From Jane Dougherty.

Progress report

Originally posted on Jan Doherty Writes.

I have a few success stories to crow about, so I’ll let them all go here.

First, I’m proud to have three poems in the anthology As the World Burns published by Indie Blue. I get a special thrill that my third entry is the poem that closes the collection. Yes, my desk is a mess but I can’t tidy it because of the ladybirds hibernating on it.

Read more at Jane Dougherty Writes

ILLUSTRATING A BOOK

For those who wonder how the stories are illustrated, edited and brought to the book, your curiosity ends here…at least I hope so.

There are many ways one may choose to create illustrations but let’s simplify it and mention two main methods; traditional and digital. Basically, traditional illustration means the artist creates them using real pens, brushes, paint, paper, canvas, water, coffee… you name it, we use it! Digital illustrations on the other hand require an electronic device (like a pad, tablet, and of course an electronic pen).

Read More At Usual Muttwits.

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 333 Life and View.

The Challenge Words!

LIFE and View

SEASONAL BADGE

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Image from Pixabay

It’s a jaundiced view

From a life full of regret.

Let go of all that.

This is part of Ronovanwrite’s Weekly Haiku Challenge.

Book 2 Bananas

CHAPTER 2

Coz Bananas is so well behaved – and wouldn’t say boo to a flaplegs as the old saying goes – she’s not always attached to the lead. Perhaps, on the other paw, coz Oskar’s so well behaved he don’t need to be on his lead? 

Wotever! 

Yor’all very well behaved today she barks happily at Oskar and his siblings. The older brother and sister always go on walkies with Oskar coz packmom don’t let any of thems go on walkies alone.

No lead means Bananas can do wot she wants – which is not a lot coz Pugs are boisterous but not necessarily adventurous.  Mostly, she trots along in front of Oskar snouting her familiar way towards Herdwick pooping park, squirting on familiar markers, checking out potential noshing opportunities, and occasionally bumping snoutz with her fourlegs mates.

Snifz yu, Missy Biscuits yaps Bananas happy to see her bigger sister the red-merle Australian Shepherd.

Snifz yu, too, beautiful replies Missy Biscuits equally pleased to bump snoutz with Bananas, the only female fourlegs in West Pid wot don’t act the jealous stonk.

A short bit of rough and tumble in the park, followed by a very small poop – Arjom dutifully bagging it in that specially scented plastic glove packmom provides him; and then it’s off to the High Street. The older pups have got a shopping list of errands to run for packmom.  Bananas lyks these errands coz she gets to stay outside in the street with Oskar and play while the older pups disappear inside the shops.  But she can always snifz thems wherever they disappear to.

“watchBananas” they scritch at Oskar, wobbling off.

Don’t fret about Oskar, I got him well under control she yaps back.

Today, the older pups go wobbling into the Organic shop on the corner of Short Cut.  Bananas ain’t sure wot organic is but it sure don’t involve nosh coz they never bring back anything sniffy. 

Wot a waste of good noshing time considers Bananas. 

She turns her attention elsewhere for some fun and a bit of chin-wag.  

Who better than Paddles sitting upon his tartan blanket halfway along Short Cut and blazing away in a big fuzzy blob of neon pink.  Funny thing is the bright hot ball in the sky now shines on Squeezy squeezing her accordion and lighting up Paddles in an eyeball-watering corona.  It ain’t the pink color wot Bananas eyeballs – coz fourlegs don’t catch many colours, ‘cept blues and greys – but Paddles fuzzy shape reminds her of thems strange things Oskar lyks to stick on the end of little twigs; wot he calls pencils.

Hey Paddles, snifz yu she trots forward, Oskar pulled close behind.

Don’t interrupt Paddles grunts sharply performing to the pedestrians, init

Bananas snifz about the blanket, attracted to the small metal bits, discovering a lot about individual hindlegs and wot they’ve eaten and how healthy they are from the greasy touch of thems handpaws.

And don’t touch ‘ems, coz Squeezy’s gonna take thems home and nosh ‘ems

Nosh ‘ems?

Sure! shocked that Bananas could even ask such a muttwit question.

Squeezy stops squeezing the accordion for a break   “woooooph-huuuuuuh” she immediately tokes on her e-cig.

Thank dog that noise is over sighs Paddles now I gotta wait permission to take a squirtz

That makes no sense to Bananas.  Any normal fourlegs can squirtz whenever it wants to.

“whyisyourdogpink?” Oskar scritches at Squeezy.

Normally Squeezy won’t scritch anything back about dogs and colours but coz Oskar is just a pup she allows a rare exception “coz,apinkdogattractsmorepeople–andmorepeoplegivemoremoney,makesense?”

Wot? asks Bananas, coz she understands Oskar but don’t understand wot most other hindlegs scritch – the same for most fourlegs, as it happens.

Pink.  I’m pink for more money

Money?

Corss. From thems pedestrians.

