Barbara's Meanderings

 I had planned to write a new blog post once a month but life got in the way. So it is the next year and we are well into it. I won't mention the political situation but we are all trying to make sense of it and live our lives with the best possible experiences we can. The list for guest authors on this blog is very full so I need to keep posting once a month.  Thank you to any readers who have come here expecting new posts. This one is going to make up for it. 

My guest author today is both a poet and a comedian. He is one of those people with whom you can spend hours talking about almost anything. I hope you enjoy meeting him. Here is the interview and please check out all of his amazing books. 

Welcome Fibby Bob Kinney or as you are now calling yourself Fibzay.

Where were you born and where do you live now?

I was born in a little town in Pennsylvania on a farm and we didn’t have any hot water. We lived just with all the vegetables and animals and chickens. We had dogs and  pigs. We didn’t have any plumbing in the house. It was a very rural background where I grew up, Practically in the dark ages and that’s then. Now I live in Florida in a nice house with my wife of 51 years. So it’s been quite a journey from the beginning to where I live right now. So that’s kind of my beginning and where I live now.

I think it's amazing that you were able to change your life so completely.

Do you have an occupation besides writing? Do you have any hobbies?

Yes, I do have a hobby. I am an avid player of video games. I’m one of the oldest players on Destiny video game, which I’ve been playing for ten years, and I’ve got many write ups. If you go to Google and look at the 81 year-old gamer write up on Reddit.

My friends, please go and read this amazing post including the story he wrote about the game here:

Who or what influenced you to stop doing stand-up and writing comedy to writing poetry?

I continued doing comedy actually until 2011.I lasted that long, but it came to a point. I didn’t go on the road anymore. I just didn’t wanna put in the late hours. I was ready to retire and just write poetry and since 2011 I’ve written twenty-five books. So I live happily here in Florida and play with my flowers in the garden. I have written 500 poems to them and I take my walk during the day and just relax play video games, watch television and write poetry and stories books and stuff. 

I'll bet you have exceptionally beautiful flowers from all that poetry.

I am fascinated by your history of being in the Village in the 60’s. Did you ever meet any famous comedians like Lenny Bruce or meet Bob Dylan? 

Yes, I did know a lot of celebrities. Let’s see when I go back to my early days I knew Milton Berle. I was at the Friars club. I met Henny Youngman, and when I met him I was wearing a checkered jacket. The first thing he said was it’s a great jacket.  Did the whole team get one? So that was my first meeting with Henny Youngman. When I was in college back in the old days, I had a rare interview with Thomas Edison’s son Theodore Edison, who lived in Edison  Edison, New Jersey. And the first thing I asked him, “So your father invented electricity.”  He said, “Yeah?” Who else did I know? JD Salinger very rare I got his autograph and I got nice stories about JD. When I was at The Comedy Store I knew Richard Pryor, and I knew Robin Williams very well.  I knew Jerry Seinfeld when he first started and Larry David and Paul Reiser. So I knew like a lot of celebrities before they were celebrities and a lot of them came out of my interviews when I was the emcee at The Comic Strip in  New York from 1976 to 1979. Gilbert Godfrey I never thought he would make it but look what happened to him and Larry David of course, became one of the most influential Producers in Hollywood so that’s just a little bit of what I did and who I knew and it does go on like I said I was a comic’s comic, so I knew a lot of of the guys even though I didn’t get to be famous just like Georgie Star, who was Lenny Bruce’s best buddy I knew him good. He was a great comic, but he never got famous because he was hit and miss. Sometimes he would be great other times, when it really counted on the additions he would not do well. Kind of like what I did. I’d be great at times, but when it came to the auditions for the big time with Johnny Carson and those I just kind of I don’t know what happened but it just didn’t work out for me anyway. So that’s just a little bit.

Wow, what a history to have met all of these people before they became famous. 

You were a host of two TV shows, one in Los Angeles and one in New York. Did anything unusual ever happen on these shows?

I did my shows in California with school children and they were local TV shows. They went well. I got very good reports on them and then in New York. I did shows with comics, and I brought them on and I  was a professor punster in a mythical college, where the comics would come on and they would talk about their jokes and it was good. It was just a lot of fun shows and nothing came out of them. No big people were on there. It was local shows. They were well received.

