RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge #25 New&Old

The 25th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

This seems to be a number to celebrate. If you’ve ever participated write one for this anniversary. If you haven’t written one, it’s a good time to start.

Badge provided by Me for this season.

Haiku is simple and simply addictive. So be warned now. Once you start it’s difficult to stop. Here are two things to know:

Haiku can be broken into two sentences with the middle line of the three lines being the commonly used part, meaning 1&2 and 2&3 making sentences. That’s Haiku.
Opposite meanings in the first and last sentences. That’s Haiku.

For a full refresher or How to write Haiku in English click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

If you have a Twitter and your handle has not appeared in a ReCap of a previous challenge, please let me know what it is so when I Tweet the ReCap on Sundays I may include it.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

New&Old

My Example

Old Memories Gone,

Like light from a candle’s Flame,

New memories Flame.

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the ReCap.)

There are TWO “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” recipients each week. One for Humor and one for something more Serious. The Haiku are quite good each week and I am having to turn to the structure guidelines of a Haiku at times to help determine my selection.

Really each Haiku is a choice of mine, and I’m not just saying that, so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right? And it does make it kind of fun.

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My 10 Most Liked Poems of 2014.

December 29, 2014December 29, 2014 Ronovan Poetry Poetry

Poetry is one of my favorite things to do. Writing a book of your life in a few lines. I’ve often said that I do not write poetry, I write mini chapters of my life. Some poetry you can read and tell it is forced. Once I realized I was getting close to the forced line I stopped writing poetry. I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t force any writing ever. For a guy that really had no idea what his blog was going to be about, originally it was going to be a place to share my thoughts about the Bible, but I was doing that elsewhere. Now it’s a place I share everything. My poetry reflects that. One poem that didn’t make the Top 10 is one I enjoyed writing, although I enjoyed writing them all. It was one from earlier on in my poetry life. I include it as a bonus. So I give you my . . .

Top 10 Most Liked

Of 2014

#10

It’s After Midnight

Dec 25

#9

A World Apart

May 16

#7

There was a Time

June 2

Truth in a Picture

June 28

#6

You are more than you are.

Aug 21

#4

Without Sight

June 2

Odd One Out

June 9

#3

I dream of . . .

Sept 19

#2

Snack Attack

July 16

#1

Would you . . .

Sept 22

Bonus

Nonsense and Such: The Animal Minded or None

May 28

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My Sunday Thought: The Year of Renewal

December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 Ronovan Thoughts Bible, Christianity, Literature, Media, Music, New Year's Resolution, Romans 12, Scripture, Society

I believe I’ve spoken of a pastor friend of mine before who brought me fully into a love of studying the Bible. He has his own ministry now that he is retired in which he teaches Apologetics in Oklahoma. I greatly enjoy Apologetics as it goes so hand in hand with my love of History. One verse that is key to his ministry is;

Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I wanted to share this verse with you today as the final My Sunday Thought of 2014. I would like for you to look around at the world today. Look at what is popular on television and in the various forms of media.

Now take Fifty Shades of Grey and give it to your 10 year old to read. I know many of you are likely thinking this book is for adults only. I slip into that vein of thought at times when I write some of my poetry not that there have been many that could not be shared and yes, even in a Romance I’ve written there are scenes that are a bit much at times, not yet published nor revised by me. But does it make it right? Does the fact of the existence of something in a society make it right?

We should be able to hold ourselves up proudly at any moment and look at people and say “Do not throw me in with the swine you have made yourself to be.”

There is truly nothing of this world, the popular world that I care to be a part of. What do I want filling my mind? Do I want negativity and hatred or positivity and encouragement? Do I want skewed views of every single moment of life that is played out and inflamed according to media direction for the purpose of ratings when they could be trying to help a situation or do I want that which will give me hope and give me the ability to love every creation of God on this planet as a creation of God regardless of my dislike for who or what they are? Do I want to be an instigator or a mediator?

People don’t agree with my ideas. They believe they are a bit extreme. I believe we should not fill our minds with the trash that music has become, the movies, the literature. Don’t get me wrong, I believe everyone has the choice to do as they wish. There are a lot of aspects of life that should be portrayed in literature but done wisely. I simply believe that I have the choice to not fill my mind with some of it. I even suggested to people at my church, in ministry leadership positions that we should try to not support industry that supports all of the things that are a negative influence. We should not buy our fuel from stores that sell pornography. All I received from that was a nodding of the head with the “but” look to it. How could we ever possibly do that?

I am aware of the things, I just choose not to fill my mind and life with them. As the new year approaches give the idea of renewing your mind a consideration. Fill your life, your mind with positives so you may be a positive influence. Introduce the idea to your friends and family as well. Don’t be down on someone when they do listen to something or watch something. You just choose not to participate. Have your own music with you, a book. Or be like me and carry earplugs everywhere and then you don’t have to listen to anything or anyone you don’t want to. Yes, I have a medical excuse but so do you. You don’t want to be filled by the ill.

What you eat fuels your body. If you feed it junk your body will quickly lose energy. It stands to reason you think what you fill your mind with. What do you what fueling your mind?

