When Life Hands You Lemons

Marauding lions threatening the safety of early settlers in Rhodesia travelling by ox wagon were the order of the day.

Emma Bartlett, a young, petulant lady of aristocratic birth, followed Harold Watson, second son of the Earl of Adiston, whom she loved, when he left England to settle in Rhodesia.

Emma had to face hardship and trauma, but she was destined to become a formidable woman of strong character setting an example to the generations who followed.

When the Stars Aligned

On a fate-laced evening at 7:30 pm, the three cornerstone figures in Malita’s life found her crossing their minds, yet none were present to shield her from Bruce’s malevolent grasp. Amidst grappling with the void left by her father’s absence, Malita’s world plunges into a deeper abyss when a supposed guardian from her family cruelly betrays her trust. This grave violation leaves her wrestling with shame, betrayal, and a tenuous relationship with her mother, all while battling against the engulfing tides of self-pity.

But Malita, with a spirit unyielding, musters the bravery to face the harsh truth of her fractured family and rejects the dark labels it threatens to affix on her. Embarking on a piecemeal journey, she strives to restore the shards of her destiny. In her quest for healing, the realms of forgiveness and purpose unfold before her, offering a glimpse of hope amidst despair. Malita chooses not merely to exist in the shadows of her past, but to seize the full essence of life’s offerings, demonstrating a resilient pursuit of healing and reclaiming her rightful place in the world. When the Stars Aligned isn’t just a narrative of survival, but a profound testament to the indomitable spirit of recovery and self-redemption.

When The Sunlight Goes Dark

Bobby Clantinani’s most fervent dream was to become the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, but he only weighed one-hundred and fifty-four pounds. His father, Oran, expected big things from Bobby and he ruled his family like a tyrant. Oran’s biggest hope was his oldest son, Ted, who was a heavyweight contender heading for a championship bout.

While Ted is being lined up for a shot at one of the heavyweight crowns, Bobby is fighting on the second circuit, consisting of high school gymnasiums, rundown hotels, roller rink arenas, and junior college parking lots. Feeling alienated and alone, Bobby finds solace in the arms of Ted’s fiancé, Judith Tesch, a strikingly beautiful boxing groupie who Bobby adores and loves. He also finds a father figure in the form of Benny Bear, a seventy-four year old African American cut man who once fought as a welterweight.

Then tragedy hits when Ted is badly injured in the ring, and Oran disappears. Bobby finds himself caught up in the intractable darkness of professional boxing where a man can lose his soul, yet seek absolution in the power of the almighty dollar.

White Reality

Mary and Blanche, two women grappling with mental instability and substance addiction, find themselves in a psychiatric institution. Their lives unfold in parallel narratives, converging in a unique psychological space where time and space are subject to their perception. Orchestrated by a young doctor named Jane, their shared psychodrama allows them to relive their past, with scenes and family members resurfacing. They become both audience and protagonist in a cathartic play of their lives, aiming for redemption.

This redemption is envisioned as a moment when reality, no longer obscured by the darkness of their souls, turns white, offering clarity and a path to serenity.

The narrative delves into the stark realities of life as perceived through the women’s psychological lenses. It questions the nature of their reality, the presence of light within it, and their ability to confront and survive it. The novel probes the possibility of achieving psychological peace and distinguishes between illusion, memory, and real time. It explores the escape from pain and madness.

Inspired by two iconic American plays, A Streetcar Named Desire and Long Day’s Journey into Night,White Reality focuses on the perennial issue of the lack of genuine communication, beginning within the family and perpetuating a cycle of problematic characters influencing both society and family. This cycle persists as long as true love fails to manifest in actions. This novel is a poignant exploration of these themes, encapsulating the struggle for understanding and connection in a complex world.

White's Novel

White’s tale is about most of us: we come and go from the world without really, at any stage, trying to affect or change it, despite dreaming of what we would do if we had the chance. White has that chance. White’s Novel is about what happens as a result of him taking that chance. And, in the end, is he really so very different than the rest of us? He thinks he is!

Why

Have you ever wondered why?

It is my pleasure to share this debut collection of poetry. Words are escapes. Each poem is powerful. Brave. My own creation. A work of delight. Rich. Playful. Sometimes fragile. Erotic love alive to the world. Dizzying. Tangled. Some written as a young girl. Some homeless. Some in love. Institutionalized. I write you with the love of life. With confidence. The sparkle and glitter of poetry. A rare wine. A fortune. An expose of lifeblood. And a passionate love affair.

I leave these poems in your hands. Here is my poetry in motion. This is why.

