D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 162

The Memeing Of Life: The 30 Most Inspirational Writer Memes Of All Time | Dan Alatorre – AUTHOR

I came across this great post from author and friend, Dan Alatorre’s blog. Dan has a very entertaining blog. He is a diverse author and always spills his sense of humor into his writing.
In this post, Dan has taken 30 memes on writing and added his own personal spin to them.

 

The Memeing Of Life: The 30 Most Inspirational Writer Memes Of All Time
October 17, 2015October 17, 2015 Dan Alatorre AUTHOR


“I know that title is misspelled. Or at least I think it is.
I use a lot of memes cos I like them. Short, simple (usually) and to the point. I read a meme that connects with me and  I want a t-shirt made of it and a poster for my office, that’s how cool memes are.
And some of you use memes so you know what I mean, but here’s a list of my favorites and what they mean to me, not in any particular order. (Image first, then my take on it)”



“I really believe we bring our life experiences to our work, and we should do more of it. I do it, as some of you have seen, but not enough. Many, many times, a passage that really connects with a reader – as told to me by critique partners or a beta reader – was an actual piece of my life lifted up from my heart and put back down on the page. Use your life in your writing. It doesn’t imply you’re no good at making stuff up.. .”
Continue Reading

 

helpful writer ramblings from a disturbed mind just like yours (by Dan Alatorre AUTHOR)

Source: The Memeing Of Life: The 30 Most Inspirational Writer Memes Of All Time | Dan Alatorre – AUTHOR 

 

D.G. Kaye ©2015

Review: “Meno-What? A Memoir: Memorable Moments Of Menopause” by D.G. Kaye | writerchristophfischer

 

It’s always a pleasant surprise when we’re going through blogs we follow and find that a fellow blogger has graciously posted something nice about us.

 

I came across this lovely review of my book MenoWhat? A Memoir while visiting author Christoph Fischer’s blog. Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling it gave me, I was also impressed with the fact that the book had not only received a great review, but once again it came from a male. Of course the topic of this book, menopause, is female oriented, but when I was writing it, it never really dawned on me how much help this book would be for the men in our lives to help understand the many moods and emotions women go through in that ‘uncertain’ time.

 

Posted by writerchristophfischer in Uncategorized

≈ 6 Comments

“Meno-What? A Memoir: Memorable Moments Of Menopause” by D.G. Kaye is a superbly written, entertaining and useful memoir that combines personal experience and well researched knowledge with helpful guidance, both practical and inpirational. Kaye shares her own experiences and provides important facts.

You should definitely read this, whether you need the advice or just want to have an informative and humorous read. Upbeat and entertaining this is a far cry from the book I had expected to read. This isn’t a miserablew ‘poor me’book but an inspiration.”

 Originally posted here

 

Source: Review: “Meno-What? A Memoir: Memorable Moments Of Menopause” by D.G. Kaye | writerchristophfischer

What’s in a Name short story – ‘E’ For Elaine – Shining Brightly | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

My friend and creative writer/blogger/author Sally Cronin has multiple series on the go she posts weekly on her blog. In one of her series she takes each letter from the alphabet and writes a story about a person’s name corresponding to the letter. I always enjoy reading all of Sally’s posts, as they all leave me with some great insight, whether it be on nutrition, health, interviews with other talented authors and creatives, or in this case, her own creative writing. This post in particular I found extremely touching to the human heart.

What’s in a Name short story – ‘E’ For Elaine – Shining Brightly
Posted on by Smorgasbord – Variety is the Spice of Life.

The Greek and French meaning of the name Elaine is Shining Light or the Bright One.

Agapanthus, the “Lily of the Nile” is native to South Africa. The variation ‘Elaine’ grows up to 36 inches and has green strap like leaves with dark violet-blue flowers which certainly adds brightness to a garden.

