D.G. Kaye's Blog, page 64

Updates to my Technical Madness and the Writing Muse

Well, it’s been an interesting week. After 2 weeks ago’s fiasco with my  burning through two laptops in one week and working on an old desktop clunker, I was elated to receive my new laptop a week earlier than promised! Woohoo! I’m on it now and what a wonderful feeling to be able to open a new page in lightning speed, rather than having to steam while waiting and wasting precious minutes for each new tab to open.   I’m so grateful for my new laptop, but it’s far from easy sailing yet. As we all know, setting up a new computer is like setting up the interior of our homes once we’ve newly moved in, and of course, it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t create my own problems. I made the HUGE mistake of loading my Dropbox onto the new machine before downloading my old computer’s files on with my backup disk. After downloading everything, there were 1000s of photos and files RE-downloaded into Dropbox where my storage space is very sacred. Let me tell you how NOT Fun it’s been spending my entire weekend doing delete, delete, delete as I went through every single file – worse than cleaning, even vacuuming! Because the duplicate files weren’t enough in Dropbox, I found them in my documents, photos, even download files, taking up valuable storage space. OYE! What a mess! From the crash to setup, it’s been a royal nightmare. But it’s done now and I feel great having that same feeling I get when I get a new car, because, of course for us writers, having a functioning computer is like having wheels! One caveat that didn’t thrill me about my new laptop, Microsoft has a great habit of taking over our computers. They also have a steep price tag for all their Surface laptops. I was royally pissed to discover that this NOT cheap machine has zero places of extra storage – no Micro SD card slot! It also is chinzty with minimal USB ports. Now that I spent the weekend deleting, my mission is to find a way to get my stored files off my old SD card that was in my broken laptop. Sadly, the old laptop has caught the black screen of death pandemic so I can’t transfer to anywhere! My only option at the moment is to take out the SD card in my tablet and slide the one from my old laptop into there and see what I can do from there. Any other ideas would be much appreciated in comments. On the upside of things, while searching for my Word doc folders, I came across the file for another book I’d planned to write 2 years ago, but because it’s humorous, and I wasn’t into writing a humorous book with it not being the best of times, I abandoned it and wrote another book, the one I’m now back to revisions in. I didn’t realize I’d written half a book already, lol. I started reading some of the stories, and I was cracking up at myself (is that a bad thing?), lol, which inspired me to start writing for that book again while in revisions for my upcoming one. I did that before – wrote 2 books simultaneously – Words We Carry and MenoWhat? -A Memoir. I don’t know about some of you writers, but I find it difficult to write in humor if I’m not feeling the love. Thanks for following me on my Schleprock ride through technology.   ©DGKaye2020  

Sharing Alert! Smorgasbord New Series – Life Changing Moments

Today I’m sharing Sally Cronin’s New Series at Smorgasbord Invitation, starting in September at the Smorgasbord Cafe. Submit your stories about a Life-Changing Moment to Sally’s series to be featured. Find out what’s entailed below:   Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Spotlight – Life Changing Moments     Welcome to the new series of the Cafe and Bookstore Author spotlight which begins in September. In this new series I am inviting authors in the Cafe to share what they consider to be a defining moment in their lives that resulted in a major positive change. Here are a few examples, and I am sure you will have plenty to add: Meeting a stranger with surprising consequences Accepting an invitation that took you out of your comfort zone Being fired from a job or resigning without another job lined up that turned out to be an opportunity. Taking a wrong turn on a journey and discovering something about yourself. Being in the wrong place at the right time when an opportunity presented itself. Overcoming a challenging situation such as a failed relationship and finding happiness. Taking part in a charity challenge such as a parachute jump and how it conquered a fear. Accidentally walking through the wrong door and finding an uplifting experience Moving to a new country and feeling immediately at home. You can choose to stick to the facts or can write a fiction story that has ‘A Life Changing Moment’ as its theme. Here is an example of how your post will look. Here is something I wrote about how a number of factors came into play following my disastrous first marriage. It was a decision that took me hundreds of miles away from home, to meet someone who would change my views on love and romance, and subsequently my life all in the space of six weeks. The Rocky Road to True Romance Have you ever wondered why the classic fairy stories that involve a beautiful farmer’s daughter, scullery maid or even a princess, who are swept off their feet by a handsome and rich stranger on a white horse; end with the words ‘And they lived happily ever after’. Because most were written by men at a time when a woman was a chattel who cooked, cleaned and bore children. The men however went about their business as usual; of course living happily ever after. That may sound a bit cynical, but I can remember as a child being fed the propaganda. Most commonly via bedtime stories and the ‘Happy Ever After’ films that we were allowed to watch in our teen years. Disney had the whole thing down to a fine art. By the time I was sixteen, I was convinced that at some point, a rich and handsome stranger was going to gallop into my life and sweep me off into a fairy tale future in a palace with  a new generation of princes and princesses, and a life of love and contentment. . . continue reading   How to participate. Approximately 1000 words about a Life Changing Moment that ended positively Include two or three photographs Send to sally.cronin@moyhill.com   Original Source: Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Author Spotlight – Life Changing Moments   ©DGKaye2020  

