A Selection of Poems by Christine DePetrillo

I often write poems when I'm experiencing writer's block. I'd like to share some with you today. Enjoy!

Here are two serious, nature-inspired ones:

LEAVES

Summer green

         fades,

autumn red

         flares,

to orange

yellow,

brown,

blankets the

         ground

awaiting the

         arctic veil

of

snow.

Fading sun

graying sky

frosty crispness

quiet hush

leafless trees

dark twigs

wait like soldiers

                  for the icy assault

flakes fall

frozen bullets

covering all in

         white

                  folds

                           of

                                  snow.

****

REFLECTION

Silent soldiers

standing tall in the ranks

needled arms raised

against the ambushing

sun

Autumn marches in

spraying its yellow, orange, brown

ammunition on the

vulnerable

Only the strong emerge

unscathed

true green

evergreen

Quiet river

remembers the battle

reflecting the victory

of the

pines

****

And here are two silly, food-inspired ones:

OH, THAT CRANBERRY SAUCE!

Wiggly

jiggly

red

sloppy

floppy

round

Sliding

off my

plate

headed

for  the

ground

Slipping

through

my fingers

landing

in a

mound

Grandma

steps

right in it

and it

doesn’t make

a sound

Sticky

icky

blob

three days later

when it’s

found.

****

SQUASHED

It’s orange.

It’s bumpy.

Mom’s is

Always lumpy.

It’s squash.

Serve it cold

Or serve it warm.

Either way

It’s got no form.

It’s squash.

Eat it now.

Don’t delay.

Best to get it

Out of the way.

It’s squash.

Take a drink.

Wash it down.

I’ll try my best

To hide my frown.

It’s squash.

Time for dessert.

Oh me, oh my

Cut me a slice

Of that apple pie.

Oh no…

it’s SQUASH!

Be sure to check here after Thanksgiving and into December for The Roses of Prose Annual Holiday stories! Free holiday cheer! Also, join the Facebook reader group I co-host with author Amanda Torrey at Small Town Hearts. We have a blast over there and we want you to be a part of it all!

Toodles,
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

What Do You Prefer and a Chance to Win! by Christine DePetrillo

A few fall this-or-that questions for you today. Answer them and I'll randomly select someone to receive one $10 Amazon gift e-card to celebrate Autumn. (If you are the winner, a valid email address will need to be provided so prize can be sent. Random winner selected by Thursday, November 8th, 11:59 PM EST.)

Do you prefer:

1. Leaf peeping or a hay ride?

2. Apple picking or a fall craft show?

3. Pumpkin pie or apple pie?

4. Cider or beer?

5. Chillin' by a firepit or bike riding?

6. Christmas music before Thanksgiving or after Thanksgiving?

7. Decorating with real pumpkins or fake ones?

8. Scare crows away or let 'em stay?

9. Hot chocolate or tea?

10. Autumn-themed books or movies?

Just post your preferences in the comments and be entered to win. Feel free to share this post with your friends so they can join in on the fun!

Be sure to check back here after Thanksgiving and into December for The Roses of Prose Annual Holiday stories! Free holiday cheer! Also join the Facebook reader group I co-host with author Amanda Torrey - Small Town Hearts. We have a blast over there!

Toodles,
Chris
www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

Top Ten Things I Love About Autumn by Christine DePetrillo

10. I don’t have to mop at a sweat mustache inhabiting my upper lip. I love summer but hate sweating.

9. It’s much easier to walk The Werewolf. He likes that I’m home with him in the summer, but he’s not fond of walking through the ‘hood in the heat. Even though I always walk him at the cooler parts of the day for safety’s sake, he drags behind me in the summer. As soon as autumn hits, the bounce is back in his step and we can speedwalk again.

8. Pumpkin spice. I’ll admit it. I’m a fan. I’ll try anything with the label “pumpkin spice” splashed across it.

7. Foliage. The colors autumn brings to the trees always astounds me. No prettier paintbox than the one Mother Nature provides.

6. Fires. I like to burn in my outdoor fire pit in the summer, but autumn is the best time to gather around the toasty flames on a crisp night. S’mores also taste better in autumn.

5. Apple Cider. Non-alcoholic. Alcoholic. I love ‘em both. I don’t drink beer, but I love me some hard cider. Currently Cinnful Angry Orchard is my favorite, but I’m open to suggestions if you have one.

4. Witchy time. Autumn calls to my inner witch. Spell-casting, manifesting, card reading… all of it is more “tuned” for me in October.

3. Pumpkin pie. My favorite pie. I make it with a maple syrup-walnut-brown sugar topping that I could almost eat just by itself.  

2. Edgar Allan Poe. Autumn is the time I often reread some of my Poe favorites. The Raven and The Telltale Heart are at the top of the pile.

And the number one reason I love autumn in New England is MEN IN FLANNEL. While I don’t mind a man in shorts and a tight T-shirt, a dude sporting jeans, a flannel shirt, and work boots is always preferred. There’s something so… huggable about flannel, don’t you agree?

