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Tuesday, March 21, 2017

5 Star Review for Mary Kelley's "The Weeping Angel"


Greetings!

We are excited to participate in two months of excitement for Mary Kelley’s book The Weeping Angel.


Book Review by Crystal J. Casavant-Otto:

The Weeping Angel is such a beautiful tribute to World War I France and to Hubert Williams Kelley. Mary Kelley has done such a lovely job of organizing the letters to share them with the world and future generations. History books cannot move you the way personal letters and accounts of war do. Hubert Williams Kelley's letters are moving, sometimes dark, and often raw in a way that will haunt you.

I cannot imagine what would have happened had Mary Kelley not put together The Weeping Angel. This personal account would have been lost forever. This also makes me wonder how many others have boxes of letters and photos from days long gone. How many of those precious memories will never be shared? The letters in The Weeping Angel were written between 1917 and 1919 and yet, when you begin reading it feels as though you yourself have been transported back in time 100 years and you won't want to return to the present until you've finished the last page.

This book is moving and emotional; an absolutely must read for anyone (regardless of their favorite genre).


About The Weeping Angel

Now, on the Centennial of World War I, Kelley’s wish is realized with the publication of The Weeping Angel, his account of the war in northern France as he lived it. Told through letters and poems, Kelley writes home to his Kansas City family with vivid descriptions of day to day life on the edge of the battlefield. Enlisting right after graduation from Central High, he claims to play the bugle in order to be accepted and proves to be a talented raconteur and observer. Although he could not play the bugle and never really learned, he became the regimental poet of Company D of the Twelfth Engineers and found his true vocation as a writer.

Mary Kelley, his daughter, edited and researched this special collection of her father’s letters over the past six years. With the help of Colonel John Laird’s History of the Twelfth Engineers and research at the National WWI Museum, she has annotated the letters to show the actual path of the unit as they repaired and built light gauge railways to carry ordnance and materiel to the front lines in Cambrai, St. Mihiel and other important battlegrounds in France. Pte. Kelley and the 12th were among the first American troops in Europe and they stayed to prepare for the Occupation for months after the Armistice of November 11, 1918. He returned to Kansas City to become a reporter for the Kansas City Star and later the editor of American Magazine in New York.

The Weeping Angel (L’Ange Pleurer) is a small statue poised over a tomb in Notre Dame d’Amiens Cathedral, carved by Nicolas Blasset in 1636. With one hand on an hourglass and the other on a skull, the angel came to symbolize the war to Kelley and the many soldiers who visited it during WW I. He wrote about it in his letters and in 1931 when he recalled one harrowing night lying in a field near Amiens with bombs falling around him. Life is brief, death is imminent.



Additional Appearances:


Tuesday, March 28th @ 5:30pm EST with Cyrus Webb
"Cyrus Webb Presents" is the place where host Cyrus Webb introduces topics and guests that matter to you and today he is chatting live with Mary Kelley about her book “The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France”. Don’t miss this show!
www.blogtalkradio.com/cyruswebbpresents.


Friday, March 31st with Madeline Sharples @ Choices
Author and memoirist Madeline Sharples shares her thoughts after reading “The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France” by Mary Kelley. This insightful review is one you won’t want to miss!
http://madelinesharples.com/




The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France

Genre
Memoir / Non Fiction / Historical
Paperback: 139 pages
Publisher: Willow Avenue Books (2016)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1940244709

Amazon Link


Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/The-Weeping-Angel-Letters-and-Poems-from-WWI-France-645728128920292/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf


Website
http://www.hwkletters.com/



Praise/Editorial Reviews

Posters in Kansas City adorned the army recruitment center: “Join up and be in France in 60 days.” Working as a soldier on the railroads in war-torn northern France during World War I, Hubert Kelley found his vocation as a poet and writer. This is the story of a boy’s journey into adulthood told through his vivid letters home written from 1917 to 1919. The Weeping Angel (L’Ange Pleureur) statue in the Amiens Cathedral came to symbolize the sadness of war to him and his fellow soldiers, and he visited it often. His poems and selected later writings are included in this volume.

