IWSG: Wednesday, February 3, 2021 ~ Flashy Pants, Wood Ticks, and Blogging Friends

 

It's the first Wednesday of the month,
the day that members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and writing successes
and offer their encouragement
and support to fellow writers.






To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are volunteering today,
along with IWSG Founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are Louise - Fundy Blue (That's me!), Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon! 

I hope you have a chance to visit today's hosts and thank them for co-hosting.
I'm sure they would appreciate a visit and an encouraging comment.
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Every month the IWSG announces a question that members can answer
with advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members
if they aren't sure what to write about on IWSG Day.

Remember the question is optional.
This month's featured question is: 

Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?

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Happy February, Everyone!

Wishing you valentines and love.  💖💖💖💖💖 

When I started blogging over eleven years ago, I had no idea what blogging was. 

I actually set up my blog with my first post Retirement on August 14, 2012.

Then I lost it and couldn't find it for two months.

Neophyte is an understatement!

I discovered blogging through an old friend from junior high

with whom I had reconnected via FaceBook.

Some of you may remember Ron, his blog from sophie's view,

and his delightful four-legged companion Sophie.

Ron commented on my first post and supports me to this day.

Ron

Near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 5, 2016

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Sophie

Near Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada

August 5, 2016

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

When I found my blog and posted again, Surprise! on October 19, 2012, 

Ron prodded his husband Jim to check out my blog,

and I had two commenters and two followers!

I worked up the courage to follow Jim.

Worked up the courage sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

But I was shy and intimidated because Jim was a photographer,

and I was considering posting some "photography" of mine.

Jim and I

Point Pleasant Park,  Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

July 30, 2015

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Silly me!  Within a few posts, I realized

that exchanging comments with other bloggers was like having penpals,

but without airmail stamps and long waits between letters.

And photographer Jim and hubby Ron championed my photos. 

With four months I had connected with Noushka, Jean, Martha,

Kay, Debra, Peggy, Pat, and Alex.  Over the years,

these people have become my friends and are extra special to me.

This funny rhyming cat guy Pat was an author

who had published about twenty books (at the time ~ LOL!).

I couldn't believe he bothered to consistently comment on my blog.

Then in early January, 2014, Pat featured a cover reveal

for his blogging buddy Alex for a book called CassaThunder.

Clueless, I visited Alex's blog and left a comment,

and OMG this science fiction writer visited my blog in return!

I was a neophyte, okay?

I didn't know that there has never been a comment Pat didn't reply to,

and I didn't know that Alex was the founder of the Insecure Writer's Support Group.

(And I still don't know where CassaThunder is.

Perhaps Pat, err, the Cat was messing with our minds.  He likes to do that).

These friendly, encouraging authors were rubbing off on me,

and three weeks later I changed my profile on LinkedIn

from elementary teacher to writer and posted 

"Putting It Out Into the Universe! Woo Woo!!!!!" 

to announce I was a writer with a memoir to write.

My blogging friends cheered me on, and Pat said, 

"haha got it out there

Now all know near and far

Writer at your lair

Can give a har har."

And Alex said,

"You took the plunge! Now you are officially a writer. Believe it.

And believe you will be an author just like your sister."

In early April, 2014, I worked up the courage and joined the IWSG.

Alex said, 

"Yeah!!! Glad you finally joined us. One can never be too insecure

for the group.  Trust me. You are in the right place."

And Pat followed up with,

"that cat joined and he isn't insecure at all,

just be crazy and you are safe haha."

I opted for crazy, and a few days later posted 

Fundy Blue Reviews Alex J. Cavanaugh's "CassaStar". 

I've been jumping in ever since: 

whether baring my soul, engaging with my blogging buddies,

writing about controversial topics, sharing pieces of my memoir,

reviewing books, co-hosting for the IWSG, or entering IWSG anthology contests. 

I made more wonderful friends within the IWSG and without,

among them Geo, Yvonne, Joylene, Baili, Stacy, Sage, and Rain.

