#SoCS – Feb. 12 2022 – Fortune

Linda’s SoCS prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “fortune.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

I’m a little late with my SoCS post this week, because I have just finished what feels like the longest term in history!

And now I am fortunate enough to have a week’s break, thank goodness!

Anyway onto the main prompt.

We are ordering Chinese. Well, actually, we have already ordered, and unless I’m lucky, the doorbell will end up interrupting my post writing!

It isn’t here, yet, but one thing I lament is that here, in the UK, you seem to rarely get fortune cookies with your meals.

I do love a good fortune cookie, don’t you?

Golden Healer by @Marjorie_Mallon #BlogTour

I am always excited to be able to feature a dear friend on my blog, and today is the turn of the lovely and most talented Marjorie Mallon!

Now, I have to tell you, I have waited a good few years for this sequel to Marje’s first book, Bloodstone, and thought I read an early first draft of the new book, I was extremely privileged to read the finished product, which continues the story of Amelina in her quest to break The Curse Of Time!

Golden Healer is The 2nd in The YA Paranormal Adventure Series – The Curse of Time.

I didn’t think my life could get any weirder, until the dreaded rollercoaster…

Amelina Scott’s destiny is to be a Krystallos: a magician of light, chosen to learn the ways of crystal magic on her 16th birthday. Located on a river pathway in a mysterious part of Cambridge, the Crystal Cottage is guarded by mythical beings.

Unfortunately, there are those who seek to harm this haven of light. Learning of Ryder – a Shadow Sorcerer with hypnotic powers – Amelina discovers that her own magic is now threatened, and that the Curse of Time might be unleashed again.

As secrets abound and the creatures of the Chronophage come alive, can Amelina become the true magician she needs to be?

A unique, imaginative mystery full of magic-wielding and dark elements, Bloodstone is a riveting adventure for anyone interested in fantasy, mythology or the world of the paranormal. NOTE: this book contains mention of self-harm, mental health issues and alludes to the potential dangers of sexual attraction, which may trigger younger/sensitive readers.

Buy Here!

The Series is inspired by:

The Corpus Christi Chronophage clock on King’s Parade, Cambridge. Find out more here:

http:// http://www.johnctaylor.com/the-chronophage/

https://mjmallon.com/2017/09/17/poetry-inspiredby-the-dragon-chronopage-colleens-weekly-poetrychallenge-no-50-haiku-tanka-haibun-voice-watch/

And Juniper Artland – artist Anya Gallaccio’s sculpture The Light pours out of Me. https://www.jupiterartland.org/art/anya-gallaccio-the-light-pours-out-of-me/

And the 2nd book Golden Healer mentions a popular old haunt of Cambridge  which has since closed down – Clowns Cafe.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My alter ego is MJ – Mary Jane from Spiderman. I love superheros!

M J Mallon was born in Lion city Singapore, a passionate Scorpio with the Chinese Zodiac sign of a lucky rabbit. She spent her early childhood in Hong Kong. During her teen years, she returned to her father’s childhood home, Edinburgh where she spent many happy years, entertained and enthralled by her parents’ vivid stories of living and working abroad. Perhaps it was during these formative years that her love of storytelling began bolstered by these two vivid raconteurs. She counts herself lucky to have travelled to many far-flung destinations and this early wanderlust has fuelled her present desire to emigrate abroad. Until that wondrous moment, it’s rumoured that she lives in the UK, in the Venice of Cambridge with her six-foot hunk of a rock god husband. Her two enchanting daughters have flown the nest but often return with a cheery smile.

Her motto is to Do what Your Heart Desires.

And her favourite genre to write is fantasy/magical realism because life should always be sprinkled with a liberal dash of extraordinarily imaginative magic!

Accolades: M J is a finalist in the Fantasy category of N. N. Light’s Book Award for her novel Bloodstone and a finalist in the International author. She has also contributed best-selling short stories to Dan Alatorre’s Box Under The Bed anthologies.

Winner of the Blogger’s bash blogging prize with her flash fiction piece The Queen’s Dress Down Day. https://mjmallon.com/2018/03/21/the-bloggers-bash-blog-post-competition-2018-the-queens-dress-down-day/

Winner of Carrot Ranch Flash Fiction Contest with her murderous piece: Mr. Blamey https://carrotranch.com/2017/12/19/winner-of-flash-fiction-contest-7/

One-Liner Wednesday – #Cake

“I had cake and I ate it…all!”