In closing I am making my 2015 The Year of Renewal. A renewal of focus on those things that are most important to me and most important to my future. If you choose to travel along with me perhaps you will see that renewal playing out here in the pages of Ronovan Writes.

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RonovanWrites 24 #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge ReCap

December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 Ronovan Haiku Prompt Challenge Challenge, Haiku, Poetry, Poetry Prompt, Prompt, Ronovan Writes Haiku Prompt Challenge, Writing Prompt

24th Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge ReCap!

To get into the ReCap write a Haiku and somehow let me know, either with a copy of your link in the comments or a ping back. A quick note, the ping backs don’t always work properly. I really want people to visit each of you so please be sure to copy your link in the comments.

Follow members of our community, especially if you are participating. Not only on blogs but on Twitter and elsewhere. Support each other.

The prompt words were Innocence & Life.

Two A RONOVAN’S CHOICE! Haiku recipients are chosen each week. One for Humor and one for a more Serious tone. Proper structure may become a big decider at times. By structure I mean the 1&2 and 2&3 verses making sentences. But the message, as you all know is always what is more important to me in this challenge. The problem? There are so many great messages that I have to use something. So now, my job just has become more difficult. Let the games begin. May your days be long but your poems be short.

New this Week!

Caseylove’s: Innocence in Question. I liked this because the photo used sets it up so nicely. I can just imagine this perfectly. From the about.me page–I have recently developed an interest in photography. I don’t know what has sparked this but the interest is there so I’m in pursuit of loving an appreciating this art.
I also have the love for writing although I’m far from perfect and I’m no Stephen King this is my passion as well.–@caseyandjojo

Sue Vincent of Daily Echo: Frosted. A Haiku that takes one a few minutes to think about and come to a meaning for one’s self. I finally came to mine. Sue and I have been Twitter friends for a while now but haven’t really connected and I am so happy she participated this week. Now I must find a way to get one of her books. Being a historian myself, some of the books she has out are very appealing. (Anyone see me asking for an interview soon?) From her About Page-I am a Yorkshire born painter and writer, living in the south of England. I paint the strange things that come as images in dreams and fantasies and write about life as it happens.
I was raised in a spiritually eclectic family in a landscape where myths and legends were woven into the stones, and have always had an intimate relationship with the inner worlds and the understanding that all paths are but spokes on a wheel, leading ultimately to the same centre. It is not the path that one walks that matters, but how one chooses to walk it.-@SCVincent Check out her books at Amazon by clicking here.

Maniparna Sengupta Majumder of Scattered Thoughts: Anew. Love the message in this one. From her Twitter Bio–A normal human being.Business woman.Occasional writer.Avid reader.Loves poetry,music,dance and good food.–@Maniparna I had a difficult time deciding which photo to use. Her blog on the left or her Twitter on the right. Love those rocks in the Twitter photo. Also you need to go play with her pet on her blog. Awesome.

Cindy of Dreams in Alaska: Imprisoned by Ironies. Yes, that’s my title for this entry. It’s a message that one can apply to so many different situations of life. This last minute entry makes my decision for Serious Haiku much more difficult. Want to know where Cindy is from? Really? Seriously? I am so not going to answer that. From her About page–I’m a busy worker bee by day, while juggling the responsibilities of being a full-time student and aspiring writer by night. As a recent empty nester, I’m learning to enjoy the sounds of silence as I set my sites on the next chapter of life.–@cindyburrill

Who’s On First?
Mira of They, You and Me: The Faint Hearted. A great commentary on the world. Very true and very sad. The poem is not a sad poem but once you begin reflecting on it you go places that might bring sadness. A must read to make you think. @BediMona

Ruth of Mad Meandering Me: Peshawar. I support the message of the Haiku this week. It’s difficult to say you like something considering the subject. But things must be felt and let out. A said thing that this poem had a subject to be created.

T.A. Wyatt of Finale to an Entrance: Reality: The Beaten Down Haiku. It’s a shame that this poem is true. Remember to check out this author’s books at Amazon. @finaletoanEntranc

Elizabeth of Tea & Paper: Seasons. Hmm. Oh these reality messages. A couple of interpretations came to mind but I chose to go with the less somber one, well at least I think I did.

Deborah (AWomanSaved) of From Darkness to Light One Soul’s Journey: The Blossom’s Death. This one will have you thinking for a while.

Cyril Bussiere: Wander. Still wrapping my brain around this one.. Remember to check out this author’s books here at Amazon. @CyrilBussiere

Meredith and Martha of Meredith’s Musings: Two each from the two Literary Angels this week. Go quickly who wrote which. A fun game added to the challenge. I wonder if I should do that and see who wrote my Haiku. Hmm. @Meredithlbl

Kimberly of K.S. Fause: Blank Page. A writer’s nightmare. @KSFause

Florence of Rambling On: Beguiling. Read it and think. It’s one of those kinds. A lot of thinky pieces this week. @FTThum

Carolyn of Reviews & Recommendations: Hope in a Birth. I think the title I came up with for this one says it all. Go read it and see if I am right.

Canaf of Faithful Devotionals: Innocence Lost. Another good message. You should go and read the About page, a very interesting story to me. And I like this that I found on the site. “I Get by with a little help from my friends and a lot of help from God.”

