Calamity's Quilt (Book) - 2/26/2003 12:18:28 PM
Life from reality is the best that I know at the moment, I intend to improve and grow, not just in my writing that is the least of it. This sounds like something that I would really like.
JC xoxoxoxoxo
The Cameo in: Gifts from Our Grandmothers (Book) - 3/28/2002 8:28:47 AM
I'm one of the authors, so of course, I'm biased. I was stunned by the array of stories and the resonance and power of all the pieces. Although all of our grandmothers were different, we are bound to women of all backgrounds, ages, skin colors, etc.; just by the very fact that we so revere our grandmothers. Bravo!
The Pipe Dream Minus Smoke (Short Story) - 9/18/2016 6:35:47 AM
I can't help thinking that this is a true story. Your imagery is immaculate and engaging. I marveled at how I used to watch my mother make chocolate chip cookies and then eat them in mass quantities as they came off the cookie sheet so hot they were soft and gooey and burned my mouth.
Later, after school, my twin brother and I would raid the cookie jar under the sink with a handful of four or five to give us a sugar boost while we waited for our prompt home-cooked meal at 5:30 pm after mom came home from working in the factory at 5:10 pm.
As I read I became dizzy and exhausted with Chelsea's exuberance and questioning. I could sense her aunt's combination of regret for never having children and relief for not having to put up with that kind of vigor and activity 24/7.
I too, noticed the combination of two conversations in a single paragraph. I was always taught to start a new paragraph every time a character spoke.
Ron
The Pipe Dream Minus Smoke (Short Story) - 9/18/2016 12:46:17 AM
A beautifully written story from start to finish replete with imagery, imagination, and introspection.
I don't know if it is a tech glitch, but your conversation between two people was lumped together, which doesn't fly.
A Literary Call to Arms (Article) - 9/16/2016 9:57:38 AM
Dear Ron: Thank you for your kind words about my work--just a gut reaction to that fateful day, then polished through the midnight hours.
My husband did, finally, figure out that author den directions were incomplete. There is a key you must click more than once for the changes in formatting to show up on others' computers. Hopefully, I will be able to spruce up my Author's Den site in the coming months, as I strive to recover from a painful back surgery, just 3 days ago. Writing and sharing is that important to me.
Due to severe glaucoma, I am more capable at writing than revising or reading small print, but I have every intention of hunting you down (LOL) in an effort to garner your obvious wisdom and get the chance to read what you write.
Warmly, janet
P.S. Thank you for caring enough to post...so rare in this world of tweet, tweet, tweet, something I've always thought was reserved for baby birds. What has happened to our soil & sensibilities?
A Literary Call to Arms (Article) - 9/13/2016 6:22:26 AM
A strongly and beautifully written article of the aftermath of the first great tragedy of the 21st century. You are right that the tragedy changed America. It seems to have enhanced a growing fear that people have that incidents that are far away are going to happen nearby like all of those people living and working in lower Manhattan on that fateful day.
And the hatred, the unnecessary hatred, that came out of that hateful act by a deranged zealot, and not the country of Iraq or the Muslim religion, turned our country more towards a police state monitoring our every move in the name of "homeland (in) security", poured money into our military industrial complex and heightened the worldview that we are an aggressive, hawkish nation.
And you so beautifully pointed out that the response in the immediate neighborhood was one of great sacrifice, grief, and reaching out to those affected. Something that is very clear in all the news footage.
As I've pointed out many times too many authors, you may be pasting from a late version of MS Word that has formatting incompatible with the AD editor. Try saving your document in an old version of MS Word or .rtf format before copying and pasting (I paste into my browser special to match the format of the editor). Or, it may just be that you have a guest membership and therefore can't post your original formatting like I can.
I did have a hard time figuring out where your article and your beautiful poems transitioned with the dense formatting here.
Ron
Deciding on a Flag to Raise (Article) - 9/12/2016 4:14:49 AM
A very interesting and informative article. A little dense to read without paragraphing, but certainly points out the difference between patriotism and the arts.
While the attacks on 9/11 were horrendous, especially for those whose family members were killed and those close to the twin towers or the Pentagon when it happened, but we overreacted. That's why I chose not to write extensively about the tragedy. I only wrote one poem, "I Witness," posted here on AD.
I feel the same way that we have a global world and drawing in and protecting, "America," send signals to the rest of the world that we want to continue to battle over patriotism rather than deal with criminals like Al Qaeda and ISIS. But most people are followers and not thinkers. They go along with their friends when it comes to dealing with problems like this. Even Hillary Clinton voted for going to war with Iraq.
Ron
Tackled Demons (Article) - 6/21/2001 12:03:11 AM
I really like what you have to say. Thanks for writing that. It helped me with a few things even though I am not an amputee. I can still apply what you had to say to some things going on in my own life.
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 1/10/2004 8:30:55 AM
This is great Janet, I also bought your book Calamity's Quilt and I am enjoying it thoroughly. I am also making notes on your style, it speaks loudly to me. Brava!
Love, Janet C. xoxoxo
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 4/23/2003 7:15:10 PM
Nobody does it better!! "Justice spelled so many ways our alphabets no longer know their proper forms." is perfect at every level, and that repeating short-a toward the beginning [casual, casualty, splatter...] somehow helps set the tone. The subject could not be more somber, nor the talent glow more. Phyllis
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 4/21/2003 5:59:50 AM
Being a Janet Buck groupie, I have nothing BUT praise for this piece. The last stanza, though...{insert huge sigh} that last stanza drains the reader's emotions.
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 4/20/2003 7:56:15 PM
Janet good but the swiftly passing hand of time have already dated it and proven a change even with sacrifice can be good for a country. You will see a FREE PEOPLE IN IRAQ. You need to rewrite a new poem now as you see this unfolding. The USA
is a great country and you know that when you compare it with others. Where would you be and what would you do without the personal freedom you have to write this article. In Iraq, SADDAM might have cut your tongue out or his sons raped you.
Happy Easter and keep your spirits high.
Bill Murray.
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 4/20/2003 6:27:20 PM
Thoughtfully done. No matter which side you are on, it's a sad commentary on the times and human condition.
A Speech Before the Splattered Blood (Poetry) - 4/20/2003 5:53:53 PM
Goosebumps, just wish your stop killing our troops with (friendly fire) more of ours have died that way.. great write though..
