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Tag Archives: JusJoJan


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 19th, 2020

It’s Sunday, and time for the 19th prompt for Just Jot it January 2020, brought to us by Jim. Thank you so much, Jim! Please be sure to visit his blog to read his post and say hello. And follow him while you’re there!.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 19th, 2020, is “gobbledygook.” Use the word “gobbledygook” any way you’d like. Have fun!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 19th, 2020.

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 JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

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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#SoCS & #JusJoJan 18/20 – Scrooge

I may have mentioned, maybe even more than once, that I always watch the old version of Scrooge every year at Christmas. The one with Alastair Sim. I try to watch it in black and white if I can find it–I have it on VHS somewhere in case it’s not on TV. This year I totally missed it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I found it on Youtube though. The entire movie in black and white, so I watched it one night on my laptop, all by myself, between Christmas and New Year. It’s much more fun to watch as a family.

Being interested in words as I am, I decided to look up the word “Scrooge” to see where it came from. Not surprisingly, it became a noun to describe a grumpy, miserly person in 1940, a little less than one-hundred years from the time Dickens published the novel.

I worried that I was a bit of a scrooge this Christmas. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I managed to buy everyone something. What I didn’t do this time around was obsessively make sure everyone had the same number of gifts. I’ve driven myself crazy with this for years. This time, I bought what everyone needed (or wanted if I could afford it) and left it at that. So much less stressful, especially for someone like me who waits for the absolute last moment to shop.

Obviously, I don’t watch a lot of movies. The next last one I watched was the Downton Abbey movie. And when was that? Hang on, I’ll look it up …

October 20th. Thank goodness for this blog. If I didn’t write everything I do on it, I’d never keep track of anything.

I’m so busy!

Just not watching movies.

 

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

This post is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday, and

 

Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/17/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2020-daily-prompt-jan-18th/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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Prompt Me Part 3 – #JusJoJan 2020

Week of January 19 – 24, 2020

I’m looking for prompt words for Just Jot it January! This is your chance to inspire other people and have your blog linked to the Daily Prompt post.

I’ve decided to do this weekly this year. I only need 5 prompt words today–if you miss getting your word in on this post, your next (and last) chance will be on Saturday, January 25th. I’ll schedule these posts at different times of the day so people all over the world get a chance to see it first.

Read the rules carefully! I need 5 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge, for January 19th through to the 24th inclusive. This is how you can be included:

  • The first 5 comments on this post that include a single word will be the prompts for the first full week of January. These prompts will go up on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I’ll take care of One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday myself.  If you write more than one word in your comment, for example, “My word is antidisestablishmentarianism,” I’ll ignore it. Same thing if you try to slip in two, even in two different comments–I’ll only accept the first. If I get the same word twice, I’ll only accept the first person who got to it. If you’re the second, feel free to try again. And please, remember this is a relatively G-rated blog, so nothing too risque.
  • I’ll link back to the blog of whomever gives me a prompt on the day I use it.
  • Make sure you get your comment in early. You don’t want to miss out!
  • Please don’t bother entering a prompt if your blog is inactive or if it exists only to sell things. If you haven’t posted in over a month and you’re only looking for clicks, your prompt word will be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re planning to use JusJoJan to inspire you to get back into the swing of things, let me know immediately in a second comment — NOT the one you give your prompt word in. Remember, that’s ONE word only. If I can’t find a reasonable number of posts written in the last month that aren’t trying to sell a product, your prompt word will be rejected.
  • I observed a few years ago that many of our prompt words were negative in nature. I found they didn’t do as well as the more positive words. I don’t want to limit you, but please keep in mind that if your word is on the sadder or angrier side, your prompt may not get as much participation.
  • If you provide a prompt, I encourage you to join in as much as possible throughout the month.
  • Only one prompt per person for the month. If you get in this week, don’t try again next week.
  • NOTE: Please count the number of correct (one word only) comments ahead of yours. If there are already 5, save yours for January next week!

Please see the “Rules” post for a complete list of the prompt words. I’ll populate it as the words come in. Here’s the link in case you missed it: https://lindaghill.com/2019/12/31/just-jot-it-january-2020-the-rules/

Okay. Are you ready? Aaaaand… prompt! One word!

 EDIT: We have all our words for this week! Check back next Saturday for the final prompt request post for this year!


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#JusJoJan 17/20 – A Jade

I’d like to start by saying thank you to MB for our prompt word, “jade,” today. Thank you, MB! You can find her Just Jot it January post here. Go visit her and say hi, and give her a follow!