What’s in a name –  ‘E’ for Elaine – Shining Brightly

Elaine lay under the warmth of the duvet and her hand crept across the mattress to touch her husband’s hand. Not enough to wake him but just a gentle touch to remind her of his presence. Jack’s even breathing and gentle snore was comforting and Elaine smiled to herself, savouring the delicious secret that she was desperate to reveal.

She had been saving up the news until today as a gift for Jack’s birthday. They had been married for two years and she knew that his greatest wish was for them to have a baby. His large family had already provided his parents with six grandchildren and whilst he might not talk about his desire for a family; he wanted to hold their child in his arms almost as much as she did. She had remembered the look on his face when she had thought that she might be pregnant but it had turned out to be a false alarm. This is why she had waited until she was absolutely sure; today would be the perfect time to reveal the secret. . .

 

Source:

Things We Keep

I miss my house.

 

As I sat on my apartment balcony, drinking my morning coffee, I looked at the vast blue sky as I drank in the sun’s unseasonably warm rays. The trees in their russet and crimson colors stood calm in their beauty, and I heard a few birds singing. I found it odd to still hear the birds chirping away at this mid-November time of year. I wondered if they had perhaps become confused by the extreme weather changes we’ve been experiencing these past few weeks, from seasonably cold to mild and spring-like; hence, not signaling winter’s near arrival.

 

Although the weather hasn’t been consistent, the now empty flower pots lined up against the wall on my balcony, remind me of the cold winds and temperatures we’ve had in late October causing the flowers to shrivel and die. I began thinking about the flowers I so lovingly tended to in my old house –  the home I moved away from only 10 months ago. I recalled that with every change in weather, my flowers and plants would react.

 

By this time of year, I’d have already prepared blankets of burlap to wrap around the feeble trees and shrubs to defend them against winter’s onslaught of wind and snow. I couldn’t help but wonder if the new owners would do the same.

 

I thought about the beautiful shed my husband built with his brothers that housed all of our garden tools and furniture. And then I thought about how we have given all those things away because we’d no longer have use or storage for them.

No longer would I carry the groceries from my car directly through the garage door into the house. It’s now become a long walk through the underground parking, through the building corridors, up the elevator and back down the corridor to my door after bundling my groceries into an old shopping buggy I’d kept for decades.

 

It’s strange how I kept that shopping buggy from the days I lived in my little apartment – the one I moved into when I left the family home and my childhood behind. That buggy has been with me for over 35 years.

 

Cart missing rubber capped foot

 

When I met my husband and we built our first home, he wanted to toss the shopping cart. I told him we never know when it may come in handy. He laughed as he shook his head and called me a packrat.

 

We threw the cart up on the storage shelves he’d built in the garage and there it sat until we moved 3 more times, and by then he no longer threatened to throw it out, but stored it neatly at the back of yet another shelf in each consequent house we moved to.

 

When we moved here this past winter, the handy cart helped me carry numerous loads of items back and forth up from the house to the car to the condo. And then I reminded my husband about how convenient this little cart had been and how handy it will be for bringing up groceries from the car.

 

Sure the old buggy has lost its shiny, silvery, luster, and one of the legs is missing its rubber capped foot, but I’ve had it for decades and it’s served its worth thousands of times over. Besides, they don’t build things the way they used to; built to last.

 

DGKaye©2015

Christmas Grotto 2015 – Have Bags, Will Travel by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

Thank you once again Sally Cronin of SmorgasbordInvitation, for adding my latest book to your generous sharing of wonderful books for your Christmas Grotto.

Christmas Grotto 2015 – Have Bags, Will Travel by D.G. Kaye
Posted on November 12, 2015 by Smorgasbord – Variety is the Spice of Life.

Debby Gies, author D.G. Kaye, is my Canadian Sistah…one of several I have found around the world who seem to have been born under the same star. We are of similar ages, backgrounds, have enjoyed life’s rich tapestry of ups and downs and have ended up putting pen to paper. Debby is a regular visitor to the blog and I love having her over. Her latest book is doing extremely well and I am delighted to feature in the Christmas Grotto. In the short time since its release it has received excellent reviews and the two I am including today give the book the thumbs up from someone who spent many years in the travel industry and one from a man’s perspective… Enjoy

Continue Reading . . .

