Today I am delighted to introduce you to poet and blogger Dwight Roth. Dwight has a beautiful blog which you can find here: https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/roth-poetry-home-page/. Dwight shares poetry, his lovely paintings, and other craft work on his blog.
Welcome Dwight
Tell us a bit about your writing journey and how you came to write poetry
Reading and writing were very hard for me in primary school. It seems like it took me until I got to the fifth grade to begin catching on to how learning worked. Over the years I dabbled in writing. I wrote songs that I played on the guitar and some poems in freestyle. What little I about poetry, knew was what I learned in my literature classes in high school and college.
After I retired, I began to participate in a live poetry reading at the Indian Trail Cultural arts center in 2013. It was led by Kym Moore, whom some of you know from our Word press blog. I began collecting my poems and had them printed into a booklet form at the local Office Max. She encouraged me to post my poems on a blog.
She introduced me to Word Press and in 2016 I decide to try and joined the Word Press blogging group. It was there I found a poetry community of people who enjoyed my poetry and it took off from there. I made so many wonderful friends over the years and found d’Verse Poets Pub to be a great help in learning to understand poetry in its many forms.
Kym also connected me with Tom Davis, editor of Old Mountain Press, who was a great help in writing my memoirs. He publishes a poetry anthology quarterly which I have contributed to for the past ten years.
I posted my photos and poems every day for over five years. My poems were all written in digital form so I got them published in spiral bound books at the local Office Max. I now have published ten books of poems and several children’s book along with a few my memoirs. Some of them can be found on Amazon Kindle.
Writing poetry has change my life and added purpose to my retirement years.
What is your favourite style of poetry to read?
My poetry of choice is freestyle but I do love writing haiku as well. Saying a lot with a few words is a fun challenge.
Share your favourite poem by another poet and why
I love the work of Billy Collins. His freestyle approach to the ordinary and everyday is so enjoyable to read or listen to. This was the first poem I ever read of his work. There was an immediate connection.
Aimless Love by Billy Collins
This morning as I walked along the lakeshore,
I fell in love with a wren
and later in the day with a mouse
the cat had dropped under the dining room table.
In the shadows of an autumn evening,
I fell for a seamstress
still at her machine in the tailor’s window,
and later for a bowl of broth,
steam rising like smoke from a naval battle.
This is the best kind of love, I thought,
without recompense, without gifts,
or unkind words, without suspicion,
or silence on the telephone.
The love of the chestnut,
the jazz cap and one hand on the wheel.
No lust, no slam of the door –
the love of the miniature orange tree,
the clean white shirt, the hot evening shower,
the highway that cuts across Florida.
No waiting, no huffiness, or rancor –
just a twinge every now and then
for the wren who had built her nest
on a low branch overhanging the water
and for the dead mouse,
still dressed in its light brown suit.
But my heart is always propped up
in a field on its tripod,
ready for the next arrow.
After I carried the mouse by the tail
to a pile of leaves in the woods,
I found myself standing at the bathroom sink
gazing down affectionately at the soap,
so patient and soluble,
so at home in its pale green soap dish.
I could feel myself falling again
as I felt its turning in my wet hands
and caught the scent of lavender and stone.
What is your favourite of your own poems and why?
As I get older, I enjoy pondering on life, death, and theology trying to understand what it all means.This poem is one that came from one of those times.
When My Spirit Rises by Dwight Roth
When my spirit rises
Unencumbered and free
No weight or worry accompanies me
Interesting that I value things
When in the end the spirit flies
Leaving them all behind
How much I worry and fret
But this too shall pass when I am gone
My spirit rises out of this shell
A virtual butterfly reborn
From caterpillar to chrysalis
Reborn in the image of God
Spirit, Creator, Redeemer, Savior
Knowing there is no place for the earthly
In the spirit world beyond
I can’t take it with me
But then again… Why would I want to
When my spirit rises
Leaving it all behind
What poetry projects are you currently working on?
My last project was a self-published book of poems called Bones of Inspiration.
I started publishing my own books using my home computer instead of going to Office Max. I have done the last three poetry books this way. I got a punch and bindings on Amazon that works very well for me. I print books for friends and family. I usually have about a hundred poems to compile every year or so. It is time consuming but I love the process.
My review of Bones of Inspiration by Dwight Roth
Picture caption: gorgeous cover of Bones of Inspiration by Dwight Roth
Dwight Roth is my kind of poet. He writes powerful and impactful poems and flash fiction using simple words and phrases. I don’t need a dictionary to read his work and his meanings and content are clear and precise. Dwight also writes about everyday issues and circumstances that I experience every day. This makes his poetry very relatable for me.
