Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 33

#MondayMotivation - #Hygge #Quotes + Words Of #Wisdom 31-08-20

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.
~W B. Yeats

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.
~Henry David Thoreau

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.
~Aaron Rose

The next time you find yourself overthinking or worrying, stop yourself and take a deep breath. Look at something around you and notice what’s in the present moment. Look at the sky. Feel your heartbeat. Get out of your mind and immerse yourself in the moment.
~Unknown

Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.
~Rumi

There is no path to happiness: Happiness is the path.
~Buddha

A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.
~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom.
Meik Wiking

Forgive others, not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.
~J Lockwood Huie

Go up to your friends and family tonight, give them a hug and tell them that you love them. You never know when it could be your last chance.
~Nick Susi

You will never change your life until you change something you do daily.
~Mike Murdoch

Hygge is about having less, enjoying more; the pleasure of simply being.
It is generous and celebratory, a way to remember the importance of the simple act of living itself.
~Louisa Thomsen Brits

Lilie The #Westie On Moving Downstairs + Itchy Paws

 Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

 

 

 

Like everyone else has told you: we live downstairs now.  Well, not all the way downstairs, because Poppy and Elvis the Jack Russels live all the way downstairs with their humans.  But downstairs from where we lived before anyhow, and Mummy calls it, "Moving downstairs," when she talks about it, so I guess I can call it that too.

 

 
 

We like downstairs, because we can see out of the windows without having to wait for someone to lift us up, and there's not so many steps between us and outside.  Me and Logan don't really mind about the steps as such, but less steps means Mummy is willing to do more walkies, which makes less steps a very good thing.  Also, some stuff is in different places, and that's changed how some things work.  Like how it's harder to try and play with my chinchilla sister, Mollie, because we only get to go in where her cage is sometimes. Apart from those things though - plus some different smells we got to investigate when we first got brought down here - living downstairs is just like living upstairs as far as me and Logan are concerned.

 

~

 

It’s not all been window views and walkies though, because I also had to go to the vet.  I shouldn’t have needed to go again yet, but my paws were all itchy, and I was biting at them so much I was being sick, so Daddy took me to the vet.  Not that I’m complaining, because I love vet trips!

 

Anyway, the vet says I have something called, “Skin irritation,” and gave Daddy stuff for me.  I have to have pills in the morning, and stuff put on my paws in the evening.  I don’t mind too much, because I get some ham with the pills, and I don’t mind baths.  Although, I do wish I didn’t have to wait forever for the stuff to get rinsed off my paws (Mummy says it’s only five minutes, but it feels like forever to me).

 

I can’t tell you if it’s helping my paws yet, because I only saw the vet a couple of days ago, so it’s too soon to know.

 

Mummy and Daddy are real proud of me though, because I’m not making a fuss, and take my pills and put up with the stuff going on my paws willingly.  Hey, it gets me some ham and attention, so why should I complain?

 

Oh, and... No.  My itchy issue is nothing to do with the new place.  It's something that happens to Westies quite often.  Sometimes when we're still kind of young, like I am (I'll be three and a half next month) and sometimes when we get old.  Not all Westies, but enough of my breed that it's on the list of common Westie health issues.  Mummy and Daddy are just hoping they caught it in time to control it and keep it from being a big enough problem for me that it affects my quality of life.  So far I'm fine otherwise, including still being waggy-tailed and full of energy and enthusiasm.  So, so far so good.

 

Lots of licks,

Lilie

#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - Media Shares And #Reviews 27-08-20

A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.
~Italo Calvino

 

***~~~***

 
Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!
  

*~*

 
*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.
 
Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.
  

***~~~***

 
OK. Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, and which song I'm going to share this week, shall we? After all, that's the point of this post, and why you're here today, right?
  

*~*

 

Reading:

Despite reading a fantastic book, I struggled to get much reading done during the past week, so this week I only read one book.  Well, technically only finished the one I started last week, so not even a whole book if you want to be technical.  But still... I have a review for you, so here's what I read, along with my book review.
  

HMS Lanternfish (The Lanternfish, #2)

by C.S. Boyack

My rating: five out of five stars

I was eager to read this book, having read the first in the trilogy. I was not disappointed. It was a well-written entertaining and action-packed read, with a plot that moves at a nice pace and keeps you guessing, an awesome cast of characters - especially those root monsters, which I'm so glad to see make a return in the pages of this book - and plenty of evidence that the author has a wonderful imagination. Had it not been for life stuff getting in the way, I could have happily devoured this book in one sitting. I highly recommend this series, especially if you enjoy a good pirate adventure story. I can't wait to see what the crew get up to - or get themselves in to - in the third installment of the trilogy!

