Life in progress


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One-Liner Wednesday – Bike Path

I would still need hip waders to walk on the waterfront underwater trail.

Wasn’t it the Creature from the Black Lagoon who walks sadly back into the water? That would be me.

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If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Dan Antion


21 Comments

The Magician’s Curse – Now Available for Pre-Order!

When Herman Anderson leaves home to make a better life for herself, she doesn’t expect to meet a tall, dark stranger with whom she’ll fall hopelessly in love.

Charming and mysterious, Stephen Dagmar is a stage magician seeking an assistant. The moment he sets eyes on Herman, he knows she’s the one. He brings her home to his Victorian mansion where they embark upon an extravagant romance. Yet a shadow hangs over their love. Will the curse on his family end Stephen and Herman’s happily ever after, before it really begins?

Amidst lace and leather, innocence and debauchery, The Magician’s Curse begins the Gothic tale of The Great Dagmaru. Magic and romance await.

Official release date: June 27, 2017! Pre-order your Kindle copy today here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721ZH2KN
Available soon on Kobo, and on June 27th in paperback on Amazon.

An excerpt from Chapter 2:
The moment Stephen stepped out the door, the foyer fell silent again. He didn’t have to look at any of the interviewees perched, alert upon burgundy velvet-covered benches against both sides of the room, to know their eyes were on him. They were drawn to him as though he were a human magnet, just as Herman had been. He passed the stairs, turned right, and stepped into the dining room where his agent, Margaret, waited for him to arrive.
“Hey,” she said without looking up. She sat poring over the applications that were strewn across the large antique dining room table. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, staring at the top of her dark mane of hair shining in the light of the chandelier above her head. Her long, graceful fingers, poised to turn a page, were an elegant extension of the rest of her lithe body. Finally, she looked up and took in his appearance with icy-green eyes. She was every bit as beautiful as any of the women outside.
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked. Being inseparable for five years, both as best friends and then co-workers, made it easy for her to tell when there was something different, however subtle, about him.
“I found her,” Stephen said, his back still to the door.
“Who?”
“She has a perfect body and long, brown hair and the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen. And her lips! Full and beautiful. And the way they move when she speaks … absolutely captivating.”
Margaret narrowed her eyes. “You hired someone on the train again, didn’t you?” It was a statement more than a question.
Stephen nodded.
“Okay,” she said, sitting back in her chair. “Tell me more about her.”
“I think she’s running away from home. She has a job to go to, but she agreed to come and check this one out. She’s sweet and innocent and she’s almost eighteen.”
Margaret crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes even more.
“No, I didn’t audition her the same way I did the others,” he said.
“So you didn’t bang her in the limo on the way here.”
“No! She’s not of age. And anyway, I knew from the second I saw her that she’s the one.”
Margaret began to say something just as the door opened on the far side of the room to her left, and Nina came in from the kitchen. Both Stephen and Margaret glanced at the slight young woman and then at each other.
“Should I leave the two of you alone?” Margaret asked.
Stephen shook his head almost imperceptibly and walked over to have a quiet word with the girl. After a few seconds she bowed and backed out of the room, and Stephen turned back to his friend.
“Well then,” Margaret said, throwing her hands up and glaring down at the stacks of paper in front of her. “Tell them all to go home.”
“No, I still want to interview them.”
“What the hell for?”
“Herman might not take the job.”
Margaret raised her eyebrows. “Herman?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, let me get this straight. You’re telling me she’s the one you want but that she might not stay. I’m confused.”
He stood, silently pleading with his friend to understand what he had only begun to comprehend himself.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Stephen? I’ve never seen you undone like this before …”
Margaret put her hand up to her mouth, realization dawning on her face. “Oh my God,” she said quietly.
He closed his eyes as he spoke. “It doesn’t matter whether or not she’ll be my assistant, Margaret.” He opened his eyes and swallowed hard. “She’s the girl I’m going to marry.”

Here are my social media links:

New and Improved Fiction and Poetry blog: https://lindaghillfiction.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lindaghill.fiction/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LindaGHill
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15577348.Linda_G_Hill
And on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Linda-G.-Hill/e/B01K2LICL0/

Please share and spread the word! Thanks so much! ❤

 


44 Comments

Cover Reveal and how I got this far

I started writing The Great Dagmaru in November 2011 for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I’d completed the challenge with 50,000 words twice already, but in 2011 it wasn’t meant to be. My entire family got sick that month and we were in and out of the hospital. Yet I persisted with my novel because I’d fallen in love with these characters in a way I’d never fallen in love with my characters before.

After eighteen months, I finally wrote “The End” and then I went into a strange depression for a couple of weeks. It was a book hangover with a mighty kick – a kick mighty enough to make me continue the story. I’m currently working on Book 3.

I hope to have Book 2 edited and released by early 2018. In the meantime, thanks to the incredible, torturous (I’m not easily satisfied, apparently) work of my lovely cover artist, Belinda, (you can find her here) I finally have the opportunity to present to you the cover of my first book in the series The Great Dagmaru, entitled The Magician’s Curse.

Blog tour with lots of details to come!


