#black cat weekly 115

[veronicaleighauthor]

Fun Facts About “Tytchfell Abbey”

Last week, my story, “Tytchfell Abbey” was published in Black Cat Weekly 115. If you’re interested in reading it, you can buy it here for your Kindle. As with my other stories, this post is about the Fun Facts/Behind-the-Scenes of the creation of “Tytchfell Abbey.”

The title, “Tytchfell Abbey” is both a nod to the show/movies “Downton Abbey” and Austen’s gothic parody, “Northanger Abbey.” I actually based the descriptions of Tytchfell Abbey on Highclere Castle, which is where “Downton Abbey” is filmed. There is also a Titchfield Abbey, that I borrowed from.

The protagonist of this story is named Cassandra Hollingsworth. She was named after Jane Austen’s sister and best friend, Cassandra Austen. Cassandra was an artist in her own right; because of her talents we have the only authenticated portrait of Jane Austen. Hollingsworth was an old friend’s last name. I thought it sounded aristocratic enough to be used for a Regency Era story.

I pictured Cassandra Hollingsworth looking like Charlotte Spencer, who portrayed Esther Denham in Andrew Davies’ Jane Austen fanfic series “Sanditon.”

Methodist Dissenters is mentioned. In the Georgian and Regency Era, many Evangelicals wished to reform the Anglican Church and attempted to do so, and when that didn’t happen, they broke away. They were considered Religious Dissenters. Hannah More, William Wilberforce, the Wesley brothers were Evangelicals, just to name a few. Some who dissented formed their own sect which evolved into the Methodist denomination. A good book to read about the subject is “Fashionable Goodness,” by Brenda S. Cox. I did a review on it a few months back.

“Tytchfell Abbey” is the first Regency Era mystery I wrote. I always wanted to write a Regency Era story and I loved playing around with Austen’s themes and language. I’m due to write another story from that period.

I originally considered doing a series of short stories featuring Cassandra Hollingsworth solving mysteries…I may have to revisit that idea.

The story is set in 1813 – the year “Pride and Prejudice” was published. The novel was released in January and “Tytchfell Abbey” is based in May. It’s safe to say that Cassandra read the book and is waiting for her very own Mr. Darcy to crop up. Otherwise, ladies of her station would have to teach, become a governess, a companion, or they would descend into genteel poverty – like Mrs. Bates in Austen’s “Emma.”

Gothic novels are referenced. 18th century authors such as Ann Radcliffe, Horace Walpole, Matthew Lewis sold their hair-raising novels and the public loved them. Later, in the 19th century, Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, the Bronte sisters, and Dickens employed Gothicism in their fiction. Austen wrote her gothic parody “Northanger Abbey” (which was originally titled as “Susan”) in the late 1790s and sold it in 1803, but it sat in publication limbo for thirteen years. She had to buy it back; later her brother Henry informed the editor who let it sit in limbo, that the editor missed out on publishing the work by the famed-but anonymous authoress of “Pride and Prejudice.” “Northanger Abbey” was published posthumously, alongside “Persuasion.”

[foxposters781]

Fishing Planet: Bottom Power Pack For Mac

Fishing Planet: Bottom Power Pack For Mac Os

the new lake is good but....

pastythief replied to pastythief's topic in Waterways

thanks man, appreciate the reply,i was only wondering about the new lake, but thanks anyway.

pastythief started following biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake)., the new lake is good but.... and biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake).

the new lake is good but....

pastythief posted a topic in Waterways

Hi all, i have a couple of questions. 1). The new lake is good but can someone explain to me (i used to build radar and sonar), where the hell do you cast to get the fish that you see as targets on the screen???, in front /behind /to the side and how far etc.?. 2) is it worth fishing at night as i spent a whole night thre and all i got was a SMALL catfish. 3), sorry just thought of a 3rd , where are the bigger fish likely to be, tackle and bait etc. would be helpful. thanks in anticipation.

biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake).

pastythief replied to pastythief's topic in Tips/Techniques/Guides

many thanks mate, i will give it a go later 2day, got the mrs. peckin me head to finish the garden, (i would rather be fishing.).

biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake).

pastythief replied to pastythief's topic in Tips/Techniques/Guides

biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake).

pastythief posted a topic in Tips/Techniques/Guides

hi all, i would love to get some bigger carp now, ive had them up to 13Kg, but want to see if i can get me a big one. ive got the carp lord pack and a lot more gear too, but dont know when or where to go,. ( favorite spot is at the left hand end of the 'lake within a lake') when you spawn onto it. any ideas?:?

Bottom Power Pack??

pastythief replied to Sasha Alexander's topic in DLCs

hi there, ive not long got the bottom power pack, and i think it great, but without being specific, it is certainly worth the money. ive used it in most locations and had good fish on it, the big alli rods are very good and worth getting on their own, for the cats, barbel, and carp. t(the heavier rods that is), the lighter rods are good for pretty much all other fish, i hope that this helps you, as for a rating i would give it 8/10.

biggest carp in germany (bagerssee lake).

pastythief posted a topic in Fish

hi all, i bought the carp lord gear, and i leveled up from 40 to 42 in 4 days (realtime),in this lake. many thanks to all those who gave me info. Now what i want to do is catch me some BIG carp, so far in game i think my biggest is about 13Kg?, from the lake in a lake, (when you spawn, go just past the end of the island and cast into about 3m of water). had big grass carp, leathers commons and mirrors too. ive got some good gear and bait, etc. but would really love some help with locations and time etc.( you know the sort of thing). There is only one criticism if you can call it that, and that is there are no weed beds, lilly pads or things like that. it just seems like an open bowl of water,. In real life i used to fish some gravel pits near a place called Yately, and others in the area, ands though there werent many, there were places where there were reeds, lillies and trees over and in the water, where i had some monsters, my biggest was a 40lb 9oz mirror and ive had hundreds over 20, in one day i had over 300lb of creucian over 2lb tench to 7 1/2 and commons too. i was knackered i tell you. many thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

Hi all, i have just got to level 41 and got me a carp rod, some feeders hooks and boilies, so why will it not let me use them,??, it keeps them 'greyed out', Do you have to be at a specific water, or at a certain level, if so then why the f*** do they allow you to buy the damn tackle in the first place??? i have caught carp on ordinary tackle and ordinary fish on carp tackle in real life. any help would be apreciated.

About This Content Feeder Dream Pack is every feeder angler’s must-have tackle set for an incredibly immersive feeder fishing experience! You get THREE powerful rod’n’reel combos, a full selection of all the terminal tackle, feeder baits, chum, attractants and other equipment along with weekly Pond Passes and Advanced Licenses for the top-3 European feeder fishing destinations! Feeder Dream Pack includes: * 40 000 CREDITS * 20 BAITCOINS * 7-DAY PREMIUM * 3 Marker Buoys * 2 Storage Boxes (75 Slots) * 3 Tackle Setups * 3 Recipe Slots RODS ‘N REELS Rods: * Flaggmann™ CreekPro 270 SE - Length: 8' 10' (2.7 m); Casting Test: 3/8 – 1 3/7 Oz. (10–40 g); Power: Light; Line Weight: 2–7 Lb. (1–3.25 kg); Action: Mod-Fast; Quiver Tips: 1/2 Oz, 1 Oz, 1 ½ Oz * UL-CHUBER™ Laker Pro 370 SE - Length: 12' 2' (3.7 m); Casting Test: 5/7 – 2 ½ Oz. (20–70 g); Power: Medium; Line Weight: 4.5–13 Lb. (2–6 kg); Action: Mod Fast; Quiver Tips: 1 Oz., 1 ½ Oz., 2 Oz. * UL-CHUBER™ Big Alli 420 SE - Length: 13' 10' (4.2 m); Casting Test: 3 1/28 – 6 1/4 Oz. (85–175 g); Power: X Heavy; Line Weight: 6.5–18.5 Lb. (3–8.5 kg); Action: Fast; Quiver Tips: 3 Oz., 4 Oz., 5 Oz. Reels: * Flaggmann™ CrucianHunter 3500 SE - Ratio: 4.9:1; Recovery: 27.5' (70 cm); Capacity: mono 12/120 (0.3/120), braid 20/160 (0.23/160); Max Drag: 7 Lb. (3.25 kg); Drag: front * UL-CHUBER™ Breamer 4500 SE - Ratio: 5.5:1; Recovery: 36.5' (93 cm); Capacity: mono 20/110 (0.4/110), braid 30/145 (0.28/145); Max Drag: 13 Lb. (5.9 kg); Drag: front * UL-CHUBER™ Big River 6000 SE - Ratio: 6.0:1; Recovery: 47' (120 cm); Capacity: mono 32/120 (0.5/120), braid 30/205 (0.28/205); Max Drag: 18 Lb. (8.15 kg); Drag: front TERMINAL TACKLE * Lines - Length 1000 yd (1000 m): Mono 0.23 mm (.009')- Test: 6 Lb. (2.7 kg) Mono 0.25 mm (.01') - Test: 8 Lb. (3.6 kg) Mono 0.3 mm (.012')- Test: 12 Lb. (7.2 kg) Mono 0.35 mm (.014')- Test: 16 Lb. ( 7.2 kg) Braid 0.15 mm (.006')- Test: 6 Lb. (2.7 kg) Braid 0.13 mm (.0055')- Test: 7.5 Lb. (3.5 kg) Braid 0.2 mm (.008')- Test: 10 Lb. (4.5 kg) Braid 0.22 mm (.0085')- Test: 17 Lb. ( 7.7 kg) * Mono Leaders - Length: 2 yd (2 m): 0.12 (0.005')- Test: 4 lb (1.85 kg) 0.14 (0.0055')- Test: 5.5 lb (2.5 kg) 0.16 (0.006')- Test: 7 lb (3.15 kg) 0.18 (0.007')- Test: 8.3 lb (3.8 kg) 0.2 (0.008')- Test: 9.7 lb (4.4 kg) 0.22 (0.0085')- Test: 11 lb (5 kg) 0.25 (0.010')- Test: 14.3 lb (6.5 kg) * Hooks: #16; #14; #12; #10; #8; #6; #4; #2 * Sinkers: 15 g; 25 g; 50 g; 75 g; 100 g; 125 g; 150 g * Open Feeders: 15 g; 60 g (x2); 100 g (x2); 115 g (x2) * Closed Feeders: 20 g; 40 g (x2); 80 g (x2); 100 g(x2) * Baits: Red Worms; Maggots; Semolina Balls; Caster Maggots; Bloodworms; Wax Worms; Marshmallows; Yellow Maggots; Red Maggots; Duck Mussel Meat; Centipedes; Pinkies; Night Crawlers * Groundbaits: Crimson Cold Water Golden; Active Feeder Golden; Black Roacher Golden; Universal Mixture Golden; Grand Fish Feeder Golden * Aromas: Molasses Caramelized Golden; Sweet Crucian Golden; Spicy Roach Golden; BigBream Spicy Golden EQUIPMENT * GarryScott™ FishCabin M Plus - Max Single Fish Weight: 66 Lb. (30 kg); Total Fish Weight: 154 Lb. (70 kg) * TrippleFeeder™ Rod Stand - Rod Slot: 3 * Flaggmann™ Triple Case - Rods: 3 * UL-CHUBER™ Lure Box ChumChest Extra - Tackles: 35; Lines: 3 Chum Components: 10 * Flaggmann™ Waist Coat Travel Pro II - Tackles: 25 POND PASSES (7 days): * Lesní Víla Fishery (Czech) * Ghent–Terneuzen Canal (Netherlands) * Tiber River (Italy) FISHING LICENSES (7 days): * Advanced Czech License * Advanced Netherlands License * Advanced Italy License

