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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.
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

dweeb
noun \ˈdwēb\
Popularity: Bottom 50% of words

Definition of dweeb
slang
:  an unattractive, insignificant, or inept person
dweebishplay \ˈdwē-bish\ adjective, slang
dweebyplay \-bē\ adjective, slang
See dweeb defined for English-language learners
Origin and Etymology of dweeb
origin unknown


First Known Use: 1964

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

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

duxelles
noun  dux·elles \ˌdük-ˈsel, (ˌ)dü-ˈsel\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words

Definition of duxelles
:  a garnish or stuffing made especially of finely chopped sautéed mushrooms
Origin and Etymology of duxelles
Louis Chalon du Blé, Marquis d'Uxelles †1658 French nobleman

First Known Use: 1877

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


Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

duumvir
noun  du·um·vir \du̇-ˈəm-vər also dyu̇-\
Popularity: Bottom 20% of words

Definition of duumvir
1
:  one of two Roman officers or magistrates constituting a board or court
2
:  one of two people jointly holding power
duumvirateplay \-və-rət\ noun
Origin and Etymology of duumvir
Latin, from duum (genitive of duo two) + vir man


First Known Use: 1600

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

Wednesday, March 01, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

dutasteride
noun  du·tas·te·ride \dü-ˈtas-tə-ˌrīd\

Medical Definition of dutasteride

:  a synthetic drug C27H30F6N2O2 that inhibits 5-alpha-reductase and is used to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia Dutasteride is marketed under the trademark Avodart.


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

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

duff
noun \ˈdəf\
Popularity: Bottom 40% of words

Definition of duff
1
:  a boiled or steamed pudding often containing dried fruit
2
:  the partly decayed organic matter on the forest floor
3
:  fine coal :  slack
Origin and Etymology of duff
English dialect, alteration of dough

First Known Use: 1816

2 duff
noun
Definition of duff
:  buttocks
Origin and Etymology of duff
origin unknown

First Known Use: circa 1837

3 duff
adjective
Definition of duff
British
:  inferior, worthless
Origin and Etymology of duff
duff, noun, something worthless, from 1duff


First Known Use: circa 1889


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

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

doraphobia
noun  do·ra·pho·bia \ˌdōr-ə-ˈfō-bē-ə, ˌdȯr-\
  
Medical Definition of doraphobia

:  a dread of touching the skin or fur of an animal

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

Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

doodad
noun
  
1
a small article the actual name of which one either does not know or cannot remember
2
a small object displayed for its attractiveness or interest
3
something that decorates or beautifies


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


Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

dodder
verb

to move forward while swaying from side to side


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


Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

Diatessaron
noun  di·a·tes·sa·ron 
a harmony of the four Gospels edited and arranged into a single connected narrative
Greek (Euangeliondia tessarōn, literally, Gospel out of four, from dia through, out of + tessarōn, genitive of tessares four — more at dia-four


First Known Use: 1803

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

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

Diapason
noun  di·a·pa·son
  1. a :  a burst of sound <diapasons of laughter>
b :  the principal foundation stop in the organ extending through the complete range of the instrumentc (1) :  the entire compass of musical tones (2) :  rangescope diapason
 of her responses — Mindy Aloff>
  1. a :  tuning fork
   b :  a standard of pitch

Middle English, from Latin, from Greek (hē) dia pasōn (chordōn symphōnia), literally, the concord through all the notes, from dia through + pasōn, genitive feminine plural of pas all — more at dia-pan-


First Known Use: circa 1501

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

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

Diakinesis
noun  dia·ki·ne·sis
:  the final stage of the meiotic prophase marked by contraction of the bivalents
New Latin


First Known Use: circa 1902

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

Wednesday, January 04, 2017

Weird Word Wednesday

Diaeresis
noun  di·aer·e·sis
Definition of diaeresis
plural 
diaereses
\-ˌsēz\
  1. 1:  a mark ¨ placed over a vowel to indicate that the vowel is pronounced in a separate syllable (as in naïve or Brontë) — compare umlaut
  2. 2:  the break in a verse caused by the coincidence of the end of a foot with the end of a word
Late Latin diaeresis, from Greek diairesis,literally, division, from diairein to divide, from dia- + hairein to take

First Known Use: circa 1611

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

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.

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.

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.

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.