Welcome to Day 6 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons Book Blog Tour, where we’re sending off the sixth volume of the Poetry Treasures anthology series, Seasons. Each volume of this poetry anthology series features the work of the talented poets, spotlighted as guests on Robbie Cheadle’s blog series, “Treasuring Poetry”, from the previous year. Seasons’ poets were guests in 2025.
For this tour, you’ll meet two poets at each stop, with fun facts about them and reviews of their work. Some of the contributors also share guest posts or poetry readings. Today, we’re introducing Nolcha Fox and Robbie Cheadle. And we’re giving away three digital copies of the anthology in our Giveaway. Each comment earns a chance to win, so be sure to give a shout out and let us know you were there.
Giveaway
We’re giving away three digital copies of
Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons.
Follow the tour through the links in the schedule
and leave a comment at each stop for additional entries.
Winners will be chosen in a random drawing following the tour.
Fri. – Michelle Ayon Navajas (Guest Post & Reading) & Marsha Ingrao (Guest Post & Reading) – Prior House
Sat. – Nolcha Fox, Melissa Lemay & Robbie Cheadle – Writing to be Read
Introducing Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons
Picture caption: Cover of Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons
Blurb
Open the cover
and you will discover
Poetry Treasures
from the guests on
Robbie Cheadle’s 2025
“Treasuring Poetry”
blog series
on Writing to be Read.
Join poets Robbie Cheadle, Cindy Georgakas, Freya Pickard, V.M. Sang, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Marsha Ingrao, Nolcha Fox, Joy Neal Kidney, Kevin Morris, Jean-Jacques Fournier, Melissa Lemay, Yvette Prior, and special guest, Colleen Chesbro share their personal seasons of poetry.
Nolcha Fox’s poems have been curated in print and online journals. A best-selling author, her poetry books are available on Amazon and Dancing Girl Press. Nominated for Best Of The Net and Pushcart Prize multiple times. Editor of Chewers by Masticadores and LatinosUSA.
Picture caption: Cover of Finger Paining with Words by Nolcha Fox
This is a relatively short collection of fascinating and different poems and the first collection I’ve read by this poet. I have read a lot of classic books and poems written by British authors and poets and have only recently started exploring American writers and poets. The difference in style and content is intriguing to me and I have developed a real appreciation for the boundaryless thought processes and unstructured writing styles of American writers.
For me as a reader, Nolcha Fox’s poetry is a wonderful example of thinking and writing outside the ‘box’ and I enjoyed each poem in this collection a great deal.
An example of this freedom in writing is her poem, Catch Them, as follows: “In morning dark, the stars are blinding white, rampaging fireflies on steroids. Hollyhocks defy gravity and aphids to kiss the sky before the weight of summer tilts them to kiss the ground. Heat bakes the sidewalk into squares of peanut butter fudge, sweet sludge from oven top. Each second a butterfly I scoop with net of tangled words before it flies pastward to cocoon.”
This is an interesting and thought provoking short collection of poems designed to make you think. I must also mention the lovely cover which I found very attractive.
Melissa Lemay lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, with her children and cats, and her snake, Charlotte. She writes about God, addiction, trauma, healing, motherhood, and many other things. She enjoys spending time with family, drinking good coffee, and being outdoors. She loves animals. Her poem, “Ephemeral,” was chosen as Poetic Publication of the Year for 2023 at Spillwords Press; she was Author of the Month for July 2024 and Author of the Year for 2024. She co-authored a poetry collection, Bro ken Rengay (Prolific Pulse Press, 2025) with Nolcha Fox and Barbara Leonhard. Find her at melissalemay.wordpress, collaborature.blogspot, and at dVerse Poets Pub.
Fun Facts About Melissa Lemay
I cannot blow a bubble with bubble gum.
I wrote my first short story (60 pages) in the sixth grade.
As an adult, I have carpal tunnel in my wrists and this makes it difficult for me to write with a pen and paper for very long.
