January Recap: January was a tough month again, obligation-wise. But, I’ve managed to get my Monday and Tuesday nights free from extra-curricular activities and the stress level on getting my writing done has been reduced to a low hum. My boyfriend, Greg Smith of Agile Writers, put on the 2nd Annual AWCon18. We had a fantastic group of speakers that were enjoyed by all and everything went smoothly. This above all, showed how much time and work went into the conference beforehand, a lot of the physical prep happening in January…

Writing Update: Progress on my 2nd draft of Dragon World Book One: Tree Dragon has been going smoothly. I’m averaging about 8 pages a week, with totals at the end of January of: 117 pages and 36,382 words. For those of you that follow the hero’s journey for plot development, my heroin continuing to explore the Special World. She’s soon to cross the next threshold into the Discovery Stage by way of the Main Goal turning point.

Kaleidoscopes on etsy: Hello my dear Kaleidoscope fans! I’m now offering a selection of kaleidoscope images on my etsy page for digital download. In honor of PANTONE’s color of the year for 2018, Ultra Violet, I have five each of my Oil Slick and Purple Leaves images available. These are high-res enough to print 24×24. And the best part, they’re only $7.50 per digital print. I plan to add Pansy and Redbud prints soon. But if you’ve seen one on my blog that you really love, let me know and I’ll create a listing for you.

What I ‘read’ this month: Playster broke my heart in December and told me that the novel I was smack in the middle of, Small Favor by Jim Butcher, was now part of their Premium Collection and I had to bump up my membership to keep listening. As it turns out, the majority of books that I wanted to listen to were premium reads. Groan. So, I revisited some of my favorite listens on Audible until I got close to my renewal date with Playster before biting the bullet and leveling up my membership. Here are the six books I completed in January.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“After years of gentle persuasion, your best friend since childhood finally agrees to seek professional help for serious psychological problems. To your dismay, as she begins to improve you slowly start to realize that you are her imaginary friend.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“My inspiration tends to come from two words. The two most important words to a writer: ‘What if?’” –Beth Revis

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2017 was by far the busiest year I’ve ever had. I have obligations almost every night of the week (either writing or dancing) and many creative projects that have kept me in a constant state of productivity. I can honestly say I’ve accomplished more in the past year than I have in the past five years. Or, at least that’s how it feels.

Writing Recap: For my second draft of Tree Dragon, in addition to drafting a complete story board, I’ve written 101 pages (32,094 words) of my novel in progress. Also, four short stories were posted to the website.

Reading Recap: I’ve  gobbled up 43 books (Audible and Playster), some of which I’ve noted in my weekly/monthly 7-Butter-flydays. I’ll list my 2017 reads in a separate post.

Blogging Recap: While I strive for consistency, my blog suffers when my life gets busy. (So say we all.) I’m proud to report that in 2017 I’ve posted:
– 133 – Kaleidoscopes with quotes
– 24 – Butterfly Quotes
– 23 – 7-Butter-Flydays
– 9 – Butterfly of the Week

Top Blog Posts: Here are the top seven most viewed blog posts from 2017:
– Breathing Underwater, a short story
– 7 Bullet Friday – A bit of fun
– Schrodinger’s Pocket, a short story
– Quote of the Day – Don’t cry because it’s over…
– Potato Dreams, a short story
– Honey/Sheahanna/Chicory, a three-perspectives short story
– Quote of the Day – Success begins…

Movies Recap: I didn’t blog about this, but I did see a fair number of movies in the theater in 2017. I thank my boyfriend, Greg Smith, movie critic and writing coach extraordinaire. Thanks to him, I saw 33 movies. I’ll list these in a separate post, most likely ranked in order of my favorites. Check out Greg’s websites, Reel Heroes and Agile Writers.

Travel Recap: I didn’t travel much in 2017, but when I did, I went places:
– Shawsville, VA – my home town. I got to visit four times last year.
– Chicago, IL – July, 2017 for a family reunion
– Buffalo, NY; Glens Falls, NY; Philadelphia, PA – December, 2017 the holiday visit tour. Greg and I visited his family before the craziness of the holidays set in.

