Chapter Five is Written!!

 Done, finished, in the can, written...after a while I'm going to run out of things to say each time I finish a different chapter. I bet I can find something to say. Few are the times in my life when I was in fact truly wordless.  I know you don't find that stat to be surprising.

    So now, Chapter Five has hit the keys and it is done. I have wrapped it into a really nice package, set it with a bow, and it is now ready to join the other four chapters which have been sitting around on the computer and saved to a flash drive. I think all in all, I have written about 40 actual pages of the 300-page book. This only being the 5th chapter, and 1/7 of the book, I may have to rethink the fluffing and stuffing and do more actual writing as I go along. At this rate, I'll have more than 500 pages in the book and I don't feel that the book should carry that -- I wouldn't want to carry it, I have a Kindle for that. When I first saw the "Clan of the Cave Bear" I wanted to shoot myself since I both wanted to read but felt that lugging it around would be impossible. I think that was the year I bought a bigger purse if I'm not mistaken.

    Chapter Five finds Aria with her newfound "sister" and best friend of all ages, the lovely and stately Bridget Buchanan. Bridget is the older of a set of twins, aged 16 to Aria's 13. Bridget is to be wed in the coming spring to her lover and best friend Logan Kennedy. Back in the 1700s you could call a man your lover without tongues wagging, as everyone knew there was no lovemaking going on...or was there? Either way, you'll have to read the book to find out more about the two new Kennedys as they set off from Argyll to live in Glasgow, leaving Aria in a situation most uncomfortable in that she will soon be betrothed to a brutal man in the person of James Fraser MacFarlane.  We only meet the unkind soul in the current chapter. His is to be a short but biting relationship with our heroine.  Quickly...grab the edge of your seat now so that you'll be prepped and ready to hate the villain, and love the beautiful sisters who give unfettered devotion to Aria and their kin.

    As in all of the chapters, Chapter Five has a bit of history shoved into the ink. I discuss the Glasglow Cathedral, a 12th Century monument devoted to worship. We learn about the battle of Pinkie Cleuth, or as it was called when it happened, "Pynkie Cleuth". I like the latter spelling better I think.  We learn and discover the beliefs that many Scottish people carried then and today about the underworld lives and supernatural lives of the fae, faun, or fairy.  Good creatures? Are they? We can agree to disagree on either side of the argument.  With Chapter Five finished, I am forced to write on and pursue the ugliest chapter of them all, the one in which James and Aria unite through matrimony, but never in love. Cruelty found and served up cold enough to freeze the burning sun itself. Hers will be a fate only spared in the next chapter by gallantry known amongst men, but delivered by a lad.

Photo Credit: CelticJackAlope.com

Chapter Four is FINISHED!!

 Ya'all know me better than that. You know my work isn't finished until it's published. LOL. I'm over here bragging about how I have completed Chapter Four of the Highlander book, and really all I've done is type it out and give it more flesh than it had sitting over there on the side of my computer as part of an outline that reads "Chapter Four: Aria's birth and more".  Yep, that was the outline. I used my wit, charm, thesaurus, and keyboard to fluff and stuff it a bit before I add it to the meager collective that will be about say ... 5000 x 30 = 150,000 words, which will be far more than it's supposed to be. Then, after I have the 150,000 words I have to go through them and delete some of the fluff and stuff and put in the boring bones that will somehow have to suffice.  Right now I'm thinking what I have is a bunch of bones, but then I go back and read it and I giggle because I can't help myself. I'm a fluffer.

    If I choose to use the thesaurus on that last line, I would also be a "linter" and an "eiderdowner" to boot. Yeah, that's why I will always use my thesaurus! It adds so much more color than my tiny brain can muster. (or in terms of using the thesaurus, "it calculates scads in volume than my wee thought-matter can service") See what I did there? That's what I do when I go back over the manuscript. I find a few too many incidents where I used the same word and I change it a few times. I add to it, I change the entire direction of it, I make it stand out, I often hide it, I'm just out there eiderdowning....as I think people should be doing from time to time.

    Chapter Four is all about the birth of Aria, the main character, and her rejected beginnings. She was in fact rejected by her birthmother, and given to an unsuspecting but religious woman to be reared. She then becomes an orphan for the second time under the age of three, to be handed over to a friend of the family who overlooks Aria's strange behavior and offers not to correct her but to allow her to be the free spirit that she is. This could end up being a really good book folks. Not kidding you. I really like writing it. I found myself going over the Scots words for use when villagers speak to one another, so in the front of the book itself, I'll have to have a legend to explain some of the words that appear to be language to most but are either misspelled or seemingly misspelled. They are not.  For example, the word "vera" means "very" and the word "ae'" means "all".  There will be a legend.

    During the writing of the chapter my daughter was live streaming and she was doing both karaoke and using her A.I. voice. It (She) became such a distraction for me that I had to put on a pair of noise-canceling headsets in order to type in peace. It took me about an hour and a half to write the five pages for the chapter which will be fleshed into about 10. There are about 300 words per page of a book the size that I want this book to be produced. The font will be size 12, not 11, and believe me that makes a difference. There will be about 300 pages and which means about 90,000 words.  Right now I have about 3000 words per chapter, and there are four chapters. That's 12,000 words. I'll have to pick and choose soon, and that's real fun, let me tell you. It's more fun to flesh out and retrace your tracing than it is to create the trace. It's more fun to go through it and tweak it than it is to simply write and throw up matter onto an invisible framework using an outline.

