WELCOME TO PRIDE MONTH!

Dave and I agree, our lives would not be as loving, interesting, or rich without the LGBTQ+ people we have been fortunate enough to have in our lives. And certainly not as colorful!

Pride Month! We love you. We hope we do a good job of valuing Pride all year!

For this year’s Pride I was thinking about probably the first time I ever knew there were people who were gay, when I read Rita Mae Brown’s classic, RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE.

I read it when I was about 11 or 12. It was also when I was reading ANNE FRANK: DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, and MY DARLING MY HAMBURGER, and RUMBLEFISH: you get the idea (it’s why teens of my age loved Pink Floyd: we were depressed). I don’t remember the book well, I must admit, but I do remember that I liked it. I see now, when I read reviews, it is either 5* or 0*. Some folks say the main character was strong and struggled against the tides, some say she was a poor excuse for a lesbian, and into incest, which I don’t remember about the book. I do remember that she had a horrible mother, and I “felt” her on that. They say it’s a classic at the same time as it is banned today. I don’t have much stake in whether or not one particular reader likes one particular book, but I don’t think we should be banning any of them.

Have you read RUBYFRUIT JUNGLE? Do you give it a 5 or a 0?

One more book I want to point out is by my new favorite TIK TOK or YouTube video person, Mercury Stardust, AKA The Trans Handy Ma’am.

Mercury, may I call her Mercury? Hell yes, we’re old friends! She is one of the most enjoyable people I feel like I’ve met. I love her videos, and I want her to teach me how to do eye makeup, and home repair. She’s great, and I’m gonna buy a copy of this book as soon as I finish typing.

Do you know Mercury?

Here’s a video:

Happy Pride World! You don’t have to be LGBTQ+ to love someone LGBTQ+, and I love a bunch! Love is love, and can’t be stopped, but it can be stomped, so be an ally, during pride and all life long!

Thank you to all our LGBTQ+ friends for making our lives warmer and happier!

Love~

Dianne & Dave too

ANOTHER FREE READ!

BUY CHARLOTTE ON BROADWAY HERE

Or you can pick her up on Amazon! And, if you have KNDLE UNLIMITED, read her for free!

CLICK TO BUY ON AMAZON

STAN SAYS:

The character of Charlotte is based on my older sister. She’s no longer with us, but I hope I did her proud, and I am so grateful to all of you who like her fiesty, independent personality!

Love Stan~

~ Excerpt From “Maria de Jesus (Hibernaculum employee) part 1” ~

read the book. take the poll.

“Okay Mr. Pepik, now I’m gonna wash your piu-piu. Do excuse me.” 

Maria de Jesus tore the seal on the patient’s catheter diapers and very carefully inched the soiled pad out from under him, replacing it deftly with a towel. Mr. Michael Pepik had a catheter tube running from the eye of his penis, and Maria de Jesus began by wiping it down. She then raised her arm into the air and said “Turn.” After a couple of seconds, a large man came shuffling over with a broad smile. “

~ Excerpt From “Maria de Jesus (Hibernaculum employee) part 1” ~

SIX

SIX five-star reviews for HIBERNACULUM!

Did you know that, if you have ever had a book suggested to you by Amazon, they will not let publishers like us advertise that way until a book has fifteen five-star reviews? HIBERNACULUM is working its way there.

Often , people wonder what to write for a review. Honestly, it can be as simple as, “I’m glad I read this book.”
or
“This book made me think/laugh/feel better.
or
“I gave this to my brother and he loved it.”

It’s one thing to review a beauty product or a restaurant, but when you review a book, on Amazon, you can make a direct impact on that author’s life, forever changing it for the better. YOU could be review #15, and after that, the book can get found by so many more readers. YOU, little ‘ol you, can change an author’s life.

IF you add to the growing list of reviews for HIBERNACULUM, please email me: missioncontrol@outofthisworldpress.com, because Anthony would like to write you a thank you, and maybe even chat with you, if you’d like to, live, about the book.

Thank you for making a difference in an author’s life. It means everything.

Have I convinced you to leave a review?
If so… (be still my beating heart) CLICK HERE:

WANT SOMETHING TO READ, FREE, RIGHT NOW?

Do you have Kindle Unlimited?

If you do, read SOLSTICE: A WINTER ANTHOLOGY free on Kindle Unlimited (KU).

If you don’t have KU, it costs a whopping 99 cents to download this amazing book to your phone/tablet/computer right now!


Like hardboiled?

Get the novel that won the national awards: LET’S SAY JACK KENNEDY KILLED THE GIRL on KU for free! And look at all those 5-star reviews on Amazon! Read it now and get ready for next in the series: IF ONLY TRUMAN WERE DEAD drops this summer!


But, you say, “I want something scary!”

Why not meet James Goodridge’s monsters in HALLOWEEN PARTY? Also free for KU subscribers, or only a little over a buck to buy!! All treat, and no trick! What’s a matter? Not scared are you? We promise to keep you up all night!