 

*~*
 

Watching:

This week I watched the rest of season 4 of "Outlander" and started season 5.  I did plan on watching more of "Game Of Thrones" too, since I still need to finish season 7 and watch season 8 of that, but I didn't get to it.  So, just some "Outlander" episodes again this week.

 
*~*

 

Listening:

This week I haven't been listening to any music.  But with how this month - in fact, this year - has been going, I think R.E.M "Everybody Hurts" is an appropriate song right now.  So, here it is.  Not sure what the video itself is like, but I'm sharing it anyhow, because the words of the song fit.

 

#WriterWednesday 26-08-20; A #Pet Themed #Audiobook + Writerly #Quotes And Links

For those who missed last week's post: "Snowlilie's Brother" is now available in audio, narrated by Claire Golden Drake.  You can find purchase links in the post I just linked to, but here's the direct link to buy it on Audible anyhow.

 

*~*~*

 

“The idea of wandering off to a cafe with a notebook and writing & seeing where that takes me for awhile is just bliss.”
~J K Rowling    

 

OK.  Well... I have nothing more to say about my own writing right now.  However, I finally had a chance to sort several of those writerly posts and articles from the past month or so (though I do still have a bunch to go through).  With that being the case, let's see what I have to share with you from them so far, shall we?

 

“I don’t have to live in the real world—I'm a fiction writer.”

~Aaron Sorkin

 

The writing process, and writing life in general:

Aristotle gave us more than philosophy

Where was I? #Multitasking

Why you need to write less (every now and then)

7 tips to co-authoring without violence... Hopefully

Self-expression in creative writing

10 tips for writing for other people when you're used to writing for yourself

  Why we're so bad at knowing if our own work is good or not

 

“If you're not loving what you're writing, take a look at why and fix that.”
~Roxane Gay

 

Random writing tips:

7 tips to putting ice cream in fiction

7 tips to writing desert adventures: don't forget the sand

Using hetorical devices in your writing

 

“Sometimes writing is just rubbing words together long enough to make a fire.”
~Gillian Marchenko

 

Characters:

The nutshell protagonist

Expanssion pack: the crucible

Creating memorable animal characters

The physical description: a necessary & surprisingly difficult piece

7 tips to writing a physical description that works 

 

“Write. Just write. Start. And read as much as you can. Read widely and read different things, and sometimes while immersed in the multitude voices of others, you just might find your own.”

~Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

 

Poetry writing:

How to construe and convey tone in poetry

5 strong rhetorical devices to use in your poetry

 

“Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer.”
~Ursula K. Le Guin

 

Formatting and editing:

Homophones, homonyms, and homographs

Chapter breaks and titles: what are our options?

How to publish with KDP, part 12: how to edit your eBook

  

“The secret: Do good work and share it with people.”

~Austin Kleon

 

Publishing:

Choosing a book title

Coming up with a unique book title

How to publish with KDP, part 13: how to upload your paperback

How to publish with KDP, part 14: how to review and preview your paperback 

To pre-order or not - that is the question

 

“We live and breathe words.”
~Cassandra Clare

 

Audiobook production:

Sound check: Audio Lab launches on ACX 

“Your writing voice is the deepest possible reflection of who you are. The job of your voice is not to seduce or flatter or make well-shaped sentences. In your voice, your readers should be able to hear the contents of your mind, your heart, your soul.”
~Meg Rosoff

 

Book reviews:

 Writing a book review

 

“The moment you grab someone by the lapels and you've got something to tell, that's a story.”~F O'Connor

20 #Quotes About #SelfCare, #Mindfulness, And Self #Love

How do you define ‘taking care of yourself’? Create a new self-care practice today. Observe your comfort level when it comes to being good to yourself. Discomfort is a wise teacher.
~Caroline Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso

I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.
~Audre Lorde

My mother always says people should be able to take care of themselves, even if they’re rich and important.
~Frances Hodgson Burnett

When we self-regulate well, we are better able to control the trajectory of our emotional lives and resulting actions based on our values and sense of purpose.
~Amy Leigh Mercree

You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy.
~Unknown

The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.
~Steve Maraboli

It’s good to do uncomfortable things. It’s weight training for life.
~Anne LaMott

Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.
~Pema Chödrön

The art of peaceful living comes down to living compassionately & wisely.
~Allan Lokos

What would it be like if I could accept life – accept this moment – exactly as it is?
~Tara Brach

Looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind.
~Amit Ray

A few simple tips for life: feet on the ground, head to the skies, heart open…quiet mind.
~Rasheed Ogunlaru

Three things can not hide for long: the Moon, the Sun and the Truth.
~Buddha

It is never too late to turn on the light.
~Sharon Salzberg

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
~Jon Kabat-Zinn

Treat everyone you meet as if they were you.
~Doug Dillon

A mind set in its ways is wasted.
~Eric Schmidt

Knowing how to be solitary is central to the art of loving. When we can be alone, we can be with others without using them as a means of escape.
~Bell Hooks

Tea is an act complete in its simplicity. When I drink tea, there is only me and the tea. The rest of the world dissolves.
~Thích Nhất Hạnh

When you bow, you should just bow; when you sit, you should just sit; when you eat, you should just eat.
~Shunryu Suzuki

#MondayMotivation - #Quotes + Words Of #Wisdom 24-08-20

Never give up, because you never know if the next try is going to be the one that works.
~Mary Kay Ash

There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.
~Denis Waitley

Most people don't plan to fail, they fail to plan.
~John Beckley

You must once and for all give up being worried about successes and failures. Don’t let that concern you. It’s your duty to go on working steadily day by day, quite steadily, to be prepared for mistakes, which are inevitable, and for failures.
~Anton Chekhov

Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure.
~Tony Rohn

Always Remember to take your Vitamins: Take your Vitamin A for ACTION, Vitamin B for Belief, Vitamin C for Confidence ,Vitamin D for Discipline, Vitamin E for Enthusiasm!
~Pablo

If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you can't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, keep moving.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Success isn't something that occurs. Success is something that you create.
~Robin Sharma

We were born to succeed, not to fail.
~Henry David Thoreau

Persistence gets you farther than brilliance.
~Robin Sharma

Whatever life may send your way — make the best of it. Don't waste your time and energy worrying about it. Instead, find a way to do something about it. Learn from it, adjust to it, be strong, be flexible and be your best in every situation.
~Les Brown

Life is a balance of holding on & letting go.
~Rumi

Artemis The #Tortoise On Moving And Going To The Vet

Hi everyone.  This is Artemis the tortoise.

 

~

 

Today I’m going to tell you about two awful days.  Well, one awful one, and one that just wasn't very nice, but could have been worse.  Either way, first I’ll tell you about the terrible start to the day I had about a month ago, and then I’ll tell you about the sort of bad afternoon I had a little over a week ago.

 

~

 

So, usually in the mornings Mummy turns on my lamps, and then she sorts my food and some fresh water for me while my vivarium is warming up.  When I’m ready, I crawl out of my cave or tunnel – depending which I slept in that night – and go spend some time on my basking rock under the heat lamp, where I stay until I’m warmed up enough to go see what’s for breakfast.

 

But that’s not how this day started.

 

~

 

Before the lamps even got turned on, I was dug out of my nest in the cave where I’d been sleeping, and put – still chilly from the night’s cooler vivarium temperature, and not even awake yet – in my playpen.  I was then left there for ages and ages, with them just coming and poking at me to make sure I was OK from time to time – which prompted me to tuck myself in my shell in hopes they’d get the hint and go away.  Then there was a lot of being jostled about while the playpen was being carried down some stairs, before I spent more time waiting in it with occasional prodding, before I finally got to go back in my vivarium.

 

Meanwhile, they’d apparently been emptying and pulling apart my vivarium, because when I was finally rescued from the playpen it was to find my vivarium and the table it stands on in a completely different spot.

 

~

 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice spot.  I’m near to a window where I can get some natural light, and my vivarium is angled just right so I get that light and a bit of the breeze from the window, but it’s not too chilly for me.  With the lovely weather we've been having it's been just perfect.  I can also see them when they’re going about their day, so easily get their attention if I want to.  Like I said, it’s a nice spot.  I just don’t like how I got here.

 

I also don’t like that everything got cleaned the same day.  I hate the days when they clean my vivarium, because things don’t smell right for a bit.  It somehow felt even worse that they did it on top of that awful start to the day.  So I spent a couple of days sulking and being stompy, just to show Mummy how much I hated it all.  I usually only stay stompy on the actual day of cleaning, but I felt the rude awakening on top of that justified some extra stompy tortoise time, so kept it up the following day too.

