All Posts – Anne Caitlin

The Winds of Time

Drift on the winds of time.

Hola, reader! Here’s one of my original poems, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s poem The Road Goes Ever On.

The winds of time
Whirl ever on,
Out from the dawn
When they began;

Blowing me on,
Onward I go,
Though not knowing
The path they lead.

The winds will whirl
Slowly over
Some certain scene
And then pause there;

Then swirling on,
Faster they'll blow,
Never daring
To tarry there.

Though I know not
To where they blow,
Still I'll follow
With grateful feet;

'Till they slowly,
Gently recede,
Drifting to the
Final Setting.

When I created this poem, I was trying to think of a good metaphor for time, and wind came to mind. It’s always there, always exists, but it travels both quickly and slowly–just like how sometimes time flies and sometimes it sleeps. Memory is a funny thing, too–whether or not an event seemed to fly by or take forever, memory is very picky about what it keeps. It’s interesting trying to figure out why you remember some small things and not other (sometimes heavily impactful) things. Time flies, and so does memory.

Anyway, thinking of time as wind, and time travel as sailing on the drifts, produced this poem. Then the poem just seemed to fit into the meter of The Road Goes Ever On, which I’d recently read (and listened to).

And voila! Out came this poem.

Hope you enjoyed it! What’s one of your favorite poems by Tolkien? What’re some things that inspired your own (or another poet’s) poems?

Thanks for checking out this post! May God bless your week and your adventures at home.

Ta-ta for now!

-Anne

3 Reasons Why I’m Not Doing Nanowrimo This Year

Normally I do Nano, but not this year. Why not?

I usually try to do Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) every year, but this year I decided against it. Here are my three reasons why.

I can’t do it justice this year.

Every year I did Nano , I usually tried to do some prep before it started. This might’ve been as simple as choosing a project, making sure it had all the necessary story pieces, and setting aside a time each day to write. Or I might’ve done some outlining and plotting. But I always did a little bit of preparation beforehand, and I usually had a story project whose plot was mostly formed and which was, sometimes, already being written.

This year, however, I have not given a thought to Nano due to my busy schedule. I also have many half-written projects which I’m not too enthusiastic about right now, and a ton of scattered writing ideas–none of which have a cohesive plot to be going with. This and the fact I do not have any preparation time brings me to believe that I will not be able to give Nanowrimo the justice it deserves this year. But more than that, is my second reason that:

I want to finish my main project.

My current WIP (work-in-progress) is currently in an awkward stage of revision. And rather than give myself another rough draft that I won’t work on for another few years, I’d like to finish a project I have. I’d like to break my habit of starting and not finishing. I really like the plot and background I am adding to my main WIP, and I’d love to finally, finally, have a finished project I can be proud of. I’ve delayed this project too long.

Similar to this reason, is my third reason why I’m not doing Nano this year:

I’d like to work on my consistency.

The Writer’s Sanctuary, a writing group I highly recommend, is doing a consistency challenge over the month of November instead of Nanowrimo, which is exactly what I need. I think it will benefit my writing more in the long run than doing Nanowrimo this year would. In this challenge I will be focusing on writing every day and working on audience building.

As you may have noticed, my posting is sporadic and my intended publishing date for my current project keeps getting pushed back. I want to make a real concerted effort to change that this year. The best way for me to do that is to take advantage of the consistency challenge my writing group is doing and finish my current project.

In conclusion…

Nanowrimo is a fantastic opportunity and can give your writing a big boost. However, this year I wanted to focus on completing a project which had already gone through the first draft, and improve my writing consistency.

I will be doing this with the help of The Writer’s Sanctuary, created by the fantastic editor and writer Jennifer Harris. Want to know more about this writing group? Click here! She tells you all you need to know.

What about you? Why are you doing (or not doing) Nano this month? How will you work on improving your writing this winter?

I hope you have a fantastic month, wherever God leads you! Stay safe and healthy, and God bless your adventures at home!

-Anne

A Blog Tour: Cover Reveal by Oceane McAllister

A cover reveal and book release date for a fellow author, Oceane McAllister!

Hola, Reader!

Today I am thrilled to share a cover reveal and book release date for Rose’s Wrath by a fellow author, Oceane McAllister! She has been working faithfully on this fantasy novel for over a year, and is finally ready to publish it.

She also got an absolutely amazing cover done by Rebeca (here at Fiverr)- and here it is!!

Rose’s Wrath by Oceane McAllister. All Rights Reserved.