Closing Thoughts: My goals for 2017 were high and for the most part I succeeded. I intended to move forward on revising my novel and that’s going well. I hope to finish the second draft by May 2018 or so and then prepare it for a beta read by the end of the year. Another goal was to blog more regularly. I’ve managed to get a good start with a daily post and hopefully, when my life evens back out again I can start layering on my regular posts again.

Best wishes for a bright, shiny happy New Year!

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September Recap: I feel the need to start gathering some synonyms, because I have a feeling every monthly recap is going to begin with X-month was “busy”… Usually, my day job doesn’t interfere with my writing, blogging, art etc. But in September, our usual staff of eight went down to six, so I’m actually picking up some overtime. Good for my bank account, but not so good for getting anything done during my lunch break. The Salsa Rueda group that I dance with performed three times in September. I had a blast, but it did impact my usual weekend work time. My Butterfly-of-the-Week has been put on hold for now and I missed a couple 7-Butter-Flydays. It looks like I’ve finally reached my maximum obligation capacity. On the writing side of things, I’ve completed around 50 pages and 14,500 words of the 2nd draft of Dragon World Book One: Tree Dragon. For those of you that follow the hero’s journey for plot development, I’ve finished with the ordinary world stage through the crossing of the first threshold into the special world. Hopefully, October will be a little kinder to my schedule, but whatever may come, the novel will go on.

What I’m reading this week: I’m enjoying Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series. I’ve read Storm Front, Fool Moon and will start Grave Peril on tomorrow morning’s commute. I actually found Jim Butcher through a non-fiction book called The Fantasy Fiction Formula by Deborah Chester. She is a prolific author in her own right and Jim Butcher was one of her students and wrote the foreword to this book. She uses examples from her fiction as well as from Butcher and others as writing samples and I found her book very helpful. But after reading his foreword, I knew I wanted to read his stories. And after Storm Front, I was hooked. What I love most about the Dresden Files series is not simply the urban fantasy Butcher has created but his mystery noir, dark sardonic yet completely vulnerable voice through which the stories are told.

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Dancing
1. A universal symbol for joy.
2. If the dreamer is feeling good about life, that feeling will continue. If things aren’t going well, then that should shift very shortly.
Astrological parallel: Pisces.
Tarot parallel: The World.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“Rather than wanting to hold to the past longer and slow things down and stop the aging process — just revel in the power of now! You can’t stop time, and you won’t stop the recycling process that is taking place upon this planet, nor would you want to — but you do not have to suffer the moving through time. Every moment can be more wonderful than the moment before.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“The characters from one of your abandoned stories find out that you have given up on them.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“The more you try to pin a word down, the more you realize that it has its own cape, sword and little hat.” –Roy Blount Jr.

My favorite from the inter-webs: Here’s a classic tool for writers. You may have this one bookmarked already, but if not I highly recommend it. Thesaurus.com gives you a few more levels of synonyms than the built-in thesaurus in your word processing software. Now that I’m working on a Mac for half of my writing time, I’m finding that the thesaurus that comes with my Office 365 Word is even less helpful. Thesaurus.com will color code your synonyms, highlighting those that are most similar in definition darker than those less exact. Also, you’re more likely to get up to four or five pages of results which is helpful if the word you’re trying to find is close to the word that’s stuck in your head, but not quite. Hope you find it as helpful as I do.
Find it at: http://www.thesaurus.com

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Names in Writing: I recently read an interesting post by Philip Athans on the blog, Fantasy Writer’s Handbook, where he discusses the capitalization of a common word being used as a proper name. As in: the Tower, the Witch, the Magician, the Chancellor, the Mountain, the City etc. I’m guilty of this myself in my WIP. And, that’s okay if I’m using it as a placeholder until I come up with something better. He goes on to say that to elevate a common word is a missed opportunity for creative world building. And, I agree. Looking back on my choices of the Alchemist and the Sorcerer, the Broadsword and the Amulet, I realize that these were cop-outs on my part, choosing the easiest solution. But all is not lost, now I have a new world-building challenge to name my characters, cities and weapons in a new way that adds depth, meaning and magic to my world.

