Friday, September 30, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things and Friday Flashback - Sept. 30


Hi, Everybody! Welcome to that part of the week when we take a moment to celebrate the small achievements or the mountains we've moved over the past seven days. A big thank you to our host, Lexa Cain, and our co-hosts: L.G. Keltner and Tonya Drecker. 

1. I'm celebrating the fact I can participate in a blog hop since our internet went bye-bye earlier this week with sporadic reappearances. We switched companies yesterday and hopefully I'll be surfing easy from here on out.

2. I've edged my running route up to six miles. My legs aren't as enthusiastic as my brain. They say ouch-what-the-heck-wasn't-five-miles-bad-enough?


image: Melynda


3. Our family had a glorious walk around Durand Lake last Sunday. By the shore, my husband lamented the lack of turtles, so I pointed a small one out to him. He then upped the ante and asked for a deer. I said I'd see what I could do.

Later in the apple orchard, we happened upon 2 ladies with 5 dogs between them. One was a super-sweet cross between a chow and an English Corgi. We all fell in love and wanted to abduct take this angelic fluffykins home on the spot. It had stumpy legs, but an enormous head that looked more golden retriever than chow.




After we dragged ourselves away, my daughter spotted a young deer. We joked about finding its parents, but wouldn't ya know, a short distance away, we found momma. Of course we had to start singing, "Doe, a deer, a female deer." She twitched her ears, which roughly translates into: "Oh please! Like I've never heard that one before!"

Then we joked about finding daddy deerest and yep, not far from his woman, he was munching away, sporting a fine set of antlers, (but nowhere near as huge as those in the picture above!)



It's also Flashback Friday! The host, Michael G. D'Agostino, is looking for someone to take over this monthly blog hop. Go visit him at A Life Examined, if you're interested. 

Here's a quicky: my Y post from the 2012 A to Z Blog Challenge. Enjoy.

Y is for . . .

Image courtesy: Aramand Agasi 

Yin and yang. Dark and light. Female and male. Earth and air. Doofensmirtz and Perry the platypus. According to Wikipedia, the idea is complementary opposites, one giving rise to the other, instead of opposing forces i.e. good vs. evil. (Doofensmirtz is not entirely evil; he loves his daughter.)

Finding images for yin and yang isn't hard. In fact, flickr.com has the feline variety up the yin-yang! 

Image courtesy: kprager

My daughter loved this kitten image so much, I had to recreate it in frosting for her birthday cake that year. 

How was your week? Got a cool flashback post to share?

Monday, September 26, 2016

Guest Post at TF Walsh's Site



Good Monday Morning! Things are a little rough here. Poor Mr. M has to go to the vet to have his thyroid level checked with a blood test. So he had to fast and he can't go outside to do his "business". This is not a happy morning for him.

At TF Walsh's blog, I'm discussing a different medical problem: a rare complication of strep. If you've ever wondered why you should have your or your child's sore throat checked by a doctor, go here for that important information!

And while you're there, check out all the cool stuff from this fantasy author.


Friday, September 23, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things - Sept. 23


Good day, everyone! It's Friday. A day to take a moment and celebrate the little (or big) things going on in our lives. If you'd like to join in, click on over to our host, Lexa Cain, and sign up. Thanks also to our co-hosts: L.G. Keltner and Tonya Drecker. 

1. The short story is coming along. I'm an over-writer, so I have to take my first draft of 9K words and whittle them down to 6K. Let the chopping begin!




2. Took a kayak trip yesterday on the unusually calm waters of Lake Ontario, launching from Braddock's Bay. Saw clear through to the bottom of the lake (depth at most 6 feet where I was) and huge mansions along the shore (feel sorry for whoever has to clean those puppies). An otter dove off an old concrete pier as I passed (no splash, so he gets a 10).


Image: Tony Sutton


On the way back, a bald eagle flew almost directly over my head.


Image: Brian Scott


Gorgeous weather. I'd have preferred some cloud cover though. The sunlight bouncing on the waves and reflecting on the underside of my hat nearly gave me a migraine. Anyone know where I can buy super-extra-impenetrable dark sunglasses? Or should I just get a welder's helmet and be done with it?




3. Fall! Don't you love fall? Cooler temperatures, brightly colored leaves, Halloween, apples. We had such an intense summer, I'm ready for a change. How about you?

Monday, September 19, 2016

Guest Post On Joylene Butler's Site, Birthday Greetings from Google

Image: Santiago Uceta, Skeleton Birthday Card


It's Monday. I love Mondays. I think.