Why do you love autumn? Or why do you not love it?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com

My favorite season? Autumn by Barbara Edwards #TWRP #MFRWauthor

Barbara Edwards

I love Autumn. The cool nights, Indian Summer, pumpkins and trees cover with rich colors combine to prepare me for shutting down for the winter.

Did you know its not a true Indian Summer unless there is a killing (black) frost first? As a kid I thought the warm days meant those lazy days were back. Only the water was suddenly too cold to swim.

My neighbors had the fire department send over a crew when they burned the hillside behind their house. The idea was to get rid of the leaves piled high under the trees. 

The scent of leaves burning is one of my favorite memories. My Dad would rake up all the leaves in the yard and pile them. We’d jump in the pile for hours. By the time the town came to collect them they were squashed into a tiny heap. lol

Pumpkins were cheap and each of us got one to carve for Halloween.

I can’t believe I managed not to cut off a finger with the huge kitchen knife I used. 

This was when the days shortened. Night came before dinner. We played hide-and-seek in the cemetery next door until Mom called us home. Scary fun.

Mom made our costumes for Trick-or-Treating. Princess, hobo, clown, I don’t remember the rest. 

A gang of us went from house to house. In our small town it was hard to go where we weren’t known. Something not so common now. 

One Halloween it snowed. Another it was so hot we had to wear shorts under our costume. 

I’ll never admit to throwing an egg at a boy’s house because I thought he was cute.

Hope you have good memories, too

My new Christmas Story, Dixie's Gift will be released soon. A lost puppy, a lonely widow, a confirmed bachelor trapped by a blizzard. Can they find Dixie's Gift?

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One Night - A Halloween-inspired Poem

Cloaked in black,

the night steals

daylight,

until only shadows

survive.

 

A celestial blanket

unfolds across the sky,

pinpoints of magic,

and wishes,

and dreams.

 

Disguised from the world,

new faces are worn

on the autumn-crisp streets.

Anonymity brings

possibility.

 

One full moon

sees all.

Her white light reaches

through dark branches

to touch the ground.

 

No one can hide

what they were,

what they are,

what they are destined to be,

for the night knows.

 

And she doesn’t forget.

 

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com
www.christymajor.weebly.com

Awwkkk! What happened to summer? By Barbara Edwards

On Sept. 2 my #new #holiday romance, Journey of the Magi came out on #kindle and my carefully thought out schedule blew out of the water.

I sent my husband out to get one of those big school calendars so I could block out what I needed to do. It didn’t look too busy in those big squares.

I love September. The nights get cool and I air out the house when the breezes pick up. The smell of new mown grass hangs longer in the air. The early chrysanthemums start blooming in a thousand different colors. We store away the air conditioners.  I look for the autumn leaves on the trees and buy hot chocolate for the evenings. But stuff happened. 

To make you laugh, I’m listing my schedule for this month.

Over the weekend my grand-daughter left for freshman year at college

Sept 2. Journey of the Magi released http://amzn.com/B00ES5DZEQ  and on Nia Simone’s blog

Thanks for the wonderful review on Amazon and Goodreads, Nia.
Sept 3. Outpatient surgery- Oops. Had a lump removed from my breast.
Sept 5 Tina Gayle my guest

My grandson joined the National Guard
Sept 7 Mackenzie Crowne my guest and Roses of Prose blog
Sept 9 On Marie Tuhart’s blog
Sept 10 Happy Birthday party for my Grand-daughter

Sept 16 blog with Selena Fulton

Sept 19 Happy Birthday party-another grand-daughter and on Coffee Time Romance blog

Sept 21 Roses of Prose blog

Sept 25 Marie Tuhart my guest

Sept 27 Stephanie Burkhart’s blog

Sept 30 Anya’s blog

Plus two more Doctor appointments. And the edits for my next book should be back from my editor.
That’s the bare bones. I also need to plan tweets, Facebook posts, and post info to free sites that will promo my book. I’m not complaining. Having another title released is exciting and satisfying.
I’m still planning to find those autumn trees. A drive up Route 8 through the Naugatuck River Valley should give me some fine photos.

Here’s a peek at the cover of Journey for the Magi and the blurb: Widow Noel Martin never breaks promises, and she promised her kids they’d have Christmas at her childhood home in Connecticut. But driving across country takes money. Noel is broke when a snowstorm blows them into a tiny Minnesota café owned by a man who can change her mind. She accepts his offer of a job. Despite her attraction to him, she makes it clear she is only temporary help.

Dan Longstreet isn’t adopting any more strays, but he needs a waitress. Dan works so hard to make his café a success, he doesn't have time for love. Though Noel’s slender blonde beauty stuns him and her two adorable children tug at his heart, he denies how they threaten to change his life.