This collection covers a wide range of topics including love, fear, aging, and many others. He uses a technique of questioning in some of his poems which I also enjoy very much. An example of Dwight’s usage of this technique is in his poem Color in the Dark:
“What happens to color when the light goes out
Is the rainbow still there, dancing all about
Or do the colors all congeal to dark black ghosts
Spectors of nothingness seeking a place to float.”
Another beautifully written and insightful poem is about a time when the poet was seven years old and his mother was ill. He perfectly captures the confusion and anxiety of a young boy who doesn’t understand what’s going on but knows its a serious event in his family’s life. An intense extract from this poem, Childhood Trauma:
“Being only seven years old I did not know what to thing as they
carefully carried her down the steps and loaded her into
the back of the hearse that had windows on each side that
read: Honsaker’s Funeral Home – Masontown, Pa
It was a great relief to know the poet’s mother survived and lived to reach a good, old age.
My favourite poem in the collection is Silence … or My Noise of Choice. Although I do not suffer from tinnitus like the author does, I am often overwhelmed by the noise pollution living in a big city. During Covid lockdown, when I went outside to hang out the washing it was delightfully silent. I could write a poem in my head or listen to an audio book on low to entertain myself. Now that we are back to normal life, I find being outside very noisy. I can’t listen to an audio book even with the sound turned up because I can’t hear above the cars and motorbikes racing up the road or an airplane flying overhead. The neighbours play noisy music or speak loudly as do pedestrians on the road. I find the constant noise pollution very stressful. This is a short extract from this poem:
“Sounds around me seem to compete for attention
floating through my head competing with my tinnitus
constantly buzzing like high-pitched cicadas and little twitters.
To my left the return fan for the AC hums off and on
drowning out the questions on Jeopardy and the Wheel.
Finally, the AC fan goes off, the TV is shut off … Ahhh … peace and quiet
But no, as I settle back with my laptop and blog the fridge drops its ice”
If you enjoy honest, easy to read and relate to poetry that is well written and engaging, you will enjoy this delightful collection.
Picture caption: Amazon author photograph of Dwight Roth
Dwight Roth is a retired elementary school teacher of 29 years, who grew up in the mountains of Southwestern Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing, poetry, painting, and music. He enjoys participating in the Indian Trail Cultural Arts poetry group and has had works published in, and recent omp.com Anthologies. He has self-published three memoirs and a book of poetry two children’s books and three “a word from the Word” daily meditation books. He and his wife Ruth live near Monroe, NC.
South African author and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated sixteen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, and written and illustrated three poetry books. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.
Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Treasuring Poetry” is sponsored by WordCrafter Press and the Poetry Treasures series.
As I sit down to write this, I have a feeling that it may turn into a rant. This AI thing really disturbs me, and it’s getting worse instead of better. If you’ve followed me in the past, you may know that I’ve been known to use AI editing tools such as ProWritingAide in the writing of my books, and also that I’ve utilized generative AI, such as the free versions of Chat GPT to help me form my words in some of my descriptions, as this is an area I am weak in. (Before the anti-AI group begins to raise a fuss, please note that I have never used the AI’s wording, but rather used it to get ideas on how I wanted to use my own words. So, AI does not, and has never, written any part of my books and stories for me.)
More recently, however, I’ve been rethinking this, and I’ll tell you why.
I Don’t Like Having AI Shoved Down My Throat
AI seems to be encroaching on my life in ways which are not wanted and have not been requested, and I’m guessing some of you may feel it, too. AI tools, which we’re told are meant to make our lives easier, such as Alexa, or Google Assistant, or Seri, or whatever, seem to be trying to help without being summoned to do so on occasion. When I’m having a discussion and my Google Assistant pops in with unrequested information uninvited…, to me, that’s kind of scary. We’re told these devices and apps, which we bring into our homes, or download onto our phones and carry with us everywhere, are not listening to us; that we must say the catch-word, (Alexa or Hey Google, etc…), to activate them, yet they pop into a conversation without being summoned, offering unrequested and unwanted information. Seems to me, the AI must be eavesdropping, and how scary is that, to think they are even capable of doing such a thing?
