About Me

My photo
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.

Monday, October 31, 2016

Monday Musings: Halloween

Halloween used to be about the ancient Celts and the thinning of the barriers between the realm of the dead and the land of the living. People wore masks to hide their identities from wicked spirits intending them harm. In modern times wearing a costume is more about the chance to be something or someone you normally wouldn't be. If you want to be sexy, it's okay to do that on Halloween. No repercussions. Or you can be a something scary or funny. Today Halloween is all about fun.

The true meaning of All Hallow's Eve/Samhain may be lost in the past, but there's nothing wrong with celebrating it the way we do now. I love going to Halloween parties and seeing the latest costumes. There's something magical when you meet someone for the first time in costume. All the barriers are down. Just like the ones between the two worlds. I've had some of those magical encounters on Halloween.

Anything is possible on a night when monsters, humans, and all manners of creatures mingle.


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

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

denarius
noun  de·nar·i·us \di-ˈner-ē-əs\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Definition of denarius
plural denarii play \-ē-ˌī, -ē-ˌē\
1
:  a small silver coin of ancient Rome
2

:  a gold coin of the Roman Empire equivalent to 25 denarii

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

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

demagogue
noun  dem·a·gogue \ˈde-mə-ˌgäg\
Popularity: Top 1% of lookups
Simple Definition of demagogue
: a political leader who tries to get support by making false claims and promises and using arguments based on emotion rather than reason


When the ancient Greeks used dēmagōgos (from dēmos, meaning "people," and agein, "to lead") they meant someone good-a leader who used outstanding oratorical skills to further the interests of the common people. Mid-17th-century writers such as Thomas Hobbes and John Dryden-and, later, Jonathan Swift-employed the English word that way. But, at the same time, the word took a negative turn, coming to suggest one who uses powers of persuasion to sway and mislead.

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

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

deke
verb \ˈdēk\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Definition of deke
Deked dekeing
transitive verb
:  to fake (an opponent) out of position (as in ice hockey)
intransitive verb
:  to deke an opponent
deke noun


Deke originated as a shortened form of "decoy." Ernest Hemingway used "deke" as a noun referring to hunting decoys in his 1950 novel Across the River and into the Trees ("I offered to put the dekes out with him"). About a decade later, "deke" began appearing in ice-hockey contexts in Canadian print sources as both a verb and a noun ("the act of faking an opponent out of position").

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

Monday, October 10, 2016

Monday Musings: Is it the thought of dying that really pushes us to live?


This time of year always has me reflecting on life. Maybe it’s the dark half of the year and the shorter days that send my thoughts into deeper places than usual. I’ve been thinking about what it means to be human and mortal. Something that we will probably never truly understand. Here are some things to ponder:

It’s the thought of our fragile mortality that drives us to hurry and get something accomplished before it’s too late. If we were immortal and had all the time in the world, then we wouldn’t be motivated to do anything. What’s the hurry to do something great if you have forever to do it?

The greatest invention wouldn’t have been created by immortal men.

We think death is a punishment for being human, but maybe it’s what makes us truly human.

It tests us.

It dares us…

To feel what we normally wouldn’t. Like passion, inspiration, and motivation. If we didn’t have that feeling of getting old and dying, would we have the urgency to fall in love?

Without death looming, we would be nothing but unfeeling shells. And that’s no way to live. Is it?

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


Wednesday, October 05, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

dejecta
noun plural  de·jec·ta \di-ˈjek-tə, dē-\
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words
Definition of dejecta
:  feces, excrement
Origin and Etymology of dejecta
New Latin, from Latin, neuter plural of dejectus


First Known Use: circa 1829

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

deictic
adjective  deic·tic \ˈdīk-tik also ˈdāk-\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Definition of deictic
:  showing or pointing out directly
Origin and Etymology of deictic
Greek deiktikos able to show, from deiktos, verbal of deiknynai to show — more at diction


First Known Use: 1876

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

dehisce
verb  de·hisce \di-ˈhis\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Definition of dehisce
Dehisced dehiscing
intransitive verb
:  to split along a natural line; also :  to discharge contents by so splitting
Origin and Etymology of dehisce
Latin dehiscere to split open, from de- + hiscere to gape; akin to Latin hiare to yawn — more at yawn


First Known Use: 1657

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Weird Word Wednesday

degauss
verb  de·gauss \(ˌ)dē-ˈgau̇s\
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words
Definition of degauss
transitive verb
:  to remove or neutralize the magnetic field of
degausser noun
Origin and Etymology of degauss
de- + gauss, after Karl F. Gauss


First Known Use: circa 1940

Kelley Heckart
Otherworldly tales steeped in myth & magic.

Monday, September 12, 2016