Category Archives: #ReaderFriday

Reader Friday-Talk To The Animals

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I know, I know, it’s Friday the Thirteenth.

But this isn’t about that. Or is it? Read on…

 

 

 

As authors, we sometimes interview folks, or we are interviewed ourselves . . . or, we interview our characters. Let’s flip that on its head for a moment.

 

 

If you could, by some magical wave of your Yoda hand, choose one animal or insect to interview, what would it be?

He just looks like he’s got something on his mind, right?

 

 

 

 

 

I can guess which one some of you might choose, like our own Sue Coletta. Crow anyone?

 

 

 

 

 

For me, it’d have to be this fellow.  What interesting tales he might tell!

 

 

 

How about the rest of you? Any of these tickle your fancy? Do tell…

 

Reader Friday-Bring Back The Face!

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(This post was born on my own website, and I thought it would strike a chord with the TKZ folks also.)

What’s the most recognizable part of the human body? The thing that defines who we are to each other? Other than fingerprints and DNA.

Our bodies have similarities. People are designed with two arms ending in hands, two legs ending in feet, twenty digits, a head, neck, and torso. Requisite musculature and frame to make everything work, surrounding and protecting our inner organs.

Aside from those born with health issues and anomalies, the human race looks and moves pretty much alike.

Except for the face. The human face. Infinite variety.

 

We could say the same about all species. But we, more often than not, cannot tell others of a different species apart by looking at the creature’s face. Perhaps individuals in that other species can recognize a face within their species, but evidence points to other indicators. Like the zebra baby who knows its mother by her stripes.

I had a disturbing dream last night. In the dream, I moved through groups of people—people who talked to each other. In an office, a hospital, a grocery store, on the streets and sidewalks. Everywhere I looked, people were talking to each other. Some argued, some spoke words of love, some asked those mundane questions we ask of each other upon meeting. Just everyday conversation.

But something was very wrong, as often happens in dreams. No one faced each other. Each group of two, three, or more faced away from each other, standing back to back as they spoke. I began to cry when I saw two of my friends speaking to each other, but not looking at each other. I thought, how sad. Is this where we’re headed?

 

Let’s bring back the face. Lest we forget what we look like to each other.

Your comments are most welcome!

 

Reader Friday: Three Things to Forget About

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“I tell would-be writers that there are three things to forget about. First, talent. I used to worry that I had no talent, and it compelled me to work harder. Second, inspiration. Habit will serve you a lot better. And third, imagination. Don’t worry, you have it.” — Octavia Butler

What are your thoughts on the mix of talent, work, and imagination? 

Reader Friday-Christmas Movie Night

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What is your all-time holiday movie favorite?

Here’s two of mine:

It’s A Wonderful Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a third one…I’m not sure this is a Christmas movie, but I watched it a few years back while caring for grandchildren for a few days around holiday time.

What a snorter! And it’s a good thing it was so funny, because the youngest grand-dude insisted on watching it with me at least twice a day!   🙂

Zootopia

 

I don’t remember ever laughing so hard at a cartoon, even as a child. (I think this sloth scene was the best…)

 

Over to you, Killzoners! Your favorite holiday movie…

This is my last TKZ post for 2025. See you in 2026…and I hope you have a safe, peaceful, and joyful holiday season, my friends!

 

Reader Friday-The Bard (and other cool words)

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I was trolling on Facebook the other day, and ran across this meme posted by our friend, Chip MacGregor.

I hope the words are clear enough for you to read.

Shakespeare didn’t just entertain us with poems, stories, hilarity, and villains–he added to our everyday language we’re familiar with today. On one website I found, it states the Bard supplied us with over 1700 words still in use today.

One I discovered is “addiction” from Henry V. The meaning as it was used then was “inclination” or “tendency”. Sound familiar?

I was wondering…can you add to this list? Let’s put our wordy heads together and come up with a few more, shall we?

The Bard . . . 4/23/1564-4/23/1616

 

 

He’s waiting . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-When Did The Music Stop?

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This post is taken from one I wrote a couple of years ago on my own website. Thought it fit nicely in today’s world. You can read the original here.

When Did The Music Stop?

I get up every morning at about the same time, drink water and coffee, talk to my husband, pet my dog. Then drink more coffee.

Then what do I do? Usually the biggest mistake of the day.

Open the news media sites.

Then say to myself, “When did the music stop?”

Yeah, you too?

 

 

Those media sites are cluttered with other kinds of people. The ones who yell at each other, redefine life on planet earth in their own image, put God on a paper airplane and throw him to the wind, then sit in his chair.