What I’m reading this week: Private, by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro. “Former Marine helicopter pilot Jack Morgan runs Private, a renowned investigation company with branches around the globe. It is where you go when you need maximum force and maximum discretion. The secrets of the most influential men and women on the planet come to Jack daily – and his staff of investigators uses the world’s most advanced forensic tools to make and break their cases.” Readers are given three intense and unrelated mysteries. Forensics are used to prove guilt for the largest case of the three and it’s not overly technical. We’re in Jack Morgan’s 1st person POV with other POVs in 3rd person close, which is a technique I’m hoping to borrow. Patterson and Paetro work so well together it’s hard to tell there were co-authors on this novel. The prose is crisp and fast paced. The narration is strong and all the characters, even the minor ones are memorable. The writing style paints a vivid picture with very few strokes, keeping our focus on the story. Well done.

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Clock:
A symbol for time passing.
1. If you dream of watching a clock ticking, with the hands moving steadily, this is a warning that you need to stop wasting time.
2. Winding a clock or watch indicates that you are taking control of the situation.
3. Hearing a clock strike indicates that the time has come for some positive action.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“You are the vibrational writers of the script of your life, and everyone else in the Universe is playing the part that you have assigned to them.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“Having lost a bet, he was now tasked with turning a class of school girls into secret service agents.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.” –Jane Yolen

My favorite from the inter-webs: So, perhaps you’ve found that you have a few capitalized words that are common in your work. Where to begin though? If you need help getting those juices flowing, there are lots (and I mean lots) of random names generator websites out there. Even though the results may not initially be right for your world, they may spark inspiration that will lead you on a name-making journey. I’ve cruised through a few sites and the most prolific one by far is Fantasy Name Generator. The creator is obviously fond of role playing games, but there is so much more. Hovering over the “Fantasy Name” tab, you get a drop down list 5 columns wide by 26 items long. Yes, that’s 130 different random name generators from Alien Names to Zombie Types. I could write forever on the possibilities, so you’ll just have to check it out.
Find it at: http://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

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August Recap: This month has been full of creative endeavors. I’ve added a new daily kaleidoscope post that is finding interest and appreciation. Thank you to everyone who has liked my digital kaleidoscope posts and my new followers!
On the writing side, I’ve completed my novel’s outline and have started writing new pages. I’m meeting with new critique partners this Thursday and am very excited to move forward on my novel again. I finished my first draft in May 2016, but it’s taken me this long to rework my plot and define my heroine. I’m more of a panting-plotter, only taking time to work out a plan when I got stuck. I have to say, the knowledge that I know where my story is going before I start writing is very reassuring. Second draft, here I come!

What I’m reading this week: The Never Ending Story was and still is one of my favorite childhood movies. I love the idea of magical worlds that rise from within us, fueled by our wishes and dreams. The concept of a story within a story mesmerizes me. It reflects how as we live our lives we are also observing ourselves and are being observed by others.  So, when I saw the audio version come up in my Audible recommendations, I couldn’t resist. What surprised me most is that the movie only covers the first third of the book. Hollywood took some creative license (especially with Falkor, changing him from lion-like to dog-like) but overall the movie didn’t diminish my enjoyment of the book or vice-versa. Michael Ende does a lovely job with the world-building too, not overdoing it which can often happen in fantasy. I also enjoyed the running catch-phrase. At the end of any unfinished side-story Ende teases us with “that is another story and shall be told another time,” which had the writer inside me yearning for a notebook to jot down my ideas on what that story could be.

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Maze/Labyrinth
1. A portent of uncertain times ahead, when you literally won’t know if you’re coming or going.
2. If the dreamer found his or her way out and wasn’t particularly concerned about it, then whatever problems you face will be set right and you can get on with your life.
3. But if the dreamer was frightened, panicked, and kept running into dead ends, then the dream is telling him or her that it’s vital to calm down, try to relax, and face whatever appears to be stopping him from doing what he wants.
4. A change of direction is likely to be necessary.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“People often believe that because something happened, and because it is a fact or true, that it should be focused upon, and therefore kept vibrationally active. And so, many people keep many things active that do not serve them.
If we were standing in your physical shoes we would not keep something active in our vibration just because it had happened. We would only keep things active that we want to repeat in our life experience.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“You have a special backpack that supplies you with everything you may need for the day. One morning, while preparing for your day, you take a peek in the backpack and think, ‘Huh, well this should be an interesting day.'”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“When you are describing, A shape, or sound, or tint, Don’t state the matter plainly, But put it in a hint, And learn to look at all things, With a sort of mental squint.” –Lewis Carroll

My favorite from the inter-webs: Along the lines of writing blogs, another of my favorites is Creative Writing Now. The offerings include story starters and prompts, writing tips on everything from story and poetry basics to in-depth posts on character development and dialogue help. They even offer some interesting e-courses. Good information presented in a friendly and easy to understand manner. Who could ask for more?
Find it at: http://www.creative-writing-now.com

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A little re-branding: I like the idea of a seven-item bullet list every week. It may just be me, but I’m not wild about the term “bullet.” It brings to my mind ballistics and firearms. So, I’ve decided to change the title slightly to 7 Butter-Flydays. A bit more my speed and aesthetic.