Isn’t it beautiful? Rebeca sells these amazing covers for as low as $5, and they are custom-made and delivered very quickly. Take note, all ye writers-cheap, fabulous, quickly delivered covers are to be found at her shop!

Rose’s Wrath, the first fantasy novel in a duology with twists on fairytales, will be published on Amazon December 1, 2019. Head over to her fantastic blog to congratulate her!

Here is the blurb:

Have you ever heard Red Riding Hood howl at the moon?

When Cerise, Verre, Blanca, and Aura are forced to complete a near impossible task, it seems as if their loved ones’ lives are as good as over.

Or seen Cinderella kill a man with just a shard of glass?

And despite meeting a dragon, internal disputes, and the fact that they’re all most likely going to die, the young women grow close. Too close.

Snow White has vanquished more with her poisoned breath than her beauty.

For secrets will come to light that have the power to change everything. There is a traitor in their midst, one who could potentially save or destroy them.

And Sleeping Beauty? She will bring slumber with but a touch of her hand.

Keep an eye out for her novel and head over to her blog for some more of her awesome content!

And if you’d like me to post an interview of her, comment below, along with any questions you’d like me to ask her!

Ciao, lovely readers! God bless you, and have an awesome week.

-Anne

Poetry: Laughter

The poetry of laughter…

Hola, Reader!

Today I am sharing one of my simple poems, “Laughter.” I wanted to describe as many kinds of laughter as I could. If you can think of other kinds of laughter, or have any critiques on the poem, please let me know in the comments below!

There is a kind of glee,
That makes one slap the knee,
Rolling around soundlessly,
Tears outpouring from the eyes.

A kind that rolls around the seas,
And leaps into the playground leaves,
And slips amid the shifting sands,
And dashes with the dancing rain.

A kind that's like a bellow forge,
Blazing fire deep within,
And catches fire in other souls,
And for a while uplifts hearts.

A kind that mimics hyenas,
Skipping around so gleefully;
Embarrassingly filling cantinas,
Yet when children do it sounds so silly.

A kind that sings so quietly
Inside the soul quite willingly,
Only showing in a small smile,
Shining forth under firelight.

A kind that echoes chillingly
And fills its foes so fearfully;
Filling their backbones up with ice,
Gripping their heart with cold black fear.

There's a kind that jeers in the ears
And laughs at other's sorry plight.
At their expense they laugh,
Pointing fingers meanly.

A kind that's pointless, meaningless;
It is used only to agree,
To gain approval and allies.
"Just smile and nod," that's what they say.

Then an awkward, halting laughter,
When you don't know how to respond,
Or when you say a joke but then
No one hears or finds it funny.

Then a kind so welcoming,
It invites all people in;
They calm right down and want to stay,
And by the warm hearth always lay.

What do you think is the most interesting kind of or thing about laughter? Did I get all (if not most) of the kinds of laughter you know of?

Thank you for reading! Have an awesome week and God bless!

-Anne B. Caitlin

Poetry: When Sorrows Come

Hola, Reader!

Today I am sharing one of my own poems, “When Sorrows Come”. Enjoy!

“When storms arise and fears dismay,
He then is all my hope and stay”

When sorrows come,
God’s light does not disappear;
It does not hide,
His light is still shining clear.

Why do you think
That the sun no longer shines,
When storms arise
And obstruct our mortal eyes?

The sun’s still there,
Still burning just as bright;
It is not quenched
By water damming its sight.

When Satan sends a cloud,
To bar and hide the Way,
God lets it rain and pour
To test and grow our faith.

Don’t let Satan fool you,
Don’t let him drown with doubt;
He tries to bring you down
And waits to knock you out.

Put on the shield of faith,
Wear the armor of God.
Reach up high past the night
And fly into His light.
Anne B. Caitlin

I always liked the imagery that inspired this poem: that clouds are the sorrow that block out the sun, but all you have to do is fly above the clouds and enter a world of fluffy white clouds and bright, clear sunshine. It doesn’t claim that the clouds aren’t there; rather, it sees the beauty in and above the clouds, and recognizes the eternal presence of the sun.

What do you think? Do you have any critiques or tips for the poem? What was your favorite part (if you had one)?

Have a great week and God bless!

-Anne

Poetry: Mechanical Heart

“Mechanical Heart” by Anne Bree Caitlin. What is this poem about?

Hola, Reader!

Today I am sharing one of my own poems, “Mechanical Heart”. I bet you can guess what this poem is about! Share your “guess” in the comments below. 😉

Enjoy!

Metal fingers weaving through
A copper metal mind,
Tiny leaves, electric nerves
Zipping through a wire spine.