A review of Bro Ken Rengay: Unruly Poetry, by Melissa Lemay, Nolcha Fox, and Barbara Leonhard (Review by Dawn Pasturino)
Version 1.0.0
I’m new to the rengay form of Japanese poetry, but I’ve admired the poetic works of Fox, Lemay, and Leonhard for several years. Their collaboration on a collection of three-person rengay was bound to be a success.
The poets interlock like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to form poems that are witty, clever, and stunningly beautiful. Some of my favorites are “Off the Rails,” “Glitter Lips,” “Make Up Your Mind, Already,” and “Pain Will Do That.” The cover art by Lesley Scoble enhances the charm of this delightful little book. I give it five gold stars.
South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. 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/.
Picture caption: Robbie Cheadle author photograph
Fun Facts about Robbie Cheadle
Robbie’s full name is Roberta, but she has never been called that. Her aunt called her Robbie as a baby and the name stuck. People are always surprised to discover Robbie is female.
Robbie is a qualified Chartered Accountant (South Africa) and has worked in corporate finance for nearly 30 years. Her area of expertise is documentation relating to various stock exchanges around the world.
Robbie was a gym instructor before she started her family. She taught 10 spinning classes a week at the local gym and entered several cycling challenges a year.
A review of Behind Closed Doors by Robbie Cheadle (Cindy Georgakas – “Celebrating Poetry”)
Picture caption: Cover of Behind Closed Doors by Robbie Cheadle
“Behind Closed Doors” is an elegant and engaging collection of poems written in various styles, either free or short form, poetry that is deeply relatable, drawing the reader’s attention to a variety of life’s aspects while conjuring up a swarm of emotions. In all its 6 parts, In the Boardroom, After death, In my mind, In the home, During lockdown and In nature, reading the poems feels both like a keen introduction to and a freely flowing zigzag through life’s moments… be them pleasant and enjoyable or much less so. And be them all closed, the “doors” – so convincingly part of the lovely title, still, the verses in the collection do ultimately slam them all open, airing out the “stuffy rooms” or letting the beauty in the “bright rooms” shine through refreshingly.
I was especially impressed by the grim details that could be read between the lines in the poems inspired by the corporate world (Achieving Tranquility, Do you want it enough?, The corporate hunt, Making A Splash). Nevertheless the verses inspired from the lockdown days also left a strong impression on me (No contact, Other Worldly, Lockdown days, I saw a fish a-swimming) with their harsh reminders of a sad reality in the whole world that the pandemic years also suddenly seemed to emphasize so acutely for us all, hopefully helping us to become more aware.
In the midst of the collection, two poems seemed to stand out to me, “A fabricated world” and “Stars in her eyes”. The latter feels like being in the eye of a storm, a calm and clear center, throbbing with all the beautifully bare truth and dreamy escape that the author’s heart can contain and express.
Equally impressive were all the poems that the author delightfully dedicates to the beloved members of her family, as was the last but one poem in the collection, “The best gift of all”, making the readers empathize with South African people on a blissfully rainy Christmas morning.
I gladly recommend “Behind Closed Doors” to everyone, as there is a little for everybody to delight in and learn about in Robbie’s wonderful collection.
That wraps up Day 6 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons as we finish up the tour, as well. Get your comments in for the giveaway entries. You can visit any stops that you missed through the links in the Tour Schedule at the top of this post. Winners will be selected in a random drawing and announced in Monday’s “WordCrafter News”, here on Writing to be Read.
It’s Day 5 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons Book Blog Tour, and we’re over at the Prior House Blog, Yvette Prior is hosting, with readings from contributors Michelle Ayon Navajas and Marsha Ingrao. Join us in sending off this fabulous poetry anthology and enter to win a free digital copy.
For Day 3 of the WordCrafter Double Visions Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Bookplaces with host, Kay Castenada. You’ve met Amaryllis (Rock Star) and Leroy (Cowboy), and today I will reintroduce you to Monique, or Shaman Woman, a supporting character who was surprisingly popular in the first book. We have a great giveaway and we’re in the final stretch of the Kickstarter campaign and still need additional support. Join us now in sending off The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions and get your copy today!
