Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 8 – Charity Christmas Tree Topper Challenge

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Hugh  from Hugh’s Views and News is sponsoring his Charity Christmas Tree Topper Challenge again this year. Last year’s challenge was a great success!

Do you want to join in with Hugh’s Photo Tree Topper Challenge?  Here is all you have to do:

From Hugh’s blog: “Here’s how you can all join in and help Angela, Macy, Toby, and I raise £250 for The Dogs Trust.”

1. Take a photo of what sits on top of your Christmas tree.
2. Create a new post on your blog entitled “Hugh’s Photo Challenge: Week 8 – Charity Christmas Tree Topper Challenge.”
3. Add the photo(s) you have taken to the post and tell us a little about what you are showing.
4. Create a pingback to Hugh’s post or leave a link to your post in the comments section of Hugh’s post so that other participants can view your post.

The challenge is open until Tuesday 5th January 2016 and more details can be found on Hugh’s and Colleen’s blog:

http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2015/12/14/hughs-photo-challenge-week-8-charity-christmas-tree-topper-challenge/

http://silverthreading.com/2014/12/19/heres-whats-on-top-of-my-christmas-tree-whats-on-yours/

Please click on the link The Dogs Trust if you would like to make any donations directly to The Dogs Trust, in UK. Or alternatively in America, you could consider making a donation to the Humane Society of the United States or a local Humane Society in your own hometown.This is not compulsory to enter in the challenge, but if you would like to do so that would no doubt be more than welcome!

Sadly I don’t have a dog myself nowadays but I did as a child, Topsy, a cute little black and white cheeky rascal who used to like eating all sorts of things that weren’t particularly good for a dog! Look at that tiny frame it disguises a hearty appetite for inedible things! I remember one year she ate a balloon at my birthday party. Thank goodness she was okay no harm done. Also one year she ran off and had a love affair with a local dog, we were really worried that she had been lost for good but she reappeared with her guilty tail between her legs…

So to get into the spirit of celebrating man’s best furry friend here are a couple of photos of Topsy:

First this photo is of mum and I on our balcony in Hong Kong, I used to live there when I was little. Actually this kind of captures cheeky me and rascal Topsy pretty well I reckon! My mum is smiling but in a hesitant way as if she knows that she has a handful there…

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This photograph below is of Topsy, my brother Donald and my dad Ronald looking all smiley, but Topsy is a bit sad, she is thinking of her wild escapade with her lost love….

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As well as participating in the Tree Top Challenge and chatting about dogs I am also joining in Colleen at Silver Threading’s lovely idea to share Christmas Trees from Around The World, so if you’d like to join in with this particular challenge don’t forget to say where you are! My tree is situated at my home in Cambridge, England.

Here’s the link to join in Colleen’s Trees Around The World:

http://silverthreading.com/2015/12/06/christmas-trees-around-the-world/

At the weekend I went out with my husband and my youngest daughter to find a lovely tree at our nearby garden centre. At that point in time my  eldest was still at University so unfortunately she missed this trip but she’s back home today, it’s so lovely to see her, and now she has seen the tree too.

I just love a real tree, don’t you?

 

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Especially when it is lit up.

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I knew it was the one as soon as my husband pulled it out from amongst an array of other trees it had such lovely symmetry and a fullness that caught my eye. So I said, “That’s the one.” Of course my husband still pulled out a few other likely contenders but I got my way in the end! I can be quite stubborn at times….

I decorated our beautiful Christmas tree with my youngest daughter but to my dismay we couldn’t find the angel to top the tree, so I asked my husband if he could get me another one, but he didn’t manage to find one, he was too busy buying the groceries! Just as well, as I found her hiding in amongst a large bag of Christmas gift tags and wrapping paper. For some reason she wasn’t in the bubble wrap with the other Christmas baubles. Perhaps she felt a bit too grand to be stuck there amongst the bawdy riff raff!

Now she may look like she’s sleeping on top of my tree but don’t let that fool you, she knows what’s what! She’s keeping a look out for any sneaky opening presents before Christmas, that is not allowed.

Thanks for popping by to see my tree and my childhood dog and for joining in the Christmas festivities Kyrosmagica  style, and don’t forget to pop over to Colleen and Hugh’s blog to join in the challenges.

 

Bye for now,

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

 

Character Profile Sheets

Characters are the bread and butter of a writer’s tool kit. Heena thinks so and I do too, so of course I had to reblog this wonderful source of links about character profile sheets for future reference from Heena Rathore.

Heena R. Pardeshi's avatarVerbatik Media

Characterization is the most important aspect of writing a book. Whether it’s a short story or a long one, you need characters, and that too strong ones. They are the building blocks of your story as they provide substance and an extra dimension to it.

Many people believe that in certain genres, such as mystery-thriller, romance and horror, the story is the main hero and not the characters, and therefore it’s okay to have even half-decent characters to play along when it comes to writing in these genres. But being a thriller writer myself, I think that it is totally wrong.
Whether it’s thriller, mystery, horror or even romance, you need strong characters to add depth to your story. And if you want to write a memorable book then characters are indeed as important to your story as the plot itself, irrespective of the genre.

I’d like to state a few…

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Tales from the Garden – Giveaway – Personalised Fairy Tale for you and your family.

A chance to have a fairytale written about you, your family and your garden, what a lovely idea from Sally at smorgasbordinviation. So proud gardeners this post reblog is just for you.