I shouldn't be listing names;

I know I'm leaving out people I truly care about, my apologies,

but these special friends have been with me for a long time. 

 

I've lost a few too, people I truly miss,

but that sadly is the nature of blogging.

This is what I've learned:

There is a whole wonderful world of people in the blogosphere.

If you put yourself out there,

jump in and engage with other bloggers,

you will make special friends.

Some will be with you from the beginning, more come, some go,

but they touch your heart and become part of you.

*  *  *  *  *

So what's with the flashy pants and wood ticks?

Those flashy pants are vibrant neon green,

making it easier for Jack, the friendly meter-reading

protagonist in Pat Hat's recent thriller Zero Usage,

to spot the Lyme-Disease-carrying wood ticks crawling up his legs.   

Since Pat roams Nova Scotia's South Shore,

perhaps the worst place in Canada for wood ticks, 

here's a photo of the ugly little bastards that drive Pat and his protagonist Jack crazy.

(Cape Breton Post, May 23rd 2018) 

Enjoy, Pat ~ LOL!

When I frequented Nova Scotian woods a long time ago, they weren't nearly as scary.

As part of the first female geology field team working in the province,

I only had to worry about moose, bears, and startled logging crews.

Jack must contend with psycho murdering drug dealers, a cannibal or three,

some alien wannabes, and way too much nasty nature.

No, in my time, nature was nice and the aliens were real.

Camaraderie at Its Best

Me, Lynn, and Elsie in the field (and a story for another day) 

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Jack is not having a good day as he falls flat on his face

in the mud while fleeing ominously snapping branches:

"Stupid tree root.  Stupid mud.  Stupid people with their stupid cottages

in the middle of nowhere.  Stupid wood ticks.  Stupid nature."

Quitting for the day, Jack hops into his two-wheel drive fair-weather vehicle

heading for home and plunges into a fight for survival instead.

As he reflects later:

"I could never have guessed the sheer level of crap I would have to go through just from setting out to read crummy meters.  And as much as I think about the what ifs, there are a few reasons I'm glad it happened.  Those reasons stayed by my side through it all.  Without those reasons I never would have survived to share this tale.  And survive we did and will. No matter the crap thrown at us by something like a simple read of zero usage."

What an intense escapade!

I'll never go into the woods again, any woods, without thinking of Jack and his battles!

Zero Usage by Patrick Hat

Google Search

I keep saying these two things when reviewing Pat's novels, 

but they continue to be true:

They are a guaranteed wild and crazy ride, and his writing is improving.

Pat's imagination has never grown up, and I mean that in the best way.

It is as unfettered, playful, curious, and creative as a boy's.  

As a result, his books are an exercise in the willing suspension of disbelief.

As Pat's writing matures, his character development deepens,

especially in his adult novels.

His protagonists may be unconventional,

but there is no confusion about where they stand.

They stand for good and fight against evil

while helping and protecting those they care for and love.

Jack is an unassuming, and pragmatic hero.

Once he makes up his mind to help people in trouble,

he'll willingly lay down his life for them.

Says Jack, " We hardly get anything we want... .  

But we live with what we have and what we've done

and we find a way to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

If not for ourselves, then we do it for those that need us."

And, as anyone who reads Pat's adult novels knows, his protagonists like Jack

will do anything within their powers, anything, to protect a  defenseless child.

I'll take Jack as my hero anytime.

Zero Usage was definitely a fun and satisfying read.

Pat and Cohort Orlin

Google Search

I wonder what Pat, egged on by his cohort Orlin, is dreaming up next?

*  *  *  *  *

Happy IWSG Day, everyone! 

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue 

Notes:

1.  Willing Suspension of Disbelief:

      This literary concept originated with Aristotle in Greek theater:  "The intentional avoidance of 

      critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal, such as a work of speculative fiction, 

      in order to believe it for the sake of enjoyment."  Wikipedia