Category Archives: Rooted and Winged

by | December 19, 2025 · 8:47 pm

Christmas Magic

Looking for a happy holiday romance? Check out Eden Dow Robins’s new Christmas release available in paperback and kindle versions. And inside find a little Easter egg in the form of my book Rooted and Winged!

https://www.amazon.com/Frost-Happily-Forever-After-Holiday/dp/B0G64ZSWC7

There’s more, too, but I don’t want to share it before you have read Frost!

Summary

“A small town, two frozen hearts, and a little Christmas magic…

Esme Gerard decided spending the holidays at her favorite place on earth was just what she needed. Once known as the most wicked wild west town in America, Jericho Ridge had been her asylum for more than a decade and was the perfect respite when her heart couldn’t risk taking one more hit.

Until Jack.

Their first encounter left her craving more. Something about him drew her closer. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she wasn’t ready, her heart told a different story.

Jack De Vine had priorities. As a single dad, his daughter was at the top of the list. Second was a secret legacy he had a sworn duty to protect. Third was the winery he and his family ran. Dating was at the very bottom. Ever since his ex-wife left him and their child years ago without a backward glance, he’d kept his heart stored in ice.

Until Esme.

From the first moment he saw her, he was drawn to her. That sent alarm bells off in his head. He knew he should steer clear of her, yet he kept looking for excuses to get closer.”

I hope your holidays are joyful!

 

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by | November 30, 2025 · 7:58 am

The Wonderful Feature Called the Poetry Bookshelf

I hope my American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was wonderful as my kids took on most of the work, and I got to spend a lot of time with my “best friend,” my little grandson. The gardener and I watched him the day before and the day after the holiday, as well as spending time on Thanksgiving Day itself. The day before we took him to the clock shop because he is passionate about clocks. And he sat down to explore our keyboard.

If you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you still have much to be grateful for.

Enjoy the concert:

One of the Thanksgiving blessings of my life are writing friends and supporters. Case in point: A huge thank you to Editors Juan Re Crivello and Barbara Leonhard for putting my full-length poetry collection Rooted and Winged on the Poetry Bookshelf of LatinosUSA.

If you haven’t read my book, please check out this link if you have the time.

https://latinosenglishedition.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/featuring-rooted-and-winged-by-luanne-castle/

Enjoy your transition time into the holiday season!

P.S. I’m also grateful for decent medical care as I prep for this week’s colonoscopy. Yay!!!

 

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by | November 8, 2023 · 2:35 pm

The Beginning of Winter #TankaTuesday

You really have to be paying attention to see the beginning of winter in Phoenix. It is a little cooler, but it is still as warm as a Michigan summer. The sky is still bright blue. Our flowers are brilliant, and the sun shining through the leaves of the bushes and trees is a painting.

Still, according to #TankaTuesday, this is the first week of The Beginning of Winter (November 7 – 21) Ritto 立冬. I thought I would try a new-to-me form, the gogyohka. This form is not truly syllabic, but Colleen Chesebro’s research has shown it to be more about breaths. It is a five-line poem, like a tanka. A gogyohka does not need a kigo word, but I am playing along with the seasonal prompts, so I am including “long night” as a kigo.

Some super cool news this week. Both my full-length collection Rooted and Winged and my chapbook Our Wolves are finalists for the American Book Fest 2023 awards! https://americanbookfest.com/2023bbapressrelease.html

I’m so pleased with how my books have done with the awards, but they could both use more reviews on Amazon (and Goodreads, too, but especially Amazon). It only takes one or two sentences to help the algorithm, so if you have read the books and liked them, please consider taking the time to drop Amazon a line or two.

It’s been over a week that I have been walking every day. I am so happy that I have been able to sustain this routine, and that my health has permitted. It’s a beautiful walk near me, and so far it’s been almost eventless. I am a little dismayed, though, how few birds I am finding this year. Has anyone else noticed this where you live or is it just here?

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by | July 3, 2023 · 12:51 pm

Season 5 Episode 14:  Luanne Castle on A Poet’s Voice

“Note how the red rose,velvet worn by early frost,clings confidentlyto its own treacherous stem,never accursed by mirrors.” Luanne Castle Welcome to …

Season 5 Episode 14:  Luanne Castle on A Poet’s Voice

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by | May 17, 2023 · 5:15 am

Robbie Cheadle’s Guest on Treasuring Poetry

I’m excited to be author and blogger Robbie Cheadle’s May guest for her monthly Treasuring Poetry article on Writing to be Read. She had some wonderful questions for me about writing, and I enjoyed answering them! You can find the publication here: https://writingtoberead.com/2023/05/17/treasuring-poetry-meet-poet-and-blogger-luanne-castle-and-a-review-poetry-poetrycommunity-bookreview/. Robbie has also posted a beautiful review of both Rooted and Winged and Our Wolves.

