The true prompt for today is or should have been: “Interview a Fictional Character.” I wasn’t feeling it, so I backtracked to January 1st. It was the first quote for Bloganuary 2022 before I signed up.
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
My mom and I had a rocky relationship during my teen years. As I grew older, I realized our dysfunctional family wasn’t like other families. Mom did what she could to keep me and my brothers safe. What I mean is, my mom was an abused woman and did anything to avoid a confrontation. To this day, I’m sorry that I gave her a difficult time during my teen years, especially when I was fourteen. Eighth grade was one of the worst school years of my life, and I contributed to making my mom’s life miserable that year, too.
I’d tell myself as a teen to be kinder to my mother. Her life wasn’t her own, and she did the best she could with what she had.
Regardless, whenever abuse came into the picture, and my older brother wasn’t there to step in, I took his place and did what my young self could do to protect her. As I got older, we became close and our relationship strengthened even more when I became a mom. My mom became a wonderful grandmother to her grandkids.
Whew, I didn’t expect to write all this personal stuff, but it’s here now. Maybe someone else will pop in one day to read it and give advice to their teenage self.
Is there any advice you’d like to give to your teenage self?
Thanks for reading today, folks. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. ~MJ
Featured Image Image by Rebecca Scholz from Pixabay
Prompt of the day for Bloganuary: What is your favorite quote and why?
Day 22. Today’s quote is one of my favorites by Robert Brault. Why did I use this quote? Sometimes we have to appear strong even when we aren’t. What about the times we’re vulnerable? Don’t we all need a safe place to fall when we need others to be strong for us, even if it’s with nothing more than a hug? I love hugs. I think Robert explains it perfectly in his quote.
Robert Brault hasn’t written a quote I haven’t liked. Not that I’ve seen every quote he’s written. A visit to his blog today left me with bittersweet feelings. He’s calling it quits. See below the quote.
He says:
After 13 years of blogging and tweeting (and as I push into my mid-80’s), I’ve decided it’s time (and probably past time) to call it a day.
This short scene in italics takes place earlier in the day and leads into today’s snippet below the fence post: Karis shifted in the saddle to look back at Tanyon standing in the doorway. He pointed to his watch. She’d be having dinner with him in a few hours. The thought made her tremble inside to think the ranch boss might find it in his heart to forgive her.
I’ve made a slight modification to the excerpt. This scene follows in Tanyon’s POV:
The closer it got to dinner time, the more stressed he became. He wanted to skip dinner out. A lot of work still waited on the ranch. Regardless, he had planned to drive up toward the Grand Canyon but decided against it. His heart wasn’t into having a date tonight. Dinner at one of the bar restaurants in Williams sounded doable and was a short drive away. A pretzel burger or ribs and a beer flight sounded good. Then again, with his sour mood tonight, he didn’t want the busyness of Williams or the Grand Canyon.
He couldn’t shake the heavy heart concerning Karis. Now, he’d given her the wrong idea by asking her out. Like Sedona hadn’t given her the wrong idea? He sighed, still conflicted over what to do. He’d hoped the more time they’d spent with each other, the better it would get, but he had this wall to scale first. Being together hadn’t set him free from decisions. In fact, after holding her close during the dance, he didn’t want to call it quits yet.
Before driving home, he pulled off the road at the gate to the open field where he’d taken her… Where he should’ve taken her fully. Maybe she would’ve gotten pregnant that night. She’d still be here taking advantage of the shoulder he could’ve offered when she damn well needed one. Instead, the night had led to a magnificent quickie, if you wanted to call what they’d done that night, a quickie.
He glanced out at the openness. How dark it got on a moonless night. Now, the memory made him crazy with anger. Not the memory, no, the memory…aroused him, but the events that happened afterward had left him cold and heartbroken. She’d left him. He clenched the steering wheel tighter.
She’d left him, and his heart had grown cold.
Then the answer popped into his head. If anything could bring him back, it’d be sitting beside her in the bed of his truck with the silent musings of that night in both of their minds when he’d loved her so much. Tanyon nearly called her to tell her to dress casually, but she sure wasn’t dressed casual then. He made a turn to go toward the grocery store deli in Wills Bend.
Four knife-piercing words in a frantic phone call from her mother, caused Dr. Karis Sutton to leave her cowboy in Northern Arizona to return home. While grief-stricken over a tragic loss, she’d let the man she loved slip away instead of allowing him to console her in a time of need. Now, a year later, and ready to break free from her world of gloom, she drives north to seek a second chance with the moody yet irresistible alpha-owner of the ranch. But she’s forced back to Phoenix to fight to keep two fatherless kids. While doing so, will Tanyon think she’s leaving him again and give up on any chance they might’ve had? She’s pulled in different directions. How will she make it right with so much distance between them all?
Tanyon Outlaw never thought he’d see her again. Now, she’s returned as part of the summer crew on the Two-Five Ranch. In her sad eyes, he sees straight through to her pained soul while memories of their past love invade each thought. What will it take for his cold heart to grow warm toward her again? Then, when bad things happen on the ranch, it comes in droves. Karis is called back home. A lawsuit looms over his head. Fences are cut to maim or steal his cattle. Someone else has an eye for the woman he longs to love. He’s running out of time. How can he discover why people are out to get him while figuring out what his heart wants?
