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From the Preface
I have entered my ninth decade of life's discoveries, but I learned at an early age about the wonders of nature. My father was a gardener, and many of my writings reflect childhood experiences that have stayed with me. Poems in this collection were gleaned from my memories over the decades and from the gardens I tend now. My hope is that you will also find some small pleasures in my little poems.
In this new collection, Lynda McKinney Lambert continues her exploration of the natural world, displaying an ever-deepening understanding and heightened command of poetic form and language. A visual artist as well as a poet, she blends her two passions and invites readers to walk beside her on this creative journey.
—Sally Rosenthal
Author of Peonies in Winter
Each Day Holds Some Small Joy provides an expanded landscape for every reader to dig into their own memories, meaning, and inspiration through a visual and soulful presentation of Lynda’s personal world. If you love winter, as I do, her chapbook, first snow, also portrays that season with dazzling beauty.
—Marlene Mesot
Author of The Author's Edge, with Foreword by Lynda McKinney Lambert
The e-book edition of Each Day Holds Some Small Joy is available at the following online store:
The print edition of Each Day Holds Some Small Joy is available at the following online store.
Each Day Holds Some Small Joy was reviewed in OnlineBookClub.org on. Here are excerpts from the review:
Reviewed by Pranav Dewangan, May 10, 2024 This is an official OnlineBookClub.org review.
Each Day Holds Some Small Joy is a poetry book based on a collection of haiku-style poems. These poems are the author's own intimate reflections on life from a Christian perspective.
She finds joy every day when she is surrounded by vibrant elements of nature.
There were several poems with which I could connect on a personal level because of my love for nature.
I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. The editing of the book is professional and flawless.
I recommend this book to people who love reading and writing poetry. It will give you a little bit of joy every day when you read it.
To read the full review, click here
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© 2021 by Lynda McKinney Lambert
From the Prologue and Epilogue of Songs for the Pilgrimage
The word pilgrimage refers to a religious journey. Individuals commit to traveling to reach a predetermined destination, such as a shrine or holy place. The excursion is a trek from one location to another. Pilgrimage has been an abiding theme in my writing for several decades.
My first book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage (Kota Press, 2002, now out of print), was inspired by my annual journeys to Salzburg, Austria, where I taught a month-long drawing and writing course. I revised and expanded that previous collection of stories, poems, historical notes, and journal entries for this new book. Songs for the Pilgrimage features writings, drawings, and photographs I created over four decades.
I conclude with an artist's prayer:
My studio is yours, Lord. Be my welcome guest today. Your goodness and unfailing kindness have been with me all my life. I have tried to make your glory visible in the works of art I have created. Someday I will close the door of my studio for the final time, but I will not be alone. Together, we will go to your home, where we will continue to collaborate on glorious projects throughout eternity. Amen.
May I Serve You?
Here are the stacks of paintings
for you to look at tonight.
I carefully brought them out
of storage closets
arranged them here
in the kitchen—
where my children used to play
games around a square oak table.
Once, food to nourish the body
was prepared here, by my hands.
Tonight, there is an
abundance of food
for your soul.
Come into my kitchen and
taste the world,
prepared by my hands.
© 1997
The e-book edition of Songs for the Pilgrimage is available at the following online stores:
The print edition of Songs for the Pilgrimage is available at the following online store.
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© 2019 by Lynda McKinney Lambert
Lynda Lambert covers a wide terrain of subjects and topics in this new book, from lights to legends to seasons, treating us to images and metaphors about plants, people and weather. She opens this large collection with the title poem, Star Signs, which walks us through the alphabet as it digs through thoughts, emotions and observations, "Using star signs to map out new terrain."
Throughout this book of poems, these gems of poetic creation shimmer like beads on her fabric art, like bold brush strokes of color on her paintings, and reflect light like the gemstones on her prize-winning piece of mixed-media fiber artwork. It seems this entire collection is like a multifaceted mural.
Her attentiveness to nature and strong reflections from memory have woven from a collage of remnants a beautiful tapestry for us. It offers a wonderful feast for the eyes and the mind.
—Wesley D. Sims, author of Taste of Change
Painting in Mid-October
Autumn's morning light revealed changes
Undermined the scarlet-red palette
Taking center stage on the painting
Undulating rain cast gray-violet hues
Misty diffusion brought a new perspective
Not anticipated yesterday
Aroused the softened brushstrokes
Layered over the primed canvas.
Dying is a careful arrangement
A graceful staged performance
Yellow leaves are faithful dancers
Spectacular choreography!
The e-book edition of Star Signs is available at the following online stores:
The print edition of Star Signs is available at the following online store:
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© 2017 by Lynda McKinney Lambert
In this second collection, Pennsylvania artist, teacher, and author Lynda McKinney Lambert invites readers into her world of profound sight loss to discover the subtle nuances and beauty of a physical and spiritual world.
She takes strands from ancient mythology, history, and contemporary life and weaves a richly textured new fabric using images that are seen and unseen as she takes us on a year-long journey through the seasons.
All stories in this book were created after her sudden sight loss in 2007 from Ischemic Optic Neuropathy. Lambert invites us to see the world with new eyes.
Edited by David and Leonore H. Dvorkin
Cover by David Dvorkin
The e-book edition of Walking by Inner Vision is available at the following online stores:
The print edition of Walking by Inner Vision is available at the following online stores:
The audiobook edtion of Walking by Inner Vision is available on Amazon at the following link:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S45ZY39/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
Follow that link to buy the audiobook on Amazon and to listen to a sample of the audiobook.