Welcome to the WordCrafter Double Visions Book Blog Tour, where we’re sending off Book 2 of the Time Travel Adventure Series, The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions. Today is a double tour stop, and in addition to this post, I will be doing an interview with DL Mullan over at Undawnted, so be sure and pop over there when you’ve finished here.
Tour Schedule
March 23-27 – The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions, by Kaye Lynne Booth
We have a great tour planned with guest posts and readings by the author, Kaye Lynne Booth, (that’s me 🙂 ), and a great giveaway of three digital copies and one signed print copy, (U.S. residents only), of Double Visions.
The Giveaway
Follow the tour and leave a comment to let me know you were here and be entered
for a chance at three free digital copies or one signed print copy of
The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions.
About The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions
In 1887, LeRoy is stuck, bringing trouble down on those around him. Sissy is kidnapped and he’s the only one who can save her.
She wakes up in 2030, in a future very different to the one she knows, one in which she may not have been born. Amaryllis will stop at nothing to find LeRoy fix what she messed up in the past.
She and a version of Monique which is different from the one she grew up with travel back to 1887 to try and make things right.
Add two time travel regulators from the future who are after the time module, and things begin to get wild.
When the time loops are crossed, things change, but not the way Amaryllis intended and pretty soon, everybody is seeing doubles.
Book Trailer
This tour will be a little different, because I’m running a Kickstarter campaign for this launch which is in effect now and will be going on throughout the tour, since it doesn’t end until the 28th. So, instead of giving you a purchase link for retailers, we’ll be using the Kickstarter URL, so you can get digital copies at a discount from the retail price, or signed print copies and merchandise that is not available anywhere else. You can support the Kickstarter campaign and receive a digital copy for as little as $5, so I hope you’ll join in on sending Double Visions off right. Remember after the 28th, you’ll have to pay full price at retailers, so get your copies now.
Support the Kickstarter and get your books at the link below.
(Author note: I started this post for the tour for book 1, so some of it may be familiar if you’re a fan of the series. I added to it for the second book, so bear with me for new information. Same character stars in both books, you see?)
Amaryllis Maria Sanchez is a composite character. She’s a cross between Sharon Stone’s character in Basic Instinct and Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless. She’s an adrenaline junkie, who likes to tempt death and lives life to the extremes. She’s a rock star who is at the top of her game when she’s on stage. After she kills her drug dealing, domineering boyfriend to save herself from his wrath, she figures she’s already damned herself, she figures she might as well ride out the storm that’s headed her way. But, when she crosses paths with a time-traveling cowboy, LeRoy Mc Allister, who offers a way to stay ahead of the game and a place to run to where she won’t ever be found, she sees the potential for a whole new life of adventures.
Amaryllis began as a character like Sharon Stones character in Basic Instincts – a daring woman who plays a deadly game. I like Sharon Stone in just about anything, but I admired the way she played this character in particular. I challenged myself to create a character with that same adventuresome nature, and that self-confident, ‘on top of the world’ attitude.
The idea for her method for killing Claude came from an actual murder case I heard about on the news. I thought it was unique, and I knew I wanted to use it in a story. Murder by high heel. It just happened to be a perfect method for Amaryllis to defend herself.
My son introduced me to the music of The Pretty Reckless, and I fell in love with the voice of Taylor Momsen. I bought their CDs and played them on my commute to work, and a story about a female rock singer began to form in my head, and the Sharon Stone-like character somehow merged with the woman who emerged in my mind from their music. That woman was a lot like my image of Taylor Momsen. And so, Amaryllis Maria Sanchez emerged on the page.
