Life in progress

Monthly Archives: January 2025


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JusJoJan25 the 16th – Personalities

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “personality,” comes to us from Astrid. Check out her blog here!

In a way, I’m jealous of authors who can plot and plan a novel or an entire series before they start writing. I haven’t published a full-length novel in a year because I’ve been busy writing three of them in a continuing series, and I’m afraid to release the first one in case the details in the third one require a change at the beginning of the overall story.

All this because I’m a discovery writer, or a “pantser,” as we often call writers who write by the seat of their pants. I love being a pantser—finding out what’s going to happen in my story and to my characters as I write is both fun and fascinating.

Many times for me, an entire book will start with a single personality. And often, that personality will come to me from listening to a character’s voice and seeing them in my head.

It’s basically how I wrote my “Second Seat on the Right” series. Click for a random episode.

Because my stories are character-driven, personality is essential to pin down. Personality can often help me to decide what situations to put them in.

In Creamed, my latest release for instance, Tom comes to town and inadvertently steals Mary’s business at the Christmas market where they both have booths. If not for Tom’s strong feelings on the subject of fairness (he hates unfairness), the story might have gone a completely different way.

In other words, the personalities of characters have a lot to do with conflict and its resolution, and therefore, plot.

And that’s my lecture story structure for the day. Not sure how I came to this point, but here we are.

(Seriously, I didn’t plot this post ahead of time. 😏)

This wandering post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Astrid for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 16th, 2025

Would you look at that! We’re halfway through January with our sixteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt comes to us from the amazing Astrid. Thank you, Astrid! Please be sure to visit Astrid’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 16th, 2025 is “personality.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 16th, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan25 the 15th – Be colourful

Life is short. Be colourful.

Photo: The multi-coloured Christmas lights wrapped around the top rail of my deck in my back yard that I’m seriously considering leaving there because they’re pretty.

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.

Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

2 a) 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 lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 the 14th – The initiative

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “initiative,” comes to us from Fandango. Check out his blog here!

I never realized until I sat down to write this post how hard it is to take the initiative when you’re solely responsible for your work.

The first two definitions from Dictionary.com are:

1. the ability to assess and initiate things independently

If I didn’t, I’d do nothing at all.

2. the power or opportunity to act or take charge before others do.

There are no others. There’s only me.

Back when I worked for other people, I loved taking the initiative.

Thinking about it again, maybe now I’m taking all the initiative.

Hmm.

This pondering post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Fandango for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 14th, 2025

Hi! It’s time for our fourteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt is courtesy of the fantastic Fandango. Thank you, Fandango! Please be sure to visit Fandango’s blog to read his posts and say hello. And follow him while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 14th, 2025 is “initiative.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Tuesday, January 14th, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 the 13th – Embrace the chaos

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “embrace,” comes to us from Laura. Check out her blog here!

I’m trying. But it’s hard, I tell ya.

I mean, there’s always going to be chaos. Life is unpredictable, right? And no matter how determined we are to make our plans come to light, something is bound to throw its own brand of poopstorm into the mix.

So what is a girl to do?

Embrace the chaos.

Make friends with it, tell it to come on in and do its worst, because its going to come in whether it’s invited or not.

All the things that can go wrong, from the little stuff I’ve learned to deal with like WordPress absolutely refusing to change the title of a copied post unless I go out of it and come back in again (am I the only one?), or putting stress-related heartburn in my life almost every day for the last five years … I’ve got to try to go with the flow.

Because fighting it just isn’t helping.

This surrender-y post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Laura for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 13th, 2025

Welcome to our thirteenth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, the prompt is brought to us by the lovely Laura. Thank you, Laura! Please be sure to visit Laura’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 13th, 2025 is “embrace.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Monday, January 13th, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 the 12th – Notifications on

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “notifications,” comes to us courtesy of Sadje. Check out her blog here!

Sometime in the last week or so, I wrote about my poor old laptop and that I was going to take her into the shop to either get her fixed or replace her.

Well, I think she heard me. Or maybe she got upset that I wrote my JusJoJan post on another computer, because lo and behold, when I turned her on to get a file off her that day, she stopped making the horrible noise that made me determined to take her in.

In other words, she knew she was on notice to behave.

Well, today the noise came back.

So I’m here posting on my other computer again.

I’m tempted to try starting the old gal up again to see if she’ll behave for another week—after all, if I hadn’t done it last time, I’d have been at the Geek Squad counter swearing up and down that really, the hard drive was making a noise. Honest! Just like that rattle the car was making before you took it to the mechanic. Machines, I tell you!

So I’m not sure what I’ll do.

Either way, the saga will surely continue.

Stay tuned.

This rather frustrated post is part of Just Jot it January. Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Sadje for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 12th, 2025

Hey there! I’m here with our twelfth prompt for Just Jot it January 2025. Today, our prompt is courtesy of the spectacular Sadje. Thank you, Sadje! Please be sure to visit Sadje’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 12th, 2025 is “notifications.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what I have so far on your prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Sunday, January 12th, 2025.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan25 and/or #JusJoJan25.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan25 & #SoCS the 11th – It’s the little things

This post is part of Just Jot it January and my weekly prompt, Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Find the prompt and see how you can join in HERE.

It’s the little things …

A row of knitting on top of a row of knitting that eventually makes a blanket.

A piece of paper I no longer need shredded and put out for recycling.

A word on my blog that leads to the next.

Without the little things, I’d never wrap my head around the idea that I can get the big things done.

Problem is, there’s always another big thing waiting to get done.

Still, I like the idea of the little things.

It’s the little things that make me happy.

This little post is part of Just Jot it January and SoCS! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link. It’s fun!

2019-2020 SoCS Badge by Shelley! https://www.quaintrevival.com/