Suzanne Bowditch's Blog, page 34
June 21, 2016
June 22 Challenge
Day 22 Catch 22
June 22, 1933. Germany became a one political party country when Hitler banned parties other than the Nazis.
The movie Catch 22 is about the insanity of war. It takes place during WWII.
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a catch 22 is “a dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions”.
Write about a time you were in a catch 22. Or write a fictional piece about a catch 22.
Catch 22
According to Wiki a Catch 22 situation is :
” a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules”
I thought long and hard about this one. The obvious one would be (again inspired by Wiki)
“To apply for a job, you need to gain experience. To gain experience, you need to get a job.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
Another thought sprang to mind – The athlete who is talented and driven, but has no money. The clubhouse that has plenty of money to spend by no talented athletes.
Can you think of any others?
Alice’s Secret: Book Cover
I am so excited to announce a date for my next book!! Alice’s Secret, the second in the saga A Celtic Trilogy, will be out July 10th[image error] as an ebook.
This is a draft of the book cover that my sister in law Gill Bowditch-Cooper is in the process of doing for my new book Alice’s Secret. She is an artist in England and had an exhibition of her work last week. I believe it was successful and she sold some paintings and prints so well done. She’s very talented
Alice’s Secret is the second book in the trilogy that I’m writing about the different generations of the same family. It has themes of relationships, family, hardships and diversity. Elen is the first book. You can find it at:
http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B01911AE8Q
I am in the process of editing Alice’s Secret which is a drawn out process to say the least! Here’s an extract from it, due out in May 2016.
Prologue
July 1874
Sara was sure that she had already walked by this neck of the woods; yes, she could…
View original post 623 more words
June 20, 2016
June 21 Challenge
Day 21 Twenty-one Gun Salute
June 21, 1919. Admiral Ludwig von Reuter scuttled the German fleet in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The nine sailors killed were the last casualties of World War I.
In every war there are men and women worthy of honor for their sacrifices and bravery.
The Twenty-one gun salute is the military’s way of honoring someone. Who would you like to honor? Who do you consider a hero? Write about him or her.
Alternative: What would like to be honored for? How would you like to be honored?
My Dad
My dad was a policeman in south Wales. He worked in various departments, including the traffic, drugs and criminal sectors. He was also one of the policemen sent to the Welsh valleys when the mining strike of the 70’s was in full force, involving the union leader Arthur Scargill and the formidable Prime Minister at the time, Margaret Thatcher. My story involves that devastating time for Welsh industry.
One of my dad’s duties during the strikes was to protect the mine entrances from the strikers, and to allow the working men (the ones not on strike) to get to work safely. The miners who chose to ignore the strike and to go to work, were known as ‘scabs’ for their refusal to involve themselves, or to make a stand against Thatcher’s policies. The strikes went on for months, and in this time, the miners had no income. This meant that many of the families had to rely on handouts from family and friends in order to feed their children. The strikes had a devastating effect on the small Welsh communities. I was just a child at the time, but the scars still remain; today the areas in the Welsh valleys are run down, as Margaret Thatcher won the battle, and closed the mines.
My dad really felt for the families. I remember him coming home each evening and telling us of the daily struggles of the miners as they tried to live a normal lives in such poor circumstances. Needless to say, he started a club at the station, which raised money for the families. Then he and a mate persuaded local businesses to give groceries and help fund the miners. They borrowed a van, and loaded the goods, and drove up the valleys (on their shift days off ) and handed out well needed supplies; basic food items and well as household items that the families were struggling to live without. I remember helping him load one van, and sitting on the passenger seat, proud as punch to help out.
I still have fond memories of that time, and of my dad, the hero.
*
June 19, 2016
June 20 Challenge
Day 20 Twenty Minutes
June 20, 1963. The United States and Soviet Union signed an agreement to set up a hot line communication link between the two countries.
If you could have a hot line to any person, dead or alive, who would it be? Who would you want to chat with if you only had twenty minutes on the hot line?
What would you tell them?
My English Teacher
I thought long and hard about this days challenge. The usual suspects come to mind; my dad who died 10 years ago next year, or my mother who’s still alive and well and living in the depths of Wales.
But, I have chosen my English teacher from High School (or comprehensive school as it was known to us). Her name was (and still is) Mrs (Betty ) Morris. She was very small and
Macbeth by William Shakspeare http://www.pinterest.comdelicate looking, but when she spoke about Macbeth or Richard 111 she took on a new persona that was that character! I used to love watching her stride around the classroom, quoting poetry (Keats and Wordsworth) or becoming one of the characters in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales (the woman with the red stockings was a particular favorite).
So, if I had a twenty minute hotline with her, we could discuss the ins and outs of a favorite Shakespearean play, and I could tell her that it was because of her that I love English so much.
She inspired me to read, read and read more, which led to a love of story telling and writing.[image error]
June 19 Challenge
Day 19 Nineteenth Letter? No!
June 19, 1989. The movie Batman premiered. My Andrew thought Batman a great hero.
Can you be a blogging hero without utilizing the 19th letter of the American alphabet?
Do not utilize the nineteenth letter of the alphabet when writing your article to be made public on your blog today. The topic of the article may be anything you like. It can be any length. But it cannot contain the nineteenth letter!
Oh no How hard a challenge!
I have come up with wordz that DO NOT have the nineteenth letter in them, but not eazy!!
My family:
My hubby, named Jeff, a welder and an Elvis fan (and a regular good guy).
