Caramels [SOCS]

Linda gives us a “point and shoot” prompt today and I ended up with caramels from the novel Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan. I’m about 8% done and enjoying it. The protagonist’s father is describing how it was to grow up poor and steal candy.

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I ate a lot of caramels in high school. They were sold in convenient packs of five for like a dollar. Sometimes I’d buy two packs. I had lunch right before Phys Ed in senior year, and it was nice to stick a pack in my pocket to have something to munch on while other people were doing sports. Obviously, I was supposed to be participating in sports too, but meh.

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I went through a caramel apple phase. I liked to get those round wraps at the store, cover my apple and zap. They weren’t as good as the ones from candy stores though. My daughter worked at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a while, and they had incredibly delicious caramel apples with fancy decorations. Haven’t been back for a long time.

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The sweet/salty bliss of crunchy caramel popcorn is a welcome treat. I especially love the kind that has big globs of caramel plus nuts too. Mmm…

Haven’t had any for ages. It’s a nice snack while reading a book, which is where I began this post.

~*~

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

My Life in Books 📚

Join in this fun prompt with my friend the Chocolate Lady!

THE RULES: Using only books you have read during the last year (2020), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title. These answers don’t have to be true, but they just need to make (some kind of) sense!

• Describe yourself: Jew[ish] (Matt Greene)
• How do you feel: Girl Gone Mad (Avery Bishop)
• Describe Where you currently live: Seascapes and Serenity Lost (Jack Collier)
• If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Romantic English Garden (Jane Taylor)
• Your favourite form of transportation: Endless Love (Lauren Trevino)
• Your best friend is: Lying Next to Me (Gregg Olsen) 🐈‍⬛
• You and your friends are: Managing the Depression Puzzle (Ashley L. Peterson)
• What’s the weather like: Snow & Ash (Theresa Shaver)
• You Fear: Deception (Selena Montgomery)
• What is the best advice you have to give: Rules for Aging: Resist Normal Impulses (Roger Rosenblatt)
• Thought for the Day: We Hide What We Hate About Ourselves (Melody Finch)
• How would I like to die: Cappuccinos, Cupcakes and a Corpse (Harper Lin)
• My soul’s present condition: Becoming (Michelle Obama)

Annabel’s prompts:

• My life in lockdown was: The Test (Gregg Bell)
• In high school I was: Black Sheep (Rory Scholl)
• People might be surprised by: My Trashy Romance (Terry Black)
• I will never be: Someone Else’s Secret (Julia Spiro)
• My fantasy job is: The Color Master (Aimee Bender)
• At the end of a long day, I need: Her Final Words (Brianna Labuskes)
• I hate being: The Last of the Moon Girls (Barbara Davis)
• Wish I had: Salt and Silver (River K. Scott)
• My family reunions are: The Dead Game (Susanne Leist)
• At a party you’d find me with: 12 Dukes of Christmas (Erica Ridley)
• I’ve never been to: The Purple Castle (Quinn Slater)
• A happy day includes: A Date for the Fair (Heidi McLaughlin)
• Motto I live by: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck (Mark Manson)
• On my bucket list is: 30 First Dates (Stacey Wiedower)
• In my next life, I want to: Dream of Fire (J.R. Rasmussen)

That was fun! 🤩

~*~

©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Last Share of 2020!

Melanie has given us some brain-crunchy end-of-year questions today. Can’t wait to see 2020 slinking out the door with its tail between its legs. BUH-BYE!

1. Pick three words to describe this past year.   (please keep them PG. Thanks). ~ scary, sad, lonely.

2. What were the best books you read this year?   Or the best movie you saw?  ~ I read several good books this year. When We Believed In Mermaids by Barbara O’Neal was probably my favorite. I also enjoyed the weird movie Vivarium on Amazon Prime.

3. Because there was lots of time for looking inward, what is one big personal lesson you learned this past year? ~ to not be so judgmental. Everyone is imperfect, including me. I thought I would accomplish so much during all this down time, but it turns out I’m not that disciplined and chronic pain depletes my energy. I have given myself the gift of not being so hard on myself. It’s okay if I don’t exercise or write as much as I planned to, or at all. It’s okay just to get through the day sometimes, even if I’ve wasted most of it playing games on my phone.

4. Do you think Covid has strengthened or weakened societal bonds? ~ Neither. People are as they always have been. Everyone says they will cherish their family time more after this is over and blah blah blah, but as soon as we’re all vaxed, people will behave the same as they did before. In fact, they still are, if you consider how horrible people are treating each other online over politics, mask-wearing, and every other thing.

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GRATITUDE SECTION (Optional of course):

What is a New Year’s Wish You’d Like To Share With the World? I wish people would quit being such assholes to each other and reacting with rage when others have different ideas and desires. Why do you care if gays get married or some dude decides he’s a woman or a woman wants to terminate a pregnancy? Leave them alone and live your own life!