Advances in AI technology are being thrown at us hard and fast. My email now comes equipped with AI, which offers up a summary of each email I open, (I guess to save me the trouble of actually reading the correspondence?), and then, pops up in the middle of my replies, offering to rewrite it for me! As if I cannot be bothered to write my own reply. And most of the time, what it offers up is not even close to what I wish to say. When it pops up on my phone, I am often unable to continue with what I was writing until I can convince it to disappear from my screen, as if it intends to prevent me from replying myself. Not only is this a little scary, but it’s a lot aggravating.
I did not ask for these ‘upgrades’ to my email. They just suddenly appeared after the automatic updates. I opened my email and there they were, in my yahoo account. No one ask permission to shove AI tools in my face; no one asked if I desired them. But there they are, in the applications that I use. Microsoft did the same thing with Word, although theirs is not as pushy, appearing as a little comment icon over to the side of the screen that I can click on if I need it. (I don’t.)
My MS Word program and the WordPress platform both offer AI editors, but they leave it up to you whether to use them. You must click on them to bring them up. They don’t just pop up and try to take over. It’s a matter of choice with these programs, and I don’t have a problem with that.
Since the beginning of the year, I have backed off my use of AI, and only using the built in editor on MS Word to locate possible needed corrections, but fixing them myself, because I often don’t like the solutions offered. It is frequently wrong, suggesting words which aren’t at all what you wanted to say and totally miss the point. The same with AI editors, such as ProWritingAid. It seems you can’t just take AI’s word for it anyway. You still have to use your noggin.
In the Name of Progress
On her Risky/Women Substack, “AI Won’t Kill Your Career. Your Resistance to It Will.“, Rachel Rogers says, “Refusing to use AI in 2026 is the equivalent of refusing to use the internet in 2000.” She claims that if we don’t embrace AI in the early stages, we will be left behind and our businesses will suffer.
Well, guess what? That’s exactly what I did. In 2000, I refused to have a computer in my home or grant my children permission to use the internet at school, and it did give me a slow start. I was still writing on a manual typewriter and submitting work via snail mail in 1996. By 2000, I had decided snail mail submissions were too costly for me, and my writing had tapered off to near nothing.
I became disillusioned with the public school system when I finally gave in and signed the slip allowing my children internet access at school and almost immediately got a call saying my son had accessed an inappropriate site. As it turned out, their firewalls had failed, and my son had viewed a site with the image of a woman in a bikini. Although it wasn’t the end of the world, it was exactly the kind of thing which I had feared, and my children had only had access for two days. After that, I put my boys in a charter school, but once they reached the age for middle school, I chose to home school them through an online home school program.
The home-schooling program provided computers for each of my boys, but that meant I had to give in and allow computers in my home, and I had to allow my sons to have internet access. Once that happened, I had no choice but to learn to use them myself, and I soon discovered the many opportunities which the internet offered for writers. I mean, you could submit online and it didn’t even cost the price of a stamp. It changed my whole outlook on the matter and soon, I was carrying my own laptop with me everywhere. When required to do readings at a memoir workshop in 2011, everyone else came with folders of papers to read from. As I set up for reading, my comment was, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but my life is in my laptop.” That was no joke, at that point, it really was. My computer had become an integral part of my life.
So, did my resistance to technology and the internet set me back, putting my writing business behind the times and leaving me at a disadvantage? Perhaps.
I certainly missed the dot-com craze. But one could argue that I was still in the learning phases and did not yet know how to put it all together at the time. This was prior to my enrollment in the graduate program in creative writing at Western State Colorado University, where I learned how to write a novel length work; before I learned how to publish and market my work in their masters in publishing program; before all the pieces were in place for me to turn my writing endeavors into a business.
It was also before aggregators like D2D came along which allow authors to publish digitally and on demand with no up-front costs. Before platforms like BookFunnel were available to allow me to create reader magnets, review copies, and giveaway gifts from my books. So, one might argue that it was actually perfect timing, because by the time I had figured out what it was I wanted to do, all the tools I needed to do it were available at my fingertips.
To Use AI or Not to Use AI? That is the Question.
AI can certainly do some amazing things. But there still exists great controversy about the way in which generative AI is trained, taking human authors’ words without their permission. Although that’s an argument for another day, it matters here because it was a big part of the reason stopped using ProWritingAide in my editing process. That, and the fact that more than half the time, the AI was incorrect for the purposes of my stories, even if the English was correct.
I have always been anti-establishment. I don’t want the government, or anyone else, up in my business. I place a high value on my privacy, and I feel like AI devices are an invasion of privacy. I think maybe we need to send out a message to all these technology companies that are trying to push their AI technology down our throats and disable all their AI tools from our personal and business accounts. That’s big talk, but I don’t have a clue as to how to go about it. I didn’t ask for the AI and I don’t know how to get rid of it. I’ve tried ignoring them, but they don’t go away. And I haven’t found any way to turn them off or reject them.