Please describe a typical day of writing for our readers.

The way that I write is I write from inspiration. I will get an idea and will sit down and the words will flow so I usually can write a poem probably in about somewhere between ten and twenty minutes At night I’ll get up if I get an idea and write it down then. And my short story is the same thing. I’ll take a couple days to do those, but I’ll just come from inner ideas or things that I see and get an idea about it and then I write it down and make a story out of it so it’s pretty much inspirational.

What made you decide to put out a book of poetry and then go on to write so many more including coloring books?

I had a lot of poems that I wrote and I kept publishing them. I published coloring books because I wanted to color my illustrations myself. I like to color so what I did is, I did all the illustrations from statues pictures of statues sketches of sketchers and then I put them in my two books my two coloring books so I’ve got a lot of pictures under the color and I had a real good time doing it and I’m sure the people bought the books. I got a few people who I saw who said, yeah we loved it and we love the coloring so they’re out there and both of those are coffee table they’re like 8 1/2 x 12  they’re really nice both of them.

When people read your poetry, what do you want them to find in it?

When people read my poetry, especially my fairytales it’s so nice to know that the kids are getting beautiful pictures and a very positive moral for children. So I have spoken to families they said the kids loved it and the morals are very positive and I wrote this so that they’re looking at old fairy tales with a more modern view. Thank you.

What would you say are the themes of your poems? 

I try to do a lot of poems about words about the value of words. I do a lot of poems about nature and flowers and poems about fairytales so the point is to show how important it is that we make our world as positive as we can so that’s why I don’t have any negative poems. All of my poems are positive.

That is a wonderful way to look at the world. I can't say that about my own work. It always goes with the emotion I am feeling. I do try to end with a positive note, though.

Are you working on a new book to be published? Please tell our readers about it.

I in the process of working on one of them is going to be a sci-fi book of all things. My first attempt is going to be called "The Coffee Zombies" where you know people would drink too much coffee and become zombies. It's a good thing. horror but nobody gets killed. Nobody gets you know there’s no zombie they just become addicted to coffee and then everybody drinks all the coffee in the world and you can’t find coffee anymore. It’s kind of liket he second biggest drink in the world. The first drink is water.  So I’m saying that people can’t find anymore coffee. That's the basis of that, and then I got a new fairytale book coming out as well. So those books are in the works right now.

How can we find your work? 

All of my books are on Amazon.com and then Kindle. All you have to do is put my name in the search box just put in Fibby Bob Kinney, and they will all pop up. They can also go to Google and put my name on Google and my bio and my books will pop up there. So those are the easiest way to find my work

Finally, this is the question I always ask all my guests. Are you a plotter or a pantser? In other words, do you outline or do you just write?

Finally, about plot or do I outline or do I just write. Actually I do both. I mostly just write but once in a while, I will sit down if I have something important that I really know that has to be correct I will be a plotter, and then I will write it. So it depends on the moment depends on the subject about it, but I think both are equal. But I’m primarily it comes from my mind. Thank you so much and I hope that answers your questions. Thank you,

Now, my friends Fibzay has given me some of his work to display on the blog. I hope you enjoy reading his poetry and his stories.

Romancing the Pen

“The greatest romantic poet is the one that is in love with their pen: it is their pen that they place all their love, all their hope, all their dreams...in the unity of a wish - that it will give back to them; fame and fortune”...

The poet, male or female, has a spouse in their pen. It is a marriage made between human being and the extension of their thoughts.

So personal is the individual thought. It lives in the mind of the person who has brought it into being.

The mind as both mother and father gives birth to thought at the speed of light.

As I write these words my mind is delivering them directly from my brain.

The mind is an endless nursery that brings words into imagery.

As the maker of my mind I stand here  in living thought and direct all thought on the subject at hand into an endless chain of words.

They travel down my arm as an army in disciplined form and mount the vessel of my pen.