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Outstanding!

The lovely Sadje has nominated me for the Outstanding Blogger Award! Thank you so much, Sadje. It’s nice to be appreciated. As per my award policy, I choose to answer the questions only.

1. How did the Covid-19 affect your life?
   I feel luckier than most. My work and income have not been affected (so grateful for this), and I have been able to stay pretty isolated from people and minimize my risk. The worst thing for me is that I’ve hardly seen my daughters and their families, and I miss them so much. I also miss friends/movies/restaurants, but that hasn’t been as big of a deal as not seeing my daughters in person.
   
2. What one special thing would you like to do for the world?
   Wave my magic wand and clean up all the garbage everywhere so we and the animals we share the planet with can have clean, healthful air, water, and land to live on.
   
3. It’s almost the end of the year, what one thing do you want to accomplish before saying goodbye to 2020?
   I have already accomplished my goal for 2020: finish writing my novel Ghosted and publish it on Amazon for Kindle.
   
4. What do you look most forward to in 2021?
   Seeing my family in person, selling the books I’ve written, becoming a popular writer on Medium.
   
5. What is your favorite song of all time?
   It varies with my mood. The ones that hold the top spots are “Hotel California” by the Eagles, “This Guy’s In Love With You” by Burt Bacharach (Oasis has a great version too), “If You Could Read My Mind” by Gordon Lightfoot, “Landslide” by Stevie Nicks, and “Into The Mystic” by Van Morrison (the entire Moondance album really).
   
6. What one book would you recommend to everyone?
   Where I’m Calling From by Ray Carver has something for everyone.
   
7. What one question would you like to ask me?
   Have you bought Ghosted yet? 😀
   
   

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Truthful Tuesday Gifts

PCGuyIV continues his Truthful Tuesday series by asking…

When it comes to giving money, do you view it as a thoughtful gift, or as a sign that the giver didn’t care enough to think about a “real” gift?

Let me start by saying that if anyone wants to give me a gift of money, please go right ahead! It would be even better however if you bought my new book Ghosted and left a review. 😍

That said, I love when my kids get me cute and/or thoughtful prezzies. My daughter and SIL just got me ear warmers for Chanukah. They’re so cozy! (I have an issue of ear pain whenever it’s even the slightest bit cold or windy out.)

I tend not to give money as gifts because I like to shop for fun things (online) that I hope the recipients will enjoy. It’s a chance to get peeps things they might not buy for themselves. And I love shopping for my grands! 💖💙

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Holiday Share

Melanie gives us some seasonal Share Your World questions today…

Do you enjoy skiing or ice skating or if it’s warm where you are, hiking or enjoying outdoor sports?

Basically no to all except normal walking on the beach or in the park. I love to see snow (if I’m dressed warmly), but have never skied. I’ve ice skated indoors, but I won’t be doing that again with all my aches and pains. I’m a terrible skater anyway due to balance issues.

Do you give to charities or homeless that you might encounter, during this time of year, more than you do otherwise?

I don’t have a lot of income to give away, but throughout the year I give a little here and there to various causes. The holidays don’t motivate me to give more. Generally I don’t give to beggars/homeless because they annoy me so much. Occasionally I may give to a woman though, but never a man. GET A JOB.

What is the most enjoyable activity you engage in during December?  Is it a tradition for you and your family?

I’m not big on traditions, but I do enjoy driving around and seeing the Christmas lights.

What changes will C-19 bring to your festive celebrations this year?  

The same as it’s done all year ~ no gathering with friends at restaurants, no movies in theaters, no potlucks, no game nights, on and on. One of my friends always has a super fun NYE party, so that’s out too. 🙁

GRATITUDE SECTION (Optional of course):

Please share a good will wish for the world!

I wish everyone would buy my new book Ghosted ~ it is finally ready after 3 years! 😍

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Four on the Fourth

Rory continues his prompt series with four new questions for us…

Before computers, Smartphones and so on what were you using when writing your stories and creating your literature?

I used a typewriter or a pen and paper. But I didn’t get much done due to my OCD issues. I kept starting over when I made a mistake or had an edit.

What type of games do you enjoying playing online?

With friends (over Zoom), lately I’ve been enjoying Dixit, Codenames, Taboo, and Tribond. I bought Ticket to Ride (app) but lost interest. I also started playing Words with Friends again, plus Word Blitz and Quiz Planet ~ those are all one on one via Facebook. I also play various solitaire games until I get tired of them.

What age were you when you first started reading and what were you reading at that age?