But these are different tools we’re talking about than the AI tools, like Chat GPT and ProWritingAid, which I’ve used in my writing in the past. These tools are appearing in my email apps without having been requested or desired. The writing tools which I have used were tools which I sought out and was happy to find free versions. While I still feel AI editors miss the mark more often than not, they can be helpful, and I don’t feel that, using these tools in the manner that I do, is letting them write for me, or damaging the integrity of my work. In other words, my work is still mine.
I like the responsible approach presented by Alex Cattoni, in this video, “Your Biggest Advantage Over AI Starts Here”, on YouTube:
Let’s look at what we know about using AI.
We know that AI tools can be helpful in the writing process.
We know that it is possible to use AI in writing without replacing the human words with AI written content.
We know that it is possible to use AI tools and still put out content we can be proud of.
We know that AI is coming, whether we like it or not.
We know that to choose not to use AI may mean being left behind.
Choices Moving Forward
I may not know how to get rid of the AI tools that are being pushed through apps, but I can choose not to use the AI tools that pop up in my email, etc… I will not be rebellious of my writing tools, just because programmers insult my intelligence with the idea that I cannot read, interpret, or write my own emails. They may push them in my face, but that does not mean I have to use them.
I can chose which AI tools to use and how I use them, so that my writing can still remain mine. I don’t want to get left behind again, not when my writing business is finally beginning to take off. So, I am choosing to continue to utilize the AI editor in the MS Word program, but not access Copilot, which recently appeared in the same program, or ProWritingAid, since they try to rewrite my words and are often not correct.
I will also choose to use generative AI in creating my descriptions cautiously, and be very selective about any wording suggested, to keep my words, my own.
I will choose to be transparent in my writing, letting readers know when AI was used in my writing or in my covers.
What about you?
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and Book 1 in her Time-Travel Adventure series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders.
Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press, where she edits and publishes two short fiction anthologies and one poetry anthology every year amidst her many writing projects. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by The Ones Who Stayed With Me, by Nurse Sammy, and WordCrafter Press.
Chronicles of the journey into the medical field as a young nurse and beyond, told with raw sensitivity and compassion. The Ones Who Stayed with Me offers small glimpses into the world of an L.P.N. put in difficult, often touching or humorous, situations—and Nurse Sammy’s courage, vulnerability, and insight are a gift to us all. In these pages, Nurse Sammy tells her story and that of those she met along the way.
We had a great tour to launch the re-release of Smothered, by B.T. Clearwater and all of you who dropped by and left commengts helped. Now it’s time to find out who the three lucky winners are. Who will receive one of three digital copies of this original paranormal/supernatural romance, Smothered?
To is the last day of the WordCrafter Smothered Book Blog Tour, and you can join us over at Poetry by Mich with a reading of the meet cute; an important element in any romance. I love what author B.T. Clearwater has done with this one. Check it out, and don’t forget to comment so we will know you were there. You could win a free digital copy of Smothered, by B.T. Clearwater.
What do you know about your computer’s operating system, or OS?
Instead of keeping it simple, Bill Gates has created one mess after another with Windows. Windows 7 was decent. Windows 10 became a behemoth. Windows 11 is a nightmare.
10. Bill Gates has been fighting viruses since Windows 97. Plug up all the security holes that allows the intel community, including the National Security Agency (NSA), from browsing without a warrant, and hacking would be a thing of the past. Plus, customers would no longer have to purchase security software.
9. Having to purchase security software, because Windows is not a secure operating system from outside attacks.
8. Improvements are for Microsoft/Windows future needs, not helping the users.
7. Forced sign-ins to Microsoft accounts.
6. Microsoft Edge is mandatory and cannot be deleted from the OS.
5. One Drive is pushed as a default data/cloud storage.
4. Aggressive data collection that harms privacy as well as intellectual property (IP) rights.
3. Artificial Intelligence powered influence.
2. News only approved by a corporation as a slide out.
1. Windows OS has become a continuous TV commercial pushed onto customers. MS Office 365, Edge, One Drive, and the Microsoft Store are favored with little choices given to computer owners. It feels more like a cage, then my personal computer.
Bill Gates has lost the plot.
Users, like myself, who can take apart/rebuild a computer, code, beat the green, red, and black screens of death, are unamused by the prison Windows operating system and its associated software applications have become. I do not owe allegiance to a corporation. I purchase products.
