“Read a lot. Reading really helps. Read anything you can get your hands on.” J. K. Rowling
“I always advise children who ask me for tips on being a writer to read as much as they possibly can. Jane Austen gave a young friend the same advice, so I’m in good company there.” J. K. Rowling
“Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere you’ve never been. Once you’ve visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in. Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their worlds, leave them better, leave them different.” Neil Gaiman
“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.” Ray Bradbury
“You must write every single day of your life… You must lurk in libraries and climb the stacks like ladders to sniff books like perfumes and wear books like hats upon your crazy heads… may you be in love every day for the next 20,000 days. And out of that love, remake a world.”
Please enjoy these beautiful photographs from Cindy Knoke!
Some of you may remember that I have only seen and photographed cardinals twice in my life, once in Buenos Aires, and recently in The Superstition Mountains in Arizona. (Tap to enlarge).
Meet Hawaiian Red Crested cardinals number 3 & 4 who have now become my very good friends!
Yep, we are in Hawaii and these guys hang out constantly in our backyard.
I am in cardinal heaven!
They are not afraid of us and especially,
enjoy joining us on the patio table for lunch!
After years of searching,
I have finally made some cardinal friends!
I hope word spreads and they bring over their buddies. We are hosting a variety of exotic and beautiful Hawaiian birds.
I spent the weekend at the 2022 Writers Digest Conference in New York City, one of my favorite places in the world, and I had a wonderful time! Not only did I learn a great deal about the world of writing and publishing at numerous excellent sessions, but I also attended the Pitch Slam session. I like to refer to this event as speed dating with literary agents! For one hour, many writers attempt to find and speak with agents, whom they think will fit their projects well. I was fortunate and was able to meet with six agents, and I had requests from 4, ranging from a full manuscript to 10 pages. I will certainly get that work to them this week, and we will see what will happen.
I also have to thank my wonderful father-in-law for his kindness and hospitality in allowing me to spend the weekend at his house in Staten Island.
One of the benefits of this trip for me was taking the Staten Island Ferry to Manhattan and back every day. This may seem small, but I love boats and ships, and I am like a little kid in enjoying the ride!
Also, it may seem ordinary to those who make this trip on the Ferry often, but I was able to see Lady Liberty!
If you are a writer and have the opportunity to attend this yearly conference, I recommend it!
Please enjoy these delicious recipes from Robbie Cheadle! And I am so excited that she included one of the recipes from my characters in the little cookbook–The Investigative Paranormal Society Cookbook!
Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas in July. It was also a farewell for Sister #2 who is moving to Cape Town. Sure, its in South Africa, but Cape Town is a 14 hour drive from Johannesburg and the flights are so expensive now, it’s cheaper to fly internationally than locally. It is rather sad as my dad won’t travel, he health isn’t very good, so I don’t think my parents will see much of them. My family will only see them once a year, if that. Anyhow, that is life and it is full of partings.
Anyhow, moves aside, the lunch was a great success. I spent a lot of time on Saturday preparing food for the lunch. Terence was working and went to the office so I had to do everything myself. It’s a jolly good thing I enjoy cooking.
The south coast of Iceland is famous for its waterfalls, volcanos, glaciers, and black sand beaches. We didn’t quite make it as far as Vík to see the black sand and rocks of the south coast, but we still filled a day’s worth of wonders.
I found the hills along the south coast to be particularly animated
As we drove along highway 1, Iceland’s famous Ring Road, towards our first stop, the clouds began to part to make way to the blue beyond and the glorious sun that had been mostly missing from the previous day. The drive from Reykjavík to Seljalandfoss, our first outdoor destination, is nearly two hours. We decided to break it up with a quick stop at the LAVA Centre in Hvolsvollur.
The LAVA museum is a bit pricey, but offers some fun and impressive interactive exhibits that demonstrate the awesome power of Iceland’s volcanic landscape…
Hello all! I am heading off today to attend the 2022 Writer’s Digest Conference in New York City! After a couple of years of virtual meetings, it is good to be able to attend in person–masked, of course!
I will be there to gain information on writing and the publishing world from various panels, but my main goal is to pitch my novel, The War Of The Sidhe, during a Saturday Pitch Slam. This is like speed dating with literary agents, in which the author has three minutes to try to entice the interest of the agent, and the time is enforced! The suggestion is to make a 90 second pitch and leave 90 seconds for questions.
Please enjoy this wonderful interview of Roberta Eaton Cheadle!
Yvette from Priorhouse blog was kind enough to invite me over for a guest interview. Yvette created the most beautiful post and she also asked some excellent questions. Thank you, Yvette.
If you don’t know Yvette, she blogs about art, museums, books, and also posts intriguing interviews with authors and bloggers. She also participates in a number of photograph challenges with her excellent photographs.
Today’s Interview featuresRoberta (Robbie) Eaton Cheadle, whois a South African author. She has worked in finance since 2001and she also writes fiction and poetry. In addition to having short stories and poems in numerous anthologies, Robbie has published ten children’s books and two novels: Through the Nethergate, a historical supernatural fantasy
A Ghost and His Gold, a historical paranormal novel set in South Africa.
Now most readers of the Priorhouse blog know that I don’t read horror stories and I stay away from paranormal material –…
Thank you to all the writers who are creating books, poetry, drama, and short-stories. You are also educating, informing, and entertaining! You are not only the story-tellers of society, but you are also the conscience of the world.
Keep doing what you do, and readers will continue to read your work.
Also, please remember to have faith in yourselves and your abilities.
Delirious as a blowtorch and begotten in the luminosity of love — This is the infamous out-of-orbit literary journal that delivers storytelling fit for a gathering around fire. Home to unpredictable fiction, revealing personal essays, bitter social assessments, subversive hymns, underwater obscenities, uplifting bad news, veiled confessions, hints of the erotic... And maybe even some dicey advice.
To participate in the Ragtag Daily Prompt, create a Pingback to your post, or copy and paste the link to your post into the comments. And while you’re there, why not check out some of the other posts too!
charles french words reading and writing 