“The Weeping Angel draws on one of the richest surviving collections of First World War letters to bring to life one of Uncle Sam’s most remarkable—and thoughtful—doughboys. In this compelling book, Mary Kelley restores the human story to one corner of an inhuman war. Whether they’ve read one book about the war or fifty, readers will be surprised and engaged by The Weeping Angel.”
—Christopher Capozzola, author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen

“It’s a wonderful book with so much compelling material…Kelley’s essay, ‘A Memory of Amiens,’ is extraordinary. The Weeping Angel rescues a wonderful voice from the period, as well as the story of a remarkable regiment that is too little known.”
—Steven Trout, author of On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919–1941



About Mary Kelley

Mary Kelley, editor of The Weeping Angel, is a former Broadway theater manager, non-profit arts administrator and consultant with The Field Organization, LLC. She has written in the genres of memoir and fiction. This is her first published book. She lives in Somerville MA.






About today’s reviewer:

Crystal is a secretary and musician at her church, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 8, Breccan 3, Delphine 2, and baby E due in fall 2017), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at WOW! Women on Writing.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

The Perfect Family?

What's the perfect family? When I had a boy and a girl, people would stop and mention that we had 'one of each' and how perfect that was. Apparently we would have been less perfect if we had 2 girls or 2 boys, or maybe having just one child is the true sign of imperfection? I waited a long time to have children because they're so dang sticky (don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about...first it's sticky poop, then it's sticky spit up, then we move on to gummy snacks, suckers from the bank, and other unidentifiable things you as the mom find stuck in your vehicle, on your pants, and in your hair

Sorry - sort of went off a tangent there..

anyway - there is nothing perfect about parenting. Your house will never be as clean as it was before children. Your hair will never look the same, and let's not even talk about your body...

Then there's those of us with the truly imperfect families - because we have too many children, or the number of boys outnumbers the girls, or heaven forbid those parents who have all same sex children. Those are the families who need your pity, right? For the love of all things holy - stop commenting on the perfection or imperfection of other people's families.

I have several friends with families larger than ours and recently someone told me that it's not a competition. Well thank the Lord for that epiphany...I thought she who dies with the most children won a special whirlpool suite in eternity.

My family is not a particular size because I'm striving for perfection, because I want a football team, or because I'm competing with a friend to see which of us can have the highest percentage of Harvard graduates. I also am fully aware that I don't have to fill each and every seat in my 7 passenger mini-van. The truth is, God has blessed me with imperfection. He has blessed me with the ability to smile at the crayon on the floor. The ability to laugh at  the finger prints on the mirror without getting my undies in a bunch about the imperfection of my sagging boobies in the reflection. By most people's standards, not only is my family imperfect, but my house is a mess and my van is some sort of disgusting science project. To me, they are perfect because the little people who leave toothpaste in the sink, peanut butter on the counter, suckers stuck to the side of carseats, and goldfish crackers in the couch cushions are going to grow up and move away.

These little people who touch me all day long, break into the bathroom, use my lipstick to draw on the mirror...they are going to drive away in cars of their own someday. I'm going to be left with a clean vehicle, spotless furniture, a full bar of soap in the shower, and a heart so full because I played a part in their lives and launching them into adulthood. My hair will no longer smell like baby puke, the knees on my jeans will no longer have grass stains, and I won't have to wonder who used what on my toothbrush. I will continue to pray and thank God for my imperfect family. I will hope all my little imperfect humans can make it home at Christmas. No one will see me at the grocery store juggling a toddler on one hip and an infant on the other and make comments about how my hands are full...

So when you are feeling like your family isn't so perfect, please know that life is messy and it's supposed to be. Know that no family is perfect and it's the imperfections that really make life so wonderful. Strangers don't mean anything when they comment about the number of children we have, or the gender of those children...I think they just want to say something...and someday I may very well be that old woman who strikes up a conversation with a young mother - because she may just be bringing me so many delicious memories of my own days in the midst of the sticky fingers and dirty diapers.

Love those babies, no matter how many!

Hugs,
~Crystal

May your paths be abundantly filled with lemons, sugar, sunshine, and as many sticky hands as you can handle!



Crystal is a secretary and musician at her church, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 8, Breccan 3, Delphine 2, and baby E due in fall 2017), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at WOW! Women on Writing.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Michelle Del Ponte Reviews Mary Kelley's "The Weeping Angel"


Greetings!

We are excited to participate in two months of excitement for Mary Kelley’s book The Weeping Angel.


