Category: Uncategorized

The Tenth Annual Contest Of Whatever!

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized11 Comments

This is a fun contest held by a fellow blogger…I did it last year, and it was great! Hope you all join in!

Evil Squirrel's Nest

Ten years, and creativity tastes just as groovy as ever!

It’s February and you know what that means……

***RECORD SCRATCHING SOUND***

Oh, wait…. it’s March already.

So it’s a month late, but it’s time for that Evil Squirrel’s Nest tradition known simply as The Contest Of Whatever!  Each and every year beginning in 2014, The Nest has challenged its readers and anyone else who wants to join in to wow us with their wonderful creativity!  Check out the official page for The CoW to see all of the fun themes and winners from every one of the past nine contests!

Enjoy a slice of Moofoo® while you peruse the results…

The Contest rules are so simple that even a child who was dropped on its head can do it!  All you need to do is create an official entry for the Contest of Whatever.  You may use any artistic medium…

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I heart pigs…

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized26 Comments

Happy National Pig Day!

https://nationaltoday.com/national-pig-day/

PigDay
Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Because I love pigs (okay, okay, I love ALL animals), I did some nonhuman animal-themed horoscopes over at Horror Tree! (Also, check out my Spooky Six interviews both past, present, and future–for WIHM! I’ve also added a Fantastical Five set for sci-fi and fantasy, as well as a “Four Red Herrings” for mystery/thriller genres. If you, or any other authors, want to join in, feel free to use the blog contact form to get in touch!)

https://horrortree.com/march-2023-horoscopes-the-fur-has-started-to-fly/

Help! The Dates Aren’t Adding Up!

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized15 Comments

Jeez, how many days did I take off?

I thought it was only about two weeks, but I went through my WordPress Reader, and I had unread posts going back for longer than that.

So my only conclusion is that time moves at a different pace in my world!

How are things in your parallel dimension(s)?

Anyway, I had a bunch of Spooky Six interviews post up over at Horror Tree, including some that took place around the UK Ghost Story Festival. So, yeah, I’d love it if you head over there and check them out (just search Willow Croft or Spooky Six on the Horror Tree website)–you might just see some names you recognize! https://horrortree.com/

I’ll spare you all the boring boring babble about my job hunting and apartment hunting and such, and jump to some more exciting news.

I’ve expanded my author interviews over at Horror Tree to include sets of questions for not only horror authors, but science fiction, fantasy, paranormal/supernatural romance, and even mystery/historical fiction genres.

Exciting, right?

Anyway, I’m going to catch up on some blog reading, and I’ll be back on my regular schedule hopefully tomorrow! Unless, of course, I get a job offer out of state!

Wish me luck!

Give the Groundhog Lots of Love Today!

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized26 Comments

Groundhog

Happy Groundhog Day! Doesn’t this groundhog look adorable? Or at least in need of a hug*!

Speaking of affection, you don’t have to wait another six months for the “romantic” holiday known as Valentine’s Day (Or Galentine’s Day)!

So, yes, I did create some lovey-dovey themed horoscopes, and did a tarot card reading…Horror Tree style, of course!

Hope you enjoy–with one click, and a happily-ever-after can be yours…or for your literary characters!

february-horoscope-fae

february-2023-tarot-cards-for-writers

How will you be celebrating Groundhog Day or Valentine’s Day in your realm?

*Giving random wildlife hugs is not a good idea, in real life. Just in case.

Pining over Squirrels on National Squirrel Appreciation Day…

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized42 Comments

Every time I prepare to move to a new place, I get sad that I have to leave all my bird and squirrel friends behind. I worry about how they’re faring without the fully stocked bird feeders I had out for them.

I miss my wildlife friends.

Like this one who came to my apartment porch a few times a day.

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Although, admittedly, Moon Pie was less than thrilled at the glass separating her from her potential lunch.

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I’d hoped I’d moved to a place where I could see my wildlife friends return year after year, or stay all year ’round. But even if I were staying, I would lose some of my friends due to the fact that it’s legal here to shoot doves and other like birds. And that’s even more heartbreaking.

I mean, who even still kills birds like that? And why?*

Kansans, apparently. And all the out-of-state hunters they let run amok across the Kansas landscape.

So, given that it’s also National Hugging Day, send out imaginary hugs to all your wildlife friends.

And, please, if you don’t want to hug, them, fine. (It’s not a good idea to actually hug wildlife. Remember, it’s WILD life.)

