Nancy LaRonda Johnson's Blog, page 20

It's another Save-A-Word Saturday!

This is my third time in this endeavor: Join this blog hop and save dying words before they're gone forever. Here's how it goes:

1. Create a lovely blog post that links back to The Feather and The Roseblog - our host.
2. Pick an old word you want to save from extinction to feature in your blog post. It really must be an old word, not just a big one. We are trying to save lovely archaisms, not ugly giants (for example, "Dihydrogen Monoxide" is not an acceptable choice). Luciferous Logolepsy is a great database of lovely words if you're having trouble coming up with something on your own.
3. Provide a definition of your word. Use your word in a sentence (or even a short paragraph) vaguely related to the theme we have chosen this week. You may also add visual or musical interpretations of your word or your sentence. In fact, add anything that moves your creative spirit.
4. Add your post to the linky list below (it's down there somewhere). Then hop to as many other blogs as you can in search of as many wonderful words as possible!
5. Use as many of the words as you can on the people in your life. Do leave us a note or add something to your own post to let us all know what wonderful old word you whipped out to befuddle your friends and relations.
Today's theme is: Traitor
My word today is: Mainour -  noun Old English Law. a stolen article found on the person of or near the thief
And here's my writing for this magnificent legalistic word:
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, just because the authorities said they found Mr. Filcher with the mainour in question purring softly while wrapped in his coat to stay warm, does not mean my client was attempting to steal Mrs. Tattler's property."
"No," interrupted Mrs. Tattler. "Not until he saw me coming and ran away yelling, 'You can't have Charlie back. He doesn't want to go back. He chose me!'"

The Greatness of a Stay-cation

It's Friday and time for VikLit's lovely blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, where each week we highlight the things we most want to celebrate.

Things I'm celebrating this week:

#1 That the stressfulness of this week is over! and I'm off for an extra long stay-cation weekend - just me, God, my laptop, some movies - to do some writing, reading, blogging, and lots and lots of chillaxing!


#2 That I've taken care of a lot of necessary and "should be done" tasks this week.

#3 That I asked someone who's been seriously struggling with her faith for the last three years to pray that I'll find a good and godly husband, and it really excited her to do that for me.

I hope all y'all married and dating folk had a wonderful Valentine's Day, and I'm looking forward to reading about a lot of celebrations later today!

My First Blog Award! :)

I've been awarded the Liebster Award from This is Life ~ by Charity Pence! I'm very honored as this is my first nomination for an award. Here're the rules:

Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog – Thanks Charity! Answer 11 questions posted by the presenter, ask your nominees 11 questions, and list eleven random facts about yourself.Nominate 11 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 200 followers.Post the award on your blog.So here are 11 random facts about me:
I once wrote my eulogy. It relayed that I was actually a recreation of my real self as I was accidentally killed by aliens who were studying my life. They didn’t only study my life, but it was me they happened to kill. They then recreated me in order that I might live my life as I should have. I wrote this for a speech class in high school.My favorite food is corn – it’s so darned versatile. I mean you can make corn tortillas, corn on the cob, cornbread, nachos and popcorn, to name a few wonderful dishes.My favorite vacation ever was the 14 day Panama Canal cruise on Princess.If I had my choice of celebrities to marry, it would probably be Terrence Howard.I am a sucker for sales people, including paid programs and timeshares salesmen. Pray for me and keep me away from any of them!I would really like to learn to shoot a gun.To me, the right to choose to have a baby and the right to marry whomever you’d like should be two primary rights in the world.Though it needs work, I do believe in capital punishment.Everybody in my family is crazy, though in an endearing and forgivable manner…at least most times.I used to have a crush on Schroeder, you know from Peanuts.When I retire and need to have assisted living, it’ll be on a cruise ship. My retirement home