Fishing Planet: Bottom Power Pack For Mac Os

About This Content Behold the Carp Lord Pack — an ultimate must-have tackle set that every carp angler could only dream about! This awesome selection of fishing goodies includes FOUR powerful spod&carp rod’n’reel combos, a full selection of all the best terminal tackle: carp leaders, carp hooks, carp sinkers, method feeders, PVA feeders, spod feeders as well as baits, chum&spod mixes. Bottom Power Pack includesbr40 000 CREDITSbr20 BAITCOINSbr7-DAY PREMIUMbr5 Marker Buoysbr100 Slotsbr5 Tackle Setupsbr5 Recipe SlotsbrbrRodsbrUL-CHUBER™ Laker Pro 370 SEbrUL-CHUBER™ Big Alli 420 SEbrUL-CHUBER™ Cat Boxer 260 SEbrUL-CHUBER™ Heavy Chaser 300 SEbrReelsbrUL-CHUBER™ Breamer 4500 SEbrUL-CHUBER™ Big River 6000 SEbrUL-CHUBER™ Mega.

[bohemianrhapsody86]

200 Things About Me (originally 200 Things You Can Put In My Ask)

I got this off of @rami-malek-trash - don’t know who the original poster was, sorry if it’s you. I’m bored and cramping and no one usually sends me asks anyway, so I’m just going to answer all of these myself 

200: My crush’s name is: Drew (Now boyfriend, but he was my middle school crush) 199: I was born in: 1986 198: I am really: cool 197: My cellphone company is: T-Mobile 196: My eye color is: green 195: My shoe size is: 9.5/10 194: My ring size is: 9/10 193: My height is: 5′6″ 192: I am allergic to: Nothing 191: My 1st car was: 2001 PT Cruiser 190: My 1st job was: Server at a local pizzeria 189: Last book you read: Startalk: Everything You Ever Need to Know About Space Travel, Sci-Fi, the Human Race, the Universe, and Beyond by Neil DeGrasse Tyson 188: My bed is: Not very comfortable. I need a new mattress, but I need a job first.  187: My pet: A siamese cat named Chico. 186: My best friend: Amanda  185: My favorite shampoo is: I like using Aussie 2-in-1, I also like using Shimmer Lights occasionally so I can keep my gray hairs nice and shiny.  184: Xbox or ps3: PS3 183: Piggy banks are: Cool. I have one that counts my change lol 182: In my pockets: Nothing because they hate putting usable pockets in women’s pants.  181: On my calendar: I marked where I started my period yesterday, and my boyfriends 32nd birthday is next Tuesday.  180: Marriage is: Something I want everyone to have the option for if they want it. 179: Spongebob can: use his imagination 178: My mom: is amazing! 177: The last three songs I bought were? Cool and Sucker by The Jonas Brothers, Don’t really buy many singles, just albums if I’m interested and their cheap.  176: Last YouTube video watched: Brooke Candy - Paper or Plastic 175: How many cousins do you have? Too many to remember 174: Do you have any siblings? Yes, an older brother and older half-sister. 173: Are your parents divorced? Yes, they divorced back in 1999 172: Are you taller than your mom? Yes. We used to be the same height, but gravity has taken a hold of her and squashed her down.  171: Do you play an instrument? I used to play the trombone in middle school, but that was 20 years ago. I’m sure if I ever got my hands on one again, I might remember a scale or two.  170: What did you do yesterday? Went around town job hunting and then bought a maxi dress at a local craft store.  [ I Believe In ] 169: Love at first sight:Yes 168: Luck: Yes 167: Fate: Yes 166: Yourself: Sometimes 165: Aliens: Yes 164: Heaven: Yes and No 163: Hell: We live there now. 162: God: No 161: Horoscopes: Yes 160: Soul mates: Yes 159: Ghosts: Yes 158: Gay Marriage: Yes 157: War: No 156: Orbs: Yes/No 155: Magic: Yes [ This or That ] 154: Hugs or Kisses: Kisses 153: Drunk or High: High  152: Phone or Online: Online 151: Red heads or Black haired: Black haired 150: Blondes or Brunettes: Brunette 149: Hot or cold: Cold 148: Summer or winter: Winter 147: Autumn or Spring: Autumn 146: Chocolate or vanilla:Chocolate 145: Night or Day: Night 144: Oranges or Apples: Apples 143: Curly or Straight hair: Curly 142: McDonalds or Burger King: McDonalds 141: White Chocolate or Milk Chocolate: Milk Chocolate 140: Mac or PC: PC 139: Flip flops or high heals: Flip Flops 138: Ugly and rich OR sweet and poor: Sweet and Poor 137: Coke or Pepsi: Always been a Pepsi girl 136: Hillary or Obama: Obama 135: Burried or cremated: Cremated and turned into a tree or my ashes made into a vinyl 134: Singing or Dancing: Singing 133: Coach or Chanel: Neither 132: Kat McPhee or Taylor Hicks: Katherine McPhee 131: Small town or Big city: Small Town 130: Wal-Mart or Target: Target 129: Ben Stiller or Adam Sandler: Ben Stiller 128: Manicure or Pedicure: Mani 127: East Coast or West Coast: East Coast - never been to the West Coast 126: Your Birthday or Christmas: Birthday because it sometimes falls on Thanksgiving.  125: Chocolate or Flowers: Chocolate 124: Disney or Six Flags: Disney 123: Yankees or Red Sox: Neither, Cubbies til the day I die.  [ Here’s What I Think About ] 122: War: Pointless 121: George Bush: Better than the asshat in office now. 120: Gay Marriage: If I can get married to my boyfriend, the my friend Jerry should be able to get married to his boyfriend, Josh.  119: The presidential election: I hate that orange buffoon.  118: Abortion: I’m pro-choice.  117: MySpace: Always had trouble figuring out my Top 8 and what background I wanted to use.  116: Reality TV: Only thing I really watch are cooking competitions. Those are the only ones that matter. Not a fan of the Kardashians or the Bachelor/ette bullcrap.  115: Parents: My mom is amazing, my ‘dad’ was never really there.  114: Back stabbers: Asshats 113: Ebay: Hardly use it.  112: Facebook: Good to stay in touch with people you want to/some of the groups on there are awesome.  111: Work: Don’t have a job as of yet. *keeps fingers crossed I hear back from someone soon* 110: My Neighbors: Loud AF and nasty. I live in an apartment and the neighbors upstairs have so many kids and animals up there it’s ridiculous. I wish they’d leave.  109: Gas Prices: Ridiculous, but not as bad as I’ve seen it before.  108: Designer Clothes: Meh, not my style unless I find something in my size at Goodwill.  107: College: Been there, done that. Not really for me. Never graduated.  106: Sports: I like watching them, mainly baseball and basketball. The NFL can go fuck themselves.  105: My family: Love my blood relatives and my chosen family.  104: The future: It’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.  [ Last time I ] 103: Hugged someone: last night when my boyfriend came over and brought me my phone charger.  102: Last time you ate: An hour ago. 101: Saw someone I haven’t seen in awhile: At my bestie’s baby shower.  100: Cried in front of someone: Sometime last week 99: Went to a movie theater: When Endgame came out 98: Took a vacation: 2010 97: Swam in a pool: A few summers ago 96: Changed a diaper: 2007? 95: Got my nails done: 2007? 94: Went to a wedding: 1999 93: Broke a bone: Never *keeps fingers crossed* 92: Got a peircing: 2012? 91: Broke the law: I probably broke the speed limit yesterday at some point.  90: Texted: about 2am this morning.  [ MISC ] 89: Who makes you laugh the most: My bestie Amanda and boyfriend Drew 88: Something I will really miss when I leave home is: my cat. 87: The last movie I saw: Ant-Man  86: The thing that I’m looking forward to the most: getting a job 85: The thing im not looking forward to: Interviewing for a job 84: People call me: loyal 83: The most difficult thing to do is: finding a job 82: I have gotten a speeding ticket: Yep, 77 in a 55. 81: My zodiac sign is: Sun - Sagittarius, Moon - Leo