    The dang outline is a full 10 pages. The first outline, mind you, was only a couple of pages, as it was just the front and back of a sheet of paper with numbers and a brief synopsis of what should chronologically take place. We all know that books don't always take that shape, so then the next outline was me moving those lines around and fleshing them out...I've used flesh too often, let me see what the thesaurus would recommend..."figuring" or "body"...nope, we'll go with fleshing it out. That can happen too. I get to a word that I don't prefer and I'm stuck with it. I love the words "copse" for a group of trees. Just saying. Once the outlines have been fleshed and made full enough to work with, I begin the typing of each chapter, again without much body or information, just the necessary needness of what has to be told in that chapter. That right now is averaging 2500-3500 words per chapter. I need the book to be right at 90,000 words to fit into the size my mind wants it to be.  I know there are 30 chapters today, but by the time I get to the end, there could be 33.  (33 x 4000 is too many words for the book)

    I suppose I could always write a sequel if I have too many words for this book, but I think this book is a one-off. I may write other Highlander historical romance novels, but this story is going to be told and that's it. There could be a spin-off...Antoin and Kirsten could have a book, Michael and Jedelle could have a book - - wait? Who? Michael and Jedelle? You don't know them? Oh, well, you will. They are a fantastically interesting Irish couple who come through the kingdom of Scotland to put on grand and stately plays such as never has been seen in the citizenships and denizens of Great Britain; daring and intellectual performances which will leave the audience breathless!  Michael Givens is a personal friend of mine, and I simply couldn't pass up the opportunity to add him to this rugged and sensual manuscript; especially since it is he who I will ask to be the director of the film adaptation of the book!  (Jedelle, his gorgeously chiseled wife will not only be a stage performer, but perhaps she will dabble in the arts of mystics as well.)  Michael and Jedelle will be introduced soon, I can't wait to add color and grace to that chapter!

Michael Givens (Warrior and Director)

Jedelle Givens (Princess and Stage Actress)

Photo Credit: Jedelle Givens

    

Chapter Three: Done and Doner

 I've sort of made a promise to myself that I would write at least one chapter of the book every night, and so far I've done exactly that. I am done with the prewriting of three chapters and in keeping with the same style and type of writing that I do, I have about 6 pages per chapter, or about 18-20 pages written. This is again, prewriting. I'm going to go through it and fluff and stuff all the way through the dang thing once it's completed, which at this pace should be mid-February.

    Fluff and stuff is the easy and simple way of saying I'm going to go through the book paragraph by paragraph and add lines, take out lines, add flowery imagery, and make the "blue sky" read more like "treasured azure illusions lifted effortlessly in the heavens".  That alone should take the minimal wording into the abyss of overwordedness so that I find myself going back through the book and eliminating 20% of the stuff I added thinking I needed to sound more fluffy.

    In order to get ideas about how I should be sounding, what the characters should be feeling, and what I want the readers to understand, I am doing some rather tedious and unique studying of the period wording(s) as well as things that took place in and around the timeframe(s) of the book. I'm delving into the writings of many 17th and 18th (even 19th) century authors who at the time of their writing, were living in or around Scotland. I want to get a feel and comprehensive understanding of the thoughts and desires of the class of individuals I'm setting before my own readers. I can't use their language perfectly, I know that but I will be using it in the best way I think I can produce for a woman who only grew up loving Scotland and it's language and people; I was not there.

    Chapter Three is all about the small and vast differences and/or some similarities between Glasgow and Edinburgh between 1740-1744. It's about the Grassmarket, the trips made by families and merchants, and it introduces a semi-recurring figure in the person of Antoin Alfred Brooford. If the name Antoin Broonford sounds vaguely familiar, it is because the person of Tony Broonford of Edinburgh is the man I am fashioning the character around!  Tony has graciously allowed me to use his likeness and image, and I'll throw in a few personality traits as well as his great capabilities as a tour guide!  This is a fun chapter, and I really enjoy it. I had a chance to look up certain facts through Wikipedia too, and let me tell you, I always learn something when I go there!

    One of the best things about being a writer is being a reader too. I get the chance to read the works of so many others who were writing about similar events many centuries ago, and I lean a bit to the help of contemporaries as well, but only for flare and descriptions of the glens and moors perhaps. I can't rely on a 21st-century Highlander to be much like that of an 18th-century Campbell or Arthur (MacArthur). I have the Macleods wearing their hunting colors rather than the "Loud Macleod" yellow and black plaid; if only for less distraction on the battlefield. You don't want a MacDonald or MacDougal calling out "Oy! There's ane!" Could be a bad thing for the men of Lewis. Best to be subdued.