Sunday Movie Review – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Welcome to the Sunday Movie Review. I’d recently read a fantastic review for the book, The Hate U Give, by an author friend and had added the book to my TBR, but as it turned it, I found the movie on HBO and was compelled to watch it. The book was published in 2017 and with the escalating systemic racism in the US, the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality protests that have ballooned even louder since then make this book a compelling read. Below, I’ve shared the book and blurb, but for those interested in watching and don’t subscribe to HBO, this movie is also available on Amazon Prime.     Blurb: 8 starred reviews ∙ Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best  ∙  William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller! “Absolutely riveting!” —Jason Reynolds “Stunning.” —John Green “This story is necessary. This story is important.” —Kirkus (starred review) “Heartbreakingly topical.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “A marvel of verisimilitude.” —Booklist (starred review) “A powerful, in-your-face novel.” —Horn Book (starred review) Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.   My 5 Star Review: With almost 7000 reviews and a full 5-star rating, it isn’t difficult to think how powerful this story is. With the current climate in the US and racial inequality, the story of the wrongful murder of Khalil takes us into the world of what it’s like to be a black person living in these volatile times. I will note, I’ve read several reviews about this story before writing my review and was stunned to actually see some 1 star reviews, which tells me a lot about how racism is alive and well. This story is a powerful telling by the central teenage character – Starr Carter. The movie begins with Starr and her two younger brothers sitting at the kitchen table with their parents and her father giving a lecture to his young children, educating them on how to behave in society – mainly, when faced with police in possible confrontations. Father demonstrates as he tells his children – if you are stopped by police, always remember to show your hands, as he presses his own hands firmly on the table for demonstration. Starr grows up in a poor black neighborhood, and through the movie as she narrates, informs us that where she lives everyone is poor, offering no opportunity for work, explaining why so many turn to drug-dealing and crime, for many the only way to survive. Starr struggles with where she fits in society as her parents sent her to a better off preppy high school rather than the hometown high school where Starr tells us there’s nothing in those high schools for advancement other than a life leading to crime and getting pregnant. Starr struggles with her black identity in a mostly white school and with a white boyfriend. At first she’s embarrassed to let her boyfriend Chris know where she lives, but as the movie progresses, that all changes once Khalil, Starr’s best friend from childhood, is murdered by a policeman right in front of her. Chris must first face acceptance by Starr’s dad, Maverick, and as Chris proves himself worthy of Maverick’s daughter, we can’t help but love his character. Starr struggles with her blackness and her white world. At school she’s always leery of others the way they judge her as she struggles with fitting in and questioning if her best white girlfriend is really a racist. At the same time, when Starr goes home from school, she’s back in a world where her own roots are strong, creating confusion and uncertainty about where she fits in. Until one day when one of her black friends invites her to a party and her longtime old friend Khalil, who she hasn’t seen in years walks in and they are catching up with each other when a brawl breaks out and shots are fired. Khalil grabs Starr and they flee through the commotion to Khalil’s car and he drives Starr home. As they reminisce about their childhoods and Khalil declares his love for Starr, the sirens approach and Khalil is pulled over on a dark empty street for failing to signal when changing lanes. The instilled instruction that Starr’s father drilled into her as a kid kicks in as Starr immediately places her hands on the dashboard and urges Khalil to do the same. But Khalil is pissed off when the officer asks him to step out of the car and when told to stand there while the officer checks out his I.D. While standing there, Khalil ducks his head inside his car window to listen to what Starr is telling him to do to comply and not ask for trouble, and when he stands back up as the cop approaches the car, it’s pitch dark out and Khalil’s resistance to the situation has the cop shooting Khalil as Starr witnesses the whole event. Starr is at first hesitant to speak about the crime as she’s traumatized by the witnessing of her best friend’s murder and the tragedy of how black people are treated by society. But she is finally determined to speak out about police brutality and goes live on air to tell the public everything that transpired leading to Khalil’s murder. She goes on to explain how black people don’t stand a fighting chance and why so many are forced to lead a life of crime just to survive. And King, the local druglord was not happy about her talking about that on air, decides to take revenge on Starr’s family for doing so. I’m not going to let spoilers out what happens after, but suffice it to say, this is a powerful story with so many societal problems and struggles the black population endures, for some on a daily basis. The humanity in this story is astounding, and each character in this story have compelling personalities. Aptly titled – The Hate U Give, as Starr explains stands for THUG – Thuglife. My personal opinion, is this book and/or movie should be required reading/watching in all junior high level classes.There is much to discuss from this movie. Some low-rating reviewers defend the police, stating that they risk their lives when they don’t know if a pullover has a weapon. But humanity has to ask, how does one take a fifty-fifty gamble that there is or isn’t a weapon, so let’s just kill them just in case, dismissing the cost of a human life? I shed many tears throughout this movie so would highly recommend a box of Kleenex by your side when reading or watching.   ©DGKaye2020          

