a Lamp at Midday

I'm delighted to announce that the paperback edition of my debut collection of poetry a Lamp at Midday is now available for sale at Amazon.com.

As many of you know, the last 18 months have been somewhat stressful as my adored Dad's health continued to deteriorate. I had no time to work on my planned new novel, so I fed my Muse by writing poetry.

This collection is the result and, along with poems on a variety of topics, includes some poems to my Dad that you've seen before on this blog.  But these are not only poems about my Dad. The official blurb is: 

"Containing a wide selection of poems, a Lamp at Midday gives voice to the contrasts and contradictions of modern life. As they challenge complex emotions and explore timeless themes, these poems also have relevance for the reader’s own life. This personal collection of poems is a vivid celebration of one woman's spiritual questioning and earthly existence, speaking with a haunting intensity of life, loss and love. "

Here are some of my personal favourites from the Haiku section in  a Lamp at Midday:

flames

skipping skywards so

fast, burnt orange warmth can turn

to red inferno. 

forget-me-nots 

above the sea of

brightly coloured petals i

wave farewell to you.

halloween

a field of golden

round pumpkins, ripe and ready,

basks in the sunshine.

lightning

suddenly the sky

is furious, and lets loose

a finger of fire.

giraffes 

long necks undulate. 

gentle eyes and jigsaw coats

crown a setting sun.

No book is completed without the help of others. 

As always, my dear writing friends (Debs, Leonie, Janet, LvW) were there to cheer me on when I faltered and fell into deep fits of angst about this work.

Angela Voges of Typographica Manuscript brought her excellent editing skills and insightful comments to the text, while the multi-talented author Michelle Davidson Argyle created the beautiful cover.

And, last but not least,  without the faith and support of my family - in particular my wonderful husband Beric and my incredible Mom, Dawn Heinemann - I'd never write anything at all.

The paperback copy will be available at South African on-line stores from around middle August 2012, which is the same time that the eBook will be available for sale. 

I'll be running giveaways on GoodReads and LibraryThing, so if you want a chance at winning a free copy, keep an eye out for my tweets and Facebook announcements.

The Final Dance

Much as I love Wenkidu's original artwork "Man and the World of Stars", and as much as I love the first cover created using this artwork, the multi-talented Michelle Davidson Argyle has surpassed her first cover with a second offering that took my breath away:

This is the second sample cover for DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE – it’s a more  commercial, but it's still different and, in a way, reflects my writing style better.

The first cover is bold, striking, exotic and stunning, while this cover is also different, unusual and striking, but in a more subtle, intriguing, gentle and ethereal way. 

I also love the veiled mirror reflection of the woman, suggesting “two faces”  (two sides) to everything.  As each of the characters in the story have to find the real person behind the masks they wear, this watersplashes mask on the woman's face  and the veiled reflection hint at the story.

The more I looked at this cover sample, the more it talked to me – thinking of the reviews to date of my book, my writing comes across as lyrical, mystical and gentle rather than big and bold. The soft and mysterious watersplash mask cover definitely taps into that energy.

So...this is it! The final cover for DANCING IN THE SHADOWS OF LOVE. I'm so relieved, because, while I have no expectations that the cover will suddenly turn the book into an overnight best seller, I can now put the book to rest knowing that it has the perfect cover.