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Joy Leftow

Goodreads Author

Born

in New York City, The United States

Website

http://joyleftowsblog.blogspot.com

Twitter

violetwrites@gmail.com

Genre

Poetry, Mystery, Fiction, Thrillers, Oth, Short Stories

Influences

I wrote my first poem at 4 years old. I began reading at 4. I've never ...more

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/violetwrites

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Winner of the 2017 Aquillrelle Poetry Publication Prize, Tupelo Honey & Other Tales, is available at Amazon & B&N. Primarily a poet, I coined the term, "Bluetry" to define my art. Bluetry grew out of people approaching me after readings to compliment me or complain my poems were too sad.

Other Publications:
Spot of Bleach By Joy Leftow
Insights of Joy (chapbook)
Lipstick Diaries
Seek Truth by New Art Review
World Healing World Peace 2012
Aquillrelle Anthology
Chewbone 1993
Wings (various years and editions)

My drive to write, create and share, defines my art. I write because I have no choice. My performances are an extension of my art, evolving like a child develops in the womb and his mother gives birth to him.

Always on the edge, in the early 90’s, ...more

450 posts
Joy Leftow's Blog

What's it Like?

What Is It Like

I’m a rightfully accused self hating bitch,
mistreated, abused, neglected, recused, ignored and unwanted—
never wanted – since my birth – told by my mother,
I didn’t want another child I couldn’t afford to feed.

Years wasted – never understanding, a child forced to be adult
yet have a child’s mind
With no escape from who they were and who I was –
Unliked all around, fat, unattractive,
r

Combine Editions
Joy Leftow’s books

Average rating: 4.18 · 73 ratings · 9 reviews · 5 distinct works

	Fuck Poetry by John Burroughs (Goodreads Author) (Editor / Contributor), Susan Amethyst (Contributor), Sarah Black (Contributor) 4.53 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2011	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lipstick Diaries: A Provocative Look Into the Female Perspective by Teres Baldwin, Sharron Doyle, Anthony Whyte 3.76 avg rating — 34 ratings — published 2007 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Spot of Bleach & Other Poems and Prose 4.14 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 2005	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tupelo Honey & Other Tales it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Tupelo Honey & Other Tales 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Joy is Currently Reading

Joy is currently reading

Black Indian (Made in Michigan Writers Series)

by Shonda Buchanan (Goodreads Author)

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Jun 22, 2020 01:31PM

Joy is currently reading

Northanger Abbey

by Jane Austen

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Feb 13, 2020 11:13AM

Joy is currently reading

The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin

by Jan Stocklassa

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Sep 22, 2019 04:16PM

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Very interesting historical novel showing women in a different century- when men owned rights over women's money and estates. ...more
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Quotes by Joy Leftow (?)

“power the mojave desert with miles & miles of solar panels!”
― joy leftow

tags: political

4 likes

Joy’s Quotes

“power the mojave desert with miles & miles of solar panels!”
― joy leftow

tags: political

4 likes

“Do you know what we call opinion in the absence of evidence? We call it prejudice.”
― Michael Crichton, State of Fear

tags: bigotry, fiction, prejudice, science

1294 likes

“Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

tags: identity

12856 likes

“I wandered through the cosmos in search of the treasure but found it within me.”
― Namdev

4 likes

“This King was not surrounded by love at all, but arrogant selfish
men, who’s only purpose had been to become strong enough to enter,
thus by doing so isolating themselves and their idea of what the
King should be from all the rest of their kind.”
― Karry Lynn Dayton, Saint Horz - The Stone Saint

1 likes

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Joy’s Groups

The Reasons Why you wrote your book or books — 668 members — last activity Aug 30, 2024 01:41PM
People write books for many reasons, so why did you write yours?

Poetic Book Tours — 75 members — last activity Feb 23, 2026 08:20AM
Announcements of new small press and poetry blog tours.

Scantily Clad Press — 181 members — last activity Jul 13, 2016 06:22AM
SCP is an e-chap series edited by Andrew Lundwall. . .

