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Post by BlueAndGold on Jan 3, 2020 13:32:54 GMT
Thank you very much for your suggestions, friends. I have taken them to heart but this is indeed a small project. There are bigger fish to fry. Larika: The other definition of "fourteeners": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteener_(poetry)There is no central theme for this little book. It is merely a collection of odd topics. For those interested, the little book is available at Lulu now for preview at this link: 14 Fourteeners I have included the Preface, the Table of Contents, and the first three of the little poems in the preview. And of course the front and back covers are visible too. Ron: Being a Space Guy, you might enjoy the first one. (You may need a Mars map.) Others may enjoy the next two - or not. I admit, the preface may be a bit off-putting to some, but that's how I roll and my audience is small. - Cheers!
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Post by B&G on Jan 3, 2020 17:55:07 GMT
WAIT A MINUTE! HOLD THE PRESSES!
Ron! You gave me a great idea! -The one about naming it for one of the poems. THAT can result in a more exciting cover.
Stand by...
I'll work on it this weekend.
Thank you!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2020 5:42:03 GMT
I will check out your book on my computer. My chrome book only gives me the cover and nothing else when I press "preview." I read the definition of fourteeners in Wikipedia. A whole different meaning.
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Post by ronmiller on Jan 4, 2020 11:12:13 GMT
WAIT A MINUTE! HOLD THE PRESSES!
Ron! You gave me a great idea! -The one about naming it for one of the poems. THAT can result in a more exciting cover.
Stand by...
I'll work on it this weekend.
Thank you!
Great! A friend of mine, Sommer Browning, is a very successful poet (you can Google her). All of her book collections of poetry use one of the included poems---either title or first line---as the title of the book, even though the poetry itself usually has no connecting theme. What she does is find a title that is intriguing and interesting. Backup Singers, for instance, or Either Way I'm Celebrating.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jan 4, 2020 15:41:49 GMT
OK, here's the next submission for shredding. You know, of course, that this is going to turn into a whole 'nuther project, right? Sighhh... Click image for larger view.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2020 16:33:49 GMT
I like your cover. I think its much better than the old one and for me a comprehesible title. Good luck!
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Post by ronmiller on Jan 4, 2020 17:33:30 GMT
OK, here's the next submission for shredding. You know, of course, that this is going to turn into a whole 'nuther project, right? Sighhh... Click image for larger view. Well! That certainly IS different than the first one! ...and much better! If I were to make only one suggestion, that would be to increase the size of Mars in the background. Have it slightly overlapped, even, by the foreground mountains.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 7:55:28 GMT
BlueAndGold, having read the preview of your poetry book. I'm not sure the new title "A Hike on Mars" does justice to your poems. Mars was the god of war. However your poems are just the opposite of war. These verses for instance show incredible wisdom,
"Yet as a passing cloud obscures the sun and casts a gloom A small remark can like a dagger make a painful wound And cause a tiny issue like a forest fire to grow Within a heart which normally would burn with joy aglow.
And as a tiny wisp of wind can cause a cloud to flee Revealing shining sun and sky and fresh air blowing free, The sofest word can clear the air and make the eyes burn bright And purge the shadow from the heart as day chases the night."
And your lovely poem about a butterfly is very sensitive. I see now why you called it "The Fourteeners," However I think that title was too obscure for many people, but it does reflect the diversity of your interesting poems. A similar all encompassing word might be more suitable. By the way are you going to make it into an an ebook?
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Post by ronmiller on Jan 11, 2020 13:01:50 GMT
I think that in today's world few people would immediately associate "Mars" with the Roman god of war.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 15:57:07 GMT
Ron, Maybe I'm from the old school in thinking of Mars and the god of war, but even today the facts about Mars show that it's not a great planet. At night, temperatures drop down very low (-100 degrees Fahrenheit.) Dust and sand are everywhere and are especially bad during dust storms which are aggravated by the horrific Martian winds. Also the entire area of Mars has no global magnetic field, so the sun and cosmic sources freely bombard it with radiation. Taking a hike on Mars would not be pleasant.
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Post by ronmiller on Jan 11, 2020 18:28:44 GMT
Ron, Maybe I'm from the old school in thinking of Mars and the god of war, but even today the facts about Mars show that it's not a great planet. At night, temperatures drop down very low (-100 degrees Fahrenheit.) Dust and sand are everywhere and are especially bad during dust storms which are aggravated by the horrific Martian winds. Also the entire area of Mars has no global magnetic field, so the sun and cosmic sources freely bombard it with radiation. Taking a hike on Mars would not be pleasant. All true enough... But Mars isn't all bad! Just imagine Arizona with a lot less air. It can actually get to a balmy 21 oC (70 oF) on a sunny day. And there is plenty of water there, too (mostly ice, though: but there are signs that liquid water occasionally flows on the surface). There are places on earth that would be more unpleasant- to live. Just think of how many regions of this planet would kill you within hours if you tried to live on them unprotected!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 21:48:27 GMT
How about "A Stroll on Mars"? That would make it somewhat softer.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2020 22:04:22 GMT
It looks like a science fiction cover. More gentle, artistic, creative, soft.
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Post by BlueAndGold on Jan 11, 2020 22:33:48 GMT
This will be a long post, but bear with me, please.Ron: When I first envisioned the Hike On Mars cover, in the mind's eye I saw the mountains superimposed on the planet too. However, I do not have the tools (or rather, the knowledge to use the tool) to do that, so I am forced to keep Mars in the sky, which I am fine with. I did make the planet bigger though. Here is the finished cover (click on image for larger view): As I mentioned above, the idea of this new cover design resulted in a whole new project to go with it. The 14 Fourteeners book retains the old pastoral mountain scene cover which began this thread. That little book includes ONLY 14 poems in iambic heptameter. It is published and alive at Lulu now at this link (with preview): 14 FourteenersThe SECOND Project ( A Hike On Mars and Other Rhymes) uses this "Mars" cover design. Yes, a couple of the heptameter poems in "14ers" also appear in "A Hike", but A Hike is a larger collection of various poems in various meters. It too is published and alive on Lulu now at this link (with preview): A Hike On Mars and Other Rhymes Interestingly, the actual poem "A Hike On Mars" is the first poem to appear in "14ers". In "A Hike" it is about the seventh to appear. Larika: First of all, thank you so very much for your kind words about the verses you read in that preview. As far as I know, you are only the third person in the world to have ever read any of these short verses. If you truly liked them, then I suspect you would very much enjoy my first verse-novel, Castle's Keeper: A Song of Love and Justice. If I recall, there are a few fairly large sections of it available in the preview. I will give this spoiler: It has a very happy ending - for the good guys, anyway. It's about 240 pages and about an 8-hour read.
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Post by BlueAndGold Guest on Jan 11, 2020 23:03:43 GMT
P.S. No, I don't do epubs. Paper only. However, there is a small prose book on a medical help subject I am working on (intermittently). My plan is to make that available as an epub at low or no cost. Perhaps that will win me over.
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