I did not purchase a leash.
I disabled many of the forced functions and applications. Co-Pilot, Recall, and anything artificial intelligence related that I could. My copyrighted materials are on my computers. These creations, in addition to trademark and trade secrets, are not for another’s free perusal or training for models; therefore, Microsoft is in violation of federal law. No Terms of Service can save the corporation from their willful negligence against customers’ private data and privacy.
We need a tech revolution.
By Congressional investigation and regulation, and market correction, tech companies need to be reminded that the customers must be appeased, not their egos for world domination. Customers must contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about Microsoft/Windows’s deceptive and totalitarian business practices. These are customer purchased hardware. The software must reflect the owner’s intent.
For fans of WordCrafter Press’s Midnight anthology series or admire the covers featured on Undawnted, schedule an appointment with Ms. Mullan. Her digital exhibition pieces have not only won awards at convention art shows but also secured her the Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. Currently, her pieces are part of private collections and have successfully sold at charity silent auctions.
DL Mullan’s lecture, Spacescapes: Where Photography Ends; Imagination Begins, debuted at the Phoenix Astronomy Society, which then led to her Sally Ride Festival lectures. Her presentation, Bridging the Gap between Technology and Women, won her accolades at a community college’s Student Success Conference. She has been a panelist at speculative fiction, science fiction, and other regional conventions. Her digital exhibition pieces have won awards at convention art shows, as well as garnered her Second Premium at the Arizona State Fair. As an independent publisher, she uses her technical background to innovate in the creative arts.
As a creator, Ms. Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, she has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. DL Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.
Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series, as well as creating original soundtracks for her publications and independent electronic music albums, featured on SoundCloud and YouTube.
DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology, and is a syndicated columnist, writing the creative nonfiction, Undawntech.
For news and updates, subscribe to the Undawntable Newsletter. Find DL on Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube via her website.
Be sure to subscribe to her newsletters and follow her on social media. For further information, visit her at www.undawntech.com and www.undawnted.com.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This post sponsored by WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services.
Whether it’s editing, publishing, or promotion that you need, WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services can help at a price you can afford.
It’s Day 4 of the WordCrafter “Smothered” Book Blog Tour and we’re back here, on Writing to be Read with a reading from Chapter 10, by Jeff Bowles. In this reading, we’re hearing the p.o.v. of the ghost of Annie’s mother, Mary, who has been causing all kinds of havoc trying to express her disapproval of Annie’s relationship with Mike, or any man, really.
About Smothered, by B.T. Clearwater
Annie Brown’s life could use some renovation. She’s in trouble at work, her ex-boyfriend is stalking her, and she’s just inherited a dilapidated Victorian home from her late mother, who hasn’t quite moved out yet. The last thing Annie needs in her life is a man, but when handyman Mike Tolbert comes to fix her dishwasher, she lets him demo her doubt.
Mike doesn’t need the distraction of a relationship either. An Iraq War combat veteran and divorcee, Mike suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is dealing with a manipulative ex. Yet, something about Annie snags his heart and he finds he cannot walk away from her.
Annie’s mother doesn’t approve of their relationship, and she’s willing to cross from the realm of death to that of the living to control her daughter. With the ghost of her mother haunting them, Mike and Annie face his PTSD, her troubles at work, and a deadly plot to steal her childhood home, all while fighting to keep their love alive.
Excerpt Reading: “Ghostly Appearance by Mother” (Chap. 10)
About B.T. Clearwater
B.T. Clearwater grew up writing stories, winning Literary Student of the Year for Lake George Central High School in 1984. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Western State Colorado University, graduating both Summa Cum Laude, and is a two-time alum of the Superstars Writing Seminars run by Kevin J. Anderson. B.T. routinely judges the Zebulon writing contest for Pike’s Peak Writers, and has published fiction under the science fiction, fantasy, romance, western, horror, and crime genres under different pen names. B.T. Clearwater lives in Colorado Springs with a dog, a cat, and a cast of fictional characters for company.
The Giveaway
Leave a comment at each stop to let us know you were here
and get an entry for a chance at one of three digitals copies
to given away in a random drawing at the end of the tour.
This wraps up today’s tour stop on the WordCrafter Smothered Book Blog Tour. You can visit the other stops and get in on the giveaway through the links in the tour schedule below, for more readings and an interview with author B.T. Clearwater.
Tomorrow, you can find us on three separate blog sites with host, Michelle Ayon Navajas: Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Masticadores, and Masticadores Phillipines with the last reading, from chapter 5, where Mike and Annie first meet. Join us in the final send off for Smothered, and don’t forget to leave a comment so we know you were there.