And here are my 11 answers to the questions Charity asked: Amalfi Coast
What’s your favorite day of the week and why? Besides any vacation day? I’ll say Thursdays, because Wednesday evenings I have church after work and I usually have Thursdays off, so I can sleep in without worrying about being at church too late on Wednesdays.What inspired you to become a writer? Going through difficult emotional turmoil as a teenager! Writing journals and poetry helped to keep me semi sane. Also the acknowledgment I received from creative writing instructors when I was in elementary school. Once my sixth grade English teacher said I was prolific after writing a story. Although I didn’t understand what that meant, I still felt proud. JWhere is your favorite place and why? The Amalfi Coast in Italy. It is the most beautiful place on this planet. If you’re at a hotel with a terrace looking out at the water, at night you see glowing lights in the middle of the sea, which are fishermen out working all night on tiny boats. Plus I can practice my Italian!If you could have only one story published, what would it be about? I do love my debut novel Anticipation of the Penitent, so that’s the one if I had only one choice. It’s a Christian story about a serial killer and his mother.Do you listen to music while writing? If so, what? Usually I do. I have my mixture of Christian music, classic rock, sound tracks, some hip hop, latin music and other types of rock on my phone. What item can you not live without and why? I dare not say the TV or toilet paper. Those go without saying, right? No, I’ve got to say the Holy Bible, since it’s my inspiration in life in regard to human relationships, comfort, answering deep life questions, and even my writing. What is your biggest pet peeve and why? Pop, pop, pop, smack, smack, pop. In other words, popping gum! – especially during meetings, church, prayer, waiting in the hospital – all of which I’ve had the unfortunate luck to experience.What color describes you most and why? Brown, because that’s what I am J and look how much beautiful brown there is in nature!What is your favorite number and why? Whatever age I am. At the moment that’s 44. But, if I win the lotto, that’ll change to be the last number that allowed me to win the jackpot.If you could choose one genre to define your life, what would it be? Other than a memoir? (Okay smart alec!) My gosh. I’d say it would have to be a volume of books. One volume would be tragedy, another comedy, another dramatic. The current volume would be literary drama.If you could change one event from your past, what would it be and why? This is muy personal. Should I go way back or a little bit back? More recently, I’d say that although I would still have gotten custody of my niece and nephew and done all I could to provide them with structure, love and guidance like I did for ten years, I would chose not to adopt them. With the difficulties they’re going through now, my having adopted them is taking me (my heart, world and potentially my bank account) through the ringer, which would be much less hurtful if I hadn’t adopted them.
The bloggers I'm nominating are:
M.J. JoachimSamantha MaySabrina A. FishS. Katherine AnthonyTanya “T”Jen NeumannJay NoelT. DreckerMark MeansJulia ThorleyClay
The 11 questions for my nominees:
Does your name have a backstory? Were you named after someone, does it have a special meaning, etc.What’s the one thing you wish you could brag to everyone about?What’s your favorite word and why?If you could eat as much of anything you wanted without stopping until you could pop whenever you wanted, what would it be?What’s the one thing you wish you could say to your spouse/parents/siblings/best friend but haven’t?If you could make someone in your family the MC in a book or story, who would it be and what type of character would they be?If you could be a #1 NY Times bestseller for the one book you’ve written and can ever write, or be a relatively unknown writer of many books, what would you choose and why?Who’s your favorite actor and in what movie?If you could only have a TV or stereo system (and no other music playing device), which would you pick?Would you rather vacation somewhere hot or cold, and where would that be?What’s your most controversial belief? Thanks again Charity for this award, and I hope the tradition carries on!

Save-A-Word Saturday #2

Another entry to this on-going, fun, weekly blog hop: Join and save those dying words before they're gone forever. Here's how it goes:


1. Create a lovely blog post that links back to The Feather and The Rose blog - our host.
2. Pick an old word you want to save from extinction to feature in your blog post. It really must be an old word, not just a big one. We are trying to save lovely archaisms, not ugly giants (for example, "Dihydrogen Monoxide" is not an acceptable choice). Luciferous Logolepsy is a great database of lovely words if you're having trouble coming up with something on your own.
3. Provide a definition of your word. Use your word in a sentence (or even a short paragraph) vaguely related to the theme we have chosen this week. You may also add visual or musical interpretations of your word or your sentence. In fact, add anything that moves your creative spirit.
4. Add your post to the linky list below (it's down there somewhere). Then hop to as many other blogs as you can in search of as many wonderful words as possible!
5. Use as many of the words as you can on the people in your life. Do leave us a note or add something to your own post to let us all know what wonderful old word you whipped out to befuddle your friends and relations.