Q & A With D.G. Kaye Features Jacqui Murray and #NewRelease – Against All Odds

I’m happy to be having Jacqui Murray back to my blog with her hot new release, Book 3 in her Crossroads Trilogy series, Against All Odds. Jacqui has a magnificent blog tour currently going on in blogtown, and I’m happy to be part of it here in this edition of Q & A.     About Jacqui: Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagente thrillers, and the Man vs. Nature saga. She is also adjunct professor of technology in education, blog webmaster, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for  NEA Today, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. Look for her next prehistoric fiction, Laws of Nature, Book 2 in the Dawn of Humanity trilogy, Winter 2021.       Blurb: A million years of evolution made Xhosa tough but was it enough? She and her People finally reach their destination—a glorious land of tall grasses, few predators, and an abundance that seems limitless, but an enemy greater than any they have met so far threatens to end their dreams. If Xhosa can’t stop this one, she and her People must again flee. The Crossroads trilogy is set 850,000 years ago, a time in prehistory when man populated most of Eurasia. He was a violent species, fully capable of addressing the many hardships that threatened his survival except for one: future man, a smarter version of himself, one destined to obliterate all those who came before. From prehistoric fiction author Jacqui Murray comes the unforgettable saga of a courageous woman who questions assumptions, searches for truth, and does what she must despite daunting opposition. Read the final chapter of the People’s long search for freedom, safety, and a new home. A perfect book for fans of Jean Auel and the Gears!   Comment from another book in the trilogy… I feel as if I am on a adventure into the extreme past. I have read both books and have been entertained. I suggest these books to anyone who enjoys traveling into the past –Amazon reader I flew through this read. The pace moves quickly, occasionally veering into the story of another group, one who split from Xhosa’s People. Xhosa commands the primary point of view, but it does switch to other group members on occasion. I highly recommend “The Quest for Home” to readers of prehistoric fiction, speculative fiction, and adventures. –Amazon reader   Jacqui has created a fabulous trailer!     Time to dig deeper and learn more about Jacqui and her writing   Where do your book ideas grow from? The original idea for each book comes from something I read or saw, or a conversation I hear that intrigues me. My mind—well, I should say my subconscious because this step is not something I control–starts to churn through the events, looking for connections or sequences or logic. If it finds pieces that don’t fit, the whole thing bubbles up into my consciousness where I can pull threads, see where they take me. That usually requires research which continues until I’ve fleshed out a book. But that’s not the end. At this point, the characters take over, guiding me through the tidbits that have been spinning around in my head, add their personality, and suddenly, I have a novel that needs a ton of editing! D.G. – Well you must have an amazing muse to fill your head with such nuggets.   How many books have you written? Do you have a favorite of your books and if so, why? If you include fiction and non-fiction, I’ve written over a hundred. My first book was Building a Midshipman, the story of my daughter’s acceptance into the U.S. Naval Academy (a prestigious science-oriented school whose basic course load includes classes like—wait for it—Thermodynamics). My daughter never thought she could be accepted so when she was, I wanted to share her story with other young women who might lack the confidence to apply. After that, I wrote about fifty books on technology in education. Then, I got the fiction bug and switched to thrillers (To Hunt a Sub and Twenty-four Days) and then prehistoric fiction in a series called Man vs. Nature. This is a collection of trilogies that define seminal points in man’s evolution and is probably where I’ll put my efforts for the foreseeable future. D.G. – Wow! I wasn’t aware you’d written so many books. Something to be admired for sure! Amazing how versatile your writing is.   What prompted you to write in your chosen genre? I used to read a lot about early man but no one could explain how they survived the hostile environment into which they were born, ruled by savage animals who considered man nothing more than prey. Compared to these alpha predators, early humans had modest physical attributes–stubby nails, thin skin that couldn’t withstand the sharp claws of the dominant animals, and tiny teeth that couldn’t bite through an enemy’s hide. We had no fur to protect us, wore no clothing (mostly), and had only primitive weapons. But still we survived. How? To unravel this mystery, I read vociferously, researched endlessly, and then created characters who I put into the situations history said should have killed them. To my surprise, they thrived. The ‘how’ of it makes these stories as exciting as any thriller, as baffling as any mystery, and as compelling as any character-driven novel. I’m more excited about this genre today than I was thirty years ago when I started my quest. D.G. – I can only imagine how much research it took to create this smashing series!   