Little houses, tiny roads,
Pathways to a program
Every cord bearing a load,
Every wire in its place.

Grey dwellings, living orders,
Plotted on a green field.
Zeroes, ones, telling errors,
Off, on, levers of thought.

A drum beat,
Rising heat,
Cheering fans,
Cooling off.

Gentle whirring,
Lightning brain.
Metal burning,
But no pain.

A body with no legs,
A mind with no grey matter;
Compartments for JPEGs,
A housed mechanical heart.

What do you think this poem is about? Did you like it? Do you have any critiques or tips for this poem? Comment below! 🙂

Have a great week! Keep on writing!

-Anne

Book Review: The Island of Dr. Moreau

A review of H.G. Wells’ “The Island of Dr. Moreau”

Hola, Reader!

Today I am sharing my review of another one of H.G. Wells’ books, The Island of Dr. Moreau.

This one is one of the more disturbing books I have read.

Although the story is about the scientist, Dr. Moreau, the main character is actually the passenger of a sinking ship. The main character’s name is Prendick, and he is, after some time dying alone at sea on a raft, rescued by a passing ship with strange cargo. Namely, an overly drunk captain, a bunch of somewhat exotic animals, an odd “doctor” named Montgomery, and a strange “devilish” humanoid creature.

The strange other passengers are headed to an island that is not, quite, on any map. This is the island to which the creatures are going, and it is “the island of Dr. Moreau”.

Dr. Moreau is a scientist who was thrown out of London’s scientist clique because of his vivisection of animals. (In the book you learn that “vivisection” is taking pieces of other creatures and surgically fusing them into or onto another creature. Dr. Moreau cites the example of drawing and receiving blood in order to heal people.) Dr. Moreau, of course, takes his vivisected creatures to an uninhabited island, where he sets up his own “laboratory”, which is somewhat primitive due to his limited resources. It is here that he takes vivisection to the extreme, seeking to splice pieces of animals together in order to make his own intelligent “humans”.

I’m sure you’ve realized by now what disturbed me about this book.

Dr. Moreau inhumanely tortures creatures to turn them into his own version of humans, constantly seeking a way to make the animals more and more intelligent. He partially succeeds with some creatures, only keeping them in check by instituting his own religion on the island (he makes them believe he is the lawgiver, the lifegiver, and the judge who will execute severe punishment if they do not obey). He doesn’t even have pity for the animals or guilt for what he has done, doing it all in the name of “science”. But what is the purpose of his vivisection to create “humans”? Prendick never finds out.

There are, of course, a few things you can draw from this book. One is the correlation between Dr. Moreau’s vivisection and today’s GMOs, and the question as to how far one should meddle in genetics.

So there is a good side to his books–the comparisons he makes (rather like Jonathan Swift) by taking certain ideas to their extremes, to help you think about the subject.

But I think that, and how he manages to keep the book’s main character not who or what the story is actually about, are the only two things that keep this book at a passing grade of 3 out of 5 stars.

I personally did not enjoy a story this disturbing; I only liked the discussion that would arise from this book, and his skill in writing POVs (Points-of-View). So I would only really recommend this book for a study on writing POVs and for the discussion of GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms).

However, this book was pretty clean; I only recall a few swear words, and no sexual content. The violence/gore wasn’t overly detailed, but I would not recommend this for young readers.

So, what did you think? Have you read The Island of Dr. Moreau before? Do you know a comparable book/author? What kinds of books do you like to read? What do you think about GMOs and how far/whether they should be used?

Let me know in the comments below, and have a great week!

-Anne

“The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost

Hola, Reader!

Here is another one of my favorite poems. It is, as you can tell by the title, “The Road Not Taken”, by Robert Frost. Enjoy!

 Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— 
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

What did you think? Who is your favorite, and what is your favorite poem? Have you read poems by Robert Frost before? Let me know in the comments below!

-Anne

A Book Review: The Time Traveler

Ever read The Time Traveler by H.G. Wells? Check out my review of the book!

Hola, Reader!

These past few days I have been reading a collection of science fiction stories by H.G. Wells.

So far I have completed two, and am on to the third one. The first one is The Time Machine, which is what I will be reviewing today.

I must say that these are rather curious stories.

I had heard that Wells’ science fiction novels were classics and some of the best, and I wanted to read them; so when I saw a six-in-one hardback edition of his novels for $15, I bought it.

And at first I was not very impressed.