Book Review by Michelle Del Ponte:

Reading “The Weeping Angel” by Hubert Williams Kelley has changed my heart a bit. In the letters from Kelley, he shares vivid descriptions about the war and casualties around him. Yet, he is forbidden to give out to much information, to prevent putting anyone in danger. What got my heart, was in every letter he notes who he has heard from. In the beginning of the book he wrote many letters stating that he has not heard from home. It was heartbreaking for me to see. I think we tend to move on with our lives and forget about all the men and women risking their lives for us. WWI took approximately 11 million military deaths and 7 million civilians. It was among one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

While most of us have seen movies, pictures, or reenactments where we can picture the mass causalities left around, it is not a reality for us, thankfully. In one letter however, Hubert writes of a man who spend two days with the corpse of his brother. The man could not fathom to leave his brother, even if it meant the loss of his own safety and life.

Instead of an overabundance of gruesome details about life around him, Kelly shared stories of excitement on getting to go out on the town in Paris. He asks his family for some money to spend, because his money is all tied up on insurance. Unable to get a response to the money requests after multiple attempts, Kelly tells his family not to worry about it He assured that he would figure it out himself. I can only imagine the disappointment and anxiety he must have felt, thinking his family could not help.

One of the few comforts Hubert appeared to have, was seeing friends and acquaintances he knew from home. He acknowledged his meetings in several letters. I also giggled as he attempted to help his sister find happiness with a decent guy. Some things never change, no matter how far apart you are, in time or space. I truly enjoyed this book. I hope you do as well.


About The Weeping Angel

Now, on the Centennial of World War I, Kelley’s wish is realized with the publication of The Weeping Angel, his account of the war in northern France as he lived it. Told through letters and poems, Kelley writes home to his Kansas City family with vivid descriptions of day to day life on the edge of the battlefield. Enlisting right after graduation from Central High, he claims to play the bugle in order to be accepted and proves to be a talented raconteur and observer. Although he could not play the bugle and never really learned, he became the regimental poet of Company D of the Twelfth Engineers and found his true vocation as a writer.

Mary Kelley, his daughter, edited and researched this special collection of her father’s letters over the past six years. With the help of Colonel John Laird’s History of the Twelfth Engineers and research at the National WWI Museum, she has annotated the letters to show the actual path of the unit as they repaired and built light gauge railways to carry ordnance and materiel to the front lines in Cambrai, St. Mihiel and other important battlegrounds in France. Pte. Kelley and the 12th were among the first American troops in Europe and they stayed to prepare for the Occupation for months after the Armistice of November 11, 1918. He returned to Kansas City to become a reporter for the Kansas City Star and later the editor of American Magazine in New York.

The Weeping Angel (L’Ange Pleurer) is a small statue poised over a tomb in Notre Dame d’Amiens Cathedral, carved by Nicolas Blasset in 1636. With one hand on an hourglass and the other on a skull, the angel came to symbolize the war to Kelley and the many soldiers who visited it during WW I. He wrote about it in his letters and in 1931 when he recalled one harrowing night lying in a field near Amiens with bombs falling around him. Life is brief, death is imminent.



Additional Appearances:


Tuesday, March 21st @ Bring On Lemons with Crystal Otto
Crystal Otto talks more about “The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France” in her 5 star review of this unique book by Mary Kelley. Don’t miss this blog stop!
http://bringonlemons.blogspot.com/


Tuesday, March 28th @ 5:30pm EST with Cyrus Webb
"Cyrus Webb Presents" is the place where host Cyrus Webb introduces topics and guests that matter to you and today he is chatting live with Mary Kelley about her book “The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France”. Don’t miss this show!
www.blogtalkradio.com/cyruswebbpresents.


Friday, March 31st with Madeline Sharples @ Choices
Author and memoirist Madeline Sharples shares her thoughts after reading “The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France” by Mary Kelley. This insightful review is one you won’t want to miss!
http://madelinesharples.com/




The Weeping Angel; Letters and Poems from World War I France

Genre
Memoir / Non Fiction / Historical
Paperback: 139 pages
Publisher: Willow Avenue Books (2016)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1940244709

Amazon Link


Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/The-Weeping-Angel-Letters-and-Poems-from-WWI-France-645728128920292/?hc_ref=SEARCH&fref=nf


Website
http://www.hwkletters.com/



Praise/Editorial Reviews

Posters in Kansas City adorned the army recruitment center: “Join up and be in France in 60 days.” Working as a soldier on the railroads in war-torn northern France during World War I, Hubert Kelley found his vocation as a poet and writer. This is the story of a boy’s journey into adulthood told through his vivid letters home written from 1917 to 1919. The Weeping Angel (L’Ange Pleureur) statue in the Amiens Cathedral came to symbolize the sadness of war to him and his fellow soldiers, and he visited it often. His poems and selected later writings are included in this volume.