#Mindful Monday – “With a Little Help from My Friends”

Colleen’s Mindful Monday post caught up with me today on a Tuesday, which happens to be my birthday!!! I have to say Colleen’s post celebrating the help and support she has had, is one of the reasons why I blog, the sense of community in the blogging world is immense. So I just had to reblog this and share this lovely cheery message.

10 Ways to Get Paid to Blog!

I’m on a blogging break but thought a bit of stolen humour in the form of a cheeky reblog from Opinonated Man might not go amiss. So here’s some tips for generating some funny dosh through blogging, No. 1 is my personal favourite, I love secrets!, that’s got to be winner, no wonder it’s first in line…..

There’s something fishy going on…. #bloggersbash

I’m on a blogging break but I want to share some reblogs with you and this one caught my eye this morning. It’s bit hush hush, so keep it under wraps, best place for a fish supper. In case you fancy doing something fishy on 11th June 2016 there is a Bloggers Bash, yes I did say a #Bloggersbash to go to, more about this wonder of wiffing wonderment which is being held somewhere in London and can currently be found via Geofflepard.com.

Markets For Writers

Having a bit of a blogging break well trying to! But couldn’t resist reblogging this opportunity to enter a writing competition. This one sounds pretty darn awesome, with the prompt coming from Stephen King! Competition suggestion via Sacha Black, reblog from Esthernewton’s blog. Closing date for entries December 18th.

Esther Chilton's avatarEsther Chilton

This week’s market comes courtesy of the wonderful Sacha Black. She’s spotted an excellent competition that’s a must enter. It’s the ‘Stephen King – The Bazaar of Bad Dreams competition’.

The competition is calling for entries for a fiction story of up to 4,000 words. The story must be on a subject inspired by the following line from Stephen King: “There’s something to be said for a shorter, more intense experience. It can be invigorating, sometimes even shocking, like a waltz with a stranger you will never see again, or a kiss in the dark, or a beautiful curio for sale at a street bazaar.”

The closing date for entries is December 18th 2015.

The prize is publication, plus a place on a Guardian weekend Masterclass with Stephen King’s UK editor, Philippa Pride.

To find out more about how to enter, check the terms and conditions page.

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Hugh’s Photo Challenge – Week 3 – What Lurks in The Shadows

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Hugh had me well and truly stumped with this week’s photography challenge. I was on the verge of giving up when I had an idea to focus on an eerie shadow of myself amongst the autumn leaves. Yes, I’m now as creepy as it gets!!

Here’s the link if you’d like to join in: http://hughsviewsandnews.com/2015/10/24/hughs-photo-challenge-week-3-what-lurks-in-the-shadows/

What’s creepy about my shadow you might ask? The falling leaves of autumn and the stretching shadows that accompany some autumn days, are by their very nature quite melancholic. Yesterday I went for a walk through the village and I noticed a few hints of change. At the front pathway the red vibrant leaves of a neighbour’s plant that had crept through the fence into our garden now lay fallen, its once beautiful leaves dying. As well as this there were burnt edges of leaves still clinging to the trees, but many more had now given up there hold and were scattered by my feet, trampled on by passers by.

I photographed the leaves and the shadows that accompanied them. Here they are:

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I’m fading away, my shadow that is, a bit like autumn itself!! Winter will soon be on its way, my least favourite season, the clocks have gone back so that’s a sign, the last hint of sunshine is being gobbled up by the shadow of autumn’s death which is fast on its way!

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Hope you liked my photography for this week’s challenge.

Do pop over to my Instagram account to see what I’ve been up to: https://instagram.com/kyrosmagica
Bye for now. Only a few more days to Halloween, so ……

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Marje @ Kyrosmagica xx

 

 

 

 

 

How To Host a Blog Party

Excited for Halloween? Suzie is hosting a Halloween blog party this Saturday you better not be late or who knows what might happen!!

suzie81speaks's avatarSuzie Speaks

How to host a blog partyBlog parties are one of my favourite things to do, and in my experience they are an incredibly fun and successful way of boosting traffic to your blog and building a readership.

For those who have never heard of a blog party before, the concept is simple. The host will create a post which states a set of rules. Other bloggers will then share a link to a post from their blog in the comment section and will go and visit other links from the people participating. I love participating in these sorts of events, and have discovered many wonderful blogs and bloggers by doing so.

Hosting a successful party, however, takes a little bit of preparation and time in advance, and requires 100% commitment on the day.

Want to host your own blog party? Here’s my easy step-by-step guide to planning and developing a party that will get the…

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Spooktacular 2015

Spooktacular challenge by edmooney last day to email your photography, for this challenge.

edmooneyphotography's avatarEd Mooney Photography

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Today is the first day of October, which marks the countdown to my absolute favourite time of the year, Samhain/Halloween. For the last couple of years, my Ruinhunting activities tend to die off during the month, mainly due to poor weather and access to many of the sites that I visit. But I keep my blog going with an assortment of the otherworld and Halloween Themed posts. The Bram Stoker Festival has featured these past two years along with Irish based tales concerning Gaelic Mythology and Supernatural customs and Traditions such as An Púca, the faerie Ghost, the Bean-sidhe an Irish harbinger of Sorrow , An Dullahan, the real Headless Horseman, Dearg-Due, an ancient Irish Vampire and the Wizard Earl of Kilkea Castle to name but a few.

An Púca An Púca

So this year got me thinking, with the success of the Capturing History Challenge, I thought, Why…

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