Ghost Stories #InsecureWritersSupportGroup #OctPoWriMo

  

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

October 2 question - Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

I shall combine this question with the following prompt and create a Haibun for your reading displeasure. Imma call this one Ghost Stories.

https://experiencewriting.com/2024/09/30/writober-early-birds/

My early memories include my father reading A Christmas Carol. Scrooge's ghosts have stuck with me throughout my life.

I was a precocious child and a bit of a Wednesday Addams. By the time I was six years old, I was reading Edgar Allan Poe and my father’s collection of EC and Warren comics. I loved the horror hosts who, despite their fearsome appearances (and Vampirella’s scanty attire), were actually quite wholesome.

In my first grade classroom, there was a book about a haunted house with an evil spirit in a jar. I’ve never found another copy of this treasure.

being forgotten

never being recognized

forgetting oneself

And now, it's picture time! The prompt is universal fear.

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

What if Death shows up looking like Jeeves rather than a robe-wearing skeleton with a scythe? Would that make him less scary? 

"Good evening, Ma'am. Would you care to follow me to meet your maker for a spot of tea?"

According to this picture, Death is a jellyfish-headed mothafucker with lobster claws for hands because I can't draw people. Or much of anything else, really.

As an added bonus, here's a text I received Monday morning.

Surely, there's no reason to suspect that it's phishing. Doesn't USPS always wish their customers a day filled with positivity and joy?

In other news, I've decided not to continue my attempts at building a subscription option on Ream. I've learned that Michael Evans, a genuinely good guy, was forced off the platform he founded. Instead, I intend to focus my subscription-building efforts on my Substack.  

I wish the person playing the loud music with the repetitive rhythm that's giving me a headache would fall into a sinkhole along with their device of annoyance. I'm not the least bit sorry for wishing this. 

~Ornery Owl Has Spoken~

Image by Rashid Asgher from Pixabay

Ornery Owl is working on making peace with her inner owlet.

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

My creations are © 2024. This work is openly licensed via CC BY 4.0.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Enjoy some synthwave.

https://odysee.com/@dnbstartrek:b/cyberpunk-age-exploring-the-retro-future:8?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

https://odysee.com/@alternativemixtapes:9/cyberpunk-triad-dark-electro%2C-dark:3?r=GTwnGJ4fFBQfzuJgpHVpfKBKaC9b8B16

Dark electro, dark synth, dark techno

To follow this month's poetic adventures, visit my poetry blog.

http://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com

Consider subscribing to my Substack. Most posts are free.

https://naughtynetherworldpress.substack.com/

Visit my Start page.

https://naughtynetherworldpress.start.page

Narcissus

 

Image copyright Craig Letourneau on Pixabay

https://pixabay.com/photos/daffodils-narcissus-nature-flower-455359/

narcissus heedless

learn nothing from growing pains

knowing only self

~cie~

know the notes

If all you wanted was that snip of a Senryu, you're done here.

However, I have a horrible, awful idea, and I am about to enact it.

I am combining today's poetry post with the monthly IWSG post.

Ready or not, here it is.

OPTIONAL QUESTION: When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

You asked, I deliver.

I have never before thought of the term "working writer," and, after today, I will probably not think of it again.

I am a writer who works on my writing and hopes that one day people will like it enough to pay for it.

I have no idea what it's supposed to look like. 

If people call me a hobbyist, they will wind up decomposing in my locker.

You're welcome to call me a hack. I can't force anyone to have good taste. But a hobbyist I'm not, at least when it comes to things of a literary nature.

I'm a hobbyist with my loom knitting. I'm sporadic and not very good at it.

I'm a hobbyist baker. Results may vary. I do get upset when they don't come out nice. However, I am not a professional.

I work on literary things from sunup to sundown.

I guess that makes me a working writer, even if I am a horrible hack.

Yeah--that's about it.

I worked to write this poetry, and it will be published by me in a volume, probably sometime before the end of the year so you can buy it for yourself as a Xmahanukwanzyule present.

If you want more poetry of questionable literary value, Imma hook you up right here.

https://bit.ly/getmorepoetry

This post was conceived and birthed using these prompts:

https://chevrefeuillescarpediem.blogspot.com/2020/10/carpe-diem-celebrates-its-8th_6.html

http://www.octpowrimo.com/2020/10/octpowrimo-day-7-growing-pains.html

https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

By the way, I don't think that narcissus, AKA daffodils, are arrogant, stuck-up flowers. My poem uses an alternate interpretation of the prompt.