It’s Day 3 of the WordCrafter Smothered Book Blog Tour, and we’re over at Undawnted, with host DL Mullan and an interview with author B.T. Clearwater. Won’t you join us and help send this paranormal romance off right? This is one you won’t want to miss.
Undawnted does not take comments, so please click the link below to catch the interview, but leave your comments here for the giveaway entries or to start a conversation.
In essence: Amazing. This multi-talented, empathetic, creative woman displays talents in many areas.
Further, she pens words that she hopes will move others to help protect our world.
Along with writing poetry books, novels, short stories, and children’s literature, Robbie Cheadle not only decorates some of her pages with exquisite, professional photos that she shot—and even more amazing, she fashions cakes with sculptures of lions and other African wildlife, and flowers that accompany her writings.
Here’s a chance to peer into the mind of this remarkable woman. Enjoy!
About Roberta Eaton (Robbie) Cheadle
Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.
Roberta has two published novels and a collection of short stories and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).
Roberta is also the author and illustrator of seventeen children’s books, illustrator to a further three children’s books, and the author and illustrator of four poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.
Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.
My Interview with Robbie Cheadle
How did you come to write poetry?
From a young age (4 years old), I read a great deal. Television was very limited in South Africa when I was a child and my first sister was only born when I was 4 years old. Catherine was born prematurely and my parents moved to a cottage on a farm in the country to try to protect her from germs. I didn’t attend school during this time, and I had to entertain myself. I did that by reading. I grew to love the L.M. Montgomery books, especially her lesser-known series, Emily of New Moon. In the books, Emily’s late father was a poet and writer. Emily tries her hand at poetry as a way of keeping his memory alive. I was inspired by Emily to write short poems and descriptive pieces and did this throughout my senior primary school and high school years. English and History were my favourite subjects at school, and I excelled at both of them. I have been writing poetry ever since. It has evolved into a diary of my life.
What is your favourite poem by another poet?
When I was in primary school, about ten years old, we had to learn several poems by heart. Ever since then I have loved The Listeners by Walter de la Mare. The poem is full of mystery and delight.
The Listeners
By Walter de La Mare
‘Is there anybody there?’ said the Traveller, Knocking on the moonlit door; And his horse in the silence champed the grasses Of the forest’s ferny floor: And a bird flew up out of the turret, Above the Traveller’s head: And he smote upon the door again a second time; ‘Is there anybody there?’ he said. But no one descended to the Traveller; No head from the leaf-fringed sill Leaned over and looked into his grey eyes, Where he stood perplexed and still. But only a host of phantom listeners That dwelt in the lone house then Stood listening in the quiet of the moonlight To that voice from the world of men:
Stood thronging the faint moonbeams on the dark stair, That goes down to the empty hall, Hearkening in an air stirred and shaken By the lonely Traveller’s call. And he felt in his heart their strangeness, Their stillness answering his cry, While his horse moved, cropping the dark turf, ’Neath the starred and leafy sky; For he suddenly smote on the door, even Louder, and lifted his head:— ‘Tell them I came, and no one answered, That I kept my word,’ he said. Never the least stir made the listeners, Though every word he spake Fell echoing through the shadowiness of the still house From the one man left awake: Ay, they heard his foot upon the stirrup, And the sound of iron on stone, And how the silence surged softly backward, When the plunging hoofs were gone.
Life on the Water (Tanka story) medley of cool shades cerulean and turquoise lightened or darkened depending on water’s mood and artist’s vision
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painstaking brush strokes capturing shadows and light frothy, foaming crests enhanced with metallic white dancing across blue
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water shifts and sighs subtle movements captured in careful ripple lines swiftly flowing currents caught in muted aquamarine
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sand laden wavelets curl sluggishly around rocks smothered by sweet caress of ocean’s heaving bosom with its rhythmic rise and fall
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houseboat moves onwards temple to unconstrained thoughts colours meld as one in swirls, rises, and deep troughs impermanent no longer
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dreams, soft and wispy condensation trails through sky subtle as sunlight transferred to stark, white canvas soft splashes ricocheting
Picture caption: My acrylic painting called Fyrtorr which means beacon in Old English.
Tell us a bit about the inspiration for Lion Scream
Here’s an extract from Lion Scream:
The initial idea for a book of poetry that taught people about the numerous amazing creatures of southern Africa and highlighted their plight in the face of the Sixth Mass Extinction, came to me during a visit to Ukutula Lodge & Game Reserve (“Ukutula”). Ukutula is also a conservation facility specializing in genetic mammal research and predator conservation.
