November 17, 2025 Hello, everyone. Welcome to Whatnot Wednesday. I hope your week has been good so far. On Monday, Dan Antion posted that this is his one-year anniversary as moderator of “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” (CFFC). Kudos, Dan. The topic for this week was “Winter, Summer or both.” I’m limiting my post to “Winter” … More Whatnot Wednesday & CFFC Winter
Monday, December 8, 2025 This week, Dan Antion, host of the Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC), gave the prompt “Autumn or Spring — or Both.” To me the “Both” part spoke of contrast, and I’ve always found the contrast of flowers in snow to be magical. It reminded me of something I put in the … More A Bloomin’ Snippet for #CFFC
Wednesday, November 25, 2025 Daphne: Hear (hear…hear) Me (me…me) Human (an…an). I (I…I) am the Energy Oracle (el…el)! To attain enlightenment, you must brush me (me…me). Yummy Human, why aren’t you brushing me? Didn’t you hear my supernatural echo voice? Be sure to use both brushes. Whatnot Wednesday Daphne brushing her own face with the soft brush. Meanwhile, … More Whatnot Wednesday, Oracles, & #ThursdayDoors
Wednesday, November 5, 2025 Whatnot & the Scoobies I was going to do a Wednesday Writing post, then the “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge” was suggested because its topic was libraries, and my libraries have doorways… I’d say this is definitely a Whatnot post! So… Velma, do you want to be a blog star today? Now, … More Whatnot Wednesday Libraries: #CFFC, Writing, #ThursdayDoors
October 22, 2025 Hello, everyone. Welcome to Whatnot Wednesday. I hope your week has been good so far. It wouldn’t be a “Whatnot” without the Scoobies. Although, those two cats are being lazy today. This year, Daphne has taken to occupying the hammock that’s beside my desk-chair whenever I work at the computer. That’s her … More Whatnot Wednesday & CFFC Vintage Food Market Photos
Thursday, October 16, 2025 Hello, everyone. Today most of my doors are written, doors made of words. I invite you to open this door into the simpler world of my fantasy, “Dead of Winter.” There are many doors in the world I built for this epic story. Some open to frightening unknowns, others open to … More #ThursdayDoors to an October Excerpt
Saturday, October 11, 2025 In the predawn stillness, after a night of tossing and turning, with unpleasant dreams during the scant moments of sleep, a woman finally drifted in peaceful slumber. However, elsewhere in the house… “Velma, did you know that when Yummy Human was kitten-age there was a famous cat singer named Steven? It’s … More Caturday Morning’s Broken: Scoobies Song Parody
Saturday, September 6, 2025 Hello all. It’s Caturday, and the Scoobies have taken over this post. Hi, Velma. The sofa back isn’t one of your usual perches. What’s going on? A minute ago, you were staring at the fabulous collage Kerfe made. You seemed to be looking at the cat in it. Velma: What do … More Venusian Parody on a Caturday, Staring the Scoobies #Cats
Saturday, July 26, 2025 Velma: Yummy Human, you aren’t making any sense. Welcome, all. After the past year or more of repeatedly thinking a book would be ready “any minute now”… well, I’ve started taking the phrase “coming soon” out of my vocabulary. However, something is back on track, at minimum. Teaser No, I’m not … More Something’s Back on Track
Saturday, May 25, 2024 Splish-splash, I was taking a bathLong about a Caturday night, yeahWashin’ toes, relaxin’ in my hammockThinkin’ everything was alright… Then along came Velma, jumpin’ on my head; reelin’ in my hammockMeowin’ and a-growlin’, bitin’ and a-runnin’, yeah Splish-splash, I wanna go back to my bath… Daphne. Daphne… Daphne, what are you … More Splish-Splash on a Caturday Night
Friday, June 27, 2025 Welcome, all. There won’t be a serial episode this weekend (or week). I hope to have it finished by next weekend. That will be the final episode of The Dance of Discord. I planned to add several more twists and turns to the tale, building on the intrigue. However, writing this … More Dance of Discord Update