This poem was posted to these places:

http://www.naughtynetherworldpress.com

http://poetryofthenetherworld.blogspot.com

https://lbry.tv/@poetryofthenetherworld:9

LBRY is a decentralized content marketplace. I price the PDF versions of my work at approximately half of the Kindle price because I receive the entire amount rather than a royalty percentage. 

You can get a free LBRY account through this link. You can earn LBC for viewing content on LBRY as well as from selling your content.

https://lbry.tv/$/invite/@naughtynetherworldpress:d

Copyright Information

The Icky, Sticky, Nit-Picky Legalese If You Please (Or Don't Please)

Copyright 2020 by Naughty Netherworld Press/Poetry of the Netherworld

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Quoting portions of the post for educational or review purposes is acceptable if proper credit is given.

Dedication

This post is dedicated to Eddie Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) and not because I think he was a narcissist. I'm rather sure he wasn't. Eddie was a hard-working and innovative musician, and although I even play the kazoo badly, he was one of my life's influences because of his creativity and determination. So, the fact that you are reading this today can partly be blamed on Eddie.

Insecure Writers Support Group Book Club Question: During Which Season Are You Most Inspired to Read and Write?

Image by Henning Sørby from Pixabay

The Insecure Writers Support Group Book Club posted this question:

During which season of the year are you most inspired to read and write?

My response:

Autumn and winter. I have horrific spring depression, and I tend to have a lot of extracurricular activities which take me away from my normal schedule in the summer. 

I'm always a bit amused by the responses I get when I reveal that I have spring depression and gloomy winter days don't bother me much.

"But how can you be deepressed in the spring when everything is so preeety, and young people's fancies turn to Lurve????"

The part of my brain responsible for the physical aspect of my bipolar disorder doesn't see pretty. I theorize that it becomes aware of changes in light which it doesn't like and which make me feel like a lonely ghost haunting a mausoleum. The pretty flowers make this part of my brain think of flowers on a grave. I often dream of cemeteries at this time of year.

As for young folks' fancies turning to Twoo Wuv, have you read my poetry? Does it seem like that shit has worked out for me, like, at all, other than to be a complete and utter thermonuclear holocaust? It's kind of like saying "but why don't you like having a railroad spike driven into your chest? What's wrong with you?" 

Twoo Wuv doesn't work out for everyone. End of.

Insecure Writers' Support Group May 2019: Cie Plans Ahead

Image copyright Conger Design on Pixabay

As the sort of person who tends to fly by the seat of my pants, I like to instill some discipline into my program by participating in writing prompts. However, as I discovered this year when participating in Camp NaNoWriMo plus the NaPoWriMo and Poems in April prompts at the same time on my poetry blog, and the A to Z challenge over at Naughty Netherworld Press, too many prompts can feel more like a cluster flock than an inspiration.

Image copyright The Atlantic

This nightmare vision is a massive flock of starlings. I don't have a bird phobia, but I find this a bit unsettling. I don't like swarms of anything, and that includes people.

Camp NaNoWriMo is much more flexible than NaNoWriMo. I was using it as a tool to inspire me to pull together my first poetry book. I'm not sure it succeeded. 

NaPoWriMo's prompts are optional. One can participate in NaPoWriMo without ever using one of their prompts.

Poems in April's prompts are not flexible.

The A to Z blogging challenge doesn't have any hard and fast rules other than, you know, having your posts go in alphabetical order. The subject you choose is up to you. 

I used the A to Z challenge to introduce the bold and bawdy characters from Naughty Netherworld Press' Carnal Invasion series to the world. This was enjoyable but labor-intensive. I don't think it would be a bad thing to plan next year's A to Z Challenge this year and have at least a rough draft version of the posts ready to go for next year.

For the poetry project, I believe that next year I am going to go with Carpe Diem's Spring Kigo. This will work fine with NaPoWriMo and Camp NaNoWriMo, plus there is a feeling of continuity, and I can hone my Haiku. There are people who loathe Haiku. I am not among them.

If either the NaPoWriMo or Poems in April prompts strike my fancy, I can hammer out a bonus poem. My -666 fans will be thrilled!

I had planned to answer the Insecure Writers' Support Group question in this month's post, but I'm not going to--again. Maybe next time.

~Cie~