Paryla

 

FALLTIDE

Mysterious sounds creeping
While ravens call weeping
And wait on bare branch swaying

Triangle-eyed, round pumpkins smile wide
Cats use shadows to hide
Orange light seeping out bright

And crackling fires warm the eve
While crisp, crackles the leaves
Fall’s arrived; Winter’s nearby

Copyright 2013 Wanda S. Paryla

 

 

The Devil Plays Dice – excerpt

 

Throwback Thursday

This song makes an appearance in a scene in one of my novels, Angel Maker. Are you old enough to remember this one?…

 

Summer’s Here!

 

Summer

AND A BLESSED SUMMER SOLSTICE (LITHA) TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!

Do You Know?

Do you know that a grouping of kangaroos is called a mob? … (Yes, really.)

Do you know that a grouping of kangaroos with cameras is called a flash mob? … (Not, not really!)

Hahaha…. πŸ˜‰

The first statement is true, the second is just witty!

REBIRTH – a poem

phoenix_by_sandara-d4o2ewx

phoenix by sandara: sandara.deviantart.com

 

REBIRTH

PHOENIX

IN THE SKY

WINGING HIGH

EYES OF FIRE

RISE WITH PRIDE

DO NOT HIDE

SOUL RIDE

PHOENIX

Copyright 2015 Wanda S. Paryla

Book Review: No Lasting Burial, by Stant Litore

No Lasting Burial

 

 

NO LASTING BURIAL (The Zombie Bible), by Stant Litore

 

I won a copy of No Lasting Burial, by Stant Litore, in a Goodreads Giveaway, and I give it 4 Stars.

As with my other reviews, I will not rehash the story in the book.

I was teetering between 3 & 4 stars with this book, mostly because I felt it was a bit long and dragged on sometimes, however, all the parts come together to make a great and fascinating whole read. So I’m giving this book 4 stars for this author’s creativity, knowledge, and for this book’s uniqueness.

I can just start by saying, I do not think I’ve read anything quite like this before. It’s an amazing twist on Biblical tales. However, I think it’s a better read for those who are familiar with the Bible. When I started reading, I didn’t know that this is only one book in a series of books; the others which came before this one. However, one needs not to have read the others. This is also a stand alone book.

My only trouble with this book is that it was too long. Not the story itself, but the sentences are written in great length, with no slang and are…I hate to say it…terribly well constructed. I am not sure, because I did not research the writer, but I do not think he is a native speaker of American English. I spotted so many paragraphs that I could have shortened. This is why I think some readers, even those well-studied in the Bible either through a religious or historical perspective, might lose interest. Also, if you don’t realize there’s extra information in the back that might clear up some questions, you’ll get through it without some an understanding that the information afford you. The language and sentence structure in this book is definitely for a more adept reader with a large vocabulary, perhaps even higher educated.

On the flip side this is an incredible story, and one I had no idea I was going to read. The writer’s knowledge on the subject he’s written about is vast. This is not a zombie story…all about zombies…, but that’s not to say that readers who enjoy zombies will not enjoy this, as long as they are history buffs or interested in things biblical. I say though, if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary, this is it.

This book is an emotional ride, despite it’s literary style, and you will feel all sorts of things if you stick with it… sadness, anger, sympathy… just stick with it. You’ll also realize that the Biblical characters are just like us. If you consider this a page out of history, plus a few zombies thrown in, you’ll see even after 2,000+ years and a half a world away, we are the same.

It took me longer than I would have liked to get through it. Not technically because it is long, but I do read more than one book at a time. I am looking forward to reading his other zombie tales, and I will add – I hate all things zombie. Until No Lasting Burial, I have never read a zombie tale and have watched few zombie movies, etc. I just do not like them, but in Litore took my mind off of that with this sweeping tale.

This book was so interesting to me. Everything else in the book was so interesting, he could have wrote this fiction piece without zombies…I mean, he already had the Romans… and I would have still read it.

If you like cultural or world history, religious history, smartly and amazingly written literature,and zombies?…this is the book for you to. And if you are not familiar with with Biblical history or that time period, you’ll learn a lot. This book has great depth, was written with great thought, and has rich food for thought.

A Future Haiku

Shining Star

A FUTURE HAIKU

Looking back no more
Up ahead there is a star
Leading me afar

 

Copyright 2015 Wanda S. Paryla