Windwhistle Bone

Richard Trainor's Windwhistle Bone is a novel of time and place as we follow the protagonist, Ram Le Doir, on a journey tracing his rise as a celebrated poet and reporter, which comes to a tragic conclusion as he is unlocking a series of dangerous stories that nearly costs him his life, and destroys his marriage and career. Ram's fall and eventual redemption concern the double murder of his wife, actress Vera Dubeck, and her lover. Trainor's prose was cited by the late Luther Nichols, Doubleday's former West Coast Bureau Chief, as "reminiscent of Faulkner (the Snopes-like nature of the Le Doirs), Thomas Wolfe, J. P. Dunleavy (the scapegrace of Ram), Dylan Thomas, and Bukowski. There's a great California feel to your novel which is one of the finest first novels I have ever read." Nichols gave testimony for Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Books during the obscenity trial held over Allen Ginsburg's poem, Howl, in 1960.

Winners

Victory is a potent force in life, one that brings an exhilarating rush of joy and an infectious wave of euphoria. In Winners, we explore the magnetic aura of those who triumph, those whose spirits soar with success. Their zest and positive energy are not just personal gains but are an inspiration to all who witness their achievements. To exist on the side of winners is to embrace a life unrestrained, a life that stretches beyond horizons and dances with possibility.

Winter Afternoon and Other Poems

The TV shows images of heads without bodies and babies wandering the streets all night... Just before sunrise, his blind eyes shine brighter than the sky, illuminated only by memory... The sudden, enveloping embrace of darkness is creamy in its softness, making you marvel at the world's perfection... Daring children to be young, sharing lunch with someone I once loved... Trust betrayed, messages relayed, bets hedged... Gracie lost herself again; her daughter found her in the basement with the photos... A bird twitters away the summers in a movie's belfry... Shriveled worse than a museum fetus drowning in formaldehyde... Pray the boy will learn to read before he learns to kill... The pizza guy slips a homeless man a few quarters... Moonlight bike rides along the river, conversations with the cat... If I touch the sky, how will I know... A glimpse of heaven through the kitchen window... Because no one can speak the sacred word, and no one knows more than they should...

What the "#x@+" is he 'saying'? ... Read on!

Wolves with Furniture

Is the true nature of the human creature more akin to that of wolves or closer to bees or ants? What parts of the human soul are sacrificed by choosing a modern life in a crowded city-hive, an existence severed from the balance of Nature? Do wild wolves have a better sense of humanity than humans themselves?

These are only a few of the questions pondered in L.M. Reid’s poetry collection Wolves With Furniture, in which every intense poem is woven into the stories of Lupa the Wolf Queen and a vibrant girl born unlucky, who grows into a woman carrying within her the towering fury of a flame-haired Lilith.

Will she shatter herself against her own bitter rage, or choose to live a harmonious life guided by the just laws of the wolf? By turns poignant, thought-provoking and redemptive, Wolves With Furniture explores new depths of what it means to be human.

Worlds Clash

Lilith, the Princess of Darkness, gives a tour of some spine-chilling episodes in human experience that gives us the opportunity to consider how rational beings can embark on self-destructive campaigns. The Princess is also a provocateur who uses ingenious recitation of old facts. This work presents challenges with stark insights and bold interpretations. Examining events through multiple prisms reveals hidden connections and intricate designs that produce exquisite models of evil, forming a delicate tapestry of cruelty deserving to be hung in the Louvre of desolation.

The chain of dismal episodes forms a litany of horror that embraces mankind in Lilith’s kiss of death. Each event can be strung on a golden cord, forming a necklace of black pearls. The Sisyphean struggle to create a better world involves events that are heartbreaking because the tragedies they embody could easily be avoided with only a small application of rational thought. Such temptation is seductive, however, because reason seldom prevails unless accompanied by a sprinkling of humor.

Writers, Like Hats

Writers, Like Hats begins with an ode and ends with a philosophical message from one of my students; in between is a variety of genres for enjoyment and meditation. Three sections explore the natural world, the world outside, and the world inside. In the appendix, readers find instructions for writing riddles, sonnets, and celebrations of self, as well as samples from students. I invite you to enjoy the music and magic of poetry that lifts us to new heights in Writers, Like Hats.

“Trish Frech’s untrammeled poetic style opens to the reader her deep attachments to Nature, her concerns for the world and its people, and her insights into her own Life. But it is more than that: many readers will savor the vivid images, carefully turned phrases, and playfulness of her poetry. Teachers of poetry, moreover, will find not only rich material to share with students but in the Appendix four ready to use methods (with student samples) for creating poetry itself. Frech’s insights into her on life’s arc and into momentous questions of our times are offset and [made pleasurable] by her simplicity of phrase, colorful wording, and frequent evocation of Nature.”

Review of the final manuscript from Gordon B. Donaldson, Jr., Professor Emeritus at the University of Maine.