I don’t have much to talk about on the subject of jade, the stone. And I’m not easily jaded on any subject. So I thought I’d check out the dictionary definition of the word “jade,” and lo and behold, I found something to talk about!

I had no idea that “jade” the noun, can refer to, and I quote from Merriam-Webster dictionary:

a broken-down, vicious, or worthless horse

I’ve known a jade, and I didn’t like it.

I worked, for a time, at a few different thoroughbred horse stables. My job was mostly mucking out stalls and feeding the animals.

There was one place I worked for–I don’t remember the name of the farm, but it was in King City, Ontario, where, at least at the time, there were reportedly more millionaires per square acre than anywhere else in North America, including anywhere in California.

There, I met a horse we less-than-affectionately called “Shithead.” That wasn’t the horse’s real name, and to be caught calling the horse that in front of the owner would most certainly have resulted in being fired. (I don’t remember the horse’s real name, but he was a winner at the track, apparently.)

So Shithead wasn’t a broken-down horse, nor was he worthless. But man, was he vicious. He detested people. All of us.

Fortunately, we didn’t muck out stalls with the horses in them–racehorses and pitchforks should never be in the same place at the same time. But that meant we had to lead the beast out of the stall to put him in a paddock, and bring him back later. It was only a short walk, I managed to avoid Shithead’s teeth by holding his lead rope close to his chest, walking close to his shoulder (he walked very fast, so I was never ahead of him anyway), and flicking at his nose if he tried to turn around a bite my body.

Except one time when I was cooling him down after the jockey had him out on the track. I worked there in the winter, so I had a good thick coat on and thank God for that because have you ever been bitten by a horse that meant to bite? It’s not like the little nibble you might get if you don’t hold your palm flat enough when you’re feeding one. It hurts!

I was happy not to have to punish the horse–I was in too much pain.

At other farms I’ve worked at, punishing a horse was called a shit-kicking. At a thoroughbred farm, it’s called an attitude adjustment, again for the sake of the owners who have tens of thousands of dollars invested in the animals. I didn’t feel the slightest bit bad that the vicious expensive horse received an attitude adjustment that day.

All this to say if you ever come across a horse whose name is Jade, stay away from its teeth. It might have come by its name honestly.

 

This true story is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/17/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-17th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2020 Daily Prompt – Jan. 18th

Welcome to the Daily 2020 Just Jot it January Prompt and the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt for SATURDAY, JANUARY 18TH! I’m copying a prompt I used almost exactly four years ago. I don’t reuse prompts very often–I hope you enjoy it!

For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole word. Much may be left up to your discretion: this week is no exception. Having said that, if you’re joining in from JusJoJan, don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you! If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “movie title.” Take the title of the last movie you watched (just the title, not the premise of the movie), and base your post on that title. 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 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!!

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

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

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!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 17th, 2020

Welcome once again to the daily prompt! Today’s is the 17th prompt for Just Jot it January 2020, and it’s brought to us by MB. Thank you so much, MB! Please be sure to visit her blog to read her post and say hello. And follow her while you’re there!.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 17th, 2020, is “jade.” Use the word “jade” any way you’d like. Have fun!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 17th, 2020.

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 JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

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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#JusJoJan 16/20 – An Experience, or What I Managed to Do In 18 Hours Without Even Leaving My House

It’s Thursday, January 16th, and Dan Antion gave us our prompt word, “experience,” today. Thank you, Dan! You can find his Just Jot it January post here. Go visit him and say hi, and give him a follow if you haven’t already!

It all started between 5 and 6pm yesterday. I was sitting in my living room, getting colder and colder.

I made tea: I was still cold.

Checked the thermostat: the room was at the temperature the boiler is set to keep it at. I was still cold.

So I tried rolling my sleeves down: still cold.

Checked the radiator. Cold.

Went back to the thermostat: one degree below what it’s supposed to be.

Oh oh, the boiler’s not working. Turned it off and on again. Didn’t help.

So I called my water-heater rental company, with whom I have insurance on my boiler. They’d send someone out between 7 and 11am … at least 13 hours with no heat. Great. But hey, it was only -4 outside last night. Could have been worse, right?

So there I am, sitting on the couch in my living room with my sleeves rolled down, trying to figure out where I was going to come up with more blankets when I realized I was warm.

The boiler was working.

Yay!

So I called the water-heater company back to let them know. We decided it would be a good idea to get it checked out anyway, but the guy would come between 10am and 2pm the next day (today) instead. Fantastic. I wouldn’t have to potentially get out of bed and dressed and answer the door before coffee.

