Omens & Giveaway

Finally, something you've all been waiting for...

Good Omens...

You can win a $300 voucher and other competitions for (March 2020) 

Or go straight to my $25 voucher competition (March 2020)

The below competition is out of date...but the book is still awesome, with an average 4.5 stars on Amazon  - pick it up wide, or pick up the whole series here!

Obviously not the TV show...although that was awesome. No, this is Omens, the last book of my Sylvalla Chronicles trilogy. And to celebrate the release, I'm offering signed copies of Prophecy and Omens (OR a US $ 30 voucher)

& Giveaway:
Signed copies of Prophecy and Omens OR a US $30 Voucher! 

All you have to do is go to here to my website and fill in your name and email. My privacy policy is also here. (but the summary is no, I won't share your email address)

Good luck!

And I hope to be back again with poetry once the stress has subsided.
In the meantime, have fun reading,
A.J. Ponder

 

 

You can find my stories for a great price, and support my writing on ko-fi    

I'd love to know which poems you'd like to see in my upcoming poetry book—2024

 

 

The Monsters are Real

Okay - today's Tuesday Poem on a Wednesday is "The Monsters are Real"
I'm hoping to post some motivational "poetry" soon - so look out for that. :)

The Monsters are Real

What do you do when the monsters are real
and they're not hiding under the bed?

What do you do when the monsters reveal
that they like to play with your head.

It's zeroes and ones
until it becomes
a dance with truth
and deceit.
Tell me, what will you do when faceless suits
dance to their puppeteer's drum?

So what do you do when the monsters are real
and they're not hiding under you bed?

And what do you do when with murderous glee
the monsters complain of civility?

"Oh oysters, pitiful wretches,
come and walk with me
the day is - oh, so hot
and my tears are wet, as wet could be."

Tell me, what will you do now the monsters are real
and they're not hiding under your bed?

Now the gaslight is on
And the bedroom's not safe
Can you see that the monsters are real?
Their words are fair, and their acts are foul,
with tongues are as divided
as the rage they can't keep in their heads.

Will you believe what they say?
Will you believe what we say?
Will you believe it today?
Will the propaganda mess with your head?

Come, will you become a faceless suit -
and dance to their puppeteer's drum?
 
What do you do when the monsters are real -
and the monsters come for your head? 

A.J. Ponder

 A.J. Ponder is the author of Quest - to find out more about Quest, follow this link to Quest on my author website.


 

An Epic Quest

 While I've been out having an epic fantasy quest of my own (pictures below - including sword fighting!) , there's been a so much happening in the world of poetry, book releases and more.

While I've been distracted, Tim Jones has released his latest book New Sea Land available from Makaro Press and so has Keith Westwater, releasing No One Home: A Boyhood Memoir in Letters and Poems .  And that's not even including Bonsai : Best Small Stories From Aotearoa New Zealand,which has some great little stories and prose poems by a range of literary authors. It was fun to see so many familiar and new faces at the launch, I was almost sad not to have subbed, but authors have to choose their projects, and I choose fun. Take a look at the pictures of my launch of Quest and say I chose wrong!

It was lovely to see so many wonderful friends, fans and fellow writers at my book launch for Quest. It was epic, so thank you all, and here are some pictures from the launch. I'm looking forward to seeing even more authors next month when Eileen Mueller launches her book Ezaara, because it won't clash with the biggest NZSA event of the year (oops!)

Have fun,
A.J. Ponder

And if you like fantasy and having fun check out the article It's a World of Fantasy on Scoop or buy a copy of my book Quest, it's at a low opening price that is unlikely to be repeated so get one now - before checking out the last two pictures of the Company of the Dragons sword fighting during the launch of Quest. :) 

 (Available to buy on Rona Gallery, Children's Bookshop or Arty Bees, Wardini with personalised signed copies available from Rona Gallery if you ask. To find out more follow this link to "Quest" on my author website.

Set-word poem in the style of AA Milne

As part of an interview on Lee Murray's blog - I wrote Gargantuan Season: a poem that only had one rule - include the words: mucus, daffodil, gargantuan... so 

It’s Gargantuan Season again,

They’ll invade the daffodils

And then, 

When you think you’re quite safe,

They’ll bite off your face

And leave not a trace -

I know it’s not great

To be left out as bait-

But at least there’s no mucus all over the place.

To see more of the strange questions Eli and I were asked - and the even stranger answers - why not go to Lee Murray's blog?

