Books by Amanda Hall

This book is a full calendar of meditations, aphorisms and witticisms to greet the day with, or to take in at night.

Despite homelessness, an author presses on with poetry designed to save her and her husband's soul.

This is the collection of three children's stories, told in poetry, that are now being collected for the first time: The Evening Conference of Kung-Fu Kitty, Kung-Fu Kitty in the Kitchen, and Kung-Fu Kitty at Eastern Poetry.

At dawn of her wedding day, horsewoman Jacqueline Knoll leaves her sleeping fiancé to slip out for an early morning ride. Alone on the country road, she relishes the past year of her engagement, and anticipates a future which looks as open and welcoming as the terrain she travels with her Morgan horse, Fig.A sharp bend in the road leads to an unexpected encounter with a pack of savage beasts who do not share Jacqueline's spirit, or care at all for humanity . . . .

All about living as an artist--that is the quest underlying the scenes you'll read. Can artists actually be artists? Is it too intense for the faint-of-heart? Cheer Authur on as he fights stereotypes and cheapness, in favor of individual expression and quality.

The Morality Plays X: Roots of WisdomIn the final of ten Classical Dialogues, Wisdom and Trickery use their sorcery to impart their respective Dragon's Passion or Spider's Anemia, upon the realm of professional modeling. In poetry of envelope-rhymed and blank verse, Sapphic Stanzas and Chinese Fu, the Virtue and Vice seek to influence the course of aesthetics: Is a beautiful fashion model a cool. pretty exterior, or a three-dimensional being of Beauty in Mind and Soul, as well as Body? The Chorus of Graces presents the Question at Issue and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays IX: All the ShameIn the ninth of ten Classical Dialogues, Pride and Shamelessness watch over two males discussing gifts for their girlfriends. In poetry of envelope-rhymed and blank verse, the Virtue and Vice offer advice about gift-giving: Should one be proud of knowing a partner's soul and speaking to it, or spending a great deal of money in ostentatious proof of material earnings? The Chorus of Furies presents the Conflict and Resolution, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays VIII: Glutton for ModerationIn the eighth of ten Classical Dialogues, Moderation and Gluttony create a commedia dell'arte scene at a banquet for film-star award winners. In envelope-rhymed and blank verse, the Virtue and Vice seek to encourage balance or clowning: Should an actress struggling financially give in to the lowbrow productions that would pay, yet violate her conscious aestheticism? The Chorus of Graces presents the Question at Issue and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays VII: Greens of EnvyIn the seventh of ten Classical Dialogues, Fairness and Envy cast an aura about two women, with opposite views as to the nature of fairness. Is what one person has-of material, spiritual or intellectual states-that which is taken away from another's body, soul or mind?-or do circumstances pertaining to material, spiritual or intellectual goods exist as a result of an individual's cultivation of them? Will tearing down a beautiful woman raise another woman up? The Chorus of Furies presents the Conflict and Resolution, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays VI: Peace of MindIn the sixth of ten Classical Dialogues, Serenity and Wrath cast their spells over the gathering at a beach-front restaurant. With promptings in envelope-rhymed and blank verse, they tempt and warn: Should a café owner subjected to the raging of an irate customer give in to the angry emotions she could reciprocate? The Chorus of Graces poses the Question and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays V: Busy BeesIn the fifth of ten Classical Dialogues, Industry and Sloth preside over a homemaker's kitchen in which the industrious beekeeper is harassed by her neighbor, of fashionable debt-spending patterns. With aphoristic quips in envelope-rhymed and blank verse, the Virtue and Vice remark upon the situation: Should one fired from her job and in a financial bind be granted a job by the homemaker of opposite approach to skill-development and earning a living? The Chorus of Furies poses the Conflict and Resolution, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays IV: Order UpIn the fourth of ten Classical Dialogues, Order and Chaos seek to impart their influence on a young man with little interest in finishing his thesis on time or tidying his room. Entreating in envelope-rhymed and blank verse, the Virtue and Vice weigh the merits of the case: Is neatness of environment and thought a needless artifice? The Chorus of Graces presents the Question at Issue, and Resolution, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

The Morality Plays III: A Generous HelpingIn the third of ten Classical Dialogues, Generosity and Greed evaluate the behaviors of two merchants with very different approaches to the marketplace; in envelope-rhymed and blank verse, they act to dissuade or goad: Should vendors participate in gossip about competitors, to acquire more in sales? The Chorus of Furies poses the Question and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

Adherence to the truth, as it may be gleaned by fallible human beings, and stylized perceptions as they may be perceived, by vulnerable and sensitive beings, and loveliness as it may be fashioned and presented, by mortal creatures with a tendency to err-these are the essences of Beauty in Art . . . .ON THE NATURE OF BEAUTIFUL ART: LITERATURE FOR LIFEA paean to Romanticism, Poeticism and Aestheticism, in a Manifesto on the Nature of Art, its place in the world, and on the cultivation of a viable Life of Letters in a Culture of Beauty.

In the second of ten Classical Dialogues, Compassion and Cruelty hover over two women with very different views about nutrition. Whispering cues in envelope-rhymed and blank verse, the Virtue and Vice prompt resolution of the issue: should a mother use harsh demands to get her theatrical daughter to lose weight, under pressure from other stage mothers? A Chorus of Graces poses the Question and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

In the first of ten Classical Dialogues, Justice and Injustice play Angel and Devil of envelope-rhymed and blank verse, perched upon an author's shoulders, whispering incentives into her ear. Should an inferior writer tweak someone else's manuscript just enough to avoid accusation of plagiarism? A Chorus of Furies poses the Question and Judgment, in Strophe, Antistrophe and Epode.

A collection of quips, jottings, tidbits, criticisms and witticisms from the diary of an Aesthete who believes that the Pen is mightier than the Sword, and that the bon mot must be used to vanquish folly.

An artist with the face of a fragmented Picasso strives for transcendent aestheticism, in sculpture defiant of his birth defect. A lady horticulturist continues to beautify her orchards, in spite of the environmentalist propaganda harming her enterprise. A postmodern scholar comes between these two potential soul-mates, operating under the conviction that Beauty is a myth, and that Western Bounty is an enemy to all. This fiction is preceded by my critical essay, " 'Ugliness' for The Beautiful: Resurrecting the Romantic Monsters of Stoker, Shelley, Hugo, Leroux, Rostand and Poe to Defeat Jason, Chucky and Freddy."

A Cherub sent to Earth to earn her wings, Joyce learned to sing of pure Seraphic things; She satirized the Seven Vices men Had served, in helpless bondage to the yen. With aid of Saint Cecilia and her choir, Joyce lifted human beings from the mire. None thought a blog would serve as Heaven's tool, But that is where Angelic Creatures rule. The Cherub taught the people how to laugh At evil, with precise celestial staff. And after deft destruction of The Bad, The Seraph Joyce returned to Heaven, glad.