Life in progress

Tag Archives: writing


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Prompt Me, JusJoJan 2017

Hey, all! You’re used to getting prompts from me; now it’s your turn!

Just Jot It Januaary is not only a fun way to meet people, it’s a great way to inspire writers to keep writing once the holidays are finished and life is returning to normal. Prompts are an incredible device to get the imagination going. Wouldn’t you like to inspire a bunch of bloggers to write? Of course you would!

What I need is 23 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge. This is how you can be included:

  • The first 23 comments on this post that include a single word will be the prompts for the 23 days in January that I won’t be writing my own prompts (aka One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday).  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. Having said that, 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!

I still need people to help out with guest blogging, so make sure you get your name in quick. My previous post probably explains the process in too much detail. It’s like performing a pingback–the instructions are overwhelming but it’s really very easy. Don’t be intimidated! Email me at hilllindagmaru@gmail dot com to sign up.

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


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 24/16

It’s Friday today, and I’m here with your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I’m a bit late this week (again) but I have a good reason; I’ve done all my Christmas shopping! And it’s not even Christmas Eve yet!!! Amazing what you can pack into a week when you really try.  Anyway, here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “cook.” Find a word that means “cook,” (or use “cook” itself) and 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!


by 21 Comments

#SoCS – Doesn’t Matter

Have you ever done something embarrassing and hope nobody caught on? Of course, it happens to everyone, right? Even when I do something like that and I think nobody saw (things like writing a comment and then erasing it, or a post and then editing it, or even tripping over nothing on the street or walking into a post) I’m still embarrassed. I wonder if that’s because I’ll never be sure whether or not I got caught. So is that moot, or not? Is it moot point because no one saw it? Or is it not moot because I remain in a state of embarrassment for the sake of that ‘maybe’ or just because I’m ashamed of myself.

There is one instance I can’t get over. It involves singing too loud, and I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I beat myself up over it every time I think about it. One thing it has taught me is to be more aware of my surroundings next time.  It seems to me there’s nothing more able to teach a lesson than embarrassment. It’s not something easily forgotten.

I’m not alone here, right? Oh, how embarrassing if I am.

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This post of embarrassment is brought to you by Stream of Consciousness Saturday. Click on the following link to join in and find all the other fantastic posts written for the prompt! https://lindaghill.com/2016/12/16/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-1716/


by 30 Comments

I Can Do This!!

C’mon, friends and fellow Bloglanders! I’m only ten votes away from third place in the Cover Wars competition for the week’s best book cover. I can do this, but I still need your help! The poll closes tomorrow night, which means you can still vote twice if you haven’t in the last 24 hours.

Help me out! Go here: http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ to vote for this beautiful cover by my lovely and talented cover artist, Belinda Borradaile.

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And if you’d like to buy All Good Stories, just click on the cover here or at the voting site. It’s sure to make a fun holiday read. All the reviews say so!

Thanks so much for your awesome support! 😀


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The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 17/16

It’s the second-last Friday before Christmas, and it’s also time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. I should probably start my shopping soon. I think this is the latest I’ve ever left it. Hope everyone else is doing better than I am! Here’s this week’s prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “moot.” Use it as the theme of your post or just use the word in a stream of consciousness post about something else. 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!


by 38 Comments

The Elephant on the Cover

I can’t stay quiet any longer. There’s an elephant in the Cover Wars room that needs to be addressed.

The wonderful people at Author Shout who host the Cover Wars contest have pitted me against a good friend. Two good friends, in fact. One wrote a book of poetry and the other designed her cover. The first is the lovely Judy E. Martin, of Rhymes of the Times fame, and the second is Chris Graham, aka The Story-Reading Ape.

If I wasn’t competing this week, I would totally be supporting Judy and Chris every step of the way. But alas, this can’t be so. War is war, after all, and one must stick up for oneself.

Having said all that, the main point of Cover Wars, for me anyway, is exposure for my novelette, All Good Stories. I’m sure Judy is thinking the same thing. So while you’re there today voting for my cover ( 😀 ), please also check out Judy’s. Each cover, when clicked, will take you to the book’s Amazon page. Why don’t you click on over and buy Judy’s book?! I haven’t read it yet, but if I know Judy, it’s awesome! Here’s the link to Author Shout, Cover Wars for the vote:  http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ You can cast your vote once every 24 hours.

This is my beautiful cover, (drawn with love by the ever-talented Belinda Borradaile) for you to vote on:
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And here’s Judy’s! You can click on it here to go directly to its Amazon page, too.

RotT eBook Cover JPG

Thanks so much!


by 27 Comments

The Perfect Place to Live

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We’re having a snow day. It’s the third one since school started in September. I swear, all there has to be is the slightest whiff of the white stuff and the school buses are canceled. So I’m home with Alex today, doing my best to keep him entertained instead of doing what I need to do. For instance, getting out of my pyjamas. …okay, maybe I don’t really need to do that, but you get the picture.

For many of us in Canada, snow and cold weather is something to be dreaded. Reasons vary; some of us northern dwellers only hate snow because it’s a pain the ass to drive in, some can’t stand it when they walk outside and their nose hairs freeze with the first breath (okay, most of us hate that), and some, like me, simply don’t like having cold feet all the time. But we Canadians live with it because overall, Canada is a great place to live.

Earthquakes, tornadoes, and extreme heat are just a few things that make Canada and other places on earth unpleasant at times. Yet they are, in most cases, worth suffering through to stay where we are. Is there any such thing as the perfect place to live? I mean, we all have something where we live that makes life unpleasant, or even downright terrifying at times, don’t we? .

What forces of nature make your country/state/province/island a great and yet not-so-great place to live?

After you comment, please head over to vote in Cover Wars for my book cover. You can vote once every 24 hours. Here’s the link: http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ Both Belinda, my lovely cover artist, and I appreciate it! We’re way behind and we’ve gotta catch up!

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by 25 Comments

The War is On!

It’s official! For one week only, I’m in competition for the best book cover on Author Shout’s Cover Wars. Please head over and vote for my amazing cover, designed with love by the equally amazing and lovely Belinda Borradaile of https://idiotwriting.wordpress.com/

Here’s the link to vote: http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/ Even better, you can vote once a day for the next week. Do it now! 😀 Thank you!

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by 48 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 10/16

It’s Friday today, and this is your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. Life is crazy, isn’t it? Between being glued to the news and doing everything I can to avoid it, I’ve finally started reading “Game of Thrones.” It’s very compelling! Hard to put down, which sucks, because I do most of my reading before bed. Ah well. Here’s your prompt for this week:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “bear/bare.” Use one, use both, use ’em any way you please. 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!!

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!


by 62 Comments

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Dec. 3/16

Friday’s here! Already! So it’s time for your Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. The Christmas decorations are starting to go up around the neighbourhood, and everything is beginning to look lovely. Now all we need is the snow. And now I’m going to wash my mouth out with soap. But first, here’s this week’s prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “sh.” Find a word that begins with the letters “sh” and base your post on it. Bonus points if you start your post with those letters. 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!