What I’m reading this week: I just finished The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis. The story centers around a mysterious death that occurred in 1952 at the Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York. The story is divided between two narrators, Rose Lewin a journalist living at the Barbizon gone condo in 2016 and Darby McLaughlin a naïve young woman from a small town in Ohio to attend secretarial school. Davis does an excellent job mirroring the two plot lines. And she skillfully diverts us with a red herring (and I fell for it, too). Overall, an interesting read, we not only compare women in society in the 50’s with current day, but we also have an interesting mystery to captivate us.

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Horse:
A universal symbol for freedom, friendship, and for both physical and unearthly power.
1. The ability to work with others and to assume some of their burdens. If the horse is running free, then the dreamer seeks freedom from earthly stresses.
2. If the dreamer is riding the horse, someone nearby is available to assist him.
3. A dream of a dark horse implies that the dreamer is moving from darkness into the light – or it could also imply the presence of a “dark horse”, as in our modern metaphor for someone who attains success by working behind the scenes.
4. A white or light-colored horse implies the gaining of power through wisdom.
Astrological parallel: Sagittarius
Tarot parallel: The Chariot

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“You cannot get sick enough to help sick people get better. You cannot get poor enough to help poor people thrive. It is only in your thriving that you have anything to offer anyone. If you’re wanting to be of an advantage to others, be as tapped in, turned in, turned on as you can possibly be.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“He received a call asking for 5 minutes of his time. Thinking it was a sales person, and being in a good mood, he agreed. The person on the other side immediately hung up. When he looked up at the clock, he realized it was 5 minutes ahead.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“Words – so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” –Nathaniel Hawthorne

My favorite from the inter-webs: Another author blog I follow is Aliventures: Master the Art Craft and Business of Writing. Her topics are focused on writing full-time, balancing work writing and novel writing, and carving out time from your busy life to write. Her current posts are centered on organizing various areas of you life, from your desk to your social media practices, giving suggestions if you only have 5, 15, or 30 minutes to spare. All good stuff, I hope you find it as helpful and informative.
Find it at: www.aliventures.com/

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What I’m obsessed with this week: Creating Kaleidoscopes with Photoshop. And man, have I been hogging the mac this week generating loads of digital kaleidoscopic images. I’m using average (and often below average) photos I’ve taken that are far from interesting enough to show anyone on their own. But, when you crop them and set them at angles, they become magical! It’s been all I could do this week not to stop strangers on the street and show them off like a proud mama. They’re inspiring me to possibly start a daily post that will show the original boring and ugly photo and how it transforms into something beautiful. I’m thinking I could do a series of seven kaleidoscopes every week. Here are a few of my favorites as examples. I don’t want to give away any spoilers yet on the original images, so have fun guessing!

Etsy shop: With my recent foray into butterfly quotes and now these digital kaleidoscope images, my thoughts turn to my neglected Etsy store. And so, I’m researching how to offer these images as digital downloads and possibly as prints on gallery wraps, metal and wood. Again, these kaleidoscopes opened a well-spring of inspiration for me. My goal, should I choose to accept the inspirational challenge, is to have items ready on my Etsy shop by mid-October for the upcoming holiday gifting season. I’ll keep you posted!