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 Video above is the Talking Apple Trees scene from The Wizard of Oz “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.”― Carl Jung Whatnot Wednesday Fellow author D. L. (Denise) Finn has been hosting a monthly creativity challenge for poets. I have no skills … More Whatnot Wednesday: Creativity Challenge, Apples, #Cats, & Slang
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 Whatnot Wednesday Hello, all. The Scoobies are on hand to help us over the midweek hump. They’re my dearest whatnots. In their conversation Daphne (left) and Velma (right) included a couple of tiny thrushes who have gotten into the habit of sitting in the diamond-shape “links” of the side gate — … More Whatnot Wednesday & Re-Inventionators: 1
Wednesday, April 17, 2025 Whatnot Wednesday Special thanks to author Teri Polen for reading A Peril in the Vines and mentioning it in her post this morning! Whatnot with the Scoobies Velma: Don’t get me started, Daphne. Jinkies! The one with the goat is best. Agree with me or else! Daphne: Jeepers! Where’s your species … More Whatnot Wednesday: Scoobies Argue / #ThursdayDoors Inspiration Selections
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 Velma: Haha! I’ve got the hammock! Daphne: Suit yourself. That string is going to start moving on its own just like the furry bird does — and I’m going to be here to grab it. Velma: Yummy Human is playing with pictures again. Do you think she’ll stop to play with … More Whatnot Wednesday Inspiration / #ThursdayDoors help me choose
Saturday, March 8, 2025 Would it surprise you if I said my favorite cartoon as a kid was Scooby-Doo? Considering that my feline companions are Velma and Daphne, even those of you who don’t know the story behind their name wouldn’t be surprised. Although, what was my next girlhood favorite? A spinoff of that cartoon … More Song-spiration Saturday — Caturday Play
Saturday, January 4, 2025 Hello, all. I hope your New Year is off to a great start. I began by diving back to the work lineup that Amazon KDP derailed when they held up Real Steampunkery Tech. Because of that, I’m afraid to announce what I otherwise would today. I’ll wait a week and make … More On the New Year Horizon & Cover Reveal
New Year’s Day, 2025 Velma: Jinkies, Daphne…there it goes… Daphne: Goodbye 2024. Jeepers… Yummy Human seems worried. If we play our cards right, we might get double treats. Velma: Why is she worried? Maybe she needs to buy more giggle water… that way I get to see the FedEx man. Daphne: You’re fickle. You used … More Here it comes… Happy New Year
Wednesday, November 27, 2024 Vel-maa! Daph-nee! Come here and wish everyone in the blog-verse a happy Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for each and every one here, whether or not you’re celebrating a holiday. Daphne and Velma (the Scoobies) are grateful too, even though they show it in a different way. Scoobies, for what are you thankful? … More #Thanksgiving with the Scoobies
Wednesday, November 20, 2024 Above, the Pointer Sisters perform “Automatic.” Hello, all. To help us over the midweek hump, that’s a blast from the past (1984) with the Pointer Sisters. I remembered the song, but never realized it was them. The song was a great fit because I’ve been working on a Thursday Doors post … More Whatnot Wednesday & #ThursdayDoors — Automatic Doors
Wednesday, November 13, 2024 Hello, all. I hope you’ve had an easy climb to this midweek “hump day.” No, this is not a feline visit. I featured the Scoobies… just because. Recently I’ve tried to take the advice to get back to creative pursuits. Or maybe I should say to the kind things most people … More Whatnot Wednesday: Creativity Challenge
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 Hello, everyone. The Scoobies — Velma and Daphne, enjoyed their last visit with you so much that they wanted to come back. ♣ ♣ ♣ Velma: Are you sure it isn’t Halloween yet? Isn’t that a pumpkin over there? But the color’s sort of… wrong. Daphne: Jeepers, Velma. No, it isn’t Halloween. So … More Whatnot Wednesday with the Scoobies: Halloween Yet?
Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Hello, everyone. As they used to say, things are tough all over. Everybody could use a little fun. So today we’re just going to have a silly visit with the Scoobies — Velma and Daphne. ♣ ♣ ♣ Daphne: Jeepers, Velma! What the catscratch is that supposed to be? Velma: I’m learning to … More Whatnot Wednesday with the Scoobies: October
Wednesday, April 3, 2024 Welcome, everyone. To write these Whatnot Wednesday posts, I let my mind meander down a path of diverse but related subjects. The Scoobies are indoor cats, so I decided to give them a plant. That’s when they took over this post. Velma didn’t give a mouse’s butt, but Daphne went cray-cray … More Whatnot Wednesday: Cat Seeds
Thursday, March 14, 2024 Welcome, everyone. Who’s at the Door today? Throughout my blogging career, I’ve been lucky to know people who are generous, talented, and generally wonderful. Several of my blog friendships go all the way back to the first novel I published, Atonement, Tennessee. One of those people is at the door now. ♣ ♣ ♣ … More Who’s at the #ThursdayDoor? (3)
Saturday, March 9, 2024 WKRP’s Doctor Johnny Fever and the Red Wigglers commercial Welcome, everyone. I’ve been pondering what to do for my weekend posts, and nothing seemed right. Suddenly an idea popped into my mind for “Vintage Vignettes.” That gives me a broad range of topics. It might be a fictional vignette, a memory, … More Vintage Vignettes: the Red Wriggler
Tuesday, March 5, 2024 Today I’m visiting Off Center and Not Even with photographer and musician Timothy Price. He wrote what he called a “nonsense song” about a time when he and his wife had nine cats. Click over to his blog and join the fun. Comments are closed here.
Monday, February 12, 2024 Hello, everyone. First, something good. Today is the first anniversary of the day Velma and Daphne arrived. I wanted to use names of a fictional detective duo. During the night before they came, my mind had briefly flitted across the names on which I eventually settled. However, if Chris The Story Reading … More Things change — and usually not for the better. Announcement
Thursday, February 1, 2024 Welcome, everyone. This year, I had the idea to do an occasional blogger feature, called Who’s at the Door? Today we have the second installment. The kitty above is not one of my “Scoobies.” No, that’s Leo, who belongs to our featured blogger. Readers of my Atonement: Bad Bishop serial will … More Who’s at the Door? (2) #ThursdayDoors
Saturday, January 6, 2024 First, a big thank you to Dan Antion for making a post of the writing exercise I did on Wednesday — and giving my books a double shout-out, with Speak Falpper and Hullabal Lulu, a Diesel-Punk Adventure. Don’t miss Dan’s post. Since Daphne was being such a character (if not a … More Weekend Serial, Characters
Monday, December 25, 2023 Merry Christmas and happy anything else you might celebrate. If you don’t celebrate anything at all, then we’ll simply celebrate the day. Frankly, I don’t really do much for holidays. At least, not nearly to the extent that most people do. That’s just the way my life is. However, this is … More Meowy Catmas & Happy Holidays
Saturday, December 9, 2023 Welcome back to Atonement, TN. It’s good to see you. This time, the random reader things, which drive this episode were from the “soundtrack” suggestions. Resa McConaghy suggested Hotel California. It seems like if a song fits my mood, the ability to write arrives soon after the tune gets embedded in … More Weekend Serial — Atonement: Bad Bishop, Prologue 2, Featuring Resa McConaghy
Saturday, November 25, 2023 Update: I need to share two responses to my creativity challenge. Both fellow authors did journal entries for their characters. Robbie Cheadle used a character from a novel in progress. Dan Antion worked a bit about the journal of one of his bartender characters into his post today. Hello, everyone. I realize … More Daphne-cat’s Dance
Saturday, November 18, 2023 Hello, everyone. Before I get to the point, we do have a response to the creativity challenge. It’s from fellow author Geoff Le Pard. Don’t miss his is hysterically Ruthless response. Be sure to check it out. Anyway, you aren’t mistaken — I was late publishing this post. I’ve been banging my head … More Atonement, TN Soundtrack
Saturday, October 28, 2023 Welcome to my sanctuary, everyone. You’d think I would be refreshed after such a long blog break. Instead, I wrote a novella (A Peril in the Bayou). Writing a short novel during that long break was actually arduous, and it didn’t lead to a replenishment of energy. However, to keep the … More Atonement Serial Research
Saturday, October 21, 2023 Imagine a room made of chocolate — that’s what my (bl0g) sanctuary is today. Don’t worry, imaginary chocolate has no calories. Plus, if you eat a wall from a chocolate house, the roof won’t cave in. If you eat a chocolate leg from a chaise lounge, you won’t land in the … More Sir Chocolate and the Chinese Candy Dragon: Robbie Cheadle