Just don’t shoot them.

https://nationaldaycalendar.com/january-21-2023-national-hugging-day-squirrel-appreciation-day-national-hyaluronic-acid-day-national-use-your-gift-card-day-national-granola-bar-day-national-fruitcake-toss-day/

*Rhetorical questions, of course.

Nothing is More Gothic than a Hot Summer’s Day . . .

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized16 Comments

The rise and fall of cicada songs, the mist rising from murky brown swamps, torrents of rain so thick you can’t see more than a foot in front of you.

And curling up with an equally atmospheric book borrowed from my grandmother’s bookshelf; V.C. Andrews, or Victoria Holt.

Even when the sun came out, those summer days still felt very gothic and brooding. There was something about the noisy silence of the swamps and the quiet laziness spent slowly swinging in a hammock that felt both carefree and sinister.

When a cloud drifted across the too-bright sun and everything was thrown into a twilight shadow, I would get this strange sort of chill that would leave me with goosebumps.

On overcast days, the air was thick with humidity–and portent–as I waited for the storm. And, although the sun was hidden by the gathering clouds, the green of the plants and trees became even more vibrant.

Okay, yeah, that was probably a lot of purpling of prose, but reading the stack of E. Denise Billups’s books I got with the Amazon gift card (was it really two winter holidays ago?) took me right back to those gothic-infused tropical summers.

It was even more poignantly delicious to feel like a young child again, staying up way past bedtime to read by the glow of a night light.

For you all, E. Denise Billups’s books may not be as evocative of summer as they were for me, but they’re still perfect for indulgent cozy-in-the-dark-with-a-flashlight reading this January. (Or audio in the dark, even.) Heck, if your power’s actually out due to all the climate-change-fueled winter storming, so much the better to read by!

Here’s the books/short reads that were in my E. Denise Billups’s TBR stack (only 18,324 more TBR books to go!):

The Playground

Chasing Victoria

Off the Grid

Tainted Harvest

Kalorama Road

Rebound

By Chance

Ravine Lereux

Keepers of the Gate: Twilight Ends (Book One)

And, if you want to follow up these author’s books with a spooky chaser from another author, check out As Fast as She Can by E.F. Schraeder.

Now, what’s on your gothic summer TBR wish list?

Lollygagging into 2023…

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized30 Comments

Snail
Photo Courtesy of Canva.com

Recently, I wrote an article over on LinkedIn about how 2023 could be the year of the slowdown (in a proactive way). I’m not slowing down much myself, but I am taking some time out here and there for some fun things that don’t really accomplish anything useful. *gasp*

The pressure is on, though, to get the income needed to help me escape what I’m now calling the Nightmare Hell Zone* (and not in a fun way), so I’ve been applying for jobs in brick-and-mortar locations as well as online remote-work locations. One thought I’ve recently had was that I could maybe get a job with a chain and then use that to transfer to another location in the United States, or, perhaps even more wishful-thinking, transfer to a Canadian locale!

Anyway, until I go figure things out (or win the lottery–the HGTV dream home–Travel Channel Sweepstakes), I’m sharing some links for you to stroll through as you, yourselves, meander into 2023.

(Unless, of course, you just want to stop reading here, and go write a snail mail letter or take a day off next week to hang out with your houseplant BFFs. That’s fine too!)

Here’s January’s “Tarot Card Readings for Inspiration”: https://horrortree.com/january-2023-tarot-cards-for-creative-inspiration/ and their snarky horoscope sidekick: https://horrortree.com/january-2023-horoscopes-tempting-fate-in-the-new-year/.

And if another bomb cyclone is bearing down on you again, check out my “Cultivating Winter Magic” post as well: https://horrortree.com/cultivating-winter-magic-for-writers/. Who says you can’t go out in style, right?

*Want to exercise your creative muscles? Feel free to share (in the comments) your own wild and wacky names for a terrifying town in rural U.S.A.!

To (Not) Boldly Go…

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized35 Comments

Foundation
This is what futuristic-art book covers looked like when I was a kid.

It’s Science Fiction Day! https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-science-fiction-day-january-2/

There seems to be always something going around the internet about how people in some foregone era envisioned the world in 2023/in future times.

Although I read a lot of science fiction in middle school (ask me how much I regret getting rid of my Isaac Asimov Foundation series!) and I grew up with the excitement, and tragedy, of the space shuttle launches, I didn’t spend a lot of time imagining what the future would be like, in terms of technological advancements.