    OK, so that's all there is to report about Chapter Three. I'm looking forward to my work in terms of fleshing, fluffing, stuffing and otherwise expanding this particular chapter because it means I'll be able to watch Tony's videos again and learn more about the old closes, the new bridges, the cobbled walkways, hanging gallows, the Maiden, and a bit about the bathhouse if it was standing during the time of the rebellions. We'll have to take a gander while we wander.

Photo Credit: Pinterest  (painting 1759 of a site near Edinburgh)

Antoin Alfred Broonford

 Suffice it to say that writing about Tony (Antoin Alfred Broonfood) Broonford gave me the biggest smile on my face. I can't wait to share the words with him and his beautiful wife Kirsten (I may be misspelling that) who will be named Keely in my book.  Antoin is so in love with Keely Buchanan, and he has demonstrated his love for her by not only visiting the city of her birth and youth, but he also makes a showcase of his artful tour-guiding skills when her family and friends make their way to the Big City a couple of times each year. We'll see Antoin courting Keely, as their dogs meet, and accept each other. We'll find them falling in love, planning a great wedding, and even expecting a tiny bairn later in the book.

    Thank you Tony for allowing me to use your image, likeness, and life skills in my new book. I won't say the title of the book just yet, as it has not been registered with the Library of Congress, but it soon will be, and I will blast it from the rooftops.  Here, for your viewing and reading pleasure, is the unofficial introduction to my new Highlander historical novel, of our very own wonderful Edinburgh son, Tony Broonfood of Clan Broonford.  (A link to his YouTube is here: https://www.youtube.com/@ClanBroonford)  and if you thought Tony's introduction was nice, you'll have to wait to see how pretty and adorable Kirsten is.

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Antoin Alfred Broonford   

 

So much was to be seen in the city often called the “Old Smoky”,  Edinburgh birthed her own history-wielding, man-about-the-know, her own son, Antoin Alfred Broonford, a finer guide hath ne’er been found around the parts of the fairest city of what was now considered Great Britain having the Act of Union consecrated in 1707, several decades before the Buchanans brought young Aria to feast upon the pleasantries of their second home and favored harbor. Knowing one day that after the children had left the home completely and were on their own, Joy and Colin Buchanan wished nothing more than to find real estate just outside the castle walls where they would retire and perhaps learn the trades offered in home goods along Grassmarkets cobbled roads.

            Antoin, tall, sturdy and strong gave pleasure to every eye cast upon him. His was a born and natural confidence; his head as bald and shiny as the day’s smile, with a beard, kept closely cropped about his jawline, tightly as if it were weaved into his skin. Eyes as strongly set as the crested Honours of Scotland themselves gave light and laughter to his countenance. His brilliant smile full of evenly naturally chiseled white teeth one more even than the other drew immediate attention from any who cast their glance. With a lion’s strength, he seemingly set the standard for all who would call themselves men in the city he loved with his own soul.

Standing just over six feet, embracing thirteen stone, Antoin was said to be likened to a Greek warrior or mythical Zeus with the power he embodied; and yet, with such strength and warlike power, his was a demeanor of tolerant gentleness. With every inch of the man came a meek and controlled effectiveness.  Choosing to follow his blood kin through battle was a singular accepted fate, yet Antoin’s passion for his city led him to customarily find himself etching out a living on the cobbled hard streets of Edinburgh guiding visitors as he showcased for them the new bridges, old closes, passages, and wynds which would  shorten their footslogs through the herringbone structure of the city streets.

 

Photo Credit: Tony Broonford

Chapter Two: In the Can!

 My, my, my....the book is just rolling off my brain. I would say it's rolling off my tongue, but I'm typing it not telling the story orally.  I'm writing and I'm writing, and believe it or not I don't really like what I've written because I know it's not flowery enough, it's not detailed yet. It lacks the lackluster that will lusterly lack it later. I've been on the whole "I'm going to write a chapter a day" kick, and I am going to, but then I'll have to go back and thoroughly go through the thing one page and even one paragraph at a time. When you actually finish it there aren't paragraphs really. I mean there are, but you don't separate them with space, only an indention. I'll have to do that sort of formatting as well. Geez!

    So, Chapter Two explains who the main characters are a bit more focused than what takes place in Chapter One. Chapter One is about grabbing the reader by the throat and forcing them to continue reading. Chapter Two is about who it is that these people are reading about. You have to make the characters believable, loved, hated, whatever, but you have to explain them to the reader.  So far, and this is only Chapter Two, I am not pleased with the lack of explanation. I find myself wanting to go into so much more detail about the characters. I will. I will redo the whole thing once I have cranked out the bulk of it.

    The way I write is to plan the pre-plan. Then I write the pre-plan which is essentially the way I want to show the book in an outline. The Outline is the plan. Then there's the fleshing of the chapters and that's what I'm doing now. First, I wrote up a synopsis for each Chapter, then I typed it out and added information to each chapter since writing it seemed a bit dry.  Next, I printed the 10-page outline which literally has 30 chapters one on top of the other with an explanation and/or a brief description of what will go into it. Did you catch that the synopsis is 10 pages? It is.