Once again, Karis and Tanyon have separate, life-changing matters to attend to, so how will they keep it all together and still find a way to capture the love they once shared?
If you could, what year would you time travel to and why?
Have you thought about time traveling? I’m not ashamed to admit I’d travel to the Victorian Era.
If I knew the precise year I needed, I’d tell you. You see, I have a chalk drawing of my grandmother at eighteen. I believe it’s a chalk drawing. Before I was old enough to know any better, I destroyed a small area of the background by rubbing at it.
The photograph is in horrid condition now, but I can’t part with it. The drawing is in full color with a slate colored muted background. The size of the drawing is around 16×20. I don’t know what the material is, but it crumbles and breaks after all these years. Let me tell you the story my grandmother told me about how the painting came to be, and why I’d like to travel back to ride the train with her.
She traveled a lot as a young girl. One day while getting off the train at a station, an artist thought she was so beautiful that he asked if he could draw her. She grew up in Brookfield, Missouri, so the portrait could have been done in St. Louis. We’ll never know. I’d love to go back in time to ride the train with her and witness this event. Her hair is auburn in the drawing and styled similar to Jane Seymour’s hair on the cover of my Somewhere in Time CD.
In the drawing, she wore a pink dress with a high neck. If I remember correctly, she wore a cameo broach. Could the cameo broach she had in her jewelry box when I was a child be the same one? A hat sat more toward the back of her head. She’s posed facing forward, but she wasn’t gazing at the artist.
What do you think, readers and friends? Is there a year, an era, or event you’d like to experience? Let us know in the comments. Until the next time, stay well and be safe.
Train track credit: Image by Peter Mayer from Pixabay
It’s the twentieth post for those who started Bloganuary on January 1st. I started on January 16th.
Today’s prompt is to post a favorite photo I’ve taken.
Hobby
Oh, photography is a favorite subject, but it’s impossible to choose one favorite capture. Photographs of memories with my family are at the top of my “favorites” list. I love taking pictures of landscapes and nature. Nature photography takes patience. Many of my printed photos live out of sight in boxes. Luckily, I have a lot on my phone, but they’re nothing like family photos from long ago.
Mt. Shasta – Northern California
Memories
Today I’m posting this photo because: 1) the image evokes a heartwarming memory and 2) it’s one of my favorites. This image of the mountain is from the California side. A while back, my boy took a photo of this from the Oregon side and had it made into three large canvas panels for a Christmas gift one year. I cherish the thought and the wall hanging. I took this on a day trip my oldest son and I took on Thanksgiving weekend a few years ago when I visited him.
We’re getting close to the end of the week, so you all have a peaceful and healthy downhill slide to the weekend. It looks like Bloganuary doesn’t take the weekend off. 😊 Thanks for visiting! ~MJ
Note to new followers: I don’t usually write a blog post daily. Please, if you will, bear with the notifications in your inbox throughout the rest of the month. Soon, you’ll wonder why I’m not writing posts often enough.
Camera Featured Image: Image by Jürgen Polle from Pixabay
Apologies to my followers who have heard about this mystery.
Today, I’m in a new apartment because of a mysterious odor that drove me out of my last place. No one had an answer, or they chose not to tell me. The smell was sickening and indescribable—worse than garbage. The odor forced me to wear masks inside my home and to bed. It didn’t smell like mold, but it made me sick. Gave me headaches. The smell is still a mystery to me, but I’m guessing the mysterious stench came from a history of major leaks in the apartment.
Water bubbles from a leak in the shower ceiling.
The water bubbles are the result of a leak. I stuck a pin into the long bubble to drain it before it burst. The water inside had a putrid smell, similar to the stench that came out of nowhere over a year later. Before moving, the bathroom floor began to feel mushy. I wouldn’t be surprised if a slow leak had been dripping inside the wall and into the wood floor beneath the ceramic tile for a long time. My bedroom closet was affected, too, due to the “leak” flooding my neighbor’s closet above me. Oh, joy. More places to stink.
Upon repair, they scraped the bubble off and added spackling compound without letting the drywall dry. After I moved, they gutted the bathroom and kitchen to remodel. I wonder what they discovered. I’m willing to bet mold grew in multiple places because of three major leaks in my four years of living there. After complaining about the odor for many months, they transferred me to another of their complexes to shut me up. Regardless, I’m grateful they allowed me to transfer.
I appreciate you dropping by. Have a good one! ~MJ
These prompts come to us daily, so we can’t write them in advance.
Most of the time, I don’t know what is next on my reading list until I scroll through my Kindle TBR pile. I’m reading “The Lakeside Inn” by Leeanna Morgan, Book 1 in the Sapphire Bay series. I need a break and have soooo many books waiting on my Kindle. “The Lakeside Inn” is new, like many others I purchased in December and January. This book sounded like the perfect relaxing read to sink into after the stress of publishing two books in December.