The kids are at school and it's time to wallow in hours and hours of uninterrupted writing time. It should be awesome. Except somebody, not mentioning any names, stayed up way too late watching TV. Sigh.

You'd think I'd be old enough to know better, but apparently not. But I have an excuse. It was my birthday!

Now here's something interesting. When I went on Google yesterday, the logo, to my surprise, was a birthday theme. Not only that, it said "Happy Birthday, Tamara!" Could some other super-famous Tamara have the same birthday as me? Nope. Here's the explanation if you're curious and what it looked like:


As an extra present, Joylene Butler, suspense author of Matowak - Woman Who Cries (release date November 1) is promoting my collection of short stories, Heart Stopper and Other Stories, today. Click here to say hi.

Thank you Joylene!

How's your Monday going?

Friday, September 16, 2016

Celebrate the Small Things


It's Friday! Freaky, Fun, Fabulous Fri-i-i-day! Are you excited about the weekend? Let's get this party started with our host, Lexa Cain, and co-hosts: L.G. Keltner and Tonya Drecker. 

1. I started writing a new short story this week. The first day the words were flying, about 3,500 of them. The second? Eh, about 1,500. Laborious, cringeworthy, pigslop. This seems to be the pattern whenever I start a new project. The first day is glorious, and the second makes me wonder how I can call myself a writer. Usually the third day is a little better, so I hope the pattern holds.




2. Apples! It's apple season. We already picked Ginger Gold (super sweet) at our local orchard and it is almost time to pick my favorite apple of all: Honey Crisp. If we don't miss the tiny window, I'll stock up on these babies. They last forever in the refrigerator.

3. Julie Flanders is celebrating the release of her new children's book this month about a not-so-little guy named Baby Moo.




Baby Moo has a dream. He wants to travel the world and sing on the stage of the Sydney Opera House! While he loves his home at Sunrise Sanctuary, it hasn’t been the same since a piglet named Nathan showed up and stole all the attention away from Moo. Jealous of the new baby, Moo decides now is the time to make his escape and pursue his dream.

But the world outside the sanctuary gates is not quite the fun and exciting place Moo imagined, and he quickly finds himself in big trouble. Moo's friends Missy the dog and Ruthie the cat rush to help him, and land in some trouble of their own.

Lost and frightened, Moo and his friends must rely on each other to find their way back home. Will they ever see Sunrise again?

Links:

***Julie Flanders will donate $1 to Sunrise Sanctuary, home to Baby Moo and numerous other rescued animals, for each copy sold in September.***

Are you writing this fall? Have a favorite apple? What do you think of a cow singing on the stage of the Sydney Opera House?

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Cover Reveal For L.G. Keltner

Image: Rasmin


Today, I have some exciting news about author extraordinaire, L.G. Keltner! First she brought us Self Help 101 or: How I Learned to Take Over the World Through Tolerating My Family (which reminded me of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation).



Then came Self Help 101 or: How To Survive a Bombardment With Minimal Injury (which reminded me of Jackass--not that I actually watched that show, ahem, just heard about it.)






And now, on September 27, L.G. will release the third title in her holiday/humor series, Self Help 101 or: How To Select a Costume to Help You Deal With People. (length: 29K)





Dani Finklemeier is adjusting to life in college and the realities of living away from home for the first time.  She’s also learning to deal with the criticism that stems from sharing her writing with the world.  Some of the online criticism is even spelled correctly, which somehow makes it worse.

Fortunately, she has a Halloween party, a group of friends, and a supportive boyfriend to distract her from the things that are bothering her.  Of course, a holiday celebration wouldn’t be complete without something going wrong.  Between an unpleasant confrontation with an infuriating classmate, some shocking costume choices, and a bizarre fraternity stunt, the evening will be anything but dull.

Dani’s detractors may not like it, but she’ll definitely have enough material for another book.




About the Author: L.G. Keltner spends most of her time trying to write while also cleaning up after her crazy but wonderful kids and hanging out with her husband.  Her favorite genre of all time is science fiction, and she’s been trying to write novels since the age of six.  Needless to say, those earliest attempts weren’t all that good. 

Her non-writing hobbies include astronomy and playing Trivial Pursuit.

You can typically find L.G. lurking around her blog, on Twitter, or on her Facebook page.

Pre-order Links:



Keltner's hilarious series has hit Christmas, the Fourth of July, and now Halloween. What holiday do you think L.G. will pick next? Do crazy things happen to you on the holidays?