Saturday, September 9, 2023 Welcome, everyone. I hope your September is going well. I’m still on a blog “break.” That word is kind of hard to say considering that I’ve been staying up past 1AM several nights, working on books and related tasks. However, to tide you over until I come back to do the … More Atonement in Zugzwang, Book 1 — Now available
Saturday, September 2, 2023 Hello, everyone. Thanks for visiting my sanctuary. My break from blogging isn’t precisely over yet. As Olga Núñez Miret once told me, sometimes doing something different is as good as a break. That’s what I’ve been doing. But first a boo-hiss to WordPress for continuing to crop large swaths off my … More Atonement in Zugzwang Part 2: Call for Things
Saturday, August 19, 2023 Welcome back to Atonement, TN. It’s good to see you. Today I’m welcoming fellow author/blogger Marian Allen back to the blog-verse. Marian hasn’t been able to post much this year because she fell and broke both wrists. Back in DC, I had a severe break to my right wrist (that of … More Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 23, Featuring Marian Allen
Saturday, August 12, 2023 Welcome back, everyone. I’m happy that you’re following this urban fantasy serial. To drive this episode, I used John W. Howell‘s “finger point prompt.” Here’s how John uses this prompt, “The idea is to open a book randomly and, without looking, point to the page. The word or words closest to the … More Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 22, Featuring Teri Polen
Saturday, April 29, 2023 Welcome back, everyone. After doing various types of refresher posts during the past couple of weeks (here and at my midweek posts), I’m going to move straight into the new episode. Today the random reader things, which drive this episode are from fellow blogger and author, D.L. (Denise) Finn. She already … More Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 9, Featuring D.L. Finn
Saturday, April 15, 2023 Thanks for coming back to my sanctuary, everyone. I put the chessboard (above) on a tropical shore. It reminded me of the blog, Pacific Paratrooper. Actually, the special guest this week is GP Cox, who runs that blog. He provided this week’s random reader things: Musket, pawn, and barber pole. One … More Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 8, Featuring G. P. Cox
Saturday, April 8, 2023 Hello, everyone. The month of April has begun with odd weather again for many of us. Not to mention the odd happenings under my kitchen sink. I’ve had the plumber out for my badly leaking sink three times in as many weeks. “Nothing is wrong” with the sink. I guess that … More Weekend Serial — Atonement in Zugzwang: Episode 7, Featuring Teri Polen
Saturday, February 18, 2023 Welcome back to my sanctuary, everyone. It’s serene here… and at once it’s utter chaos. How’s that? I have a new family. A few of you from Facebook already know this. Pixabay Of course, I had that longstanding vow that I would never go through the gut-wrenching pain of losing another … More INTRODUCING…
Sunday, February 12, 2023 I know my presence in the blog world has been unpredictable lately. This is a personal update. Don’t worry, I’m not going to delve into my heartache, past or present. When Aspen died, eight years ago, I swore that Crystal would be the final feline. Throughout her 16 ½ years, Crystal … More A Personal Update
Updated August, 2025 Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Smell Hello, everyone. What’s the fastest way to cause a reader to become immersed in a story? Include the physical senses — preferably more than one of them. With that in mind, welcome to Writing with the Senses. In this series each installment will focus on each of … More Writing with the Senses — Sight
Saturday, January 14, 2023 Welcome back to my sanctuary, everyone. Ha. Not that kind of look. Although I’ve had my eye on an idea. You see, I’m still not feeling up to starting a new “three things” style blog serial. However, I’ve been thinking about preselecting the setting for the next serial, and the setting … More New Year, New Look — Atonement, Tennesse
Saturday, December 17, 2022 Welcome back to my sanctuary, everyone. I hope the holiday season is bringing joy your way. I know all of you are busy, so today’s short story will be quite short. Actually, it’s a rerun from 2015, a little slice of life from my Atonement, Tennessee universe. It seems like a … More Weekend #ShortStories — a Rerun from Atonement, TN
Thursday, March 10, 2022 Welcome to Thursday Doors, a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in on the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week. Then go to host, Dan Antion’s blog to share your … More #ThursdayDoors to Self-knowledge & Fe-Lines at — Rebecca’s On The Road Book Club
