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Favorite Hashtags!

Hashtags!  

They’re everywhere!

Used correctly, they can help us maximize our reach.

Below, I’ve listed hashtags that I’ve found quite useful.

Microsoft Word ClipArt
Microsoft Word ClipArt

Connect with writers:

#AmWriting

#AmEditing

#AmRevising

#Author

#Writer

#WritersLife

#Writing

#WordCount

#IndieAuthor

#WIP

Connect with Readers

#AmReading

#FictionFriday

#FridayReads

#GoodReads

#GreatRead

#IndieThursday

#KDP

#Kindle

#MustRead

#WhatToRead

There’s also: 

#MondayBlogs

#SundayBlogShare

Did I miss one of your favorite hashtags?  If so, please share in the comments!

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Ramsley, a Bad Dream and Me

Remember Ramsley from Disney’s The Haunted Mansion?

You know – the evil butler…

Just in case you don’t, click here.

You’ve got your visual?

Good.

In the wee hours of the morning, Ramsley visited my dreams.  I haven’t a clue as to why.

thelmaI found myself in an old mansion; ghosts were everywhere.  Most didn’t take notice of me but two did.  The Ramsley lookalike wanted to kill me.  Brandishing a meat cleaver, he pursued me, ghost #2 by his side.  Somehow, I managed to evade them. Only, they didn’t give up – there was no escape…  I’d run to a different room, they’d come through the walls…

Until, ghost #2 showed me the door to the laundry shoot.  (Why would he do that?  I don’t know – that’s just how my dream went.)

I jumped inside, slid down the shoot and landed in the basement.  Pausing just long enough to get my bearings, I ran up the steps that led into the kitchen and out the door.

As I made it to safety, I awoke.

I can’t remember the last time I watched The Haunted Mansion. I don’t usually remember my dreams but this one has stayed with me all day.  It’s given me that “icky” feeling – you know the one where you feel like someone just walked over your grave.

I hate that feeling.

I know – It was just a dream.  I don’t know why it’s bothered me so much.  I don’t think it has anything to do with Ramsley, the ghost and I’m not one for all that hocus-pocus mumbo-jumbo, let’s pull out the book to find the meaning, kind of stuff. Maybe it’s jut that I didn’t sleep well…

It’s bedtime now.  I’m hoping when I close my eyes tonight, Ramsley stays away.

Here’s wishing us all a good night’s sleep!

Sweet dreams!

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Writers Workshop – “Lions, Witches, and Wardrobes…”

The Hampton Roads Writers Group offers a monthly workshop through The Traveling Pen Series.  I was fortunate to be able to attend Saturday’s session – “Lions, Witches and Wardrobes…Oh, My! – Writing Paranormal and Fantasy” presented by YA and Paranormal Author, Vanessa Barger.  The 2 1/2 hour workshop was $20 for non-members ($10 for members) but was well worth the price.

As a writer of young adult fiction, I am always looking for fresh ideas.  Nothing against vampires and werewolves, mind you, but in my humble opinion, they are a bit overdone.  Barger presented each participant with a mythical creature, complete with the general description and instructed us to make the creature our own.  I received a Wendigo.  For those unfamiliar with this beast, he appears in Algonquian legends and seems to discourage cannibalism (apparently, those individuals who consumed human flesh were at risk for turning into the monster).  For the exercise, I decided that my wendigo would indeed eat people but only those that were evil and needed to be eaten…  He/She would prefer to live in solitude, in order to minimize chance encounters with said evil people.  Just by changing a couple of details, the possibility of a new story emerged.

Downtown, Suffolk, VA
Downtown,
Suffolk, VA

As the workshop ended at noon, my husband and I drove over to Suffolk, VA. We visited the downtown area and had some amazing she-crab soup at a little place called The Baron’s Pub and Restaurant.

With the sun shining and a nice breeze, we did a little sightseeing.

This particular church caught my eye.  I love the windows and the ornamental details.