“The Weeping Angel draws on one of the richest surviving collections of First World War letters to bring to life one of Uncle Sam’s most remarkable—and thoughtful—doughboys. In this compelling book, Mary Kelley restores the human story to one corner of an inhuman war. Whether they’ve read one book about the war or fifty, readers will be surprised and engaged by The Weeping Angel.”
—Christopher Capozzola, author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen

“It’s a wonderful book with so much compelling material…Kelley’s essay, ‘A Memory of Amiens,’ is extraordinary. The Weeping Angel rescues a wonderful voice from the period, as well as the story of a remarkable regiment that is too little known.”
—Steven Trout, author of On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919–1941



About Mary Kelley

Mary Kelley, editor of The Weeping Angel, is a former Broadway theater manager, non-profit arts administrator and consultant with The Field Organization, LLC. She has written in the genres of memoir and fiction. This is her first published book. She lives in Somerville MA.






About today’s guest reviewer:
Michelle DelPonte is a busy mom and health care worker. Her two sons are the focus of her life and she works diligently to raise awareness about autism in the community. She loves reading, anything to do with history and geocaching just to name a few of her many hobbies. Michelle, her husband Ben and their two sons Sebastian and Asher live in Manitowoc, WI on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan where they enjoy walking and biking on the Mariner’s Trail and spending time at the Library.



Thursday, March 2, 2017

Morning Sickness Is...funny?

By definition, this is what morning sickness is: nausea in pregnancy, typically occurring in the first few months. Despite its name, the nausea can affect pregnant women at any time of day.

As a 39 year old mother with a child in diapers, a dairy farm, a Labrador retriever, school age children, blah blah blah...morning sickness is: living in a world where everything has a smell and every smell makes you want to vomit 24 HOURS A FRIGGIN' DAY....

Yesterday morning, the 3 year old was up at 3am throwing up. My amazing husband helped take care of him, but I spent the day washing and cleaning and I swear I can still smell vomit every time I try to take in oxygen.

The dog who goes out to the barn smells like he has been rolling around in deer carcasses which he has not, but between his breath and heaven knows what else, I swear he is a larger than life dragon living in the middle of my kitchen.

Speaking of the kitchen - I don't want to eat, I don't want to cook, I don't want to open the fridge. Even lettuce smells nasty. And every time I feed the children one of them has to poop and the smell of that is enough to blow over a sumo wrestler.

And while we are discussing bodily functions - I can smell a pee diaper from 40 yards away and yes, again...gagging...

Today I am going to try essential oils (peppermint, lavender, and lemon) and see if that offers some relief. So far the sea bands haven't helped. Sipping gingerale seems to offer a bit of relief and the Preggie Pop Drops are enough to get me through a car ride without pulling over and tossing my cookies.

Did I mention I don't even want to drink coffee? Now, those of you who know me know this is

VERY serious...

I've never experienced morning sickness like this. Maybe it's twins you say? I can't even respond to that because I kiss my children with this mouth.

I hope you can read this and laugh because I certainly am - however, this is the LAST baby and knowing I will never have to do this again comes with a bit of patience and peace of mind.

May your paths be abundantly filled with lemons, sugar, sunshine, and scent-free living!

Hugs,
~Crystal






leave some comments 
funny pregnancy stories?
cures for morning sickness?
share away!!!




Crystal is a secretary and musician at her church, babywearing cloth diapering mama (aka crunchy mama), business owner, active journaler, writer and blogger, Blog Tour Manager with WOW! Women on Writing, Publicist with Dream of Things Publishing, Press Corp teammate for the DairyGirl Network, Unicorn Mom Ambassador, as well as a dairy farmer. She lives in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin with her husband, four young children (Carmen 9, Andre 8, Breccan 3, Delphine 2, and baby E due in fall 2017), two dogs, two rabbits, four little piggies, a handful of cats and kittens, and over 230 Holsteins.