What upcoming projects are you working on? I’d love to share this! I’ve completed the Crossroads trilogy, the second in the Man vs. Nature Universe and dealing with man’s longest living species, Homo erectus. Next, I’ll finish the last two books of First Man’s trilogy, Dawn of Humanity, featuring the earliest man, Homo habilis. In the future, I’ll write a trilogy about the species who established man as the alpha in the animal kingdom and then, the humans who survived a time not so long ago when man almost became extinct. I’m pretty excited about these stories and have begun the process of drafting them. Each book takes me about a year to write which means what I’ve touched on here will take about eight years to complete. I hope my energy lasts that long! D.G. – Wow, amazing how you can project your projects for the next 8 years! I never know what my next book will be until the last one gets published, lol.   Jacqui shares an excerpt with us: Chapter 1   The foothills of the Pyrenees They came out of the mountains, hair frozen in sparkling strands, hands and feet wrapped in shredded pelts, ribs etched against their skin under ragged hides white with snow, faces haggard with fatigue. Blood crusted scrapes and gashes, many recent, others almost healed, reminders of the violent struggles endured on their journey. Though their steps flagged, not one of these upright creatures exhibited a hint of defeat. All males and a few females carried at least one spear, some two, many with warclubs strapped to their backs. Despite the anxiety and fear of entering this foreign land, hope energized them today, that their migration might be at an end. All of them—Xhosa and her tribe, Pan-do and his, Wind, Zvi, and Seeker—had been chased from their homes by enemies. In their flight, they found each other. It took time to work through their differences but now they traveled side by side, respected ideas not theirs, and called themselves the People. Their charismatic Leaders—Xhosa, Wind, and Pan-do—were known as reliable friends to those who earned their trust and dangerous enemies to those who opposed them. Two wolves—Spirit and Black Wolf—journeyed with them. Though the People lacked the animals’ sharp claws, dense fur, and piercing teeth, each considered the other “pack” and would defend them to death. The exhausted group straggled down the gently sloping flank, feet shuffling carefully over the slippery scree. The ground changed from talus to stunted tufts of grass, sparse and brown which made walking easier. Optimism shone from their faces even as their tired eyes flicked side to side in search of unexpected movement, ears strained for out-of-place noises, and noses sniffed.   Rather than continue across the meadow, Xhosa led the People into the shade of the edging forest. “Do you smell it, Wind?” Anticipation filled her gestures. She and Wind, pairmates as well as Co-Leaders, stood quietly, absorbing their surroundings. Light filtered lazily through the canopy, the shadowed ground dappled with patches of warmth. She sniffed in the essence of wet earth and rotting leaves, the mustiness of moss, and something else much more enticing. “It’s there.” She pointed and strode forward, lengthening her stride. An icy gust whipped down the hillside through the shadows and raised bumps on her arms but she ignored it. The forest gave way to open sky and searing heat. It was too hot for her thin pelt but she didn’t stop to remove it. Green stalks swayed as far as she could see, edged on one side by more mountains and the other by some sort of leaves and branches. Sunlight glinted off the rippled surface of a distant river as it curled over the terrain. “Dung!” The scent overpowered every other odor. Wind huffed to her side. “It’s been a long time since we smelled dung that wasn’t frozen.” “We did it, Wind.” Her eyes glistened with relief. For most of a Moon, dread gnawed at her courage and left her wondering if following the guidance of Seeker—a boy barely a man—was a mistake. But Seeker assured her in his ebullient way that once out of the hills, their new homebase would welcome them. Xhosa wanted to believe him because she wasn’t sure what else to do. Nor did she know what to do if it didn’t work. Wind motioned, arms inclusive, “It’s beautiful, Xhosa.” Siri, Pan-do, Ngili, the wolves Spirit and Black Wolf, and the rest of the People gathered around Xhosa and Wind, eyes locked on what lay in front of them. Pan-do whispered, “We made it.” His eyes were moist, mouth open. Ngili, the People’s Lead Hunter, motioned, hands close to his body. “With all this grass, Gazelle or Mammoth must be nearby.” Dust, the Lead Scout, trotted up, coming from a tall cliff far ahead on their forward path. “I think there are caves there.” The People hadn’t slept in a cave since leaving Viper and the Mountain Dwellers. It would be a treat if true. Xhosa looked behind. Shadows already stretched as far from the bottom of the rocky slopes as sunlight to the top. Daylight would soon end. “We don’t have much time. Let’s rest and then see if those are caves.” Ngili, the People’s Lead Hunter, motioned, fingers spaced out, palms up, “I’ll go with Dust to check.” He added a swift spread-fingered swipe with first one hand and then the other, followed by a quick bob of his head and a puff. Xhosa brushed both hands down her sides. Go. The People spoke with a complex combination of hand motions, facial expressions, body movements, and sounds augmented with chirrups, snaps, hisses, and whistles. By the time Ngili finished talking, Xhosa knew how many would join him, where they would go, and how long they’d be away. The People’s communication was sophisticated but quiet, a precaution especially in unfamiliar areas. Unusual sounds—voices, for example—stood out. All animals made noises but few as varied as the People’s. Why alert Others who lived here to their presence? Xhosa would do that in her own time, in her own way. Dust, Ngili, and two scouts soon receded into the landscape, the only evidence of their passage a slight disturbance in the slender waving stalks. Despite the dung scents, the abundant plant food, and...