Moving on to today. 11am. Get a call from the water-heater company technician to say he’d be here in 15-20 minutes. Excellent. I put Winston in his crate and wait for the guy to arrive. Ten minutes after the call, there’s a knock on the door.

Technician guy: Hi. Am I at the right house?

Me: Er, yeah, I guess so.

He comes in and I take him down to the basement and start to explain what’s going on.

Technician guy: I was told I was here for a water heater.

Me: No … I called for the boiler.

Technician guy: *shrugs* Okay, I can deal with that.

He starts fiddling around with my boiler and looking at the owner’s manual. Meanwhile, Winston is barking upstairs.

Technician guy: Are you sure I’m not here for the water heater? Is the boiler what the (Local Housing Rental Company(let’s call it LHRC)) said I was here for?

Me: LHRC doesn’t own this house, I do.

Confused Technician guy: *frowns* Well this is weird. I was told to come to this address for a water heater.

Me: That’s not what I said when I called the water-heater company last night.

Wrong Technician guy: *over the sound of Winston’s barking* I’m not from the water-heater company. I’m from the gas company.

Me: Just a minute. I’m going to see what the dog’s barking at.

There’s someone at the door. I open it to find a guy in a water-heater company uniform.

New Technician guy: Hi, are you Linda? I called fifteen minutes ago …

Wrong Technician guy: *emerging from basement: to New Technician guy* Oh hi. Fancy seeing you here.

On his way out the door, Wrong Technician guy thanked me for the tour of my basement.

Turned out it was a loose wire in my boiler.

And quite the experience without ever leaving my house.

I have heat.

 

This true story is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/16/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-16th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 16th, 2020

Hey there! I’m here once again with your daily prompt for the 16th day of Just Jot it January 2020. Our prompt today comes from Dan. Thank you, Dan! Make sure you visit his blog to read his post and say hello. And follow him while you’re there, if you aren’t already!

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 16th, 2020, is “experience.” Use the word “experience” any way you’d like. Enjoy!

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

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to link back to THIS POST for January 16th, 2020.

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 JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

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/JusJoJan the 15th, 2020 – A Door

When one door closes, another opens. Just don’t be standing in front of it. It’s a heavy door.

(Part of the above is a quote from Alexander Graham Bell. The rest is all mine.)

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). 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 JusJoJan and/or #JusJoJan.

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. 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.

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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#JusJoJan 14/20 – Publishing

I’d like to start by saying thank you to Ritu for her prompt word, “publish.” Thank you, Ritu! You can find her Just Jot it January post here. Go visit her and say hi, and give her a follow if you haven’t already!

Now that I’ve decided to take this publishing gig seriously–I plan to publish at least six books this year–I’m considering what to do about creating my own imprint. Mostly so I have a single name to publish under, particularly if I decide to change genres and go with a pen name, but also so I have a name for a company, should I make enough money to register it. Don’t laugh–I have my editing business that I can put in there too.

It means I’ll need a logo … and a name. I have a couple ideas for the latter, which is actually amazing since I can’t come up with a title for five out of the six books I want to publish.

What do you call a romantic comedy series that centers around an Irish pub that has male strippers every Saturday night? And no, I can’t call it anything that will get me booted off Amazon for being too racy. Considering the premise, the writing is actually quite tame. I need titles that will reflect that too.

The sixth book, my passion project, is Book 3 of my PNR series, The Great Dagmaru. It’s a killer story that turned out to be quite difficult to write. Heartbreaking, but hopeful. The plan is to start releasing the romcom series in March, and get one book out every ten weeks, with Book 3 – “The Magician’s Soul” published by summer. I think I can, I think I can …

But back to the publishing business itself.

I’ve toyed with the idea of publishing other authors, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of investment. Especially not when I’m having this much fun writing my own books. I have a thousand ideas but only 365 days in a year. Does 2020 have 366? I’ll have to factor that in if it does.

Still not enough?

I’m determined.

And inspired.

I’m interested to know whether any of my readers out there have set up their own publishing companies to deal with their own books. It seems like a lot of work at the beginning, but it might end up making my life easier in the long run.

Thoughts?

 

This anecdotal post is brought to you by Just Jot it January! Click the following link and join in! It’s fun! https://lindaghill.com/2020/01/14/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-14th-2020/

Love quickens beneath the moonlight …

Get your free copy of The Magician’s Sire: A Paranormal Romance → Click here