I dunno… maybe 5. My favorite book was Artie the Smartie, about a fish. Actually, most of the books I enjoyed as a kid were about animals. Then at 12 I discovered romance novels…

How do you prevent boredom entering into your life and are you able to list 6 effective ways in which others could introduce to stop it from entering theirs?

Boredom is a nonissue for me now that I’m older and have the internet. There’s always something new to read! There are also a ton of movies I’d like to see. And of course all my writing projects are waiting for me. Idk what others should do to alleviate boredom ~ I’m not good at giving advice.

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Bloggy Dreams

Dr. Tanya continues her blogging about bloggers series with this question:

What are your “dreams” regarding your blog?

First, I hope our WordPress community is able to weather the continuing parade of changes and glitches to hang together in its present form. Why? Because I really enjoy it! Blogging, and in particular this community-based cluster of lit’ry folks, is my favorite form of social media. I find a lot of writing inspiration and support here, and I hope I offer the same. This is my main dream, basically that I don’t wake up. 🤣

Second, I hope to entertain people with my posts. I try not to jabber on about my boring life too much (unless there’s a funny) and instead focus on short fiction and poetry. Posts like this one are okay once in a while, and I do have my weekly peeve, but I try to balance this info type stuff with actual writing. And every so often, I switch things up with photos, music, etc.

Third, I hope to generate interest in my work for sale (cheaply imo) via this blog. I’ve been working on a novel and occasionally discuss the writing/publishing process. It would be great if some of my bloggy buddies bought a novel or book of poetry I wrote and liked my writing. 😍

That’s all.

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

An Award from Sadje 🌸

Sadje kindly nominated me for a Blogger Recognition Award. Thank you! 💗 I’m happy to respond to the first 4 “rules”…

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you and give a link to their site.
2. Do a post to show your award.
3. Give a summary of how your blog started.
4. Give two pieces of advice for any new bloggers.

Numbers 1 & 2, done! ✅ Now, onto the summary. I began my first blog in 2003 and it was a lot of fun, but ultimately I became burnt out by obsessing over stats. Next, I had a purely silly blog, but that got boring. After that, I started a few private blogs, and they worked out okay, but I missed writing fiction and poetry. Then, I began a very general blog, where I posted song lyrics and snippets of writing and just blabbed about whatever. That blog was on blogger at first, and I continued it here on WordPress.

My advice for new bloggers is to write your own words. Sure, some quotes and lyrics are nice to start off a post, but no one wants to read an article copypasta’d from the news. That’s just annoying. We all know how to find the news ourselves!

My second nugget of advice is to spend time interacting with the blogging community. Most of us are not going to visit your blog if you simply blitz us with “likes.” Comment from time to time to show that you’ve read the posts we’ve put effort into. Then you will likely see more visitors, comments, and follow-backs.

Above all, have fun! This is social media, so be sociable. Please don’t try to sell us stuff other than your latest book. 🙂

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Six Degrees 5 [blogcarnelli]

Welcome to Blog Carnelli! This is a fun, no-pressure, no time limit prompt. The idea is to use the six degrees of separation concept (that everyone is only six or fewer people away from Kevin Bacon) to connect books, movies, and songs.

In our last episode, about 75 years ago in September 2020, we ended the list with Tommy James’ “Draggin’ the Line.” Today we will begin with…

1. Borderline Personality Disorder and other poems by my friend Doug X (ebook available on Amazon). This collection is a short, witty, and insightful read. I’m a big fan of Doug’s poetry and comedy. 🤩

2. Next up is Romancing the Stone starring Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. This 1984 movie is one of my favorite romcoms! It’s so meta because Turner plays a romance novel writer who meets Douglas while on a wild adventure in Columbia in search of her sister. He’s very far from the “perfect man” she envisions as a soul mate…

3. We continue with Evelyn, After by Victoria Helen Stone. Wow, what an intense novel! I could not put it down. Even though the plot seems far fetched, Stone creates characters that drive it perfectly. Throughout the story, I kept thinking things could not get weirder, but they did. And wonderfully so. 🙃

4. This leads into “The Morning After” by Maureen McGovern ~ a powerful song that was used in The Poseidon Adventure film. I’ve always enjoyed its strong message of hope. Besides winning Best Original Song in 1972, it went on to be a No. 1 hit single in 1973. 🥳

5. Now we have Maureen Stapleton playing Estelle in The Money Pit, a hilarious 1986 movie. Tom Hanks and Shelley Long star as a married couple whose “bargain” dream house turns into a nightmare. Estelle sold it to them.

6. Naturally this segues to the Talking Heads 1983 song “Burning Down the House.” The lyrics sound ultra serious but make no sense at all, which is fun, if you’re in the mood for that kind of thing… 🤪

If you’re so inclined, why not pick an item from my list above and DO THE CARNELLI on your own blob? 😍

See ya like whenever…

~*~

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.