Abstractions, The Monday Muse, A Win, and Being Thankful

Welcome to my Crazy Quilt.

An abstraction is a concept that acts as a super-categorical noun for all subordinate concepts, and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category. (Clear?) An abstraction is a word like love, hate, joy, beauty, cunning, disgust. In this game we turn them into a kind of poetry or a piece of flash fiction. They also make excellent writing prompts. Try it on, leave one in the comments.

The rules are simple. You can change them around.
 1: Abstraction + verb + place
 2: Describe what the abstraction is wearing
 3: Summarize the action

Today's ABSTRACTION is:

Delight, wearing tinkling tinsel, danced through the flower beds, and left laughter trailing in her wake.

I can see a fairy-like creature, pirouetting on flower petals, leaping from leaf to leaf. I see her inspecting for aphids and calling in the ladybug troops wherever needed. She carries with her a magic crystalline vial that holds within it all the scents of all the flowers in the garden where she lives.

See how the Abstraction turned into The Monday Muse?

This has the possibility of becoming a fairy tale, but something would have to go wrong. Perhaps Delight's vial loses its power, or the garden is threatened by a huge invasion of thrips that her labybug troops can't handle. Either way she has to find help. Which means she has to leave her garden for the first time in her very long life.

What will she find beyond the privet hedge and rose bushes? Who or what is she looking for? What adventures will she have? How will her experiences change her?

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A Win!

From Natalie over at Literary Rambles I won Sarah McQuire's debut novel, Valiant.

Saville despises the velvets and silks that her father prizes more than he’s ever loved her. Yet when he’s struck ill she’ll do anything to survive–even dressing as a boy and begging a commission to sew for the king.

But piecing together a fine coat is far simpler than unknotting court gossip about an army of giants, led by a man who cannot be defeated, marching toward Reggen to seize the throne. Saville knows giants are just stories, and no man is immortal.

Then she meets them, two scouts as tall as trees. After she tricks them into leaving, tales of the daring tailor’s triumph quickly spin into impossible feats of giant-slaying. And stories won’t deter the Duke and his larger-than-life army.

Now only a tailor girl with courage and cunning can see beyond the tales to discover the truth and save the kingdom.

Valiant is a rich reimaging of "The Brave Little Tailor," artfully crafting a story of understanding, identity, and fighting to protect those you love most.

Natalie regularly gives away books by the authors she interviews. I hope you stop by and check out her informative blog.

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Being Thankful

Today I'm thankful for clouds. My Sweetie and I call them decorations.

They give us something to hang our imagination on.

 They bring us rain.

They break up the vastness of a huge blue sky, perhaps helping to make us feel less small.

They make a fabulous canvass of which to paint a sunset.

Today I'm thankful for clouds. 

What are you thankful for? Has an Abstraction danced into your brain? Is your muse being prompted? Tell me all about!