Must Say Goodbye

Well, did you think I had fallen off the face of the earth? Nope, just the WWW. We were without Internet and landline service from Friday morning, when AT&T screwed up, until Tuesday night, when the lines and wires were finally reestablished. It was the pits!

But, being thrown back into the time-before-the-Internet freed my mind and allowed me to come to a necessary conclusion: At this time in my life, I must stop blogging. There is just too much going on with my family and I am the caregiver, helper, and go-to gal. As much as I love offering my daily posts to you, I cannot continue. After reorganizing my priorities, blogging came in last.

Thanks so much to everyone for all your kind words, comments, and support. I’m very glad I was able to help stir your little gray cells for a couple of years. Perhaps someday, when my life is not so overwhelming, we will find each other again.

Best wishes for your success and fun with writing!

Adios, arrivederci, adieu, auf wiedershen, aloha – from Cyranette…

Friday Notions #115

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: How long can you go without eating?

Sentence: Waiting for the doorbell to ring, she kept telling herself, It’s not a date, it’s not a date, it’s not a date. 

Paragraph: Tanager was in a rut. He could not come up with new names for his characters; the same ones kept popping into his head no matter how their personalities differed. He hopped onto the treadmill, vowing to fast walk until he figured out why he was so fond of “Jack” and “Jill”.

Prompt: Describe your cleaning regimen.

Word of the Day: hoke – vt : to give a contrived, falsely impressive, or hokey quality to – usu. used with up <~ up a movie with lots of action>
(Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, 2011)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Thursday Thoughts #115

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: How much restraint do you possess?

Sentence: He kicked himself, which was no mean feat, time and time again.

Paragraph: In stunned silence she stood by the edge of the pond. The girls, knowing not to go near it, had yelled, “Mommy, Mommy, the ball rolled into the water again!” It happened often for they loved playing ball. Since she loved hearing their laughter and was proud of their heeding her warnings, she did not mind fetching their toy from the bottom of the long, sloping backyard. But this time, incongruously, a body floated among the flowering lily pads.

Prompt: Remark upon your three worst experiences.

Word of the Day: chesty – adj. 1. having a well-developed chest or bosom.  2. proud; conceited. (RANDOM HOUSE WEBSTER’S COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 1991)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Wednesday Wits #115

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: What topic(s) do you and your friends discuss most often?

Sentence: Corine Frazier knew better, she really did.

Paragraph: The deep, dank hole from which he had crawled closed behind him. He slowly stood, as though he had been bent, cramped, and trapped for a long time. Which he had. For over two hundred years, as a matter of fact, but time was irrelevant to the conjured.

Prompt: Name the calling, besides writing, for which you have been destined.

Word of the Day: demulcent – adj. soothing (WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 3rd ed., 1996)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Tuesday Tips #115

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: What type of vehicle would you prefer to drive?

Sentence: Without looking back, he dared her to follow him.

Paragraph: If ever a couple were well suited for one another, it was Caitlin Sullivan and Donovan Kincaid. So like-minded, they finished each other’s sentences from the get go. Their differences were rare, minor, and unimportant for they shared caring souls. Before they were married, Caitlin realized Donovan liked to talk, which was fine with her. On long drives in their first few years together, Kate would pose a question or make a comment so that Donovan could gladly enlighten her or explain his view. Then she could think about whatever she wanted to.

Prompt: Explain something you have experienced to someone who never will.

Word of the Day: waggery – n.  1  the action, spirit, or manner of a wag; roguish jocularity or merriment  2 a joke or jest; esp. , a practical joke (WEBSTER’S NEW WORLD COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 3rd ed., 1996)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Monday Musings #115

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: How often do you laugh until you cry?

Sentence: The mirror held no surprises.

Paragraph: Wee Riley O’Leary spoke the brogue like no other in his fourth-grade class, which only served to set him further apart. He had not just arrived from Ireland, neither had his parents nor grandparents. Over the summer, Riley had taken a liking to the Star Trek character Scotty. Though each year he spoke with a different accent, depending on what he had read or seen, his teachers put up with the affectation. However, his current teacher, Mr. Alorda, was not amused or quite as tolerant. New to Jacob Sousa Elementary’s staff, he had been well briefed on the eccentric child under his charge and had decided to break him.

Prompt: Write effusively about something ordinary or boring.

Word of the Day: strew – vt 1 : to spread by scattering  2 : to cover by or as if by scattering something  3 : to become dispersed over as if scattered  4 : to spread abroad : DISSEMINATE  (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, 2011)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Sunday Ponderings #114

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: To what are you oblivious?

Sentence: “Envelope me in your love,” sang the songwriter, “but give nothing of yourself away…”

Paragraph: With the tide coming in, the annual Santa Cruz Sand Sculpture Contest was nearly over. Sea lions under the 2700-foot long wharf continued to bark their protest of the hundreds of onlookers above, who were not allowed to feed them. Large seagulls and pelicans dropped their objectionable messages upon the milling throng that kept them from resting on the railings.

Photo Prompt:

Word of the Day: fain – Archaic. adv. 1. gladly; willingly: He fain would accept…  – adj. 2. content; willing.  3. constrained; obliged.  4. glad; pleased.  5. desirous; eager. (RANDOM HOUSE WEBSTER’S COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 1991)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Saturday Ideas #114

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: Who do you wish would disappear?

Sentence: They were whispering at her, again, and causing wretched pain to seep into her skull.

Paragraph: He deleted another paragraph and stood up. Resisting the foolish urge to trash his entire office, he elevated the treadmill and took off. A forest trail immediately appeared on the wall in front of him, but he switched the hologram to a path along a cliff’s edge. He needed to be challenged not soothed.

Prompt: Describe an emotion you have difficulty expressing.

Word of the Day: tenebrous – adj  1 : shut off from the light : DARK, MURKY  2 : hard to understand : OBSCURE <a ~ affair>  3 : causing gloom (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, 2011)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Friday Notions #114

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: How do you handle fear?

Sentence: Despite his mind-boggling fuck ups, Coleman’s mother refused to surrender and allow him to turn out like his worthless father.

Paragraph: What was that? Aurora swiveled her head, but nothing was there. There it is again. Turning her good ear in the direction from which the sound seemed to be coming, she held still. There was more than the leaves rustling. More than the squirrels scampering. Gravel. Someone was trying not to disturb the gravel.

Prompt: Name something that makes you automatically lick your lips.

Word of the Day: antipodean – adj syn OPPOSITE, antipodal, antithetical, contradictory, contrary, converse, counter, diametric, polar, reverse (Webster’s Collegiate Thesaurus, 1976)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.

Thursday Thoughts #114

The purpose of this blog is to help writers with their work, to be museful or perhaps instrumental in unclogging thoughts. To this end, I am providing a daily question, beginning sentence, beginning paragraph, prompt, and word-of-the-day to stimulate your “little gray cells.”

Question: Compared to whom do you feel better off than?

Sentence: From a world away she felt his love.

Paragraph: “How bound are you to your faith?” Reverend Wilson asked his underwhelmed congregation. With every word he uttered he sensed their internal yawning and longed to blow their minds. But he did not, could not do so. Then, as he droned on, a spark of rebellion tingled his soul.

Prompt: Recall the harshest words you ever heard.

Word of the Day: haploid – adj.  Also, haploidic.  1. single; simple. 2. pertaining to a single set of chromosomes. (RANDOM HOUSE WEBSTER’S COLLEGE DICTIONARY, 1991)

If your work needs a title, tweaking, or critiquing, please do not hesitate to ask. Cyranette is here for you.