Tag: Blogs

Haiku – 6/22/2021

Posted on by A Renfro

A simple haiku

Poetry with rhythmic lines

Simple and complete

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I will be honest. I took a small break on this blog and I am having trouble getting the muse to fire back up again. That’s why I wrote a haiku about a haiku. Trying to generate anything to get me haikuing (is that a word) again. Thanks for following and have a great day, afternoon, or night – depending on when or where you are currently reading this.

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Haiku – 3/22/2021

Posted on by A Renfro

Sky a hue of blue

Dawn replacing the nighttime

Brand new day is born

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I opened my curtains after getting out of bed this morning and was hit immediately with a view of a gorgeous clear sky. It helped to inspire this Haiku and seeing the world start is another reason why I am glad I am a morning person. How about you? Are you a morning person or a night owl?

New Podcast Episode!

Posted on by A Renfro

 

There is a new Podcast Episode available for my Song Lines and Tan Lines Podcast. Hit the play button to hear the latest episode. And swing over to this spot (if you so choose) in order to listen to the other episodes I have posted: anchor.fm/thedeepcuts

Thanks for listening.

Thanks for visiting.

 

Some Podcasting Stuff – New Episodes

Posted on by A Renfro

My Podcast – Songs You Don’t Know by Heart has a new episode available.

Check it out at this link: anchor.fm/thedeepcuts

And, if you want to hear me read some of my stories and some of my poems. I started another podcast to do just that. The Songs You Don’t Know by Heart Podcast is the one I am putting my effort into right now. The Nightlight Tales Podcast will have episodes in them sporadically. Basically when I feel like recording a poem or short story for it. This Podcast is meant to be a companion piece for my writing.

Check it out at this link: anchor.fm/nightlighttalespodcast

I wrote this section below for a Podcast script. Felt kind of wrong to delete it so I thought I would post it here. Just in case you want to start a Podcast someday – believe me it is a lot harder than you think.

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And as a sidebar, see here I go, getting off subject. This is something not at all related to this episode, but something I just want to talk about for a moment. Who’s going to stop me? Nobody else here. Hail to the king, baby. This is my thing and no one is standing behind me saying, You idiot shut up and get to the damn point. I’m getting there, promise, I just wanted to talk about this for a moment or two because it is currently burrowing throughout my brain like an out of control train that’s on fire and about to explode. 

If you are thinking about doing a podcast. If you are listening to me and saying if this guy can do it I can do it, believe me it isn’t as easy as it looks. And if you do it on your own, like me, it is even harder. And the reason being, what you can do behind the scenes, the amount of tools at your fingertips for podcasting is astonishing. And those tools, like Audacity, give you great ways to make your podcast great, but you can spend hours on the simplest thing and never get it right. Believe me, I know. Sometimes you got to say it is good enough and let it go.

Not sure why I went into that, but if you want to start a podcast, two things I’ve learned so far – get a mic first and foremost. And two, make sure you are ready to commit to it. Podcasting is fun, but it isn’t as easy as it looks. 

Humpday Promotions: The Lot on Route 6: Page 14

Posted on by A Renfro

Kill for me. A terrifying request, but Gavin will take this request and do his best to complete it. He will suffer. He will reach the edge of his sanity. He will live in pain. But he will do all he can do to protect the people and the town he loves.

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086814J42

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B086814J42

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B086814J42

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B086814J42

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*About to get gruesome and there is going to be some language.

I don’t write love stories. Just a warning.*

Rusty, a bar whore, one prone to spend time searching for love in all the wrong places, nursed her drink (whiskey straight) slowly and looked around the crowded country bar for a man to spend the night with. It didn’t really matter what kind of guy it was. She just needed someone to fill the need for the night. She was once an attractive woman, shimmering brown hair, sparkling green eyes, with a body that would make most men rethink religion and their wives. But at her current age of forty five she had started to sag and lag in all the wrong ways. She wasn’t aging into ugliness, nothing like that, but the drinking, the casual sex, drugs, and cigarettes, were taking a hard toll on her body and her looks.

“Another one, Rusty,” the bartender asked. He knew her and knew her drinking limits, they were legendary, so he knew it would take a lot for her to reach her limit.