80: The first person i talked to today was: If you count texting my boyfriend at 2am, then him.  79: First time you had a crush: Sometime in Elemetary School.  78: The one person who i can’t hide things from: my mom 77: Last time someone said something you were thinking: yesterday 76: Right now I am talking to: myself 75: What are you going to do when you grow up: I have no clue 74: I have/will get a job: soon 73: Tomorrow: Never Comes 72: Today: Is the day 71: Next Summer: Not here 70: Next Weekend: I have no clue 69: I have these pets: 12 year old 17 lb cat named Striper.  68: The worst sound in the world: My cat hacking up a hairball.  67: The person that makes me cry the most is: myself 66: People that make you happy: my mom, brother, sister-in-law, boyfriend, best friend. 65: Last time I cried: sometime last week 64: My friends are: amazing 63: My computer is: pretty cool and loaded up with Sims stuff.  62: My School: I don’t go to school anymore.  61: My Car: gets me there.  60: I lose all respect for people who: disrespect me or my loved one.  59: The movie I cried at was: Endgame 58: Your hair color is: salt & pepper 57: TV shows you watch: Legends of Tomorrow, Worst Cooks in America, Any cooking show really.  56: Favorite web site: Tumblr 55: Your dream vacation: Somewhere away from my town 54: The worst pain I was ever in was: when I had that ovarian cyst. 53: How do you like your steak cooked: medium 52: My room is: messy 51: My favorite celebrity is: too many to list  50: Where would you like to be: in bed 49: Do you want children: nope 48: Ever been in love: yes 47: Who’s your best friend: Amanda 46: More guy friends or girl friends: About the same.  45: One thing that makes you feel great is: music 44: One person that you wish you could see right now: my grandma 43: Do you have a 5 year plan: I don’t even have a 5 minute plan 42: Have you made a list of things to do before you die: Kinda, not really 41: Have you pre-named your children: Nope 40: Last person I got mad at: The Dump, but that’s a daily thing.  39: I would like to move to: out of the US 38: I wish I was a professional: crocheter/crafter [ My Favorites ] 37: Candy: Butterfinger Cups 36: Vehicle: Don’t really have one 35: President: Barack Obama 34: State visited: Pennsylvania 33: Cellphone provider: Always been with T-Mobile 32: Athlete: Anthony Rizzo 31: Actor: Tom Hanks 30: Actress: Sandra Bullock 29: Singer: Freddie Mercury 28: Band: Queen 27: Clothing store: Lane Bryant 26: Grocery store: Aldi 25: TV show: Don’t really have one 24: Movie: Too many to count 23: Website: This black hole of a site 22: Animal: Cat 21: Theme park: Don’t really have one. I did enjoy Six Flags over Georgia when I went back in 2002. Dollywood is always fun but it’s been even longer than that since I’ve been there.  20: Holiday: Halloween 19: Sport to watch: Baseball 18: Sport to play: Nothing.  17: Magazine: Entertainment Weekly 16: Book: Harry Potter 15: Day of the week: Thursday 14: Beach: Virginia Beach 13: Concert attended: Jonas Brothers in VA Beach 12: Thing to cook: bacon 11: Food: bacon 10: Restaurant: Hmmm....don’t know that one.  9: Radio station: Classic Hits 102.7...hardly any commercials and they tell you the artist and song title after every song. 70s, 80s, and 90s songs.  8: Yankee candle scent: Don’t have one 7: Perfume: The scented oils from a local curiosity shop have some of my fave scents.  6: Flower: Iris 5: Color: Blue 4: Talk show host: Jimmy Fallon 3: Comedian: I’ve got several 2: Dog breed: Corgi 1: Did you answer all these truthfully? Yes.    

[budgie2budgie]

 -GET TO KNOW ME-

You have to make a simself and put whatever you wish there, traits, anything about you.  After the keep reading thingy are +100 questions I found that you can answer if you want, but you don’t have to (it’s tiring as hell) 

tagged by @xrattrap & @twinklepixels, <3 

tagging: @thesimsblues, @magnasimblr, @floppant, @anotherplumbob, @eslanes no pressure! it’s hard work! lol

1. What is your full name? mia 2. What is your nickname? budgie? 3. Birthday? feb 5 4. What is your favorite book series? uhm.. *blank* 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? no..? 6. Who is your favorite author? liv strömquist 7. What is your favorite radio station? spotify’s weekly discovery... 8. What is your favorite flavor of anything? lemon 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? super 10. What is your current favorite song? lux prima - karen o 11. What is your favorite word? so many... lol 12. What was the last song you listened to? slow dancing in the dark - joji, i blame @floppant​ 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? i love dick! 14. What is your favorite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? *blank* 15. Do you play video games? duh! 16. What is your biggest fear? losing people (and animals) i love 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? i’m good at picking my fights 18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? way too lazy 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? cats 20. What is your favorite season? early spring 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? my granny 23. Who is your best friend? N 24. What is your eye color? Blue 25. What is your hair color? blackbrowngrey 26. Who is someone you love? oh so many 27. Who is someone you trust? my man 28. Who is someone you think about often? my niece, she’s the best 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? yes, konstfacks’ (art school) christmas market tomorrow :) 30. What is your biggest obsession? music, food, sims - in that order 31. What was your favorite TV show as a child? oh, probably somthing that teached out “make your own barbie bathtub out of a milk carton” 32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my brother 33. Are you superstitious? nah 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? no? 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind 36. What is your favorite hobby? pottery and sims 37. What was the last book you read? stoner - j. williams 38. What was the last movie you watched?  20th century women on netflix 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? a tiny tiny bit piano 40. What is your favorite animal?  cats 41. What are your top 5 favorite Tumblr blogs that you follow? i have more favorites than that! 42. What superpower do you wish you had? teleporting 43. When and where do you feel most at peace?  swimming in “our” summer lake 44. What makes you smile? the end of this video! 45. What sports do you play, if any? sports... ugh, running, RARELY, and sometimes i go to my friend’s yoga class... other than that, nothing :/ 46. What is your favorite drink? hot - coffee! cold - beer 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? thursday, to my colleague 48. Are you afraid of heights? nope, or ok maybe if i had to walk on a glass floor on the 122th floor 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? greediness 50. Have you ever been to a concert? yes! it’s my favorite thing to do! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? yes 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? a dentist lol 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? - 54. What is something you worry about? my sick cat :( 55. Are you scared of the dark? yes, and i hate being that 56. Do you like to sing? yes, but only when i’m alone! 57. Have you ever skipped school? oh yeah 58. What is your favorite place on the planet? our summer cottage 59. Where would you like to live? in a bigger city somewhere else, toronto (fav) or NY, or belfast, loved belfast. 60. Do you have any pets? two cats 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? night owl 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunrises. 63. Do you know how to drive? NO! O_O i’m a biker 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? headphones 65. Have you ever had braces? no 66. What is your favorite genre of music? singer-songwriters 67. Who is your hero? there are so many cool people out there, cheers to them all! 68. Do you read comic books? yes 69. What makes you the most angry? small-minded people 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book? paper! 71. What is your favorite subject in school? art 72. Do you have any siblings? half siblings: 2 brothers, 1 sister 73. What was the last thing you bought? a kimono online! 74. How tall are you? 166cm 75. Can you cook? yes. 76. What are three things that you love? clay, pop-up books, new music. 77. What are three things that you hate? racism, intolerance and animal abuse <- what rat said 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? female 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? sweden 81. Who was the last person you texted? my dad 82. When was the last time you cried? last week 83. Who is your favorite YouTuber? - 84. Do you like to take selfies? no. 85. What is your favorite app? uhm... instagram? 86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? “normal” 87. What is your favorite foreign accent? french 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? japan! 89. What is your favorite number? - 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? nope 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? the ocean 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yes 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? every time, if that’s the case 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? beach 99. What is your favorite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you? hm, *blank* 100. Are you a good liar? maybe? ;) 101. What is your Hogwarts House? hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? all the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? both! 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? i have a bullet journal 105. Do you believe in second chances? yes 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? celebrate! jk, probably try to find the owner? 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? yes 108. Are you ticklish? yes 109. Have you ever been on a plane? yes 110. Do you have any piercings? in my ears 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? O_o... *blank* 112. Do you have any tattoos? no, only because i can’t decide what i want to have on my body FOREVER 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? made a bold move even tho i was scared 114. Do you believe in karma? yes, and she’s a bitch 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? contacts 116. Do you want children? nope 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my friend S 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? ugh, do we have to? 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What color are most of you clothes? black 121. Do you like adventures? sometimes 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? what did you say? 124. What is your favorite quote? “i'm steady on my feet till it hit me on my teeth“ 125. Do you prefer sweet or savory foods? both, sometimes at the same time.