    The next thing to do is literally go chapter by chapter, day by day, adding at least one chapter a day to the whole, and then after that is finished I'll go through it as a whole and take out what I hate, add what I love, add what I think needs to be said, and once that's done it should be ready for a second full read.  The second full read is truly the first true read. The second full read is the first read after the changes have been made.  Then I'll tweak it again, this time taking out the separating lines and using the "find" and "replace" buttons to change all of the words that can be changed to another one. Here's an example. I call the first wife of the mean villain by a name I shouldn't have used. I'll change that. I was just being a bit rude and now I am over it. So, yeah, I'll change it. 

    During the first full read, I will add graphic details about waterfalls, cress being sold at the market, how a guitar is made, and other bits and bobs that make the book pop.  Right now I just mention that Ewan plays the oud. What the hell is an OUD?  It will need to be explained, so I will do that during the first full read. For now, the oud is just that, a mentioned stringed instrument, but after the first full read of the oud's origin, which is in fact the history of the guitar, so that all the readers know that Ewan is a singer and songwriter! There you go, I will be the champion of using 1000 words rather than the six needed, and I will do so with luster and lambency! You don't even know what lambency is....neither did I until I looked up words for luster, and found it. I just wanted to sound really cool. 

    Bam! Chapter Two is in the can! I'll get started on Chapter Three tonight probably, and if I'm true to myself, I'll have the book finished long before the end of February so that I can do the first full read. I'm expecting the changes to take four or five days, and then the second full read, and if I can be so bold, I will make a prediction that I can have the book entirely ready for publication around mid-March. I just have to come up with $$$$ to pay for the design of the cover, and then the publication. I can do that. I'm making plans to make more plans. It will happen.

    Here's a bit of foreshadowing for you. After the Highland Romance novel, which is also a Historical Fiction novel, I will end up writing the murder book. Then I have plans to write a second Historical Fiction novel with both murder and intrigue that takes place in my own city at the start of the 1980s.  Next, will be the follow-up to the Murder Book, and then another History Fiction novel that spans Europe and the US from the late 1800s to the present time....then, you guessed it, a third MURDER BOOK!!  So busy, so busy.  Pray for me. :)

Photo Credit: ClipArtPanda.com

Chapter One is Done!

 Here you go, a taste of the book.  This is merely Chapter One, and as I discuss in another blog, this will not be a "sex book" but there will be sex in the book.  Chapter One as is the case in most books sets the tone and you will find out a bit about the main character Aria Armstrong Campbell.  I hope you like it, I will set up a Patreon soon for donations so that I may be able to write more, produce more, advertise more, and hopefully be able to keep content out there for the world.  When the Patreon is set up I will release a few more chapters to those who are willing to support me. I thank you in advance and ask that you share this with your friends and followers so that everyone can enjoy the Kilted Pleasure of the Highlands in 18th Century Scotland.  (By the way, the title of the book will be changed. "Of Kilted Pleasure" is a working title. 

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Of Kilted Pleasure

Chapter One

 

Once more she watched as he removed his plaid, folding it carefully and laying it on the stand beside her bed.  His approach familiar, quiet, and without words.  He held her face tenderly in his calloused hands, his breath gentle and confident.  Tonight, unlike other nights, she dreamed they were in her room at home, laying stripped of their clothes, naked flesh melding into one, as they joined. Often in these dreams, she would find herself beside her imagined lover in a secluded glen, a moor with rolling fields of aromatic heather and the hearty thistle. The last rays of a nonchalant setting sun beating orange and rouge as it began to close its eyes to the day, allowing dusk to creep into her mind's vivid and lucid apparition. He would be with her all night.

    She urged her lily-soft palms as they pressed against his bare and naked chest to feel his heat, allowing him to warm her thoroughly; he could warm her deeply as no man, in reality, had ever been capable of doing. His warrior heart beat steadily upon her skin, pulsating, sending rhythmic vibrations through her wanting form. If she closed her eyes even a slight bit more she could feel each vibration as it penetrated into her very soul.

    Softly, only barely moving his strong long fingers, he traced along the softer form of her breast. Erotic quivers of desire rippled over her, tiny pinpoints of pleasure now vivid on her nude exposed flesh. She trembled with excitement, the anticipation of his hardness pressing inward on her thigh. Gently, he moved his right hand to drape hers to assist her with his desire for touch. She never fought him.

     Was he truly only an imagined lover? Would he ever manifest himself, showing her that true and sustainable love does exist in a world so cruel as to have enslaved her mind to this, her only means of escape from what others would call reality? She had never seen his face fully, he had never allowed it. Perhaps he was just that, an image, a thought, or perhaps he was waiting for her to leave her true and sustainable reality for what would be a better and more fulfilling fantasy; his idea of truth.

