Something Worth Sharing

Mad Monday (The other Janna Hill)

/ Janna Hill / 4 Comments

I get some interesting questions from time to time and usually love to answer them but when you get the same few questions over and over and over …

Are you still doing voice over? …

What’s it like being a puppet? …

Is so & so still alive? …

What ever happened to? …

It makes one wonder what the hell are you talking about and when one wonders they google, in this case they google themselves.

Don’t act like you’ve never googled yourself. 😉

So I googled Janna Hill

Declaring I am the real Janna Hill apparently is not enough.

There is always someone, someone, someone claiming to be the real Janna Hill, that is until the bills come due.

Scary huh?!

Let me be clear on this Mad Monday, I am not mad at those asking questions (I am quiet amused by most questions) and I am not mad at those playfully pretending to be the real Janna Hill (I encourage it – it’s funny) but I am mad at Google. That’s right Google – I am mad at you! Google that!

Do you see the problem?

screenshot JANNA HILL google

They have combined two popular Janna Hills’ into one bio.

Sooo me [being the fixer I am] contacted Google to remedy the error.

After tirelessly sending supporting link after link after link after link and documenting me as the author of said books I really thought the matter would be solved but nope!

I see how some of our photos might even seem like the same person. . . NOT!

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A few days later I received the following response:

“Thank you for submitting feedback on Google Search. You’re receiving this email to update you about your submission. We determined no changes to Janna Hill were needed based on your feedback.”

What???

I am The Real Janna Hill (I have a tee shirt to prove it)

t shirt the real janna hill by vh

AND I am a google reviewer [technically a local guide] so one would think my input would carry a teensy bit of influence.

But nooo! How dare I be so arrogant?

So I will answer here the best I can regarding the other Janna Hill.

The other Janna Hill is apparently no longer doing voice over, the above link reports she is deceased (c. 1993) and survived by at least one daughter. I do not know about other cast members of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons but hopefully this link to Fandom will help you.

My condolences to her fans and RIP other awesome Janna Hill

A Pilgrim’s Prayer

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Another Thanksgiving has arrived and another November nears an end which means another revisiting of A Pilgrims Prayer.

A Pilgrim’s Prayer

Once upon a time a long, a long time ago (before Black Friday) Thanksgiving was a celebration of harvest and a time to give thanks. The pumpkin harvest (1024x586)
The early pilgrims did not have the conveniences we enjoy today, yet somehow they survived.

John Wayne public domain image

I didn’t really know any of those pilgrims but I did see a John Wayne movie once.

John knew a pilgrim when he saw one.

He seemed to know a lot of pilgrims but that was a long time ago too.

 

 

 

I propose we are all pilgrims, each one of us on a journey of sorts; our own personal pilgrimage.
We are all looking for something. Be it a quest for self-confirmation, truth, a cure, enrichment, enlightenment, comfort, a friend, a lover, a job, a meal, or a place to lay our weary head at the end of another day.

I believe life is a journey, or at least it should be. PATHS AND PILGRIMS (5) (1024x586)It would be terrible to think we were just flailing through this experience, killing time on this giant floating gumball, while waiting for the next Black Friday specials.

I believe we all have one destination, though we travel many different roads and I trust that we have choices.

Pilgrims (2)

Hopefully we will choose well. On the occasion we take a wrong turn [and we will] I pray we have enough sense and humility to stop and seek direction, to reassess our route and to be considerate in our voyage.

PATHS AND PILGRIMS (15) (1024x653)
So here’s wishing all of you pilgrims a Happy Thanksgiving and may we all, whatever road we’re on, take time to look ahead, pause, and meditate on the many things we have to be grateful for, put aside our grievances and give thanks.

My personal prayer:

I pray our good seeds of hope, humility, toil and courage produce abundantly; that love and kindness grow wild like the weeds of early spring – fruitful and undeterred. And your harvest be rich with wisdom and discernment.

Alzheimer’s is a Cruel Stealthy Cat

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

November is (among many other things) National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month.

Stealthy

Go Purple with a Purpose

Alzheimer’s is a cruel stealthy cat that lurks in the shadows. It leisurely pulls its prey into the darkness, steals their reasoning, their memories and eventually their life. The only kindness this disease provides is a cocoon that leaves the victim in a state of oblivion.  However it shows no compassion to loved ones and caregivers left to witness the slow death and decay.

Let’s not give up on finding a cure.

If you know someone touched by Alzheimer’s take a moment to make a difference no matter how small. A hug, a helping hand or just acknowledging a caregiver’s struggle can mean so much.

 

Continue reading →

Wedding thoughts: All I know about love

/ Janna Hill / 2 Comments

I recently came across a poem [yes poem] by Neil Gaiman. Not only was I pleasantly surprised, I was deeply touched.

The piece struck a chord with me because (sniff. snort. sigh.) our baby boy is getting married this year. Yes, the one I reminisced about a few years ago… pondering,

Where did the years go… Why won’t he let me rock him to sleep any more…or comb his hair… or at least find him a wife so he doesn’t have to live alone…

As a mother there are so many things I want to tell him… to prepare him… and then I realize I cannot. In  Wedding thoughts: All I know about love Neil says it so well I just had to share it with y’all.

 

May your smiles forever sparkle in the prisms of your stone.

Wedding thoughts: All I know about love

Neil Gaiman poetry

This is everything I have to tell you about love: nothing.

This is everything I’ve learned about marriage: nothing.