The prologue of Linda's book was posted on the VisionAware blog of the American Federation for the Blind. To read the blog post, click here.
Walking by Inner Vision was reviewed on the blog "Abbie's Corner of the World." To read the review, please click here.
The depth of the author's creativity brings together artistic mediums and presents them in a format inspired by the 12-month calendar and seasonal influences. She writes of the craft of writing and other visual arts with an understated ease. She foregoes pretentions and her voice is clear and concise from the first line to the last.
Lambert begins with winter, which she presents as a rebirth, of nature's awakening. She recalls how the crispness of fresh snow reminds her of other childhood sensations.
From the winter, the musings and prose continue on to the spring, then summer, highlighting the personal and spiritual accents of which she finds inspiring.
In one poignant story, she describes a spiritual comforting as her daughter lies in the hospital fighting for her life. In this essay, Lambert expresses feeling helpless but also hopeful.
In another section, she shares her creative process, which, as a writer, I found fascinating.
This unique and varied collection can be read at one's leisure, something to keep on the coffee table or by the bedside for those times when a little inspiration and comfort is sought. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it for gift giving season for any creative individual.
— Anne Chiappetta, author of Upwelling: Poems
We are all blessed that your gift of light can be spread easily with the help of the special equipment you get to use! I got the book the first day it was available in print :) and I have been touched by everything I have read so far. It is unreal how memories expressed through words so exquisite will artfully weave themselves into your reader's mind and go all the way to the roots to make our own forgotten memories spring up with new life!
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for writing and publishing for us.
— Kriszta
My book Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems has been made into an AUDIBLE recording. It is now available on Amazon. You can listen to a FREE SAMPLE. In this free sample, a professional actor from California reads a section from the book's PROLOGUE. In addition you can listen to the entire book on AUDIBLE recording for FREE if you already use AUDIBLE.
Please read more about my book and listen to the sample by clicking here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07S45ZY39/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vamf_taft_p1_i1
If you read my book and enjoy it, please come back to Amazon and leave a short endorsement or review. I have a 5-star review of the book currently. Also, the print edition is a wonderful gift for someone who loves to read stories & poems. Father's Day is just ahead and I think any father would be delighted with this book.
I learned early this morning that my essay "How to Write a 12th Century Sestina for the 21st Century" has won First Place in poetry; my essay "The Connie" has won 2nd place for a non-fiction essay; and my poem "In My Dream" will be published in the Spring/Summer Issue of Magnets & Ladders magazine. I won the TRIPLE CROWN TODAY!!!
"Congratulations! We are thrilled to inform you that your essay 'Prologue: in which I Knit a Life Back Together,' published in the September 2016 issue of Spirit Fire Review, has been nominated for Sundress Publications Best of the Net Anthology Awards, 2016-2017."
The piece is the "Prologue" in my new book, Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems, published in February 2017.
At 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 17, Lynda was a guest on Barry Eva's podcast, "A Book and a Chat." To visit the program's website, please click here. Listen to the program at the following link: http://newvisionsradio.com/.
Lynda was a guest on Branco Broadcast, talking mainly about how she developed her book. You can listen the broadcast at the following link: https://youtu.be/UWxmoU7euio
Lynda was a guest on the NFB Writers' Division call where she talked about "Writing with Intention" and her process of accomplishing her own desired results.
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable.
—Helen Keller
In her first book, Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage (Kota Press, 2003), Lynda invites readers to begin a pilgrimage through poems, historical notes, and journal reflections written during her summers in Austria and other European countries. This publication marked the beginning of her literary journey that continues with the publication of her work in numerous books, blogs, and literary journals.
Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems continues the pilgrimage as she gives readers a glimpse into a private world of limited sight. Lynda suddenly lost most of her eyesight in 2007. However, it is not a world of lost vision, imagination, or insight.
Lynda has no central vision, which means she cannot see details or colors. She has limited peripheral vision that is cloudy and gray. She describes her vision as similar to walking in a winter snowstorm at twilight.
Lynda's themes emerge from decades of multilayered life experiences. Her lifelong interest in history, fine arts, and literature gives her writing a firm foundation on which she weaves a tapestry of contemporary reflections. A pilgrimage is an individual path for each person. Yet it is also a universal passage. Just about everything in our shared human experience requires adaptation and adjustment to change. We can revise!
Lynda McKinney Lambert holds a BFA degree in painting and an MA degree in English from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, and an MFA degree in painting from West Virginia University. She is now retired as a professor of fine arts and humanities at Geneva College in western Pennsylvania.
Contact Information
To inquire about Lynda's availability for presentations at conferences, hospitals, civic organizations, and university classes, please contact her by email: riverroad@zoominternet.net
Lynda McKinney Lambert
104 River Road
Ellwood City, PA 16117
Phone: 724-758-4979
Lynda's personal website: www.lyndalambert.com
Lynda's three Facebook pages:
Walking by Inner Vision blog: https://www.facebook.com/walkingbyinnervision/
SCANdalous blog: https://www.facebook.com/SCANdalous-Blog-782814908467623/
River Road Studio: https://www.facebook.com/River-Road-Studio-175785105811956/
E-mail:
riverwoman@zoominternet.net
llambert@zoominternet.net
riverroad@zoominternet.net