When tragedy strikes, their new-found love is the first victim. Noel can't stay and Dan can't leave. Will their journey be the gift that reunites them?
Buy Link: http://amzn.com/B00ES5DZEQ

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What the Angels Have to Say

Autumn always makes me reassess my life goals. I had a spiritual intuitive read Angel cards for me several weeks ago. It was an interesting experience. I asked the question, “Should I continue writing?” The intuitive shuffled through her two decks of Angel cards and did a three-card spread.

The first card said I should turn off the “inner critic” when I write. You know, that little voice (that sometimes isn’t so little) that comments on every single word I put on the page. The one that questions character motivation, plot development, word choice, leads, endings… the list is endless. That inner critic always sounds like a very proper English teacher and she’s damn annoying most of the time. This card in the reading is giving me permission to tell Ms. Critic (maybe Sister Critic – after all, I went to Catholic schools for twelve years so…) to SHUT UP! I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it, but if I can, I might be able to write something that breaks the rules a little and really catches the attention of readers.

The second card said I should try to walk in the shoes of my characters so I can get at their true emotions. I will be able to write more griping reactions to story events if I can tap into the souls of my fictional friends. Now, characters are my writing strength – many of my reviews comment on my characters and how real they seem. I’m looking forward to connecting with them on a deeper level to see where that leads me… well, where it leads us, technically, I suppose. This may be a challenge for me as a person. I tend to not mess around with emotions all that much. I shrug off things that bother me and rarely have strong reactions, positive or negative, to events that occur in my life. I’m not sure why I do that, but I’ll have to push that aside if I want to get in touch better with my characters… and myself.

The final card said that I must write, because, as the intuitive said, “People need to read what you write.” She emphasized the word need and repeated this entire line more than once as if making sure I heard it and internalized it. I’d like to know what I should write that people need to read. Is it adult romance or young adult romance or both? Is it the political story my husband and I are working on? Is it the educational book on writing for teachers I’m currently editing? Is it poetry? Is it something I haven’t thought of writing yet?

I don’t have the answer to these questions, but I’m going to keep writing just the same. I’ve tried not writing in the past and it never sticks. Not when ideas are all around me, jumping in my lap, screaming in my ear, sometimes slapping me in the face. 

I’m a writer. I guess I knew that, but it was nice to have the Angels confirm it.

What would you ask the Angels?

Toodles,

Chris

www.christinedepetrillo.weebly.com Adult Romance

www.christymajor.weebly.com YA Romance
www.christineteaches.weebly.com Teaching Writing

Pumpkin Pie and Books

Autumn is one of my favorite seasons. I’m a diehard Summer fan, but still enjoy what Autumn has to offer, more specifically, its food.

I make pumpkin pie almost weekly during the months of October and November. Here’s my recipe, which has pleased an abundance of pumpkin pie connoisseurs over the years:

Crumble-topped Vermont Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

1 15-oz. can pumpkin

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk (fat free works fine)

1 egg

1 ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg, salt

2 tsp pure Vermont maple syrup (I make this myself. So much fun!)

1 pie crust (pre-made ones are fine if you don’t have time to whip up one from scratch)

¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp cold butter (margarine is fine)

¾ cup chopped walnuts

Steps:

1.       Preheat oven to 425⁰. Use  a wire whisk to beat pumpkin, condensed milk, egg, maple syrup, ¾ tsp. cinnamon, ½ tsp. ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Pour into crust.

2.       Bake 15 minutes.

3.      While that's baking, combine sugar, flour, and remaining cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in walnuts. Remove crust from oven. Reduce oven to 350⁰. Sprinkle topping mixture over pie.

4.      Bake for another 40 minutes. Cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate leftovers (if there are any!).

 

I also love pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin bread, pumpkin spiced tea, and pumpkin soup, all of which I try to make throughout the season. You might think I’d get sick of pumpkin by the time winter rolls around, but strangely, I don’t. You can never have too much pumpkin!

I hope you try my pie recipe and it causes many rounds of yummy noises to emanate from your family members and friends. I find pumpkin pie is best served with hot apple cider and a good book.

Here are a book you may enjoy with your treat:

FIREFLY MOUNTAIN

Firefighter Patrick Barre is determined to hide away in the woods of Vermont. He's content to do his job, remodel his house, and enjoy the company of his arson-detection dog, Midas. Scars from the fire that destroyed his family keep him from letting anyone into his life.

Gini Claremont uses her camera to celebrate the beauty of life. Nature soothes her, while anger is dangerous for Gini--and anyone near her. If she doesn't guard her emotions, her surroundings could go up in flames. Living alone, keeping busy, and letting her family keep watch on her is best for
everyone.

When an arsonist declares war on their town, Patrick and Gini reluctantly band together to sift through the ashes, each holding a secret close to the heart. As the arson escalates, so does their mutual attraction. Will teaming up put out the fires, or start a whole new one?

Firefly Mountain can be found on Amazon along with all my other titles. Please visit my website as well here.

Happy Pie Eating and Reading,
Chris