This week's theme is:Dreams
Here’s my word:   Mulligrubs - 1. (Noun) Ill tempered, colic, grumpiness; Origin 1500-1600 earlier milligrams, apparent alliteration of megrims; 2. Griping of the intestines (colloquial)

Here's my writing for this nearly extinct word:

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Sara didn't want to take for granted that her father had the mulligrubs. She'd rather believe he was beginning to enter the early stages of dementia and would soon have to be hospitalized. She could only dream. Otherwise, Sara would have to accept that he was plain mean and would remain so for the rest of his life. 

Friday's Celebration of the Small Things

Oh, I've been so busy today, that I forgot about this most important blog hop hosted by VikLit! This is the hop to not forget about so many of our blessings that we so easily take for granted.

Last week on Sabrina's Writing Reflections, she spoke about enjoying sitting and celebrating quiet time, nature and a cup of coffee, even if for a few moments. I do strive to enjoy peaceful moments, and wish to celebrate that God does provide us those times often, if only we'd allow ourselves to do so. In essence, I'm celebrating peace.

A natural reminder for me of how great peace can be is the ocean. So here's my take on the peacefulness and magnificence of water.

The Monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group

It's the 1st Wednesday of the month and it's time for me to delve (or drown) myself in the Insecure Writer's Support Group hosted by the one and only Alex J. Cavanaugh. Just in time too, because I want to push myself to submit to book review blogs and possibly even a blog tour. I hate to admit it but I'm pretty totally ignorant about it all.

My only experience with a book review blog was when I shelled out $10 for the worst ratings of my life for any of my writing, ever, period. This caused me to never pay for any reviews ever again, to be cautious to seek out legitimate sites, and to be even more insecure (agh! I told myself to never use that word in 2013! - not including the title of this blog hop) about learning what I need to successfully reach out there.

If anyone has any advice, I've stretched my ears wide open and am anxiously listening... for anything... from anyone    ...?        ...?

Save-A-Word Saturday!

I've just joined this fun blog hop began by The Feather and The Rose blog. The rules run thusly:
1. Create a lovely blog post that links back to The Feather and The Rose.
2. Pick an old word you want to save from extinction to feature in your blog post. It really must be an old word, not just a big one. We are trying to save lovely archaisms, not ugly giants (for example, "Dihydrogen Monoxide" is not an acceptable choice). Luciferous Logolepsy is a great database of lovely words if you're having trouble coming up with something on your own.
3. Provide a definition of your word. Use your word in a sentence (or even a short paragraph) vaguely related to the theme we have chosen this week. You may also add visual or musical interpretations of your word or your sentence. In fact, add anything that moves your creative spirit.
4. Add your post to the linky list below (it's down there somewhere). Then hop to as many other blogs as you can in search of as many wonderful words as possible!
5. Use as many of the words as you can on the people in your life. Do leave us a note or add something to your own post to let us all know what wonderful old word you whipped out to befuddle your friends and relations.

This week's theme is:Tea cups

Here’s my word: 
Charge ~ only I’m using a particular meaning to this word:  Noun - a person committed to your care
Here's my writing for this nearly extinct word choice:


"It's her again, isn't it?" Marlene demanded.
Daniel couldn't say anything after having left his charge wandering into the heavily trafficked street and not notice until the bleating of a multitude of horns sent a shock to his system, yanking him from his day dream of the beautiful African princess Monica. Not really a princess nor African, but she truly resembled both, sitting in the cafe to the side of the road, her dark flawless skin contrasting against her gold embossed white dress. She sat majestically, sipping from a tea cup with the most grace anyone could dare expect to see.
"You know how much I love Fido! If anything had happened to him, I'd send you to the pound!"