In the first book, she and LeRoy travel back to 1887 for a wild ride in the old west. But, when they try to go back to the future, something goes terribly wrong and only Amaryllis arrives in 2030, and things are very different from how Amaryllis remembers them. In the second book, Double Visions, Amaryllis and her friend Monique go back in time to try and put things back the way they were and restore time as Amaryllis remembers it. That means finding and reuniting with LeRoy, and making sure her grandparents meet and marry, so she will be born in 1999.
In book 2, Amaryllis changed things in the past that weren’t intended, and as time loops cross and ripples occur, our characters are all seeing double, or in one case, triple, as all hell breaks loose. Of course, Amaryllis is also ‘Rock Star’ in the earlier time loop from the first book. They are the same woman, Rock Star is the younger version, if only by about six months, but Amaryllis, her older self tries to fix the future in the past, but in doing so, changes things which happened the first time around.
It’s a ride even wilder than the first time around, with multiple character POVs, which add to the playlist for this one, including a couple of new characters, Time Regulator Agent Catalina Duncan and her partner Agent Reginald Thompson to stir things up and keep it interesting.
The question posed for Amaryllis’ character: Will Amaryllis be able to change the right thing in the past to correct the future?
Reading from The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions
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.
That wraps up this stop on the opening day of the WordCrafter Double Visions Book Blog Tour. Thank you for joining us. Don’t forget to pop onto Undawnted for my interview with DL Mullan.
Tomorrow’s stop will find us over at Poetry by Mich, Hotel by Mastcadores, and Masticadores Phillipines with Michelle Ayon Navajas, where we’ll explore the character of LeRoy and Cowboy, and writing with music in a guest post and reading from me and a review. I hope to see you there, but until then, don’t forget to pop into the Kickstarter campaign to get your copy of The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Double Visions.
For Day 3 of the WordCrafter The Ones Who Stayed With Me Book Blog Tour, we’re over at Undawnted where Nurse Sammy offers another chapter excerpt and host DL Mullan shares her review of this lovely memoir. Join us in sending off The Ones Who Stayed With Me and get in on the giveaway. Undawnted doesn’t take comments, but you can comment on this stop here.
Today’s tour stop is over at Roberta Writes on the WordCrafter The Ones Who Stayed With Me Book Blog Tour with another chapter excerpt reading by the author, Nurse Sammy. Please join us in sending off this unique collection of stories that will open your eyes and touch your heart.
We had a great tour last week for the release of Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares, with guests posts from contributing authors, Christa Planko, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, and Paul Kane, readings from Joseph Carrabis and DL Mullan, and my interview with the author of the winning story in the 2025 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest, Denise Aparo. I want to thank all of you for visiting and commenting, and I want to thank our lovely hosts, Michelle Ayon Navajas, Kay Castenada, and Carla Johnson-Hicks.
Now to wrap things up, here are the winners of the Midnight Oil tour giveaway. Below are the three lucky winners of a digital copy of Midnight Oil: Stories to Fuel Your Nightmares. I don’t know any of these folks, so if you know them, please tell them to contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to collect their copy. I’ll be working to contact them all in the meantime.
And the winners are….
(Drumroll please)
Thomas Stigwikman
Joni Caggiano
Dracul Van Helsing
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you all for visiting the tour.
Robbie Cheadle started the “Growing Bookworms” blog series back in 2019. It was the first series that she brought to Writing to be Read, and is the longest running blog series to date on Writing to be Read. It has been a wonderful series, which originated with her Sir Chocolate series characters, and all the creative ways in which she encouraged her own sons to read and enjoy the world of literature. It has now grown into a discussion of children’s books and literature as the series progresses. Now, after six years, Robbie’s bookworms are grown and she is ready to move on with a new series, which I’ll tell you a little about below. But first, let’s celebrate the series by spotlighting all the fabulous banners Robbie has created for the “Growing Bookworms” series over the years with her darling fondant art as we bid “Growing Bookworms” farewell.
Growing Bookworms
(The fondant village is the latest banner. Click to the right for a trip back through time to the first banner with Sir Chocolate and Silly Willy back in 2019.)
