Blog Update

My reading list is literally a smorgasbord of fascinating reads. For example, I'm reading an unconventional zombie romance that is a surprising departure from the  literal "brainless" zombie stories. Its called Warm Bodies, and I hope to have a detailed review sometime during the first week of March. With college depriving me of time, I decided to limit my number of reviews to approximately one a month, or even less till around May when I'll have more time to commit myself to reading, and reviewing more books.

Here are the upcoming reviews on my schedule:

Wither by:Lauren Destefano(February)
Shadow's Master by: Jon Sprunk (March)
Warm Bodies (sometime during either February/March)

For April, I plan to focus on Madeleine L'Engle's books, as a part of a slated celebration of the 50th anniversary of her seminal novel: A Wrinkle in Time.

I apologize again for the low number of reviews! There is a lot of schoolwork on my end.

Jacob’s Shadow

Was it my brother seeking to

Wrestle me into oblivion?
Or was this me?
Holding this formidable figure-

A shadow of myself

Trying to do me in

With a powerful punch,
The figure’s boulder-like fist

Impacted my hip-bone

Leaving with with a deep impression

Of unassailable imbalance

My sight felt dizzying

While the enigmatic figure
Fell Deeper into
A shroud of Black
In retaliation, I kicked and punched
The figure to no avail
Only to feel more crushed, and defeated
Than before

Could my brother ever forgive me,
For depriving him of this blessing

Which exacerbated my pride  

Till it over-consumed me,
Leaving me with no sense of God or self

With a broken hip, and a
Sharp pang of moroseness
I surrendered to the darkness of myself
Awaiting the interminable aura of peace

Following the admission of my faults

As the dark figure dissolves into me,

I see my brother awaiting me with a legion

Wanting nothing but to
Grant me solace in the form of unconditional forgiveness

Alchemical Love

My self, a sizable metal

Of great density
Cannot be transmuted

Into gleaming gold

For the pleasure of others

Outside this metal,
Lies my symbolic dream

Storming through the small vial

Where they are kept,
Later to be admixed with my melted metal
Into an intoxicating concoction
Which hardly resembles gold

Is it your hands grasping my vial,
Unaware of my dreams

My composition is unknown  to you
Proud Alchemist

Who handles me so carelessly,
That you’ll never know gold

Comprised of me

Other alchemist initially
Pour out my depths with intrigue,
Perusing every nuance of my dreams
Clutching my core, the metal alloy

You begin to devilishly pour out all my dreams,
Forgetting those essential parts of me
Your eyes are lustfully set on the gold

Deprived of my mystery


I have been so mishandled
Yet, I still have repeated visions

Of the perfect alchemist who will
Shape me with reverence,not lust
Creating a fine block of gold

Filled to the brim with my palpable essence

Where can this gold reside, except
Within the hands of an alchemist
Who will someday be known

Who am I?

My reflective skin

Mirrors your perception of me

Four or five people perceptions

Fuse together,
Muddling that clear sense of self

Whomever I encounter,
my voice becomes modulated

That self,
The one wearing the guise of my “self”
Becomes indistinguishable
From the other persona that
Others perceive

Am I a man, a woman, or just human?
Why does my self become detached
From this hollow idea of a man
Without the dimension

That thinks, extrapolates, and dreams
Beyond these arbitrary limits.


It is my mind
This raging, jarring machine
Whose sole purpose lies
With fabricating this distinct sense of  “self”
Who’ll be multiplied in different disguises
For the consumption, or respect of others

Who am I?
I’ve never ventured to scale the heights of “Mont Blanc”
To reveal the hidden truth

Beneath the thorny shrubs

Surrounding the perimeter of “Tintern Abbey”
Imaginatively residing at the summit of
This grand, enigmatic mountain

Will death set me more free,

or make me forget
the lustrous skies, the paling moon,
and even the burning pain which

Deprives me of my complete senses?

How can oblivion be at the

Seemingly endless stream of thoughts?
What is their origin, and where will they go?
Was I lost before, then found
Only to be lost again?
Can nothing greater than tangibility

Rescue me from this
Alarming awareness of my

Fading Existence?

On the exterior shell of myself,

Tears spring from my eyes
Imaginary bands of blood

Drip down me
Inexplicably, I envision Christ

Within the space of a mind

Which resolutely doubted
His message, and even his existence

“Who am I? Who am I?”
This question reverberates through me

Silence ensues

This is my prayer till eternity

Where it won’t matter any longer

If I’m a man, a woman
Or just this self-conscious mind

Slowly vanishing from sight and self

"The Wolf Gift" Poetry Contest Winner announcement.

      After much thought and consideration, the poem that I felt was the winning poem happens to be Tom Arnone's "Ode to a Weary Wolf." It took a lot of careful thought to ultimately choose this as a winner because each of the poems I received contained a bevy of neat poetic elements. For some reason, the language of Tom's poem really struck me as being illustrative of the kind of visual details that permeates
Anne Rice's rich prose. Again, it was ultimately very hard to pinpoint the "best" poem among the other entries. In the end, it was a bit of a subjective preference which makes art contests of these types such a difficult ordeal. Nevertheless, they are also very enjoyable as it gives me a chance to read and evaluate other people's works. In the future, I hope to have another one!
Thanks again to everyone who was willing to submit their poems!! All these poems will be included in an anthology to be given to Anne Rice tomorrow night.

  Also, Happy Valentine's Day/"Wolf Gift" (I know this might be premature, but I cannot stay up till midnight to post this.)


Ode to a Weary Wolf: By:Tom Arnone
Humanity is transient and fleeting -- save for what memories and dreams may linger....

