To Submit or Not Submit, That is the Question #WhyWrite #WhyBotherWithSubmissions

January turned out to be a real bust when it came to writing. I had started the Smokelong Fitness Group in earnest but quickly lost my will to write. I submitted two pieces to my group for feedback, but I'm not sure if either is worth working on further. I even went through a period…

Guest Post – The Last Drive by John W. Howell #newbook

I am so pleased to be with you today, Marie. I want to thank you for helping spread the word about The Last Drive. This book is about eternity and those finding their chosen way to spend the afterlife. It is not intended to be religious but does take on a spiritual tone as the…

Brave New Year

Happy New Year, everyone, and here we all are once again. You might notice that I've made some changes to this blog. I'm not yet done. Perhaps I'll never be done, but I needed a change, and I needed it before the new year started. As many of you already know, the last six months…

Her Favorite Song Was “My Way”

In less than six months, I've lost both of my sisters. On July 1, 2022, my sister Shirley passed. And now, my sister Charlotte. Charlotte passed away on November 25, 2022. In the last few weeks, she went from being full of energy and living independently to needing oxygen 24/7 and home health services. Instead…

Lens Artists Challenge #225: Wildlife Close to Home

This week, Anne leads the photo challenge with “Wildlife Close to Home”: “Stop. Look. Listen. Doing those three things will help you discover the abundance of wildlife you have nearby.” I stop, look, and listen a lot on my walks in the hood and even in my own backyard.  You might recall that my husband…

What’s Going On?

Not much and yet maybe too much. A couple of months ago I signed up for SmokeLong Fitness Community Workshop. It's all flash, all the time. I've since learned that I can write to prompts quite happily if I'm given an example of a response. My creative battery is apparently sparked by other people's creativity. We're…

Veterans Day 2022 #VeteransDay

(A reprint of a previous post.) To honor my many family members who have served in the military ... To honor my dear surrogate grandfather, Ted Albers (RIP), who was drafted into the Army at the age of 34, captured at the Battle of the Bulge, and held as a POW under the end of…

“The Ease of Wind-Filled Wings”: A Review of Luanne Castle’s Rooted and Winged #poetry #bookreview

I always review a book of poetry with some anxiety and exhilaration; anxiety because poetry is in the eye (ear/mind) of the beholder, and exhilaration because poetry is in the eye (ear/mind) of the beholder. I'd argue that I don't know what "good" poetry is, only that if I like it, I like it. That's…

A Thrilling Ride as Well as a Short Course in Psychopathology #bookreview

Recently I was the lucky recipient of a free AUDIO version of Fatal Rounds, Carrie Rubin's latest novel. Y'all know how much I enjoy audiobooks. Although I disdain multitasking, audiobooks are what get me through hours of housecleaning, walking, and knitting. So when I learned there was a raffle for a free audiobook, I got…

What Day Is It? And Does It Matter?

I thought Wednesday was Saturday but I knew Thursday was Thursday and, so far, I'm confident that today is Friday (and my calendar says so too). Tomorrow should be Saturday and I just hope I don't think it's Wednesday because I have a couple of appointments and getting my days wrong would really screw things…