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
School or University:
1. A very common dream is returning to school and finding oneself late for an exam. This usually signifies unresolved psycho-emotional issues from school that the dreamer should try to work through.
2. If the dreamer is starting a new course of study, new opportunities will open up for her.
3. If the dreamer is teaching, then her Higher Self will soon bring new revelations her way.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“The achievement of anything that you desire must be considered success, whether it is a trophy or money or relationships or things. But if you will let your standard of success be your achievement of joy—everything else will fall easily into place. For in the finding of joy, you are finding vibrational alignment with the resources of the Universe.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“Your friend tells you, “Pinch me, I’m dreaming.” You do as he asks. He vanishes.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” –Sylvia Plath

My favorite from the inter-webs: I follow many author blogs and this is one of my favorites. Anne R. Allen’s Blog…with Ruth Davis covers topics from the craft of writing to the business of writing and everything in between. Posts occur weekly and I’m often forwarding them to someone I know because they are so very informative. I hope you find it equally valuable.
Find it at: annerallen.com/

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Good-bye: Don’t panic, I’m not going anywhere… However, my writer’s group, Writers Endeavor, is bidding Yahoo Groups farewell. Our group has been on Yahoo since October 2005 (I joined the group in July 2009). It had been our message board, our file upload area and an all-around place to share ‘stuff.’ After having trouble uploading files and receiving notifications of said files and being unable to delete files that have been in the upload area for years, we’ve decided to switch to a simpler solution of a group email. We’ll remind each other of meeting times and share files the old-fashioned way. Good-bye Yahoo Groups, we’ll miss you…

What I’m reading this week: Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Super Villain, by Richard Roberts. The publisher’s summary reads: Penelope Akk wants to be a superhero. She’s got superhero parents. She’s got the ultimate mad science power, filling her life with crazy gadgets that even she doesn’t understand. She has two super-powered best friends. In middle school the line between good and evil looks clear. In real life nothing is that clear. All it takes is one hero’s sidekick picking a fight, and Penny and her friends are labeled super villains. In the process Penny learns a hard lesson about villainy: She’s good at it.
My humble opinion: It’s a charming story so far, a bit cutesy at times, but it is middle-grade fiction after all. I’m about a third of the way through. It’s told in 1st person point of view and the author is very fond of using alternatives to ‘said’ such as squealed, quipped, sighed, snarked, etc. It’s a bit distracting, especially via audiobook when the narrator has already acted the descriptive. I’m interested to see how Roberts plays out the hero/villain or good/evil aspect. He’s playing with the shades of grey here. Our MC is afraid of disappointing her parents by being a super villain/bad person, but it doesn’t seem that there are any truly evil characters. And maybe that’s the point.

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Stone:
1. If the dreamer is throwing stones, she is repressing anger that should be expunged.
2. Stones on a riverbank indicate a time of peace and tranquility coming up.
3. Stepping stones are a symbol for slow but sure advancement.
4. Cobblestones represent a rough road ahead.
5. Huge stones or boulders represent obstacles – and the larger the stone, the bigger the obstacle.
Astrological parallel: Saturn.
Tarot parallel: The suit of Pentacles.

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“You’re never going to get to any final place. And so, we want to remind you to relax and start having fun on the way.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“Your eccentric great uncle recently died and left you his estate, which includes a rather large house filled with doors that don’t always lead where you’d expect.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“Dialogue is not just quotation. It is grimaces, pauses, adjustments of blouse buttons, doodles on a napkin and crossings of legs.” –Jerome Stern

My favorite from the inter-webs: I found this gem researching herbal medicines to use in my writing. The link below is to the remedies list. All of the herbs are linked to their own page, with a photo and additional info on the sidebar such as how to grow the plant, recipes, and (my favorite) magic and superstition. I’m sure this will quickly become a well-visited site for my herbal magic research.
Find it at: http://www.gardensablaze.com/HerbRemedies.htm

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July Recap: Wow! July was a busy month for me, especially in the blogging world. I now have three weekly posts: 7BulletFriday, Butterfly Quote, and Butterfly of the Week. The last two were started/brought back in July. I also started posting daily on my Facebook page last month. Thank goodness for scheduling features or I’d be unable to do anything else. My work in progress hasn’t been sitting idly, I’m nearly finished with story-boarding my second draft of Tree Dragon and then it’s on to re-writing pages. When you add on dance events and traveling, July has been busy indeed!

The reunion road trip: As promised, here are a few pics from my long-weekend road trip. From the mountains of West Virginia, past the cornfields and wind farms of Indiana, a brush by Chicago, to the reunion, and a big Illinois sky shot for fun. We’re a big family and not all of us made it for the shindig. I also managed to snap some great texture and sky shots that I will post to Pixabay (my very first shares with that community).