Too much violence, again.
How flawless a wolf does feign.
Down in the humming cellar,
The guise of a gentle fella.

You have made the beast laugh,
Always expecting a puppy half,
Through centuries of fantasy,
With phantasmagorical empathy.

And the Moon -- what a joke --
I turn in anger and smoke,
It, mostly, soothes and calms,
Devoid of talismans and balms.

Begging for peace and salvation
In fleeting moments of meditation,
Between the madness of transformation,
I ponder my sorted, wolfen fixations.

Anne Rice's "The Wolf Gift" Releases In Two More Days!! Quick Reminders Before the Dawning of that Day..

     The seemingly long wait for Anne Rice's much anticipated werewolf is coming to a close. While I would love to depict this momentous moment as "reaching the precipice." I don't think any of us find the release of "The Wolf Gift" to be something precipitous. Instead, many of us cannot wait to carve out some relaxation time to fully immerse one's self into this wonderfully action-packed novel.


   Before February 14th becomes a reality, I have a few reminders to share with my loyal blog readers:

-First of all "The Wolf Gift," Poetry Contest officially ends tomorrow. Right now, I am slowly compiling all the entries and creating a booklet which will be entitled "The Werewolf Anthology, Presented by "The Poets of the Page." It just so happens that the acronym for Anne Rice's loyal Facebook page followers (or minions, as her critics derogatorily name us..): "The People of the Page," or "POTP" works wonderfully with "Poets of the Page." The same acronym applies to both respective titles. Anyways, you can still enter before midnight, February 13, 2012. Contest details can be found here, and all poems must be werewolf-themed.
- Additionally, tickets are still available for the Philly signing whilst tickets for the Toronto event are sadly sold-out. Also, there are additional dates which are conveniently provided on Anne Rice's website.

-Finally, if you somehow missed out on pivotal posts from "The Wolf Gift" countdown on my blog, here are the specific links that will take you to both "my review of "The Wolf Gift," along with a special interview with Anne Rice.

-Links of Interest for "Countdown to "The Wolf Gift"

-My Review of "The Wolf Gift"

-Special Interview with Anne Rice


Additional Note: After February 14th, there will be a number of posts that will discuss "The Wolf Gift" through a philosophical/psychological lenses.

I'm purposely waiting till more people have had ample time to read the novel, so the posts may not appear till April or May.

Anne Rice Philadelphia Signing/"Wolf Gift" Release
     Its astonishing to see these two single events occurring simultaneously. When Philly has long been overlooked by a number of publishers, it has become the first signing, and the site of the unofficial "Wolf Gift" release party in a sense. To help Anne Rice feel welcome to Philly, I've compiled a list of sites that she might want to see before heading to the library where she'll later be signing dozens of books, and participating in an onstage interview.

Where do you want to Anne Rice to visit in Philly?
    Site 1: Poe's Former Philadelphia Home: Recognized as a "National Historical Site. For a time, Philly and Baltimore feuded over who can lay claim to having Edgar Allan Poe recognized for living in their city for a longer amount of time.
(More Information about this site can be found by clicking the picture below!)

Site 2: Church of Christ in Philadelphia: 
    At a point in history, George Washington and other notable American Revolutionary figures have sat within this  historical church. On previous trips, Anne Rice has explored churches, and provided videos that detailed her slow, thoughtful journey through each one of these churches. Will "Church of Christ," be featured on her Philadelphia itinerary on February 14th?

Where else can Anne Rice visit during her short stay in Philadelphia: Independence Hall, Betsy Ross' House, the site of the Liberty Bell, the Art Museum, and many other fascinating places?

******If you have not bought your tickets yet for the signing at the Philadelphia Free Library on Feb. 14, 2012 at 7:30pm, click here!!!!!!!!!!!!!**********

Do you have any suggestions? 

The Wolf Gift Countdown: Poetry Contest Details

      The release date for Anne Rice's "Wolf Gift," is getting closer every day. By February 14th, you'll no longer have to wait with bated breath for the release of the novel.
      Within this last week or so, you might be in need of a creative outlet to help manage your excitement for the novel. Knopf happens to be hosting a Valentine's Day contest which the artistically inclined can enter to help endure the week-long wait. More details about that contest can be found here.

Details about the "Wolf Gift" Poetry Contest:


   If you're inept at creating fancy images via Photoshop , I'm having my own "Wolf Gift" contest which has no real specified prize at the moment. In a few days, I'll finalize those details for anyone who is savvy about poetry.

Concise Contest Details:
    Historically, the earliest incarnations of the werewolf originated  in one of Marie De Frances's "lais." These were stories told formerly in oratorical form at the time. To show her reverence for the king, she rewrote these medieval folk stories as poems. One of the "lais" involved a werewolf who was aptly named "Bisclavret," which literally means "werewolf" in French.

    As part of this long tradition of using poetry as a way to tell a folk story, my contest involves writing a werewolf-related story in the form of a poem. There are no restrictions, as to the length of the poem. You are only required to write something that tells a story which features a werewolf.  It does no need to be a folk story because that would far too limiting for some writers. If you want, you can even involve the werewolf as a "metaphor," rather than a literal figure.

    All entries are due February 13, 2012, and they must all be emailed to narniafanatic(at)gmail(dot) com. Every single contribution will be included into a scrapbook which will be given to Anne Rice directly at the book signing I'm attending.

  Again, there will be a prize for the "best poem." I have not made a decision about  the reward for that, but it will be something pretty exciting. (It will probably be a signed book, or something even more enticing).

UPDATE: The winner will officially win a signed copy of Anne Rice's "The Wolf Gift." Hopefully, I'll even be able to have it personalized!