Madigan:(looking out the window) So what makes you think Ken’s fooling around on you?
Barb: He’s just acting really weird lately.
Madigan:(regards Barb) Weird like what?
Barb: I don’t know. It’s just one of those things a wife notices. You wouldn’t understand.
Madigan: What does that mean?
Barb: Well, you know. You and Tom were never really happy.
Madigan: That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a wife to him.
Barb: Come on, Maddie. He never even loved you. How can you say you knew him at all and that you’d notice little things that a real wife does, when you couldn’t even comprehend that? And anyway, you weren’t even married.
Madigan:(turns to the window) Marriage is just a piece of paper.
Barb: You wouldn’t know though, would you? You’ve never been married. Ken loved me enough to put a ring on my finger and tell the whole world that he wanted to spend his life with me. Nobody’s ever done that for you.
Madigan:(looks sharply at Barb) And yet you think he’s fooling around on you!
Barb:(checks her fingernails) Eeh, it’s probably just my imagination.
Madigan: (stares out the window and mumbles) Don’t count on it.
I’ve been thinking for quite some time about making my book, The Magician’s Curse, available for free for a limited time. It hasn’t sold a copy in over a month (mostly because I haven’t been advertising it), so I thought it would be a good way to jump-start some interest, and gain a few fans who will want to buy the next book.
However.
Sitting up here in Ontario, Canada, safe from hurricanes, mudslides, earthquakes, fires, and volcanoes, I feel blessed. Yet my heart bleeds for those who are suffering and have been for far too long. I want to give. I want to do more than just sit here and feel bad about it all. But I have no money to give; I have no time to give.
With much deep thought and consideration, I’ve come up with a hopeful solution. From now until the end of October, all proceeds from my books — The Magician’s Curse and All Good Stories — will go to charity. There are so many people in need that it’s hard to choose, but my hope is to be able to give at least $100 to a few different causes. At this moment, I’d like to give to Puerto Rico, Mexico, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, and the people of Antigua and Barbuda. I pray there won’t but by the end of October, there may be more.
Here are my books with their blurbs:
As best friends, Xavier and Jupiter have always been supportive of each other’s romantic relationships. But when Jupiter meets Bob online, Xavier can’t help but feel he needs to come to her rescue. There’s just something about Bob. In the process of preventing Bob from wooing Jupiter away, Xavier realizes he’s been in love with her all along. Can he keep her safe and win her heart? And will he ever get to read her manuscript?
Join Xavier, Jupiter, and a quirky cast of characters in this fun romantic comedy novelette with a twist you won’t see coming.
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.
Please buy my books. If you don’t enjoy reading romance, buy one as a gift for someone who does. It will give you a chance to donate a little extra to some worthwhile causes, and have something to read in return.
If there is a region in particular out of the above mentioned that you’d like your money to go to, email me at linda@lindaghill.com. I’ll write a post on November 1st to let everyone know how much money has been raised and how it will be split. I will also post the receipts for the donations. I have screenshots of my sales as of yesterday ($0) for the last month. I’ll post these with updates weekly.
I encourage you to share this post and keep sharing it. Tell your friends, post on social media, get the word out, and help me raise money for those who desperately need it.
When you’ve got a cold, do you ever wonder why you didn’t appreciate being healthy when you were? And then, when you get rid of the cold, you sigh and think, yes – I will always appreciate this feeling of not being sick until, like, the next day when you totally start taking it for granted again.
Why do they call it a cold when it makes you hot?
When it was hot in the summer, my mother used to swear by drinking hot tea. This was back in the days before homes were air conditioned and we just had to live with it. Her theory was that a hot drink made you sweat more, and when you sweated (is that a word? It doesn’t look like a word. Don’t you hate it when that happens?) …anyway, when your body produced sweat (better), the air, though hot, cooled you off more than if you had just been sweating normally. Like you do on a hot day.
My mother may have been crazy. I realize that now.
Yet it means that I don’t shy away from drinking the hot coffee I crave, nay, need in the middle of summer. Or in stupid temperatures in the fall like we’re having now.
Hellooo!! It’s Friday again, and time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. It’s been an interesting week around here. The first full week back to school for Alex, which has been nice. I’ve been seriously considering doing something totally out of the ordinary. For me, at least. If it happens, you’ll be the first to know. In the meantime, here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “hot/cold.” Use one, use both, bonus points if you start your post with one and end with the other. 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!!
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.
Dick: You’ll never guess what my wife and I did last night for dinner.
Gerald:(raises eyebrows) Do I want to know? I mean, really, are you sure I want to know?
Dick:(elbows Gerald in the ribs) Come on, of course you do. Anyways, I get home from work last night and she’s got all these candles going in the dining room, right?
Gerald: Lucky you don’t have kids.
Dick: Yeah whatever. Anyways, I walk in the door and there’s all these candles on the table and the sideboard and everything, and there she is dressed up in this … thing …
Gerald: What, like a gorilla suit?
Dick: No! She’s not wearing a gorilla suit! She’s got this black lacy thing on with her boobs hanging out, out to here (gestures with his hands in front of him) and this tiny little thong stuck up the crack of her ass that’s she’s wiggling at me …
Gerald puts his hand to his face and slouches in his seat.
Dick: … and on the table – get this – on the table is this assortment of whips and handcuffs, and I’m like, holy shit babe, this book you’ve been reading, it’s right up my alley.
Gerald: Don’t tell me …
Dick: That’s right, man. That Forty Shades dealio. I got my hogtie on with the handcuffs and the ball in the mouth and shit and she went to town on my ass, all night long, man. It’s incredible! Man, you should get that book for your wife.
Gerald:(unenthusiastically) Sounds like balls of fun.
Dick: Speaking of balls, mine are fucking aching this morning. You know, after all that she didn’t even want to have sex. She just flat shut me out. It’s like she just wanted to beat the hell outta me.
Gerald: Hey maybe I should read that book … The lingerie’s not a requirement, right?
Dick: … I guess not. But what would you want to read it for?
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!
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