My pen as a sailing ship. The paper or visible screen of my smart device becomes a vast ocean to navigate. The pen has several disguises: a writing instrument, a stylus; even the thumbs of the writer can become the pen when it texts words upon the device held in its hand, or, all the fingers become the pen on the computer keyboard.

The point is, the mind gives birth, the hand is the gangway, the pen is the visible instrument as the ship , the paper or virtual screen is the ocean that the words must sail into reality.

The pen, in what ever form, is the writers lover. He or she must romance their pen. They seduce it so it willfully as it does their bidding.

I write these words upon the visible screen of my smart phone. The stylus I use is long and sleek with a bouncing tip. It taps the words in a paced rhythm upon the blank screen that brings them to life.

As if by magic with each tap, a letter appears in a permanent form. It shines upon the screen. The writer that uses this form to bring words to life develops a cadence. One similar to a marching band. Measured steps as if in an invisible drum beat keeps the rhythm in synchronized pace.

The words form phrases and turn into sentences. The punctuation as a drill instructor keeps the words in a manageable ordered march.

The sentences build into verse or paragraph and the marching band plays its tunes to the grandstand mind of the reader.

If the images do their job and make the reader feel the emotions that the piece intended then the writer as the high stepping band major has done their job.

I am the band leader of this marching article on the use of my pen as my baton.

I hope this little parade of words has given you enjoyment...if so, I salute you, and thank you for being part of this event that happened on the visual tablet that you are viewing it on...Fibzay 

(Fibby Bob Kinney (c) 1/23/2

Ode to my Inner Child

Although I have never seen him,

Nor talked or Joked with him,

Or, even grabbed a glimpse of him;

I am still his partner in bond.

At night, when  I am washed clean,

And lay myself down to rest,

Upon my feathered  bed;

Perchance to sleep, in wondering trance.

I long for the wishing moment,

When my lids begin to cloak.

My brain set adrift,

My thoughts to heaven's door.

Oh, the wonder of divine sleep.

Its crown, the coming dream,

Of things past and done,

With might and strength of ease.

All values soar into a heavenly realm,

When the brain is at its rest.

It is then the Angel scribe is at its best;

My guardian appears in thoughts to be.

My Angel, the counterpart of me!

He covers my soul in a  blanket of care.

I breathe upon my pillow, in rest.

My stretched body heaped upon the soft sheets.

My Angel, upon me in his protection;

Like a field of butterflies, and I,

The man , whose thoughts are true,

My dreams fill the darkness with life.

What wonder is this dream...

That every night continues its tale?

What is in my vast imagination, that

Unfolds upon the painting to be?

What great mysteries does he possess?

My Angel of thoughts, to have the power,

Over me, to make me weep in joy;

To throw my thoughts to a fever pitch.

There is nothing in this world,

With all its gold and jewels combined,

that could comfort me in time of need,

As my Angel that responds to me.

He is there at night in my bedchamber.

To guide me, without condition or effort,

But to blend with my soul and make me whole;

Without need or reprise for reward.

In a daydream, when I am lost in thought

He  is always there with me.

In the good and in the grief,

His love is real and unrestricted,

Whatever comes to pass, I know: that I am true to myself 

I will do my poetic gift to the best of my ability…Fibzay 

“I  shared this poem with You”...

(Fibby Bob Kinney  (c) 1/23/25

My friends, summer is almost over and I hope you have enjoyed reading about the amazing Renee Drummond Brown. She will probably be back on here again to talk more about her prolific career. Please remember you can comment if you want on any of these blogs. And also, if you are on Goodreads it is synced on there but has a different title: Rising from the Ashes. 

Now I am bringing you another guest author, who has also written a great many books.  She was a guest here in 2014. Her name is Cheryl Carpinello and I know you will enjoy reading about her. Here is her interview with me.

  Where were you born and where do you live now?

I’m a Colorado native and would never live anywhere else.

  Besides writing do you have any other occupation or hobbies?

I’m a retired high school English teacher. Our grandkids and kids keep us busy with activities and baseball games. I’m also a retired airline employee and so we travel! We’ve been to Egypt, the UK, Iceland, Ireland, and Mexico. We also go to college football games each fall.  I enjoy reading although my selection is eclectic. I gravitate toward books about the ancient world, some published before BCE! I also enjoy some fantasy, adventure stories, and ancient quests. 