Cutting Cords with Archangels – Working with Angels

Cutting Cords with Archangels   I’ve been trying to clean up some of my posts from my contributions at Sisters of the Fey, which is now closed and I’ve moved over my prior posts and currently organizing them on my Header Menu, and somehow found I didn’t have this posted on my page. Also, of course, by moving into my drafts, it wouldn’t get seen if I didn’t hit the publish button. So if some of you remember this post when I originally posted it at the Fey, please enjoy again. For those who haven’t previously read it. It’s worthwhile learning how to work with our angels to dispel negative energies that attract to us. ~ ~ ~ WE ARE ALL CONNECTED THROUGH VIBRATIONAL ENERGY, AND WE REFER TO ‘CONNECTED’ BY WAY OF ETHERIC OR PSYCHIC ENERGY CORDS. BUT WHAT ARE THESE INVISIBLE CORDS, AND HOW CAN WE ELIMINATE THEM TO HELP RELEASE AN ENERGY CONNECTION WE PREFER NOT TO KEEP WITHIN US?   We must practice the art of cutting these cords, and to help with the releasing of these cords, we look to Archangels Michael and Raphael. The energy cords we’re most linked with are people in our close circles, and almost always, family. These same cords also connect us to profound events in our lives that remain in the back of our sub-conscience – some good, some bad. And it’s those unhealthy attachments we want to eliminate. All the negativity we carry because of unhealthy chords that bind us should be cleared from within every once in awhile, just as we clean ourselves and our homes. If you find yourself continuously carrying bad feelings, reliving unpleasant events of unfavorable conditions or energies from someone close to you taking up too much residence in your head leaving you feeling unsettled within, it’s probably time to begin cutting cords. There are various methods we can use to cut the cords that weigh us down, but the first step is to relax, do some deep breathing, and meditate for a few minutes to bring on the calm. Then we are ready to call on Archangel Michael to assist us by  closing our eyes and concentrating and asking Archangel Michael, to please remove the cords that bind me. It’s also important to recognize where you’re energy is draining you to specify the cords you want severed. Again, you can ask Archangel Michael to help open up your awareness and to help find the draining cords. Then follow the cord(s) in your mind’s eye beginning from the top of our head, leading to the heart, and feel by visualizing, Michael’s power of white light entering through the top of our heads. Keep the visual of white light around you to stay grounded. Whether by laser of light or by visualizing Michael holding a handheld vacuum penetrating through your head right down to your feet, visualize the cutting and evacuation of these cords as the ‘cleaning’ passes through each chakra. When you feel the cords have been released, ask for Archangel Raphael (the healer) to seal the open wound from the cord removal by replacing with thoughts of joy and love in your heart. By severing these cords, it makes room for peace and clarity. Our angels are always with us but they will never impose themselves in our lives unless invited to. This is known as free will. We need only ask for their assistance and keep an open heart when summoning. Below is an example of what you can say. Don’t get all caught up on wondering if you’ve used the right words – speak from the heart. You may use any variation of calling your angels you feel most comfortable with. Just remember to close off the wound after the cord cutting. Below is a good example of what to recite either silently or out loud:   Archangel Michael, please pull on the roots of the cords connecting me to (name or situation) by using your light and sword. Release the roots and cord to divine light. Now envision a shower of divine light all around you and the person you’ve just cut the cord from to send off the negative energy. Then you can ask Raphael to seal the wound, which should leave you feeling more centered, balanced and lighter within.   Tips: You can always call on your angels to ask for help. Keep track of your feelings before and after cutting cords. You can always hold or surround yourself with your favorite grounding stone while doing this. Smudging yourself and/or surroundings after a cord cutting session helps to remove the negativity after the cord removal.   I found this helpful video to give you an idea how to perform the cord cutting.   Have any of you here ever tried working with your angels?   ©DGKaye  