32 Comments

#SoCS – Seek A Sign

I have two things I want to post today but I’ve been procrastinating since I got up while I tried to choose which one to post first. The two things are (or were) this SoCS post and my cover reveal for my new novel, The Magician’s Curse. As you might have guessed by now, I decided to grace you with this gem first. 😛 (I do think a lot of myself, don’t I?)

While I was dithering deciding, I was looking for a sign to tell me which order to post them in. I do that a lot – look for signs.

Forgive me if you’ve heard his one before – even if you have, it bears repeating. A whole bunch of years ago, while I was feeling sorry for myself because I was alone, I was looking for a sign that I wouldn’t be forever lonely. I used to do automatic writing back then, which isn’t really that much different than letting a character guide my writing when I’m penning a book. It seems to come from nowhere. Outside of the worldly realm. Whatever. Anyway, I don’t remember the exact details, but I wrote something like, watch for signs passing by. It made no sense whatsoever – you pass by signs on the road, not the other way around. At least that’s what I was thinking.

Then the next day I was driving somewhere, diligently looking at all the signs, when I looked up just before I drove under a bridge that crossed the road. There going across above me was a city truck full of road signs. Made me laugh – it’s something I’ll probably never forget.

By now you’re probably wondering what the sign was that made me post this before the cover of the book you’ve been waiting for since I first mentioned writing it four years ago when I started this blog. My sign was the dog wagging his tail in his sleep while I thought of writing this. Not as spectacular as signs passing by on the road, but I’ll take what I can get.

Watch out for my new cover, would you? Thanks. 🙂 Drumroll please…

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click the following link and see how you can join in! https://lindaghill.com/2017/06/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1717/


64 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 17/17

Friday is here, and that means it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. It’s been an exhausting week. My mother had a fall that’s bad enough to put her in the hospital for a couple of months. I thought about postponing the release of my book, but are things going to get better? Likely not. Onwards and upwards. In the meantime, here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “sign.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


23 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – Back to the Future?

Old house: check. Old car: check. New car: check. …wait, that’s not a DeLorean!

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If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!


A Friend In Trouble

For those of you who know Irene, please send your thoughts and best wishes.

AmyRose🌹's avatarCreating Heaven On Earth

I was just notified this morning that a good friend of mine, Irene (IreneDesign2011), is very ill in a hospital in her city.  Her daughter, Claire, requested help from me to get the word out that her Mother needs prayer, Light and Energy, good thoughts, sent now.  If any of you know Irene will you please reblog this post and assist me to get to as many of Irene’s friends as possible so they know about this situation?

The following is the exact message Claire, Irene’s daughter requested I write in this post:

“I am not sure who is reading this but I hope it is read by Irene’s friends and followers.  I am her daughter, my name is Claire, and would like to give you an update on this story.  As I cannot guess her password to the computer, I cannot write a separate post for you to receive…

View original post 459 more words


11 Comments

#SoCS – I Admit to Things

I have a few things to admit to today, it seems.

I admit that although I drive to the bus station, spend $4.50 to get on with Alex (because he loves bus rides) and do an entire route just to get off at the same station, it’s not all that bad, regardless of how much I complain about it. It’s one of the few times every week I get to observe people.

I admit to buying Alex a child’s ticket even though he’s sixteen years old. He’s small enough for me to get away with it, and it’s not as though he could get a job. His mentality is that of a six- going on two- going on adolescent-year-old.

I admit that I feel bad about the torture I put Belinda, my cover artist, through, considering I can’t pay her what she’s worth – a million bucks.

I admit that although I have my book set for release on June 27th, I have no idea how to organize a cover reveal (sorry, Belinda), or run a blog tour. (If anyone wants to help with these things once I get them figured out, please email me at bacamjoly at gmail dot com. Thanks!)

I admit to laughing at this until I cried

(Horrible of me to laugh – it’s all in the execution, though. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)

I admit to wanting to read all the other admissions in the SoCS posts this week because I’m nosy.

I admit that I’ve run out of things to admit to. For now.

This post is part of Stream of Consciousness Saturday … er … Sunday. Click the link and read all the other posts – you’ll find them in the comments. And join in – it’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2017/06/09/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1017/


62 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 10/17

It’s Friday and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Sorry for the late post. I’ve been busy formatting my novel and time slipped away from me. Also, I’m sick with a cold; I feel like I’ve been run over by a bus. Ah well. Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “admit.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome Stream of Consciousness post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


39 Comments

One-Liner Wednesday – I Want It All

More fun with the fridge:

“I know what I want: it all. Now.” My eldest son wrote this with fridge magnets (I added the omnomnom, because it’s the fridge) and thus started a new game: guess who sang the lyrics.

____________________________________________________________________________

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure. To execute a pingback, just copy the URL in the address bar on this post, and paste it somewhere in the body of your post. Your link will show up in the comments below. Please ensure that the One-Liner Wednesday you’re pinging back to is this week’s! Otherwise, no one will likely see it but me.

NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, like Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

As with Stream of Consciousness Saturday (SoCS), if you see a pingback from someone else in my comment section, click and have a read. It’s bound to be short and sweet.

Unlike SoCS, this is not a prompt so there’s no need to stick to the same “theme.”

The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our very cool new badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

#1linerWeds badge by Dan Antion