Marigold of Versus Bulb: Innocence Lost, Imagination Gained.
Love the visual for certain. The Haiku is excellent with a great message. @MarigoldDicer

Steven Walsky of Simplicity Lane: Unfulfilled. You know, I like this because it was slightly outside the box from what I had seen so far. A definite must read. Remember to check out his books on Barnes & Noble by clicking here and Smashwords here.

Faith Unlocked: Innocence Restored. Very appropriate for the Holiday. Good definition for Innocence. I liked that for sure. Very good staying with theme of blog. @FaithUnlocked

Melissa of This, Right Now: Growth. You must read this one. Not only a great Haiku but visually the way it graduates is excellent. I love it when things turn out like that.

Nato of Chasing Life and Finding Dreams: Innocence of a Child. Hmm. Great structure. Good story. Sad ending. I think I might be depressed now. Things growing dim. Sigh. Wait, I felt like that before reading the Haiku. 🙂 Gotcha. @MichelleLunato

Colleen of Silver Threading: The First Queen. The name says it all. Well, maybe not all, you still need to go read to see exactly what it’s all about. I mean it’s not like the whole play is about a tragic death scene, right? @ColleenChesebro

A RONOVAN’S CHOICE FOR HUMOR

Marigold of Versus Bulb: Innocence Lost, Imagination Gained. A trip to a fall to a trip, oh bother, go see . . .

A RONOVAN’S CHOICE FOR SERIOUS

Faith Unlocked: Innocence Restored. It was very difficult this week but the message along with the holiday mad this one the winner.

I of course gave my own offering this week. Time for Innocence.

The closing Haiku for this weeks Challenge words?

Innocence of life,

Existing mid this grim world,

Life takes Innocence.

Much Respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites Weekly #PHOTOgraphy #haiKU ReCap #24 #PhotoKu

December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 Ronovan Wordless Haiku Challenge Haiku, Haiku Challenge, Photography, PhotoKu, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Vashti Quiroz-Vega, Wordless, wordpress event

REWIND #24

Click the site names to see the PhotoKu for each.

The prompts they participants COULD use if they wished to were Smile & Shine. The prompts are only if you cannot come up with an idea.

Jen of Blog It or Lose It: I think this one should be called Joseph’s Star. One of her best. Check out the poetry. There are two and the second one is amazing. I love poetry that is also an image.

@jrosenberry1

Michelle of Chasing Life and Finding Dreams: Smile With Your Heart. Love the smiles. MichelleLunatoPhotography.WordPress.com

@MichelleLunato

Patty of I Am Not Sick Boy: The Light Dims. Ah, a photoku that could easily have went with my Haiku Prompt Challenge. Great words and the photo really pulls at the heart.

See y’all next time,

Ronovan

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Writing Tips: Em Dash, Ellipsis and Error

December 26, 2014June 16, 2020 Ronovan Writing Character Building, Creative Writing, Dialogue, Ellipsis, Em Dash, Punctuation, Sentence Flow, Writing, Writing Tips

Writing Tips: Em Dash, Ellipsis and Error

Let’s talk about flow for a moment. I am not one for punctuation. Anyone that reads my work will quickly discover that I am awful with it. I try to work around it by using different wording or shorter sentences. I imagine to myself this will hide my weakness. But to an expert, a pro it will be obvious.

There are three things I would like to talk about. This has to do with the flow of a sentence, its basic appearance. The em dash, the ellipsis, and the double space error are also three things that can call you out to an agent or editor.

I’ve written for decades now, but only recently, or so I believe, have I taken notice of the little things of writing that are really much larger than I ever imagined.

The em dash:

In all honesty I had never heard of this until recently. Oh, sure I have seen it but I didn’t know it had a name. I should have known everything has a name and if it doesn’t someone will come along to name it shortly just so they can say they did it.

You are to use the em dash when there is a sudden change or interruption in the sentence. Strunk and White states to use this only when a more common form of punctuation will not seem to work. That seems a little vague to me. But if you take a look at just about any form of writing you will see the em dash everywhere. By the way, the em dash is a double dash. Basically it is called an em dash because it takes up the widest letter font, the letter m. The en dash is a single dash.

Some writers just use it any time they like instead of commas or semicolons. Why? Either they think it’s cool or they don’t know punctuation or it could just be a style. Is it wrong? Truthfully, writing styles are slowly becoming less and less strict with structure but there is a purpose to proper structure. It isn’t just for a good grade. It’s for a good read.

For me, I think I would use the em dash in harsh situations, or rather tough talk situations. If I were writing a detective novel I think the em dash would fit. I can see Humphrey Bogart in the Maltese Falcon reading out the punctuation of the dialogue now and I can hear ‘dash’ instead of ‘comma’ coming from him. Bogey did rapid fire dialogue great and he could switch between directions of dialogue so quick you almost didn’t see it happen. That script must have been em dash loaded.

“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”

“You did what?” Carson asked.

“I said—what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.

Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam—she’s doing anything she likes.”

In this example you get the fill that Sam immediately changes his words as the woman walks in. There is no pause. He just goes straight into questioning. For me that works. In the second case it doesn’t work for me. To me Carson is pausing after he says Sam as he thinks about the woman, so the em dash is too harsh there. The ellipses wouldn’t work because there is no missing dialogue or trailing off, there is just a hesitation so I would use the comma.