 Who or what influenced you to begin writing?

As a teacher, I encountered students who loved to read, who just didn’t read, who didn’t like to read, and who even refused to read. All of these students, especially the non-readers, charted my writing journey. Although I dabbled in writing for many years, it wasn’t until I retired from teaching that I started writing seriously. Hence: Tales & Legends for Reluctant Readers & others.

Why did you decide to write about legends and medieval times?

The ancient stories and plays sparked an interest in my toughest non-readers. They found that they could relate to the characters and to the situations the characters found themselves in. As for the medieval, I had kids who wouldn’t be caught in a library, actually researching and finding stories about King Arthur and his knights!

Please describe a typical day of writing for you.

Wow! This is a tough one, Barbara. I’ve never had a typical day of writing. The only common factor in my writing is that when I’m not physically writing, the story is running through my brain. This past year has proven difficult on many levels. Currently doing a running storyline in my head.

How can children benefit from reading your books compared to other kinds of books?

It is my hope that when young people pick up my book(s), it will ignite a spark of interest that will lead them to read more, to learn more about and value themselves, and build an understanding of the world they live in.

How would you teach reading using your books?

I never taught reading. I guided students to see themselves in the characters and to relate that “fictional” world to their own. Even a play as old as “Antigone” showed students that standing up for what is right is not easy, but still needs to be done.

When you write your books do you use people from your life for your characters? How does this affect them?

For my characters, I use numerous traits from my 20+ years of working with young people. This is how I make my characters talk to my readers. I’ve seen first-hand the loves, frustrations, fears, heartaches, joy, and the many other emotions that young people exhibit. I draw from these to develop my characters. 

However...I also draw upon myself, my emotions, and experiences to develop characters.

Do you think traveling as you do affects your writing? In what way?

I love traveling. It’s exciting to visit different countries and encountering various cultures and people. Naturally this makes its way into my writings. In some it’s the setting such as Egypt, Wales, and Iceland in my Arthurian Legend, my Egyptian Tales, and my newest series Feathers of the Phoenix. In others, it’s the infusion of characteristics of cultures and people as in Sons of the Sphinx, and Tutankhamen Speaks. 

Please describe a little bit about your books. 

My Guinevere Trilogy presents a young Guinevere as she struggles with the future laid out for her. The King’s Ransom is an adventure of friendship and fears. My Arthurian Legend stories incorporate the cornerstones of the Legend: Courage, Friendship, Honor, and Loyalty.

Sons of the Sphinx and Tutankhamen Speaks show another side to the Boy King that reveals his human side.

My new series Feathers of the Phoenix brings together ancient mythology and modern Biblical characters in a race to raise the island of Atlantis.

My Grandma/Grandpa Tales is a 3-book series introducing beginning/emerging readers and others to different reading skills using nature.

How did you get the idea for these books?

Guinevere was literally inspired by my students! Every single year, I kid you not, when I asked what my students knew about King Arthur, they talked about Arthur, the knights of the round table, the Holy Grail, and more. When I asked what they knew about Guinevere, each year I received this answer: she married Arthur, cheated on him, and was the downfall of Camelot! Knew I had to correct that view with a 13-year-old Guinevere.

My Egyptian Tales come from my love of ancient Egypt and were inspired by our 3-week visit there.

Feathers of the Phoenix come from my love of Greek mythology.

My Grandma/Grandpa’s Tales are to help beginners, emerging, and others with reading difficulties to hopefully begin to develop a love for reading.

How do you prepare for your classroom visits? 

I’m basically always prepared. I have my materials all set aside and just need to pack and drive! I do mostly elementary/middle school visits. My Illuminated Medieval Poetry is fun for boys and girls.

What are the values you hope to teach children from your books?

The only values my books teach are for readers to trust and believe in themselves as my characters learn to do.

Besides this do you have any other online or in person events planned? What are they?

I have a couple of on-line interviews I’m working on. One is for the All Author website. I just did an interview for Voyage Magazine in the Spring. 

I have a full in-person schedule for the Fall.

