Showing posts with label #writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #writing. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Friday the 13th by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 


 https://www.bookswelove.com/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

Friday the Thirteenth

There is only one Friday the Thirteenth in 2021 and it fell in August. Here are some interesting facts about Friday, 13, and Friday the Thirteenth.

The Number Thirteen

     The fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia taken from the Greek words tris, for the number '3', kai meaning 'and', deka for the number '10' and phobos which means 'fear'.

     The number 13 has been much maligned over the centuries and maybe with good reason. In the Christian religion there were 13 guests at the Last Supper. Some believe that Judas was the thirteenth one to sit down, although it is not mentioned in the Bible. He betrayed Jesus and later took his own life. This led to the belief that if there are thirteen people at a table, one of them will die within a year.
     There used to be 13 steps up to the gallows.
     At one time a coven had 13 witches.
     In Tarot, the number 13 card is the death card.
Some superstitions around the number 13:
     In Ireland the first two digits on vehicle licence plates represents the year of registration such as 10 for 2010. In 2012, the Society of the Irish Motor Industry thought that for many people the prospect of having '13' on their licence plates might discourage them from buying new cars. The government introduced a system where vehicles bought in 2013 would have '131' on their plates instead of '13'.
     Very few buildings have 13th floor, the elevator going from twelve to fourteen. Strange, because we all know thirteen comes after twelve no matter what name you give it. Is there a thirteenth floor that the elevator passes?
     Most hotels don't have a room 13.
     If you book a table for thirteen people at the Savoy Hotel in London, England, it will be set for fourteen and a sculpture of a black cat called Kasper will occupy the fourteenth chair.
     Superstitious diners in Paris can hire a professional 14th guest.
     In Formula 1 car racing, there is no car with the number 13.
     It is believed that if you have 13 letters in your name you would have Devil's luck. Charles Manson and Theodore (Ted) Bundy are just a few.

Here are some examples in history where the number 13 has led to misadventures.

     Phillip II was king of Macedonia from 359BC to 336BC. He led many wars and eventually ruled over much of Greece. During a procession through a Greek town, Philip II placed his statue beside those of twelve Greek gods making his the thirteenth statue. In 336 he was the leader of the invading army against the Persian Empire. In October of that year his daughter was getting married in the Macedonian capital of Aegae. He was entering the town's theater when he was assassinated by his body guard.
     In Canada, the Seven Years War took place between Britain and France from 1756 and 1763. On September 12, 1759, British troops climbed a steep footpath from the St Lawrence River up to the unfortified Plains of Abraham, named after its original owner, Abraham Martin, who was a ship’s pilot in 1645. The plains were west of Quebec City and the path was guarded by three French militiamen.
     “Who goes there?” one asked.
     “We are a group of French relief soldiers,” an Englishmen answered in French.
     “Pass on by,” the militiaman said.
     And they stood back to let the British troops walk in pairs past them. By morning of September 13th four thousand British troops and their field artillery were assembled on the plains waiting for the French. The French mustered a combination of four thousand regular French militiamen and civilians and faced the British troops. The British had the advantage because their troops were all trained.
     The battle lasted about thirty minutes with the British winning.
     Apollo 13, which was launched from NASA on April 11, 1970 at 13:13 Central time, was halfway to the moon when an explosion disrupted some of its instruments on April 13. It did manage to make it back to earth.
     The Space Shuttle Columbia exploded on the 113th flight of the Space shuttle.
     Princess Diana's accident occurred at the 13th pillar of the Pont de l'Alma tunnel.

 Friday

     In pagan Rome Fridays were execution days. This was later called Hangman's Day in Britain because that was the day that public hangings took place.
     In some marine circles many sailors did not want to set sail on a Friday.
     In Biblical times the Great Flood, the destruction of the Temple of Solomon, and God tongue-tying the builders of the Tower of Babel supposedly happened on a Friday.

 Friday the Thirteenth

     The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskevidekatriaphobia from the Greek word for Friday, or friggatriskaidkaphobia named after the Norse goddess, Frigg, from whom the English got the name Friday.
     Friday the 13th is the most widespread superstition in western countries. About eight percent of the people believe that Friday 13th is unlucky. Again this could goes back to the Bible where Eve ate the apple from the serpent on Friday 13th and Jesus died on the cross on Friday 13th.
     On Friday Oct 13th, 1307, Philip IV of France ordered the arrests and assassinations of the Knights Templar.
     In modern times Friday the 13th is called 'Black Friday'. One of the earliest examples of the name was used to refer to the collapse of the United States gold market on Friday, Sept 24, 1869.

 Some Friday the 13th superstitions are:

     Seeing a black cat on Friday 13th is a bad omen.
     If you leave your house by one door you should make sure you enter by that same door to avoid misfortune.
     Some people won't go to work on that day and others will not dine out.
     Many refuse to purchase a house, fly, or even act on a hot stock tip.
     A study in Britain showed that while many people stayed home on Friday 13th, of those who did go out, more people were hospitalized from accidents on that day than on the previous Friday.

      In the 1800s, in order to dispel the fears of superstitious sailors who would not sail on a Friday 13th, the British Navy commissioned a ship which was baptized the H.M.S. Friday. The crew members were picked on a Friday and it was launched on Friday 13th. Unfortunately, it was never seen or heard from again. Some call this a myth while others say that the navy wiped out all record of the voyage.

