The New Year Awaits...

HAPPY NEW YEAR in 2008!

To all writers everywhere

may the muse grab you in

the coming year

and never let you go!

See you next year and here's to publishing dreams

coming true for everyone!

Kaye

Taking A Pause To Remember...

To The One Who Inspires...

Today's post was to be about Wassailing and Winter Solstice and the like. But something happened to change that. On December 16, 2007 eclectic singer and songwriter Dan Fogelberg passed away. It's hard for me to talk about this. Dan, always the romantic, had so many songs that inspired my writing. An important one that comes to mind at this moment is The Reach, a song about what it's like to be a lobsterman in Maine (where he lived) and the spiritual connection to the land that exists there. It truly was the inspiration behind my novel, Barefoot Dancer, where hero Michael Pasquoee is a lobsterman/healer...

"I'll take from The Reach all that she has to teach to the depths of my soul"

(Dan Fogelberg, from the Album Portrait)

In 2004, as Dan prepared for a tour to promote his latest album, Full Circle he found out he had prostate cancer. The insidious illness took his life three years later.

Circling and diving with this freedom you’ve found
Illusion blows apart and scatters
There is no darkness in this place that we’re bound
Love is the only thing that matters
~Dan Fogelberg~
Icarus Ascending
from the album, Full Circle ~ 2003

Let your light shine, Dan for you will forevermore be missed. Thanks for it all.
http://thelivinglegacy.net/condolences.html

Kaye Manro

Welcome To The Show

I've been there, I've danced it. And it is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. If you've never seen this Ballet you should. Talk about capturing the Christmas spirit and feeling like a kid again. So find a production near you and go to it. Below is something I wrote (and published in the Chinook Magazine) to commemorate a bit of Christmas writing cheer. Here's to enjoying this seasonal time of year. And always remember

THE NUTCRACKER

(Original story by E.T.A. Hoffmann; Music for the Ballet by Tchaikovsky. Circa 1892)

Spirits are high when Christmas draws near as The Nutcracker Ballet enchants us each year

I'm here with my friends to enjoy the show
the dancers, the music, the magical glow
I danced The Nutcracker in days gone by
The memory brings a clandestine tear to my eye…

As the curtain rises on a moonlit Christmas night
Music fills our senses ballerinas pleasure our sight
Hearts soar when Clara is gifted a Nutcracker toy
Then a magical wish turns the doll into a living Prince boy

But be wary young dancers for danger abounds
Old Mouse King will kill you and steal the joy you have found
The Nutcracker Prince will have none of that
Summoning his toy soldiers he kills all the rats

Enter the Sugar Plum Fairy, an enchanted land of sweets
Flourishing with happiness and dancers wondrous feats

As the Prince and Clara share an alluring Pas de duet
He tells her they will dance on forever, he promises that
Yet Snowflakes are falling, the dream spell is calling

Clara must go home
She wakes to find her Prince boy

has sadly turned into The Nutcracker toy
Cradling him dearly she dances and dreams
Knowing Christmas wishes are always as real as they seem.

Copyright © 2006 by Kaye Manro