Me, a blogger, mum, reader, chief cook and writer.
My boy, Liam, an avid reader of the world (Freud, Plato).
My daughter, with Billy, pure love for each other.
My dog, called Billy – a black and white terrier with an attitude.
*
Turtle in the Barrier Reef stuffpoint.com
June 18, 2016
June 18 Challenge
June 1-30 Challenge – if you are participating in the Challenge, don’t forget to post a link to your blog in the comments! And be sure to use the tag “June 1-30 Challenge”.
Day 18 Photo Challenge
June 28, 2016. The White House News Photographers Association “Eyes on History” gala takes place tonight.
The photo challenge is getting harder as the number increases!
Post a picture representing the number 18. It can be eighteen items, eighteen people, or something showing the number 18. Maybe even an 18-year-old!
Alternative: Post a gallery of 18 photos that have a shared theme. Or post three galleries each with six pictures having a shared theme.
Apples, pears and Kiwi fruit.
A work colleague of my hubby has an orchard at his farm in New South Wales, so we get freshly picked apples most weeks. I made up the EIGHTEEN with a couple of pears and some kiwi fruits.
Here are some facts about the origin of the trusty apple tree:
The apple tree (malus domestica) originated in Central Asia.
It is a deciduous tree in the rose family.
It was brought to Northern America by European colonists.
It has both religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek and European Christian traditions.
Apples, the fruit from an apple tree, are used for eating raw, cooking and for cider production.
Worldwide production of apples in 2013 was 80.8 million tonnes.
That’s a whole lot of apples !!!!
June 17, 2016
Free online course from the grandmother of all creative writing courses – the University of Iowa
Wow I have to share this[image error]
The very first creative writing workshops were pioneered at the University of Iowa in the 1930s and they still have a mighty reputation today.
They are now offering a free open online course to explore Walt Whitman’s writings on the American Civil War, looking at how writing and image can be used to examine war, conflict, trauma, and reconciliation – in Whitman’s time and today.
Whitman’s Civil War: Writing and Imaging Loss, Death, and Disaster is open to everyone and they mean everyone. Erxperienced writers and absolute beginners can apply, people who are already experts in Walt Whitman and those who have never heard of the 19th century American poet are welcome.
That’s not all, the International Department at Iowa promise:
Participants who are nonnative speakers of English, new to online learning, and/or new to writing are encouraged to join this new international community. Our community moderators will actively support…
View original post 85 more words
June 16, 2016
June 17 Challenge
Day 17 Seventeen SyllablesJune 17, 1971. The Okinawa Reversion Agreement was signed. This agreement between the United States and Japan returned control of Okinawa to Japan.
A Haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry. It is three lines: the first and third lines have five syllables each and the second line has seven syllables for a total of seventeen syllables. They are often about nature.
Write a Haiku. Please include a picture that illustrates your poem.
Here’s my Haiku poem :
The flower opens
To proclaim the dawning sky
A butterfly flutters
weheartit.com
June 15, 2016
June 16 Challenge
Day 16 Sixteen and Licensed to Drive!June 16, 1903 The Ford Motor Company was incorporated.
Sixteen is the age at which you can get a driver’s license in most states in the US. Was your first car a Ford? Tell us about getting your license or you first car.
Alternative: Write about a road trip.
My First carMy first car was a mini. I learnt to drive in it, I passed my test in it, then consequently drove to school in it (I thought I was the bees knees).
The car was second hand, with just one lady owner, and I loved it. It was a pea green color with the original walnut trim on the dashboard that I thought was wonderful.
Mr Bean and his mini – just like mine! Courtesy of http://www.theminiforum.co.uk
My mini story :
I stayed on at school to finish my exams. It was at this time that my parents booked a holiday to Australia to visit my aunt and uncle. I was 17 years old, with my own car – the thought of having the house to myself for 5 weeks was too tempting. Needless to say, I stayed at home (dog sitting ) and had a couple of parties (not many , my dad was strict and he was a local policeman; he would have found out!).
Anyway, I loved the freedom of doing as I pleased. My friends and I hired videos from the store, and would spend the weekends eating pizza, cakes and sweets and staying up all night.
My parents had a sloping drive at the side of their house. My dad had just built an ornate fancy brick wall at the bottom of the slope, in order to grow clematis and roses.
I had to park my mini just behind the wall after school each day. This one time, I parked it, and because it was on a hill the car lured forward before parking. Needless to say, the front headlight hit the wall and smashed (minis had quite rounded headlights in those days, that’s my excuse!).
I had to take it to the garage, with my dad’s credit card (after firstly calling him in Australia. It was the middle of the night there, I was not up on time zones then!).
The next week, the same thing happened – bang! into the wall, smash! of the headlight. Back to the garage…
This time, I put a couple of bricks for the mini to rest on first. Feeling thrilled with myself, I drove down the drive again, with a new headlight fitted…smash! into the wall again.
The men at the garage just burst out laughing when they saw me pull up for the THIRD time.
After that, I parked the mini on the road…..!
*
8 Things that make a writer happy #amwriting #writer
Love this post[image error]
Sharing our favourite book
Dreaming up a new plot twist
Bookshops
Quiet time to write
Learning howto improve ourwriting
Completing a draft
An idea for a new story…that we can’t wait to begin
The perfect writer’s nook in which to craft our words and worlds
![[image error]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple#/media/File:Malus_domestica_-_K%C3%B6hler%E2s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-108.jpg){kind=link}