Tag: Our Justice

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Dream

~ John W. Howell ~ 50 Comments

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday again and this week’s prompt is “dream.” Linda Hill says we can use it as a noun or a verb. She also means we can use it any way we like. Well, that brings up a host of possibilities. If you would like to participate in this madness, go to Linda’s blog and read how. Here is the link.

https://lindaghill.com/2019/11/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-nov-16-19/

Dream by John W. Howell © 2019

“What are you eating?”

“It is called a Dreamsicle.”

“I’ve never seen one of those before.”

“Want a taste?”

“Thanks. That is dreamy, all right. Is that orange sherbert on top of vanilla ice cream?”

“Yup. Just a dream, a dream.”

“You’re singing.”

“Yup. All our plans and all our schemes.”

“What song is that?”

“Just a Dream by Jimmy Clanton.”

“I know one. Sing with me, sing for the years
Sing for the laughter, sing for the tears.”

“Dream on. Aerosmith, right?”

“Right.”

“Try this. All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey.”

“California Dreaming by the Mamas and Papas.  Here’s one. This is my quest to follow that star. No matter how hopeless, no matter how far.”

“Impossible Dream by Richard Kiley. Now me. I need you so that I could die. I love you so and that is why.”

“All I have to do is Dream by the Everly Brothers. I’ll bet you won’t get this one. In the dark, and I’m right on the mark.”

“Hmmm. Let see.”

“I’ll give you a hint. Fire breathing.”

“Dragon?”

“Close.”

“Imagine Dragons. The song is Dream.”

“Bingo. You go ahead.”

“A candy-colored clown they call the sandman.Tiptoes to my room every night.”

“Easy. In Dreams by Roy Orbison. Have we done enough?”

“I think so. One more. Cheer up sleepy Jean. Oh, what can it mean to a Daydream believer and a Homecoming queen?”

“Monkees. Daydream Believer. I think we have run the course.”

“One more use of the word dream.”

“What?”

“Creamy head, amber color, bubbles.”

“BARLEY POP!”

“You got it. Let’s go.”

 

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

~ John W. Howell ~ 55 Comments
“Twiggy. What is that thing?”
“It’s my eel toy. I’m celebrating Friday.”
“Good luck with that.”

 

Friday. So good to see your smiling face. We can celebrate making it another week. Here in Texas, we got hit by a cold front that took the wind chills down into the basement. Man, it was cold. We are not expected to get back to the 70s until next week. I know, I know you folks in the North have no sympathy. My only defense in being such a weenie is if I wanted to be chilled to the bone I would have moved to Alaska. At least I would know what is waiting for me during the winter. This year here the temps went from the 90s to the 30s overnight. No chance to get used to a gradual decline.

The WIP editing is coming along. I’m at page 223 out of 300. I also cut out about 2000 words so far and am down to 93,000. I would say I’ll be finished in another eight days or so.

This week’s JohnKu talks about having to cut precious words from a manuscript. I hope you have a great weekend.

Sacrifice by John W. Howell © 2019

You hate to do it,

The words were hard to come by . . .

Sacrifice is tough.

Thursday – A Little Personal – Cold Snap

~ John W. Howell ~ 89 Comments

A little personal

so here we are faced with going outside when it is freezing.

“Oh my gosh, Lucy it’s cold.”

“Yes, it is Little One. Good thing you have that sweater.”

“Okay, I have to run to stay warm.”

“Right behind you, Little Leopard.”

“Keep running.”

“But we have to stop eventually. We are out here for a purpose.”

“Makes sense. I’m ready to go inside.”

“Wait for me.”

“Puff puff. That was some run.”

“Feel warm, though, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I must say you look ferocious.”

“Please don’t tell anyone I’m in a cat sweater, Lucy.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Look at the Boss. He has something.”

“I picked this off the lounge chair. It’s ice.”

“Ice? What the heck is ice?”

“Frozen water.”

“Well, you have two frozen pups, and if you don’t mind, we need inside. We like our water unfrozen.”