“Slam it,” she replied and knocked back her drink. It went down easy and smooth.

“Not much to work with?” The bartender asked, a college kid, right around twenty, fit and in shape, kind of a stand out in a world filled with bar flies. He had noticed her eyes scanning the room while he poured her another round.

“No. Maybe it’s a sign.”

“A sign?”

“To clean things up, get back on a new path, quit trying to fuck everything that walks,” she replied, knocking back the drink in one gulp. She pulled out a large wad of bills and paid her tab, leaving a hefty tip.

“That tips too much,” the bartender replied, but he wasn’t going to turn it down. Steak instead of something in the microwave would be a nice change of pace.

“Keep it. You’ve earned it. Consider it an early Christmas present.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “Are you okay to drive?”

“Do you need to ask?”

“Part of the procedure. I have to ask even though I know the answer.”

“Yep, right as rain,” she replied and smiled, a smile that made her look years younger.

“Be safe. It’s starting to snow out there.”

“Will do. Thanks,” she replied and made her exit.

Outside, Rusty cinched her coat tight, and looked up into the late afternoon sky. It was a cold and dreary day, bitter winds were tearing through the air, and soft flakes of snow were falling, dusting the ground and the idle cars in the parking lot. She left her stance and hurried over to her truck. She climbed inside, fired up the engine, and turned on classic country music, but classic country wasn’t doing it for her today. She needed something more upbeat, louder, more in tune with the Christmas season. She found a local station playing nothing but Christmas songs. She turned it up loud, hummed along to Jingle Bell Rock, feeling good for the first time in a very long time, thinking that maybe the next year would be a season of change. Maybe pack it all up and head to the coast. Start fresh and start new. Plenty of places needed a waitress and she was sure one of them would hire her. She pulled out of the parking lot and angled her truck towards home. The drive was easy and smooth and about half way home was when she saw the sign for The Lot.

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I recently published this novella or short story, depending on how you look at it, and I wanted to promote it. So, my brain got to thinking, and my brain came up with three ways you can enjoy this story (if you want to read it).

  1. Tune in every Wednesday and read it page by page until it is completed.
  2. Send me an email: atothewr@gmail.com. In the header put: I would love to review The Lot on Route 6. Then let me know what you use to read ebooks: Kindle or Something Else. I will send it to you and all I ask is for you to give me a fair and honest review.
  3. If you are able to buy it and do want to support me the links to purchase the story are posted above.

Thanks again for all the support. I promise Poetry and Haiku as much as I can, but I hope you stick with me each Wednesday as I branch off into something a bit different. And if you missed a page look for the story underneath the Hump Day Promotions category. You are now free to move around the blog.

Blogging Goals for the New Year!

Posted on by A Renfro

This won’t be a long post. It is just a quick post to let you know my plans for the blog this year. The main plan and the only plan is lots and lots of Haiku. I missed the first two days of the year, but my goal was to try to write a Haiku each day this year. Will I be able to pull it off? I hope so because I like the challenge. But I also have two kids and I’m a stay-at-home dad. Sickness, school commitments, etc. can easily pull me away from that goal, but I am committed to it so we will see how it goes. That is about it. Hope you guys have a great new year. Do you have any resolutions for your blog? Leave me your answer to that question and a link to your blog. I would love to swing by and check it out.

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Some of you may not know that I have a collection of poetry lurking out and about called – Nightlight Poetry.

Scary right? You can get it at the links below.

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KSF5Q5H

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07KSF5Q5H

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07KSF5Q5H

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07KSF5Q5H

Fear Filled Fridays (8/10/2018): A Tale of Silver Bullets

Posted on by A Renfro

Deadly shape shifter

I hear your howls at the moon

Tonight it all ends

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I fear no silver

You cannot defeat me now

In my beastly form

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Claws slash, rip, tear flesh

Hunter and creature battle

A gun blast echoes

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A month of days pass

Fever, chills, tormented soul

Full moon on the rise

Halt and Stop!