Ritu Bhathal (Stuffed )

This is what happens when all the rest of the family have birthdays in February. We’re a week in and we’ve cut three cakes already. No wonder my clothes are groaning, because I am far too good at eating said cake!

https://lindaghill.com/2022/02/09/one-liner-wednesday-the-stuff-you-make/

Chai And A Chat #172 #ChaiAndAChat

Yes, indeed, February is most definitely here and we are in the throes of birthday month in our family! But work keeps getting in the way!

So, drinks at the ready?

  • If we were having chai I’d begin as always, with school. It’s been an interesting week, to say the least. We have had staff leaving (not in my team), staff interviews happening (one for my team!), children having meltdowns, children off with the dreading C virus, and that encompasses Chicken pox to add to Covid, and Cold, and many staff off, having tested positive (including a student in my class and one of my one to one TAs. Yes. That much fun. Is it any wonder that I an shattered at the end of each day? Still we plod along… trying our hardest to stay safe, and stay open for the children, because, whatever anyone says, remote larning is not the best thing for little ones. Roll on Friday and half term, is all I can say!
  • If we were having chai I’d tell you that the other day I managed to squeeze in a few words one of the week day evenings, and it ended up being a rather intimate scene… I was kind of nervous, but got there in the end, I think…
  • If we were having chai I’d say that for the first time in months, I am seeing a little daylight as we leave in the mornings, and in two evenings it was still light when we got home! That was a good feeling! I do love to appreciate the changing colours of the sky in the later hours.
  • If we were having chai I’d tell you that the weekend was a time to experiment. I had my first go at online grocery shopping! Now, I have been put off doing this for a long time, as I am terrifed, (and probably a bit of a control freak), of ordering and getting the wrong things sent to me! I remember my sis in law using the system a good few years back, and ordering ketchup, and being seng mayo as the substitute! However, I am a converted woman! I ticked the no subs boxes on most of the items, and as I wasn’t wandering through the aisles, I didn’t pick up excess items, which was definitely easier on the wallet! There ended up being 5 items unavailable, and none of them were urgent, so, win win, I think!
  • If we were having chai I’d mention that as I was feeling so tired, coupled with a very erratic night of sleep on Saturday. words didn’t flow as well as the weekend before, but along with organising my Scrivener cork board, I did around 1,000 words this week, so not all bad!
  • If we were having chai I’d end with our gorgeous Feline baby, as always, who is posing as DJ Sonu Singh, here! God, I do love him!

This week, along with the pressures of even less staff in, during the week, we have Hubby Dearest’s and my mother-in-law’s birthday, too, so fingers crossed, I continue to stay negative, and that we can have our little celebrations with the family, with no worries, as well as getting tp the end of the week, so I can enjoy a (rather busy) week off!

And while you’re here, did you sign up for my mailing list? I am in the middle of writing an exclusive Chickpea Curry Lit story for my subscribers, and there will be news, tips and even recipes! You know you want to join… go on! Click the pic below to sign up!

Spidey’s Serene Sunday – Part 361 – Strong

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“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.”

Bob Marley

I think I really need to appreciate my strength this week, Spidey. so, thank you for this quote, today.

This above quote resonates so much.

I have always been of the belief that whatever higher power there is, up there, putting us through our paces, never sends us more than he knows we can handle. Though, those times can seem like we are breaking, or broken, even. If we are able to centre ourselves and look internally, we can find the strength to deal with whatever has been thrown at us.

That is where strength comes in. It’s not about lifting weights, or that physical strength, rather the emotional strength that gets us through life.

I haven’t been feeling 100% at all the last few weeks but, as you know, we teachers soldier on. There have been more and more cases of Covid in the school, and this week at least two members of my team succumbed, too.

I have been testing daily,sometimes twice, to keep track of my own status, but the headaches from the stress, the restless nights, coupled with the work we still need to, so our children are educated properly, eamt that I had to draw from an inner strength that I wasn’t sure I had.

But, it is obviously there, as here I still am, standing strong, ish.

We made it to the end of the week, and I was able to manage staffing shortages, as well as the rest of what my job entails, and life stuff, too.

And, most important of all, I’m still smiling.

So, are you able to find your inner strength?

This post, by no means is meant to belittle those who struggle to cope. I know the world is made of different people with different ways. And we are not always able to find a path that leads to a positive conclusion. My thoughts are always with those that struggle, too.

namaste

Wishing you a wonderfully peaceful Sunday, Peeps!

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