You can find Crystal riding unicorns, taking the ordinary and giving it a little extra (making it extraordinary), blogging and reviewing books, baby carriers, cloth diapers, and all sorts of other stuff here, and at WOW! Women on Writing.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Penny Harrison Reviews "Banged-Up Heart" by Shirley Melis

Thank you to WOW! Women on Writing, Penny Harrison, and Mari from Artotems as well as Shirley Melis. Without these amazing friends this lovely post would not be possible!

Hugs,
~Crystal



Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss




Review by Penny Harrison



I thoroughly enjoyed Banged-Up Heart by Shirley Melis. This book is an autobiography that was, I'm sure, not easy to write. Shirley's life was filled with great love and great sadness which led to the "banged-up" state of her heart. Through the pages, you learn about the two great men that shaped her life. Both would be with her for a shorter time than she would have wanted, but both men left her with memories and a greater sense of who she was and what she wanted. Her voice is clear and inviting and helps you to experience her relationships with Joe and John until you know these men nearly as well as she had. Touching, inspiring and truthful, the story told is one of a life lived to the fullest. A life with losses but also with growth and joy. I am grateful for this glimpse into her experiences and you will be, as well.

Paperback: 300 Pages
Genre: Memoir/Non Fiction
Publisher: Terra Nova Books (February 14, 2017)
ISBN-10: 193828870X
ISBN-13: 978-1938288708



Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss is available in print on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and IndieBound.


About

Banged-Up Heart: Dancing with Love and Loss is an intimate and clear-eyed account of finding love late and losing it early—and of the strength it takes to fall deeply in love a second time, be forced to relinquish that love too soon, and yet choose to love again.

When her husband of thirty years dies suddenly, Shirley Melis is convinced she will never find another man like Joe. Then she meets John, a younger man who tells her during their first conversation that he has lived for many years with a rare but manageable cancer. She is swept off her feet in a whirlwind courtship, and within months, made brave by the early death of a friend’s husband, she asks him to marry her! What follows is a year-long odyssey of travel and a growing erotic and creative partnership— until a mysterious bump on John’s forehead proves to be one of several tumors in his brain and spine.

The nine months that follow are filled with a life-threatening infection, three brain surgeries, radiation, and chemotherapy. Two years and one week after their wedding, John dies at the age of fifty-nine. More than just a love story or a memoir of mourning, Banged-Up Heart comes down solidly on the side of life. It takes you deep inside an ordinary woman, her deeply felt grief butting up against her desire for more than companionship: passion, sexual fulfillment, and self-realization. It bears eloquent witness to the wild trust it takes to fall madly in love and risk profound loss—a second time. Ultimately, it shows that it is possible to dance with a banged-up heart.



About Shirley

Shirley Melis is a longtime business writer, travel writer, and newspaper columnist who traveled the world interviewing everyone from busboys to heads of international organizations before launching a career in public relations in Washington, D.C. With Banged-Up Heart, she now takes her writing in a new direction, delving deeply into her own personal story of finding love late, losing it early, and discovering the strength to choose to love again. It is a fascinating odyssey, a journey both creative and erotic as Shirley and John work lovingly together to blend their dreams—until a mysterious bump on his forehead starts them on a tragic struggle against the dark hand of fate.

A graduate of Vassar, Shirley Melis has created an intimate memoir bearing eloquent witness to the kind of wild trust that can grow in the heart of an ordinary woman thrust into circumstances that few others must face. Now retired, she lives in Galisteo, New Mexico.

Shirley can also be found online at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shirleymelis/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShirleyMelis

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145012-banged-up-heart?




Thank you to WOW! Women on Writing for allowing me an opportunity to participate in this book blog tour!


Be sure to check out some of the future blog stops on this tour:






March 2 @ Book Santa Fe with Tange Dudet
Avid reader and book enthusiast Tange Dudet shares her thoughts and feelings after reading the touching memoir Banged Up Heart by Shirley Melis.
http://www.booksantafe.info/

March 3 @ The Constant Story with David W. Berner
Author and radio personality David W Berner reviews Shirley Melis's book Banged Up Heart and shares his thoughts with readers at The Constant Story.
http://davidwberner.blogspot.com/



Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question - it's great hearing from YOU!





About today’s reviewer:

Penny Harrison is a mother of a vivacious 15 year old daughter, a wife of 16 wonderful years,
and equal opportunity crafter with a very busy schedule. In addition to her “day job”, she is also an independent consultant for a craft company and has a small craft business. She lives in a small town in Wisconsin on the shore of Lake Michigan and enjoys her summers, “cooler near the lake”.