Celebrate the Small Things

It's another Friday and another time to celebrate the small things accomplished this week, a blog hop hosted by VikLit's Writing Blog.  First off - I can't wait to get to the list before I say this - I'm so happy to express that I've begun exercising this week!




1. I've played tennis two times so far, and walked quite a bit. Exercise had fallen by the wayside the last several months. I seem to have a problem of not being able to do two healthy things at once - either I'm dieting or exercising, and doing both at the same time has been a challenge. Hopefully I've broken the boundaries of this challenging endeavor. (And yes, I did add exercise to my phone's alarm clock schedule, along with writing, marketing and blogging.)

2.  I've been writing a little bit more. As stated above, I did add writing times to my alarm clock, but am not always able to write when it's time to. I'm still trying to boost my writing times, and believe they will grow.

3.  And last, but definitely not least, my mom's still in the hospital, but she's doing so much better. She was moved from ICU today. :) She'll likely be in the hospital for the super bowl, which is a heartbreaker for her. But she's okay with it. I'll likely watch the game with her.

Oh yes, another one -
4. I am continuing to build my faith to trust God in all things more and more!

I'm looking forward to reading you all's celebratory lists later on!

Indie-Fever Book Review: Spirits of Lakewood

This is my second book review. I'm happy to review Indie books and link my reviews to the Indie-Fever Reading Challenge 2013 (just click on the picture to learn about it), as well as post them on Amazon and any other book site requested. 


Here's my review of Spirits of Lakewood - Hidden Secrets by Samantha Rindfuss:


This is a Young Adult ghost story about an orphaned teen-age girl, Sophie, who goes to live with her grandmother. Sophie learns the house, and now she, is haunted by a dead girl who demands to be reunited with her dead father. Sophie is relatable and the story is cute - good for younger teens. There is a sufficient amount of suspense and fairly chilling ghost descriptions. The ending is a bit too quick, and some of the story line could be more developed, but it’s still an enjoyable read. It is Volume 1, so this could be the first book of a series of similar stories, or maybe the story will continue with the next. I can see teens wanting to read more of this story and learn whether Sophie will settle in her new hometown.
This being an Indie book, I would like to also comment on more technical issues that often come up with self-published books. The writing could be spruced up a notch. There was nothing glaringly wrong, but there were some typical missteps, like starting too many sentences with “as I.” “As” is a too common word in the book, such as “as she looked out the window” or “and as he walked in.” Despite this, I would recommend this for young teens.

I won Spirits of Lakewood eBook from LibraryThing. The LibraryThing Member Giveaway is a great place to get free eBooks in exchange for reviews. 100 copies of my book, Anticipation of the Penitent, is being offered at the LibraryThing member giveaway. Follow the link, scroll down until you see my book, and sign up to request it.

Allow me to re-introduce myself

Hi folks! I'm so glad to be a part of this blog hop that's started by several people. Just click on the picture and you can learn all about it.



I'm Nancy LaRonda Johnson, a passionate writer of Christian and other fiction and some poetry. I love writing flash fiction. Poetry comes when it comes. Only twice was I able to sit and intentionally write any half-way decent poetry.

But anyway, I'm a strong believer in Christ, love hanging with my crazy family (and my mom's doing better and better everyday, though she's still in the hospital). I'm also very involved with my church and love having lots and lots of down time, which is contrary to my busy schedule.

My favorite word in the English vocabulary is "vacation". My favorite sports: tennis and yoga, though I can't do yoga anymore because of early onset of arthritis in the knee and those darned yoga knee bends just kill it. But tennis is still a go. Authors who have written my favorite books are: Stephen King (of course), Gloria Naylor, Octavia Butler, Toni Morrison, John Grisham and Michael Crichton. Okay there are many others, but this is the short list.

Other things I love: listening to audio books, networking on the web, and did I say vacations?

Sorry for the late start, but I'm looking forward to being intro'd and re-introduced to many of you folks.