 

Only that the world out there is complicated,

and there are beasts in the night, and delight and pain,

and the only thing that makes it okay, sometimes,

is to reach out a hand in the darkness and find another hand to squeeze,

and not to be alone.

 

It’s not the kisses, or never just the kisses: it’s what they mean.

Somebody’s got your back.

Somebody knows your worst self and somehow doesn’t want to rescue you

or send for the army to rescue them.

 

It’s not two broken halves becoming one.

It’s the light from a distant lighthouse bringing you both safely home

because home is wherever you are both together.

 

So this is everything I have to tell you about love and marriage: nothing,

like a book without pages or a forest without trees.

 

Because there are things you cannot know before you experience them.

Because no study can prepare you for the joys or the trials.

Because nobody else’s love, nobody else’s marriage, is like yours,

and it’s a road you can only learn by walking it,

a dance you cannot be taught,

a song that did not exist before you began, together, to sing.

 

And because in the darkness you will reach out a hand,

not knowing for certain if someone else is even there.

And your hands will meet,

and then neither of you will ever need to be alone again.

And that’s all I know about love.

The Working Man (A Labor of Love)

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

Happy Labor Day to the muscles, masses, heartbeats, sweat and backbones that make America great.

With all the troubles and tension felt in today’s USA y’all deserve to relax and be recognized.

However I must say  as tough as it sometimes seems I believe this country has certainly seen worse. Our predecessors and ancestors would probably attest to that. As a matter of fact The Sharecropper’s Son, though written as fiction was based on such history.

As many of you already know The Sharecropper’s Son was inspired by a photograph (and a few stories) of my husband’s late grandfather who was indeed a sharecropper in Navarro County, Texas. That is him on the cover dressed in his “Sunday best”.  My work is not always as grueling or strenuous as that of the ‘blue collar’ man but it is  a labor of love nonetheless . If you haven’t read The Sharecropper’s Son yet, today is a good day to start.

All eyes were on Wall Street, but truth be told, the market crash paled in comparison to the Navarro County drought.

Between the stock market crash, a rich man’s greed and the Navarro County drought an indentured slave is left with few choices. Jamison Baines Weir is born the son of a sharecropper where hard times and sorrow are a way of life. It is a way of life Jamie never questions until famine and malice force him to leave the dying farm and follow a path that leads to murder and mystery.

#God Bless Texas (Thankful Thursday)

/ Janna Hill / 7 Comments

Corpus Christi (about 90 miles SW) reportedly came away with minor damage.

Rockport (about 50 miles SW) suffered major damage, Vice President Pence and Governor Greg Abbot visited today.

Houston (120 miles NE) was inundated with record amounts of rain and heart rending fatalities.

In my neck of the woods the city is in restoration; making progress with power, water and sanitation. Some homes and businesses will need to repair or rebuild, most piers are gone, shorelines and beaches have been permanently altered but our little fishing shack was spared with minimal damage. I am thankful.

 

I am also thankful for the outpouring support from so many wonderful people from all walks of life, counties and states.

We are staying in East Texas now but we’ll be heading south when the roads clear and the fuel panic simmers down. You know that fridge is stinking!

Hopefully we [too] will be able to lend a helping hand to those less fortunate.

For The Impact of Hurricane Harvey in Pictures visit The Stream

*(distance from our little place outside Port Lavaca TX.)

Hold on, there is a point to this — Help!

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

This is the fourth consecutive year I have been honored to be a judge in the FAC annual teen scholastic/literary/poetry event. This year was even more exciting because I am still alive and it was the first reason I have had to shuck my pajamas since last year. Just kidding! But seriously, FAC added a short story contest. Yay!the-pose-533x800.jpg

FAC logoA little aside: Forney Arts Council hosts the annual event but an invitation to participate is extended to several surrounding cities. Just FYI Forney is a booming little town about a stone’s throw east of Dallas Texas.

Just look at the beautiful poets and writers of our future.

Some of them receiving their first check for following their passion.

winners FAC compition

The winners

I am so proud of every single one of them. I know their parents and teachers are too; and the fabulous lady (Tiffany) with a passion for art that keeps this thing going.

Hold on, there is a point to this post —

What was it? ….

Oh yes, Help!

I need your help. It won’t cost you a dime and only a minute of your time.

What? Why? How? You ask?

Well, you see I am scheduled to give a talk/presentation next month on the art of the short story. Actually it is The Art of the Short Story & Micro/Flash Fiction.

The problem (other than the typical butterflies) is I know why I read and write short stories/flash fiction but I would love some input as to why others do.

Is it attention span? Time constraints? Challenge? Amusement? Something else?

If this thing works right I have inserted two polls, one for writers and another for readers. If not…  the comments section is always open.

Thanks Y’all.

Why do you read short stories?
(polls)

Why do you write short stories?

(polls)

The Gift I Mentioned

/ Janna Hill / Leave a comment

If you are a mother, had a mother or love a mother – Happy Mother’s Day Y’all!!

This is my gift to you, my family, friends and followers and please – share it with everyone you know and love.

The newest release of More Short Stories & Such.

More Short Stories & Such (731x1024)

About More:

More Short Stories & Such is the newest compilation of short stories and flash fiction written by Janna Hill.    This anthology contains all of the short favorites including the newest (2017) release August Wolf, the acclaimed Door Number Four, Once Upon a Dead Gull and many ‘more’. The stories range from heart rending to heart racing; from fantasy to bizarre.

You’re Welcome.  😀