[pretzel-lift]

A Lifetime of Lifting

I wanted to publish this post to just tell my story; I’m seemingly at least a decade older than many lifters in the community and wanted to share where I’ve been, how I’ve gotten there, and what’s changed.

I’m going to start off by saying that this is gonna be long and probably boring, but if you’re into autobiographies then please stick with me lol. ---------

The first time I ever remember taking anything was when I was eight years old. I was playing at a friend’s house and she had an orange plastic toy compass that I remember thinking, “I want that.” I waited for her to leave the room and I stuck it in my pocket. I was so nervous, I remember my heart racing and making up an excuse that I needed to go home. I got on my bike and pedaled away from her house. I was never questioned about the whereabouts of the compass.

I don’t remember what I felt - I just know that “taking things” became a habit for me, always from school. Paperback books were a favorite; I could easily take them home from the classroom to read and just never return them. In fifth grade, I spied a brand-new multi-pack of rainbow colored overhead projector markers. A dozen beautiful colors called to me to steal them. Again, I waited for the opportunity for the classroom to be empty, and quickly zipped the package into my backpack.

A few days later, the teacher that I loved and never wanted to disappoint asked us to search the classroom for the package of markers. My heart began to pound again, but I knew the markers were safe at home, so I pretended to look for them along with everyone else. The search expanded to our bookbags and desks. Our teacher was beside herself as to where the markers could be. I never stepped forward and said that I did it, and I never returned them either.

This was the mid-90s, and I was ten years old. I knew nothing of security cameras at the stores, I don’t think it even dawned on me that stores would have such a thing to catch lifters. This was the first time you could say I was caught. One night, my mother and I went out to Big Lots, and I mentioned to her that there was a coffee mug I wanted a couple of aisles over, and it was $1.00. For whatever reason, my mom deemed that it was too expensive, and we kept shopping. I went back to “look” at the mugs again, and succeeded in peeling the sticker off a .39 mug and pasting it over the $1.00 sticker on the mug I wanted. I thought I was a genius and showed my mom that I’d found a cheaper mug. We went to check out and all was good until just before the cashier totaled the merchandise. To my mother’s embarrassment and my prepubescent chagrin, the manager came up and told my mother that I had been caught changing the price tag on the mug. My mother was fuming, and I denied it at first, but they had me caught and gave me a lengthy scare about shoplifting and how I was lucky to not be arrested. Ha. 

When high school hit, lifting was a weekly thing for me. I had saved enough money from working for the down payment on a car, and was free to lift any time I wanted now. Two big-box retailers had made their way to our town a few years earlier, and suddenly, so much was mine - my entire makeup collection, novelty items, pens and notebooks, clothes, shoes. I concealed everything on-person initially, but I became braver and started using my purse. My boyfriend at the time stared in awe as I dumped dozens and dozens of packages of lifted Magic and YuGiOh cards onto his bed, yanked from the displays. Me1jer was a great store to lift condoms, lube, and cigarettes from - this was about 2001 and they still had old self-serve cigarette displays at the beginning of their checkout lines. I was a minor, so this was my go-to for cigarettes, stuffed away in my black canvas crossbody purse studded with (lifted) pins. This era of my life also saw the advent of me stealing my mom’s medicines to sell and even taking her wedding set to a pawn shop. 

The year after graduation, I met my only lifting buddy to this date, Cat*. Cat worked at a mom-and-pop restaurant in a nearby town and pocketed at least a hundred a night from the register, or just taking the money the customers paid her with and only pretended to cash them out. I didn’t condone this personally, but it delighted me that I could exploit Cat for my personal gain, and soon Cat and I went on shopping sprees and it felt good to “buy” things, in our own way. 

The year after that, I met my oldest child’s dad, and things were getting tougher. I was 20 years old and had been living on my own for two years at this point, and had an apartment full of friends with no jobs who were staying with me because they had “no place to go.” I was struggling to pay the bills (minimum wage at this time in my state was still $5.15 an hour), and had no money left over. I was working at a major retailer as a cashier, when one afternoon a customer knelt down in front of  my register and came back up with a credit card. “Here, someone dropped this,” they said, and my head began swimming with the possibilities. “Thank you, I’ll take it to the office,” I told the customer, but the card was never turned in.

I realized that I had a very short window in which to act, so after work, I went on a shopping spree, packed my fridge and cabinets, and filled my gas tank. I signed an alias on the slips and promptly destroyed the credit card after the spree, which lasted no more than 24 hours. At the time, I assumed I wouldn’t be caught, that no cameras could denote who I really was, that nobody would be able to catch my license plate number. Very fortunately, I was not caught, but I had breached into new and very dangerous territory.

During that summer, I was very enamored with my (completely lazy and piece of shit) boyfriend, and would do anything to fund his every whims. Dropped credit cards showed up more often at my register, and I began treading into the waters of ORC, gift card fraud, and even check fraud. Hundreds of dollars were becoming mine with the ease of a few keypunches on the registers. I knew that I could get in huge trouble for all of these things, but I told myself that I was smart, I was ahead of the game. To this point, I had stolen money from every job I had worked at, and been fired from a few for doing such. But even with everything I was doing to stay ahead, the money was never enough - and I found myself pregnant that fall.

Shortly after becoming pregnant was the first time I was really caught, and it was so careless and embarrassing that it’s almost funny. My now-ex, his friend, and I strolled into one of the big-boxers with a freshly nabbed stolen credit card. Right off the bat, even for the given store, we looked sus as fuck - screwing around, dressed like trash, being loud. We stopped at the accessories department first and I foolishly took a pair of earrings off of a pack and put them in my ears. We laughed and joked through the store for at least two hours as we filled up our cart with the usual - food mainly, but other things like DVDs and candles and crap. We checked out at the register and I signed my alias on the credit card pad and we were on our way out the door with our several-hundreds-dollars haul. Just before the doors, we were stopped by two LP, they were talking so fast and shoving something in my face that it took me a minute to realize what was going on. One LP was holding up the placard that held earrings, one pair missing. The other was telling me I could not leave until I came with them and let them know what I did with the earrings. I became angry because I was caught, but I played it off like I was trying them on (what even?) and “forgot” I had them. The LP allowed me to go back through the line and purchase the whole package - which I did so with the stolen card I had. Irony. We were let go on the premise that we wouldn’t come back for six months. That didn’t last.

That scare set me back from lifting when I needed it the most. I was now pregnant, jobless, and even homeless - my boyfriend and I were staying from couch to couch with friends where we could. We had burnt bridges everywhere. My boyfriend refused to get a job and for some reason, I believe I deserved to be with someone like this. I scammed up six months of unemployment benefits, which was the best I could do in my condition, and we lived on $115 a week until the baby was born (rent was $100 a week).

A couple of months after our daughter was born, I was hired by another big-box retailer and found myself working at the customer service desk. I was mainly alone on my shifts after I had learned the ropes, and it got a little boring back there. I willed myself not to lift, even though I was needing it more than ever - even with a job and food stamps, I could barely pay bills, and still didn’t have a car. I discovered a gem while cleaning out the drawers in customer service one day - a drawer with lost IDs and gift cards in them. I surreptitiously pocketed the gift cards, left the IDs and whatever else was in there - junk jewelry, keychains. I went home that night and checked the balance on the gift cards, One of them had $100 on it. That week, at least, I could breathe easy. 

I was becoming careless, though. The gift card I found with $100 on it was for the store I worked at, and I was nervous as all hell to shop for what I needed, so I went to a location out of town to spend it on body wash and stuff I needed for home. During my employment here, I gathered the skills I could to process fraudulent returns. All of the returned merchandise was kept behind the desk and sorted in to various carts to go back to stock at the end of the night. I was routinely (like every shift) beginning to take items that were brought to the service desk and process fraudulent returns on them to pocket the money or gift cards. It worked like this: a customer would do a return and I would give them the money. That’s fine, right? But I’d later take the same receipt copy I had and “return” some other things from the receipt, or just gather receipts from the parking lot and “return” the items. LP was gone after a certain hour (their office was right next to my desk). How would anyone know unless they were REALLY watching the cameras, and seeing that I was doing fake returns, haha right?

Haha indeed. One night, I was told to go on break, and someone came to relieve me of the desk. I knew that I had $60 in my sock from a fraudulent return I’d done way too early in the shift, and it wasn’t time for break. My stomach dropped and my mouth got hot and I knew I was caught even though everyone acted normal. I walked toward the break room, eager to sneak into the restroom and hide the money a little better, but I was stopped on the way and taken to the LP office. They had called a police officer and everything. They accused me of taking a little more than $1000 at this point, they’d been “watching” me. It never dawned on me that LP would build a case against me and then bust me later. I had assumed that the minute they catch you stealing, your jig was up, and they didn’t let it go further. I was wrong. I handed over the money they knew I had in my sock and tried to cry my way out of it.