Technical Update – #WordPress – #Microsoft Hijacked my Laptop

Hello blogging friends, I just wanted to share my grievance with you. As many of you who visit here know, I try to read as many blogs as I can fit in every evening. I’m having a temporary problem with blogs these days – with ‘liking’, some sharing, and some to even write a comment. It seems the full moon once again has caused me SEVERAL  technical issues. Here’s the lowdown: Early last week, my beloved Windows Surface finally stopped playing nice with me. Thanks to the hijacker Microsoft hijacking my laptop into forced updates that wouldn’t fit in my disk space left, and TOTALLY IGNORING the 50 gigs I have available on micro SD card, the gears wouldn’t stop spinning and wouldn’t even turn off. It’s been giving me trouble for a few months now and I’d been trying to hold out for end of August school sale prices to purchase another. So in the meantime, I pulled out another old Asus laptop I had and planned to use that until end of August. But after 2 days of using that one, I got the black screen of death and toasted that one too. On Friday, after Thursday night’s blowout, I started my search for a new laptop (again the new Surface), only to find they were sold out everywhere in various stores in my vicinity, so I had no choice but to order online (grateful to find it on sale too) and have it delivered (usually a 2-day deal), and was told it would be delivered August 5th. This came as no surprise to me seeing as every store is sold out, which I attribute to Covid and moms and teachers buying up better quality computers, as well as students, seeing as this is the only way to stay connected to loved ones and the world and reliability with a better machine. So, plan C while waiting is to work on my very old Dell desktop, which has given me nothing but grief. It doesn’t recognize any passwords, takes 5 minutes to load a page, and the grief goes on. This desktop also does not play nice with WordPress. I’ve lost the ability to ‘like’ your posts, and in some cases, I can’t use the share buttons, and for some self-hosted and WP premium plan blogs, I can’t even comment and I can’t retrieve notifications unless I go to someone else’s blog and click on the WP reader. I also have a tablet which I try to use in the evenings so I’m not secluded from the TV at night and it seems my tablet is possessed and turns on and off at random will and won’t load some blogs. OYE! This desktop clunker is a back-breaker for me to sit at all day too. And don’t even get me started as I’m in the middle of revisions for my newest book and this clunker has an old version of Word on it that chooses to screw up my documents. I’m trying my best to use the old version to write posts on, but I don’t dare ruin my manuscript, so once again, I cannot work on my book until the new laptop arrives. Out of curiosity, I emailed support to find out the exact day of delivery, as I discovered in fine print that my laptop will be delivered between August 5th an 14th!!!! I emailed them to beg for early release and was told it won’t be sent til August 14th!!!!! So I am screwed! Personally, I don’t even think this clunker will live that long. So I wanted to give you all a heads up in case you think I’ve abandoned your blogs, or I’m not reading them because you may see no likes or comment. Some of you have mentioned to me that you too were having problems commenting on my posts. For this I am sorry. I have done my best to fix what I can, but because my machine is acting prehistoric, I’m out of ammo. So please bear with me and know, if you don’t see me, I’m still around. I think as an empath, and as my Fey sister Colleen Chesebro refers to me as an ‘energy witch’, I’m accumulating wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy to much technical energy. What I really need is a technical break, and if this desktop dies out on me, that’s what I’ll be doing. Ironically, my trusted mobile phone still allows me to be on FB (hope I don’t curse it). So, just know, I’m still here and fighting the tech gods daily. Thanks for putting up with craziness you may encounter on my blog. ©DGKaye  