The Time Machine began well; describing a mysterious, hectic experimentalist in the late 1800s who was attempting to create a time machine. This man tries to explain his theories to a small audience (which doesn’t, of course, always understand him), and then shows them his new time machine. He then goes on an adventure in his machine to test it, and tells of his journey upon his return.

The beginning of the book and its premise were interesting and rather likable. I would also say that the style of this book, and the style of C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet trilogy, are very similar. Perhaps Lewis based his book’s style off of Wells’.

However, while I did enjoy Out of the Silent Planet–even though it takes a little bit to get into–this book just didn’t seem as good. When the Time Traveler travels 800,000 years into the future, he enters into a future earth where the “upper world” is beautiful, but the humans have mentally degraded to the extent that they can barely speak, and have the demeanor and attitude of cute puppies. The society is apparently socialistic–everyone has equal housing (which though they were mansions, are now ruins) and clothing. But there is no form of government or creativity in this society; just these small, chittering creatures, dancing in the daylight in their nice robes and doing nothing else except eat and sleep.

In the “lower world” is an extensive tunnel system of servant-like creatures, who are another form of degraded humanity; but this time they look like white, furless monkeys, who have even less of the mental ability than the “upper-world” creatures. These “white monkeys” live in the dark, are mostly blind, and have turned to the cannibalism of their upper-world fellows, as their underworld food supply had been used up.

Wells certainly writes these creatures well; making you sympathetic to the small, delicate upper-world creatures, and fearful of the dark and the accompanying blind under-world creatures. He communicates this fear very well, even though he never clearly states the fear. It is through the empathetic fear of the upper world creatures and the terror of the time traveler’s experience with the lower creatures that the reader feels this fear.

However, I did not connect with this story, and it was outright strange and weird to me. Yes, science fiction will have–and is free to have–weird and disgusting elements in it, but this book was a little too weird for my taste, and a little too dry or over-descriptive. And the ending was abrupt–a simple mention that the time machine broke during a second attempt at time traveling, and the traveler hasn’t been seen for the past 3 years; presumably trapped in whatever time he traveled to.

As for the historical element–while this book seemed to be set in the late 1800s or early 1900s in London, it never said so. It is left to the reader to guess. I liked the slightly historic atmosphere, but I can not say if it is accurate or realistic (as again I don’t know its setting). If you are a history person, please read the book and tell me what you think!

So overall, I would rate this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. While the fear and mystery elements were well-written, it was too dry, too weird, and had too abrupt of an ending for my taste.

(Also, why does all science fiction have to go forward thousands of years into a depraved and degraded society? I’m not asking for a perfect society, but I’d like something unique. Maybe a future where everything’s the same. Maybe a science fiction novel that goes back in time. Maybe something that’s not all about aliens.)

Even though this book wasn’t personally my favorite, I recommend that you pick it up and try it out. Perhaps you end up enjoying it, or coming out with a new perspective. Leave your thoughts on the book (and/or this review) in the comments below!

Have you read The Time Traveler or another book by H.G. Wells? What was your favorite book by him? Do you have a favorite science fiction book/series? Let me know in the comments or via email!

Have a good week, and God bless!

-Anne

Poetry: The Idea

“The Idea” by Anne B. Caitlin

Hola, Reader!

Today I am sharing yet another one of my poems: “The Idea”. This is another one of my favorite created poems.

Enjoy!

The words mingled in her mind
Swirling, whirling, a golden find.
She raced up to her room
Praying to find some paper soon
Grasping, clasping the memory close
Before the lovely lines bid adios.
In a swirl in a frenzy scratched the feather
Upon the little tree bound in leather,
Blocking all sound ‘cept the supper chime.
She did not dare to dine
Whilst remained the revelation.

Insistent rang the bell, still did she not come.
Fought she fiercely, struggled strongly,
Wrestling the idea’s resistance singly.
A slip, a dash, a tackle down–
‘Till at last the battle was done.
Heart beating, heavy breathing,
Slumping to her seat, the wing-
Feather flying with the weary wind.
Her feat was recorded and
The deed by dinner rewarded.
Her mind was done, but then was fed.
Anne B. Caitlin

While this was one of my more… old-fashioned-words style poems, I loved “the idea” of this poem. This describes a lot of writers’ experience with ideas. The frantic search for paper, pen, phone, computer, or typewriter before they forget the idea. The suddenness of the inspiration–it doesn’t wait for a good time to appear. It just pops into your head, demanding immediate attention and insisting to be written down at once.

What do you think? What was your favorite/least favorite line(s)? What do you like to write your ideas down on?

Hope you’re having a great week!

-Anne