Life in progress


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The Magician’s Sire is here, and it’s free!

Tortured by the curse on his family and the looming death of his father, Tarmien Dagmar must juggle the family business and his father’s insistence that he find a bride.

Then he meets Stella, a hotel housekeeper in his employ who fully intends to hate him …

The Magician’s Sire is the prequel to my contemporary Gothic paranormal romance series. It’s a complete story that contains no spoilers for Book One of the series, The Magician’s Curse. And if you’ve already read the other books in the series, The Magician’s Sire will give you a better understanding of how the story of the Dagmar family came about.

You can have my new book in your hands within the next few minutes. Just click this link and let me know where to send it!

 

When you sign up, you’ll also get the prequel to my Once a Week at Woody’s romantic comedy series, Swallowed.

When a single date becomes a family affair…

Hannah is quite happy staying home, taking photos of her meals to post online when she’s not at the office. But she knows she needs more out of life, so she agrees to go out with Shaun, the gay IT guy from work, to a family event as his “date.” It wasn’t supposed to change everything.

Enter Cal, Shaun’s brother.

Cal is in the midst of opening his own pub. When the family becomes involved, things get complicated. Especially since he has his eye on the girl they believe belongs to his brother.

Hannah and Cal form a secret relationship that goes beyond her doing his bookkeeping. But can they keep it on the down low long enough to make O’Flanagan’s Pub a reality?

This prequel to Saddled tells the story of how Cal and Hannah came to open Woody O’Flanagan’s Pub, future Saturday-night male strip club in the series “Once a Week at Woody’s.” If you love laugh-out-loud low-angst romantic comedy, you’ll love this book!

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Prompt Me Part 2 of 2 – #JusJoJan 2026

Second half of the month – January 18-30, 2026

I’m looking for prompt words for Just Jot it January! This is your chance to inspire other people and have your blog linked to the Daily Prompt post.

I only need 10 prompt words today, so if you miss getting your word in on this post, you’ll have to wait for another chance next year. 

Read the rules carefully! I need 10 single words to use in the Just Jot It January challenge, for January 18th through to the 30th.

This is how you can be included:

  • I’m looking for a single word, plus a link to your blog, plus the name you wish me to use when I post your prompt (your name or the name you blog by). So for example, mine would be “antidisestablishmentarianism lindaghill.com Linda”
  • If you try to slip in two prompts, even in two different comments—I’ll only accept the first. If I get the same word twice, I’ll only accept the first person who got to it. If you’re the second, I’ll let you know so you can try again. And please, remember this is a relatively G-rated blog, so nothing too risque.
  • The first 10 comments on this post that include a single word (plus link and name) will be the prompts for the second half of January.
  • These prompts will go up on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 2am EST. I’ll take care of One-Liner Wednesday and Stream of Consciousness Saturday myself.
  • I’ll link back to the blog of whomever gives me a prompt on the day I use it.
  • Make sure you get your comment in early. You don’t want to miss out!
  • Please don’t bother entering a prompt if your blog is inactive or if it exists only to sell things. If you haven’t posted in over a month and you’re only looking for clicks, your prompt word will be rejected. If, on the other hand, you’re planning to use JusJoJan to inspire you to get back into the swing of things, let me know immediately in a second comment — NOT the one you give your prompt word in. If I can’t find a reasonable number of posts written in the last month that aren’t trying to sell a product, your prompt word will be rejected.
  • Be positive!! I’ve found over the years that prompt words that are negative in nature don’t get as much participation as more positive words. I don’t want to limit you, but please keep in mind that if your word is on the controversial, sadder, or angrier side, your prompt may not get as many responses.
  • If you provide a prompt, please try your best to write a post on the day your prompt appears. Also, I encourage you to join in as much as possible throughout the month.
  • Only one prompt per person for the month. 

Please see the “Rules” post for a complete list of the prompt words. I’ll populate it as the words come in. Here’s the link in case you missed it.