            For Aria, the truth was too tormenting to bear. For three long and enduring months, she had been the bride to a man whose hands were hard and unforgiving. She couldn’t think of herself as ever being able to rest assured in them. Why not fantasize about Craig now? Hadn’t he been there for her all these years; since before she was given, before she was known to the village as Mrs. James Fraser MacFarlane? Wasn’t her name hers anymore? No one ever called her by her name now, it was “Mrs. MacFarlane” or “James’ wife”; even the sound of it repulsed her. Closing her satin brown eyes to think only of the one man who has always held her closely and who has always known what to feel and what to think. He alone was her refuge now. Craig Allan Mackenzie. Though he was only a vision, a mere apparition, he was more real to her than the agonizing truth of being made to bed a man who not only despised her but she had no adoring feelings for him as well. Cast to him like a dog only to bear him a child. Would the truth ever be known of the actual cause regarding the young Mrs. MacFarlane before her? What of her? Where had she fallen? Was she alone? No one challenged the man upon his statement that his first wife had simply fainted while standing upon a hilly glen; her fall not only took her life but freed her from a life with an angry bastard.

            Craig, though only in her imagination, had been with her since her early childhood. He began as she, a child, only inches taller, and a bit faster than she. Aria’s detailed mind could conjure the best of stories and these are the things that kept her patient now. Only through her lovemaking with Craig could she withstand the physical touch of her husband. It was Craig’s words she would say, and Craig’s thoughts she would have in order to wane off the pressure and the hideous breath that met hers each night. That she could imagine herself with another man was not a sin, not in her mind, not as long as he lived trapped within the confines of her emotions and inward eye. No one is the wiser. With his strong voice speaking the sweetest of Scots Gaelic she could also pretend to be far away from the oversight of Strathclyde with a million eyes and tongues to watch and lie about her; to her.  Some would brand her a witch if they could feel what she felt each time Craig’s hard fingers thrust gently between the softer lips of her groin; keeping her mind as far away from what was truly her existence. Even in his better moments, James could never be as caring or as sensual a lover as Craig Allen Mackenzie had grown to be.

 

Photo Credit: Pinterest  (This is NOT the real character, but a representation)

Poop Update: Yes, I am Doing This.

 If you know me, you know I don't mind actually laughing while giving you the latest update on my poop.  It's something we both know is necessary, and you were secretly wondering about it, so yeah, I'm going to help you out and let you know exactly how things came out -- turned out; are. 

    This is the third poop day since taking the liquid form of Green Black Walnut Wormwood and Clove.  It's a very powerful combination of antioxidants and parasite murderers...killers. It's a fine way to start the process into what may live deep within one's bowels and to detect as well as discover the really gross lifeforms that can populate our bodies and at the same time make us feel really icky. I think the word "icky" is appropriately used in this instance. We can feel really icky when we have worms living inside our intestines. There are cases where these worms have shimmied their way up into the brain, the eyes, the heart, and the lungs, it's just gross. Best to get them out when you can!

    So, as I said, this was the third day of examining my poop since taking the liquid. I took two droppers each day, which is something "they", the big they, don't recommend. They want you to start with half of a dropper and work your way up to it, but I don't like doing things slowly (even if it's recommended) I have a problem with authority I suppose. I keep telling myself that I know my own body and I can handle it. I was correct in this case, but don't let my ignorant fool attitude have any bearing on your decision. You should always consult a physician or nutritionist before starting a new routine that involves your body!

    The poop, for me, is a morning thing. I go about 30-40 minutes after I have woken up. I tend to do the same things in the morning. I wake up, pet the dog, get my clothes on, take the dog for her morning walk, stretch, then I make coffee for myself, give the cats treats and food, and then I sit. It's about the time that I sit that I know I am going to have to get up and go to the bathroom, but for the life of me, I can't seem to go to the bathroom before I sit on the big chair. It's a thang. I don't know why. It is what it is, we deal with it. I deal with it. I guess I can say "we" as Ginger deals with it too. The cats really don't care one way or the other. 

    This morning's poop was a GREAT poop! It was just as voluminous as yesterday and the day before. I do find this to be interesting as for two days I have been using juice to substitute two of the three meals I eat. Why should the poop be as big as it is? It is softer, I can say that with confidence, but again, like the two other days, there were no visible parasites. I am halfway excited about that, but on the other hand, I think I should be normal like everyone else, and have parasites. Why don't I have them? I guess they could be so tiny I can't see them, but there was a part of me that wanted to be able to point to them and say "There! There they are! DIE!!!!" but that didn't happen. I was just happy to know it's clean and all is well. I say that, it works well anyway. The plumbing. 

    There you have it. The update is complete. I am drinking a fine concoction this morning for breakfast. It is a juice with asparagus, carrots, and an apple. I put the extras in as usual, and I'm drinking it down rather quickly. I have places to go, and things to do. I may run by the grocery store and pick up a few more Gaia crisp apples. They are a bit more frothy, but they have a sweet taste. I may do Washington delicious. I may do Golden Washington delicious. I may buy a canteloupe. I am in control of this!! I love it when I can assert a bit of authority over myself. I don't have a problem with that. I'm rather submissive to my ego. I find that I like my own company, so I don't mind listening to myself or even talking to myself. I know you don't find that to be surprising.

    Have a GREAT poop and keep your eyes out for squigglies!!