Sunday Book Review – The Writer’s Body Lexicon by Kathy Steinemann

My Sunday Book Review is for Kathy Steinemann’s new release – the third book in this must-have resource guide for all writers – The Writer’s Body Lexicon. I was thrilled to receive an ARC from Kathy to get an early heads up on this extensive list of word and phrase replacement guide for descriptions of all body parts.       Blurb: Ordinary writers describe the body in order to evoke images in readers’ minds. Extraordinary writers leverage it to add elements such as tension, intrigue, and humor. The Writer’s Body Lexicon provides tools for both approaches. Kathy Steinemann provides a boggling number of word choices and phrases for body parts, organized under similar sections in most chapters: •Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations •Adjectives •Similes and Metaphors •Colors and Variegations •Scents •Shapes •Verbs and Phrasal Verbs •Nouns •Prompts •Clichés and Idioms Sprinkled throughout, you’ll also find hundreds of story ideas. They pop up in similes, metaphors, word lists, and other nooks and crannies. Readers don’t want every character to be a cardboard cutout with a perfect physique. They prefer real bodies with imperfections that drive character actions and reactions — bodies with believable skin, scents, and colors. For instance, a well-dressed CEO whose infrequent smile exposes poorly maintained teeth might be on the verge of bankruptcy. A gorgeous cougar with decaying teeth, who tells her young admirer she’s rich, could spook her prey. Someone trying to hide a cigarette habit from a spouse might be foiled by nicotine stains. Add depth to your writing. Rather than just describe the body, exploit it. Build on it. Mold it until it becomes an integral part of your narrative. “… a timeless resource: You’ll find advice, prompts, ideas, vocabulary, humor, and everything in between. But more importantly, it will make your characters stand out from the crowd.” — Nada Sobhi   My 5 Star Review:   If you thought you knew words, you’re in for a big treat with this almost 500 pages of action-packed book full of alternative words and phrases to make your characters come alive and help readers create believable characters. How many ways can we express body parts, gestures, prompts and humor? Steinemann will arm you better than any thesaurus. The author expanded her blog post of lessons for writers and created this absolute must-have resource guide, aiding in better descriptive writing in this 3rd and comprehensive book in her Lexicon series for writers. We’ll also find words that keep the action going as well as idea replacements for similes and metaphors that AREN’T cliche, with loads of examples under each body part heading. Steinemann helps writers to choose appropriate adjectives and verb tenses – eg: If you say your character has tanned arms while the setting takes place in winter, you’ve used the wrong adjective unless a reason is presented for the tanned arms. The author demonstrates how to eliminate unnecessary words with suggested word replacement. Plenty of prompts are also given as well as: opinion words explained, hyphen use, how to incorporate color, use of props for description, use of word variation pertaining to the character’s description – example: you may use the word ‘porky’ for a bully, but the word wouldn’t go over well if a husband were to refer to his wife with such word. This book is a fantastic edition to describe all parts of the body from head to toe, also offering ideas to set up a character chart to list all attributes of characters, ie: shapes, appearance, flesh tone, etc. Each chapter begins with descriptions, examples of word usage. Steinemann also talks about caveats, eg: perception of the writer’s view needs to be made clear for readers. The writer may know what she means to relay being privy to the character’s thoughts, but make sure the reader is informed too. The Writer’s Body Lexicon is succinctly written into sections for each body part, covering verbs, variegation of color, shapes, idioms, cliches, metaphors, similes, comparisons and more. A must-have resource guide for all writers!   ©DGKaye2020  

Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Round Up – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Anyone in our writing community knows what a gift we have in Sally Cronin who runs so many series and author showcases for us writers. But you may not know that Sally is also a certified health nutritionist. Sally is running this current health series at her Smorgasbord Invitation – Project Resilience-101. In this post, Sally shares a wealth of information on how to stay fit, especially in our Corona times, offering tips for both mental and physical good health maintenance.   Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Round Up – Sally Cronin     I began this series 10 weeks ago with the aim of offering some strategies to increasing our resilience to disease. Not just Covid-19 but any opportunistic pathogen who feels we might make a good host. Since then the world has struggled to return to normal, with varying success and a great deal of uncertainty. However, it is becoming clear that the experts can not find a consensus on what will happen next, whether the virus will fizzle out, or come back as a second wave or an annual event. The fact that the supermarkets have erected permanent perspex barriers for cashiers and service industries such as hairdressing have done the same, seems to indicate that we will need to take precautions to stay infection free for some considerable time to come. I believe that we need to take responsibility for our own health where possible, and since the majority of modern disease is lifestyle related offers plenty of scope! What has not changed is our role in what comes next. Our bodies may have genetic tendencies towards some specific diseases. But the vast majority of health issues are lifestyle related and involve our own decisions about what we eat and drink, how much exercise we take, and what harmful contaminants we ingest or inhale. I am not guiltless as far as this is concerned and I was 42 years old before I starting taking back control of my body and its health. Twenty-five years on I hope that the changes I made to my diet and lifestyle at that point was enough. At 330lbs with high Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar levels, and high levels of the most unhealthy Low Density Cholesterol, I was told I would be lucky to reach 45 years old. And if that had been today, it would have put me smack bang in the middle of the most vulnerable to the infection. As more and more analysis is done on the pandemic and those that were infected and tragically died; risk factors have been more clearly defined. Obesity is very high up on that list. With any respiratory infection being severely overweight is a risk. When I weighed 330lbs 25 years ago, I could not lie on my back because the weight of the fat on my chest and stomach restricted the movement of my lungs. Just walking made me extremely out of breath, and I was not getting sufficient oxygen into my system. Other risk factors. This leads directly into the identified key risk factors for all ages during the pandemic which include obesity, underlying health issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, respiratory diseases such as COPD and heart conditions. Being deficient in Vitamin D for example has also been included in this list although there has been some doubt raised recently. However, Vitamin D is a very important element of our general health and that of our immune system, and as such it plays a vital role in limiting our susceptibility to infections. The most at risk members of our society are those over 65 years old, not just because they are more likely to have underlying health issues, but because the human body as it ages goes through some fundamental changes in structure and function. For example, we are more likely to become less active and our lungs . . . please continue reading   Source: Smorgasbord Health Column – Project 101 – Resilience – An opportunity to get fighting fit – Round Up – Sally Cronin | Smorgasbord Blog Magazine   ©DGKaye  

