2020 Conversations with Colleen ~ Featuring Author, M. J. Mallon @Marjorie_Mallon

Posted on February 20, 2020 by

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Hello everyone! I’m thrilled to be part of an amazing writing community that helps to support other authors. We all succeed when we work together as a team.

Today, please welcome poet and author, M. J. (Marjorie, aka Marje) Mallon and her newest creation, “Mr. Sagittarius, Poetry & Prose.” Marje is a regular participant in my weekly poetry challenge. I’m excited she used many of her syllabic poems along with some brand new poetry to create a book! What a fabulous idea. Don’t you love the book cover?

“Mr. Sagittarius” is a charming poetic journey inspired by the author’s chance meeting with a dragonfly and a robin, sure to delight all readers. Yet, there is more than one magical tale spilling from this collection. By the time you reach the finale, Mr. Sagittarius reveals the wisdom of a life richly lived.

I’ve read and reviewed this delightful book. Please find my review HERE.

Thank you so much for this lovely feature on your blog Colleen. I’m thrilled to be sharing news of the release of Mr. Sagittarius, Poetry, Prose and Photography.

I’m so glad you’re here, Marje. Congratulations on your new book. Where do you get your inspiration from?

I often draw my inspiration from visual forms. I observe people, animals, birds, trees, flowers and nature and they inspire me to write poems, flash fiction and short stories. In the same way, I am often inspired by art, images and photography. Conversations can also spark off ideas, but for this collection my inspiration is visual – focused on my walks in the Cambridge Botanical gardens.

I’ve written about these lunchtime strolls in our collaborative blog https://sistersofthefey.com/, focusing on the magic of trees and my encounters with spirit creatures such as the dragonfly and the robin.

The Botanical Gardens in Cambridge are so magical. How do you decide which form to write?

I often write short form poetries such as Tanka, but I enjoy trying out new forms. My choice of poetic form depends on what I am trying to convey.

For the Halloween poetry most of the pieces are longer as I had a story in mind. Some nature poems are short Tanka forms, brief like the sweetest of visits of a dragonfly! Others are longer like the double Etheree I wrote about a robin. I had more to say, and the Etheree form with its catchy shorter lines expanding and then contracting worked well with the curious robin’s antics moving about from its position next to me on the bench to underneath it to explore.

I always enjoy your photographs. How do your poetry and photography work together to create the subject matter for your poems? 

Picture1 - Dragonfly
©2019 Marjorie Mallon

It’s best to explain this with two phrases from the poem about the dragonfly. The red colours of the dragonfly and its ‘Red, devil’s needle,’ tail caught my eye as did its fragility and magical nature: ‘Change tumbling on fragile wings.’

Dragonfly

Red, devil’s needle,

Or luck bringer with kind eyes?

Ancient, sweet fellow,

Sacred magic bestower,

Change tumbling on fragile wings.

© M J Mallon 2020

What a beautiful Tanka poem, Marje. So, How does writing poetry make you feel? 

Happy that I can express such a wide range of emotions, thoughts and feelings in such a concise, trouble free way!  Writing full-length novels is such an enormous challenge, especially sequels! I am completing the second novel in my YA fantasy series The Curse of Time Book 2 Golden Healer.

I started writing this poetry/prose and photography collection because I needed a break! This was my break… Poetry is my way to pause; I find it restful. I love poetry, both reading and writing it.

Thanks for introducing us to Mr. Sagittarius ~ Poetry & Prose, Marje. It’s a magical read!

I am an author who has been blogging for many moons at my lovely blog home Kyrosmagica: https://mjmallon.com. My interests include writing, photography, poetry, and alternative therapies. I write Fantasy YA/Paranormal novels, Horror/Ghost Short stories and micro poetry – haiku and tanka. I love to read and have written over 100 reviews: https://mjmallon.com/2015/09/28/a-z-of-my-book-reviews/

My alter ego is MJ – Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheroes! I was born on the 17th of November in Lion City: Singapore, (a passionate Scorpio, with the Chinese Zodiac sign a lucky rabbit,) second child and only daughter to my proud parents Paula and Ronald. I grew up in a mountainous court in the Peak District in Hong Kong with my elder brother Donald. My parents dragged me away from my exotic childhood and my much loved dog Topsy to the frozen wastelands of Scotland. In bonnie Edinburgh I mastered Scottish country dancing, and a whole new Och Aye lingo.

As a teenager I travelled to many far-flung destinations to visit my abacus wielding wayfarer dad. It’s rumoured that I now live in the Venice of Cambridge, with my six foot hunk of a Rock God husband, and my two enchanted daughters. After such an upbringing my author’s mind has taken total leave of its senses! When I’m not writing, I eat exotic delicacies while belly dancing, or surf to the far reaches of the moon. To chill out, I practise Tai Chi. If the mood takes me I snorkel with mermaids, or sign up for idyllic holidays with the Chinese Unicorn, whose magnificent voice sings like a thousand wind chimes.

Media Kit: Author, MJMallon.com

How to Connect with the Author

Authors Website: https://mjmallon.com
Collaborative Blog: https://sistersofthefey.wordpress.com
Twitter: @Marjorie_Mallon and @curseof_time
#ABRSC: Authors Bloggers Rainbow Support Club on Facebook
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17064826.M_J_Mallon

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

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjmallonauthor/

Category: author interviewsTags: , , , , , , , , ,

56 Comments on “2020 Conversations with Colleen ~ Featuring Author, M. J. Mallon @Marjorie_Mallon”

  1. Thank you so much for sharing this post about Mr. Sagittarius, Colleen. It is beautifully presented. ❤ I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful poetic community. You're Tanka Tuesday is the best. xxx

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  3. How wonderful to learn more about Marje. I love that she uses poetry as a break from novel writing. She is good at both! Good luck with the new book.

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  4. Pingback: 2020 Conversations with Colleen ~ Featuring Author, M. J. Mallon @Marjorie_Mallon | willowdot21

  7. Great interview. I’m a big fan of dragonflies and loved your poem. I added your book to my TBR list:)

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  9. I love that Dragonfly poem. Once I had the opportunity to sit on a dock near a lake and observe a dragonfly climb up out of the water to hatch. It was an amazing experience. To think that these creatures have existed on the planet from the time of the dinosaurs!

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  10. I enjoyed getting to know a little more about Marje and her work. I was particularly interested in her comments about writing poetry as a break from writing novels. I’ve found myself doing the same thing lately. I also enjoy the dragonfly poem. They are magical creatures.

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Colleen M. Chesebro: Prose-Metrist, Novelist, & Word Witch
Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro

Colleen M. Chesebro is an American Poet who loves crafting paranormal fantasy and magical realism, cross-genre flash fiction, syllabic poetry, and creative nonfiction. Colleen sponsors a weekly syllabic poetry challenge, called Tanka Tuesday, on wordcraftpoetry.com where participants learn how to write traditional and current forms of haiku, senryu, haiga, tanka, gogyohka, tanka prose, renga, solo-renga, haibun, cinquain, Etheree, nonet, and shadorma poetry. Colleen's syllabic poetry has appeared in the Auroras & Blossoms Poetry Journal, and in “Hedgerow, a journal of small poems.” She’s won numerous awards from participating in the Carrot Ranch Rodeo, a yearly flash fiction contest sponsored by carrotranch.com. In 2020, she won first place in the Carrot Ranch Folk Tale or Fable category, with her story called “Why Wolf Howls at the Moon.” Colleen is a Sister of the Fey, where she pursues a pagan path through her writing. When she is not writing, she is reading. She also loves gardening and crocheting old-fashioned doilies into works of art.

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