Wednesday, March 17, 2021 Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Those of you who have known me for a long time, know that I’ve been a tarot reader since the 1990s, all sorts of cards and divining and intuitive processes. Long-time followers might remember my blog and book versions of a series of cozy 1920s mysteries about … More Wednesday Writing — When in Rome, SR Mallery
Wednesday, February 17, 2021 Hello, everyone. Happy hump day. My serial approach in publishing Dead of Winter in novelette-sized monthly installments is rather unusual. It will take months for some story elements to be fully revealed. I realize it’s hard to be patient. So, I thought it might be fun to have a sort of … More Wednesday Writing — Question & Answer Party
Wednesday, February 10, 2021 Yes, that’s another of my Designed & Ready Book Covers. I held back on using it for myself because I wanted to show it as an example of my portfolio. However, it did inspire a short-short story. I’m sharing that today as an early Valentine from me to all of you. … More Wednesday Writing — Cat Seeds
Monday, November 16, 2020 Several weeks ago, the multi-talented Tim Price invited me to be part of some truly whimsical fun. Cats were involved, so I was all in. Warning/Disclaimer — there’s a musical ahead, and I’m in it. Brace yourself. You’ll hear me caterwauling. Time went by, and yesterday Tim turned our zaniness into … More Sunday’s Sound of Coffee Grinding — Off Center & Not Even
Saturday, October 31, 2020 The Delta Pearl Happy Halloween, my chuckaboos! Unfortunately, The Delta Pearl is not here today. Sometimes writing is harder to accomplish than others. The steampunk riverboat will be back, I promise. I’ve begun to tie up some of the threads that Amethyst and I have woven into the web of this … More Happy Halloween & Stuff
Wednesday, July 8, 2020 First, I apologize to anyone who received my accidental posts. The scheduling option I typically use wasn’t working properly. Actually it disappeared entirely… Welcome to my sanctuary. Last Wednesday’s post went to the cats. This one is for the birds! Or one bird anyhow. I’m talking about Jinx, my magpie character. … More Wednesday Review — Brother Love
Wednesday, July 1, 2020 Update/Note: I wasn’t expecting this post to turn into a birthday party, but everyone is making me smile. Thank you all for your good wishes. Hugs on the wing! Welcome to my sanctuary. This post has gone to the… cats. It seems the felines have gotten inside. If you’re a cat … More Wednesday Writing — Adding Animals
Wednesday, June 10, 2020 Last week, quite unexpectedly, a kitten wandered into my novel in progress. On a whim, I invited everyone to give me name suggestions for him. Those of you who know I’m a “cat person” are probably surprised that the kitten was a surprise to me… but I already had two other … More Named the Kitten
Saturday, November 17, 2018 Welcome, to my sanctuary. Could I offer you some coffee or tea, and a pastry or maybe a breakfast biscuit? Something more unusual — perhaps herbal tea… maybe even catnip tea? I had a few days away from my job, and other than a migraine and snow (both on Thursday), it’s … More A Bloomin’ Good Week in Atonement TN – It’s Catnip!
Image courtesy of Chris Graham Welcome, one and all — to this re-run of last year’s Get Caught Reading mini-series. Without further ado, here’s the conclusion! *** It’s been fun participating in Get Caught Reading Month. I hope my zany and bizarre story encouraged people of all ages to read. Last week my real-world schedule … More Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 4 (2016 Rerun Conclusion)
#GetCaughtReadingMonth Hello everyone. As you may have noticed I’m rerunning last year’s mini-series. It’s about the escapades of our intrepid band of bloggers and their pets. That was how I participated in Get Caught Reading Month. After May I’ll get back to my usual posting schedule. This when I’m not working at my “real” job, … More Get Caught Reading — The Sign of the Ape 2 (2016 Rerun)
A Mid-Week Challenge Yes everyone — I just challenged you (the blogger said with a Cheshire grin).Whether or not you see yourself as a writer, this will be a good mental exercise. Write a paragraph or a page — from the point of view of an animal. I find that creative writing is easier if there … More Atonement Character Interviews: Lilith
Three Ingredients Serial What’s next? Thanks to everyone who sent “votes” on what you wanted to do next – now that we reached a conclusion in the Three Things Serial storyline. It was a three-way tie, appropriately enough! So I’m going with the one that is the biggest challenge for me. (Yes, I’m just twisted … More What’s Next? New “Interactive” Serial
I try to limit this blog to writing related posts. Maybe I’m celebrating reaching the National Novel Writing Month goal of a draft novel of 50,000 words (yay!). Or maybe I really am just a crazy cat lady… However I thought this was one of the best cat videos I’ve ever seen. The narrator sounds … More Guide to Caring for Humans
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