Posted on by A Renfro

I wanted to let you guys know that this blog is going on a long hiatus. I don’t know if I will return to this blog or not in the future. I still do enjoy poetry, still enjoy writing it, but not enough to fill a blog each and every week. So, I have decided to start doing a Poetry Monday section on this blog: Yep, I Created That. It will keep me doing some poetry, but it won’t have to be so much that I have to keep a blog alive doing it. This blog will remain open for business so you can always peruse my old stuff. And you can also check out my Patreon page. I will have poetry posting on there as well. Some of it will be new, some of it will be taken from the bowels (the deep dark bowels) of this blog. That’s it. Thanks for reading and thanks for following me. Check me out at the two locations below if you want to keep reading my work.

Yep, I Created That: yepicreatedthat.wordpress.com

Patreon:  www.patreon.com/zombiebeach

Haiku – 3 Looks at Pin

Posted on by A Renfro

This was the first Haiku I wrote for the challenge this week. I just couldn’t wrap my head around what to write for the word “pin.” It was getting frustrating. Below are the three lines I came up with.

I can’t pin it down

Can’t think of a good Haiku

Too tough this Monday

Then these two popped into my mind.

I think they sound decent enough.

Pinned under a car

Spider-Man swings into help

There to save the day

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Hair pinned up and neat

Ready for the junior prom

Waiting for her date

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Anyway, do you want to take the challenge this week?

Check it out here: Haiku Horizons

Have you seen my new blog?

Posted on by A Renfro

Some of you may, some of you may have not. Swing on over to check it out today. There’s also this bonus if you follow it. A free short story. That’s right. Entirely free in the format of your choosing (EPUB, MOBI, or PDF). This weeks freebie is Flesh for the Zombies. Read on for details of how to obtain your short story today. Thanks again for following me. I hope you enjoy the new blog.

A zombie shuffled down the street underneath a gigantic yellow full moon. He was dressed in an apron, a former fry cook still carrying a spatula in his hand. He shambled along down the road, solo, unaware of the cool night air or the peaceful sound of crickets ushering autumn into the world. A silent bullet suddenly and violently took the top part of his head off, sending the undead creature tumbling and bleeding to the ground. He rested there, unmoving, spatula still gripped tight in his hand.

“How are things up there?”

Mike hit the button on his Walkie Talkie. “All good, Fred. You?”

“Nothing on this side. How does the gate look?”

“Holding tight,” Mike replied, as he looked down from the platform of Guard Tower 1 to the makeshift gate they had made earlier that day. The gate now consisted of his SUV and truck along with a gigantic piece of metal that not only covered the hole, but it stretched several feet beyond it on each side.

Link to the new blog: shorttalesfromtheblog.wordpress.com

Send an email to this address (zombiebeach3@gmail.com) and I will send you a free copy of Flesh for the Zombies in MOBI, EPUB, or PDF form once you follow me. That’s it. Adios.

Wednesday’s Quotes has Moved.

Posted on by A Renfro

If you have enjoyed reading Wednesday’s Quotes on this blog they now have a new home: Short Tales from the Blog. They are a better fit over there than here. I am really trying to get this blog back to its poetry roots. So, now I have Haiku Horizons prompts for Monday and Fear Filled Fridays horror Haiku and Poetry on Fridays. Two scheduled posts each week for you to peruse and enjoy. Don’t worry though. I do still plan to post randomly throughout the week whenever the mood hits me. Thanks for following. You are now free to move about the blog.

Haiku – Unmotivated

Posted on by A Renfro

My great haiku muse

Sitting silent and alone

Waiting to create

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I know a lot you signed on for this blog because of my poetry and haiku. I am sorry if it hasn’t been popping off with that subject matter as of late. I honestly haven’t had the motivation to do it. Most of my poetry is on the fly. It pops into my head and I sit down to write out what is flowing from me. That hasn’t happened a lot lately. So, I have a lot of pre-scheduled stuff that I am letting fill the void. Next year I plan to scale back on that to just three days a week. I hope that maybe poetry and haiku will be more in earnest then. Who knows? The muse is a fickle thing and when it chooses to emerge again I will be waiting for it. How do you guys handle the drought when the muse takes a break? Just curious.