Tag: #amblogging

Posted in weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 7/15/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Good morning, my friends! Thanks for meeting Jenn and I in our favorite coffee shop again this morning. The owner agreed to supply us with his raspberry scones again, but offered to add bread pudding with caramel sauce for us. I don’t know about you, but bread pudding may be my favorite thing in the world! There is also a selection of hot teas, chai latte, expresso, cappuccino, and just about any kind of coffee you desire. Grab something and join me!

If we were having coffee this morning, I guess I would tell you that this is a good news/bad news day for me. Some of you may recall that my precious pup, Betsy, was ill with a genetic illness the last time we talked. We tried and tried, but Betsy passed away from that illness, breaking our hearts in the process. I don’t want to relive it, so I won’t get into the details but I miss her so much.

Since I’ve always needed a dog in my life and I knew my precious Betsy was going to leave me, I had been researching dog breeds. I happened on a breeder of Havanese and Lowchen dogs. Small dogs with big hearts, playful, affectionate, just what I needed. There had been an accidental breeding between a Havanese male and a Lowchen female and two female puppies had resulted. Turns out, they were beautiful.  I bought Hanna (pronounced Hannah) and she has been home with me for two days now. I’ve posted her picture at the bottom of this weekend coffee share. She’s beautiful, four months old, and we’re trying to deal with her severe separation anxiety. If anyone has any tips, I’m surely open for suggestions!

Also, last time we talked, I told you I would be taking a short trip to Tennessee to be with my friend, Marty, as she underwent a surgical procedure. She had surgery and is doing very well. She is feeling much like her old self and the effects of her illness seem to be subsiding. I’m so glad about that.

All of this has put a hold on my writing. I’ve written some for this blog, but my other writing goals have not been met. I have to rectify that this week.

I’d love to hear what’s up in your world! Please stay and enjoy coffee, tea, and these wonderful pastries. Good to see you all!

This is Hanna at four months old!

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Posted in Challenges

#SoCS – 7/15/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The Art of Letter Writing

I have many books on my desk, most of them have to do with writing and novels. I do have one novel by Annie Proulx called Postcards. When I saw that novel’s title, I was reminded of a conversation a friend and I had some time ago. We discussed the lost art of letter writing. Baby boomers, like my friend and I, have written a lot of letters, on paper with a real pen, in our time, though perhaps not for a number of years. If you are a millennial, for example, you may have never written a letter except electronically. Maybe I’m doing you a disservice? Maybe you have written traditional letters? I would love for you to comment if you have!

Back to the subject. One of my first experiences with letter writing was when I was under ten years of age and had a pen pal. Francois lived in France and we wrote each other as soon as one received a letter from the other through high school. I often wonder what happened to her. As I grew up and went through undergraduate school, I wrote various cousins, boyfriends, and friends. By the time of graduate school, it was the early days of the Internet and everyone was fascinated by email. Letter writing for me was gone. It’s been gone ever since.

Life got busy. Electronic communication was quick and easy. In its defense, I would not have had time to keep up with many of the people I have without it.

I do, in some ways, miss letter writing. It’s a very personal way of communicating. You have to choose your stationery. Some people prefer to use a fountain pen, which you have to fill with ink. The person on the other end of the letter gets to see the person’s handwriting and feel their emotions more distinctly. New forms of electronic communication – email, messaging, texting, social media, chat rooms – aren’t nearly as personal. That, in fact, is why emoticons and stickers were developed. They try to convey the emotions that letter writing used to convey.

Reach out and touch someone by writing a letter. They will appreciate it!

#SoCSBookTitle

Posted in Challenges

The White Light

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Is this all that’s left?” Grace wondered as she surveyed the contents of her late mother’s bedroom. After her mother died, her sisters had ransacked it before Grace had arrived. The closets and dresser drawers were open. Her mother’s jewelry box was even gone.

Grace walked over to the table where the jar her mother used for her crystals stood. Clear quartz crystals. Grace’s mother had believed in their healing powers. Her sisters hadn’t taken those because they laughed at that idea. Grace picked up the jar to take with her. There was an explosion of white light.

Photo credit @ Janet Webb

 

Posted in Challenges

Jumping Into the Fire

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Kid, get out of the way,” Rafe yelled. “You’re going to be in the line of fire.”

The police department was chasing a criminal who had escaped from the medium security prison outside of town. This young kid had just climbed to the top of a wall the policeman feared the criminal would try jumping over. The police were stationed at strategic points below the wall.

“You’re chasing Ryder, right? I have something to tell you,” the kid cried out.

The police looked at each other, not knowing what to make of that. One of them asked the kid what he was talking about. The kid was only about 15 years old.

The police officer said, “What are you referring to?”

“He’s not the only one at fault. He’s my friend and I helped him rob those houses. Please don’t hurt him.”

As the kid climbed down the walls toward the officers, Ryder jumped over the wall and shots rang out.

 

Posted in Challenges

Song Lyric Sunday – Black Magic Woman

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

The theme for today’s Song Lyric Sunday is “magic” and what better song to illustrate the theme than Carlos Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” from 1970. What a song!