#WATWB – We are the World Blogfest – Keeping the Homeless a Little Warmer

#WATWB Welcome to this month’s edition of We are the World Blogfest where a group of writers post something positive going on around the world to deflect from the negativity. This month I wanted to share this video of this amazing woman who collects empty foil bags from potato chips, etc. to create thermal blankets for the homeless. Around the world so many people are stepping up and doing amazing projects to help the disadvantaged. I also want to give a shoutout to he many women around the world making masks in their homes and donating to medical facilities and to individuals in need of a mask. The world may look crappy at the moment, but with so many heroes in our world, we will all prevail!       This woman in the UK collects crisp (potato chip) and another foil bags from snacks and creates the heat blankets to keep the homeless warm and protect the blanket underneath from the elements. I found the video on Facebook   Your hosts for the week at WATWB are:  Eric Lahti – https://ericlahti.wordpress.com Susan Scott – http://www.gardenofedenblog.com/ Inderpreet Kaur Uppal – http://inderpreetuppal.com/ Shilpa Garg – https://shilpaagarg.com/ Peter Nena – https://drkillpatient01.wordpress.com/   Feel free to join in the last Friday of every month and share your post here:    ©DGKaye  

Nature’s Hideaway – Pond Party! – Observations – Fiction/Nonfiction or Somewhere In Between

I’ve been trying to make it a habit to get outside for an hour or so a few days a week for some reading time. Our complex has beautifully manicured parkland with various walking trails and park benches and gazebos. I found myself this lovely secluded spot, able to catch some rays, yet shaded by trees with a slight breeze on the bench, below in the photo. And one particular afternoon while reading in my spot, I found myself distracted by ongoing chatter as the birds seemed very busy on this particularly sizzling hot day. Ringleader was large and in charge. I put down my book and listened for awhile since it was difficult to concentrate with the swarm of birds flying back and forth and from the boisterous chatting and chirping banter.     I envisioned this conversation as it continued on, and named the boss Ringleader who appeared be the party organizer and bouncer. Sitting on a park bench, taking in the beauty of peace and quiet, basking in the beautiful sunshine while reading a book, it appeared the birds, a mere ten feet away, were having a grand old time and taking in the calmness of the blue skies. No doubts the birds adored their sanctuary – away from the humans, chirping in the trees and enjoying the man-made birdbath some kind gardner had created for them. Ringleader seemed unaffected by the blazing sun and scorching heat as he tirelessly led several groups of birds to indulge in the birdie pond. He’d fly away for a few minutes and return with a new flock who wasted no time splashing down in their private pool. As though their time had expired, Ringleader began squawking, to announce their time was up. Once again he’d lead the flock away, and within minutes, he’d return with a new group of winged friends, landing directly in the grassy bath patch to enjoy their secret garden. It appeared that some, kind human must have spent time manicuring the vast parkland that surrounds my home, and purposely left the approximate 50 square foot patch of concaved weedy patch as a cooling spot for the numerous birds who frequent the area. In a moment’s notice, Ringleader is up and out again, and streaming behind him were the various feathered friends who’ve enjoyed their visit and were venturing back off to their homing hangouts, only to be followed with a new crowd upon Ringleader’s return. While I sat there with sweat beading up on my forehead, I have to admit, I was getting envious of the party of birds having a splash.       ©DGKaye2020