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Once upon a time a long, long time ago…cont’d
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Now the middle princess, Mavelle had a habit of walking through the woods at all hours of the night and she came upon the bloodied, weak, and wailing Crone.
“Mother, who did this to you? Let me help you.” The princess gently aided the Crone to her hut. She washed and doctored the Crone’s wounds and patiently waited for the old woman to stop sobbing and tell her the story of her cruel treatment.
When at last she could speak, the Crone told the young princess a tale that she found horrifying. “Little one, it was your sister. So cruelly did she treat me that I refused to answer her questions. For your kindness, I will reward you.
“Mother, I need no reward, for what I did, anyone would do for one who suffers.”
“Anyone other than your sister, it seems. Now listen carefully. You must travel to the center of the deep forest. There you will find a cave of stone. Inside is a dagger of dark crystal, this is the only thing that can kill a stone ogre. It can pierce his stone heart.
The princess traveled to the forest accompanied only by her deerhound, Mcdougal. There she trod softly on bare feet following the deer trails to the center. It took some time to find the cave and when she did, she easily prized the dark crystal knife from its lair.
Holding a kerchief of her sister’s in front of her deerhound’s face, she begged her companion to seek her sister. Fleet of foot, the hound raced ahead of her for many miles only slowing to see if she still followed.
Finally, the hound halted, he dropped to the ground and whined. She could no more move him than a mountain. She sat next to him, pillowed her head on his back, and napped. As she slept, she dreamed.
Her sister, Lovena, beckoned to her and said, “Look below and not above, behind and not in front. Beware the heart of ice and listen only to one who is true. Hurry sister.”
She woke with a start. “McDougal, we need to hurry. Find her!”
Her deerhound sat in place and whined. He held up one paw and then the other.
“Here? She’s here? But where?” Mavelle looked around her. They were in the courtyard of a long abandoned summer home. Most of the home was in ruins but to her right and below ground level, she saw a small window. She would’ve missed the window had her sister’s words not echoed in her mind.
“How do I get in there?”….More tomorrow.
Posted in My blog
Tags: Author, books, Craft of writing, Disability, Doggoned, Fiction, Multiple Sclerosis, Writer, Writing
Once upon a time a long, long time ago…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Once upon a time a long, long time ago there lived a widowed king, he had three daughters. The eldest had raven hair, milk white skin, and was beautiful as one could be on the outside. Inside, her heart was as cold as ice and hard as iron. She thought the world owed her and expected to collect any day. They called her Sarah for the princess she was.
The middle daughter had wild red tresses, sunburned skin, and freckles. She was not fair of face but her heart was as warm as the sun, as soft as goose down, and as strong as it should be. She enjoyed being close to nature and held all life precious. They named her Mavelle, their little songbird.
The youngest daughter had beautiful blonde hair, the most gorgeous brown eyes you ever saw, and no face was fairer in all the land. Her heart was kind and as delicate as porcelain. She loved everyone she ever met. Her name came easy, Lovena, the joy of all who met her.
One night a stone ogre stole the youngest princess from her bed. The king’s knights searched far and wide but couldn’t find a trace of her.
There came a day where the king offered his kingdom as reward for finding his beloved youngest daughter. The eldest daughter, not out of kindness but out of a greedy quest for acclaim and the throne, asked her father if she could try to search for her missing sister. Her father begged her not to go saying he couldn’t bear to lose another daughter. She laughed at him and said, “Father, I am smarter than your all knights and I will bring her back. When I do, everyone will bow down to me and call me Queen.”
She took two knights who were under her sway with her and off she went. First, she went to the old crone who lived in the woods. She had her men drag the woman out of her hut and hold a sword to her throat. “Tell me how to find my sister and defeat the ogre so I can be queen.”
The Crone held up her hands and besought the cruel girl to let her go that she knew not how to find the sister or how to defeat the ogre.
“Cut her. Make her bleed and cry so that she tells me.” The cruel princess told her men.
“I know not. I cannot tell you what I know not. Perhaps the wizard of the swamp can tell you.”
They left the Crone bleeding and sobbing... to be continued
TV, crap as usual…
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Man, could TV possibly get any worse? I am so glad that some of my favorite off-channel shows are coming back on. What they are running on the big three is pure garbage.
Hooray for TNT, Syfy, USA, History and the Science channel. Without them, The Curmudgeon would drive me up a wall and around the bend. (Yes, a very short trip for me these days.)
Are you also being driven crazy by the lack of decent TV?
You all have a good one!
Posted in Favorite TV shows
Tags: Author, books, Doggoned, Firefly, Fringe, Multiple Sclerosis, Syfy, TNT, Writer
Muse, please return to me.
Posted by doggonedmysteries
So when my muse decides to come out of hiding, I think I’ll be ready for her. I have a Muse trap set up and a Muse cage to keep her in unless she agrees to stay on her own. All I need now is some Muse bait. What does one use for Muse bait?
Should I put up lost signs? Advertise in the lost and found ads? Offer a reward?
I believe my muse is in hiding. Makes me wonder what I did. If you see my Muse please send her back.
You all have a good one!
Posted in Writing
Tags: Author, books, Craft of writing, Disability, Doggoned, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Mysteries, Writer
Extra coffee…bonus!!!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
It’s amazing what one can find lurking in the back of the kitchen cabinets. Every so often I’ll grab a flashlight, sit on the floor, and pull things out of my lower cabinets. I am often surprised. Last night I decided to do a cupboard purge. On the top shelf, I found a whole can of coffee, a can stuffed full of bags of assorted gourmet coffees, and a box of sweetener all of which had managed to travel to the back of the cupboard. All of which, I had completely forgotten about.