The Ellipsis:

The ellipsis is when you use (. . .). Of course that is without the parenthesis. You use three periods with a space between each one. Again, I had no idea such a thing had a name. And would you believe it . . . I had been using it wrong all these years. I didn’t put a space between the periods. Oops. And, I just used it incorrectly. And no, I did not do that intentionally. I read back through this article and found it. It happens, so always proofread your work.

You use this when a sentence is trailing off or you are picking up in the middle of a conversation or a place I use it is when I am writing a telephone conversation but we only hear one side of it.

“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”

“You did what?” Carson asked.

“I said . . . what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.

Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam . . . she’s doing anything she likes.”

Now we have a pause here instead of the em dash and it’s as though Sam has looked at the woman a moment first before speaking.

The second pause works for me, but it’s not right. A comma will do the job.

“We beat it down to the docks and kicked the door in.”

“You did what?” Carson asked.

“I said–what’s she doing here?” Sam looked at the woman walking in the door.

Carson looked at the long legs as they passed him. “Sam, she’s doing anything she likes.”

Combining the both the em dash and the comma pause in the passage works for me because I get a change of pace with each. There is a sense of urgency from Sam and casualness from Carson. It adds to character development with just a little change in punctuation.

The Space After Punctuation:

People from my age and older learned to type on typewriters, even if they were electric ones. This means we learned to hit the space bar twice after the ending punctuation of a sentence. For all those who do that, STOP! Computer fonts are set so that everything is spaced properly.

An agent or editor will look at your work and immediately see the spacing error. Should this be a killer to your career? No, but many agencies use interns and they like to sort through the submissions and for a punctuation pet peeve artist or someone who has a space phobia you have put them off already and they’ll just not continue. Hit the space bar once…ever.

Echoes of Narcissus in the Gardens of Delight by @JoRobinson176 Book Launch

December 26, 2014 Ronovan Author Interviews Book Launch, Echose of Narcissus in the Gardens of Delight, Free, Free Book, Jo Robinson, New Release

Donna thought there was something wrong with her. That she was suffering from a mental illness that has caused her husband to despise her, distance himself from her, and cheat on her. She blames herself for the desolate, miserable thing that is her marriage and her life. Then she comes across a book that will change everything for her, and reading it, she discovers that there’s nothing wrong with her mind at all, but that there is something very wrong with her husband instead. Marco, she realises, is a malignant narcissist. A text book case. He has a real and documented mental disorder, and that he’s been controlling, manipulating, and abusing her for decades. The sudden full knowledge of all that he’s purposely done to her enrages her. Not sure how to leave after thirty years of what she finally knows has been intentional mental and emotional abuse from him, and believing that she has nowhere to turn, being so physically isolated, she bides her time.

Then she meets and befriends a group of unusual people who share her passion for gardening, and so begins her journey to escape. She joins her new friends in their project to assist elderly people in old age homes care for their small gardens, as well as secretly supplying those suffering from painful and terminal illnesses with medicinal herb and plant remedies, including illegal plants such as cannabis. As weeks go by, she delves into her memories, relearns what it is to be respected, liked, and loved again, and slowly she formulates a plan to safely leave her dangerous husband. But unbeknownst to Donna, Marco is in serious trouble, and has desperate plans of his own, and absolutely no regard for her safety.

** This is a work of fiction, but malignant narcissists really do exist, and it is a recognised mental illness. Unfortunately, many people never realise that they are involved with a narcissist, because their actions are so demonically bad as to be unimaginable and unbelievable, and so they spend their lives in misery, depression, fear, and isolation. If only by the accidental reading of a fictional story, I hope that this book will help even one person, unknowingly suffering narcissistic abuse, to realise that they don’t have to, and that it’s never too late to start over, be happy, be fulfilled, to love and care for yourself, and be truly loved and respected by others.

Jo Robinson very recently returned to her homeland, South Africa, after having lived in rural Zimbabwe for eighteen years. Her obsessive affection for the African continent, most humans, and all creatures feathered and furred are what inspire her writing. She is the author of African Me & Satellite TV, the science-fiction/fantasy series Shadow People, and a couple of short stories, which will be free to download from Amazon from 26 to 30 December, Fly Birdie and The Visitation.

To win eBook copies of Shadow People and African Me & Satellite TV, send Jo a message from THIS page.

My 10 Most Liked Haiku of 2014

December 26, 2014December 26, 2014 Ronovan Poetry Haiku, Haiku Poetry, Poetry

As some may have noticed, I put forth a Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge here on Ronovan Writes. There is reason for that, although I have not written as much Haiku as I once did. I think reading them all and doing the Weekly Recap kind of burns me out a bit. But of late I have been jumping in again. So I decided to list my . . .

Top 10 Most Liked

of 2014

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It’s After Midnight.

December 25, 2014December 25, 2014 Ronovan Humor, Poetry Author, Christmas, Humor, Poetry, Writer's Wish, Writing

It’s after midnight
Santa’s done been and gone
His reindeer were a bit messy
They took liberties on the lawn

I guess that’s okay
As long as I get something nice
I wonder if I’ll get
The complete series of Miami Vice

I’ve eaten enough dressing
I’ve had a lot of the oink
Too bad this year
I didn’t get a Christmas . . .