Sept. 21: Aurora Mini-Con (auroragov.org)

Oct. 5: Littleton Craft Fair (littletoncraftfair.org)

Oct. 19-20: Molly McGee – Longmont

Oct 25: Boo-rific – Foothills Rec. Center

Nov. 1-2: Sons of Italy Craft Fair

Nov. 8-10: Grandmother’s House – Parker

Nov. 16-17: Molly McGee – Longmont

Nov. 22-24: Colorado Country Xmas – Denver

Dec. 7 & 14; Book Nook Book Bash - Georgetown

Are you planning to publish another book soon? If so, what is it and when will it be available?

Yes. I’m hoping to finish up The Norse Star this fall. It’s Book 2 in the Feathers of the Phoenix series.

Please tell us where we can find you. 

My on-line store: https://cheryl-carpinello.square.site

Website:  http://www.cherylcarpinello.com

Writing Blog:    http://carpinelloswritingpages.blogspot.com/

Publishinng: https://www.silverquillpublishing.com/

Facebook:   https://www.facebook.com/cheryl.carpinello1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccarpine1/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2924554.Cheryl_Carpinello

Bookbub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cheryl-carpinello

Finally, my last question which is one I ask all of my guests. Are you a plotter or a pantser? In other words, do you outline or do you just write?

I’m a pantser. When I sit down to write, the story is already in my head. I learned years ago to ‘write into the dark’ and I love it.

I am a pantser too and my characters talk to me too. Only mine are more of this century. LOL

Cheryl Carpinello Bio  

Tales and Legends appeals to readers of all ages, particularly those who have struggled with reading. Through my 25 years of teaching experience with diverse readers, I’ve found that stories from the Ancient Worlds and Arthurian Legend draw in readers of all abilities.

My Grandma/Grandpa’s Tales help young readers build reading skills through nature tales.

My husband and I are both retired high school teachers and we love to travel. We attend a college football game around the US each year, and we travel abroad for fun and my books. We’ve been to Egypt, the UK, Iceland, Mexico & the Caribbean. Besides teaching for 20+ years, I also worked nights for a major US airline. Reward: Lifetime Travel Benefits! Love it!!

I'm a lover of mythology, myths, legends, & tales from the ancient/medieval worlds. All of these have transcended time & space into our world today. The myths & legends don't fade away; they are just repackaged for a new audience.  As a high school English teacher, I continually challenged my students to find connections between today & times long gone by. Some took more digging than others, but the connections are always there

Now, I write Arthurian Legend for young readers and teens. These stories exhibit what I consider to be cornerstones of that Legend: Courage, Honor, Loyalty, & Friendship. My tales from Egypt & my new series Feathers of the Phoenix meld the ancient/medieval worlds with today. The Atlantean Horse (Book 1 of Feathers of the Phoenix) also brings the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse out of the Bible & into the modern world. My Grandma/Grandpa’s Tales, short illustrated stories, help the youngest readers build their reading skills. At the 2nd grade reading level, these stories are suitable for readers aged 4 and up.

I love doing classroom visits where students create their own Medieval Illuminated Poetry. So much fun! Even the boys have a great time creating their poems. I also do full-day Medieval Workshops where kids explore Medieval titoimes with a variety of activities.

It does sound like fun to do that with kids. As a teacher I know that activities like this are better for learning than any books. And your books are sure to be both fun and educational. I hope everyone will check out your website and see all the awards you have won for your books.

Thank you, Barbara, for this opportunity to appear on your blog.

It is my pleasure to have you on my blog again. I went back and saw you were a guest author way back in 2014. I hope you won't take ten more years to come back.

Until the next time, this blog will be on here until October 16, 2024.  I hope some of you have checked out my newly published book, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor.  It's YA but older people like it too. This book will bring you back to high school.

The next guest author on here will be Fibby Bob Kinney. He is a poet and author.

The Jewish Holidays usually come up around now but this year they are in October. Fall is in the air and it's hard to believe summer is almost gone. Summer is my favorite season, since I was born in the middle of it. But I do like Fall or Autumn too for the colors of the leaves. Please leave a comment here for our guest author.