 The Flip Side:

     In some cultures Friday is considered a lucky day for sowing seeds and planting potatoes.
     The Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday.
     In the United States the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year. It has been given the term Black Friday because that is when retailers begin to see a profit.
     Most workers like Friday because it is the last work day of the week and signals the beginning of the weekend.
     Thirteen is a prime number, which means it cannot be divided by any number other than itself. Hence, it symbolizes qualities of incorruptible nature and purity.
     In ancient Greece, Zeus was considered  the thirteenth and most powerful god. He was associated with totality, completion, and attainment.
     In Hindu mythology, Maha Shivratri was celebrated on the thirteenth night of the Magha month, which is a very sacred and holy night for all Shiva followers.
     The Thai New Year (Songkran Day)  begins on April 13th. It is a time to wash away all the bad omens by splashing water on friends and relatives.
     This one can be taken either way: our children become teenagers on their 13th birthday.
     My name, Joan Donaldson, has 13 letters in it but, unlike Theodore Bundy, I haven't killed anyone except in my mystery novels.

Thursday, May 20, 2021

Seven Characteristics of a Writer by J.Q. Rose

 

Dangerous Sanctuary by J.Q. Rose
Romantic suspense

Pastor Christine Hobbs never imagined she would be caring for a flock that includes a pig, a kangaroo, and a murderer.


Dangerous Sanctuary is May's FREE eBook download from BWL Publishing
Click here to get your copy now.


A writer


Seven Characteristics of a Writer

One of the best perks of being a writer is using one's imagination to develop interesting characters. Villains are especially fun to create because they may do things in a story that the writer actually wants to do in real life e.g. kill off the neighbor's dog that barks constantly or bury the ex-boyfriend. 

Romping through a fictional world and having all the choices about what characteristics define the character in his/her world is more like play than work. 

“While we read a novel, we are insane—bonkers. We believe in the existence of people who aren't there, we hear their voices... Sanity returns (in most cases) when the book is closed.”
― Ursula K. Le Gui

But what about the characteristics of a real, live writer? We had fun discussing this topic at my friend's blog, so I decided to share the list of seven real-world characteristics that I believe a writer has. 

📕 Devotion A writer must love what she is doing. If not, the book or essay will never get written because the first draft is always junk. If a writer is not devoted, she will tear up the pages and give up. Rejections will knock her off her feet, and she will never try again. But when devoted to creating her piece, her desire and determination may be challenged, but she will keep writing.

📕 Organization  Writers must organize their research for a story, save the manuscript files to choose the correct one for editing, keep track of promotions, prepare posts for a blog, email and/or social media, keep up with the bookkeeping. Thank goodness spreadsheets can help with these many tasks.

📕 Imagination Remember when you were a kid, and you would act out stories with your friends or make up poems for your mom? Fiction writers never lose that creativity. Non-fiction writers need imagination too to send the clear solution for a problem to readers in an interesting and new way.

📕 Intelligence Smart people can write! I know it sounds like bragging, but it is the truth.

📕 Discipline If a writer cannot set aside time when penning a project and keep that appointment, the writing will never be finished.  Carving out a time in her schedule for creating a project and sitting down consistently to do it will develop the habit of writing.  

📕 Strong vocabulary Writers need to know a variety of words to clearly describe places, characters and emotions. Reading enlarges vocabulary. Become a wordsmith using Thesaurus.com. 

📕 Sense of Humor  Mark Twain and Janet Evanovich are masters when it comes to including humor in their stories. Even a horror story or murder mystery can use a light touch within the pages. 

What are your thoughts on the list? Please add more characteristics in the comment section below.

 Click here to connect online with JQ.

Author JQ Rose

Click here to discover more books by JQ Rose 

on her author page at BWL Publishing.





Sunday, September 15, 2019

When Goals Come Between You and Your Passion




 
Lao Tzu


The idea for this blog came when one of my fellow authors asked me, “What are your goals for the next five years?”

This should have been an easy question to answer. In my previous profession as a business owner, I lived on a steady diet of goals: annual targets, monthly objectives and even daily goals. There was no way around it. Businesses need goals and without them, become directionless. I felt a constant need to compare myself  to my past achievements and to others in the industry. Indeed, a business without goals is one destined to die.

Several years ago, I sold the business and became a writer. Just as with a new business venture, I planned what books and how many I would write over a given time period. I tied everything together with timelines and spreadsheets. In other words, I brought exactly the wrong mentality to the writing world.

Not long into my first book, I realized that my plans were holding me back. Constantly checking back to where I was “supposed” to be became demoralizing. Worrying about plans interfered with the creative process. Ideas don’t magically appear on schedule nor does the imagination heel to spreadsheets. They take their sweet time and, in my experience, usually blossom outside the time spent at the keyboard---during evening walks or drives in the car.

I concluded that writing success should be measured by how satisfied I am by what I put on paper, rather than by writing a certain number of pages per day. The passion and engagement that I pour into my work give my story more impetus than any number of tick marks on a to-do list.

Is this an argument for anarchy? Of course not. I use planning devices to help me maintain the arc of the story or to chart the progress of my characters. But in the actual process of writing, it is better to remain in the moment and let feelings and emotions flow freely from the imagination to the page. And, if well written, the reader shares in this engagement and passion.

Lao Tzu wrote 'A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.' I find this to be the correct approach to writing: to take joy in the process. It made me a better writer.


Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper," a fantasy, and "Karma Nation," a literary romance. Please check him out at www.mohanashtakala.com. Published by Books We love: www.bookswelove.com.

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