Author: Janna Hill

Tuesday’s Tell-All (My Life is a Bad Reality Show)

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In May I introduced the newest member of our family, Pretty Kitty Puddin Jam.

In July I talked about Pretty Kitty Puddin Jam wanting to be a star and the attitude that ensued.

Now I have to tell you…

Hold on, this has been a hard thing for me to understand…

[sigh]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty Kitty is…

Pretty Kitty Puddin Jam (aka PKPJ) is….

Oh hell Jam is a Jim!

I know! I am so naïve… so unsophisticated!

I was also a bit distraught when I found out.

I tried to normalize the situation by calling him Jim but he refused to answer.  By this point I was so flustered I threatened to have him castrated… emasculated… de-dinglized.

He snubbed the threat and mewed, Pretty Kitty Puddin Jaaam.

“No!” I argued, “You are a tom – a Jim! Girls do not have tally-whackers!”

PKPJ then he purred two words that clarified everything –

Caitlyn. Jenner.

[Blubbering sigh]

I conceded to let him keep his male genitalia but no more news rags or television AND no more pretty bows!

 

 

Mad Monday. (I’m rooting for you, go Monday go!)

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We Six Remained (from Getting Me Back)

If I should die before I wake…

Run little hamster,

I pray the Lord my soul to take

run as fast as you can.

-0-

Sister, did you see the man,

the one with the bloody stone?

Brother did you feel the pain,

when the bullet hit the bone?

-0-

Cousin did you smell the smoke,

did you lie so still and quiet?

Uncle did you hear him choke

as the flames rolled over Zion?

-0-

Father could you hear their screams,

do they haunt you late at night?

Mother did you see their dreams

before the dreadful plight?

-0-

A precious linctus to make me feel

Another to help me sleep

And if God can hear a dead man’s prayers,

I pray my soul to keep.

-0-

Now I lay me down to rest

among the torn and drained

where millions died beneath the crest

yet, we six remained.

No Such Thing As Ghosts

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Ernest Hemingway’s study in Key West, Florida.

Note the portrait in the background. Sorry, I don’t know who the artist is but I thought it meshed well with the poem No Such Thing as Ghosts. I snapped this photo last February after a long ride through the keys with Ernie. 😉

No Such Thing As Ghosts completes chapter 17 in Unjustified Favor (Clan Destiny Book III)  after an ordeal forces Lawrence Jeffcoat to rethink his beliefs.

… ghosts were manifestations of irrational fears and folklore. Ghouls, phantoms, spirits – those were make-believe stories invented for campfires and fiction.

HEMINGWAY'S STUDY OVER POOLHOUSE (1024x650)
Hemingways ghost in portrait

Embedded images leave their trace

Like fossil shells have marked their place

Many share this tiny space

Though each in their own time

 

The essence of an empty room

The hint of a gardenia’s bloom

A peek in to the sixth sense loom

All treasures of the mind

 

Shadows catch the outer eye

Wind railed whispers cross the sky

Nothing ever really dies

They simply pass beyond

—

 

August is Hell and That’s Just Peachy

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Did you know August is  National Peach Month?

The first thing(s) that came to mind when I read the notification was:

Ham’s Orchard – a peach orchard not far from here that sells peach ice cream as well as a hundred other things; The Peach Orchard Ogre – a short story I wrote years ago, and August Wolf – another story.

What do these things have in common?

Nothing other than giving you a glimpse at how my mind works, a lame promo and a reason to say, “August is hell and that’s just peachy.”

Oh, and the GIF is kind of cute too.

Tuesday’s Tell All (Personality Shots)

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I told you last week that we were going [back] to the beach or maybe I implied it with a photo. I do tend to live my life in snaps and captions, that’s just how I roll. Yep – I am a rolling stone. Never mind the moss clinging to my body that just means I roll a little slow. Don’t snicker; remember The Tortoise and the Hare? The Tortoise and the Hare, baby!

On these occasions I try to lay the camera down and enjoy the moment… let my hair down … and sometimes my guard.

It is not always easy or even do-able but I did it; I relinquished the anal rigidity and chillaxed and guess what? I found out I am not the only one who can take a picture or take control.

The camera caught us tired and sunburned after a day at the beach; fresh out of the shower, pouting, pondering, laughing and maybe crying; discussing or just waking up. Some would say we were caught at our worst. I would like to believe we were at our finest; vulnerable and real and in natural form.

D call’s this collection Personality Shots. Thanks D.

What a clan!

These are only a fraction of the photos taken and a small portion of my tribe.

Sorry, the characters of the Clan Destiny series couldn’t join us, this was a G rated adventure.

Once Upon a Dead Gull (TBT)

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Throw back Thursday.

Rated G for gross

dead gull (4) (1024x682)

The gruesome photograph that inspired the title [and the book cover] for Once Upon a Dead Gull.  That was 3 1/2 years ago and [amazingly] this cover hasn’t changed.

A peculiar short story anthology, I admit, but it was written for the horror genre.
Even more peculiar is that none of these stories are about a dead gull.
The poor seagull’s parting gift to mankind…  to me, was simply to inspire a title I had been struggling with.

Mad Monday (Buzz, Bugs & Marigolds)

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A world inside a world inside a world…

Creation is mind boggling. Just when you think you have it all figured out you realize you don’t know jack-squat.

This fact just re-occurred to me.

I take pictures to clear my mind and maybe I was pouting a little because an author friend told me I missed a great opportunity to create a buzz with the books released this summer. Yeah. The 2017 Summer Release.

It was an accurate observation but as I said before, “The only buzz I am motivated to create comes in the aftermath of consuming liquor.”

I was just being silly, the truth is I don’t drink much but maybe I should – I would be much more obnoxious  outgoing.

Tick-tock, tick-tock… Tsk, tsk, tsk. 

There I was, hanging my head, dragging my camera along like a blanket as I clomped outside and boom!

“My goodness, look at the Marigolds!”

I forgot about creating anything and became enchanted by the creation around me.

Just FYI: lying on the ground with a camera can be very relaxing and entertaining and educational and thought provoking… and itchy.

These photographs are just a few of the larger insects. I tell you it is like another world inside that flowerbed! I plan to go back out there and lay down again… as soon as these ant bites clear up.

Oh yeah, and here is “the buzz”: Cloud Wrangler, The Sharecropper’s Son and Greed are available at your favorite e-book store.