Have a great week people 

A.J. Ponder

 

Find my stories and support my writing on ko-fi    

I'd love to know which poems you'd like to see in my upcoming poetry book—2024

 

 

Great news: Attack of the Giant Bugs has been released

New Book: Attack of the Giant Bugs

Yes, I know it's not poetry, but this is a fun book for eight to ten year olds, and Eli and I really enjoyed writing it. 

Just this evening we were laughing about one of the endings. Yes, you have to make a deliberately silly choice, and it's a very silly ending...so I thought I'd let you have a little sneak peak. (below)

Warning: some of the book contains real science, and there's a little glossary of the insects used in the story at the back for people who are interested.

Recommended for ages 8-12

You choose: Cat. Lepidoptera 

“Okay,” Frankie says. “Here goes.”

You can hear beeping from the other side of the rubble. The self-destruct starts talking. “Does not compute, twenty three minutes remaining, and counting.”

The others all exchange looks, but there’s not much time for anything else before a flash of sound and light hits your senses. When you pick yourself up off the floor, it’s hard to stand up.

And then you look down at your paws – PAWS!?!?! You squeak in horror. Somehow, you’ve been turned into a mouse.

Other mice are turning around and around in circles, squeaking in terror. Although a few are casually washing their whiskers as if nothing is wrong.

“Quick, this way,” a mouse says. You’re pretty sure it’s Frankie. She leads all the other mice through the rubble toward you and then makes a megaphone out of old posters and a bit of wire. It takes a bit of yelling through the megaphone, but the police do eventually come down to see what’s happening. Once they see the mouse yelling through the megaphone, they grin. A voice booms out very loudly. “We’d better send for Frankie’s mother.”

#

After weeks of living at Frankie’s house, drinking terrible potions and getting changed into rubber balls, strawberry plants and jellyfish, you’re all turned back into people.

Back at home, you receive a mousepad with a cat on it in the mail. On it are the words, I survived The Great Mouse Incident. Never Again. But in the end, it’s not so bad, because becoming a mouse made you discover your love of cheese. You move to France and become the best cheesemaker in the world, crafting all kinds of specialty cheeses. Royalty and celebrities are the only people who can afford your most expensive product, Crafty Cupcake’s Camembert. Each of these cheeses is worth a time machine. And that’s the best part, because there’s plenty more adventure to be had - by going back in time.

If you make different choices, you can blow up the entire museum, join the bad guys, or find your own mouse companion – a diabolical varmint who will plot revenge against you from under the kitchen cupboards.

For more adventure, click on this link to Amazon and take a peek inside (or buy the book, you know you want to --it's the perfect present for kids, and every sale helps Eli and I produce more fabulous books for the young - and the young at heart)

#

Have a great week, 

A.J.Ponder

Please ignore this blurb - it's mostly an experiment with key words - cheers!!!!!!!!! :)

One of the authors and editor of Sir Julius Award winning Lost in Te Papa and Twisty Christmas tales, A.J. Ponder is a Sir Julius Vogel award winning author in her own right with Frankie and the Netball Clone taking out best short story. Obviously A.J. has a certain fascination with genius inventors as two of her most famous characters, Lilliana Lionheart and Frankie have that in common. She has a love of science, and a BSc hons to back that up, not to mention being married to Te Papa's Phil Sirvid, the museum entomologist and white-tailed spider expert.

AJ's books include Miss Lionheart and the Laboratory of Death, The Frankie Files, Wizard's Guide to Wellington, numerous school journal stories and plays, horror short stories for adults, along with science fiction, and the odd secret spy, and super-villain. 

If you're interested, and have managed to read past the "please ignore" :) why not check out my profile on Amazon and see if there's anything I've written that you'd like? 

The Great Weta Robbery

Once again I have failed to meet the Tuesday deadline with a poem, I'm trying to keep up posting every week and get a new book out, but in the meantime, I'd like to link you to a book I co-wrote with Peter Friend, a few years ago now, called The Great Weta Robbery. It's a great little book published by Gilt Edge for early readers. There's an audio version at the above link, and even better for teachers, there's an educator's guide here.

The blurb: When your after-school job is looking after weta the size of cats, it'd be understandable if you thought that your life couldn't get any more exciting or dangerous. But there is a darker secret lurking in the laboratories of Krell Reserach and it's down to one boy – with his sidekicks Snapper, Fluffy, Five-Legs and the other mega-weta – to get to the bottom of it.