The planet they live on is not the one I want to live on.

Where have all the real people gone? You know, the ones who go to work, take care of themselves and their families, mow their lawns, fill up their tanks, and shop for groceries? And, dare I say, go to church on Saturdays or Sundays?

Kids on tricycles and bicycles and skates—the kind with keys—zooming up and down the sidewalks, playing kick the can and hide-and-go-seek, with parents and grandparents and neighbors cheer-leading from their front porches is the planet I’m from and want to get back to. Back to where some things were just not confusing . . . ya know what I mean?

Back to when homework was the first thing you did after school . . . after the peanut butter, mayo, and bologna sandwich, of course.

When talking to someone happened without a screen between you.

And people cared. About each other, about animals, and a smile didn’t hide an agenda and didn’t need a mask. A smile was just a smile, the way God intended it to be. A handshake meant something and we weren’t afraid to touch someone else’s fingers.

Back to when we watched the TV–not the other way around.

Where did that world go? It slid away from us a long time ago and maybe hit a few snags along the way, like when Woodward and Bernstein were on it BlueBonnet . . . but now here we are. And we don’t even know where here is.

 Again, when did the music stop? Okay, take a breath, Deb.

I think it’s still there. We just have to listen with better ears.

 

 

After I get some more coffee, I’m going outside to see if I can hear it.

See ya out there!

 

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-Food For Thought

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Saw this in cyberspace:

Somewhere there’s an Aunt Betty roaming the grocery aisles looking for the ingredients to make her famous Thanksgiving dish that no one in the family likes.

Is there an Aunt Betty in your family?     🙂

 

Ahem…

What is your least favorite Thanksgiving food?

I know, I know—we usually talk about our favorites, right? But today is different.

My least favorite Thanksgiving food is—wow! I really hate to admit it, but it’s pumpkin pie. Especially store-bought pumpkin pie. I’ve just never been a fan of pumpkin anything.

I had to keep it a secret for a long time because my mother and both grandmothers were so proud of their pumpkin creations . . . and I didn’t want to hurt their feelings. So I would take some and make sure no one was watching when—well, you get it.

How about you?

Is there a Thanksgiving food you’ve always hated? And maybe had to hide it like I did? It’s okay, go ahead and spill those hated beans. You’re safe in these halls.

 

 

Reader Friday-Digging Deep

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If you had to choose, which amongst the range of human senses is the one most likely to dredge up memories (good or bad) in that RAM called your brain?

 

 

There are five basic senses: sound, smell, touch, sight, and taste. 

Here’s my example of a good memory, evoked by music:

Hearing CCR on the radio transports me right back to my carefree college days in southern California when I didn’t have a worry in the world. When the studying was done, my friends and I would pile into a light blue ‘60s-something VW bug–it’s amazing how many teenagers you can stuff into one of those–and head for the beach for a little body surfing.

The character-building skill of using the five senses to tell a story is an important one to develop, and is much-discussed here at TKZ.

When I wrote No Tomorrows, I had to dig deep into my fear of losing a child. My parents lost two, my younger brother to a traffic accident and my younger sister, five years later, to suicide. There are sights and sounds in my world today that bring those dreadful memories careening back into my consciousness.

In No Tomorrows, Annie faces that same fear when she loses track of her small daughter in the park. As I wrote the scene, I put her shoes on my feet as she raced around the park, frantically calling Nora’s name. It was a difficult section for me to write. But as I relived my memories and looked my own fear of the death of a child square in its ugly face, Annie became flesh and blood, and in a way her fear took the teeth out of my own monsters.

Your turn! Which of the five senses takes you back in time, or causes you to remember a person from your past, or evokes a feeling of comfort?

 

 

How deep will you go into your own RAM to create a character who will resonate with your reader?

As a reader, which sense/emotion connects you to the story/character the quickest?

 

 

 

 

Reader Friday-The Last Novel

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Noooooo!

 

Sorry if I skeered ya…the last novel hasn’t actually been written yet. (I think…)

Whew!

 

 

Here’s what today is about.

Please share with us the last novel (or novella) you read. Include the title, author, and publish date, and maybe your critique. Would you recommend it to readers?

 

Here’s mine:  Finished “Out of the Far North” by Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn—the 3rd of 4 in a series, published in 2023. Just started the 4th, “The Sick Man’s Rage”, and I’m hoping there’s going to be a 5th! Middle East, spies, heroes, cool weapons, and a teensy bit of romance. Right up my reader’s alley.

Okay, your turn!