Kelley's Realm of Writing: October 2016

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.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

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\

: a small silver coin of ancient Rome

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

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Monday, October 24, 2016

Monday Musings: Arizona Sunset Photographs

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

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.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

Monday, October 17, 2016

Monday Musings: Arizona Sunset Photographs

Kelley Heckart

Otherworldly tales steeped in myth, magic & romance.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

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.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart

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.

http://www.kelleyheckart.com

http://kelleysrealm.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/CelticChick

https://www.facebook.com/kelleyheckartauthor

http://www.goodreads.com/kheckart