Okay. Are you ready? Aaaaand … prompt! One word, one link, one name!


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JusJoJan 16/26 – Philosophy

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “philosophy,” is brought to us by Sadje. Check out her blog here!

I’ve strayed away from it, but at one time, I closely followed the teachings of the Tao Te Ching.

The philosophy of Taoism makes a lot of sense to me.

Chapter 11

Thirty spokes share one central hub; it is the empty space within that makes the carriage useful.
Clay is molded to form a vessel; it is the empty space within that makes the vessel useful.

Doors and windows are cut out to make a room; it is the empty space within that makes the room useful.

Therefore, while substance (Being) offers the benefit, emptiness (Non-being) offers the utility.

As a way to apply this to life, think about living in the present; emptying the mind of thoughts of the past and worries of the future allows a person to fully concentrate on what they’re doing, making their actions more controlled and therefore more useful to the moment.

Something worth thinking about.

This philosophical post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Sadje for today’s word of the day!


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The Friday Reminder for #SoCS & #JusJoJan 2026 Daily Prompt for Jan. 17th

It’s Friday already! And I’m here with your combination Daily 2026 Just Jot it January prompt and Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt. This one is for SATURDAY, JANUARY 17th. It’s been a busy week for me of appointments and editing and shoveling snow. I still want to hibernate!

For those of you joining SoCS for the first time, it’s a little different than the other prompts in that it’s not always a whole or single word. If you’re joining in from JusJoJan and don’t want to write stream of consciousness style, no worries. It’s up to you. If you do want to try it, please check out the rules below. It’s fun! Here’s your Saturday prompt:

Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 17th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “favorite saying.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

After you’ve written your Saturday post tomorrow, please link it here at this week’s prompt page and check to make sure it’s here in the comments so others can find it and see your awesome post. Anyone can join in!

To make your post more visible, use our SoCS badge! Just paste it in your Saturday post so people browsing the reader will immediately know your post is stream of consciousness and/or pin it as a widget to your site to show you’re a participant. Wear it with pride!!

You can also use the Just Jot it January badge! To find the rules for Just Jot it January, click here.

Here are the rules for SoCS:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing, (typos can be fixed) and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. There will be a prompt every week. I will post the prompt here on my blog on Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The’,” or simply a single word to get your started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours.  Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read everyone’s! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later, or go to the previous week, by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find right below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 16th, 2026

It’s January 16th, and time for the 16th daily prompt for Just Jot it January 2026. Our prompt today is brought to us by the spectacular Sadje. Thank you, Sadje! Please be sure to visit Sadje’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 16th, 2026 is “philosophy.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what we have so far on the prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to copy the URL for THIS POST and paste it in your own so your link shows up in the comments here. If you’re not using WordPress, be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Friday, January 16th, 2026.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan 13/26 – Symbiotic

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “symbiotic,” is brought to us by Sally. Check out her blog here!

After the past couple of days, I’m too tired to fully comprehend the meaning of “symbiotic.”

Can I have a symbiotic relationship with my bed?

Please?

This short jot is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Sally for today’s word of the day!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 15th, 2026

Hi! Welcome back to the daily prompt for Just Jot it January 2026. Our 15th prompt is brought to us by the sensational Sally. Thank you, Sally! Please be sure to visit Sally’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 15th, 2026 is “symbiotic.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what we have so far on the prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to copy the URL for THIS POST and paste it in your own so your link shows up in the comments here. If you’re not using WordPress, be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Thursday, January 15th, 2026.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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One-Liner Wednesday & #JusJoJan26 the 14th – Decisions, decisions

I could write an entire book about “decision fatigue,” but I can’t decide if that’s the book I want to write next.

If you would like to participate in this prompt, feel free to use the “One-Liner Wednesday” title in your post, and if you do, you can ping back here to help your blog get more exposure.

