Meme Blog Hop

Breaking news: Olaf, Frozen's friendly snowman, was eaten by a snow bear.

(Parents everywhere secretly rejoice.)

The hosts are Christine Rains, C. Lee McKenzie, and Tara Tyler!

This is a Blog Hop!

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1. Tara Tyler	2. Christine Rains	3. The Write Game
4. PepperWords	5. Dr Gulara Vincent	6. Writer's Alley (S. A. Larsen)
7. Bish Denham	8. Michelle @ Writer~In~Transit	9. Spacerguy
10. Queendsheena	11. Yvonne Ventresca's Word Pop	12. Yolanda Renee @ Defending the Pen
13. Read is the New Black	14. Elizabeth Seckman. Author	15. Author J Lenni Dorner
16. Heather M. Gardner	17. Rena Rocford Writes	18. Literary Rambles
19. Susan Says	20. Adventures in Writing: One Woman's Journey	21. Madilyn Quinn @ NovelBrews
22. Denise Covey	23. Fairday's Blog	24. Juneta @ Writer's Gambit
25. Tamara Narayan You are next... Click here to enter This list will close in 15 hrs, 31 min (2/29/2016 11:59 PM North America - Eastern Standard Time) What is a blog hop? Get the code here...

The Muse Party Blogfest - (Anti) Valentine's Day Edition

Happy Anti-Valentine's Day, Everyone! Join the party over at The Faux Fountain Pen with Sarah Foster and bring your muse. 

_______

Me: Hi Sarah! How are you? And Jordan? How's it going? Clyde has something he wants to give you guys. He'll be here in a jif. He just had to park down the street a bit, because his fishing boat is hitched to his truck.

Clyde (running up to the door carrying a large box): Howdy folks! Sorry about the last party. I broke one of yer lamps. Completely by accident, I swear.

Me: While table-dancing in a hula skirt if I remember correctly--

Clyde: Well, at least I wasn't holding up the wall the entire time, Violet! And no wonder. Who's gonna ask you to dance when you're wearing yet another Life Is Good t-shirt and jeans? 

Me: Well at least my shirt is pink. The only red you got going is those ketchup stains on your flannel shirt. 

Clyde: I'll have you know this is my best flannel shirt. Here Sarah, (ripping open box and letting loose a million styrofoam peanuts into the room), you're gonna love this. 

Me: The leg lamp from A Christmas Story? I'm speechless, Clyde.

Clyde: It's a collector's item, Delores Downer! And one heck of a lot better than those worthless bricks of candy you brought.

Me: Ghirardelli chocolates with caramel are delicious, you backwater bumpkin. You just can't chew them without losing your dentures.

Clyde: I don't have dentures! 

Me (twitching my nose like Samantha from Bewitched): Actually, you do. Consider them my Valentine's Day gift to you.

Clyde (giving me the finger): And here's mine to you, Doll-face.

Me: Wow! Now that's romantic!

Clyde (grinning and nearly knocking me over with an over enthusiastic elbow in the ribs): Speaking of romance, why don't we make sure everyone's got a drink and play Spin the Bottle, the fun way.

Me: I almost too scared to ask.

Clyde: It's simple, Simone. You spin the bottle and whoever it points too, you switch drinks and take a swig. Anyone spits, they're out. I always top my beer off with a cup of milk just to make thing interesting.

Me: Um, I think I'll pass. That game would spread germs faster than a rabid rhesus monkey with diarrhea.

Clyde: Talking about a pet of yours, Priscilla? 

Me: Ha! With a muse like you, who needs pets?

Clyde: Hey? Wait! (Picks up a handful of styrofoam peanuts and crumbles them). Look! I made confetti! Easter's right around the block. How about the Confetti Egg Game? Where you going? 

Me: Home! I need to start writing letters of apology to our host and the other guests. This is going to be a long night.

__________

Clyde grew up in Honea Path, SC, back when color TV was a big deal. His mom was first a schoolteacher and later principal of Whitehall Elementary, his father was in the armed services, and his older brother Dillan, or Dill, used to (in his words, not mine) beat the p*** out of him. He's rude, crude, and totally uncalled for, but as a muse, he does a great job at kicking me in the tail when I need it. 

