April's Chatterbox

new specs!

It's April, my dear fools! Quite April. April fourth, or something, isn't it? I missed a good "here we go round the mulberry bush and gathering nuts in May' sort of opening to the month, but I'm here now. Truth to tell, ever since my older brother moved away to Leesburg, I haven't felt much like playing April Fool's tricks. I'd never noticed that I actually helped him with his machinations instead of making up my own. Huh. Anyway, the start of a new month also means the start of a new Chatterbox topic! I'm so pleased to see more and more writers participating each month. It makes such a better splash when you have writers in all genres from all corners of the blogging sphere. Perhaps one of these days I'll actually do something with it myself instead of leaving all the work to you. Haha. Oh, before I announce the topic, I wonder, how many of you are doing Camp NaNoWriMo? I am not--Heavens, I'm not!--but I would like to publicly raise my non-existent cap to you and say that you are jolly good fellows and I hope you meet your goals. Huzzah huzzah. I, for one, am finding the editing of Anon, Sir, Anon going slow as a snail jogging through wet concrete, so that is a very big cap-tipping.

April's Chatterbox topic is going to be:

Resurrection

Oh jolly. What do I mean by that? Do I mean the Crucifixion and Resurrection? Perhaps. Do I mean someone you thought was dead that reappears at an extraordinarily inconvenient moment? Do I mean the resurrection of old fears, or perhaps long-dead hopes? Spring is a beautiful time of re-birth, new life, and things-that-were-dead coming alive. I want to see you play this in a dozen different directions. It could be the up-sweeping of a long-dead custom, the revival of an old feud, the thawing of a long-icy relationship, the discovery of a hidden secret. So many possibilities. I cannot wait to see what you come up with. In addition to the topic being interesting (and appropriate for the month), it is a topic that ought to fit somewhere in every work in progress; though life is ever-changing, there is a rhythm to it just like there is a dance to the seasons and a pattern to the winds. Find that pattern in whatever way is most vivid, and bring your "resurrection" for the rest of us to read! Per usual, the link-up is below! 

Little stones are smooth

only when the water passes through

So I am a stone,

rough and grainy still

trying to reconcile this river's chill.

-Mindy Gledhill "River God"

My Very First Fan Mail :)

Well, that's not exactly true. I got my first piece of fan mail during the Autumn poetry contest. However, that was accidentally deleted, and this one, from the self-same Miss Petunia, came during the Spring Has Sprung Poetry Contest along with her entry. :) Tell me, what do you think of it? ;)

"I am sure you remember me?!?!? Miss Petunia???? Only like, YOUR BIGGEST FAN EVERRRRR? (Please tell me if you think it bad form to end words with multiple repetitions of the last letter and I promise to NEVER do it again!) I have so much to tell you Miss Inkpen! So many "more wonderful things have happened" (there! I quoted Emma! I am not "so uneducated compared to Jane Fairfax"! There! I did it again! Did you notice????) since I last wrote to you in the autumn! (On that we will be silent; I know how it must pain you to remember how my entry slipped into the Lake of Shining Waters and you couldn't find it again when it came time to announce the winners of your last contest and so you had to choose one of the other entries instead of mine although mine was the one you really wanted to choose and yes even though I don't know for sure this is what happened I think it must have happened because I FEEL IT IN MY SOUL! Here, is my newest work for your judgement!!!!

"Spring-ring spring-bring spring-thing spring-king spring-sing spring-sauerkraut."

Yours truly,

Miss Petunia"

Very strange, is it not? If I continue to get such mail I'm in a fair way to have my head turned! Although methinks Miss Petunia is rather reminiscent of a female Mr. Collins! ;)

Winner of the Spring Has Sprung 2011 Poetry Contest!

I am so pleased to be able to announce the winner of the Spring Has Sprung Poetry Contest: Miss Felicity Faith Deverell of New Zealand! :) Thank you to each and every person who entered. It wouldn't have been a contest if you hadn't entered! :P Miss Deverell wins the original watercolor painting illustrating her poem. I will try to get it painted in the next week or two (gardening prevents it from being much sooner) and I will send it to you! Please email me your mailing address at inkpencontestsubmissinos@gmail.com.

