Doreen McGettigan

On the 3rd Wednesday of every month I attend a Press Club Luncheon. I enjoy most of the guest speakers we have but this past week our speakers were interesting and actually fun. They brought puppets; they actually design/build and operate puppets. They were cute too, the guys and the puppets!

Monkey Boys Productions  is a unique multi-medium production company that creates puppets, props, creatures, costumes, practical effects, and entertainment for film, television, and stage.

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WRITING WEDNESDAY

It is almost time for the annual A-Z Blogging Challenge and you will definitely need to go to the website to catch up! There are a few major changes this year.

So what exactly is the A-Z Blogging Challenge?

Can you post every day except Sundays during this month?  And to up the bar, can you blog thematically from

A toZ?

Most of the time if you subtract Sundays from April, you then have 26 days–one day for each letter of the alphabet.  When April 1st lands on a Sunday you begin on that day which will be the only Sunday you would post during that month’s challenge.

        Using this premise, you would start beginning April First with a topic themed on something with the letter A, then on April second another topic with the letter B as the theme, and so on until you finish on April thirtieth with the theme based on the letter Z.  It doesn’t even have to be a word–it can be a proper noun, the letter used as a symbol, or the letter itself.  The theme of the day is the letter scheduled for that day.

There you have it. My theme this year is Writing, Publishing and Marketing because my next book, Realize Your Writing Dreams will be releasing this summer! I hope you will accept the challenge.

For more info on the challenge visit the official web site:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/what-is-blogging-from-to-z.html

Happy writing,

Doreen

Today’s post is part of the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Each day of April (except Sunday,) we write a post corresponding with that day’s letter of the alphabet. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:

My theme for this years’ A-Z Challenge is Keep Moving Forward ! Todays letter is N and is based on my newly released book, The Stranger in My Recliner. The book is the true story of Sophie. She was the eighty-year-old homeless woman that my husband brought home one night. She lived with us for nearly three –years. The book is out now!

Night Falls

It was cold. The sharp pains in her back and hand reminded her. Trying not to move anything but her eyes she scanned. She saw him and felt relief and fear. Getting up was painful but she had to make sure he was breathing. They both had to get out of there before the school kids walked by, saw them and got scared. The mothers would call the police. She did not want to scare the kids and she definitely did not want to go to the hospital or even worse, jail.

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For the month of April I am participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge. For more info on the challenge:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

Today’s letter is:

My theme this year is Moving Forward.

Confidence

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For the month of April I will be participating in the A-Z Challenge. You can find out more about it here:

Blogging from A to Z April Challenge

Welcome to Letter B! B is the best letter because it’s the beginning of some very great words like BOOK! And that’s what I, as your Challenge Librarian will be bringing you. Books, books, and more books! I’ve got a book for everyone! Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman Both are murder mystery books to get your heart racing.

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For the month of April I will be participating in the A-Z Challenge. You can find out more about it here:

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It is the April Blogging from A-Z Challenge Theme Reveal Day!

To learn more about the Challenge:

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Writing Wednesday

On Wednesday’s I like to share information I picked up on my path to publishing, marketing and preparing to publish again. Information that I wish someone would have shared with me, back then.

Blogging Challenges

Some bloggers love them and others think they are a useless waste of time. 4-years- ago, when I was a brand new blogger I thought it would be a good idea to try one. The A-Z April Blogging Challenge was started in 2010 by Los Angeles Blogger, Arlee Bird. http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/

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Today’s post is part of the annual A-to-Z Blogging Challenge. Each day of April (except Sunday,) we write a post corresponding with that day’s letter of the alphabet. For more information on the challenge and its creator visit:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My theme for this years’ A-Z Challenge is An Intimate Look at the Homeless and Mental Health Epidemic in America which just happens to be the subtitle of my next book, The Stranger in My Recliner. The book is the true story of Sophie.  She was the eighty-year-old homeless woman that my husband brought home one night. She lived with us for nearly three –years. The book will be out this fall.

Xeroma

Xeroma is an abnormal dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea of the eyes; may be due to a systemic deficiency of vitamin A.

Sophie always complained of having dry eyes and I was convinced she had this condition.

It turns out she just had, dry eyes. She also had 20/20 vision. Imagine that, an 80-year-old woman that had perfect vision.

We were surprised at how healthy Sophie seemed. She didn’t take any medications and refused to even take an aspirin.

I’m one of Lisa’s Live Wires! Lisa is a challenge co-host Lisa Buie-Collard

My fellow live wires:

Rhonda Albom – Bob R. Milne –Tamera Narayan –Stephanie Faris –Heather McCubbin

It has been awhile since I have participated in Friday Fragments and I have missed the opportunity to share tidbits from my week.

Friday Fragments are bits and pieces of your week that are usually brief; too short for a stand-alone post, but too good to discard. Collect humorous observations, “Heard” items, other small gems and put them together in a Friday Fragments post. Then leave a link to your Friday Fragments post and link back to our host Mrs. 4444 at Half-Past Kissin’ Time.

It’s not too late to join in on the fun and we would love to have you!

The best news of my week is the cover for The Stranger In My Recliner is on the drawing board and I cannot wait to share it with you. (I hope I like it, I am going to love it, I hope I love it) I am just a bit nervous.

I have the first cold I have had in at least two-years. I kind of forgot how awful they are.

The workshops I have been facilitating (along with an amazing committee) have been better than I could have imagined. I cannot believe there are only two more (one is our writing workshop, I cannot wait) and then we will have a fair. I am already looking forward to the next season.

We had our warmest day in months yesterday, it was 66 degrees and sunny for forty-five-minutes before the downpours started. Today it is freezing again. Freezing cold, windy and raining again. I am trying to be patient. Hurry up Spring!

My Mom is going on her dream vacation. She has been missing my Dad terribly so I am thrilled for her and so proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and taking a Viking Cruise. Have you heard about these things? A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Her traveling buddy is her high school bff. They are going to have a blast.

They will be flying Lufthansa and I admit to being slightly unnerved. I am guessing their security will be heightened, even though there wasn’t much security could have done to avert this intentional crash. Crazy scary isn’t this whole suicide/crash thing?

Are you getting excited for the next presidential election yet? Oh my I can hardly wait. Ted Cruz announced and was immediately attacked by the media for being a one-term senator and for not being born in the U.S.  Sound familiar?

I just saw that Hillary supporters sent a warning to the media stating that they will be reading and watching for ‘coded’ sexism and if they find it they will report on it. What is coded sexism? Making fun of a pantsuit? It was kind of rude.

I am not looking forward to the messiness of it all.

Who is participating in the A-Z April Blogging Challenge this year? This will be my 4th year. I am still excited! There is still plenty of time to sign up and give it a try:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

My big -bunch -of -grandbabies continue to get older and there are no signs of any new ones on the horizon. I am not complaining thirteen is enough for now and I am so grateful for each and every one of them.

I had so much fun shopping for a prom dress for my oldest granddaughter. She graduated last year but her bf is still in high school. I can’t show any photos yet but she promised I could when the big night gets here.

My next oldest granddaughter (15) is being bullied, again. More on that in its’ own post but I am furious at the way it is not being handled.

Have a blessed weekend,

Doreen