With son and DIL living here, we have their dog Theo here as well. He’s such a little goofy guy, and I get to let him out when his mom and dad are both gone for three hours or more. I can’t physically handle walking him on a leash, although in a pinch I can take him on the driveway on a leash because he’s very good for me. But I like to let him roam the backyard, which is fenced. He’s very loved and what’s rewarding for me is that he loves his Grandma! In his photo you can see a very typical expression he gets on his face as he is always trying to figure out what’s going on.

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by | April 13, 2023 · 5:15 am

Review of Rooted and Winged AND Our Wolves

Writer Joy Neal Kidney has written a review for both my full-length collection Rooted and Winged and Our Wolves. Thank you, Joy!

New Poetry by Luanne Castle

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by | April 10, 2023 · 4:32 pm

Poetry Reading Video

I had fun reading my poetry via zoom through the Well-Versed Words program, hosted by poet Alison Hurwitz. There was time to read quite a few poems from Rooted and Winged, as well as two from Our Wolves and to yak a bit about the poetry. Having to talk about my poetry taught me things about my poetry and my life. Alison is an excellent moderator and offers a reading every month. Check out her website at https://www.alisonhurwitz.com/events.

The video is 48 minutes long (eeks). It has the name of the wonderful moderator, Alison Hurwitz at the beginning, but you are in the correct video. And of course you can skip around if you want to check it out! As for me, no way can I watch it and see myself and listen to my voice hahaha.

https://vimeo.com/816303312

My leg has been diagnosed as an inside meniscus tear and arthritis of the kneecap exacerbated by my primary lymphedema. Surgery is a very very last resort because of the lymphedema. Going to see a PA in sports medicine this week. Long waits for actual doctors. I hope to be able to travel because I have plans to see my mother in Michigan this month. I will be traveling with my daughter while the gardener stays home with the kitties. Yes, I’ve booked a wheelchair at the airport! If you’ve read my blog very long you know there is always a new physical problem ;).

A spot of good news. My son got my sewing machine fixed. It’s been broken for about 15 years. I want to use it for journaling, and now I just have to remember how it works. You would think that the granddaughter of the Head Fitter at The 28 Shop (couture at Marshall Field) would be a natural at sewing. But it was my cousin Leah who inherited some of that talent. Sadly, Leah has now been gone for twenty years.

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by | March 13, 2023 · 5:15 am

An Award and a Review–a Good Day for Rooted and Winged

I have a little Rooted and Winged news. It’s a Book Excellence Winner in Poetry! Oh yeah, baby.

This is a nice little present to me for the work I put into the book.

Poet Carol Bachofner has posted a review of Rooted and Winged on her new Substack newsletter/blog. I hope you enjoy the review. It is the first in a series of poetry book reviews she plans to write. The second one is already up and it’s about Patricia Smith’s Unshuttered. Please consider following Carol’s newsletter as she continues to write about poetry. https://carolbach.substack.com/p/books-that-say-something-we-need?utm_source=facebook&sd=pf&fbclid=IwAR14BDVHsEnnFldy_xIVPNUKNOt0lV658jNbwn_264sDHCAEVxV9Ud3TOdk

My boy Meesker trying to keep me from reading Meg Pokrass’ micro stories or my Kindle. “ Pet me, Ma.”

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by | March 7, 2023 · 6:15 am

Visit the Our Wolves Book Tour 3-7-23

First stop on the Our Wolves blog tour, a book review, can be found here:

https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com/2023/03/07/our-wolves-by-luanne-castle/

On another note, I wanted to give you a Perry update. His meds seem to be holding everything bad at bay for now, so we are doing well on that count. But Meesker has decided he doesn’t like Perry in his “room,” so he beats him up occasionally. Yesterday, he left Perry’s fur flying all over the floor! It funny with cats how it works: Perry chases Sloopy Anne who chases Meesker who chases Perry. See the circle there? Then Kana and Perry both intimidate Lily, but if we didn’t have a gate up in the house she would beat up both Meesker and Sloopy Anne! Otherwise, we live in peace and harmony . . . .

I submitted a request to the Phoenix Public Library to purchase 3 books, including Rooted and Winged. I received an automated email saying they had purchased Rooted and Winged. Yay! But the other books were by friends, and they gave me no response on those! I wonder what happened? Next month I will try again. By the way, it’s very easy to request your local library purchase a book, especially if you have a library card.

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by | February 21, 2023 · 9:47 am

Thank You, Autumn Sky Poetry Daily

I maybe have shared when my poem “Waterland” was first published by Open: Journal of Arts and Letters. Then it became part of my new full-length collection Rooted and Winged. Today I’m really tickled that editor Christine Klocek-Lim has published it in Autumn Sky Poetry Daily. She expresses her thoughts about the poem at the end. I’m grateful for her enthusiasm for the poem.

https://autumnskypoetrydaily.com/2023/02/21/waterland-by-luanne-castle/

This is the photo that inspired me to write this poem. Yes, that’s baby me with my pretty mom.

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