Wednesday Story Day – AKA – Hump Day

~ John W. Howell ~ 50 Comments

 

Twiggy
“Twiggy. What are you doing?”
“Camping out till Friday.”

My apologies all. I had some technical challenges today and so this post did not publish as scheduled. Here it is now.

It is Wednesday Story Day again, and last week we were all encouraged by the information given Charles Jenkins, one of the two servers that brought room service to Mrs. Rafferty posing as Mrs. Dixon (Whew I hope I haven’t lost anyone.) Charles gave a positive ID when Larry showed him the picture of Janice Rafferty. So the other server is entering the conference room. I think we better get there fast to catch every word.

“Yes, come in young man. This is Andrew and I’m Larry.”

“Y-you guys are cops I hear.”

“Yes, that’s correct. Can we get your name?”

“I don’t know anything.”

“Wait a minute. We haven’t asked anything yet.”

“Yeah, but for the record, I want to stay employed and healthy.”

“What makes you think talking to us could jeopardize those two states of nature.”

“States of nature?”

“Never mind. Why are you so nervous?”

“You are kidding me, right?”

“No, I’m asking a direct question.”

“The hotel manager said you had some questions about who we served.”

“Yeah so,?”

“I’ve served a lot of important people. I wouldn’t want word to get out that I’m a snitch.”

“This person we want information about is not important.”

“Well, that does make a difference. I thought you wanted info on some pretty heavy hitters.”

“No, her name is Dixon and, you served her on the 14th of February.”

“Valentine’s day?”

“So, happens.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Here’s a picture. Does she look familiar?”

“Oh shit.”

“So you recognize her.”

“Um yeah.”

“Do you know her name?”

“Yeah Mrs. Dixon. Janice Dixon.”

“Why the reaction?”

“Um…well….you see it’s embarrassing.”

“What?”

“Charles and she were a number.”

“What?”

“Yeah, they got hot and heavy at a party that Charles and I went to and then left.”

“When was this?”

“The night before I served her room service.”

“Do you know where they went?”

“No idea. Charles never made it into work and that’s why I had to fill in. I didn’t say anything and just left the food for her. She gave me a hell of a tip.”

“Big tip?”

“I’ll say. A hundred bucks.”

“How come?”

“She just winked at me.”

“Did you talk to Charles about it?”

“Yeah, I asked him where they ended up.”

“What did he say?”

“Just that they had a drink and he dropped her off.”

“Any reason for him not showing up at work?”

“He said he caught the flu.”

“You believe him?”

“Sure, I’ve had the Pabst Blue Ribbon flu before.”

”So, you think he was hungover.”

“Not for me to say.”

“Can I get your name?”

“No more questions?”

“Maybe later.”

“Yeah, it’s Jerry Foster.”

“Okay, Jerry. That’s it for now.”

Tuesday – Anything Possible – Kreative Kue #237 by Keith Channing

~ John W. Howell ~ 55 Comments

In Keith’s words. “Using this photo (below) as inspiration, write a short story, flash fiction, scene, poem; anything, really; even just a caption for the photograph. Either put it (or a link to it) in a comment or email it to me at keithchanning@gmail.com before 6pm next Sunday (if you aren’t sure what the time is where I live, , this link will tell you). If you post it on your own blog or site, a link to this page would be appreciated, but please do also mention it in a comment here.

Go on. You know you want to. Let your creativity and imagination soar. I shall display the entries next Monday.”

The Photo.

Kreative Kue #237

The Departure by John W. Howell ©2019

“What are you doing with that bugle?”

“I was going to play a farewell.”

“Farewell to who?”

“Whom.”

“Huh?”

“To whom. A farewell to whom.”

“That’s what I’m asking.”

“Okay, never mind. I don’t have time for a ‘Who’s on first’ thing with you.”

“What are you talking about? Let’s get back to the farewell.”

“See that guy in the prison clothes over there.”

“You mean the dayglo orange, so no one will miss seeing me, clothes?

“Whatever. See the guy?”

“Yes. Who could miss the guy.”