What LP had caught me with paled in comparison to what I had actually made off with - of course, I didn’t let them know that. I complied. I cried. I told them I was scared and had nothing and just couldn’t make ends meet. Spoiler alert, they didn’t believe me, or care. LP left the room after awhile and left me in there with the police officer. By the grace of god knows what, and very graciously, the police officer told me that he was not going to arrest me, but that this was extremely serious and could land me in prison. The retailed had accused me of over a grand - but instead of pressing charges or showing camera footage or anything “proving” what I’d done, I was made to sign a couple of papers. One was terminating my employment, and another was sort-of a promissory note of payback. I was banned from this retailer for a number of months, ordered to pay back what they accused me of taking, and a few other stipulations. I left that night crying and calling my mom for a ride - again, I was 21 and alone with no job or car, only this time I had an infant to care for with very little help from anyone. I had nothing to my name, not even a bed or a couch in my disgusting apartment. I managed to scam up 10 weeks of unemployment benefits again, but that was the last.

This incident was over 11 years ago. I was shook to the core and vowed to never lift again. Eight years passed and I found a very long and hard way to “better,” involving leaving my ex (he still to this day does nothing for his child), going on to marry someone else, gaining financial stability and independence, and not lifting a single cent in that time.

But a few years ago, I felt like I was going crazy. I was severely depressed and manic. I have long since been diagnosed with OCD and kleptomania, but I abated myself and the urges. I joined tumblr in 2013 on my main. In 2014, I got curious about lifting again - and searched the tags for shoplifting hauls or something like that. Holy shit, what a world I’d stumbled on. See, up until I got popped at work and terminated, I had no internet to turn to, no community, no reddit, no tumblr, and I never even searched up forum boards on my illegal pastime. I learned it all on my own, every victory, every misstep, every twist and turn - but here, oh here on liftblr...holy. fucking. shit. These people knew EVERYTHING. They knew how to take hard security tags off (something I had never considered fucking with), they knew entire store layouts and how to lift and most importantly, how to stay safe. Fuck. Here came the urges again - and I was absolutely certain that if I studied, I could do this again.

Well, it’s 2017, and here I am. Two thirds of my life as a lifter. I am now in my early 30s, I am a wife and a mother, I work a great job. I am not financially insecure. During the eight years I was inactive, I established a rapport with many of the store staff in the town I live in, and have been taught what to watch out for and what to avoid. I feel like this is a pertinent step in not being caught, and I often lift along with my regular shopping. I am eternally grateful for finding this community because without it, I’d be lost. I’m grateful for every (good) tip and love admiring people’s hauls. I don’t have a ton of tips, but I do want to share what I do.

- The majority of my method is simply walking out of the store with items, or leaving them in my cart (under a purse or bag). I do this a bit brazenly and I do not recommend it. But the idea behind lifting, no matter WHY you do it, is to beat LP at their game. Your objective is to outsmart them. I choose this method because at my age, the repercussions are greater, and because the ONLY thing that will get you caught is INTENT. If it never looks like you intended to lift, you will get out of this every time, I promise. I’m not saying to walk out with mounds of clothing draped over your arm - that’s simply un-doable. But I am most comfortable walking out with a couple of things here or there, especially in crowded stores, because the intent isn’t clear - did I mean to walk out with those items, or didn’t I? I do conceal when I need to - when I go on a “bigger” haul and use my magnet and such. But I’m mainly still not totally comfortable with it. 

- I don’t fuck with K0hl’s, M@cy’s/C@rsons, and generally don’t fuck with W@lmart. They’re way, way too good in my town, and have been known to hire actual uniformed police officers to assist LP in watching for theft.

- Do your research and check Facebook for a local police scanner page for your area. This has helped me many times when they post theft calls and to which store (for more info on this please message me). Google lifting in your area, especially store-specific. 

- Always pay in cash. Do not leave a paper trail of any type, and the best advice I can give is to be natural. It is a HUGE risk to drive to a store and park and lift and hope they don’t get your plate number...but it’s also sus to be walking from a long way away, and can be unreliable to be dropped off.

- You will be suspected if you don’t act the part. When people ask you about your thoughts on lifting, or mention lifting to you in conversation, you must join their opinion and pretend that lifters are scum trash who deserve to fry in prison. Literally, that is what all of my coworkers think. As much as it pains me and I want to argue with them, you just HAVE to agree.

- By now, you all know not to leave packages behind, and not walk around the store with your items, obviously searching for a blind spot. Pro tip: conceal as you move, if you’ve got to conceal on-floor. Utilize your phone and wallet to hide items to easily into your bag or jacket. Conceal on-person as much as you can. I submitted the tip about using a magnetic back brace/knee brace to lift with/make your magnets non-sus. Use this tip. 

- Give yourself a limit per store, especially when beginning. You have a craft to hone, and you likely aren’t going to haul off with a grand in merch the first time. Start small and keep practicing this item limit. Begin with one item per store so you don’t get overwhelmed. Work on this and master it then move up to two or three, mastering each level confidently. Always leave your items behind if you suspect you’re being watched. Greed will kill you if you have not mastered the basics.

- If caught, I personally do not recommending running. I know that some have, but to me, the risk of a resisting arrest charge and possible injury are not worth it. I have no parents to answer to and nobody to punish me except the police, so I will stick with this.

- Most of us are pretty curious about lifting in our teens, even if only to just see if we can do it. This is illegal and I’m telling you right now that if you can’t or are not comfortable lying, this activity is not for you. Because eventually, you will be lying a lot to people about items and activities. Some people are simply not good lifters and this should be learned sooner rather than later (for the sake of your permanent record).

- Some have been caught/beeped a lot, some have never. Some is luck, most is skill, but the main thing you must remember is that if truly caught, you risk jail time, fines, and humiliation. You risk losing a chance at gainful employment if you catch a felony. Your name and maybe even photo, along with your charge, will be posted in your local newspaper and everyone will know and they won’t trust you anymore. Research your state laws but remember that if you are caught, it is VERY hard to use what you remember on Google to get out of an arrest. If you’re facing a felony, hire a lawyer and they will do the talking for you.

- Graciously, I have still to this day never been convicted, not even of the ORC activities, fraud/forgery, or identity theft. I do not know how or why I was released that night from the officer when it was pretty obvious that I was guilty. I hope to maintain a clean record permanently.

[pumpkinspicelexatte]

*puts on scientist goggles* EVERY QUESTION

           Random and personal questions  Redacted abusers from history     

1. Name:Amy Brianna Rose Meadows

2. Birthplace:Worksop

3. Ancestry: I have zero idea but apparently i have some irish family lol is all i know

4. Zodiac Sign: Gemini

5. Biggest fear:Tied between getting older and people I love abandoning me

6. Strength/Weakness: Loyalty/Stubbornness

7. Worst habit:Eating salt packets whole?

8. Favorite holiday: Halloween I guess?

9. Ever been in a car crash: Nope

10. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher: So many times

11. What do you do as soon as you walk in the house: Check tumblr lol

12. Age at first kiss:25

13. When did you fall in love for the first time: I wanna say 11 ish?

14. Who Is Your Longest Friend & How Long:

15. Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year: Be happier

16. What were you doing at midnight last night: Sending my girlfriend a birthday message and listening to the new paramore album

17. When was the last time you laughed hard: today with @janes-nature-garden “I guess you just have internalized drumphobia”

18. Who was the last person that told you they love you: @allisbornagain

19. What was the first thing you thought when you woke up yesterday morning: yesterday as in thursday i guess, either @allisbornagain is so cute or why are there chickens

20. Where did you go for your first date and who was it with: I guess the cinerma with my first ever girlfriend grace when i was like 13 lol

21. Who’s wedding were you in the first time you were a bridesmaid or a groomsmen:I have never

22. Who did you see in concert first:Thursday when they opened for MCR

23. Who was your favorite teacher:Jemma my college biology twacher

24. Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day: @allisbornagain or @janes-nature-garden

25. Who do you think about most: @adorablyamy or @allisbornagain or @janes-nature-garden

26. Is your ideal occupation?  If i didn’t suck at it a writer of some kind

27. Beer, wine, or liquor? I guess wine

28. Favourite restaurant? Firezza in soho is amazing but i’ve been to so many good places recently

29. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Dairy free soy vanilla

30. McDonlads or Burger King? Burger king

31. Fantasy dinner guest(s)? Alexa bliss, Poppy, Lana del rey, Hayley williams

32. Have you ever been drunk? When was the last time? lots of time, Probably the night me and jane did karaoke

33. What is the most embarrassing thing you have done drunk? probably karaoke with Jane lol

34. Wonder Woman or Cat Woman? I have no idea

35. How many pets do you have? Does a vulpix count? :p

36. What would be the first thing you bought if you won the lottery? A house so i could live with my girlfriends

37. When was the first time you smoked? Technically age 2 or 3 lol

38. Who last sent you a text? Jane

39. Who did you last send a text to? Jane

40. What 4 things would you take to a desert island? Sattelite internet, water purifier, phone , solar charger

41. Name the 3 most important people in your life? @allisbornagain @janes-nature-garden @truetrashsoulrebel

42. Favorite song? Right now it’s idle worship by paramore

43. Favorite movie? The disappearance of haruhi suzumiya

44. When did you last cuddle someone? today

45. When did you last have sex? I guess technically wednesday although weird feels lol

46. If you woke up tomorrow with no fear, what would you do first? Internet stuff for money lol

47. What was your biggest worry five years ago, do you still feel the same about it at this minute? That i’ll never be able to be a girl