 

~

 

Then, just when I was starting to think things would be back to how they had been before, with no rude awakenings, the other thing happened: the vet trip.

 

Despite it being even hot by my standards this particular day, I was forced to get up from my afternoon nap, shoved in a plastic box with some hay and a bit of lettuce to nibble on, and jostled about while we rode in a very noisy thing I’m told is called a taxi.  I rode in one of those to get here from the place I was at before with all the other tortoises and reptiles, and had hoped I wouldn’t have to ride in one again.  I mean, it’s not so much the noise – tortoises don’t exactly hear things like you humans do, since we have a lack of ears – but the vibrations... That’s how I make sense of sounds, and the vibrations from that taxi thing were dreadful!

 

Anyway, I rode in the taxi thing with Mummy, and then she handed over the box with me in to someone.  Quite frankly, I thought at this point maybe she was getting rid of me.  I mean, why else would she do it? But no.  It turned out the other person just wanted to poke and prod me.  I gave him my best, "Who are you, and what do you think you're doing?" stare, but he ignored me, and just kept examining me.  Then he talked to Mummy a bit, and gave me back to Mummy in my box so we could go in another of those taxi things.

 

After that I got put back in my vivarium, where I stomped about for a  bit, dug in for a - very late by this time - nap, and would have remained stompy the next day too, but it was still even hot by my standards, so I decided to hide in my cave instead, only coming out to eat, drink, and splash about in the water a bit to cool off.

 

~

 

I’ve forgiven her now though.  After all, she’s the provider of tasty nibbles – she always makes sure I have lettuce or other fresh veggies to go with my pellets in the morning, as well as some herbs, and some days she lets me have fruit too - and it does feel nice when she strokes my shell.  Though I could do without days when I get forced to get up when I’ve dug in for a nap, and those bath things... I hate baths! Hermann’s Tortoises are not water dwelling creatures, you know.

 

~

 

Oh, and for those who want to know: the vet said it was wonderful to see such a healthy tortoise, and I'm in perfect shape.  He also told Mummy I'm a girl (which she had suspected was the case, so was pleased to have been right about).  The vet said you can't always know for sure for the first few years, but usually by my age (almost a year old) there are signs if you know what to look for.  So, I'm officially a girl, in case you're interested.

 

Also, I now weigh 120g (which is the perfect weight for my size).  So have more than doubled my weight since I came to live with these humans in January, since I only weighed 50g back then.

 

~

 

Artemis the tortoise

#AmReading + #AmWatching + #AmListening - Media Shares And #Reviews 20-08-20

Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.
~Ray Bradbury

 

*~*~*

 
Welcome to this week's weekly media shares and reviews post!
 
*Disclaimer: no matter what's being reviewed, all opinions in this post are entirely my own, and I reserve the right to have them, regardless of who may or may not share them. Feel free to express your own in the comments, but please respect my right - and the rights of other commenters - to have opinions that might differ from yours, and to express those opinions too.
 
Also, please remember that I read/watch/listen to things in a variety of genres, and for all ages, so you should make sure you check that the book/movie/show/song is suitable for the intended audience before reading/watching/listening to it, especially if children are involved. I take no responsibility for anything which may happen as a result of failing to do so.
 
*~*~*

 
OK. Let's see what I've been reading, watching, and listening to, and which song I'm going to share this week, shall we? After all, that's the point of this post, and why you're here today, right?

 

*~*~*
 

Reading:

This week I read one book.  Well, finished one and started another, but either way I have just one review for you this week.  So, here's what I read, along with my book review.

 

Warriors (Hell Divers, #7)

byNicholas Sansbury Smith

My rating: five out of five stars

This series is not for the squemish, but it's a fantastic one if you can deal with it, and this book was no exception; this was an awesome addition to the series. The worldbuilding and character development is excellent, the descriptions are awonderfully detailed (like I said, if you can deal with them) and the author really makes you feel like you're right there. Thank goodness it's only fiction though, because I sure wouldn't have thought it was so amazing to be living through all of it.

 

*~*~*
 

Watching:

This week I finished watching season 3 of "Outlander" and watched several episodes from season 4 too.  I'm still loving it as much as I loved the books, but noticing more places it differs from the books at this stage.  Like I said though, I'm still loving it anyhow.
  

