Category Archives: Life

Quetzal Tribute

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Our beautiful Cavachon fur-baby Quetzal was born on February 13th, 2014, in Garndolbenmaen, North Wales, U.K.

I had already seen photographs of her parents and some siblings but knew my choice. So, when Juanita brought her out to show me, it was ‘love at first cuddle’.

Although the breeder’s son called her ‘Curly Sue’, we chose the name Quetzal after a game which Juanita was playing ‘Quetzal Quest’ about the search for a jewel likeness of the exotic Quetzal bird, whose feathers were prized by the Central American natives.

Likewise, we prized our gorgeous fur-baby, who has left us with a wealth of memories, from dashing around in the rain, to trying to catch squirrels. When she was a puppy, she liked to climb via my lap, onto my desk between the keyboard and my monitor. However, one of our cats loved this spot as well, so, every day became a race for this prime location. Fortunately, my lap was almost as good… and came with a stroking bonus.

Over time, Quetzal outgrew the desk. Plus, she had a new privilege: walking in the forest at the mountain biking centre, where she was treated to a venison burger – yes, dogs were allowed in the cafeteria.

Her other sport was chasing tennis balls… inside… and destroying them. By now, we had our second dog, Treeky. We also replaced tennis balls with rubber ‘kongs’ that fooled both dogs by bouncing erratically.

When we moved to America, Quetzal & Treeky travelled in style on the liner Queen Mary II, with two Kennel Masters for all the dogs, and a Poop Deck for walks with a UK lamppost and US fire hydrant.

Sadly, as my health declined and I became bed-bound, I could no longer walk Quetzal. She could though, use steps to climb onto my bed and snuggle.  Most nights she slept cuddled on or beside me.

I won’t forget her squeezing herself between me and my bed-desk to reach me and curl up. Every time I was trying to eat, she would bob and weave behind the desk to get tidbits, or a hopeful face would appear from under the desk.

Last photo of Quetzal sharing love and attention

An adorable face I will never forget, to infinity and beyond.

TO BE CONTINUED – QUETZAL GOES CAMPING

QUETZAL 2014-JUNE 17th 2023 R.I.P.

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It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we have to tell you that our sweet fur baby Quetzal went over the rainbow bridge at around 7:00 pm tonight. She just laid down and was gone. Juanita found her and it has hit us both so hard.

RIP Quetzal we will never forget how gentle and sweet you were.
Feb 13 2014 – June 17 2023.

— in Boise, ID.

My tribute follows when my thoughts aren’t jangled by the loss of my most precious fur-baby.

TRIBUTE: https://rolandclarke.com/2023/06/25/quetzal-tribute/

#IWSG – Shire Dreams

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My apologies for this ‘late show’ on the monthly Insecure Writer’s Support Group post.

Our move has proved a nightmare with no disabled features to the house like wide doors or wheelchair ramp, a low toilet I have to be transferred onto by a trained carer, plus weeks without internet. My desktop is still in storage as no office imminent, so I’m writing this one-fingered on a laptop barely in reach.

And the new wheelchair keeps dying on me at inconvenient moments.

The flash-drive with my current novel went AWOL during the move, and other backups are proving elusive.

My health is suffering and paying for carers will cripple us… unless my brother acts out of character.

However, I must reassure the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh that this announcement is not ‘ffarwel’.

Anyway IWSG. Remember, the question is optional!

July 6 question – If you could live in any book world, which one would you choose?

A few come to mind from Narnia to Earthsea to a galaxy far, far away. But as Tolkien is my early writing inspiration, I choose Middle Earth… well, a safer region, The Shire.

Is that my yearning for rural England on which The Shire was modelled? Home?

Except my heart is in North Wales, where my Sparkle stories are set. Can I live there, please?

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Finally, don’t forget to visit more active writers via the IWSG site:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group


Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!


Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the July 6 posting of the IWSG are J Lenni Dorner, Janet Alcorn, PJ Colando, Jenni Enzor, and Diane Burton!

#IWSG TOUGH GROOVE

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Time for the monthly Insecure Writer’s Support Group post and an update on my situation… although this is written and scheduled a week in advance.

My health issues are worse as I’m still struggling to stay comfortable in my powered wheelchair… and I can’t sit at my desk long enough to get much writing done.

The new wheelchair from Malaysia arrived but won’t work in our current office. So, it’s in store until we move… in a week or so as I write.

The relocation became more chaotic and stressful as our planned move to one trailer park kept being delayed. Frustratingly, the new trailer failed to be delivered = months of waiting. But we’ve sold our house. Completion on July 1st, unless we pay $8,500 to stay on a month.

Ridiculous. So, we found a refurbished trailer for sale in another park, where one of my wife’s sons lives with his family. Fortunately, we were able to pay cash from our sale proceeds and we move in around June 1st… with a month to clear our vacated home, which the buyers are refurbishing.

Hence this June IWSG post is rushed, and July’s might be scrubbed unless we get the new office set up.

But I should manage to do the June WEP/IWSG Challenge as I’m aiming to write and schedule before moving, body willing.

https://writeeditpublishnow.blogspot.com/p/challenges-2022.html

That will be the next episode of my Ukrainian saga, a follow-up to Rainbow Firebreak called Feathered Fears, provisionally.

We will have a good day when we win. Slava Ukrayini.

So again, I won’t be telling the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh ‘ffarwel’.

Finally, don’t forget to visit more active writers via the IWSG site:

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

As the question is optional, I’m tempted to answer… briefly.


June 1 question – When the going gets tough writing the story, how do you keep yourself writing to the end? If have not started the writing yet, why do you think that is and what do you think could help you find your groove and start?

Tough groove solutions:

  1. Listening to classical music and soundtracks.
  2. Listening to Audible books in same genre.
  3. Escaping into another world = game world.