48. If you could change one law of your country, what would it be? I have no idea

49. What relationships have ended? But you can’t let go? I guess there’s one online one where i still love them a whole lot and i just can’t get past it

50. Where would you take a road trip? I have no idea

51. How do Mondays feel for you? alright

52. If you could spend ten minutes with your ‘hero’ alive or dead what would you ask them? i dont know

53. Do your practice ‘self love’ or ‘self loathing’? self loathing mostly lol

54. What’s your greatest achievement to date? Escaping an awful abuser?

55. What scares you about your future? Money and fascism

56. Why does pizza come in a square box? Because delivery bags are square?

57. What would happen if you knew you could not fail? no idea

58. How does it feel to be photographed? nice sometimes

59. If you could erase an event from your mind, which one would you choose? A certain night in november

60. Do you want your children (if you have any) to be ‘just like you’? Nope bpd is hell

61. Do you stand for what you believe in or are you pleasing others? I’m kinda bad at just trying to please others

62. If money were no concern, what would you do for the rest of your life? Something useful and good like volunteer

63. What are you thankful for, this moment? Actually feeling like i have a chance to live

64. Do you have same sex gender fantasies? Always

65. If you have had sex in a public place, where? Not quite but there was a bus station with em

66. Have you ever cried during/after sex? lol yep

67. Who is the oldest person you’ve had sex with? 27

68. Who is the youngest person you’ve had sex with? 21

69. Would you rather be in a relationship with a totally submissive partner or a totally dominant partner? as a polyam i can choose both right? :p

70. How tall are you?    6′3 ish

71. How much do you weigh? I have no idea, I avoid because ed related reasons   

72. What color is your hair naturally?     dark blonde/ light brown?

73. What size jeans do you wear?    16?

74. What is your favorite color to wear?  pink or black  

75. Do you have any piercings?     nope

76. Do you have any tattoos?    nope

77. Do you care how other people see you?    very yes

78. Do you like sports?    eh not really, thanks to certain podcast hosts i have a slight interest in mma lol

79. How do you feel about age differences in relationships?    mostly fine as long as everyone is over 18 although huge age differences particularly way older men scream creepy power dynamic

80. How do you feel about race differences in relationships?    why would that be an issue????

81. Do you believe in karma or fate?    very yes

82. Do you keep a journal?    nope

83. Describe the last dream you remember:   making out with a tumblr follower, although one i interact more with on twitter lol

84. Describe your favorite dream:    

85. Where are some places you would like to visit?    Arctic to see aurora, Japan with em tbh

86. Any upcoming concerts you want to attend?    not really

87. What music do you listen to when you are happy?    paramore, lana , poppy

88. What music do you listen to when you are mad?    paramore , lana, poppy, melanie martinez

89. Do you like to burn candles or incense?    not really

90. What was the last alcoholic beverage you consumed?    wine

91. What are your favorite alcoholic beverages?    prosecco is good atm lol

92. Do you smoke cigarettes or cigars? What about marijuana? only when jane gives me them :p i have before

93. Who is your number 1 friend and why is he or she there?    All my friends are good, but i guess Jane has a best friend feel?

94. Has anyone ever mistaken you for a family member?   nope

95. Is there anyone of your friends that you would ever consider having sex with? a few

96. Would you ever have sex in the shower or the bath? seems dangerous :p I’d fall in the shower lol

97. Have you ever kissed or had sex with someone of the same sex gender?I have only

98. Do you think your last ex still wants to be with you?ew

99. Ever wondered what it would be like dating the same gender as you?no cause thats all i’ve done , well mostly , i’ve dated some nb people

100. What are your outlooks on gay/bisexual people? Amazing

101. How often do you brush your teeth?Daily, thanks exec dysfunction

102. How often do you shower?  When was the last time you had a shower? most days , today

103. How often do you shave your legs?weekly?

104. Political affiliation? not sure

105. Opinion on abortion? let people do what they want /need with their bodies

106. Opinion on immigrants/ immigration reform? immigrants are in no way a bad thing

107. Should prostitution be legalized? very yes

108. How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are? if i could choose? like 19

109. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do? Capitalism?

110. What is the one thing you’d most like to change about the world? make men not in charge

111. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? Something involving looking after pets?

112. Would you break the law to save a loved one? yes

113. If you had to move to a state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would you move and why? italy seems nice i guess?

114. Why are you the person you are? Abuse and trauma?

115. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend? Kinda although im super needy

116. Why do religions that support love cause so many wars? they don’t really,

117. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? do my comfort things in public, be visibly trans

118. Were you happy when you woke up today? not really

119. What’s a fact about the last person who text messaged you? she laughs at the tube station euston cause of euston we have a problem

120. Want someone back in your life? Not anyone who would be good

121. What are you excited for? My chewable necklace thing

122. Are you scared to fall in love? not any more thanks to @allisbornagain

123. When is your next road trip? never?

124. What was the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? message em?

125. Do you like to cuddle? very yes

126. Have you ever kissed more than one person in 24 hours? I’ve kissed two people within five seconds of each other

127. Plans for tomorrow? Rest i’ve been told

128. Do you care too much/not at all/just enough? can’t care too much so just enough

129. How is life going for you right now? okay to good in different aspects

130. If you were offered a shot of whiskey right this second, would you accept? sure

131. This time last year, can you remember who you liked? probably @catnip-brownies :p

132. Could you stay in the same relationship for over a year? yep

133. If you could have one super power what would it be? shapeshifiting seems fun

134. Background on your cell phone? Me jane and em

135. What are you thinking about right this second? Girlfriends

136. Last book you read? How was it? The sigh of haruhi suzumiya  pretty good

137. What is the last thing you bought? food

138. Do you live with your parents? nope

139. Have you ever been caught sneaking out? nah my parents never cared

140. Have you ever met a celebrity? nope

141. What are you like when you’re drunk? fun and loud

142. What are you like when you’re high? emotional

143. Do you want children? idk

144. Do you want a church wedding? idk

145. How many pillows do you sleep with? 3

146. Have you ever been scuba diving? nope

147. Who was your first real crush? Lauren styles a blonde girl who moved to where i lived from croydon,

148. What are you allergic to? some antiallergy meds

149. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?Meadow Meadows

150. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? girl prolly

151. How did you get your name? i chose it , inspired by someone who saved me

152. Name one thing about your body you love? My butt is pretty nice

153. What is your biggest goal in life? be happy and help people I care about be happy

154. Do you still have feelings for your ex? is hate a feeling?

155. Do you think aliens are real? yeah

156. What age did you start drinking? I guess 14 on a school trip to italy?

157. What do you think of President Obama? I don’t know enough about politics nevermind american ones

158. Do you think you’ll be in a relationship two months from now? Yep , nearing 6 months and 5.5 months with my gfs :)

159. Describe your dream girl/guy? furryish cute, weird, gay

167. Favorite fictional character (movie, book, tv show)? Weiss schnee right now

168. How many followers do you have on tumblr? What about twitter/ instagram? 1274 , 215 ish , 50

169. Are you friend with your parents on Facebook? hahahahahhahahahahhahahah no

170. First time you thought you were in love? When did you realize that you weren’t actually in love with that person?

171. Do you talk to yourself? Always, in the third person referring to myself as aimz , amyface, amykins or aimster lol

172. How old will you be on your next birthday? 26 ew

173. How did you meet the last person you kissed? On tumblr

174. Do you have any hickies?i have never

175. Turn ons? girls

176. Turn offs? boys

179. How many siblings do you have?  one sister

180. Have you ever taken anyone’s virginity? ew yes

[paradox-oflife]

massive q and a post part 3 ignore this pls

1. If you could learn any language fluently what would it be? Um maybe latin because it sounds cool but for practical purposes probably spanish lol

2. What historical Figure would you love to see in 21st centuary life? Jesus, not because I’m Christian but I’m curious to see what he would say

3. As a kid were you ever frighted of a monster under the bed or in the cupboard? No because my bed didn’t have space underneath 

4. Do you like clowns? nope

5. Do you prefer BBC or ITV? Okay, this is clearly British but I’d go with BBC

6. Have you ever been surfing? Once. It didn’t go that well lol

7. Have you ever been snowboarding? Yeah, it’s pretty fun actually!

8. Who was better, the Beatles or Elvis Presley? uuuh the Beatles

9. Whats your favourite type of foreign food? By foreign I’m assuming non-American/British. But anything from Taiwan (except for pig’s blood ew) is soul food for me :)

10. Which Foreign country do you dislike the most? I... don’t know. North Korea I guess? But when it comes to most countries, it’s the government that makes it bad.