Anyway, I should be asleep
But that doesn’t seem to be the case
I keep considering taking a peek at the tree
But there is not even a nightlight in this place

What do I really want for Christmas
Well let me count them one by one
I would like to have a literary agent
Who makes deals like they’re holding a gun

Give me a one of a kind thought
To write a best selling book
One with a lot of action
And a lot of steam for the leads as they cook

Find me the right publisher
Who thinks I am the best
Takes me under their wing
And ignores all the rest

Then give me a life long talent
To write book after book a hit
So whenever I need to express myself
All I need is a laptop and a place to sit

Give me a muse to inspire me
Make her something to behold
Give her all my dreams fulfilled
Even the ones I’ve never told

Now I best get to sleep
I hear an odd thumping
It’s either Santa back for another pass
Or there is someone upstairs um bumping

Around

Ronovan

PS: There’s not really any good oink around here anyway. Just saying.

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Prayers needed.

December 22, 2014 Ronovan Life

Prayer warrior needs. Especially tonight. Healing needed. Thank you in advance.

Ronovan

Santa Ronovan

December 22, 2014 Ronovan Humor Christmas, Humor, Santa

People have asked is my photo that I use really me. Well yes and no. it’s kind of old. Here is a more current picture.

I didn’t want to tell anyone, especially Hugh, because I knew he would try to pressure me for some extra gifts this year, but my hook up with the elves only goes so far. Lord of the Rings gave them an attitude.

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Here’s what’s on Top of my Christmas Tree – what’s on Yours?

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 Ronovan Opinion Articles Charity, Christmas Tree, Hugh Roberts, Hughs Views & News, Tree Topper

Below is What’s On Top of My Tree. It’s an angel created by the little Santa’s Helper in the larger photo farther down. It may not be fancy or shiny or be something that could be in a movie but he made it and that’s what’s been on the tree ever since. The tree isn’t coordinated. It’s a combination of everything from every year including handmade from school and church. It all goes on the tree. Including my hand blown glass candies I like so much.

And by posting this, I am helping Angela and Hugh raise up to £250 for charity. And all I am doing is making this post with the title being “Here’s what’s on Top of my Christmas Tree-what’s on Yours?”.

Now, why not show what is on top of your Christmas tree? Post on your blog and help Angela and Hugh at Hugh’s Views & News to contribute to charity. To find out what to do, go to Angela and Hugh’s post.

Don’t have a Tree but want to help Angela and Hugh with their charity?

For those that do not have a Christmas tree, just write a post about the best thing that happened to you in 2014 and include a photograph if you can. Link it back to Hugh’s post and you’ll be helping Angela and Hugh achieve that £250 target before twelfth night. To link back, you simply do what I did here and put the link to Hugh’s post in your post. Hugh has it all spelled out on his post if you need it. Or you can simply copy and past the parts of my post you need to into yours, they are are the BOLD typed sections. Also make sure to USE THE SAME TITLE of the post for your post. Here’s what’s on Top of my Christmas Tree-what’s on Yours?

Merry Christmas

Ronovan

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A boy’s promise. A father’s joy.

December 22, 2014 Ronovan Inspiration & Motivation 57 Chevy Bel-Air, Family, Father, Gift, Joy, Love, Son, Video

When his son was 8 years old he promised his dad that when his dad became 57 he would give him his dream car, a 57 Chevy Bel-Air. Enjoy.

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RonovanWrites Weekly #Photography #Haiku Challenge #24 Smile&Shine

December 22, 2014December 21, 2014 Ronovan Wordless Haiku Challenge Challenge, Haiku, Photography, PhotoKu, Poetry, Prompt

Welcome to PhotoKu!

#23

I am seriously excited about this new direction the challenge is taking. Some great people involved have made suggestions and I have listened. I have looked at the great photography of everyone and decided I limited people in what they could do. Then one suggested the name PhotoKu, or at least I think they did. Now one said why not give a verb and a noun as the challenge instead of two nouns. In all honesty I didn’t even realize I had started doing that.

The rules are simple: For how to write a Haiku in English and using the 5/7/5 syllable pattern click here. I know you will be using photography but you need to have the Haiku in words at some point.

I prefer no words or numbers of any kind to appear in the images you use. This includes sign language . . . of any kind. I believe this forces one to be more creative.

Below is my original example of how to do a haiku with images. People have become a lot more creative with using their photography. This is just to show you a basic layout and give you an idea of how things might look. Check out our previous participants to see how it’s really done.

Visit Blog it or Lose it and Through the Eye of Bastet to see how you might can do this.

This is an example of one I created.

The Haiku was:

Moon Shadow Dancers

Heartbeats Stumble, falling in

Love Infinity

I know, not the best but it was better then the first one I posted.

Here’s the challenge;

You create your own PhotoKu before Noon on the Sunday following the posting of this challenge,
Then either post a link in the comments here for everyone that visits to go see and/or ping back (copy the URL for this post into your Haiku post) to this post in your Haiku post.

I will read it and comment on it. Once I comment come get the badge.