I hope you enjoy it (even though it's definitely not poetry!)
A.J. Ponder



Links (for people who like to see where their links are going)

The Great Weta Robbery Book and Audio Link
 https://www.giltedgepublishing.co.nz/products/the-great-weta-robbery-1

Educators Guide
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54aabd1ee4b037e9bad286f6/t/58b4336459cc684cc88b9a63/1488204656597/Friend%2C+Peter+and+Alicia+Ponder.+THE+GREAT+WETA++ROBBERY.pdfteach

The Moment by A.J. Ponder

There's more than this -
more than the endless
wait
for expert idiots
who've yet
to reach the 21st century

The plane's on fire
smoke trailing
from the fuselage -
and you think
the remedy'sto look the other way?

So yeah,
I'll push
because you won't find this
without stepping out
into the abyss
of
might have been
should have been
 So keep your false
promises
of tomorrow
and take the leap
because I'm tired of watching
as you
destroy the engines,
shred the parachutes
and pretend
the moment is not upon us

The moment
when today
has lost it's luster -
and
today is
almost gone

A.J. Ponder 


It's been a good week, an angry week. So I hope you enjoy my angry poem :) And just so I can do the search engine thing - global warming, climate change, but of course that's not what this poem is about not really - just incidentally. I'm hoping it still works, anyway.

Thanks for dropping by, and have a great week!
A.J.
 

Watching the Deadlines Fly By

Peeps might have noticed been having a little trouble with deadlines....the Tuesday one in particular, so I wrote this for you today :)

Watching the Deadlines Fly By

The summer sun was shining 
and hay was being made
the ants were trailing one by one
through the ballustrade

The crickets were all chirping
while I fretted in the shade
and yet I noticed none of this
just deadlines to be made

A multitude of deadlines
from half a hundred things
all tied up with sealing wax
and multi-coloured strings

And now I have those deadlines
as pretty as can be,
it's time to watch them rushing by
like bullets from a train,
so I can hear that wooshing noise
flying past again

A.J. Ponder

In memory of Douglas Adams  "I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."

Tuesday Poem: Currently Working On Something Big

Do Not Disturb,
although of course a writer is disturbed most of the time
and hopefully disturbing,


Men at Work
definitely needs a sign,
how else would anyone know
that lounging around signified -
anything more than impending doom?

Drugs at Work
seriously. Sounds more recreational to me.
But just in case...

Pay Attention to Prevent Injuries,
although in a writer's universe,
it's important to exchange "Prevent" with "Cause"
to really get your money's worth
out of your cast and crew.

Danger: Keep Out: Writer at Work,
the standard bribe is one gluten free cupcake
not that I'm fussy or anything,
but you don't argue with Aslan when he has stomach-ache -
- and in my universe I'm far more dangerous than any lion.

Keep Calm
and make sure your characters are put through the wringer
before you -

Carry On

A.J. Ponder

Yes it's been very quiet over here in Affliction of Poetry land, the author is busy doing authorial things, and being busy and all. I love poetry, but I also love books, and stories and adventures (so long as they'e fictional so I don't actually have to be in them).

Have a great week, and don't forget to check out the rest of the Tuesday Blog here.

Tuesday Poem: Falling

It's the first stumble
the gasped
breath

that's the worst

It's the rushing
falling, spinning
world

that's the worst

it's the impact
burning skin
bones-

snapping...

knowing the worst
is yet to come.


Alright couldn't let another week go without a poem. Sorry, it's another cheery one, desperately want to go back to fairy tales, butapart from my gorgeous daughter in her "Frozen" glory... Still maybe that will be a good theme to try and explore next week.

Have a fantastic one
and why not check out the Tuesday Poem Hub?
cheers,
A.J.

Tuesday Poem, Mary's booklaunch and Sir Julius Vogel Update!

What a whirlwind this week has been with Wellington Writers Week and two of my works reaching the Sir Julius Vogel Awards shortlist, Ahi Ka written with the talented Eileen Mueller on my website and Northwrite and our Twisty Christmas Tales ebook is on Smashwords and Amazon.

The highlight for me was Mary McCallum's book launch of the gorgeous Dappled Annie and the Tigrish on Sunday.  What a fantastic turnout to celebrate Gecko book authors and Mary in particular.  Teamed up with the whimsical and magical Annie Hayward, Mary and of course the publishers have produced something so beautifully nostalgic I'm sure it's going to be a favourite in many households.

The following is an extract is from page 57, just after Annie discovers a little honey, and explores the importance of loyalty,  
 
At that moment, one of the fingers of sunlight that had been making its way across the lawn through the gap in the hedge slid across the fingers of one of Annie's hands.  It was the one with the honey thumb.