“He is loading Wanda for her last ride.”

“Wanda?”

“Yeah. Wanda Wagon. She’s gone over that mechanics bridge to the great junkyard in the sky.”

“Please. You are getting all maudlin over that pile of junk?”

“Pile of junk? That car has been through thick and thin with me.”

“Thick and thin?  How do you figure? You bought her used last year.”

“Well, it’s been a tough year.”

“Don’t you think you are getting carried away?”

“Says the guy who sobbed at his Vespa’s departure.”

“That’s different. I had that scooter since I was eighteen.”

“Is that a tear I see?”

“I still miss her.”

“Didn’t you get a Harley?”

“Well, yeah. It’s just not the same.”

“I’ll say. Chrome headlights, fabulous saddlebags, terrific seat, wheels that would make you cry.”

“Yeah, she is sweet. You getting another wagon?”

“Do you have no sensitivity at all. It is too soon to talk of another wagon.”

“Coup, huh?”

“I’m in mourning.”

“Maybe red with a turbo V8?”

“I like blue better.”

“Ah, midnight blue. Maybe a convertible? The dealer is down the street.”

“Might do me good.”

“What about the bugle?”

“You are right. It was only a used car, after all.”

“You sure we were talking about cars?”

 

Views of the Neighborhood – Watch Paint Dry

~ John W. Howell ~ 69 Comments

Here is the front door. it is a neutral color that neither adds or detracts from the front view.

I have applied masking tape to the glass. Some would rather scrape after the fact but I like to keep scraping to a minimum.

I take the knobs off the doors. Some like to mask them but there is always some paint left on the hardware when masked.

The door opens to the inside so I will have to paint the door inside. The bottle is alcohol used to clean the door before painting. The zebra print towel is laying on two baby gates. These are needed to keep Twiggy under control.

 

Here is a view of the gates and towel from the outside.

 

Here are the tools needed. Roller, paintbrush, newspaper, and stir stick.

 

Here is the color. The masking tape is still in place so it can dry. I need to go and watch the Baylor Bears beat TCU. (They did by the skin of their teeth.)

 

 

Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt -“GHT”

~ John W. Howell ~ 65 Comments

 

Stream of Consciousness

 

It is Stream of Consciousness Saturday, and since this week’s prompt is a bit tricky, I’m going to let Linda Hil explain it. Here are Linda’s words “Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “ght.” Find a word that contains the letters “ght” in that order, and use it any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use three or more different words containing those letters. Have fun!” If you would like this kind of challenge, go to Linda’s blog and read how. It is easy and fun. Here is the link.

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS Nov. 9/19

GHT by John W. Howell © 2019

“Okay, it’s midnight, and you are still sitting at that table. You want to enlighten me as to what you are doing?

“I’d be delighted. I’m having a nightcap.”

“Well, you frightened me. I saw the light and thought you were a burglar.”

“That’s mighty funny. I guess I caught you off guard.”

“That you did. I might have called the cops.”

“I ought to have given you a warning. I’m glad it came to naught.”

” Except for the fact that now I’m uptight. I’m sure I can’t go straight back to sleep.”

“How about a draught of this slightly delightful bourbon?”

“I’m sure that brightens your day, but for me, it is too late at night.”

“To me, the moonlight and bourbon are downright perfect pairings.”

“Why don’t you go to a nightclub since I would like to get some sleep tonight?”

“That’s too farsighted for me. I think the thoughtful thing to do is to go to bed myself.”

“You are a righteous soul. You just saved me from being overwrought.”

“And you saved me by helping score the bonus points. You are a heavyweight.”

“I’m up for knighthood, I’m sure.”

“Keep that goal in sight.”

“Right.”

Friday JohnKu – AKA – TGIF

~ John W. Howell ~ 71 Comments

 

Lucy and Twiggy
“I love Friday and your new candy corn toy, Twiggy.”
“It is fun, Lucy. Toss it here.”

 

Let’s hear it for Friday. YAY. Always lovely to see your smiling face, Friday. It makes us glad we made it through the week and now only have two days of relaxation ahead.