 

Source: Christmas Grotto 2015 – Have Bags, Will Travel by D.G. Kaye | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

Are you using #Dropbox?

I’ve been reading about a lot of computer disasters lately from blogs I follow. Some have been hacked, some have lost all their files after downloading to the newest Windows 10 operating systems, and some have been having some wonky WordPress issues. I can tell you, I’ve been a victim of some of those hardships, so it’s important to have some good backup strategies in place for our files.

 

I’m sure almost all of us have a WordPress backup system in place where our blogs and pages are stored to a cyber system in case something crappy happens to our blogs, like hacking or crashing. And then many of us have an external backup for everything on our computers as well. But today I want to ask if any of you are using Dropbox?

 

I learned about Dropbox a few years ago, and quite fortunately, just in the knick of time. An author friend of mine had suggested it to me as a great cloud option for backing up by sending any files, photos, manuscripts, etc. we wanted to keep safe and handy to Dropbox. One week after installing it, while just finishing my first book, my computer crashed.

 

We may all have our own preferred methods of saving files, but Dropbox is great because our files are safe and the portability is fantastic. You can log into your Dropbox files from anywhere, from any device. I like to keep all my photos there so I have access to them from any computer I’m on when I want to write a blog or share a picture on social media. It also offers you the ability to share files through the cloud with other Dropbox users.

 

Dropbox is a free service which starts you off at 1 gig of free storage space, but allows you to add things to your Dropbox account, and with each addon they give you more storage space. There is also another way to earn free storage space, 500 megs, if you give Dropbox the email address of a friend, and they sign up to get their own account. I believe there is a 16 gig cap on available storage gained by referrals. But hey, that’s a ton, even for a writer. I’ve been storing pictures, files, numerous rounds of manuscript revision docs and more for just over two years and have only used around three gigs!

 

I’ve been using it for over two years now and have never had to ‘buy’ more storage space. With that being said, we could all use more storage space for future files. So what I’m asking of you today is, if any of you aren’t already using this service and would like to sign up for it, would you be willing to allow me to send you a link to your email address, so that you can sign up, and I could earn more free storage space? Once you’ve signed up, just follow the easy prompts and Dropbox will offer you other easy ways to start earning more storage space, then when you need more and don’t feel you want to pay for it, invite another friend to the link.

 

You can go to www.dropbox.com and find out more about this service. But please remember, if you like what you see, don’t just sign up there, come back here and leave me a comment to contact you, so I can get your email address if you don’t want to leave it here, then I’ll forward your address to Dropbox and they’ll send you the sign up form. Otherwise, I won’t get credit for your sign up.

 

Once you get started with this great service, it will become like a new appendage. I also like to keep current Word docs in there, especially for when I’m traveling, so I can pull them up anywhere and continue working on when I want. No flash drive required!

 

Please let me know if you’re using Dropbox, how you use it, and if you’re interested in leaving me your email to send you a form to make an account.
Thanks! Remember, sharing is caring!

 

Here’s the link again to check it out! www.dropbox.com 

 

D.G.Kaye©2015

10 Statements – D. G. Kaye | My train of thoughts on…

I was kindly invited over to Karen’s blog mytrainofthoughtson to be part of her author postings of 10 Statements. Karen is a generous blogger who has a diversified blog full of her thoughts and writing, book reviews, and guest author posts.

 

Below you will find a reblog of Karen’s post with my 10 Statements, just click on ‘Continue’ below to read more.

 

 

10 Statements by D.G. Kaye

 

I’m a nonfiction memoir writer who likes to write about life, matters of the heart and women’s issues. My intent is to inspire others by sharing my stories about events I encountered, and the lessons that come along with them.