The awesome co-hosts for the June 1 posting of the IWSG are SE White, Cathrina Constantine, Natalie Aguire, Joylene Nowell Butler, and Jacqui Murray!

I must be repetitive and ask you to agree these guys are the best. Why not? Well, they are – especially as they all have concerns, fears, and insecurities. But they struggle on, so ticker-tape applause for all of them – plus toasts with the best brew available.

Purpose of IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something.

For more on the IWSG monthly post and links to other participants visit:

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

#IWSG – Quit or Fade Away?

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I was about to pass on this month’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group post due to fallout from my health issues – the MonSter, known medically as multiple sclerosis. However, the monthly question made me hesitate, so please bear with my confused thoughts.

Okay, here goes.

Well, first I must thank the Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh for all he does – and thanks for creating the Insecure Writer’s Support Group without whom my writing would be non-existent…and March’s post might have been ‘farewell’.

Second, my thanks to all those whose encouraging comments ensure I scribble onwards.

Anyway, don’t forget to visit real writers via the IWSG site, and for better answers to this month’s challenging question.

Insecure Writer’s Support Group

Although the question is optional, I’m again tempted to answer.

July 7 question – What would make you quit writing?

Quit writing? Why?

Despite my health, my brain keeps delving and devising. I have enough unfinished projects and first drafts to keep my writing-self distracted for years. Like my alternative history surrounding the Viking Age, I’m watching TV shows – ‘The Last Kingdom’ and ‘Vikings’ – which keep me thinking ‘what if’.

And I’m listening to an excellent series of audiobooks – the Fiona Griffiths Welsh detective series by Harry Bingham – which ensures my Welsh detectives, Sparkle Anwyl and Kama Pillai keep getting attention.

However, my hands don’t always co-operate, nor does my voice – I’m fading slowly.

So, the answer may be ‘I’ll quit when I fail to get my jumbled thoughts out on paper/screen/whatever’. Or die with my notebook open.

Until then, I’ll keep scribbling.

Additional Thoughts

When devising the title of this post, I had the phrase ‘It’s better to burn out than to fade away’ in mind, and a scene from Highlander. While searching for a clip, I found the true origin as well, which was buried in my memory.

So, first here’s Neil Young with the original version – My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)

And here’s Neil Young & Crazy Horse with the other track with that phrase. The two tracks bookended the same album. Anyway, here’s –  Hey Hey, My My ( Into the Black ) live performance in 1991.

Plus, here’s the scene from Highlander, with the quote coming at the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve6gGiI7Jqs

The awesome co-hosts for the July 7 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

How can I be repetitive asking you to agree these guys are the best? Well, they are – especially as they all have concerns, fears, and insecurities. But they struggle on, so ticker-tape applause for all of them – plus toasts with the best brew available.

Purpose of IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something.

For more on the IWSG monthly post and links to other participants visit:

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

#IWSG – Word View

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Created  and hosted by the Ninja Captain himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, theInsecure Writer’s Support Groupmonthly blog post is here again – and so am I, insecure, although a notch less.

I finally got my entry for the 2019 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest in with a day to spare. Finally, I suppressed my fears, switched off my urge to edit, edit, edit, and edit forever. I managed to integrate almost all the comments from my wonderful beta readers. However, my step kids were no shows as readers. But I had an awesome MG kid-reader from the UK – thanks Rebecca, for some awesome suggestions.

Insecurity postponed until the results appear next year.

Now, I’m stressing about my Pitch Wars 2019 submission – Fevered Few. The required query letter, one-page synopsis, and the first chapter of my completed manuscript are achievable by the September 25th-27th deadline. But I’m unsure if I have a “completed and polished full-length, fiction manuscript”. Complete perhaps, but ‘dusted’ might fit better than ‘polished’.

So, another insecure month. Or maybe, I’ll work on my short stories and the drug cartel in Bolivia.

Anyway, on to the IWSG monthly question.

September 4 question – If you could pick one place in the world to sit and write your next story, where would it be and why?

 I’m writing this in an office shared with my wife, that overlooks a suburban US street – not my dream location.

Requirements for change:

  1. Water view: by a river would be good or overlooking a beach or ocean.
  2. Mountain view: looking out onto green alpine meadows or something with a snow cap.
  3. Log cabin: a feel of being in the woods, surrounded by trees.
Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, USA, Phantom Ship – Photo by Brian W. Schaller
Published under the Creative Commons license – CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

In my mind, I see a cabin on Crater Lake in Oregon, USA. We once looked at murals to create some of that on the wall behind/beside our desks. Sound effects? We were planning to move to a mobile home park with houses overlooking a lake – but that’s not happening.

Of course, our house and office in North Wales was on the edge of woodland, overlooked Ceredigion Bay, and had a view of Snowdon. Plus, we had jackdaws in our garden. Just try ignoring our neighbours-from-Hell.

My wife’s photo may not show the estuary or the tip of Harlech Castle, but we could see them, especially from our landscaped garden. But the memories are there – and inspire my writing about Detective Sparkle Anwyl of the North Wales Police/Heddlu Gogledd Cymru in my Snowdon Shadows series.

And that photo has been enlarged, so it hangs above my desk with a red Welsh Dragon in front. Outside the window, beside our new rose garden, is a fountain of running water. Good enough for the next story, especially as we are spending the last weekend of September in a cabin in the mountains surrounded by pine trees.

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The awesome co-hosts for the September 4 posting of the IWSG are Gwen Gardner, Doreen McGettigan, Tyrean Martinson, Chemist Ken, and Cathrina Constantiner!

(I so admire these guys as I know they have commitments too. Ticker-tape applause.)

Purpose of IWSG: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. This group is all about connecting!

Let’s rock the neurotic writing world!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.