11. Do you like your music loud or easy listening? (What does this mean??) Depends on the mood

12. Whats your favourite animated or cartoon program? Adventure time :D

13. Do you sing in the shower? Errr, no.

14. Are you a clean or messy person? I try my best to be clean but it always ends up messy.

15. Whats your prefered playing piece in monopoly? I usually go with the cat :3

16. Can or Do you still play twister? God I haven’t played since 5th grade.

17. Can you play chess? Yeah, not really good at it though.

18. Do you know the dance steps to an annoying cheesey pop song? Haha no because I suck at dancing

19. Do you prefer straight or bendy straws? Bendy

20. Have you ever entered a talent contest? And did you win? No .-. I’m not the type to do that lol

21. Do you like poetry? Yeah. I’d say so.

22. Are you a sore loser? Nah, I’m pretty chill when it comes to that type of thing

23. Which would you choose? Jelly or Ice Cream? Ice Cream > Jelly

24. Whats your favourite type of Pie? New Zealand’s steak and cheese

25. Whats your most used phrase? Hm. Maybe “yeah nah”

26. Whats your most used word? Not sure. I talk a lot.

27. Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life? Someone Asian of course, someone who has studied me well enough and understands me

28. What would your dream job be? Okay, I’m gonna be real. I wanted to be a vet but lowkey I’m too colorblind for it lol. I’m planning to study in Physical Therapy

29. Which song do you hate the most? I mainly just listen to the same albums nowadays but I guess i don’t really vibe with a lot of pop songs.

30. How long does it take you to get ready? Depends how tired I am. If I get pretty good sleep it takes maybe 10 minutes at most. 

31. What do you think the greatest invention has been? The printing press.

32. Whats your favourite feature on the opposite sex? Uuuh i dont really know. Forearms are nice i guess

33. Whats your least favourite feature on the opposite sex? Sometimes they’re just really oblivious to really obvious things

34. Who's your favourite Comedian? I don’t even listen to comedians really but Chelsea Peretti is pretty funny.

35. What's your favourite board game? Probably Monopoly. There’s no greater feeling than seeing the life drain from your friends’ eyes as you collect $5000 from them

36. Do you have any lucky items, objects or traditions? When I’m having a bad day I like to just read through my yearbooks and look at all the compliments people wrote. 

37. Do you have any superstitions? Not really.

38. Whats your favourite Movie quote? I have a lot. But maybe Manners Maketh Man.

39. Who would win in a fight? Chuck Norris or Jack Bauer? Chuck Norris.

40. Do you have much of an ego? I wish. I want to be more confident

41. Do you wear sunglasses indoors to look cool or stylish? No. Nothing against it though.

42. Are you a hat person? Nah

43. Whats your favourite supermarket chain? Costco

44. Whats your favourite fastfood chain? Smashburger or Inn n Out

45. Whats your first thought upon waking up? “Lord help me.”

46. What animal would you most like to have as a pet? I love dogs. And cats. 

47. Whats your favourite type of tree? Pine trees always remind me of home.

48. If you could bankrupt one person or company who would it be? Uuuh as much as I want to bankrupt someone like Jeff Bezos that’d be bad because a lot of people rely on Amazon

49. If you could steal one thing without consequence what would it be? I honestly don’t know. 

50. Who's your favourite celeb with the same first name or surname as you? I don’t know much celebrities with the same name as me.

51. If evil-doers invaded your country would you rush to the battlelines to defend the motherland or hide in a box? Um hide in a box I’m so tiny. Like I know a bit of martial arts but like??? I’m literally 5′1″ and i’m only 115 pounds. Someone could bench me easily.

52. Whats your favourite flower? I like lillies 

53. Do you believe in ghosts? Im really mixed about it. I believe demons exist though

54. Do you believe in the loch ness monster? Nay

55. Do you believe in Aliens? Eeeeh kind of but when i think about aliens i think about microorganisms. 

56. Do you believe the Governments hide technology and information from the public? Yes 100%

56. Which is your favourite pokemon? Growlithe uwu

57. What horror fiction character scares you the most?  Pennywise. No thanks.

58. Can you do 10 revolutions of a hula hoop? Yeah

59. Do you think Great Britain should have a National Day? n/a 60.Do you think Great Britain should be part of a United Europe?n/a 61. Would you want the Euro or keep the British Pound?n/a

62. Were you part of the Brownies/Cubs/Scouts/Guides etc? Nah

63. Have you ever invented a fairly unique meal or drink? No I’m not that good at cooking lol

64. Do you have any secret family recipes? My family only knows how to cook asian food and well, asian food is very freestyle

65. Do you have any family secrets? :o     uuuuuh well, it wouldn’t be a secret if I said it right?

66. Are you good at keeping secrets? Yeah! You can count on me.

67. Have you ever been up in a hot air balloon? Nopenopenopenope

68. Whats your favourite Sci-fi film/program etc? ugghhhh i have so much. I like the Martian tho?

69. When playing checkers or chess do you prefer to be black or white? Black

70. Which is better, a Pastie or Sausage Roll? Sausage roll

71. Do you prefer shopping on the high street or online? Irl, I’m pretty impatient man

72. Would you ever want to learn to fly? Like, fly an airplane? Or fly as in levitate. Cause if levitate, then YES

73. Do you often read your horoscope? Nah, as accurate as they can be sometimes, I don’t really believe in astrology 

74. Have you ever had a proper Tarot reading? Eeeee no. Personal opinion, tarot cards are hella sketchy. I don’t mess with that stuff.

75. Whats your favourite brand of newspaper? Honestly at this point I’ve given up on the news. I just read stuff off of reddit sometimes.

76. Have you ever milked a cow? No

77. Have you ever used the phrase "back in my time" to someone younger than you? HAHAH one time. I realized my friend’s younger brother had never seen an iPod before and I was so baffled he didn’t even know what it was.

78. Do you love or hate rollercoasters? Love them

79. Which was the greatest Empire? Maybe Macedonian. I want to say the Romans, but god, they had a lot of problems.

80. Whats your favorite word? Catharsis.  

81. Whats your favourite sportsware brand? Adidas or Nike I guess

82. Do you buy any weekly/monthly magazines? Nah

83. Who's your favourite Superhero? uuuuh Thor 

84. Who's your favourite Villain/Baddie? Doofensmirtz. He wasn’t even bad lmao. He thinks he’s a Chaotic Evil when in reality he’s a Chaotic Good.

85. What was the last Album you purchased? I don’t purchase a lot of music tbh bc I broke, but the last album I listened to was Hot Fuss.

86. What was the last DVD you purchased? A Daria DVD I found at Walmart for five dollars.

87. What was the last piece of clothing you purchased? Some jeans.

88. When pulling crackers does everyone get one each regardless or whoever gets the big ends keeps all the prizes? I’m assuming this is some British tradition so idk

89. Do you ever make your own greetings cards? Not really.

90. Do you have a swiss army knife? I used to then I lost it.

91.At what age did you twig onto the fact Santa wasnt real? My parents never did the whole Santa thing so I always knew it was false

92. Whats your favourite fruit? Watermelon

93. Have you ever done something really unbelivable, only to have no one around to see it? Um YEAH. I was 10th grade and I was in the Martial Arts club, which was a version of Aikido. I tripped on these stairs one time going down, then I did this glorious shoulder roll and got right up. No one saw but I was so proud of myself.

94. Do you buy from charity shops? Occasionally, if I can find some. 

95. Have you ever sold your services? No

96. Have you ever raised money for charity? Yeah, it was for a school club tho

97. Have you ever won a giant sized cuddly toy from a fair? Yes uwu

98. Is the glass half full or half empty? It’s half full

[investmart007]

COLORADO | Adventure Day, Go Outside events, free admission for military highlight August calendar at Cheyenne Mountain State Park

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COLORADO | Adventure Day, Go Outside events, free admission for military highlight August calendar at Cheyenne Mountain State Park

Adventure Day, Go Outside events, free entry for military highlight August calendar at Cheyenne Mountain State Park

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Maybe you have guests visiting from out of town. Or you have kids preparing to go back to school. Perhaps you are active or retired military.  Whatever the case, August is an exciting time to be at Cheyenne Mountain State Park.

We are especially proud to take part in the free entrance fees for our nation’s military offered by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in August. We love our Army neighbors directly across the highway at Fort Carson.  Just bring your proof of service to the park and get your window hanger.

Of course everybody gets in free Aug. 6 when we celebrate Colorado Day with free entrance for everyone coming into the park.

Colorado Day will be even more special as we partner with the Pikes Peak Library District to present the “Go Outside” speaker series. Guided hikes will round out the day’s events at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Our annual Adventure Day returns on Aug. 18 with fun activities and adventures for all ages, food trucks on site and, of course, awesome prizes. It all starts at 9 a.m. with the grand prize drawing at 2 p.m.

Here is the full slate of activities in August:

August Programs

Friday, Aug. 3

Program: Senior Stroll Time: 9:30 a.m. Location: Visitor Center Details: Join our naturalist led morning stroll. Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, through September.  This walk will be no more than a mile, with no more than 400 feet in elevation gain. We will take a different trail every time and explore, discuss, and discover the uniqueness each trail has to offer. Join us after our stroll for cookies and a cold beverage.

Saturday, Aug. 4

Program: Jr. Ranger – Wildlife Encounters Time: 10 a.m. Location: Camper Services Details: Do you have the right stuff to be a Junior Park Ranger? What does a ranger do when she encounters a potentially dangerous wild animal?  Come find out.  You can pick up a Junior Ranger training booklet at the Visitor Center or at class. Kids 7-12 years old can earn a Junior Ranger patch. Reservations requested.

