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Writing means different things to me. I'm a storyteller, a book editor, and a songwriter. For me, it's like breathing.

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

entasis
NOUN

Architecture
A slight convex curve in the shaft of a column, introduced to correct the visual illusion of concavity produced by a straight shaft.
Example sentences
‘Not only does this polysemy make it an enigmatic signifier, but the computer-perfected entasis makes it a good example of propositional beauty - the central planned skyscraper with elegant double curves shooting to the sky.’
‘The entasis of this skyscraper, like that of a Doric column, leads to a new kind of propositional beauty, one worked out digitally.’
Origin
Mid 17th century: modern Latin, from Greek, from enteinein ‘to stretch or strain’.
Pronunciation
entasis/ˈɛntəsɪs/



Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Monday, December 25, 2017

Monday Musings: Yule

Yule was and is still celebrated by pagans around the world as the birth of the Sun God. The Holly King "dies" and the Oak King starts his reign at this time when the days grow longer and are filled with light and warmth.

Both gods are honored during this time by bringing an evergreen indoors and decorating it with light and colorful ornaments that represent the abundance of the coming spring like birds, fruit, and flowers, along with those that symbolize rain like icicles. Gift-giving is also an ancient tradition, although in past times these were mostly handmade gifts from the heart.


I think we lose sight of the true meaning of this time because we sit in our heated homes lit with electricity during these shorter, colder days. We also grab our food from the grocery store shelves instead of having to rely on weather conditions to grow our own. It must have been frightening for people who had a lack of scientific knowledge to grasp on to the idea that spring and summer would return, especially when their food stores and fire fuel started to run low. This truly is a magical time when the shorter days start to lengthen and warmth and sunshine returns.

Merry Christmas and Happy Yule.

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.
“Ms. Heckart draws the reader into the pages and enchants them with her words.”
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Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

entamoeba
(US entameba)
NOUN

An amoeba that typically lives harmlessly in the gut, though one kind can cause amoebic dysentery.
Example sentences
Origin
Modern Latin, from Greek entos ‘within’ + amoeba.
Pronunciation

entamoeba/ˌɛntəˈmiːbə/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Monday, December 18, 2017

Monday Musings: Christmas fun facts

To help put you in the holiday spirit, I've collected these Christmas fun facts.

Pope Julius I, bishop of Rome, proclaimed December 25th the official celebration date or the birth of Jesus Christ in AD 350 even though, due to information in the Bible, this probably wasn't really his date of birth.

An English custom called "wassailing" started the tradition of Christmas caroling. The house-visiting "wassail" is when individuals go door-to-door singing carols and offering a drink from the wassail bowl in exchange for gifts.

The Bible never specifically mentions that three wise men visited baby Jesus or that they visited him when he was an infant. They may have visited an older Jesus.

Imagery from Clement Clarke Moore's Visit from St. Nicholas may have inspired the modern look for Santa Claus. This poem was initially published anonymously because the author felt the poem was beneath his talents.

Tradition of hanging stockings--the legend goes like this: There was a poor family that wouldn't accept charity so Santa left cold coins in the girls' stocking hanging to dry by the fireplace.


Origin of Christmas trees came from pre-Christian traditions. At the solstice, the ancient Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes, which symbolized the triumph of life over death in honor of the sun god Ra. Ancient Romans marked the solstice with a celebration called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. They decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. The mysterious druids, priests of the ancient Celts, decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The Viking believed evergreen boughs were the special plant of the sun god, Balder. Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century.

Merry Christmas and Happy Yule!

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.
“Ms. Heckart draws the reader into the pages and enchants them with her words.”
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Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

ensheath
VERB

[WITH OBJECT]
Biology
Enclose (an organism, tissue, structure, etc.) in a sheath.
‘the axons are ensheathed by Schwann cells’
More example sentences
Pronunciation

ensheath/ɪnˈʃiːθ/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Monday Musings: Aerre Geola (Early Yule)

Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd share this bit of history on the holiday. Early Yule, Aerre Geola, is the month before the Winter Solstice. The Anglo-Saxons considered the lunar months preceding and following the solstice as Yule. The shorter days made it difficult to do any kind of work, so they used this time to gather and celebrate with family and friends.



The solstice was called Mother's Night and celebrated one's female ancestors. Burning rosemary and calling out female ancestors by name is one way to honor them.

The oldest Yuletide tradition is the burning of the Yule log, usually the largest piece of wood. Many people today don't have a fireplace, so a Yule candle can be substituted. The candle tradition started way back in England in the early nineteenth century. Light the candle at sunset on the night of the solstice. It's customary to keep a small piece of the candle for luck in the coming year.

Merry Christmas, Happy Yule!