"Loyalty royalty then," said Annie loudly, and then again: "Loyalty." And she bowed toward the tigrish as if he were a king and she a visiting princess, and she closed her hand on the sunlight to keep it in case she needed it later. This was something her father had taught her to do. Being a lighthouse keeper he had a lot to say about light.

Annie noticed the fur of the tigrish was shimmering now, blue and gold like the hottest part of a fire.

"I'm ready," she said.

For what? you might wonder. I'm not sure yet.  I guess I'll have to keep on reading :)

Lovely stuff, with just a touch of poetry
For more poetry, and some of the posts this week are outstanding, why not check out the Tuesday Poem Hub at the tuesday poem blog

A.J. Ponder

Tuesday Poem: Ahi Kā by A.J. Ponder and Eileen Mueller

Ahi Kā

(Prose and interwoven sonnet, Truth Lies in Fire and Dies in Flame)

Winning entry (first equal) in NZSA NorthWrite 2013 Collaboration Contest

By Eileen Mueller and A.J. Ponder

Howls pierced the fog of my dreams. I clutched Ahi, shaking her awake. “Are they real?” Yowling wound through my ear canals, ricocheting inside my head. “The dogs, Ahi, can you hear them?”

She woke, startled. “Hurry, Manaaki. They’re coming.”

We scrambled out of our bush-clad hideout, dashing up the hillside, sliding in the damp earth, ponga fronds whipping our faces.

Frenzied yelps closed in on us. The creatures’ vicious snarling drowned our laboured breathing.

Blue eyes pursued us, hot gas flames in the dark.

Were they real?

I yanked my meds from my pocket. Pills scattered in the dirt. I scrabbled for them. One stuck in my throat before sliding down.

#

Cry havoc and let us unloose the dogs

the dogs, let slip those hellish brutes of war

for tonight Manaaki will have to choose

to run—

#

“Hellhounds,” Ahi yelled, bounding up the mud and crumbling rock.

Menacing growls raced through the underbrush. Ahi yanked a nail from her fingertip. It flared to light, illuminating the black-hackled beast leaping towards us.

“Ahi?” In all our time together, her fingernails had never exploded into fireballs. I stared at her and swallowed another pill, tasting dirt.

The hound, with pain-stricken yelps, was devoured by flame. Wild baying echoed in the valley below. More hellhounds.

Ahi stood, fingertip bleeding. Her hand, with only four nails, reached out. Warm blood sticky in my palm, she yanked me uphill.

Had my medication stopped working?

To be sure, I gulped another down.

#

Laugh in the shade of the slavering beast

let fire light his eyes and make death tame

the boy is mad—

#

 The hellhounds thundered behind us. Racing through the darkness, we tripped, smashing our knees on jutting rocks.

I gagged on the stench of the hounds’ hot breath. They snapped at our heels—and bit deep. I screamed.

Ahi ripped off another nail, flinging it over her shoulder. The beast yelped and fled, trailing flames.

Fingers spraying glistening blood in the flame-light, Ahi aimed nail after nail at the perilous beasts, until only two nails remained.

#

The boy is mad to thwart this hunter’s feast

the dirt he tastes will never bear his name

and yet he stops and turns—

#

Ahi flung her penultimate nail through snarling fangs.

The beast combusted. Singed fur and burning flesh. A pale demon loomed behind the hellhound’s flaming carcass. Worse than hellhounds. Worse than my lover-turned-stranger beside me, oozing blood from her torn fingertips. Worse than hallucinations.

I screamed.

Ahi smiled through her blood and tears. She tore the final fingernail from her hand and pressed it into mine. “Swallow this,” she whispered.

#

Truth Lies in Fire and Dies in Flame

Cry havoc and let us unloose the dogs
the dogs, let slip those hellish brutes of war
for tonight Manaaki will have to choose
to run through fire and flame or face the maw

Laugh in the shade of the slavering beast
Let fire light his eyes and make death tame
The boy is mad to thwart this hunter’s feast
The dirt he tastes will never bear his name

And yet he stops and turns, his wild fear tame
Ahi Kā, Manaaki keep the home fires burning
In blood and fire—with life he stakes his claim
Ahi Kā, let us stand where he is standing

Not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds;
But burn those who chase Manaaki out of bounds

Story and sonnet A.J. Ponder and Eileen Mueller

I hope you enjoyed this foray into literary fantasy,

cheers,  
A.J. Ponder

You can find A.J. Ponder at:

Ponder Books - Get ready for Adventure

Bookbub

& Amazon

Amazon aff link

Authors and Poets

Busy week, there's lots to do in the build up to Christmas - there's the obligatory making of Christmas Cakes and scramble to tidy the house and the garden, not to mention all those social event -  books, writing, books and more books - in my case ;)   

And like most people these days I'm also working - although some of it is fun -  Rona Gallery is putting on "The Santa Trap" (One of Peter Friend's and my School Journal Plays) for Christmas.   Not to mention the Christmas exhibition itself - and all the advertising.... so

So for a change I'm putting up about twenty favourite authors -  and in as few words as possible why they are so fab.  Feel free to contribute, I'm sure I've missed more than a few!