Program: Owl Talk Time: 7 p.m. Location: Camper Services Details: After the sun sets and darkness engulfs the landscape, nocturnal animals utilize heightened senses to forage for food and stay alert for danger.  One of the biggest night hunters are Owls. Join us for an in-depth discussion all about Owls. Please bring a camp chair.

Monday, Aug. 6

Program: Outside Speaker Series Kick-Off Time: 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. Location: Prairie Skipper Picnic Area Details: Entry is free all day. In conjunction with the statewide program, Check Out Colorado, Pikes Peak Library District will be hosting the kick off of the “Go Outside” speaker series. Join us and our local partner, Mountain Equipment Recyclers, which will be accepting gear donations that go back into the community towards great local causes.  There will be various outdoor groups, a guest speaker, guided hikes, and other fun activities for any age at the Prairie Skipper Picnic Area from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Hiking, mountain biking, and camping are available at the park.  Guided hikes will be at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.  No registration is required to visit the library or participate in activities.

Wednesday, Aug. 8

Program: Wildflower Walk Time: 9 a.m. Location: Visitor Center Details:  This is a beautiful, easy guided nature walk lasts about an hour and a half and focuses on all the wonderful wildflowers that can be found around the park.  Recommended for ages 7 and up. Closed-toe shoes required. Hiking shoes recommended.

Saturday, Aug. 11

Program: Women’s Archery

Time: 9 a.m. Location: Archery Range Details: Ladies – Learn to shoot like a pro. One on one instruction will help students learn how to shoot or polish up on skills you already have.  All equipment is provided.  This session is intended for women aged 14 and up.  Reservations are required, as limited space is available.

Program: Nature Crafts Time: 10 a.m. Location: Camper Services Details: Join us for a family fun craft activity.  We will have an array of crafts for the whole family, using the supplies that nature gives us. That’s not all.  We will also have S’mores. Kids must be accompanied by an adult.

Program: Bear Talk Time: 7 p.m. Location: Camper Services Details:  What should I do if I cross paths with a bear? Knowing about bear behaviors can help to keep you and your family safe in the outdoors.  Join us for an in-depth discussion of black bear biology. Please bring a camp chair.

Friday, Aug. 17

Program: Senior Stroll Time: 9:30 a.m. Location: Visitor Center Details:  Join our naturalist led morning stroll. Every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month, through September.  This walk will be no more than a mile, with no more than 400 feet in elevation gain. We will take a different trail every time and explore, discuss, and discover the uniqueness each trail has to offer.  Join us after our stroll for cookies and a cold beverage.

Saturday, Aug. 18

Program: Adventure Day Time: 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. Location: Prairie Skipper Picnic Area Details:  Bring your family and friends and complete outdoor themed activities scattered throughout the park.  Each time you successfully complete a station, receive a free raffle ticket that can be used to win great prizes.  The more stations you complete during the allotted time the better chance you have to win . Stations this year will include, shooting .22-caliber rifle, tomahawk throwing, archery, birding, wildlife watching, fishing and much more.  Witty Pork Food Trucks will also be here.

Wednesday, Aug. 22

Program: Wildflower Walk Time: 9 a.m. Location: Visitor Center Details:  This is a beautiful, easy guided nature walk lasts about an hour and a half and focuses on all the wonderful wildflowers that can be found around the Park.  Recommended for ages 7 and up. Closed-toe shoes required.  Hiking shoes recommended.

Saturday, Aug. 25

Program: Big Cats Talk Time: 7 p.m. Location: Camper Services Details:  What should I do if I cross paths with a mountain lion? Knowing about lion behaviors can help to keep you and your family safe in the outdoors.  Join us for an in-depth discussion of mountain lion biology. Please bring a camp chair.

Sunday, Aug. 26

Program: Full Moon Hike Time: 7:30 p.m. Location: Visitor Center Details:  Join us on this guided evening stroll as we explore moonlit landscapes and discover the nocturnal activities of owls and other nighttime creatures.  Bring a flashlight.  Reservations are required as space is limited.

Ongoing Programs

Programs: CMSP Trail Challenge and 100 Mile Trail Challenge Time: Ongoing. Began Jan. 1–Ends Dec. 31 Location: Trail System Details:  After receiving such a popular response from our 2017 participants, the Trail Challenge will continue into 2018.  Join the 500+ participants who have already accepted our challenge.  The goal of the Trail Challenge is to complete all 18 of the existing trails for a total of 21.87 miles.  Not enough of a challenge for you?  The 100 Mile Trail Challenge goal is to log 100 miles of trail within the park.  This challenge is a go-at-your-own-pace kind of challenge.  A quick sign up is necessary and sign-up sheets will be available at the visitor center during business hours.  All miles must be logged and checked off by staff.  Completion of the Trail Challenge will earn a special patch and the 100 Mile completers will earn a CMSP Challenge Coin.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday

Program: Yoga in the Park Time: 9 a.m. Location: Visitor Center Meeting Room Details:  What better setting for a morning workout than Cheyenne Mountain State Park. Join certified instructor Sudhanshu Semwal for Sankalp Yoga every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Beginners are welcome.  Dates, times, and locations are subject to change. Call 719-576-2016 to confirm classes or sign up for the weekly email reminder.  Donations are appreciated and a valid parks pass is required on all vehicles entering the park.

Cheyenne Mountain State Park is located at 410 JL Ranch Heights Road, south of Colorado Springs, off Colorado Highway 115.  From the city, take Nevada Avenue south, which becomes Highway 115 to JL Ranch Heights Road, opposite the Main Gate One entrance to Fort Carson.  Programs are free unless otherwise noted, but vehicles entering the park must have a valid State Parks Pass ($7 daily or $70 annual).

For more information, call 719-576-2016 or visit http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/Parks/CheyenneMountain/

CPW is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 41 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education.  CPW’s work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.

SOURCE; Originally published July 30, 2018 by CPW.STATE.CO.US

[veronicaleighauthor]

Black Cat Weekly Magazine #115

Excellent news! My story, “Tytchfell Abbey” was published today in Black Cat Weekly #115. This story has a special place in my heart. It was the first mystery I wrote set in the Regency Era. I was trying something new, trying to tap into Austen’s language and themes, and I had a lot of fun writing it…I’m way overdue to write another Regency Era mystery (makes a mental note).

Anyway, if you’re interested in purchasing a copy for your Kindle, you can do so here. I hope you enjoy it.

Later this week, I intend to do my usual “Fun Facts” post about this story, which will share the behind-the-scenes stuff of the creation of this story.

Until next time!

[veronicaleighauthor]

2023 in Review

Well, another year has passed. When I was young life seemed move at a snail’s pace, and now that I’m older, the years are flying by. 2023 was an eventful one, both for my “brilliant career” and for me personally.

I published ten short stories and one little essay. One of my stories was nominated for the Pushcart Prize – no word on that yet. But that’s a real feather in my cap since my writings have never been nominated for anything before. Here is a list of my credits for 2023:

Night Terrors: Volume 24, January 2023. You may purchase the volume featuring my story, “The Competition,” here. 

“Tales of Fear, Superstition, and Doom,” March 2023. Features my story, “Wabash Valley Devil.” You can purchase a copy here. Nominated for the 2024 Pushcart Prize. The feather in my cap! Special thanks to Ann van de Bergh for all of her support and believing in this story.

Dragon Gems Spring 2023. You may purchase this anthology featuring my story, “Shadows From the Past,” here. 

Black Cat Weekly #87, April 29, 2023. You may purchase this issue featuring my story, “The Weary Are At Rest,” here. 

Mystery Magazine, May 2023. You may purchase this issue featuring my story, “Family Ties,” here. 

Lay It Out Issue 9, Summer 2023. You may read the issue featuring my story, “Bringing Charlie Home,” by subscribing/joining Lay It Out’s patreon, here. 

Starlite Pulp Review #2, June 2023. You may purchase the issue featuring my story, “Of Two Minds, here.

Guide Magazine, June 2023. You may purchase the issue containing my essay entitled, “The Deadly Furnace,” by clicking here.

OFIC Magazine, Issue #7, June 2023. You may purchase the issue featuring my story, “Stand and Deliver,” here.

Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #32, October 2023. You may purchase the issue featuring my story, “No Place Like Home” here. 

Black Cat Weekly #115, November 2023. You may purchase the issue featuring my story, “Tytchfell Abbey” here. 

~*~

I thought I had a couple of interviews lined up – unfortunately, those never transpired. ::pouty face:: I have nothing scheduled to be published, except for “Grandma’s Unexpected Visitors,” for Creepy Podcast. I’ll update about that as soon as possible.

~*~

My writing productivity came in spurts. I started out strong, but hit a snag when I got covid in the spring. My energy level bottomed out and my thought process was different. I only managed to write five short stories this year, however, I rewrote two novels, started and abandoned a third, and started on a fourth only a couple of weeks ago. I’m currently pestering agents and publishers for those two rewritten novels. No luck yet, but you never know, right? I did my usual blog posts of reviews and ramblings on classic lit and period dramas.

I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year! I’ll see you in 2024.