Mugwump Monday

mugwump ~ one who is neutral politically

Gong hoy fat choy!

Today is the Chinese New Year, heralding the Year of the Dragon. As many of you know, I have a soft spot for dragons – I’ve been collecting them for years. Little ones, big ones, medium sized ones . . . made from glass, ceramic, wood, plastic, pewter . . . yeah, it’s a pretty extensive collection. :-)

I always wished I’d been born in the Year of the Dragon, but alas, I was not. I was born in the Year of the Dog (which doesn’t come around again until 2018). For the longest time I thought I’d been born in the Year of the Boar, but that’s because I was following the westernized version of the Chinese Zodiac, which is very different from the real thing. So if your birthday falls in January or February, you may want to check out THIS LINK to find out what Chinese Year you were actually born in.

And a note to my sceptical friend Jamie, according to the Chinese horoscope, you were born in the Year of the Tiger and not only are Tigers very compatible with Dogs, one of the best career choices for them is “writer”. :-p

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Last week went pretty good until Friday, when I missed my poetry post. Sorry folks, but it just wasn’t happening. I did start one. I was going to recycle a post about everyone’s favourite, the Haiku. Only a funny thing happened when I started working on it . . . it started to turn into a rant. I’m very much a traditionalist when it comes to poetry forms. Some forms have rhymes schemes, some have syllable counts, some have both, and some include a specific tone or subject you need to keep in mind when writing your poem. Such is the case with the Haiku, a fact that very few people seem to be aware of; hence, my post that turned into a rant. I didn’t want to offend any lovers of Haiku so I’ve abandoned my post until such a time as I can un-rantify it.

I hope you caught the first chapter of Water last week. Despite the fact that I sort of set the tone with the prologue, I still didn’t know where I should start the actual story. Should I continue on with them as infants? Should I skip their childhood and get right to the good stuff? I actually started out just before their mother dies, and about halfway through I realized that’s not where I wanted to start. Nor did I want to skip their childhood completely, because growing up in the compound is integral to the story. So I compromised and made them 10 years old.

I got lots of reading done last week, but nothing that can be added to my reading challenge list. I got a sneak peak at the stories for the next issue of Rattles Flash Fiction. Who knew an Old Sofa could be so inspiring? I also got a story delivered to my inbox that needs editing. You know, this is one of the perks of being an editor – finding out how something ends before anyone else. :-)

You may (or may not) have noticed my absence from Twitter and Facebook last week. My sad old lap top really doesn’t like Twitter and only barely tolerates Facebook. *sigh* And yes, I suppose I could use the desk top computer, but I don’t have my bookmarks on it and I can’t sit in the recliner with it and watch T.V. while I do so. And the screen doesn’t face the right way for socializing. Yes, that’s right. I don’t like facing the wall when I’m socializing and because the monitor on the desk top is one of those thin jobs, it’s set up against the wall in my office so the cats don’t knock it off my desk. So, to make a long story short, it sucks to be me. LOL

What’s Up This Week:
The schedule is up on the side bar, so I’m just giving the highlights here.

TuesdayI’ve expanded my Sharing the Love segment. Sometimes I come across a noteworthy website, not just a single post, so I thought it only fair to include a few of them as well.

Wednesday (on Random Writings) is the next instalment for Shades, in which we accompany Jessica on a tour of Castle Ghren. And don’t forget the Hump Day Hunk (on Random Thoughts).

Thursday will be Chapter Two of Water (on Random Thoughts) where we find out a little more of what life is like in the compound for the twins before bad stuff starts happening to them (probably next week).

Friday I am killing two birds with one stone. The “poemwork” for this month from my poetry group was to write a Burns Sonnet in honour of Robbie Burns day. So I’ll be talking a little bit about Robbie Burns and his interpretation of the sonnet on Random Writings. On Random Thoughts I thought I’d try something a little different for my flash fiction prompt. I have a book of quotations and I’m going to pick one at random and then base my story on it. I’d pick the quote right now, but the book is in my office some where and I have a cat curled up on the end of my recliner. :-)