Brad Osborne’s poem over at commonsensiblyspeaking brought whispers of Lloyd Alexander, Tolkien, Cornwell, Kipling, and even Beowulf to my mind. Check it out!
I am a bibliophile and have been one since childhood. In fact, Biblio is my avatar name. Books were my favorite birthday gifts. A week before I got married I took the GRE test so I could go to Library School the following year. (I knew that I wanted to be a Librarian. But no, we did not get to sit around and read books all day.) Unlike some of my fellow librarians, I never had the urge to catalog my Golden Books.
With so many books and so little time, I’ve turned more into a tsudonko. (Tsundoku is acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them. The term originated in the Meiji era (1868–1912) as Japanese slang. It combines elements of tsunde-oku, (to pile things up ready for later and leave) and dokusho…
Actually, my birthday was a few days ago, but this has been a great week. I am going to assume that it ties to the re-occurrence of the anniversary of my date of birth!
First things first. Montagnard just received two more great reviews, one on Amazon and a second on Facebook. Since they are short (but still sweet), I included them in their entirety below.
Highly recommend …
Just finished “Montagnard” by Darren Gilbert – absolutely loved it. It’s the second in his JD Cordell series. Starts with some Navy SEAL action in Africa then rapidly moves to a “can’t put it down” mode for the second half. Highly recommend supporting this independent author! It’s available on Amazon.
George Miller
George Miller is a writer, singer, songwriter I got acquainted with when I lived in Cary, NC. He is quite talented. Of course, I now live in Asheville, and I believe George has GTT, that’s “gone to Texas” for those of you who aren’t Louis L’amour fans.
The second review is a five-star review by Bruce Miller (no relation to George, at least that I am aware of). I had to reread it several times … it is the first time I’ve heard anything I’ve written called “literature.” I am still in shock!
a helluva a good tale
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Good literature not only tells a story but teaches as well. This is a book you won’t want to put down and will be sorry to see conclude.
Bruce Miller
And for the icing on the birthday cake …
Just this morning, I was the subject of a guest post by a wonderful poet named Gabriela Marie Milton, who single-handedly changed my mind about poetry. I purchased my first book of poetry after reading samples of her poems on her blog, and I am now actually reading another book of poetry. Who’d a thunk it?
Click here to check out the post, and while there, read some of her beautiful poems. Here is a link to the review I did on her book, Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings. It is available on Amazon.
So, as I celebrate the 39th Anniversary of my 21st birthday, I hope you will take a few minutes and check out some of my other blog posts by clicking here! And also, if you enjoy reading “literature,” check out my new novel, Montagnard, on Amazon.com! It’s getting really great reviews.
With lush language and lavish imagery, Gabriela Marie Milton evokes a fantastic world ripe with emotion.
Christina Schwarz, the author of the New York Times Bestseller Drowning Ruth
This is a mesmerizing collection of poetry. Gabriela Marie Milton’s lines teem with life, passion, and introspective courage.
Brian Geiger, editor of Vita Brevis
Truthfully, I never expected to be reviewing a book of poetry
About the Poet
Gabriela Marie Milton (pen name) is an author of three novels. She was awarded 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press. She publishes under the pen name Gabriela M. in Spillwords Press, Vita Brevis, Indian Periodical, Gioielli Rubati Poetry (translated in Italian by Flavio Almerighi), Tuck Magazine, KashmirPen, “Heretics, Lovers, and Madmen,” Literary Yard, Proletaria, Free Verse Revolution, and other venues. She was selected “Author of the Month” at Spillwords (April 2019).
Her poem “The Breath of Love and Death” was voted “Publication of the Month” at Spillwords (November 2019). Gabriela’s work was included in the following anthologies: America’s Emerging Poets Southeast Region (Z Publishing House, 2018); Florida’s Best Emerging Poets (Z Publishing House, 2019); and Pain & Renewal (Vita Brevis Press, 2020).
My thoughts …
I can’t really explain it. I guess I am finally getting in touch with my inner poet? And, it probably shouldn’t come as a total shock to me, because I am somewhat of a romantic fool, I guess. In fact, that part of who I am has gotten me into trouble a few times. But poetry?
I mean, I did like some of Edgar Allan Poe’s poems like Annabel Lee, Eldorado, and The Raven. I also liked The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and thanks to a recent discussion about poetry with my Dad, I just now discovered I really like The Ballad of East and West by Rudyard Kipling.
But I never thought I would be reviewing a book of poetry, much less buying one for my own enjoyment. How would this come to pass, you may ask … or, you may not … but I will tell you anyway.
Whenever a new blogger likes one of my posts, I go visit their blog to see who they are and whether I am interested in their writing or want to follow their blog. A short while back, I had a blogger who went by short-prose-fictionlike one of my posts. I went to the blogger’s site and discovered Gabriela Marie Milton and a fragment from one of her poems called Trap Me. The verse brought back beautiful memories of a trip to Rome and Florence and seeing in person so many of the works of great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo.
I found myself returning to Gabriela’s blog quite regularly to read other snippets of poetry and really enjoyed them. The next thing you know, I’d ordered her book!
But a book of love poems (and of course, other writings)?
Here’s a phrase from a poem I really liked.
… with this ring made from the muscle of my lively heart I promise I will love you till the end when you travel the whole earth in search of that which is the scent of me
Gabriela Marie Milton, with this ring I promise you
Wow. Can’t help it. That is beautiful! Why? Because, the romantic idiot that I sometimes am, I felt that way once in my life, the smell of her hair, the touch of her skin. I don’t know if I will ever feel that way again. I kind of hope not. I am not sure my heart could stand it. But that was indeed a beautiful time in my life.
One more phrase I really liked …
I had to go through your soul to get to mine once in mine I wish I would have stayed in yours …
Gabriela Marie Milton, Souls
Have you ever felt that being with another person filled some missing part of you? I have. And I really liked that feeling. It kind of made me feel whole and gave a purpose to my existence. You really miss it when it’s gone.
Of course, the practical side of me says you don’t really need anyone, that you have to be secure in yourself before you can be secure with somebody else. And I get that. But it is so lovely to have a driving reason to succeed.
I’m not sure that I would go as far as to say I am now a poetry fanatic, but I have really learned something here, and as time permits, I feel like I may check out more of this stuff called poetry. Might as well start with more Kipling. I have read and enjoyed The Jungle Book, The Man Who Would Be King, Gunga Din, and Just So Stories …, might as well explore more of his poetry.
And I will definitely be on the lookout for more by Gabriela Marie Milton.
And, while I am certainly not an expert on poetry, I would give Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings 5 out of 5 stars, if for no other reason than the effect it had on me. And, as far as my limited knowledge of poetry goes, I think it is an excellent book of poems and other writings.
You can click here or on the image above to view the book on Amazon.com.
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D.C. Gilbert 