JRR Tolkein 

       for historical fiction that went the extra mythological mile

John Wyndham

        for disconcerting and surprising children     

A A Milne

         a bear however hard he tries grows tubby without exercise, 

         he gets what exercise he can by falling off the ottoman --

         and yet other authors seem to lack a certain good willed knack

         of finding love in little things, in toys and chairs - and crackpot kings.

Frances Hardinger

           the newest inductee.  Not for the prizewinning "Fly by Night,"

           but the bottomless well that is Verdigris Deep

C. J. Cherryh

          Down Below Station -  Enough said

Andre Norton

          The lady of science fiction herself   

Helen Cresswell

           There was winter, and there was birds --

            but I although I read the same words I could never read the same story twice

Roald Dahl

           Danny the Champion of the World, not to mention an abiding love of chocolate.

CS Lewis

          For opening the wardrobe door.

Terry Pratchett

           for raising a smile, and adding footnotes.

E.B White

          Thankyou for Charlotte, and your even more endearing mute swansong.

Diana Wynne Jones

           Ged

Mary Norton

           For making little people big.

Astrid Lindgren

          Two strong arms, plaits and an indomitable personality. 

Ursula K Le Guin

           Ged - and  more recently the little known Lavinia. 

Lewis Carrol

          A glimpse into madness,

Maurice Sendak

            One night Max made mischief - and the rest is history involving a boat and some very cute monsters.

Dr Seuss

           And the song of the swomee-swans rang out in space

Douglas Adams (both really I guess, but this one in particular) 

          Got towel - can travel. Don't panic.     

HG Wells

          For travelling back in time to get there first.

I hope you enjoy these authors as much as I do,
A.J. Ponder

A.J. Ponder's work is available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington bookstores

My very popular, Wizard's Guide to Wellington on my author webiste.

Under the Surface

Deep,

deep 
in the ocean

a story squirmed on a hook.

I tried to reel it in

struggling to the surface,

but my calamari twisted

just out of reach -

not yet ready to loosen its hold to life.

I wanted to taste the sea,

smell the sweetness

of lemons on fried fish,

I wanted most things

a writer wants

when an idea plays with them,

dangling wantonly,

before diving into the depths of the ocean.

In aggravation

I tried to pin it down with words

and pull it in,

my monster.

Its slippery skin

refused the invitation,

wriggling in meters,

drumming its eight legs to the beat of the ocean.

Squid, octopus, monster of the deep

opened an enormous maw

and sucked me in

until there was nothing left

but

teeth

inky paper

and stories

lurking

deep

deep in the ocean.

 A.J. Ponder

It seems Lorraine is right - I often cannot seem to help but want my poems to tell a story.  And the sea is definitely a recurring theme.  Maybe it's because it's so close, breathing in and out like an old friend, but more likely it is the fear - the "Here be Dragons" marked on the borders of maps; the giant squid, the octopus my father caught that tugged him around several bays in the sounds; the sharks; the stingrays, so silent and dark, like barbed shadows in the water... or maybe it is simply an inability to see clearly through to the sands and stones below.  I'm leery of the "big-bath", have been since I was old enough to speak.  Now don't get me wrong, I do sometimes go swimming, rational fears and irrational fears not being the same thing.  But there is something enticing and frightening about the ocean, something almost alive, so that even if only the friendliest minnows lived inside, I think there would be the fear of not coming back. And still the catch fascinates us, we are happy to sit in boats all day with a line over the side, trying to catch the big one, the one that got away.  For writers it is much the same, the patience, the work, the hope, the one that got away, and the deep dark fears that we tease out from as deep a water as we can find.

Click here for more links to fairytale poetry, some mine, and some from other great authors. 

 

Find my stories and support my writing on ko-fi 

And tell me which poems you'd like to see in my upcoming poetry book—2024? https://ko-fi.com/ajponder