Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Annie Shares News July 2023 newsletter

| Filed under nonfiction novel writing Writing Life

Annie Shares News Volume 2 Issue 7 July 2023

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www.annchiappetta.com

 

Summer greetings!

🏖️ 🩴 ✈️ 🍹 🧳 🚢

New Projects and New Beginnings

June and July are busy months for me and my family. We take on projects and enjoy long weekends driving to regional fairs, events and picnics. I’ve been an active member of the American Council of the Blind for over twenty years. Our National conference and convention is in July. Since  the pandemic, ACB has incorporated it’s virtual and in-person attendance,  accommodating a hybrid program and schedule. Now that I am invested in and serving as the Friends In Art affiliate President, my time and passion for the arts and FIA  keeps me busy in late June with the virtual program as well as attending some of the hybrid events. I wanted to attend the in-person portion of the conference taking place in Schaumburg, Illinois but circumstances have kept me from doing so. Positive circumstances, like house hunting and finishing my second novel. 😊

 

July is Read an eBook month.

All my Books are On Sale DURING JULY

Now is your best chance to find my entire eBook collection for a promotional price at @Smashwords as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! Find my books and many more at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos all months! #SWSale2023 #Smashwords

 

 

I support learning something new each year post-retirement. Last year it was Zoom and all its bells and whistles.  In 2021 it was  learning how a two-channel USB connector and studio microphone and headphones worked with my pc and crafting a portable noise damper. Yes, folks, I used a twin sized sheet, 12 x 12 foam tiles and plenty of safety pins to  make a tent. And, no, I am not taking pictures. It is too embarrassing. It works when needed, that is all I will tell you .

This year I am learning how to use a digital audio workstation, or DAW, called Gold wave. I am working on recording my next poetry collection myself. 😉

The novel? Imperfections is in final rewrite mode. It comes in under 300 pages and is a romance.  But it is  more than a romance; it is a great story about  love, hope and healing. It’s not too late to be a beta reader. Email me at anniecms64@gmail.com if you would like to read an advanced copy and provide answers to six targeted questions.  Once you return your answers, I will compensate you with a copy of the book.

 

My guide dog, Bailey, has recovered from his surgery and  is healthy.  He is still working part-time for me, enjoying  road trips and attending presentations. I am blessed with the gift of independence in the form

of a great dog. Bailey will retire soon but indicates he still wants to work, so we  will continue, being mindful of his condition.

 

I was featured in an article discussing the digital divide for people with disabilities. Go here to read it.

 

The energy I’ve absorbed  from the recent summer solstice  fills me  with exciting plans. Relocating  to another State  is happening soon as well as  decluttering our current home in advance of the move.

 

May warm breezes and pleasant experiences be with you.

Until next time,

Annie and Bailey

Annie and yellow lab Bailey licking her face

Bailey licking Ann’s face

 

 

 

 

 

 

NPM day five

| Filed under nonfiction Poem

The Ride

To Pepsi, the best horse I ever rode.

By Ann Chiappetta

forge the stream On docile

chestnut Appaloosa. Hooves

splash and click on  submerged stones

this is big country air crisp and wild

A split trail. Guide points

“Mountain lion won’t look for you there. You got two hours, follow the stream to get back,”

 

Horse and rider   brush Past weeping willows and wildflowers.

A light shake of reins, a tap of heels

Trot, canter, galloping

horse jumps. clears mud puddle

rider  flies,

lands with a wet plop

on back, breathless

warm breath,  big nose nuzzles face

mud splattered Eyes open

soft  equine gaze says,

“Hey, let’s finish the ride,”

 

Lake Tahoe, Nevada September  1980

 

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

A Poem for Country Living

| Filed under blogging nonfiction pets and people Poem

Transformation

By Ann Chiappetta

 

My City Dogs become Porch mongrels

Laying  beside the mason jar of sun tea

The basso drone of a honey bee

The snap of a Jay’s call

The aroma of a grill

A whisking breeze   bestows relief

 

It is a call to prayer

 

Soon  we  will rise

Shake free of the   delightful

porch-dog torpor

trade  the carefree for the city

But for now  we are  country hounds.

2022

 

view of field from back of vacation house, mountain can be seen  from a distance through the trees.

 

 

 

May the Bone Hoarder Chronicles

| Filed under nonfiction Relationships

It was a stressful day. I visited my dentist and underwent an extraction, one of many in preparation for implants. It wasn’t as horrible as anticipated, though I will admit I do get anxious whenever my trusted dental expert schedules to remove something I’ve grown up with and have learned to depend upon like a front tooth.   Needless to say today   some comedic relief would have been wonderful, and with this in mind, here’s the story:

 

I was going back to the kitchen to refill my drink with ice and Jerry was preparing dinner. He turned to me, then looked down and exclaimed,

“Hey, where’s the other ear of corn?” and before I could say anything, he bolted past me and found the stolen item beside another bone on the dog bed in the living room. May was not owning up to it, and) conspicuously nowhere near the crime. She is not only a bone hoarder but also a corn-on-the-cob thief. We’ve caught her before, and one time, it took her three days to finally poop out the cob.

 

I could not hold back and burst out and laughed the gut-busting kind of laugh, complete with tears and belly cramps, followed by giggles and more laughing.

 

May and my hubby gave me the best gift, stress relief!

