Blog Schedule

I post on Monday with an occasional random blog thrown in for good measure. I do my best to answer all comments via email and visit around on the days I post.

Monday, July 13, 2015

52 LIKES, Titles to Write By, The Monday Muse and Being Thankful

Medeia Sharif's 52 LIKES is 99 cents on Amazon for a limited time. This edgy, paranormal YA title has been receiving rave reviews. Important issues such as rape, bullying, and social media abuse are tackled in this novel. You can connect with Medeia through her blog, Twitter account, Goodreads page, and Instagram to learn more about this book and her other titles.

52 LIKES, Evernight Teen, 2015: After a brutal rape and near-murder, Valerie wants to get past feelings of victimhood from both the assault and her history of being bullied. She’s plagued by not knowing the identity of her rapist and by the nasty rumors in school about that night. Valerie follows clues from ghostly entities, past victims of the rapist-murderer, contacting her through a social media site—why do all of their eerie photos have 52 likes under them? Their messages are leading her to the mystery man, although he’ll put up a fight to remain hidden.


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Titles to Write By: In which we play with a single word and turn it into, what else, titles! Afterwards the object is to pick one of them and write a little something.

It was Ray Bradbury, in his book ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING, who taught me about making lists of words and turning them into titles. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it.



For no particular reason today's word is: 
STONE

Stone Mountain
The Stony Road
House Made of Stone
How to Identify a Stone
Stoned Silence
How to Act Stoned So You Won't Be Bullied by Stoners
Eyes of Stone
Stone Cairn

This exercise leads write (right) into The Monday Muse

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ImageChef.com

I gather stones
to build a cairn.
Certain ones call,
"Pick me! Pick me!"
Out of a nondescript pile
something is formed:
a guidepost to show the way,
a balancing act,
a fairy house under the elms,
each is as ephemeral
as life.





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Being Thankful
Today I'm thankful for cairns and their ever changing variety. They remind me that nothing lasts forever and that it is useless/needless to stay attached to anything. For it is in the letting go that we truly live.

Cairn for my mother

Cairn for Gene

Buddhist Cairn

Coral cairns

 Woodland Elf Home

Ocean side cairn

Cairn with arch

None of these cairns still exists. Like life, they have a beginning, middle and end. Sometimes the stones are rearranged to form something new, sometimes the stones are never used again.

Please pray for  dear friend of mine, a young woman who is dying. Today she is having experimental/exploratory surgery. It will not save her life, but may prolong it. It may also shorten what time she has left. She is brave and ready for whatever is to come. My prayer for her is that she not suffer. No matter what, she has been and is, for me, a kind of cairn. She is a guidepost marking the way, she is balancing between life and death, she is, like each of us, as ephemeral as a sand castle, a baby's laugh, a mockingbird's song, the wind in our hair.

36 comments:

  1. I've never seen a cairn before. I like your stone poem. Some stones beg to be picked up.

    Thank you for sharing my promo.

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    1. Cairns are probably as old as humans. Stonehenge could be considered a cairn, maybe even the pyramids. Certainly the large rocks placed on ancient graves are cairns. I love building them.

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  2. I liked your title Stone Silence. And so true that life is not permanent. So sorry for your friend's serious illness. Hope her surgery goes well.

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    1. I like Stone Silence too. Even though we "know" life isn't permanent, we certainly do cling to it! I know I'm guilty.

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  3. I'll pray that your friend doesn't suffer.

    Those cairns are really beautiful.

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    1. Thank you, Diane. That's really all we can do for her.

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  4. So sorry about your friend. I hope the surgery comes out favorable.

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  5. Prayers for your friend.
    I was thinking Stone Cold, but that's a movie...

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    1. There's a old calypso (song) from the islands with the words, "Stone cold dead in the market... she killed nobody but her husband."

      Thank you for praying for my friend, it means a lot.

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    1. Thank you, Misha. I know she will feel the love.

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  7. All my most positive thoughts are for your friend today. So sorry, Bish.

    As to the word, stone. . . it has a strong appeal to me for titles, poetry or stories. It's very powerful and, like the stones, enduring.

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    1. She will feel those thoughts and fly with them. Thank you, Lee.

      And yes, there is something about the word stone. There's is permanence even though buildings made of stone can crumble over time.

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  8. My best to your friend! And I love the cairns. We tend to make them at the beach and they are always fun :)

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    1. Thanks, Meradeth. A beach is a great place to build a cairn.

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  9. May God bless and keep your friend in His Hand during this.

    Cairns have a special beauty.

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    1. Thank you, Susan. I know she's feeling all the love. And yes, cairns are special.

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  10. All my best to your friend. Thanks for the post, I didnt know what a cairn was...

    Congrats to Medeia!

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    1. Now that you know what a cairn is, go and build one! Thanks for thinking of my friend.

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  11. Hello Bish, your friend is in my thoughts and my prayers. I love the very last line of your blog post – beautiful words and oh so true.

    I tried playing with the word stone as a part of a book title but can only come up with silly ones like...
    A stone by any other name
    Stone the crows
    And
    Stone me!

    That is why I’m not a writer, and you are. Hugs Barbara

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    1. Those are some good tries, Barbara. Thanks for keeping my friend in your prayers.

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  12. Hi, Bish,

    I read Medeia's story and enjoyed it. Your thoughts do speak to how transient life is and the futility of holding on to things. So sorry to hear about your friend.

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    1. I've read 52 Likes as well. It's a tough read, but well done.

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  13. Hi Bish,

    I shall duly take the liberty of sharing the good news about Medeia and hearty congrats to her.

    Your poetic endeavour made me realise I'm a rolling stone but nothing to do with Mick Jagger.

    Thoughts for your beloved friend.

    Gary

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    1. Thank you, Gary. I feel that she has thoughts and prayers being sent her way from all over the world. It's a wonderful thing.

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  14. My thoughts are with your friend. I hope the surgery is a success.

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  15. Death is hard, but it truly gives us an appreciation of the here and now, right?

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    1. If it doesn't give one an appreciation for life, it should. It is a precious gift. Thanks for stopping by!

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  16. Praying for your friend. :( I love the poem, my friend. Hugs.

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    1. She needs all the prayers she can get. Thanks, Robyn.

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  17. My thoughts are with your friend. May those cairns harness all the positive energy in the universe and give her strength.

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    1. What a very lovely thought,Spacerguy. Thanks.

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  18. Prayers are important! I hope by today your friend feels peace from these prayers offered for her, no matter the outcome of her surgery.

    Carina are Iovely reminders that someone was at that very spot before.

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  19. I like the stone theme today. Love the cairns. I should build one. The poem and the titles were also neat to read.
    My thoughts are with you and your friend. I hope all goes well with her.

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Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!