Tag: book review

RE-CREATE AND CELEBRATE: 7 Steps to turn your Dreams into Reality, A Teaching Memoir and Workbook by Cindy Georgakas – advanced review by Gabriela Marie Milton

RE-CREATE AND CELEBRATE: 7 Steps to turn your Dreams into Reality, A Teaching Memoir and Workbook by Cindy Georgakas is a book structured around 7 sections: – Finding The True You, Finding Your Purpose, Finding Your Want and Why, Plan of Action— Attainable Steps, Processing Feelings, Loving Yourself, Falling off the Wagon, Burnout and an Aftermath entitled Celebrate!

The book is mostly a self-help book, peppered with autobiographical notes and beautiful poetry at the end of every chapter. It provides the reader with the means to overcome obstacles and turn dreams into reality. With her unique take on self-improvement, Cindy sheds light on a human journey that will help readers unlock the power inside and celebrate themselves.

The act of trying to improve our lives becomes a journey of self- discovery. The answers are inside of us, always have been, and, according to Cindy – the magic happens when we heed the call to put ourselves front and center in our lives. Through inspiring stories, practical advice, and poetry, readers will be able to find a new sense of self-love and appreciation for themselves. Cindy’s honesty allows her to connect with the reader at a deeper level.

As a memoir, the book is a testament to the power of positivity in our lives. There is wisdom and there is vulnerability sharing. There is resilience, hope, and healing. The readers find inspiring moments that could change their way of looking at life, and exercises they can practice themselves such as answers to the perennial question, “Who are you?” Have you ever tried to answer that question?

In short, Cindy Georgakas’ excellent book helps you to take ownership of your life and opens the gates toward a better you.

Gabriela Marie Milton
2022 Pushcart Prize Nominee
Publisher, Editor, Award Winning & #1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:

Hidden in Childhood: A Poetry Anthology (ed.), Literary Revelations, 2023
Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (ed.), Experiments in Fiction, 2022.
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose, Vita Brevis Press, 2021.
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, Vita Brevis Press, 2020

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Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow by Jeff Flesch – reviewed by Gabriela Marie Milton

publisher Experiments in Fiction

Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, by Jeff Flesch, is a superb collection whose pages are saturated with poetic intelligence.  The author builds a magnificent correspondence between the natural realm and the spiritual one, without making use of language techniques most symbolists employ(ed), preferring the un-revealed/the unknown to the revealed/the known. In Jeff’s poetry nature does not need any intermediary to speak to the soul and vice versa.

Nature has always provided a feast for senses. In this collection nature provides more than the aromas of daisies and lavender, or the silhouette of the willow tree projected against the sky. It provides a journey of self-discovery which ultimately leads to a better understanding of the self.

The message is clear. The more you understand nature, the more you understand yourself.

I dance to the tune of the moon/learning more about nature/and the aspects/of self/hidden under the trees in bloom/

The identification of the movement of natural elements with love is one remarkable element of Jeff’s poetry.  

while I sit and I listen/to the clouds bursting wide open:/a deluge, like the love I feel for you/

Sometimes nature plays a restorative role and other times it becomes part of the author’s sorrows: pebbles always underfoot, while salt/ stings my eyes/always being told boys don’t cry/ pain is deep… or/and part of his love: finding the center/of a love both soft and cherished//as apples bow trees/ know that you always have been true to me:/

In the last piece included in this collection we find one of Jeff’s beliefs which serves not only as a closing argument but also as a direct way a expressing the idea that time heals everything.

At the end, we set sail on the winds of time/and let go the pain we’d held inside.

I find it interesting that despite the restorative capacity of nature, and its intimate link with the human soul, the ultimate healing does not come from nature. It comes from time.  A change of perspective that adds new depths to Jeff’s book.

Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow is an astonishing collection. Jeff’s poetry not only delights the soul. Equally it delights the intellect. It is a must have. No one will regret reading it.  

Gabriela Marie Milton
Pushcart Nominee

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author
Books:
Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women (ed.)
Woman: Splendor and Sorrow :I Love Poems and Poetic Prose
Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings

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A Poem & Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic featured in Portland Book Review

The Penitent Magdalen, Georges de la Tour, Public Domain

A New Poem

(excerpt from my poem You Night to be published in January in an new anthology).

In Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: Love Poems and Poetic Prose, author and poet Gabriela Marie Milton takes the reader on a deeply personal journey across the globe and into her heart. The verses delve into themes ranging from love to loss to feminism, all of them clearly inspired by the author’s own experiences. The palpable emotion and unique turns of phrase ensure that this will be a book that will stay with you long after you set it down…

In “The Six O’clock Café,” Milton’s prose takes a turn toward the fictional, combining poetry, magical realism, and mystery to tell a short, impactful story. Once again, loss takes center stage in a highly creative way.

This collection of poetry and poetic prose will be a hit with fans of contemporary poetry looking for something that doesn’t hold back from sharing its innermost emotions and for those who enjoy creative word play.


Reviewed By: Kelly Mills

You can read the entire review HERE:

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose is available on Amazon HERE.

Updates:

  1. Thank you for submitting to MasticadoresUSA. There are new poems up so please support our literary community and visit the site HERE.
  2. Those of you who did not receive a reply to your submissions please be patient. You will.
  3. Please keep in mind that all I want is to grow our community and make everyone shine. January will bring exciting news.

Much love to all my followers.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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A heartfelt thank you to Ingrid for reviewing my book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose & a poem

Image by monicore from Pixabay

A heartfelt thank you to Ingrid for her beautiful review of my book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

“I have just finished reading Woman: Splendor and Sorrow, the second poetry and short prose collection from the exceptionally talented Gabriela Marie Milton. It is no word of a lie to say that the book transported me, to a world, not only of the senses, but to the association of those senses with all that is true and beautiful in life. This collection flames with the passion and intensity of the true Artist.”

Please continue reading HERE.

Please visit Ingrid’s site to read her wonderful poems and learn about her plans. Please continue buying Ingrid’s superb anthology The Anthropocene Hymnal.

Lilies of the Valley – a poem from Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose

I can see the woman who assumes things. Every night she picks the flowers that I throw on the road: withered lilies of the valley. She wants to be me. She wants my blood. She does not know I rearranged the bell-shaped whites so no one else can breathe their sweet scents. No one else can be me. No one else can make you, you.

The woman puts the withered flowers in her bag.

A new moon rises over her left shoulder. Bad luck.

I shiver.

I rush to protect her.

I stumble.

Before he, died my father said:

If you try to do justice to the wicked, you will forget to do justice to the virtuous. And if you forget to do justice to the virtuous, you only work for yourself. That is the biggest sin of all.

Updates:

The winners of the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose will be announced on NOVEMBER 16.

Soon I will launch several initiatives to help our literary community strive more.

Do not forget to read, like, and submit to MasticadoresUSA. MasticadoresUSA community is growing: beautiful poems and fantastic interactions.

Please follow me on Twitter HERE.

You can find my book in the link below.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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Woman: Splendor and Sorrow by Gabriela Marie Milton reviewed in Seattle Book Review #poetry collection

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Review

Dear Readers,

My poetry book Woman: Splendor and Sorrow was reviewed in Seattle Book Review.

You can read the review in the link below.

Here are several snippets:

“Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose, written by Gabriela Marie Milton, is a brilliant arabesque comprised of authentic artistic stanzas and poetic prose penned the multifaceted emotive lines that highlighted the dichotomous complexities of womanhood in history and modernity…

Milton detailed the stark dualities of feminine divinity hidden within seemingly everyday occurrences via twenty-five pieces of poetic prose at the end of the book. The prose contrasted aching souls, aging, fear of the unknown, mysterious characters, and a genuine penchant for feeling the essence of life in all experiences, whether negative or positive outcomes.

Poetic collages adorned with emotional ephemera captured raw femininity dovetailed within the life cycles of womanhood; enmeshed in struggles, trials, and tribulations were depicted with fortitude and honor that chronicled the beautifully gritty feminine experience…”

Reviewed By: Willow Greymoor

https://seattlebookreview.com/product/woman-splendor-and-sorrow-love-poems-and-poetic-prose/

Woman: Splendor and Sorrow: | Love Poems and Poetic Prose available on Amazon here.