And I couldn’t help but wonder what stories this church would tell if it could only talk…

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Disney & My Electric Fry Pan

Many young families are financially challenged.  Mine was no exception.  I look back on those years with fondness as they contain some of my most precious memories.

The Commons Getty Collection Galleries World Map App … Flicker.com

When you are financially challenged (poor), you get very creative. While other families are going off on expensive vacations and wonderful weekend trips, we were firing up the charcoal at the local park or gathering the necessary gear (a box) for a frog hunting expedition.  Our kids loved the outings but we wanted to be able to give them a Disney experience.

We set our goal. We scrimped and saved until finally we had enough.

Image – https://tvcinemaemusica.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/michael-chabon-vai-escrever-o-roteiro-de-the-magic-kingdom/

After loading up our Isuzu, we headed south.  Staying on Disney or even close by was out of the question.  Instead, we stayed at a Motel 6 about thirty minutes away.  As our budget was very tight, we realized we’d only be able to eat one meal a day in Disney.  So, I packed a cooler full of prepared foods.  All we needed was a microwave and dinner would be served.

Being from the south, I grew up believing that Pop-Tarts were okay but sausage was better.  I pulled out my handy-dandy electric fry pan (You read that right – I carried my electric fry pan with me on vacation as I wasn’t sure the motel room would have a microwave – we are talking Motel 6, twenty years ago) and started cooking the sausage.  It never occurred to me that this might not be the best idea…  I’m sure you can imagine our panic as the smoke detector started blasting and there we were desperately trying to disable it – so that the sprinkler system didn’t activate!  At this point, I must admit my Ohio born husband wasn’t feeling the love for my backwoods ways…

We spent two wonderful days at Disney.  On our way home, we stopped at a rest area – had a picnic and tossed a ball around.  During the last leg of our journey home, I asked our boys what their favorite part of the trip had been. I was sure they’d choose Space Mountain or maybe the dinosaurs from Epcot.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  They unanimously agreed that the rest area picnic was their favorite part.

I was floored.

My husband muttered, “After spending all that money, all we needed to do was drive to a rest area and have a picnic?”

The moral of this story – It doesn’t cost a lot to make kids happy – they just want your time and attention… And it’s a really good idea to avoid frying sausage in a motel room.  In fact, make sure to leave your electric fry pan at home.

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High-Heeled Shoes and Me

I have a love/hate relationship with high-heeled shoes – especially since I can no longer wear them.  If you were to follow me into a shoe store, you might find me eyeing a pair of strappy high-heeled sandals, imagining how they’d look with a certain dress.  Then, I’d sigh and move on in search of a more hip-friendly pair (flats or low heels).  Yep. That’s me, the conflicted 40+ year old woman who can’t seem to get past the fact that as far as I’m concerned, high-heeled sexy shoes have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Originally posted on no-dont.blogspot.com

I’ll be honest, I’m really more of a flip-flop/running shoe kind of girl.  Always have been.  So, it came as a surprise when I found myself missing these beautiful torture devices.  Seriously, who in their right mind misses the toe pinching, arch-aching experience that is high-heeled shoes? I’ll tell you – those of us who want what we can’t have…

The more I think about it, the more I think the love of high heels must be embedded in our DNA.  Don’t think so?  Watch a three-year old ~ a mega watt smile on her face as she steps into those too big pumps and walks/trips across the room.  You’ve seen it.  Seriously, we love pretty things.  We slip our feet into a pair of peep toe heels and we’re instantly transformed into Cinderella on the way to the ball.

And then there’s the movies…

Is there anything that gets under my skin more than the hapless female running in high heels as the bad guy closes in?  I don’t think so.  It’s the one time I’m yelling at the screen – “Take off the d@#% shoes!” Not only will she be able to run faster,  she’s now armed with four-inch spiked weapons.  Hmmm.  That’s an idea – a female pulverizing a bad guy with a patent leather pump.  That would be a twist – might add a little pizzazz to the standard “girl is gonna die” scenario.