The Prompt Words are:

Smile&Shine

What do the words mean to you, and how can you connect the two words through that second line?

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RonovanWrites Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge #24 Innocence&Life

December 22, 2014December 21, 2014 Ronovan Haiku Prompt Challenge Challenge, Haiku, Haiku Challenge, Haiku Prompt, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Poetry Prompt, Prompt, Weekly, Weekly Challenge, wordpress challenge

The 24th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

Badge provided by Me for this season.

Haiku is simple and simply addictive. So be warned now. Once you start it’s difficult to stop. Here are two things to know:

Haiku can be broken into two sentences with the middle line of the three lines being the commonly used part, meaning 1&2 and 2&3 making sentences
Opposite meanings in the first and last sentences.

For a full refresher or How to write Haiku in English click here. But you can use whatever Haiku style you want to. As long as you, do a Haiku.

For Tips and Guidelines refreshers click here.

If you have a Twitter and your handle has not appeared in a ReCap of a previous challenge, please let me know what it is so when I Tweet the ReCap on Sundays I may include it.

This weeks two words to use in some form, meaning you can use another word that means the same thing are:

Innocence&Life

My Example

Time For Innocence,

This Season we are now in,

Gives our Life Meaning.

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

(I hate doing deadlines, but it takes quite a while to complete the ReCap.)

There are TWO “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” recipients each week. One for Humor and one for something more Serious. The Haiku are quite good each week and I am having to turn to the structure guidelines of a Haiku at times to help determine my selection.

Really each Haiku is a choice of mine, and I’m not just saying that, so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right? And it does make it kind of fun.

Much respect

Ronovan

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Time For Innocence

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 Ronovan Poetry Children, Christmas, Haiku, Innocence, Jesus, Poetry

Time For Innocence,

This Season we are now in,

Gives our Life Meaning.

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Some people change, you know?

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014 Ronovan Inspiration & Motivation Family, Growth, Inspiration, Jesus, Maturity, Motivation, Scripture, Talent

Yeah, I know it’s not Sunday but I had a great verse given to me and wanted to share. You know sometimes you are seen as that person who wasn’t good in school or you were the fat kid or any other number of things. For the rest of your life that is who you are.

Matthew 13:58

⁵⁸And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

Jesus was just seen as that carpenter’s son when he went back home. People had heard what he had done but still just couldn’t get past what they had seen of him growing up. Imagine that.

For a lot of us out there we write. We can write just about anything. For some of us we were that quiet person that just made it through school without trouble of getting noticed. And that’s who we are still.

No one I grew up with or know would believe I write science fiction books, fantasy, historical drama, teen adventures or Romance novels. I’m still the same guy I was growing up, even to my ‘family’. For some people, if they never moved away from home for a period of time that being held to a a certain mold will crush that growing talent. For others they will leave and become this new person and when returning home they are once again who they were. Just like Jesus.

Imagine all that the world has missed out on because of people not being open to change and growth.

If you have a friend, family member or even your own child who shows a sign of being different than they were even just a week ago be open to it. My son enjoys things with me because I am open to his changing. How many 7 year old boys in the South do you know would try Sushi and like it? He’s told me the parts of a story he wants me to write someday. He does all these different things and I am always ready for the next change to happen.

I had a concussion and I am a totally different person. Well almost totally. But you can’t tell me that any longer that I am a certain something because I am reinventing myself. My original tagline for this blog site was “discovering my world one word at a time.” That’s what I do every day I write a new article or research something. Notice I am not rediscovering, I am discovering. I’m not looking back, I am looking forward.

Be open to all who show change because change happens. If you aren’t open you might miss out on something amazing.

Much Respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites 23 #Haiku #Poetry Prompt Challenge ReCap

December 21, 2014December 22, 2014 Ronovan Haiku Prompt Challenge Challenge, Haiku, Poetry, Poetry Prompt, Prompt, Ronovan Writes Haiku Prompt Challenge, Writing Prompt

23rd Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge ReCap!

Just a reminder, all you had to do to get into the ReCap was write a Haiku and somehow let me know, either with a copy of your link in the comments or a ping back.

The prompt words were Breathe & Night.

Another reminder is to follow the members of our little community here on their sites and Twitter. Show and share the love, right? Are you following our friends here? I include links to their sites and Twitters if they have them.

Moving Forward there will be Two A RONOVAN’S CHOICE! Haiku recipients each week. One for Humor and one for more Serious. It was brought to my attention that perhaps if I were giving it to everyone then why even bother. And in truth for those of you who remember I used to choose category recipients early on I suppose this makes sense. Proper structure may become a big decider at times. By structure I mean the 1&2 and 2&3 verses making sentences. But the message, as you all know is always what is more important to me in this challenge. The problem? There are so many great messages that I have to use something. So now, my job just got more difficult. Let the games begin. May your days be long but your poems be short.

Two New this Week!

January’s Dreamer: When Christmas Comes. Nice Haiku with a great image to go with the words. Excellent. From the site About Page–Until that Day of resurrection when Christ Jesus returns,¹ a Christian is called to be as “a letter from Christ . . . written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”²

Like this site, I’m a work-in-progress, but by God’s grace, He’s still editing.