 

Image Courtesy: Håkon Iversen Photog

So how would you describe your muse? Naughty or nice?

IWSG - A Full Plate, February 2016

Check out the new badge!

Ready to unleash your fears or celebrate your writing triumphs? Join us at the IWSG, rock out with Ninja Captain Alex, and let 'er rip! 

Ever had one of those weeks when everything happens at once? That's been my week so far. Sunday I was a bleary-eyed mess, having stayed up until 2:30 that morning for my daughter's cast party. She was a villager in her middle school's production of Shrek, The Musical and Saturday night was the final show. Wow, what a performance! What an experience! Here she is with (left to right): Fiona, Donkey, Gingie, Fairy Godmother, Shrek, Lord Farquaad (show stealer), young Fiona, and the Dragon:

As a cast member parent and volunteer, this activity consumed our lives for the past two weeks, but it was worth it.  

Also on Sunday, the authors included in the upcoming IWSG Parallels anthology started an email frenzy over marketing ideas. (Thank you, Hart, for taking the initiative.) This necessary work got me both excited and nervous at the same time. 

And I received several emails from my publisher. Over the past couple of years, Wormhole Electric has published nine of my stories ranging in length from 4K to over 20K. Now they're moving on to other pursuits and sent my books and covers back to me. On Monday, the stories vanished from Amazon, releasing a dreadful feeling of panic in my gut even though I knew it was coming. My first reaction: must repost, STAT!

But hang on. Besides panic, there is also a feeling of power. I can do anything I want with these stories. For the two collections Wormhole published, I could rearrange the order, put in more stories, or take some out. Yes, it's going to take some work, redoing the covers and figuring out how to post, but there are so many options to consider. Can I do it? (I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.)

But that's not all. I did the Lost and Found Valentine's Blog Hop Monday (if you missed the post by Elizabeth Seckman's mom, do yourself a favor and check it out), sent back the first round of edits for the Parallels anthology story Tuesday, and am co-hosting today's IWSG hop (along with are Allison Gammons, Eva E. Solar, Rachel Pattison, and Ann V. Friend). Whew!

Instead of turning into Chicken Little, I gotta embrace the challenge and realize that even though the plate is full, this is the good stuff.

Have you ever posted your writing on Amazon? Any advice? Gone to any plays or watched Shrek, The Musical on Netflix? What's keeping you busy these days?

Lost and Found, A Valentine's Day Blog Hop

The Season of Lights

His hair was the first thing she noticed. It made him look like a cartoon character, those curly yellow locks springing out in all directions. Yet who was she to judge? She’d been submitting to a four-hour spiral perm for her own blond tresses for years. In terms of hair, they would have made a perfect match.

His flirtation embarrassed her in the beginning. She ignored his calls from the lift where he was hanging Christmas lights. He was one of a dozen temporary workers hired to string lights through the zoo. She was the penguin keeper. Others working in the birdhouse teased her about it. Told her he was “cute”.

After a bit of time, she noticed his face, realized her co-workers were on to something. She began to say “Hi.” Quick conversations followed, smiles exchanged. She’d look for the lift  on the way to lunch. He’d duck into the audience to watch her during penguin feeding time.

One cold December eve, he invited her to “make the rounds” with him as he walked through the zoo, checking lights. Someone asked him if she was his girlfriend. She laughed too loud at this and regretted the strident caw of her voice. He said someone else was his girlfriend, and she regretted this more. It felt like a betrayal. What was she doing here? Why had he asked her to come?

Yet the flirtation continued and one day he met her outside the birdhouse with a small, green sprig in his hand. Mistletoe, he claimed. Then he leaped at the tall set of wooden doors to the birdhouse and it caught somehow, wedged tight into the carvings there. She held his eyes as long as she dared, but there was no kiss.

Soon after, the season of lights was done, the workers released. She’d look up at the sprig still stuck above the door and wonder if she should have tried harder to make something happen.

_____

Today's hop is brought to you by Arlee Bird at Tossing it Out and Guilie Castilol-Oriard at A Quiet Laughter, and co-hosted by Elizabeth Seckman, Yolanda Renee, Denise Covey, and Alex J. Cavanaugh. It is also the Question of the Month for Michael D'Agostino at A Life Examined. What love have you lost and/or found? Was it a person or a hobby or a pet?