The fact that both hindlegs have got no clue wot they’re barking about is irrelevant.  But wotz a bit more relevant is glittery plum bobs. In that great mind between his short, thick and furry earflaps Paddles recalls Squeezy’s promise to spray his plumbs with glitter.  Yes. That’s totally butt-lickin’ relevant. Coz he don’t want the glitter. 

Uh-uh!

And he tells Bananas all abouts it.

Paddle’s plum bobs are of no great interest to Bananas – but glitter is.  Thank dog no one scritches about promising to glitter her plum bobs. The fact that she don’t have any ain’t the here or over there.

Hindlegs think they can do wot they lyk she grumbles, trotting off with Oskar to join his siblings for the long wobble home.

▪

Ya, snifz yu, Bananas Gunther stops squirting on growling roundlegs and trots over to bump snoutz.

Hello, Gunther, snifz yu followed by a token sniffing of mutual rear ends.

Westley Piddle is looking up sez Gunther fräuleinmate and me are making spritzen on one BMW 450i roundlegs, one Mercedes C220 roundlegs, diesel corss, one Porsche 9–

That’s many ones comments Bananas

Ya Gunther pants happily.

“prettychildren” scritches fräuleinmate at the three hindlegs pups “allfromUkraine?”

“Estonia,actually” scritches Arjom politely.

Wotz outside Westley Piddle adds Bananas, catching the sound of ‘Estonia’.  She does some heavy thinking of any other places she knows between her short black earflaps.

And she then recalls glittery plum bobs – and Paddles – and the disaster of glittery plum bobs on Paddles – one stuck to the other. 

Gunther, wot do yu know about glittery plum bobs?

German brand? he barks immediately.

Not sure

Not German, not worth a spritzen

..yu come and go, yu come and go…Karma, Karma, ka…

As it happens, Paddles and Squeezy pass by on the mowta making all sorts of strange scritchy Boy George sounds. Off for a squirting break and a bit of nosh.

Gunther raises his snout and sniffs disdainfully at the mobility scooter.

Wot is the world coming to he grunts, dismissively.

And, all of a sudden, Bananas earflaps start flapping in great agitation. She’s thinking.  Something most fourlegs won’t, don’t, can’t do much of.

Gunther, wotz that growling roundlegs? pointing her flat snout – wot ain’t so easy to do – at the mowta.

Not German – and not growling.  Just a whiny, skinny roundlegs he replies getting bored and wanting to trot on and spritzen on a Jaguar F-Pace he’s sniffing, wotz illegally parked at the end of Short Cut.  

Sure, but wot.is.it.?

Gunther who knows everything there is to know and wotz cleverer than most fourlegs – with his straight back, tail up and all tip-top, best of breed, lyk – delivers his lecture.

Ya, das ist a mobility scooter he begins in a patricianly manner TGA Breeze, mark 4 – if I am not mistaken – wot runs on two standard 12 volt, deep cycle, lead acid batteries, zat produces 24 volts… 

“thatdoglikesbarking” scritches Oskar

“ya,German” scritches fräuleinmate, and the hindlegs pack watch in amusement as the two fourlegs yap at each other.

..running a class 3 mobility scooter with a maximum trotting speed of eight miles per h– 

Eight wot?

Don’t matter continues Gunther now into his element with ze turning radius of one hundred and seventy four centi–

Brother interrupts Bananas,

all big black eyeballs staring up at the curly grey Standard Schnauzer I just wanna bump snoutz with that mowta and start some big submitting!

Ya, so? Gunther’s earflaps prick up in astonishment yu appear a bit small to do any big submitting, meine schwester

I’m female her flat snout brooking no further argument.

And, without no further argument, Gunther barks at her wot she’s got to do. 

Song Lyric Sunday. Relationships.

Hi again it Song Lyric Sunday and Jim Adams our host has given us the prompt for November 22, 2020 – Fiancé/Husband/Lover/Wife.

I have picked Brandi Carlisle’s song The Story because I love the lyrics.

Brandi Marie Carlile (born June 1, 1981) is an American multiple Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans multiple genres. As of 2020, Carlile has released six studio albums and earned eleven Grammy Award nominations, including one for The Firewatcher’s Daughter, six for By the Way, I Forgive You, and three for her work as producer and songwriter on Tanya Tucker’s 2019 album While I’m Livin’. She was the most nominated woman at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards (six) including nominations for Album of the Year (By the Way, I Forgive You), Record of the Year and Song of the Year (“The Joke“).  In 2019, Carlile formed an all-female quartet with Amanda Shires, Maren Morris, and Natalie Hemby called The Highwomen. They released their debut album The Highwomen in 2019 to critical and commercial acclaim.

Born in Ravensdale, Washington, a rural town southeast of Seattle, Carlile dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music, teaching herself piano and guitar. Her debut major label album, Brandi Carlile, was released to critical acclaim yet achieved limited commercial success. Carlile garnered wider recognition with her 2007 single “The Story”, from her album of the same name. The Story was awarded gold status in 2017, having sold more than 500,000 copies to date.The Firewatcher’s Daughter earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album and peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200. Information from here.