I’m looking forward to painting the front door. “What?” you say. “Your front door is unpainted?”

Yes, it is painted. The problem is it is not painted the right accent color on the outside. So, the forecast for Saturday has the humidity at 50%, which means good painting weather. I’ll take some photos (I know real exciting stuff) and run them on Views of the Neighborhood on Sunday. Wow. Does it get any better than that?

Still editing the WIP. It is moving slowly but surely.

Today’s JohnKu is about editing. I hope you have a super weekend.

Editing by John W. Howell © 2019

If you don’t do it,

Life later will be like hell . . .

Before publish, edit.

 

Thursday – A Little Personal – Serang – A New Book by C.S. Boyack

~ John W. Howell ~ 98 Comments
“I see we have Lisa Burton in the house.”
“Yes, kids. So you have the day off.”
Craig and Lisa
Craig’s Bust and Lisa

I am very pleased to again welcome Lisa Burton who as you know is C.S.Boyack’s Personal Assistant. She is also the host of Lisa Burton Radio on most Thursdays. Here is a link to the last show. Lisa is here to talk about C.S. Boyack’s latest book

So, Welcome to Fiction Favorites, Lisa.

Hi, John. Always a pleasure to visit you during these book tours. Craig has a new book out, and this one ties into the Lanternfish trilogy. But it isn’t part of the trilogy, if that makes sense.

Let me try again. Serang was a popular character in Voyage of the Lanternfish. Her origin is pretty amazing, and Craig decided to turn that into a book. It supports the Lanternfish trilogy, but isn’t part of the trilogy. It also helps quell that urge for more Lanternfish while he finishes writing the remaining tales.

Serang’s father was a fisherman, and he died when she was very young. Her mother abandoned her at a monastery, and she was raised by monks. She learned things she never would have learned otherwise, like reading, writing, and martial arts. She also adopted a lifestyle of service to others and sharing what she has.

Fathers are kind of a driving force behind Voyage of the Lanternfish. James became who he is, because of his father’s actions. Dan also had some father issues he dealt with, and even Mal dealt with some of this from the father’s point of view.

Serang never let go of her father, either. Her memories are limited to the idea that he was a fisherman. She and her master were helping a village, because the Emperor took nearly everything they have for his war. When she stumbled across some old fishing crocks, she used one to reconnect with her father – in a way. The crocks involve a kind of hand fishing, and you can see how they work in my poster.

The Goonch catfish is a real creature living in the waters of Asia. It’s amazing how real creatures were as good as fantasy creatures in this story. Nature is strange and wonderful, and Craig used them where he could. Some of them were enhanced for the fantasy elements of the story, and others are complete fantasy. In the case of the Goonch, he remained as he is in nature.

I thought the scene with Serang and the Goonch was wonderful. I insisted that one of our promotional posters reflect that scene. She wasn’t exactly weepy, but when she became an actual fisherman it was an important event in her life.

I hope your fans enjoy this poster, and feel free to add it to Pinterest or use it for computer backgrounds. And remember, this robot girl is an animal lover, so I practice catch and release.

Thank you, Lisa. This sounds like an excellent read and I certainly enjoyed having you over today. Lucy and Twiggy enjoyed your visit as well and were grateful for the day off.

***

Blurb:

Monastic life is all about duty, service, harmony. For Serang, a young girl abandoned at the temple by her mother after the death of her father, that life becomes all she knows. The monks give her purpose, and become her new family.

When political upheaval causes chaos throughout the land, Serang again loses everything and everyone she loves. Alone, she struggles to survive. She convinces a wandering monk to take her under his wing and complete her training. Thus begins her adventures through strange lands and her trials to become a confident, capable, independent adult.

This is a coming of age story set in a fantasy world. It’s filled with monsters and martial arts, difficulties, and dangers. The serious situations preclude the story from the levity of its predecessor, Voyage of the Lanternfish, but it provides a compelling look at the origin of one of the saga’s most fascinating characters.

Purchase Link http://mybook.to/Serang

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