Photo Credit: Heb.com

BOOK UPDATE: (Title Change and Chapters Outlined)

 Everyone writes differently than everyone else, right? I know I do. I don't sit down at the computer and just scribble out whatever comes to my mind unless I'm blogging. I do that when I'm doing this. I scribble away, and I rarely go back and change anything. This is more or less a practice in freewriting. If you get into the planning like I do, your plans have to have preplanning, and those plans are then sketched out, fleshed out, and written out just a little bit - - long enough for you (me) to change my mind and start either at the top, or move the top to the bottom, and fill in the middle to make things pop. That's about the size of it.

    So, the book was to be called "Of Kilted Pleasure" but I didn't want everyone to think it was a sex book - nope! I didn't want that at all. Don't get me wrong, there will be plenty of intercoursing and lovemaking, even a rape or an attempted rape. There will be exploring of one or two characters, and there will be innuendo, but it's not like the entire book is a guidebook or verbal demonstration of who did it with whom, how they carried it off, or what the actions entail. No, rather than make it a book about sex, it is a book that has a BIT of touching, feeling, ravaging, and forced violation, but more history, story telling, and about relationships. Without giving it all away, think 18th Century in the Highlands where laws weren't quite as lined out as they may be in the 21st Century.  Husbands had more rights than wives back in those days - - but no worries, he gets his. He won't get away with it.

    The title of the book is not going to be announced until I am 100% completed with it, and I register it with the Library of Congress before having it published and produced. It's a good title, still has the word "Kilt" in it, but it leaves a lot more to the imagination than the original title. Will there be "kilted pleasure" sure, and some pleasure without kilts as well? Wait, that's rather redundant if you think about it.  I also feel that the new title carries a more credible reason for people to read it; people who aren't just seeking Highlander intensity with flesh pounding flesh in both their battles and their beds. This is a good book! I've not even completely written it and I can tell you that. I'm working very diligently at making it worth reading and worth whatever price the publishers attach to it. (We authors don't really have too much say about the price.)  I will try to have it on Kindle for free for a month if they'll allow it. It's a good marketing tool. Maybe they'll agree.

    What I did today was to focus on the number of chapters and the way they'll be laid out so that they make the most sense, and so they are as entertaining as possible. I will be using flashbacks as a means of knowledge for the reader and memory for some of the characters. There will be other literary devices as well; being an English Professor I think I owe that to my calling. I know I owe proper grammar to it, but that won't happen. The Scots language alone (which some of the book will be subjected to) will see to that.  There will be grammatical errors and there will be no apologies for them. (I don't know, I may actually apologize in the Introduction so my readers actually know I know how to use grammar properly.) I really am not one to suffer from OCD, but I do suffer when I see grammar being misused....again, not in my blogs. Freewriting.

    The book takes place between 1715 and 1746ish in both the two main populated areas of Scotland, Glasgow's western edge  (Strathclyde) and the city of Edinburgh proper. Many events take place in both cities, and there will be an explanation of the way the two cities as well as the culture(s) of the two cities have similarities and vast differences. From language to belief systems, politics, and marketing, the two cities are in deed and indeed quite unique.  The two families my personal family is connected to are the Armstrongs and the Campbells. The Armstrongs were, for lack of a better phrase, "hung out to dry" in 1610, causing many of the surviving clan members to change their names, intermarry with others, or leave the country completely. This won't be discussed in too much detail as the book is literally taking place a century later. The Campbells on the other hand ruled and remain in great strength in and around Strathclyde, Glasgow.  I just happen to be a bigger fan of Edinburgh, that's all. Both deserve their limelight moments.

    I added a really cool character and YES Tex, I did get his permission before doing so. See, I do know my boundaries.  I've added Antoin (there's an accent in there, but you can't see it, as my keyboard doesn't have one) Broonford.  Antoin is the Scots Gaelic way of saying "Anthony" and this character will be built around the likeness, image, mannerisms, and character of Edinburgh's own beloved son Tony Broonford of Clan Broonford, there's a link to his YouTube channel at the end. He's an amazing guy with talents that span the spectrum.  He, his beautiful wife, and his dogs will be spoken of in the book. I may even make mention that he and his wife are hoping for a couple of bairns, but there won't be time enough in the book for it; just pipedreams perhaps of the two sweethearts.  I can't say more without giving too much away, but Antoin is a gifted solider, tour guide, grand friend, and whisky advocate to boot! Thanks again Tony for letting me insert you into the book - - you'll find that you are both a hero and a confidant.

    There are currently 30 chapters. I will likely add one or two here and there, squeezing them in to explain this or that. I have a murder, an attempted murder, an attempted rape, a scandalous coverup, the purposeful turning of the heads so as not to see what was there to be seen, and of course, there will be cooking, dancing, laughing, parties, even a real live philosopher and a couple of inventions that make their way into the book about the same time they were being made in reality. All in all, I think I have a good thing started and with the fleshing out, the filling in, the moving around, and the stuffing it full of facts and fictional bliss, this is going to be one helluva book -- truly a good tale to be told. (at least I think so.)

    Buckle up Buttercup; we're headed for the Highlands. Mr. Tesla, take me back to 1715 please....thank you!