Crisisalive: Crisis. Great structure, message and atmosphere/imagery. From her About Page
I am a mother of 3 who is having a bit of a crisis in my life with my emotions…thought that I would work though some of my awkwardness here and hopefully have a moment of epiphany. I love to take photos, although I am not a pro, I do feel that they help me in ways I cannot describe.
My family just gave me my first “Real” camera which I must say, aside from my family, is the best gift I have ever received! Bear with me as I learn how to use it and hopefully capture whatever it is that I am searching for. It looks like it’s going to be a fun, enlightening experience! I welcome all of you to jump on for the ride and please share your thoughts and constructive criticism to help me on my journey!

The Stop Watch Award goes to . . . A NEW WINNER!

T.A. Wyatt of Finale to an Entrance: Choking: The Can’t Breathe Haiku. From the somewhat romantic to the depressing reality of things. Two offerings this week. Remember to check out this author’s books at Amazon. @finaletoanEntranc

Ruth of Mad Meandering Me: Fire and Ice. I thought of this one as a bit of humor. Liked a reference that made one thing of England for certain and gave imagery of all sorts of scenarios.

Faith Unlocked: The Night Mare. and Here I Am. The first showed off a bit of the writing talent behind the name. very good imagery. The second stayed true to the Theme of the blog site with a calming message after the first one. @FaithUnlocked

Kimberly of K.S. Fause: Wink. Bit of a teasing title there. Thought we were getting a little flirtatious moment from Kimberly but alas I am sorry dear friends out there. You will have to continue to suffer. The winks are playful and flirtatious, just not from Kimberly. @KSFause

Carolyn of Reviews & Recommendations: CAughT unware. On my LWI site I put out a three things I would buy for Christmas as an Author. On JensPenDen I put out 5 Free things for Authors for Christmas. Carolyn just gave me an idea for another one for the wish list for Authors.

Claudette of to search and find happiness in every day: Filter. Very good message. I am still surprised where the ideas take people with the prompts. I always think it is telling of the type of soul a person has.

Florence of Rambling On: Lonely Nights. Ice water alert and hanky alert. Yeah, hot and sad at the same time. @FTThum

Cyril Bussiere: Safe. One might wonder where the name I chose came from. I think once you read the Haiku you will get it. I could have chosen other words but I think this captures it. Remember to check out this author’s books here at Amazon. @CyrilBussiere

Nato of Chasing Life and Finding Dreams: Completely Yours. Nato is trying to take care of the snow all over the northern hemisphere. @MichelleLunato

Wendy of Wendy Anne Darling Author: I feel you breathe. So many people remembering instead of experiencing. I see a theme in Blog World. Yep. @AuthorWDarling Find her book on Amazon here. But search her name on Amazon and you will find a lot more. She does audio book work as well.

Steven Walsky of Simplicity Lane: Pause for a Twinkle. A great fun one. I found it amusing and refreshing in it’s originality. Remember to check out his books on Barnes & Noble by clicking here and Smashwords here.

Marigold of Versus Bulb: Embrace the Night
A very good peaceful Haiku. One I wish actually happened for me. @MarigoldDicer

Melissa of This, Right Now: Breathe. Another one I could take and use but alas can’t seem to grasp.

Elizabeth of Tea & Paper: Finding Yourself. She has returned and brought a line of thought. Attempting to put a meaning for me to that last line. I see a direct one but you all know me, I like to complicate thinks. Maybe I just need to breathe.

Colleen of Silver Threading: Romeo &Juliet. The name says it all. Well, maybe not all, you still need to go read to see exactly what it’s all about. I mean it’s not like the whole play is about a tragic death scene, right? @ColleenChesebro

A RONOVAN’S CHOICE FOR HUMOR

Carolyn of Reviews and Recommendations with CAughT unaware. A writer’s dream and a well go read it..

A RONOVAN’S CHOICE FOR SERIOUS

Florence of Rambling on with Lonely Nights. Well, she made you feel it. And there you go.

I of course gave my own offerings up this week. Barely Breathe and Before the Night Fell.

The closing Haiku for this weeks Challenge words?

Breathe easy for now,

As today ends a challenge,

Night brings another.

Much Respect

Ronovan

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RonovanWrites Weekly #PHOTOgraphy #haiKU ReCap #23 #PhotoKu

December 21, 2014 Ronovan Wordless Haiku Challenge Haiku, Haiku Challenge, Photography, PhotoKu, Poetry, Poetry Challenge, Vashti Quiroz-Vega, Wordless, wordpress event

REWIND #23

Click the site names to see the PhotoKu for each.

The prompts they participants COULD use if they wished to were Slide & Snow. The prompts are only if you cannot come up with an idea.

Jen of Blog It or Lose It: I think this one should be called Afternoon Sun.Definitely an accurate description. I should know that.

@jrosenberry1

Michelle of Chasing Life and Finding Dreams: Joy in the Snow. I wish we had some of this right now. MichelleLunatoPhotography.WordPress.com

@MichelleLunato

Patty of I Am Not Sick Boy: First Walk. I was so not expecting that image to pop. Too funny. Awesome!

Georgia has expanded! We have Christmas Snow from The Eyes of Bastet. More site from bastet are Bastet and Sekhmet’s Library and Moon in the Heavens from Bastet’s Waka Library.