I love to laugh, and self-medicate with a daily dose of humor. When I’m not writing intimate memoirs, you’ll find me writing with humor in some of my other works and blog posts. If I’m not writing, I’m reading or quite possibly looking after some mundane thing in life. It’s also possible I may be on a secret getaway trip, as that is my passion—traveling

 

My personal mottoes:

“Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.”

“Do unto others as you would do unto yourself.”

 

10 statements


A typical work day begins with… coffee and breakfast. If it’s a writing day, I begin right after breakfast, or it’s not going to happen that day once I get on the computer and work on other things such as: writing blogs, posting on social media, reading newsletters, marketing and publications.


I lose track of time… once I get on the computer. Once I start navigating around and clicking links, one thing leads to another, then my husband suddenly appears home from work, hoping I’ll be off the computer in time to make him dinner.


I have always… been a firm believer in the phrase: ‘Don’t put off for tomorrow what you can get done today.’ I always set my goals up for each day of things I need to accomplish the next day, in order to avoid a backlog of my ‘to do’ list. I’m usually pretty good at being able to tick off everything I wanted to accomplish each day, providing something unforeseen doesn’t creep up to cause delays. Hence, don’t put off for tomorrow. Continue Reading:

 

Source: 10 Statements – D. G. Kaye | My train of thoughts on… 

 

D.G. Kaye ©2015

3 Simple Words — Building #Selfworth — #Broken #Children

Growing up in a childhood where the words, I love you are seldom heard affects our self-esteem and instills an aversion in children to be able to say these unfamiliar words to others. This pattern usually sets the tone for a feeling of discomfort as they grow older when it comes to having the ability to say those words to someone else.

 

When children are unfamiliar with hearing these words, it becomes unnatural for them to speak them out loud to others. Many may begin to feel that announcing their feelings isn’t acceptable, because if it was, why weren’t they more familiar with this endearment?

 

Just as a bandage is made to cover up a wound in order for it to heal, so are thoughts blocked off by children who aren’t comfortable sharing their feelings. Happy or sad, they take refuge in their own little worlds, harboring their hurts internally; only that type of bandage doesn’t heal a wound.

 

Children left to their own demises after encountering hurtful situations in life , who haven’t been extended that comfort zone by a parent, can be vulnerable to the options they choose for consoling themselves. Many grow up feeling needy, which can lead them into more hurtful situations as they age  by falling into the wrong types of relationships when they’re longing to be loved.

Without loving support, people tend to gravitate to people who prey on their neediness. These children may wind up being subservient as adults with their aim to please, or in abusive relationships as they may feel the punishers are justified, because of their low sense of self-worth which had never been nurtured.

 

When a child has experienced their first broken heart, and finds his/herself uncomfortable talking to his or her parents because of the unfamiliarity of these emotions in their growing up environment, they aren’t apt to share their sadness with their parents because they aren’t familiar with loving support, or perhaps they’re afraid of their situation being dismissed as trivial puppy love.

 

When these children withdraw into themselves, and lock themselves in their rooms sobbing in their pillows, feeling as though their heart has been broken into a million pieces and there’s nobody to listen to them or comfort them, these are the beginnings of a child’s crushed soul, and so begins the cycle of questioning their self-worth.

The sense of loss and being given no compassion are the makings for how one begins to form ideas about what it would take to be loved. Repercussions can be anything from being afraid to get involved in a future relationship, to becoming someone who they aren’t, in efforts to portray themselves as someone else to gain attention of future suitors. These people can easily grow up to become broken souls.

 

Broken souls go through life feeling inadequate, and unworthy because nobody told them they were not. They have only to judge from what they’ve experienced, what they know. From there, the road can lead to anywhere there becomes acceptance and attention. They can’t save themselves until they learn from encouraging people. If they’re lucky enough to encounter encouraging people, helping hands in their journeys through life, who can encourage  them and make them feel worthy of being loved, they can gain the opportunity to re-examine their broken selves, and their broken souls may gain a chance to flourish.