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.
“Ms. Heckart draws the reader into the pages and enchants them with her words.”
CTR



Wednesday, December 06, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enosis
Pronunciation /ɪˈnəʊsɪs//ˈɛnəsɪs/

NOUN

mass noun
The political union of Cyprus and Greece, as an aim or ideal of certain Greeks and Cypriots.
Example sentences
‘The Turks invaded, in 1974, just as the island was edging towards reunion or enosis with Greece.’
Origin
1920s: from modern Greek henōsis, from hena ‘one’.
Pronunciation

enosis/ɪˈnəʊsɪs//ˈɛnəsɪs/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

ennead
NOUN

rare
A group or set of nine.
Example sentences
‘I think that it goes back even further, to the Ennead, the pantheon of nine gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt.’
‘Ennead refers to a grouping of typically 9 gods.’
Origin
Mid 16th century: from Greek enneas, ennead-, from ennea ‘nine’.
Pronunciation

ennead/ˈɛnɪad/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enlace
VERB

literary
Entwine or entangle.
‘a web of green enlaced the thorn trees’
More example sentences
Origin
Middle English: from Old French enlacier, based on Latin laqueus ‘noose’.
Pronunciation

enlace/ɪnˈleɪs//ɛnˈleɪs/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enkindle
VERB

literary
1Set on fire.
‘the glare from its enkindled roof illumined its innermost recesses’
2Arouse or inspire (an emotion)
‘fresh remembrance of vexation must still enkindle rage’
Pronunciation

enkindle/ɛnˈkɪnd(ə)l//ɪnˈkɪnd(ə)l/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, November 08, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enkephalin
(also encephalin)
NOUN

Biochemistry
Either of two peptide compounds occurring naturally in the brain, related to the endorphins and having similar physiological effects.
Example sentences
Origin
1970s: from Greek enkephalos ‘brain’ (from en- ‘in’ + kephalē ‘head’) + -in.
Pronunciation
enkephalin/ɛnˈkɛf(ə)lɪn/



Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enjambed
ADJECTIVE

(of a line, couplet, or stanza of verse) ending part-way through a sentence or clause which continues in the next.
Example sentences
‘In the last four lines, all of them enjambed, Ryan begins to break against the units of grammatical and syntactical sense that give the first nine lines their air of balanced authority and control.’
‘Another aural effect created by it in highly enjambed poems is a counterpoint of the pauses expected at the end of lines with the pauses that occur mid-line as they frame a completed thought or grammatical unit.’
Origin
Late 19th century: from French enjamber ‘stride over’ + -ed.
Pronunciation

enjambed/ɛnˈdʒam//ɪnˈdʒam/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enisle
VERB

literary
Isolate on or as if on an island.
‘in the sea of life enisled, we mortal millions live alone’
Pronunciation

enisle/ɪnˈʌɪl//ɛnˈʌɪl/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enharmonic
ADJECTIVE

Music
1Relating to or denoting notes which are the same in pitch (in modern tuning) though bearing different names (e.g. F sharp and G flat or B and C flat)
‘double flats and double sharps are replaced by their enharmonic equivalents in harp music’
More example sentences
1.1 Of or having intervals smaller than a semitone (e.g. between notes such as F sharp and G flat, in systems of tuning which distinguish them).
Example sentences
Origin
Early 17th century (designating ancient Greek music based on a tetrachord divided into two quarter-tones and a major third): via late Latin from Greek enarmonikos, from en- ‘in’ + harmonia ‘harmony’.
Pronunciation
enharmonic/ˌɛnhɑːˈmɒnɪk/



Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enfilade
NOUN

1A volley of gunfire directed along a line from end to end.
‘they were mown down by an enfilade of artillery’
2A suite of rooms with doorways in line with each other.
Example sentences
VERB

Direct a volley of gunfire along the length of (a target)
‘a sweeping crossfire enfiladed our riflemen’
Origin
Early 18th century (denoting the position of a military post commanding the length of a line): from French, from enfiler ‘thread on a string, pierce from end to end’, from en- ‘in, on’ + fil ‘thread’.
Pronunciation

enfilade/ˌɛnfɪˈleɪd/


Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

Wednesday, October 04, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

enfeoff
VERB

(under the feudal system) give (someone) freehold property or land in exchange for their pledged service.
‘he enfeoffed trustees with the lands’
‘the enfeoffed knights and overlords’
More example sentences
Origin
Late Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French enfeoffer, from Old French en- ‘in’ + fief ‘fief’. Compare with feoffment.
Pronunciation

enfeoff/ɪnˈfiːf//ɪnˈfɛf//ɛnˈfiːf//ɛnˈfɛf/

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.


Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

endarterectomy
NOUN

mass noun
Surgical removal of part of the inner lining of an artery, together with any obstructive deposits, most often carried out on the carotid artery or on vessels supplying the legs.
‘endarterectomy has proved successful’
count noun ‘many carotid endarterectomies were unnecessary’
More example sentences
Pronunciation

endarterectomy/ˌɛndɑːtəˈrɛktəmi/

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.