#WomensMarch (Mad Monday & Women’s Liberation)

January 22, 2018January 21, 2018 / Janna Hill / Leave a comment

For the record:
I have never called myself a feminist but I darn well believe in equal rights based on competence; and I believe in a shared respect regardless of physical attributes… or skin color… or religious beliefs.
My expectation (admittedly unmet) is ALL inclusive.

If a right is infringed upon, be bold and utilize the law that is in place.
#BeBold
#EnForceTheLaw

Equal rights and respect. That’s really all the women’s march boils down to, right?
#EqualRights
#Respect

I have gotten a few personal unsavory remarks [from men and women alike] for the poem I am about to share but I am going to share it anyway.

Why? Because it reminds me of the sage advice I received years ago from an old woman who truly fought to make a difference — and it feels better than displaying a vulgar [self-deprecating] sign or wearing a vagina hat.

Women’s Liberation

We did not burn our bras but wore them proudly
Holding–supporting–glorifying the mammary glands that would feed the next generation
For the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.
We did not give animated voices to our vaginas for the world to hear
but let them speak in secret whispers that moved mountains.
We did not make a spectacle in the streets to prove our equality
For we knew in our hearts [already] that we were superior.

Page 235 from Getting Me Back

Entering Anew & Looking Forward

January 1, 2018 / Janna Hill / 5 Comments

Look out 2018 — here we come!

HaPpY New Year EVeRYBoDY!!

Winter in Texas

December 18, 2017December 18, 2017 / Janna Hill / 2 Comments

In the dark of the moon with the Winter Solstice only days away…

Winter Sabbatical
The first frost arrived this week.
Spit forth from the infinite stars like a sneeze leaving sprinkles of sugary ice on the landscape.
The remaining blades and leafs gave way and withered at daybreak leaving nothing but the scattered evergreens to give us hope… no blooms worthy of expectancy.
However there is hardly anything more beautiful than a berry laden Juniper dotted with Cardinals; the Christmas tree with all of her ornaments pales in comparison.

juniper berries red ornament.2 (800x521)
Oh Christmas, we have that to look forward to – with the Santa Claus fable, the forgotten Jesus and colorful lights draped over bare limbs and the cherished red-nosed reindeer standing pretentiously on brown turf.
And New Year’s Eve – ah, the kissing; corks and fireworks detonate in unison to commemorate the failed promises yet to come. Eagerly we gorge on black-eyed peas and cabbage not earnestly expecting anything more than flatulence.
❤ Let us not forget Valentine’s Day – the heart shaped occasion when romance blossoms, proven with sentimental cards and candy and flowers; V-day — a cruel day for a lonely or broken heart; dinner date and obligatory sex.
Gaudy clumps of snow — bulky and shaped as if they had been intended for hail tumble down like chopped feathers. Alas, a reason to utilize the fireplace and marvel at the pansies.
Next week’s forecast is warm and dry. We will take it, we have no choice.
We will ride the weather-coaster, counting the birthdays of dead leaders and full moons and scattered days of sunny and seventy-five while we wait for the ides of March to come marching in.

From Getting Me Back (The Voices Within)

Cyber Monday Starts NOW!

November 26, 2017 / Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Clan Destiny Series BIG savings at Amazon

Clan Destiny Series- take a bite out of the big Apple

Keep a cyber eye out at Barnes & Noble

B&N

ALL books! Google [don’t] Play 25¢, 33¢, 54¢ and 99¢

google screenshot1

Hoping you all had a blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

We will get back writing about writing later this week but for now The Real Janna Hill has got to pay the [real] bills.

Write on!!

Don’t Get Too Caught Up in the Color (Mad Monday)

November 20, 2017 / Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Friday I combined tasks because I was busy getting ready for a wild week-end. Today I’m linking the same challenges because of said week-end.

I’m tellin’ you things got cRaZy and I [might be] getting too old for that sh*t.

Anyway…

Who doesn’t love a colorful image?
Whether it is a brilliant photograph; a lively painting or a dynamic story created by stringing words together, people love color.
But be careful the details in your composition aren’t obscured by color.

Day 6 B&W compost and shovel (800x487)

Although a little purple in your prose can be captivating too much might leave the reader in a [not so pleasant] purple haze – like the one I am recovering from today. 😉

Write on!!

Mad Monday (Break the Rules)

November 13, 2017 / Janna Hill / 5 Comments

You know I mentioned going to Benton Arkansas last Friday.
It was a nice break. We shopped a little, ate too much, chattered like magpies and — well, I just had to see the old sanitarium/asylum aka “nervous hospital” where Karl spent most of his life.
Thank goodness my family is as adventurous and crazy as me.
There were no observable signs that forbade us from entering, so…
We considered going in a window but oddly enough we did not have to.

The doors seemed to beckon and willingly opened without the slightest resistance and ta-da, we were in.

and we are in... (800x533)

Exploring the dilapidated history in search of answers and ghosts and what-ifs.

And possibly inheriting a demon or a deadly disease.

What does this story have to do with writing?
This: Every now and then you have to break the rules to spice things up.
Of course you need to know the rules before you break them and sometimes the rules are not obvious.

Write On!!

Let them be Mad

November 6, 2017November 5, 2017 / Janna Hill / 2 Comments

Mad as in angry, insane, enthusiastic or in a swift manner.

I was driving 90 mph down the highway with my camera beside me and I snapped…

Mad Dash (1024x590)

I was in a mad dash and mad in every sense of the word. (Some of that lunacy is revealed in the poetic memoir Getting Me Back.)

The above photo is not one I would usually keep in my collection; it is dark, out of focus and lopsided yet I like it. Why? Because it reminds me of the world as I saw it at that moment in time.

I will probably be the only one to ever appreciate this inferior blurred image but maybe it will spark something in a stubborn character you are trying to bring to life.

Maybe the character is hiding something from you; afraid to reveal their passion, their fury or the fact that they are bat-shit crazy.

Tell them it’s okay. Everyone… every living creature [even saints] have moments of madness at some point in their life. Heck, even Jesus got mad. Wasn’t he ticked-off/pissed/irate when he turned the tables over and cleared the temple? Damn right he was!

And what about the insanity so many of the great artists/creators in history suffered from? Think about that, eh?

Allow your characters the freedom of expression. Let them be mad.