Bonjour From France, Newbie Intro Options

[Sekhmet]

Bonjour le monde from South West France (Bordeaux Wine country) - This is me.
My real name is Leonora, but I answer to Leo. I have chosen Sekhmet - the Egyptian fierce Lioness Goddess to be my nom de plume, not because I am at all fierce, but because I am very taken with the ancient myth/ history ethos of the site. And anyway, if your name is Leo it is necessary to go for something 'lion related'

Both English, and female, I have thoroughly enjoyed living in France for the last fifteen years.
I pray to the Gods that I will soon be able to navigate this labyrinth with some degree of competence.
I hope to submit both poetry and prose to the various forums. I have written prose for many years - mostly short plays and Pantomimes for English AmDram groups, also short stories for a local creative writing group; but have only written verse for the last couple of years. I love to write in various poetic forms - and my most difficult endevour, so far. has been a Sestina. I am not too confident about the idea of offering a critique. I have a strong belief that the poets voice is unique - and I am not at all sure that I have the competence to interfere with that voice. I will ,therefore, remain fairly gentle, until I am convinced that I can contribute something worthwhile.
I love humour - and hope to submit both serious and humorous works.
See you all later -
Sekhmet/Leo

[Cleo_Serapis]

Bonjour Sekhmet and welcome to MM!

Here at MM, we offer honest, yet friendly feedback in our workshopping forums. The level of critique varies from member to member based on their individual goals. It can take some time to get to know each other and what is being sought. Please do wander our halls, take in our colorful 'tiles' and join in the fun.

Ahh, prose and poetry! On the poetry side, the Sestina is a hard form for me to grasp, I've still not written one. Maybe you can give us some pointers?

Please let us know if you need any guidance navigating the site or with our participation rules or other goodies we offer.

Welcome!
~Cleo/Lori

[Sekhmet]

Hello Lori - and thank you for that warm welcome. I will spend some more time browsing all the chambers before I attempt to post something of my own.
Leo

[Guest_ohsteve_*]

Leo, Bonjour and welcome to MM. It is always nice to see new people join and to read new works. I am mostly a writer of free verse, but am attempting to write form starting with a version of Quatrain called swap quatrain started here by Lori who is the originator. I am sure there are a few here that will be helpful in polishing your sestina, and with your works of prose, do not feel bad about trying to critique others works, I have been not very good in doing that for a long time, but I keep trying to improve. When you are critiqued here it is always about the work, never about the artist, and it is always your choice to use the critique or to not use. Again welcome and hope to see you soon.
Steve

[Eisa]

Welcome to MM - it's so good to meet you and I look forward to reading your work very soon.

Snow

[Larry]

Hello Leo,

Welcome to MM. I didn't know you had written anything in the "Introduce Yourself" forum and had seen your Villanelle posted in Hermes. Not having seen anything posted here before today, I thought I would look here to see if you had, in fact, introduced yourself. I look forward to reading more of your work. I don't know what kind of critique you're anticipating or want so let us know. Speaking for myself, if there is something wrong with anything I write and post here on MM, I want to be told. I've only been here for about 8 months and have learned more here about the craft of writing than I ever did in school.

See you in the forums!

Larry

[Sekhmet]

How thoughtful of so many of you to welcome me to your forum. I hope I will attempt a mild critique in the near future - but feel nervous about intruding my own views into another persons creative ideas.
Possibly free verse would be an easier place in with to make a critical start - Just as with Modern Art, there are no rules - so no one can transgress them. No sharp criticism is possible, apart from poor spelling and typos.
I am hoping to be introduced to new, challenging forms of poetry.
Thank you all.
Leo

[JLY]

Leo,
Welcome to MM. You will find that everyone here works and writes in the spirit of friendship and our goal is to provide support and encouragement to everyone. We all want to improve our craft and this has always been a group where constructive guidance is the primary activity of its members.
JLY

[vessq]

Hello Lenora,

Welcome!

This is a good group. Do not feel your comments will interfere with anyone's style or voice.

Anyone who does not understand that everyone hears and sees in a poem only those things that are consistent with their own back trail will not stay around long.

Occasionally, someone will think I know more than I do and ask me to lead a writing workshop at one of the gatherings of cowboy poets that have sprouted like weeds in the western US. I always pretend to know what they think I know and agree because I learn so much.

I caution everyone to never accept any suggestion that does not cause one to smite their forehead in frustration and say, "damn! Why did I not think of that?"

It is often astonishing how different people see or hear something in a poem that I never intended when I wrote the thing.

One of my poems called "Sold Out" is about working for an old man who lost his ranch. The poem ended up on a PBS video series called "The United States of Poetry".

Several poetry professors wrote essays or included it in their books as a classic example of the failure of the American Dream.

The poem was about starting over. Sometime we have to do it year after year. We are good at it here in the ranching west.

My grandmother called us next year people. It is always next year the cows will all have twins and it won't hail out the grain crop, or rain on the alfalfa windrows.

So, please say what you think. It is the writers job to listen and then accept or reject your particular take on what they write.

Again, welcome. I think you will like it here. The forum is more active for poetry crits than it is for prose.

There is one in Iceland called critique circle that I hope will be more active for the stories I like to write and tell audiences at the gatherings.

Do you know of the Guardians (the French version of American cowboys)?

Vess

[AMETHYST]

Hello Lenora,

(I'm having trouble calling you Leo, as that is my dogs name - however Leo is one of the smartest, pleasant and close to peopleish as anyone will find... And I LOVE him dearly) ... Please accept my late welcome to Mosaic Musings. I took the pleasure of reading one of your posts and enjoy it very much. I hope to see more of you and hopefully, I will more available here as well.

Best Regards, Liz

[Peterpan]

Hello Leo~

I am Peterpan - Beverleigh or Bev. I have been with MM for many years now and have so enjoyed the comradere and the education! We are from all sides of the earth. I am from Johannesburg, South Africa.

I am very pleased to meet you! I wish you a long and happy stay with us at MM!

Bev