“Black Magic Woman”

Got a black magic woman
Got a black magic woman

I’ve got a black magic woman
Got me so blind I can’t see
That she’s a black magic woman
She’s tryin’ to make a devil out of me

Don’t turn your back on me, baby
Don’t turn your back on me, baby

Yes, don’t turn your back on me baby
Stop messin’ around with your tricks
Don’t turn your back on me baby
You just might pick up my magic sticks

Got your spell on me baby
Got your spell on me baby

Yes you got your spell on me baby
Turning my heart into stone
I need you so bad – magic woman
I can’t leave you alone

 

Song Lyric Sunday

 

 

 

Posted in Challenges

#SoCS – 7/8/2017

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Unconditional love is a thing I’m not sure we humans know. Maybe we do. I think we think we feel it more often than we actually do. There is a bond, as old as time, between a person and their dog and a person’s dog loves him/her unconditionally. No matter what we do. We can ignore our dog. Abusive people can even abuse their dog. The dog still loves their person unconditionally. I’ve always thought it was a miraculous thing. This unconditional love between a person and their dog.

Some of you may know that, recently, my dog has been sick for a while now. I’ve written about her in a couple of articles, “Tender Betsy” and An Update About Betsy.

On July 4, 2017, just three weeks after Betsy was diagnosed, she passed away.

I’ve had many special dogs in my life. They are all, indeed, special. They all give me a chance to know that I can love unconditionally. Betsy was at the top of that heap. I have been inconsolable.

In a few weeks, it will be time for me to decide whether or not to get another puppy. I’ve never been without a dog. I feel sure I eventually will. I will never forget the dog from the movie I saw so long ago, “Lady and the Tramp.” Betsy looked just like Lady. She was beautiful, inside and out. She made me laugh and later, cry. She comforted me. She was my constant companion. As the veterinarian put her to sleep, she went to sleep licking my face. Betsy was only four years old. I’ll never forget my little spaniel. She was a very loving trooper.

Posted in Challenges

Upward Mobility

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Another stack of manuscripts,” Jenny thought to herself as she started opening envelopes.

As an editor, Jenny read and edited dozens of manuscripts each year. Debut novels mostly. Few would make it. Publishing was changing. She had always wanted to write herself, but her finances had never allowed it.

She started reading a manuscript that was an environmental thriller on climate change. This was the kind of thing she wanted to write. She knew how to do it for mobile applications.

“Why not!” she thought. She threw the jar of used staples across the room and walked out the door.

 

Photo credit @ Claire Sheldon

Posted in Challenges, Uncategorized

One Liner Wednesday

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A line from my upcoming novel:

“All Wendy knew was that it was torture trying to have sex with Patrick whether she was sober or drunk and it would have been even if she was straight.”

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Posted in Non-fiction

Independence Day in America

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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I started to write this blog post about what Independence Day, the Fourth of July, meant to me. But, I changed my mind. Independence Day only means one thing and it should mean the same thing to all of us. This day, the Fourth of July, Independence Day, marks the birth of the United State of America. Our independence from Great Britain in 1776.

When the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, in Philadelphia, they knew that Great Britain would certainly take issue with the American colonies breaking away from their mother country. They knew they were effectively declaring war. They knew that the American colonies did not have the numbers of people or weapons to fight off the British. They had faith that they would, somehow, prevail.

Four days later, the real celebration began. The Continental Congress was still meeting. The Declaration of Independence was read. The Liberty Bell rang. The coat of arms of the King of England was taken down and the celebration began. The United States of America came to life.

What followed was the American Revolutionary War between the 13 colonies and the British Crown. It lasted through approximately 1783 and was a bitter and bloody battle. The French entered the war in 1778 and assisted the Americans. By 1781, the Americans had basically won their freedom. On September 3, 1783, in France, the British recognized that the Americans had won their freedom in the Treaty of Paris.

The British set sail for America. Our freedom was hard won by hard scrabble colonists against professional British soldiers more than 200 years ago. We became a republic, a democracy, then, and have been a shining example of hard-won freedom since. We’re reminded on this day, the Fourth of July, how hard those colonists fought and under what terrible circumstances. Many of us in America have ancestors that fought in that war, myself included. We have a stake in America’s freedom. We should celebrate this day and be sure that America beats the standard that democracies usually don’t last more than 200 years.

Happy Fourth of July to all of you in the United States of America!

Posted in Challenges

Cold Blooded

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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It was Sunday night in Harlan County, Kentucky. Jeremiah and his girlfriend, Jamie, were walking to services at Holiness Church of Harlan. They’d heard something new and exciting was going to happen tonight. Both young people had gotten dissatisfied with their church recently. It was becoming increasingly conservative.

Near the middle of the service, some of the men carried in a wooden box. Jeremiah and Jamie looked at each other, neither knowing what was going on. The pastor opened the box and pulled out a large rattlesnake. Jamie grabbed Jeremiah’s hand. Their’s had never been a snake-handling church although they had heard of such churches. Supposedly, if the snakes didn’t bite the handlers, they had the appropriate amount of faith.

One of the men in the congregation went up to handle the snake. It took about 20 seconds for the timber rattlesnake to bite him on the hand. As he was screaming and the snake was put back in the box, Jamie and Jeremiah ran out of the church, knowing their religious preference had just changed.