On my return home, my brother-in-law gifted me a print of Edvard Munch’s famous painting, The Scream.
According to a diary entry by Munch, the inspiration for this painting was as follows:
“One evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjord – the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.”
Based on The Scream, I created a cake I titled Lion Scream – Nature’s Response to the Sixth Mass Extinction and Global Warming, which depicted a lion, made from fondant, clasping its face and screaming, while standing on a bridge above a river of blood. Behind the lion, is an erupting volcano.
This cake was intended to be an artistic depiction of the natural world’s reaction to continuous land development by humans, resulting in the loss of habitat for the creatures which share this earth with us, and the increasing impact of global warming on humanity and the greater planet.
Lion Scream: Nature’s Response to the Sixth Mass
Picture Caption: Extinction and Global Warming Cake Art by Robbie Cheadle
Have you witnessed the killing of an African animal which acted as a trigger for your interest in animal conservation?
When I was 21, I met a man who hunted animals for sport. Prior to this, I had never had much interaction with wild animals other than in zoos. My mother grew up on a cattle farm and had little interest in engaging with animals in the wild. Interestingly, I’ve noticed she shares this disinterest with other people I know who also grew up on farms. Anyhow, this man invited me to go to Kimberley with him and his friends. They were going hunting, but they were also going to visit the ‘big hole’ in Kimberley which is an interesting feature of South African history. I agreed to go because I wanted to see Kimberley. The hunting trip was a complete horror show for me. I hadn’t really thought about what a hunting trip meant, and the men attempted to kill an antelope. It was a common antelope, what I call “lion snacks” as they keep the stock of impalas high in game reserves because they are food for the big cats. The shooter’s shot went wide, and he ended up wounding a baby impala. Aside from any other aspect, it was not the right season for hunting as the mother antelopes had small calves. The baby ran making the most terrible high-pitched sound, and the men had to go after the poor little thing. Eventually, they did put it out of its misery. I was completely horrified. After this trip, I ended the relationship and became involved in wildlife conservation. This has developed into my poetry books and paintings featuring southern African wildlife.
What’s next?
Currently, I am busy with the final edits to a collection so South African inspired short stories and poems. The book is called The Last Man, South African History, Legends, & Poetry. This book will be published through TSL Publication in the United Kingdom. I am also working on several new poetry collections and the second book in the Something Fancy book collection. This second book, Chocolate & Treats, should be ready for publication in early November this year. I always have a lot of projects on the go. I am also painting. My latest painting is of a Vervet Monkey and is part of my Into the Light series of painting. I am planning to paint an African Painted Dog next. It will be a much bigger project. I do a small one in between the larger ones so that I can practice drawing more often. The big paintings take me three to four months to complete.
Thank you for this lovely interview opportunity, Lindsey. I appreciate your interest in my work.
Lindsey’s Review of LION SCREAM Syllabic Poetry about Southern African Wildlife by Robbie Cheadle
Not only is Robbie Cheadle (a/k/a Roberta Cheadle) an excellent, engaging poet and fiction writer, she’s a woman with a mission—a crucial mission for not only the future of our planet and the wildlife on it, but for humanity itself. Plus, in this 163-page collection, her method of persuasion includes not only facts and figures about the demise of many of our planet’s creatures in Africa, it delights the reader with superb—and righteous, at times biting, poetry and fiction.
Most delightful is Cheadle’s use of the constraints of syllabic structure in unrhymed forms that recreate the tension between wild beasts and the fragment of society pushing them off their native environments. For example, the book’s opening poem, “Lion Scream” is a perfectly structured tanka (one of my favorite forms). I perceive the tanka as a haiku with more depth. As opposed to the 17-line poem, tankas are structured in five lines with the syllabic form: five, seven, five, seven, seven, which Cheadle does in “Lion Scream”:
There is no jungle Only acres of smooth stumps There is no jungle No habitat, no food source Hopeless lion screams tonight (Cheadle credits “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in Disney’s The Lion King with inspiring this tanka.)
Although the collection contains other tankas, most of the poems are set in the Double Enneal format, far more complex. A Double Ennead comprises three stanzas of five lines each. Thus, the syllabic count for each stanza is 6/5/11/6/5, (33 syllables per stanza) i.e., each stanza is set as:
six syllables five syllables eleven syllables six syllable five syllables
Again, each of those syllabic counts are repeated in the second and third stanzas, totaling ninety-nine syllables for each poem.