 

For the lucky few, they find the hand that reaches out to help mend their broken selves. For many others, they may spend the rest of their lives searching for their self-worth.

 

Children need encouragement, attention, love and support from their parents in order to grow up to be comfortable in their skin and to gain the capacity to form healthy relationships as they grow. Children need all this to feel that they are worthwhile human beings, and to become good parents themselves by keeping the goodness flowing through future generations.

 

We are all products of our environments. Our first teachers are our parents. If our parents weren’t taught how to become good parents, shown affection, or told they’re loved, it’s unlikely they will be passing on any of these important elements when raising a child.

 

Back when I was growing up, I was one of those emotionally neglected children. but I was one of those lucky few who got through it by myself, painful as it was. I moved away at a young age, and found the hands that reached out to me, which helped me build my self-esteem.

 

I remember my best friend I met just after leaving home, always encouraging me, hugging me, and telling me she loved me. I have to admit, it felt so strange at first hearing those words. I felt shy and embarrassed at first because it felt weird telling someone I loved them. But Zan was the hand that reached out and pulled me out of my negative image of myself, and I have her to be grateful for so much in life as I began to learn what the word love encompassed from that point on.

 

In this era that we live in now, there is so much help available for everyone. Nobody should have to go through life feeling unloved or unloveable. There are tons of books available for self-help now, about issues that weren’t even recognized when I was a child. There are support groups for every cause, and there are also many people eager to share and support us with conditions which plague us. And most importantly, there are all these same resources equally available to parents, so they too can learn how to become loving and supportive parents.

 

It no longer has to matter if our parent’s didn’t know how to demonstrate love and affection. We don’t have to follow old norms and patterns. We may not be able to change the past, but there’s so much we can do to climb out of our sheltered souls. The world is full of opportunity and venues for us all to be able to learn how to become our best selves, how to feel worthy of ourselves, and how to help us strive to be whatever it is we wish to become better at.

 

 

D.G. Kaye ©2015

Sunday Lunch Invitation with #Authors D.G.Kaye and Nicholas Rossis. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life

Reblog: Sunday Lunch with Sally Cronin of SmorgasbordInvitation.com

Come join Sally’s blog post today in her Sunday Lunch Series with guest authors. Today I was delighted to be in the company of Nicholas Rossis and his lovely wife Electra.

 

‘Welcome to Sunday Lunch invitation and today I am delighted to welcome four wonderful guests to join us in the sunshine on our balcony.
We have two main courses and a fabulous dessert so there is no shortage of food today. Since the sun is shining we will have Cava and some tapas in the garden before sitting down at the table where we will have a choice of a full-bodied red wine we have recently discovered or a chilled Chardonnay. So please join us and pick up a glass of wine and relax while I introduce my guests.’

CONTINUE READING 

 

Source: Sunday Lunch Invitation with Authors D.G.Kaye and Nicholas Rossis. | Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life 

 

D.G. Kaye ©2015

#Free Ebook MenoWhat? A Memoir — #Menopause #Humor

Just a heads up! My book MenoWhat? A Memoir will be free on Amazon today, Thursday November 5th until Monday November 9th.

 

This book is a humorous recanting of my memoirs on my not-so-sacred passage of what can truly be an exasperating time in a woman’s life. I say women because we’re the ones who have to go through it. But don’t feel discounted men, you may be interested in learning some of the whys about what your other half may be experiencing, and perhaps get some advice so you can better prepare yourselves for this ‘uncertain’ time.

 

For those women who have been there, done that, and may want to reminisce and chuckle after it’s done with, this book will undoubtedly remind you. And for those who have yet to enter the realm of the ‘Dragon’ phase, it’s never to early to get an education.

Here’s the link:  MenoWhat? A Memoir

 

D.G. Kaye ©2015