However, a while ago, I began reading a series by D. Wallace Peach called Unraveling the Veil, a three book fantasy series and outside of the genre I usually read, too, but I love this series. Book two, “Allies and Spies” in this series is my next book TO FINISH on my reading list since I left it unfinished months ago.
I’ll have to backtrack a bit to get reacquainted with the characters. After reading excerpts and posts about this series on Diana’s website, I became interested in these books and discovered I like the fantasy genre, too. I’m ashamed to let the author know I let this second book sit so long before getting back to it. Sorry, Diana.
Now you and I both know what is next on my reading list.
After a bit of thought, I came up with a few other options for today’s prompt about superpowers. Then an old post I wrote came to me. I’d love a superpower that gave me the ability to communicate with animals. When my dog was still with me, I imagined what she thought when she’d look at me with different expressions or the way she cocked her head. This would be extremely helpful if cats explained why they do what they do. Of course, they wouldn’t.
Don’t let the title fool you. It’s Day One of Bloganuary for me since I signed up yesterday. I’m beginning with today’s prompt. I’ll never catch up, but maybe I’ll use two prompts in some of my posts.
For my outside-of-the-home career, I worked with children at the elementary and middle-school levels. Many of my students had learning disabilities in reading and math. I watched them struggle day in and day out in all of their subjects.
So, yes, I’m passionate about not only children learning how to read, but to enjoy reading at whatever level fits them. In my job, it tore at my heart when they’d get frustrated and refuse to give reading a chance.
A few years before I retired, our middle school began a reading pilot program for our struggling readers. The curriculum taught the early skills needed to read, beginning with phonetics. Middle school kids hated having to pronounce words phonetically. They screamed that they weren’t first graders. Yet, some of them read at lower grade levels.
We did periodic testing, and it didn’t take long before we saw improvements in their reading and test scores. Since it was a pilot program, we had a lot of eyes watching our progress, so we were pleased to see test scores improve throughout the year. Once the kids saw their improvements, they didn’t complain as much.
Image by Fathromi Ramdlon from Pixabay
One student in the pilot program still stands out today. She whole-heartedly hated reading and grumbled a lot in the program. One day in her grade level classroom, during free-reading time, she had her book propped on her desk as if reading. Instead, she doodled. I asked what she liked to read, but she didn’t like to read anything.
After glancing around the room to see what others were reading, I took her a graphic novel and asked if it looked interesting to her. She nodded and reached for it.
In this context, the word “graphic” does not mean “adult” or “explicit.”
Graphic novels are books written and illustrated in the style of a comic
book. To be considered a graphic novel, rather than a picture book or
illustrated novel, the story is told using a combination of words and
From that day on, she brought a graphic novel to class for free reading and read it! She bought one at the school book fair, and I saw her reading in other classes too. Sometimes when she should have been paying attention. I smiled to myself and felt proud that she finally discovered the joy of reading.
Thanks for reading! Enjoy the upcoming week.
If you’re in a cold climate like I am, stay warm. ~MJ
Well, here I am trying Bloganuary to help me get back to blogging. Since I’ve been away from actual blogging, outside of book info, I’m not sure I like it anymore, so at the end of January, I’ll see what happens. Why the end of January?
WordPress Bloganuary
BLOGANUARY is a way to get in the habit of blogging by WordPress posting writing prompts each day of January. It began on January 1st. Obviously, I missed the date and signed up today after reading a Bloganuary post in my Reader, which led me to another, and another. When WordPress announced this earlier, I had intended to sign up. Busy me forgot.
Are any of you participating? Want to? Click here for info.
Let me tell you one of the difficult parts of participating as this introvert. Well, being an introvert is number one. I’m not complaining. It’s who I am. It seems I’m not 100% introvert, but the percentage is high. You see, there’s a Bloganuary community where we can share our posts. Uh… I freak out thinking about sharing in a community I don’t know. We do post on our own blogs and add the link on the community webpage. Sharing on my blog isn’t a problem, but the community is the “world” and I… Well, you get what I’m saying.
My blog is the world, too, but somehow it’s different to me–cozy and comfortable–since I’ve been posting here since around 2007. I don’t want to use the word OH-NO! However, this is where my true introvert kicks into gear. Only I can choose whether I do or don’t give in to my reclusive muse–the one who tries to stop me from doing things. Is it really a muse, though?
Solution
Ahh, yes, the solution. There is an app with the prompts. Then it becomes a private thing between me, the prompts, my blog, my followers, and whoever visits. I am more comfortable with this solution. But… I can’t find the app, and I don’t know where I saw the link posted. ARGH! Whine, whine. So, my reclusive muse contacted support. Oh, darn.
Then I think… I am not giving in to “OH-NO!” We’ll see.
UPDATE: WordPress got back to me with an answer about the app I mentioned. The name of the app is Day One Journal and is not connected with Bloganuary, but it’s more like a journaling app. You can find information about Bloganuary and the Day One Journal app HERE.
Today’s prompt is a bust because I’d like more time to think it over. Of course, it’d be in its own post IF I answered: “What is a life lesson everyone can benefit from learning?” I’d say:
I don’t know how early the prompt comes out tomorrow, or if I’ll do anything with it then or for the rest of the month.
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Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance 
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