Looking for a thriller? The book you just cannot put down? Look no further!

Try GLASS ONION, an espionage ride that will have you clinging onto the top of a suspension bridge, praying not to drop….


Earth too boring for you?

Conquer new worlds without losing your balance with the sci-fi great: BALANCE OF FORTUNE. Also free for KU subscribers!


AND IF NONE OF THOSE PROMOTIONS ARE INSTANT ENOUGH FOR YOUR READING HUNGER….

We GOT you with FIVE (5) totally free issues of art and prose and poetry and memoir on INSTANT NOODLES, and we MEAN INSTANT! Just CLICK, and you’re there!


THANK YOU for giving an indie author a bit of your time, for being a reader. It means a lot all of us authors to know someone is reading.

It means everything.

Much love~ from DPP and all our authors and artists

15 AND 5, AND WHY DO YOU CARE?

REVIEWS FOR 2023 SOLSTICE

Fifteen written reviews (the kind that include words, not just clicking LIKE) and choosing five stars.

That’s what we need if we want to be able to buy an advertisement for one of our books on Amazon.

And why do you care?

Well, if you have a story or poem in Solstice, and your name is on the book, what if you’re trying to publish your novel? Or your collection of short stories? You’d want a good review out there of anything you’ve written, and not just one.

AND LOOK AT THIS:

This book has sixteen excellent (5-star) ratings, but only eleven reviews.

If this book had 4 more reviews, we could buy an ad that would pop up whenever anyone who read mystery books opened up their Kindle ap, and it would say, “You enjoy mysteries, why not try this book?”

Five people clicked a star, but didn’t write a review.

Well, who-the-heck has time to write reviews?

Reviews can be super short.

“I liked this book, and I can’t wait for the next one.”

“I bought this as a gift, and my friend loved it.”

“This book made me happy.”

“This book was a good read.”

“This was worth my money and my time.”

You can use something just like that.

And then more and more people find it, and then more and more people buy it, or ask their libraries to buy it, and so-on, and so-on….

And before we know it, authors are making money on their writing.

People are getting to find and read great writing by older authors,

Devil’s Party Press is publishing more writers because we have the resources to!

So, if you have a read a DPP book, please consider leaving a review. If you’re in a DPP book, please ask a friend of family member to leave a review.

Reviews mean growth.

Reviews mean sales.

Reviews mean an author who came to writing later in life is getting his or her book out there, and read!

And that’s all we ALL want… to be read.

We love late bloomers!

And your support of them means everything.


CLICK TO REVIEW ME!

HIBERNACULUM WENT FROM 119 READS YESTERDAY TO 199 today! Folks are loving this book!

DAFFODILS AND MUD INSPIRED POETRY: REPRINT FROM OLD SCRATCH PRESS

FOLLOW OLD SCRATCH PRESS HERE

Welcome to Week Two of National Poetry Month. The four seasons of the year are the subjects of many different types of poetry from traditional sonnets to exuberant free verse sprawled out across the page. So to start this week we are sharing two poems by American poets from the past.

The first poem is by Amy Lowell (1874-1925). A Pulitzer Prize winner for her poetry collection, What’s O’Clock, Lowell is associated with the early 20th Century Imagist Movement, which sought to use precise, colloquial language and concrete imagery in lieu of traditional poetic diction and meter. Compared with the second poem we’re posting by E.E. Cummings, however, to our twenty-first century ears it sounds very traditional, until you compare it to last week’s poem posting by William Shakespeare.

To an Early Daffodil

By Amy Lowell

          Thou yellow trumpeter of laggard Spring!

           Thou herald of rich Summer’s myriad flowers!           

           The climbing sun with new recovered powers

          Does warm thee into being, through the ring

          Of rich, brown earth he woos thee, makes thee fling

           Thy green shoots up, inheriting the dowers

           Of bending sky and sudden, sweeping showers,

          Till ripe and blossoming thou art a thing

           To make all nature glad, thou art so gay;

          To fill the lonely with a joy untold;

           Nodding at every gust of wind to-day,

          To-morrow jewelled with raindrops.  Always bold

           To stand erect, full in the dazzling play

          Of April’s sun, for thou hast caught his gold.

The second poet, E.E. Cummings ( 1984-1962) was one of the most popular poets of the twentieth century. Challenging the established approach to words on a page, Cummings experimented with form and language to create a distinct personal style. The exhilaration of the change in seasons is transmitted by his merging certain words together and distancing others in a poem that shouts out to be read aloud.

[in Just-]

By E.E. Cummings

in Just-

spring          when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles          far          and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it’s

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far          and             wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it’s

spring

and

         the

                  goat-footed

balloonMan          whistles

far

and

wee

Do you have a favorite poem to greet the season? Share it with us and share it by posting it on your own social media account as well. Poetry is not only meant to be read aloud, it is meant to be shared.

Thank you for reading and don’t forget to follow us on WordPress, Facebook , Instagram, and Twitter.

.