CLAN BROONFORD: https://www.youtube.com/@ClanBroonford

Photo Credit: Alamy.com  

Green Power: The Breakfast for Champions

 I get on "kicks" and this one is a good one. It's a type of thing that you do for a while, see if there are any good results and if so you keep it up, but if not you break away. It's a good thing so far. I'm substituting a meal or two every day with a juice. When I say "juice" I literally mean I put fruits and veggies (rarely any water) into the juicer and I let it spin.  Today, I powered up the juicer with a very tart combination of a Granny Smith green apple, a very green lime, and a bunch of fresh spinach. I also add the extras, as I will every day.  I do the protein powders and the other dry extras with the Nutribullet, so what I'll do this afternoon is have a liquid lunch, but it won't be a juice. It will be a milk protein powder drink with those extras.

    Today's bathroom trip (Not too graphic, I promise) was a good "go" and though I did look, and looked really intensely, I didn't see any pinworms, worms, or anything resembling a worm or parasite. I know that parasites can be tiny and some I won't be able to see with my naked eye (why are they naked, is it just because they don't wear tiny kilts?) but I didn't see anything whatsoever which leads me to believe that perhaps I was cleaner than I thought I was. This is both good and bad news because I wanted to have something to blame. (Giggle)  Looks like I'm pretty healthy, just round and fluffy, so that has to stop.

    The Green Power drink, as it is called in one of the recipes I found online, is a very strong drink indeed.  If you think about it, a small lime is rather dense, and it's full of juice, so imagine juicing it, and taking in about 60% of the peel as well when you run it to the supersonically spinning blades. Zoom! It's gone! The silt left over is a sort of damp powder at that point. You can pick it up, and you can run your fingers through it. It's really rather soft and aromatic. In fact, my daughter was in the other room and she commented about being able to smell the lime. It's strong.  The Granny Smith apple is a green powerhouse all on its own as well. Full of juice, and not as frothy as other apples. I like that. The spinach is just that...good, hearty, dense, kickass fiber. It doesn't juice as well, because there isn't much water in spinach, but it did produce some goodness and I did run about 1/8 cup of water through to get as much as I could.

    Adding the extras, stirring, and then drinking it down was not hard to do. It was in fact both energizing and welcomed. I'm trying to go as long as I can without eating in the morning; sort of an intermittent fasting ritual. I'm doing pretty good really, and I like that fact. It's OK to mulipurposely multitask when you're both dieting and just living well. I don't like using words like "diet" as it may have a negative connotation. I live well. I work well. I try to play well, and I know I sleep well.

    Last night I dreamed I was mending a wire fence in my pasture. I looked around and saw a couple of horses, but the one that was "mine" in the dream was a paint horse. He was a gelding, tall, strong, sturdy, maybe 16 hands, and roughly 1300 pounds. He was obviously a taller Quarter Horse and he was just enjoying life as horses do. He wasn't aggressive, he wasn't passive, he was just there eating grass and walking about. The fence didn't need too many patches, and I was finished with my work in good time.  I looked it up and I was happy to find out that the dream indicates that I am well on my way to being satisfied and doing what I want to do. The horse represents my spirit, my inner self and I am content. I really am. I have been going through something, but I'm OK with knowing that I'm not doing this on my own. I have God and that's enough. It's always enough.

    The Green Power juice is something that will lift your emotions as well as your sense of self. You can't smell it, see it, taste it, or even imagine it without seeing that it was fully created by someone other than yourself. You have to give the credit where the credit is due.  Thank you, Jesus!

Photo Credit: Me

It is All About the Poop! (No, Really, it is)

     Most doctors and nutritionists agree that a clean colon is the way to go. There are multiple ways to make this happen. I have never been a fan of anyone getting a colonoscopy if they didn't need to get one. In my seemingly sensible opinion, anyone who has a brain and knows how to read should be able to research online the symptoms of a bad bowel system, and perhaps various remedies to fix said system. It makes good sense to me to get the gut clean and keep it clean, then the nasties won't find a home there, and they won't creep and crawl around to the point of busting open linings, causing bloating, infections, and more. If you do your research, you may not be healed, no one is saying that but you could very well postpone or eliminate reasons for going to the doctor for a colonoscopy; again, if it is necessary then by all means do it. Just know you have options.

    A clean colon is a good place to start today. How does a colon get messy? We eat. We eat and we eat, and we don't drink enough water to flush out all of the crud that over time, builds up and causes the walls of our intestines to become caked or lined with gunk. Think about your kitchen or bathroom sink. You have to pour chemicals down it from time to time to scrape all the build-up from causing the sink pipe itself from clogging. When you do use a thingamabob to pull out all the stuff that you've been pouring down the drain, you'll find things you never knew were there! How did so much of your hair get into the kitchen sink? That makes no sense! The same is true with your colon. Yes, we eat our own hair from time to time when we breathe! We eat (and this is nasty) other people's hair if it's flying around aimlessly in the air! We probably swallow a few things we could do without. Enter the colon cleanse.