Welcome “Robbie Reads and Cooks”
In her new blog series, “Read and Cook”, Robbie plans to share posts containing a book review paired with a recipe. I hope you will join us in welcoming this new and creative blog series for Robbie. I think it will be interesting to see what Robbie’s literary tastes cook up.
______________________________________
October Release: Midnight Garden
17 authors bring you 21 magnificent dark tales. Stories of magic, monsters and mayhem. Tales of murder and madness which will make your skin crawl. These are the tales that explore your darkest fears. Read them in the Midnight Garden… if you dare.
Contributing authors include Paul Kane, Ell Rodman, DL Mullan, Joseph Carrabis, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, Denise Aparo, Jon Shannon, Zack Elafy, Paul Martz, Robb T. White, Abe Margel, Julie Jones, Molly Ertel, Peter McKay, Kaye Lynne Booth, Danaeka Scrimshaw, and M.J. Mallon, author of the winning story in the 2024 WordCrafter Dark Fiction Contest.
Scheduled for release on October 8th. Don’t miss the WordCrafter Midnight Garden Book Blog Tour October 7 – 14, with guest posts and audio/video readings by contributing authors, and a great giveaway. So be sure to join us in sending this dark fiction anthology off right.
Tales From the Hanging Tree News
There exists a tree that is timeless, spanning across all dimensions, which absorbs every life as those who are hanged as they die… and it remembers every one. The stories within are a select few of the Tales From the Hanging Tree.
September saw the release of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy. We launched it with a great blog tour featuring guest posts or excerpt readings from contributing authors. If you missed it, you can access each stop through the links in the tour schedule below. You can get your copy at your favorite retailer through Books2Read: https://books2read.com/Hanging-Tree
Tour Schedule
Monday Sept. 9 –Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by Joseph Carrabis & Guest Sylva Fae
Friday Sept. 13 – Writing to be Read– Reading Excerpt by DL Mullan & Guest Matt Usher
We also had a cool giveaway during the tour. The winners received a free digital copy of Tales From the Hanging Tree: Imprints of Tragedy.
And the winners are…
T.W. Dittmer
Merril D. Smith
C.E. Robinson
We also had promotional posts appear on the Joseph Carrabis blog site, so if you’d like to learn more about the anthology, click on the links below to see those posts.
We had a great tour for Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series, although I would have liked to see a bigger turnout. I enjoyed sharing about myself and about the research and inspiration behind the book with all of you, and I may have made new friends along the way. Thanks to everyone who participated for helping me launch this wonderful book.
The Winners Are…
Each comment on the tour earned an entry in the tour giveaway and a chance to receive a free digital copy of Sarah. So without futher ado…
Drumroll Please.
The winners of the WordCrafter Sarah Book Blog Tour are…
Author Jan Sikes
Priscilla Bettis
Thomastigwikman
Congratulations to the winners!
Please contact me at kayebooth@yahoo.com to receive your free digital copy of Sarah.
Reminder
Today is the last day for tour participants to get a signed print copy of Sarah: Book 2 of the Women in the West Adventure Series. This is an exclusive offer for the tour – my way of saying thanks for your support. Tomorrow it will no longer be available, so get ’em while you can!
We had a great tour last week with some fabulous poetry readings and guest posts by various contributors to Poetry Treasures 4: In Touch with Nature. I have to say that this year’s anthology is filled with some of the most beautiful poetry I have read in a long time. The caliper of the poets in this group is awesome inspiring. And we had a good number of you out there who stopped in to one or more of the stops to join us in sending this anthology off right. Thanks to all of you. Your support is appreciated.
As you know, anyone who visited and left a comment at any stop was entered in our giveaway and a chance to win a free digital copy of the anthology. Now the tour is over, the names were all dropped into a hat, and I have three lucky winner names right here. So, without further ado –
The Winners Are….
Annette Rochelle Aben
D. Wallace Peach
Teagan Riordan Genevieve
Congratulations to the winners.
If I haven’t contacted you yet with your prize, you may contact me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com.