I found an unopened bag of coconut, powdered sugar, and a box of black tea bags in the back on the shelf below. I need to hit the other pantry shelves later today. I wonder what I’ll find there?
Why am I doing this purge? I found a can of tomato sauce in the one cupboard that had a use by date on it of 2009 the other night. Highly unusual in this house. I tend to rotate foodstuffs often but somehow missed that can.
After cleaning out the hoarded mess that was the MIL’s house for over a year, I swore my house will never come anywhere close to that. Yet, there it was, staring me in the face, a can of tomato sauce years past its expiration date. Yikes!
You all have a good one and check those dates!
The PW Conference nears
Posted by doggonedmysteries
As this week dwindles and next week grows nearer, my excitement mounts. I can’t wait to get to Lancaster for the Pennwriters conference!
I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait. I’m worse than a kid on Christmas eve now.
If you are a writer and you want to try a conference, I say come to PW’s! Check out our site at http://www.pennwriters.org All the information about the conference is there for you to read at your leisure.
Posted in Pennwriters conference
Tags: Author, books, Doggoned, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Novel writing, Pennwriters conference, Writer, Writing
Blustery day!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
Winnie the Pooh: Happy “Winds-day”, Piglet.
Piglet: [being blown away] Well… it isn’t… very happy… f-for me.
Winnie the Pooh: Where are you going, Piglet?
Piglet: That’s what I’m asking myself, where?
[he is lifted into the air by a gust of wind] Piglet: W-Whoops! P-P-P-Pooh!
Winnie the Pooh: [grabbing Piglet’s scarf] And what do you think you will answer yourself?
It seemed like that sort of day here yesterday although it was Monday and not Windsday.
Even though the wind blew like crazy the broken branch in the Tulip Poplar is still stuck way up in the tree. I don’t do tall ladders so it may stay there until it rots away.
You all have a good one!
Posted in Weather related
Tags: Author, Bones, books, Disability, Doggoned, Family, Fiction, Multiple Sclerosis, Writer
Once upon a time
Posted by doggonedmysteries
A long, long time ago a poor lad discovered a strange pathway through a nearby forest. No one ever traversed the forest for fear of the ogres and beasties that dwelt within.
Every day for a week he walked to the path, stood, and stared down its length as far as he could see. Which wasn’t far for the forest gulped the path down into its black maw a few yards beyond the edge of the trees.
“Tomorrow I’m going to follow the path and see what lies beyond the edge of the forest,” he said to himself every day, but he never did it.
Do you put off entering the forest or do you follow the path and seek out the unknown?
I’m following the path…
You all have a good one!
Posted in Short Stories
Tags: Author, books, Bull Terriers, Craft of writing, Doggoned, Multiple Sclerosis, Novel writing, Writer, Writing
Stranger than fiction?
Posted by doggonedmysteries
The difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense. ~Tom Clancy~
Reality is often a strange place to live. I’ve heard true stories and seen things that I wouldn’t dare put in my fiction writing because no one would believe it.
The way my mind works, I have to bounce things off The Curmudgeon to see if he thinks it is believable. He makes for a great technical adviser but sometimes his imagination is a tad lacking and I have to ask others their opinions.
Having a wild imagination isn’t always good for a writer. Fiction that doesn’t sound real enough will put off a reader faster than a skunk’s butt backing up to him/her. It has to be believable enough to suspend disbelief.
Thus, even real situations that sound too fantastic to believe will lose readers. They must always make sense if only in terms of making sense for the story.
Save us from reality shows
Posted by doggonedmysteries
I watch TV for entertainment purposes. Therefore I do not watch reality shows that make me ill just from watching the danged trailers for them. No I don’t want to see how bad that poor sick person’s house looks. Nor do I want to know about someone’s horrible and weirdly sick addiction.
What people do in the privacy of their homes belongs there and not jumping off my TV screen.
I had enough dealing with a hoarders home when in my reality I had to clear out my MIL’s house. No, I don’t want to compare notes with the TV on whose house was worse. Entertainment? Oh, hell no.
I’m so glad I read and oh, yeah I write too….
You all have a good one. Me, I’m going to turn off the TV and go for a walk.
Posted in Favorite TV shows
Tags: Author, books, Bull Terriers, Doggoned, Fiction, Life, Love, Multiple Sclerosis, Writer
When characters fight back
Posted by doggonedmysteries
She’s insisting she will not become romantically involved with her coworker. Every time I try to write a bit of a love scene, she stalks off and won’t talk to me.
The sexual tension is there and she refuses to play with it. I’ve tried bribery (If you play along I’ll write you a fabulous chase scene), coaxing (Oh, come on you know you like him), and threats (If you don’t let me write the scene I’ll wound or kill you in the next scene). No good. She won’t be moved.
I have a feeling she intends to hold herself aloof for her debut and then maybe she’ll loosen up in the second book.
At least she’s talking to me and that’s a start. My other characters have gone into hiding.
Posted in My books
Tags: Author, books, Craft of writing, Dead, Doggoned, Multiple Sclerosis, Mysteries, Mystery, Writer
John Carter Movie YAY!!
Posted by doggonedmysteries
One of my favorite book series has always been Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series. So you can imagine my excitement to hear that FINALLY someone is making a John Carter movie.
Yay! I will be in line for tickets the day it opens here. And, if it is true enough to the books, I will buy the DVD when it comes out too.
Read the books if you haven’t, they are great. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve reread them over the years.
Doggonedmysteries 