    This time, because there have been so many other times, I have decided to use a product you/I can buy over the counter. It's a Swanson brand, but you can get it with other names attached to it. I just use Swanson's because I trust them. The brand on the bottle is NOW and sent to me by Swanson's. I ordered my cleanse in the form of a liquid droplet-style bottle of "Green Black Walnut and Wormwood Complex with Clove". You can Google that, I'll leave a link. https://www.swansonvitamins.com/p/now-foods-fresh-green-black-walnut-wormwood-complex-2-fl-oz-liquid

    The reviews given were way over 5000 users and with a collectively favorable result over that of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars, I decided to give it a go. It was cheap enough, just under $12, and Amazon delivers it to my doorstep; or in this case to the apartment complex office since it wouldn't fit in my mailbox. They put it in a rather large box for what it is. On the side of the box there is a warning about it being rather strong but the word "corrosive" wasn't attached to the warning, so we're good. The taste will make you appreciate straight whiskey, not gonna lie. You're supposed to take 1/2 of a droplet up to two full droplets two times a day, but you should start out slow and build that up to a tolerable level. ANDDDDDD, you're supposed to add the drops to a drinkable liquid such as water or juice - - I didn't do that, hence the appreciation I have for the straight whiskey. It burns and because of the clove, it also numbs.

    Suffice it to say, that later this evening, and of course, throughout the rest of the experiment, I will be more sensible and do what I'm supposed to do. I have an issue with being a bit hasty at times. I read instructions of course, but usually, after I've already taken a dose....it's a thang. I need to not do that.  So, the dose has been taken and I am in waiting mode. According to the reviews, it could take up to three full days to take effect, but some of the reviews are hopeful, and they say they saw immediate effects, or at least within the first day.  What am I looking for? Pinworms! I am looking for tiny and not-so-tiny bugs in my poop! I was flat amazed as a young woman, when I was having my first baby, to learn all about the worms and parasites we humans keep inside our guts. It's flat scary!  The nurse gave me an enema that cleaned me from top to tail within minutes and let me tell you, I was no longer innocent at that point. I was fully aware of how disgusting I could be.

    That moment of awareness was in 1986, and I have been very careful since that time to do as many body cleanses as possible. First, I was told by my doctors that two or three times a year it would be a good idea to do an enema-type cleanse. That works for a while and then I learned about things you can take or drink and have the same type of effect. I have to be honest, I have never really seen (again) the same thing(s) I saw the day I gave birth to my baby boy; I say that with a smiling face. I really never want to see what I saw again. Who the heck knew this was real? (doctors and nurses knew) I have researched it to the hilt and know that worms working in our intestines can cause us to both gain and keep weight. They can cause us to lose weight. They can cause us to think differently, be depressed, have anxiety, and worse, they can crawl up into places and fester, leaving holes in our bodies! Yes, that's disastrously disgusting and frightening...why do you think I'm telling you? 

    If people would merely Google (or Bing) their way into finding out more about the worms and parasites they potentially keep riding around in their bodies not paying a bit of rent, but taking up space that could be used for good, they would fight the good fight, and do what they can and should do. They too would take supplements, give up sugary foods and drinks, and they'd drink or take pro and prebiotics to stabilize their gut. Hormones are a big issue with parasites too, you can research that. Women in their older years can find themselves feeling sluggish, fat, bloated, upset, not feeling well, just sort of blah, and then oftentimes their doctors or nutritionist will mention doing a cleanse to rid them of any parasites. It's just a fact, and where it's not fun, the alternative is so much worse. Go look at the images of things that have been taken out of people before or after they have died. It will scare you straight to the health food store!

    Here's my hope. I may be completely off my rocker with this one, but I'm going to see what I can do. I hope I can take this complex and take it as directed for two weeks, lay off a week, pick it back up a week, and by that time it will be the end of January, and I want to be 10 pounds lighter than I was on January 1. I didn't actually weigh myself, but I'll know. I'll gauge it by the bloating or non-bloating. I'll gauge it by the way my clothes fit, by the way, I move, by the way, I feel. If it works I'll know, and yes, I'll be able to SEE with my own eyes soon, what comes out and if there's nothing there well then, so be it, but I can almost guarantee that there will be. It stands to reason that there will, so since I like to reason, we'll see if I'm right.

    I already take psyllium husk every day, and therefore I have a really good poop every morning. This will be an additive. This will be a better thing. This will be a way to know without a doubt that I'm on the better track. Who knows, maybe I'll end up weighing what I did when I was first pregnant in 1986...that would be 130 pounds. That would shock the hell out of me, but let me just say I would welcome it. If it meant I could get rid of these boobs and trade them in for a 12-year-old boy's chest I would do it as long as I got the ripped abdomen to go along with it. Someone else can lug these jugs around. I'm done. Is there a supplement for that? Tell me...I want it.

    Poop well, friends. Drink more water, get more exercise, eat well, sleep well, and by all means don't forget to pray. Prayer is the answer to it all. Who do you think made the black walnut, wormwood, and clove? That's right, I know I didn't! We give glory and praise to the One who did. No matter what the result, it is good. He is always good. Be blessed and go....go...go...and go.

Photo Credit: Swansonsvitamins.com