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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 28, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

Diadelphous
adjective  di·adel·phous 
:  united by filaments into two fascicles —used of stamens

First Known Use: 1807

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

Monday, December 26, 2016

Monday Musings: The allure of Christmas movies

The Hallmark Channel has been playing Christmas movies since just after Halloween. I used to make fun of Christmas movies. They were always too sappy for me. I’m more of a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation kind of girl—making fun of the whole holiday festivities.
However, lately I’ve been getting sucked into these Christmas movies. Have I finally softened on the holiday spirit of Christmas? Maybe. Just a little.



There is something about Christmas, how this time of year affects people, bringing them closer, and the Christmas movies add a touch of magic that is already in the air. I think I understand now why I keep watching them. Christmas movies make us feel better in a world where every day there is some disaster in the news.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

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








Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

Diachronic
adjective  dia·chron·ic 

:  of, relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of language or culture) as they occur or change over a period of time

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

Monday, December 19, 2016

Monday Musings: The frustrations of formatting a book in Microsoft Word

I've been pulling my hair out trying to remember how to format my new book for publishing. The hardest part is putting the headers and page numbers on the right pages in Microsoft Word. None of the tutorials I found were helpful because my problem seemed to be unique. Most of them showed instructions on how to add headers and page numbers. I know how to add them. That's easy. I don't know how to add them to the right pages, how to skip the front matter and first page of a chapter. LOL

I think this tutorial was the most helpful because it focused on the importance of using section breaks correctly to get your headers and page numbers on the right pages.

This is how I spent the last few days and why I forgot all about a new post for today. Hopefully the above tutorial link might help another writer and keep them from being frustrated.

I guess what this taught me is that self-publishing is not easy. Unless you want to pay someone to do all the formatting, you have to learn how to do it yourself. If I did it more often, I'd remember how I did it before, but I don't, so every time I am ready to publish a new book I have to try and re-learn how to correctly add the headers and page numbers. Maybe I could take better notes for the future. LOL


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



Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

Diabesity
noun  di·a·be·si·ty 
Medical Definition of diabesity
1.  :  obesity associated with diabetes 


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

Monday, December 12, 2016

Wednesday, December 07, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

Diablerie
noun 

1.  1:  black magic :  sorcery
2.  2a :  a representation in words or pictures of black magic or of dealings with the devil
3.  b :  demon lore
4.  3:  mischievous conduct or manner
Origin and Etymology of diablerie
French, from Old French, from dïable devil, from Late Latin diabolus — more at devil


First Known Use: 1751

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

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

Deucalion
noun  Deu·ca·lion \d(y)ü-ˈkāl-yən\
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words
Definition of Deucalion
:  a survivor with his wife Pyrrha of a great flood by which Zeus destroys the rest of the human race
Origin and Etymology of deucalion
Latin, from Greek Deukaliōn


First Known Use: 1565

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

Monday, November 28, 2016

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

desacralize
verb  de·sa·cral·ize \(ˌ)dē-ˈsā-krə-ˌlīz, -ˈsa-\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Definition of desacralize
Desacralized desacralizing
transitive verb
:  to divest of sacred qualities or status

desacralization play \(ˌ)dē-ˌsā-krə-lī-ˈzā-shən, -ˌsa-\ noun

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

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

deracinate
verb  de·rac·i·nate \(ˌ)dē-ˈra-sə-ˌnāt\
Popularity: Top 40% of words
Definition of deracinate
Deracinated deracinating
transitive verb
1
:  uproot
2
:  to remove or separate from a native environment or culture; especially :  to remove the racial or ethnic characteristics or influences from
deracination play \(ˌ)dē-ˌra-sə-ˈnā-shən\ noun

Origin and Etymology of deracinate
Middle French desraciner, from des- de- + racine root, from Late Latin radicina, from Latin radic-, radix — more at root


First Known Use: 1599

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

Wednesday, November 09, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

deodar
noun  de·o·dar \ˈdē-ə-ˌdär\
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words
Definition of deodar

:  an East Indian cedar (Cedrus deodara)

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