Many of you are familiar with the A to Z Challenge held every April. It was organized a little differently last year–a lot of people loved it, and a lot didn’t. Here’s your chance to weigh in and let the organizers know what worked for you!
Click on the link for the original post to see what you could win by filling out the survey and sharing the post, and to get all the details for this year’s challenge!
As you probably know if you’ve been around my blog for a while, I have letter fridge magnets. I was taking something out of the fridge the other day, and one of the letters fell off the freezer door and landed on my forearm. I paused to think, then I laughed.
Because I was hungry. Don’t judge me!!
The letter was “Y.”
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!
I’ve been asked to and even been tempted to write stories from the perspective of an animal in past. But I just can’t. (Disclaimer: I have a feeling I HAVE done it before, years ago–so many I can no longer remember–but I couldn’t tell you where that writing is.) The point is, I can’t do it anymore. Here’s why.
What if … This is what goes through my mind when I look at my dog and really contemplate what might be going through his head. What if he’s a past human, trapped in the body of a dog for the span of this lifetime? What if he really understands everything I’m doing and saying and he’s judging me?
I know this sounds paranoid, but it’s where my writer’s mind goes. My overactive imagination, if you will. So there it is. I’m afraid that if I start writing from his perspective, I’ll somehow disappear into a void of imagined conversation between the dog and the cat that will end up with me hiding in my room with the door closed, begging for forgiveness and mercy as they scratch and whine, trying to get in. Except of course it’s only because they’re hungry, my logical mind will tell myself.
Here we go again. The bots and spammers have found a new trick. I had a spammer ping back to one of my older prompts this morning. Fortunately I get a little preview in my notifications of what’s in the body of the post where the link to my blog is situated. UNfortunately, you can’t see the preview in the link in my comments.
The one I caught this morning was trying to advertise steroids. All this to say if you see a pingback that’s suspect on one of my prompts, don’t click on it. I’ll do my best to zap them before they cause any trouble. And if you get one of these bots pinging back on your own blog, be sure to hit the spam button rather than delete, so maybe Akismet’s algorithms will catch them. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Please spread the word either by reblogging this or writing your own post. Don’t let the bots get the upper hand! Thanks!
Welcome to Friday here on my blog, complete with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’ve been busy this week writing a story for an anthology that’s going to be all sex. It’ll be coming out (pun unintended but inevitable) under my pseudonym, so don’t look for details here … I can let you know more if you’re interested. Anyhoo, I only mention it because I can’t stop laughing as I write and I’m not sure this is a good thing. Funny smut is allowed, isn’t it?
Here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “tail/tale.” Use one, used them both, you decide. 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 new 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.
You know you’ve made it when the bookstore pays you. Go me!
Cheque to reimburse me for the books I sold at my book signing in October, 2017
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!
I was both surprised and happy to find that my friend Bee is hosting her February prompt, Love Is In Da Blog again this year! If you’re looking for prompts, check out her blog here!
When I think about the word “devotion,” my mind immediately goes to single-minded love and romance. But then, Merriam-Webster dictionary actually states this:
obsolete: the object of one’s devotion
Who knew this definition was obsolete?
Yet it’s true, the term is much broader than that. I’m devoted to my kids–all three of them. I’m devoted to my friends, both offline and on. I’m devoted to my writing, my career in editing, and my blog. I’m devoted to caring for my dog … the cat slightly less, because perhaps he’s less devoted to me. That, and he’s not my cat. He’s my son’s and will move with him if he ever moves out.
Which begs the question is it possible to be devoted to someone (or something) that’s not devoted back? Absolutely. That can get rather frustrating, though, in a “but why are you leaving me” sort of way. In the case of the kids, that’s usually inevitable.
Do we throw the word devotion around too liberally? Perhaps. Makes you think about what you’re truly devoted to though, doesn’t it?
My to-do list is once again way over the top. I find it much easier when that list is dominated by stuff I have to do for other people. When I promise someone I will, for instance, have their editing job done on a certain day, nine times out of ten I get it done early. I’m able to concentrate better when I have someone counting on me. I have discipline. When it’s only me counting on me, I have none.
At the moment I’m supposed to be working on three short stories (I have a deadline for two of them, but they’re not motivating me yet), one of which I’ve gone as far as creating a Word document and naming. Not a single word in the document itself. The other two I have great ideas for, but the deadline for the first is closer. As someone wise once said (Stephen King?) starting is the hardest part.
My excuse for not working on my novel is I’m waiting for a beta reader to get back to me. I could work on it anyway, but there’s this short story …
All in all it seems I’m the last person on my to-do list who has any clout. I love to make other people happy by getting their work done on time, but me–meh. I’m not that important. I need to find a way to change that. And I need to find a way to stop procrastinating. In other words, I need to get off my ass and do things for me.
It’s Friday, and we’re back with our regular Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompts. I turned off my laptop last night thinking I’d write this post after Alex went to school in the morning, only to remember half an hour later that he has a day off today. He’s kept me busy, as he does, so that’s why this prompt is a bit late. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Here’s your prompt:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “in other words.” Use the phrase at least once in your post. 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 new 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.
It’s hard to believe it’s been a month since our first Escapist Coloring Club prompt! For this prompt, I encourage you to post pictures of your own colouring, your kids’ colouring, or that of anyone you know and have permission to share. That’s all you have to do to join the club.
You might recognize part of my project for this month. I took a closeup of some of the flowers in this, my January 2018 calendar picture, for the Coloring Club badge. I started it before I took the first photo of it, so it’s partially completed in my “before” picture.
Before
Detail
Detail
Find 2 bees, 1 butterfly, and 1 caterpillar hidden in the next (standalone) image
Click to enlarge, to find the hidden items
It was fun deciding which colours to use for all the leaves. I didn’t have very many shades of markers to choose from, so I ended up with a combination of markers and pencils. All from the dollar store. The final picture isn’t very good, but if you look really closely, you’ll see I coloured the word “January” too.
I’m looking forward to February’s colouring and to seeing all of your amazing projects!
Please find the “rules” below.
1. This prompt is designed for relaxation. As such, I encourage you to take your time to link your own post here, BUT, when you comment, please click the “Notify me of new comments via email” button. That way you’ll receive a notification when someone else links their project and you won’t miss anything. As with all the prompts, the more you visit others, the more your community of like-minded people grows.
2. Ping back! It’s important so that I and other people can come and read your post. To execute a pingback, just copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into the body of your post. 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.
3. There will be a prompt on the first of every month. I will post the prompt here on my blog at 9:30am -5 GMT. The prompt will simply be photos of my own colouring project. If you would like to host this prompt on your blog on another week during the month, either once, occasionally, or on a regular basis, please e-mail me at hilllindagmaru at gmail dot com and we’ll get you set up. All I ask is that you have an active blog and that you regularly reply to comments and visit other blogs.
4. Feel free to use the Escapist Coloring Club badge in your post.
lindaghill.com 