“The Story”

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
But these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true, I was made for you

I climbed across the mountain tops
Swam all across the ocean blue
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules
But baby, I broke them all for you
Oh, because even when I was flat broke
You made me feel like a million bucks
You do, and I was made for you

You see the smile that’s on my mouth
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess
No, they don’t know who I really am
And they don’t know what I’ve been through like you do
And I was made for you

All of these lines across my face
Tell you the story of who I am
So many stories of where I’ve been
And how I got to where I am
Oh, but these stories don’t mean anything
When you’ve got no one to tell them to
It’s true, I was made for you

Oh, yeah, well it’s true that I was made for you

Lyrics from AtoZ Lyrics.

That covers the prompt I think 💜 Happy Sunday Everyone.

Song lyrics Sunday

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Nov. Honey. 21/2020

Badge by Shelley Krupa

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday from Linda G Hill is “the last thing you put in your fridge.” Start your post with the last thing you put in your fridge. Let your mind wander from there. Enjoy!

The last thing I put in the fridge was honey. The little ditty is personal on how I feel and not a daming review, I am sure it’s lovely.

#© willowdot21

Honey, made by Australian Bees
Hit my tongue but failed to please.
The blossom sweetness failed
My taste buds were not excited nor regaled.
So I returned the jar to the fridge
Was I disappointed, yes, just a smidge!

This is part of LindaGHill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday.

Book 2 Bananas.

Chapter 2 of Bananas coming to this Blog Monday

Visit Usual Muttwits at Westly Piddle.

Sue Vincent’s #writephoto. Sanctuary.

Hi everyone just a quick note if anyone would like to re-post any of their old #writephoto prompts please do. While Sue is not posting a photo prompt due to not being well, she would love to see old ones reposted.Now if you would like to join in please use the #writephoto badge

Sanctuary

Rachel ran, ran as she had not run for months. The moonlight urging her on she gave her blood lust free range for once . She looked magnificent. By midnight she had killed and disposed of a huge bear and was having her normal internal fight. The werewolf in her craved a human but the tiny but strong human part of her was fighting the craving.

Stopping in a clearing Rachel got the scent of something she craved almost as much as human, Vampire! It was close and it was female and the way she felt right now she could easily take her on. Standing stock still and sniffing the air she located the Vampire. Slowly and silently she crept up to a line of trees, fully aware that she was in the open and at a disadvantage she went carefully and stealthily . As she entered the wood she saw ahead of her a female Vampire bathing in shallow looking pond. Rachel felt a shudder of sheer want pass through her . Closing in, moving silently. The Vampire, at first unaware that she was not alone, suddenly felt Rachel’s hot breath on her neck. In a flash she rounded on Rachel. They stood fang to fang Rachel on the shore the Vampire in the water.

In a flash the Vampire lept out of the water and landed in the snow behind Rachel, who turned on her hind legs and lunged at her victim. Biting the Vampire in the stomach she was spurred on by the taste of flesh. The Vampire let out a scream of anger and dug her nails deep into Rachel’s back. Rachel flicked the Vampire off of her back and pounced on her. The Vampire was trying to bite into Rachel’s neck but Rachel was high from lack of real prey for so long. Biting deep into the Vampire’s chest, Rachel was soon covered by the blood oozing out covering her face and fur. Quickly she ripped out the Vampire’s heart and ate it then just to make sure she ripped off the Vampire’s head , then she quickly lapped up as much blood as she could before the Vampire and her scarlet blood turned to ashes in the snow.

Rachel felt elated she arched her back and throwing back her head she howled at the moon loud and long. As she turned to leave the wood she froze, on the wind she could sense and yes, smell, more Vampires, at least three of them. As she fought madly to clear her mind of moonlight and blood she saw a strange domed building on the far side of the clearing . She ran for the door she had no idea why she was heading to the building… she just felt drawn towards it. Halfway across the clearing to her grateful amazement it started to snow heavily covering her paw prints. As she reached the door her luck was still holding and it was open. As she slunk inside the door closed silently behind her.

Outside she heard the Vampires arrive. They spent what seemed like hours trying to open the door but failing. Walking into the gloom she saw light and felt warmth coming from a fire at the far end of the circular room in which she stood. The fire drew her in and she approached , all the time looking at the writing on the wall above the fireplace.

“This is Sanctuary to all but Vampires”. Feeling exhausted Rachel curled up in front of the fire and slept.

Outside the Vampires tried to enter the Sanctuary without any luck. They then searched for their sister…in vain. Just before dawn they left to seek shelter.

You can read the whole story so far here at The Vampire , the Witch and the Werewolf.

Sue Vincent’s Thursday photo prompt

An extra long One-Liner Wednesday.

”So many words veiling the truth the others turning and it’s time for us to choose and people will try to take you down too
But if I was a betting man, I’d put all my money on you so be the young, the brave, the powerful ’cause the world is standing waiting for someone to come and change it.”

Jamed Blunt

This is part of LindaGHill’s One-Liner Wednesday.

Wordless Wednesday. Autumn Lake View.

© willowdot21