Thank you, and once more,congratulations to Felicity! (Her poem is printed in full below)

A Change of Season

By Felicity Deverell

Spring, like autumn, brings

Changes to the air;

Cold stil bites one sharply,

But pleasanter and clear.

No regard 'ny more

For chill nipping frost,

Such things come to nothing

'Fore flowers and are lost.

The days arise 'neath

A cerulean sky,

Old southern winds die with

A voluntary sigh.

And a lark lingers

Where black clouds once were,

Rejoicing with every

Wing-beat the springtime stir.

There you have it! Thanks for all the great entries! ~Rachel

The Glove and the Lions, and a Reminder

I wanted to remind all you girls about the Spring Has Sprung Poetry Contest. There are still about 12 more days to enter! I would love to get more entries. Thanks to all of you who have entered! :)
For those of you who forgot the details, click here to read them. :)
I have always loved reading "Poems That Tell a Story", and this is one of my favorites. It's always fun to read something a piece where the story and moral fit into the rhyme pattern effortlessly. There is nothing worse than a story-poem where you feel like the poet pinched words to make them fit the story! And I love the rhythm of this poem. Anyway, enjoy it!
~Rachel

And yes, this is a real portrait of some King Francis or another! :D

"The Glove and the Lions"
James Henry Leigh Hunt
King Francis was a hearty king, and loved a royal sport,
And one day as his lions fought, sat looking on the court;
The nobles filled the benches, and the ladies in their pride,
And 'mongst them sat the Count de Lorge, with one for whom he sighed:
And truly 'twas a gallant thing to see that crowning show,
Valour and love, and a king above, and the royal beasts below.

Ramped and roared the lions, with horrid laughing jaws;
They bit, they glared, gave blows like beams, a wind went with their paws;
With wallowing might and stifled roar they rolled on one another;
Till all the pit with sand and mane was in a thunderous smother;
The bloody foam above the bars came whisking through the air;
Said Francis then, "Faith, gentlemen, we're better here than there."

De Lorge's love o'erheard the King, a beauteous lively dame
With smiling lips and sharp bright eyes, which always seemed the same;
She thought, the Count my lover is brave as brave can be;
He surely would do wondrous things to show his love of me;
King, ladies, lovers, all look on; the occasion is divine;
I'll drop my glove, to prove his love; great glory will be mine.

She dropped her glove, to prove his love, then looked at him and smiled;
He bowed, and in a moment leaped among the lions wild:
The leap was quick, return was quick, he has regained his place,
Then threw the glove, but not with love, right in the lady's face.
"In truth!" said Francis, "rightly done!" and he rose from where he sat:
"No love," quoth he, "but vanity, sets love a task like that."

Spring Has Sprung Poetry Contest

You may remember the Autumn Writing Contest I hosted here on this blog! :) It was a lot of fun for me, and I hope for all you young ladies who entered! :) I think you'd all agree that Spring is a season of renovation! :) And a season of promise, excitement, and beauty. Whether it's the sight of an orchard in full bloom, or the very first daffodil, or a grove of redbud bursting into riotous colors, Spring has never failed to inspire authors through the centuries. In keeping with my reputation as "An-apologizer-of-not-posting-often" I will apologize, and then reform. ;) To kick off the reformation of this blog I decided I'd have another contest :) Let's call it Spring Has Sprung poetry contest. It'll be hosted right here on The Inkpen Authoress Blog, sponsored by Inkpen Poetry Day and there will be a prize! :) Ready for the unveiling of the reward? ;) I'm afraid it's only a humble reward for your participation, but I will personally do an original watercolor painting for you, illustrating your poem, if you are the winner! :) Send me your best Spring-inspired poem! ;) Here are the rules:

1.) All work must be your own

2.) Each entry will be sent to inkpencontestsubmissions@gmail.com

3.) Each person may enter multiple poems, and each poem will be counted as one entry, so the more you enter, the more chance you'll have of winning! :)

4.) The Inkpen Authoress (that's me! :) reserves the rights of publishing your poem on this blog, but on this blog only. As soon as the contest is over, all rights revert to the author, and I'll leave you alone! :P (I'm not out to steal anyone's poem, you know! :D )

So there you have it! :) Please enter! And take the button to share on your own blog! Let others know about this contest please! :) ~Rachel a.k.a. The Inkpen Authoress