May on dog bed with bones beside her.This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative. May the dog on her bed with her bones

 

 

 

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0

Celebrate July with freedom and Free books 🎇

| Filed under blindness Fiction Guide dogs nonfiction Poem

Celebrate July with freedom and Free books

📕  📖  📘  📙  📗

The 14th Annual Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale has begun, running now through July 31. Visit my author’s page to order your free eBooks from Smashwords during the Summer sale!

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/AnnChiappetta

 All my titles are free, a gift to readers everywhere.

 

Thousands of titles are discounted or free —  so why not go to Smashwords and go shopping for your summer reading collection? Visit the sale at https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos

 

Why Smashwords? Electronic choices, of course. It’s simple and get the book delivered to your inbox.  Transfer it to your favorite book reading app. It’s great, kindle isn’t the only eBook reading app in town. 😉

Words of life book cover

Tranquil photo of stacked stones beside circular pattern in the sand.

 

Year in Review

| Filed under blindness nonfiction writing Writing Life

Annie Shares News Issue 2.2 February 2022

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Everything Annie: www.annchiappetta.com

Here’s to palindromes, 2.2.2022! There are ten palindrome dates during 2022 and in 2021 there were twenty-two.  Hm. 💭

 

I wasn’t going to do it, wasn’t going to give into the year-in-review, fan the rolodex of personal and literary accomplishments and ego-boosting feats and phantasms claiming it is imperative for others to read it and feign being impressed. What can I say? I gave in like a cheap pair of dollar store flip-flops.

 

Here’s a year in review. I’ll attempt to complete it in quarters and leave the unmentionables unmentioned.

  1. Two of my books on Audible.com.
  2. Narrating part of the book, Words of Life: Poems and Essays. Gads of winks to Lilly and Graydon for encouraging me to even do it.
  3. Completing my YA novel, Hope for the Tarnished and getting it to my editor, Leonore.
  4. Submitting to more journals and article writing opportunities in paying markets to benefit my craft and visibility in the writing community.
  5. Collaborating and developing two podcasts.
  6. Being a guest on two international podcasts to promote my books.
  7. Posting a monthly newsletter and making it a routine.
  8. Stepping back from stressful volunteer responsibilities and healing my overstressed mind, body and spirit.
  9. Joining a private weekly poetry writing and critique group that I adore.
  10. Embracing my talents in both the physical, creative, and metaphysical places and forms.
  11. Accepting the aging process and working with what I’ve been given.

I am sure I could go on to number over twenty items but won’t belabor it, folks. I am good and find the place where I am now one of wonder, learning, and balanced with stubbornness necessary to push through the challenges.

Peace and health for you, friends. I value the connections and the free exchange of support and care we’ve shared over the past year and hope we continue the connections into the future.

Dreya the book dragon wants to wish you all well and continued flights of creativity to come your way.

 

 

1Red and green dragon floating amid books and musical notes. She is smiling and Ann’s  name and the words “Making meaningful connections with others through writing” is to the right of the dragon.

 

 

 

 

 

Tulips and Breath and Shadow

| Filed under nonfiction Relationships writing

Thanks to editor-in-Chief, Chris Kuell, I am honored to be featured, with other talented writers in the Winter 2022 issue of Breath and Shadow. Check out the prize-winning essays, fiction and poetry in this issue.

 

https://www.abilitymaine.org/bs2022winter-1/%22the-tulips-come-back%22

The New Year, and Pandemic Stress

| Filed under nonfiction Relationships writing

Annie Shares News Issue 1 January 2022

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🍾 Happy New Year! 🎇

 

Well now, friends and followers, 2021 has been complicated, hasn’t it? I don’t know about you but I feel wrung-out and all kinds of weird – hm, could it be the wacky weather or maybe the long-term effects of a two-year long pandemic. One blogger I know stated the continual loss and grieving   may contribute to   feeling wrung-out and disheartened.  – whatever is contributing to   it, it’s sure been a rollercoaster ride of strained emotions. If you think you’ve been alone in feeling this way, rest assured you are one of many and you are not alone.

As written by Plato: “Strange times are these in which we live when old and young are taught falsehoods in school. And the person that dares to tell the truth is called at once a lunatic and fool”

He might have been talking about himself yet his words are prophetic and powerful. I never thought we would be living through a pandemic and yet here we are.

 

I will move onto less troubling topics,.  Most of the early part of 2021 was recording my two most recently published books as audio books. It’s a goal to strive for my material to be offered in alternative formats for the blind and people with print disabilities like dyslexia.   All my books are available from audible.com and as digital books from the National Library of Congress talking book catalog.  The specific links and everything Annie is on my website, www.annchiappetta.com .

I would not have been able to do it myself, and huge thanks goes out to voice actor and the best narrator, Lillian Yves for being there to help.

 

Taking part in interviews and podcasts is fun and exciting, especially when being an international guest. Check out this one with Princess Diva: https://anchor.fm/diva-williams/episodes/Inspirational-moments-with-Ann-Chiappetta–Author-e19j36i

and this one with Karina KKantas: https://www.artistfirst.com/kantas.htm

 

Here’s a haiku for you to ponder:

Hands cup grains of sand

Delicate and Rough to touch

Stars pulsing through time

Dreya the book dragon sends wing beats of creativity and kindness your way, 🐲

photo description of Ann's personal logo of green dragon floating amid books and musical notes.

A whimsical red and green dragon floats among flying musical notes and books. Text to the right reads Ann Chiappetta making meaningful connections with others through writing.Ann’s personal logo