In the collection’s introduction, Cheadle explains why she uses this format most frequently throughout the book:
“I selected this form of syllabic poem for LION SCREAM for two reasons . . . because I love syllabic poetry and the short dramatic statements it enables me to make through a few carefully chosen words.”
Her second reason concerns her mission: “. . . due to the importance of nature conservation to me, and my desire to share insights about the impact of habitat loss, hunting, and poaching on the wild animals of southern Africa, I decided that 99 syllables gave me more, a little more scope to make my specific points.”
Further, Cheadle photographed all but three of the photos in the book. After perusing the collection she shot —on par with those in National Geographic, depicting several species of wildlife, I felt as if I’d viewed a video of Africa, particularly in those sections about lions, elephants, and zebra, creatures especially close to my heart.
I admit my first encounter with elephants and camels was in the Kansas City Zoo, where we children rode those captive creatures. This book brought back those memories from an era wherein most persons believed such wildlife would continue to stroll the earth indefinitely.But Cheadle reveals that is no longer a future many experts anticipate.
Along with her own photos, the collection offers links to many of Africa’s animals. For instance, in the section, “My Experiences with Rhinos,” she includes four links to videos she took of rhinos, after noting, “My most recent sightings have largely been of dehorned animals, which I always find jarring. It is strange to see a rhino without its famous horn.”
Having grown up in South Africa, she first saw horned rhinos, and she questions, “I wonder if my grandchildren will know rhinos have horns. If the fight against poaching is unsuccessful, my grandchildren will only experience rhinos through pictures in history books.”
From the number of Double Enneads she included for elephants and lions, it appears they may be her favorite beasts. Along with those long poems and marvelous photographs, she includes sections, “About African Elephants, “My Experiences with Elephants,” “My Experiences with Lions,” and “More Experiences with Lions.”
Then, she wraps up the poetry section with photos of the African landscapes. A Double Ennead, “The Romance of the Sunflowers” and an explanation about how sunflowers feed the environment in “Sunflowers and the Environment” precede photos of African landscapes of mountains, plains, and striking sunsets, interlaced, of course, with more poetry.
Cheadle wraps up this collection with a short story, “The Nutcracker,” which deals primarily with how the changing environment causing the loss of wildlife can impact the human species, too. She follows that piece with her inspiration and explanation of the story. I rate this collection with FIVE STARS. Thank you, Robbie, for sharing it. —Lindsey Martin-Bowen
About Lion Scream
Do you rely on Earth for your survival?
Lion Scream is a graphic collection of poetry and prose. The book portrays the author’s experiences with South African wildlife and the growing impact of the Sixth Mass Extinction and Climate Change on the natural environment.
Lion Scream There is no jungle Only acres of smooth stumps There is no jungle No habitat, no food source Hopeless lion screams tonight
On Halloween 2023, redbat books released Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s 7th poetry collection, CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison. Her 4th collection, Where Water Meets the Rock, was nominated for a Pulitzer; her 3rd, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 Contest. In 2017, it won the Kansas Writers Assn award, “Looks Like a Million.” Writer’s Digest gave her “Vegetable Linguistics” an Honorable Mention in its 85th Annual (2017) Contest. Her Inside Virgil’s Garage (Chatter House Press 2013) was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Poetry Book Award. McClatchy Newspapers named her Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press/Washburn University) was one of the Ten Top Poetry Books of 2008. It was nominated for a Pen Award.
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This Segment of “Lindsey’s Writing Practice” is sponsored by WordCrafter Press and The Dark Horse Waits in Boulder, by Lindsey Martin-Bowen.
Recently divorced Charli Erickson arrives in Boulder, Colorado during the 1970s—a wild time for that city—where she hopes to develop her “rock poet” talent and find the perfect mate. Instead, she links up with the imperfect Ched Lyons, a Boulder native who leads her in a multitude of adventures, including scaling a mountain and a 1,200-mile motorcycle ride to southeastern Utah. While she intermittently envisions a black stallion with blue eyes, who puzzles and enchants her, she also strives to make sense of its appearance.
Through Charli’s snarky humor recounting her tales, readers will enjoy this Rom-Com doubling as a woman’s adventure story and may relate to scenes from the wild, zany era that followed the serious, revolutionary 1960s.
It’s Day 2 of the WordCrafter Smothered Book Blog Tour and we’re over at Roberta Writes with another reading, and a great giveaway. Join us in sending off the re-release of this twisted paranormal romance by B.T. Clearwater.