 

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Wheels:
1. If the wheels are on an automobile, particularly on one in which the dreamer is riding, then the dreamer will soon embark on a new journey, either literal or figurative.
2. If the wheels are on an airplane, success in the dreamer’s current enterprise is indicated.
3. Slowly moving wheels indicate slow progress and frustration, but positive results in the end, while fast-moving wheels represent rapid progress.
4. Ferris wheels, or gambling wheels in a casino, indicate sudden and unexpected events that could bring either reversals or skyrocketing success, depending on other symbols in the dream.
Astrological parallel: Uranus.
Tarot parallel: The Wheel of Fortune

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“Make a decision and then make the decision right. Line up your Energy with it. In most cases, it doesn’t really matter what you decide. Just decide. There are endless options that would serve you enormously well, and all or any one of them is better than no decision.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“Suddenly, all over the world, all children start drawing the same thing over and over again.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“Write even when the world is chaotic. You don’t need a cigarette, silence, music, a comfortable chair or inner peace to write. You just need ten minutes and a writing implement.” –Cory Doctorow

My favorite from the inter-webs: I found this one yesterday! Have you ever wondered where to break a word with a hyphen? Every now and again I come across a line of formatted text that could use a hyphen break and I need that extra assurance that I’m breaking the word correctly. In walks Hyphenation24. Just type the word your questioning in the box and you’ll get a selection of appropriate breaks for that word. For example, reasonable can be broken rea-son-able. Hope you find it useful!
Find it at: https://www.hyphenation24.com/

Road Trip: My mom’s family put down roots in Chicago in the 1920’s. And although a few branches have moved out of the city to the neighboring burbs, to other states (and even the Philippines!), they all still try to gather once of year for a reunion. I’m not always able to go, due to travel costs and timing, but this weekend my boyfriend and I are hitting the road for the nearly 13-hour journey. I’ll try to take some travel pics worth sharing for next week’s post.

What I’m re-reading this week: I’m smitten with Lev Grossman and his Magicians trilogy. My goal is get my boyfriend hooked on them as well by having them as our diving entertainment. If you’ve not had the pleasure, here is the back cover blurb: “A thrilling and original coming-of-age novel about a young man practicing magic in the real world. Quentin Coldwater is brilliant but miserable. A senior in high school, he’s still secretly preoccupied with a series of fantasy novels he read as a child, set in a magical land called Fillory. Imagine his surprise when he finds himself unexpectedly admitted to a very secret, very exclusive college of magic in upstate New York, where he receives a thorough and rigorous education in the craft of modern sorcery.At once psychologically piercing and magnificently absorbing, The Magicians boldly moves into uncharted literary territory, imagining magic as practiced by real people, with their capricious desires and volatile emotions. Lev Grossman creates an utterly original world in which good and evil aren’t black and white, love and sex aren’t simple or innocent, and power comes at a terrible price.”

My favorite dream interpretation this week:
Cars
1. Motion, movement away from one thing and towards another.
2. Speed, acceleration.
3. Freedom.
Astrological parallel: Sagittarius.
Tarot parallel: The Chariot

My favorite Abraham quote this week:
“It usually takes about 30 days to change a habit. Not because you need 30 days. You could do it in 68 seconds if you could once you did it hold your vibration there, but you have to consciously make that decision.” —Abraham
To learn more about Abraham (channeled by Esther Hicks), the Law of Attraction, or to sign up for Abraham’s daily quote visit: http://www.abraham-hicks.com/lawofattractionsource/index.php

My favorite writing prompt this week:
“You are the person responsible for making all those magical/cursed items that people are always stumbling across.”

My favorite writing quote this week:
“As a writer you try to listen to what others aren’t saying… and write about the silence.” –N.R. Hart

My favorite from the inter-webs: Actually, this favorite is a free phone app called “Wayz.” This little wonder not only gives you turn by turn directions based on other users’ insights and shortcut knowledge, but you also get real-time warnings of traffic accidents, delays and whether there is a cop lurking in a blind spot up ahead. You can also add your own insights and warnings for other users, but I’m not quite savvy enough for that myself. I’m also trying to get in the habit of checking traffic every morning (I’ve been burned a few times.) And, needless to say, this app will be running throughout our road trip.
Find it in the App Store: WAYZ