Updates:

  • Thank you to those of you who entered the poetry contest Woman: Splendor and Sorrow. I am deeply touched and incredibly grateful to everyone. Your poems are magnificent.
  • Help our literary community strive. Do not forget to read, like, and submit to MasticadoresUSA.
  • For more poetry follow me on Twitter here.

Thank you.

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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A short poem and a new review of Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings # micropoem #review #poetry collection

My Dear Readers,

Below please find one of my new poems entitled Yellow, and a new review of my poetry collection Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings. The laudatory content and the language used by the reviewer – whom I do not know – made a big impression on me.

Yellow

A red sky sews our hearts together.
The moon threads the needle.
She pricks her finger.
A yellow tear falls on my cheek.

Review

[In Passions] each poem unfolds different scenery with its very own landscape and emotions. It offers a full repertoire of sensations to explore with all the human senses. The reader will be able to smell, touch, see, taste, and hear everything that the poem narrates, transforming the reading into a unique experience. “Those roses which die in the winter/played the piano last night/a whirlpool of notes and of poems/inscribed on a wall painted in blue” (p.26) Reading these lines, it feels as if you were immersed on them, surrounded by those roses and the whirlpool of notes and poems. Closer to the end of the book you have the Prose Poems and Flash Fiction. These are short stories written in poetic prose, which is a hybrid genre of writing that mixes the attributes and structures of both prose and poetry, meaning you can find short stories divided into brief paragraphs or separated into lines on the page, which is the process known as lineation, used when writing poetry. The stories narrated in these sections address issues like the strength of character, loneliness, obsession, love, family, and every little thing that comes with human relationships. It is exceptionally and beautifully written and it completely captivates the reader and makes him feel the same way the poet does….

The writer of this book uses symbolism, alliteration, and other figures of speech such as metaphor, metonymy or simile brilliantly and intellectually. She creates a complex yet excellent layering of meanings, forming connections between the verses that were not previously perceived, and it also establishes a resonance or even similarity between images that may seem disparate when you first read them. It is a wonderful book to read if you are interested in a kind of poetry with universal meaning and value….

You can read the entire review here.

You can order Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings on Amazon here .

Passions featured in San Francisco Book Review

Passions featured in Manhattan Book Review.

Thank you
Love.
Gabriela

image: agsandrew; Shutterstock; [link]

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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My book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, featured in Manhattan Book Review #poetry collection #review

My Dear Readers,

One of my favorite novelists once wrote:

The profoundest distances are never geographical.
― John Fowles, The Magus

Last night thinking of the friendships I have created on WP I wrote on a piece of paper: The profoundest friendships are never geographical.  Perhaps even the profoundest loves are not geographical either.

I am humbled by the love and the support you have shown me. It is my joy to share with you my work and my journey as a writer. You all enrich my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Below please find the review of my book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, done by Jo Niederhoff, and featured in the Manhattan Book Review. I am happy to share it with you with its good and its bad.

“I would expect a collection of love poems to be lush and indulgent… Gabriela Marie Milton’s collection, Passions, is no exception. Though each poem is short—most are no longer than a page—each is also a glimpse into a moment of beauty. Some poems are passionate, heat felt between every line. Others are more sedate, showing a calmer aspect of love. Still others are yearning, either for a love to come or for a love that has passed. No matter what mood you’re in, you’re sure to find something that will suit your need within these pages…”

Please continue reading here.

You can find my book featured in San Francisco Book Review here.

Thank you.
Love.
Gabriela

@Gabriela Marie Milton

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My Book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, featured in San Francisco Book Review #book review

We desperately want to love, to possess each other, caught in a perpetual rush to justify our existence.
Yet there is no love that can fully satisfy us. The passions of the flesh get exhausted in bed. What is left is exhausted by our imagination.

Excerpt from my book Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings [on Amazon here].

My Dear Friends,
Thank you to everyone who reads my work. Your support means the world to me.  Below please find the review of my book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings, in San Francisco Book Review.

“The series transports us on a journey of love as much as it delivers us a thematically diverse set of emotions. This is a superb collection.”
Bobbie Peyton

Please read the entire review here.

Thank you.
Love.
Gabriela

@Gabriela Marie Milton

image: Liliya Kulianionak; Shutterstock; [link]

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