See y’all next time,

Ronovan

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My Sunday Thought: The Gift of Christmas?

December 21, 2014December 21, 2014 Ronovan Thoughts Bible, Christianity, Christmas, Cross, Easter, Faith, God, Jesus, Religion, Salvation

Oh my word. I tell you I had no idea what I would write about today for my Sunday Thought. I knew for those who might visit, a Christmas tale might be expected. Well, every day is Christmas for me so, my apologies for letting you down with something holiday oriented. But if you really want to have a bit of something Christmas then here you go.

A preacher and Christian Book Store filled the pulpit one Sunday evening since our pastor was out of town for the evening.

“Everybody, would you move forward to the edge of your seats for me?” he asked.

“Thank you. Now could you raise up your hand and say Amen?”

“Thank you, you may relax.” We all sat back in the pews with various people looking at each other strangely. Deacons were staring at deacons. I was smiling at the deacons, I was the Chairman of the Deacons at the time.

“You may all be wondering what that was about. I told the pastor I would have you all on the edge of your seats, raising your hands and saying amen before the end of the service. Now he owes me dinner.”

What’s that got to do with Christmas, right? Well this visiting preacher was a bit on the strange side. I mean cowboy boots, checkered shirt, jeans. Just saying the church wasn’t accustomed to that. I personally don’t care if the pastor is wearing shorts, Hawaiian shirt, and flip flops as long as he’s preaching the word of God and the Spirit is leading him. But he actually was a strange man. I spoke to him on several occasions after that in his store. I love books, sue me. No, don’t.

What he preached on that night left such an impression on me that I incorporated it into a Youth Lesson I taught one Wednesday night.

The Gift of Christmas is Easter

You know, a lot of people want to turn Christmas into just an economic boost. Some religions don’t even celebrate Christmas, and I mean the ones that believe in Jesus. I have a relative who doesn’t celebrate Christmas but sure does love getting a present to open. I really have no problem with any of the demoninations. Yes, I said demoninations. You see, man made the divisions. God is God. Jesus is Jesus. There you go. Dunk, sprinkle whatever. As long as they are believing in the true word of God, I’m good with it.

As you think about the baby Jesus all warm and happy in the manger, think of the bloodied and nude suffering Jesus on the cross dying for you. That little baby came here to end up like that so we could have Easter, salvation.

Part of the Trinity voluntarily came to earth in the form of an infant to live life as a human through all the sufferings of a human child and remain perfect throughout his life in order to be beaten, flogged, scourged, humiliated, crucified, murdered for us.

“Oh, but if he was God then he could be perfect” some try to say. Let me take a nail and pound it through your wrists with you knowing I intended to murder you and see if you would forgive me for it. Do you think it didn’t hurt Jesus? Do you think he didn’t feel pain? That little baby oh so cute and lovable died a murderous death. And here is something else to think about; for it to be the ultimate sacrifice for ALL of our sins, think about how badly and how horrible he must have been beaten even before getting to the cross.

I wasn’t going to talk about a Christmas related story today. I was actually going to talk about a verse I was given from Matthew, but as I began writing different words began to form on the screen and here we are. I love Christmas. I love the feelings it brings with family. It’s not the actual day of the birth of Christ but it’s nice to have a day to celebrate it. I think we should do it every day.

In the silence of that night long ago,

The son came to earth as a gift.

Celebrate the day in the way you like,

But always and every day his name uplift.

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The 25th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

This seems to be a number to celebrate. If you’ve ever participated write one for this anniversary. If you haven’t written one, it’s a good time to start.

New&Old

My Example

Old Memories Gone,

Like light from a candle’s Flame,

New memories Flame.

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

There are TWO “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” recipients each week. One for Humor and one for something more Serious. The Haiku are quite good each week and I am having to turn to the structure guidelines of a Haiku at times to help determine my selection.

Really each Haiku is a choice of mine, and I’m not just saying that, so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right? And it does make it kind of fun.

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Spread this stuff everywhere!

Top 10 Most Liked

Of 2014

#10

#9

#7

#6

#4

#3

#2

#1

Bonus

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New this Week!

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REWIND #24

Click the site names to see the PhotoKu for each.

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The em dash:

The Ellipsis:

The Space After Punctuation:

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Top 10 Most Liked

of 2014

#10

#8

#7

#5

#4

#2

#1

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Welcome to PhotoKu!

#23

The Prompt Words are:

Smile&Shine

What do the words mean to you, and how can you connect the two words through that second line?

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The 24th Haiku Prompt Challenge!

Innocence&Life

My Example

Time For Innocence,

This Season we are now in,

Gives our Life Meaning.

DEADLINE: Noon on Sunday New York Time.

There are TWO “A RONOVAN’S CHOICE!” recipients each week. One for Humor and one for something more Serious. The Haiku are quite good each week and I am having to turn to the structure guidelines of a Haiku at times to help determine my selection.

Really each Haiku is a choice of mine, and I’m not just saying that, so I feel a bit odd even having something called A RONOVAN’S CHOICE, but hey, it’s a thing, right? And it does make it kind of fun.

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Spread this stuff everywhere!

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