*~*~*

 

Listening:

This week I haven't really been in the mood for listening to music, so here's the revamped 2020 version of Ronan Keating's "Life Is A Rollercoaster" for you - just because he's a favourite artist of mine, and I did listen to this one fairly recently while catching up on YouTube videos from when I was offline.  Anyway, enjoy!

 

"Snowlilie's Brother" is now available As An #Audiobook! #Pets #AminalStories #Dogs #Westie #Cavapoo #KidLit

Getting a little brother is a good thing... Right?

 

When Snowlilie the West Highland White Terrier first meets her new little brother – a Cavapoo puppy, who tells her the humans call him Rascal - and realizes having a little brother means having a new doggy friend to play with, she’s excited. That is, until she realizes it also means sharing everything with him – including her favourite ball, some of her food, and Mummy and Daddy’s attention.

 

Will Snowlilie be forced to tolerate a little brother she doesn’t like? Or can she learn to like Rascal, and accept the changes having a little brother means?

 

Previously released in eBook and paperback in June 2020 - links for which you can find in this post if you're looking for an eBook version, and this post if you're looking for the paperback - "Snowlilie's Brother" is now also available in audio, narrated by Claire Golden Drake.

 

If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the audiobook, you can buy it from Audible, iTunes, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon US, and various other Amazons.

 

Regardless of your prefered format, if you're on Goodreads and want to add the book to your shelves, you may be interested to know that it does have a Goodreads page where all formats are listed.

The Cake #Book Tag - #AmReading

I found this one among the tags on The Sassy Book Geek, after looking for some fun book tags to do. She's not the original creator of it, but she did it, and it's her I got it from, so that's who I'm going to mention.

Anyway, as I always say when I do these things, I'm not tagging anyone, but would love to read the answers of anyone who wants to play along. So, if you do want to play along, feel free to do so, whether in the comments of this post, on your own blog, or whatever. For now though, here are the questions, along with my own answers to them:

1. CHOCOLATE CAKE: A dark book you absolutely love

It's got to be "Dark Matter" by Michelle Paver. It's a dark and chilling read, and one of very few books to actually scare me.

2. VANILLA CAKE: A light read

"Instructions For Falling In Love Again" by Lucy Mitchell. It's a wonderful romantic comedy.

3. RED VELVET: A book that gave you mixed emotions

"The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. On the one hand, it was a fantastic book, with an important message to share. On the other hand, I had issues with some of the comments made by some of the characters. Racism isn't OK no matter what the circumstances are. That includes comments directed at other races by people who are victims of racism themselves.

4. CHEESECAKE: A book you would recommend to anyone

Any book I've given five stars to, and many of those I gave four stars to. To be honest, it actually depends on the preference of the person in question, the kind of book they're looking for, and what springs to mind at the time.

5. COFFEE CAKE: A book you started but never finished

There isn't one. If I start a book, I finish it. One time I even brought a copy of a book later on that I'd previously borrowed from someone, just because I'd had to give it back before I could finish it, and it bothered me that I hadn't finished reading it. Yes, I felt better for doing so.

6. CARROT CAKE: A book with great writing

No. I can't pick just one for this one. There are a lot of great authors out there, and it wouldn't be fair.

7. TIRAMISU: A book that left you wanting more

Several books have done this. However, one that springs to mind... Well, three, technically... Are the books in Vera Nazarian's "Atlantis Grail" series. But one in particular of those, since I especially felt that way with "Win" - the third book. If I hadn't had to wait for "Survive" to be released, I totally would have started it the moment I finished "Win" - like I did with the first three books in the series. You can bet I read that one as soon as I could. I hear the series is supposed to be being made in to a movie. I hope so, and hope the movie does it justice.

8. CUPCAKES: A series with 4+ Books

I can think of several, but I'm going to give a shout-out to Kim Harrison's "Hollows" series, also known as her "Rachel Morgan" books. The main series is 13 books long, with a prequel, some short stories, etc, you can also read if you like. It's one of my favourite series, which I re-read almost as often as I re-read the "Harry Potter" books.

9. FRUIT CAKE: A book that wasn’t what you anticipated

"The Wasp Factory" by Iain Banks, which is the book I ended up buying a copy of after not having finished it when I borrowed it, as it happens. I mostly only got a copy to finish it because it bothered me that I hadn't, but I ended up glad I did. It's a little dark and disturbing - the reason I'd been so slow reading it I'd needed to give it back before I was done - but if you can handle it the book is worth a read, and the ending... So never saw that coming!