Here are the simple JusJoJan Rules:

1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

2. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). The prompt will be the word in quotation marks in the title of my 2am post. You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

2 a) The rules that I’ve made for myself (but don’t always follow) for “One-Liner Wednesday” are:

1. Make it one sentence.

2. Try to make it either funny or inspirational.

3. Use our unique tag #1linerWeds.

4. Add our lovely badge to your post for extra exposure!

5. Have fun!

Badge by Laura @ riddlefromthemiddle.com

3. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

4. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.

5. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

6. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

7. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

8. Have fun!


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JusJoJan 13/26 – Rubbish

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “rubbish,” is brought to us by Di. Check out her blog here!

I have to pay to put out my garbage in this town. I’ve never had to do that before.

As a result, I accumulate things more than I might if I could just stick five bags of garbage at the curb like I used to be able to.

I have stuff that came with me when I moved seventeen years ago that I’ve never bothered taking out of boxes. Do I need that stuff? No. Can I afford to get rid of it? No again.

So much rubbish. 🙄

It’s not hoarding if you want to get rid of it, right?

This frustrated post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Di for the prompt!


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Daily Prompt – JusJoJan the 13th, 2026

Today is the 13th! And that means I’m here with our 13th daily prompt for Just Jot it January 2026. Today’s prompt is brought to us by darling Di. Thank you, Di! Please be sure to visit Di’s blog to read her posts and say hello. And follow her while you’re there if you’re not already.

Your prompt for JusJoJan January 13th, 2026 is “rubbish.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you’d like to see what we have so far on the prompt list and what’s to come, you can find the list HERE.

Here are the rules:

1. Please be sure to copy the URL for THIS POST and paste it in your own so your link shows up in the comments here. If you’re not using WordPress, be sure to put your link in the comments on THIS POST for Tuesday, January 13th, 2026.

2. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

3. I’ll post prompts at 2am my time (GMT -5). You don’t have to follow the prompt every day, but that will be where you leave your link for others to see. You’ll get a prompt for every day except Wednesday, when the prompt is simply my One-Liner Wednesday and on Saturday, when your prompt will be the Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS, which will appear at about 9:30am Friday. Each prompt post will include the rules.

4. Please ping back or link to the daily prompt. To ping back, just copy the URL from the daily prompt post, and paste it anywhere in your post. Check to make sure your link shows up where you want it to, and go back occasionally to see other bloggers’ entries – the more you visit others, the more they’ll visit you! Note: A) The newest pingbacks will be at the top of the comments section. B) Ping backs only work if you’re blogging on WordPress. Everyone else must paste a link manually.

5. Tag your post JusJoJan26 and/or #JusJoJan26.

6. Write anything! Any length will do! It can even be a photo or a drawing – you’re going to title it, right? There’s your jot!

7. The prompts will appear every day that’s neither a Wednesday nor a Saturday–Saturday’s JusJoJan prompt will be Stream of Consciousness Saturday. You’ll find the list of prompts below as they come in, which means I’ll be updating this post. Remember, you don’t have to use the prompts. Please write whatever inspires you. NOTE: If your post is NSFW, do not ping back. Please leave your link in the comments with a warning.

8. If you’d like to, use the JusJoJan badge so that others can find your post more easily.

9. Have fun!


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JusJoJan 12/26 – Chewy

This post is part of Just Jot it January, and the prompt word, “chewy,” is brought to us by Liz. Check out her blog here!

I love salmon. I mean I really love salmon. It’s probably my favorite food.

But I hate when I cook it too long and it gets a bit chewy. It needs to be cooked just right.

Unless it’s not cooked at all. Because there’s nothing like salmon sashimi—a slice of salmon and nothing else.

It melts in your mouth.

I can’t wait for my birthday. My mouth is watering already.

This yummy post is part of Just Jot it January! Want to join in? Just click here to get to the prompt and drop your link in the comments. It’s fun!

Thanks again to Liz for the prompt!