Punk Hostage Press — 374 members — last activity Feb 19, 2020 09:45AM
Punk Hostage Press is a not-for-profit book publishing imprint that also acts as a an outreach program to connect writers and contemporary literature ...more

Vagabondage Press Books — 119 members — last activity Mar 26, 2012 01:11PM
Sign up to get news of our lastest acquistions and newest releases. Bloggers and Reviewers Welcome! Join for review ARCs, connect with our authors ...more

Words As Works — 135 members — last activity Sep 03, 2016 02:09PM
Words As Works With this non-profit venture we hope to coordinate with other publishers, authors, editors, promoters, journalists and further our ef Words As Works With this non-profit venture we hope to coordinate with other publishers, authors, editors, promoters, journalists and further our efforts to build a community with those who are also doing similar works. We also want to connect with more programs in schools, juvenile literacy programs, inpatient treatment centers, mental health facilities, detoxification units, homeless/housing shelters & programs, women's shelters, social service providers, city and county jails, state and federal prisons, halfway houses, outpatient programs, librarians, teachers, counselors, case managers, curriculum builders, creative writing programs for at risk youth or adult services. We are aware of many who are already engaged in this work and we want to reach and become connected to many more in order to grow a network for ourselves and for others to use freely in order to expand the reach of contemporary literature and enlarge its usefulness for those who benefit the most from this support. This effort comes from the heart and is founded in our personal experiences with literacy, books and literature being very strong guiding points on the road to recovery and rehabilitation as well as getting a better start in life for at risk youth. We hope to disseminate books from independent publishers and to set up and conduct readings with the authors that wrote these books in order to give not only the gift of the books themselves, but the personal interaction with the writers and publishers who produce the books. A future goal would be to conduct creative writing groups and hopefully allow participants to empower themselves into self-expression and learning their own creative process that is supported by their peers. Also, to encourage publishing opportunities for the works of these participants in chapbooks, anthologies and even support the beginning of publishing concerns that would become the participants own within these programs or outside of the support structure provided by Words As Works. ...more

Little Free Library #26112 — 36 members — last activity May 02, 2016 05:22PM
Independent library open to the public with a "bring a book/take a book" method of sharing reading materials. 4975 Comanche Trail Stow, OH 44224 ...more

¡ POETRY ! — 22550 members — last activity Mar 04, 2026 01:17PM
No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read No pretensions: just poetry. Stop by, recommend books, offer up poems (excerpted), tempt us, taunt us, tell us what to read and where to go (to read it!) Goodreads honors wordsmiths: poets and poetry promoted and prompted here. ~~~ "Poetry is the synthesis of hyacinths and biscuits." -- Carl Sandburg “God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer.” —Anne Sexton On Clouds – “…what primitive tastes the ancients must have had if their poets were inspired by those absurd, untidy clumps of mist, idiotically jostling one another about…” —Yevgeny Zamyatin “If the poet wants to be a poet, the poet must force the poet to revise. If the poet doesn’t wish to revise, let the poet abandon poetry and take up stamp-collecting or real estate.” —Donald Hall “Poetry is a rich, full-bodied whistle, cracked ice crunching in pails, the night that numbs the leaf, the duel of two nightingales, the sweet pea that has run wild, Creation’s tears in shoulder blades.” —Boris Pasternak “Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket.” —Charles Simic “Language is a cracked kettle on which we beat out tunes for bears to dance to, while all the time we long to move the stars to pity.” —Gustave Flaubert “Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It’s that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that’s what the poet does.” —Allen Ginsberg. ~~~~~ Amy King, Moderator Amy King is the recipient of the 2015 Winner of the WNBA Award (Women’s National Book Association). Her latest collection, The Missing Museum, is a winner of the 2015 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize. She serves on the executive board of VIDA: Women in Literary Arts and is co-editing with Heidi Lynn Staples the anthology, Big Energy Poets of the Anthropocene: When Ecopoets Think Climate Change. She is also co-editing the anthology, Bettering American Poetry 2015, and is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY Nassau Community College. ...more

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