I did dream about space, though, and I imagined a space travel that was like comfortably swimming through a pool of stars and floating down to the surface of planets.

In order to learn more about the planets in actuality, I had to sneak into my brother’s room when he wasn’t there, and do covert reads of his Our Universe book. Because, you know, science-is-for-boys and all that nonsense.

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But mainly when I daydreamed, it was about past eras in history. Like prehistoric pasts. I only went so far as to hope that future worlds would revert to a natural utopia but without all the consuming-natural-resources-for-people-survival. I did like the concept of the Cloud City (but without the mining aspect) or some sort of self-contained habitat for people, however–a biosphere floating above the Earth biosphere where nature was allowed to do its thing.

How did you imagine the future to be when/if you daydreamed? What sci-fi books were your favourites, or what would recommend?

Oh, and here’s another fun little activity, if you want. Pinterest has released its “Pinterest Predicts 2023” and one of the predictions was that fashion would definitely take a spin around the intergalactic universe.

(My personal prediction is that there will be a “futuristic witch” gender fluid aesthetic emerge sometime. I also imagine that woven textiles and earth tones and such will be used in more urbanish/futuristic type clothing. Like steampunk meets hippie. https://www.pinterest.com/AuthorWillowCroft/2023-pinterest-predicts-sci-fi-fits/)

So if you want to imagine your own design vision for 2023, share the links to your Pinterest page (if you have one) in the comments and I’ll hop over and take a look!

(Which, truthfully, is also a confession that I haven’t managed to gravitate over to Mastodon yet! *smiles*)

Happy Science Fiction Day!

2023 has almost descended!

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized39 Comments

Happy New Year to those who celebrate it at this time of year!

I’m back from my mini-sabbatical, but haven’t figured out shit, except that I think I really, really want to move to Canada, after an on the fly comment-convo with My Dang Blog, and this post from Christy Birmingham: https://whenwomeninspire.com/2022/12/22/report-womens-healthcare-equality/.

(But that’s a long term goal.)

Anyhoo…I’d figure I’d set you a little fun “game”–make one fortune-telling-esque prediction for 2023–feel free to get as Mulder-out-there as you want–your imagination is the only limit! Please share your prediction in the comments! (Yes, only one!)

Also, I’m pitching this one last time (*laugh*) before I move onto my next kinda-sorta strategy–message me if you want a 2023 fast-track tarot reading–3-card spread for 3 dollars. (I accept payments via Paypal.)

And I got this wonderful planner as a gift over the holiday break (not an affiliate link or any of that stuff). Check it out here: https://nationaldaycalendar.com/store/#!/2023-Planner-for-Entrepreneurs-Marketing-Sales/p/504344692/category=140833111.

See you on the flip side!

Record Player

Pulling the Plug for the Solstice

On By Willow CroftIn Uncategorized31 Comments

Candles2

Happy Winter Solstice! Merry Yule!

I don’t have anything particularly festive planned, although I did wake up to a world today that looked suitably wintery. The snow had mostly melted, but the trees and bushes were decked out in their finest frost-lace. And the sky was wonderfully grey and gloomy as I spread out the seed and nut feast for the local birds and squirrels.

I have my virtual Yule log crackling in the background, and I’ve got a meditation for Freyja playing softly as well. And, wouldn’t it be nice to have a complete scent “library” from shops like this? https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/yule-2022/

Candles1

I do plan on spending some time reflecting–I’ve got to come up with a way out of this Kansas nightmare–and I’ll be spending some time doing my favourite thing: organizing!

I’ve been having a nice comment-chat with another blogger about one of their latest posts re: organizing and planning strategies, and, although it appeared in my WP reader, they have grabbed the dubious honour in not only being WP’s longstanding follow/unfollow glitch casualty, but a first-timer in a glitch that has me both following this person, and not following them, simultaneously–and I didn’t even have to open the box!

Anyhoo, check it out–it’s a very funny post! https://stuartdanker.com/2022/12/20/this-is-how-you-overcome-procrastination/

And, Horror Tree never fails to deliver with another insightful article–this one’s about planning as well, in a way: https://horrortree.com/a-fresh-start-to-2023-how-about-we-dont-claim-it-as-our-own/.

So, in the absence of Twitter, I found some colourful days-of-the-week schedule sheets, and I created one for each social media platform/places where I post content (or have planned to post/crosspost content–examples: WordPress, LinkedIn, Goodreads, Horror Tree and…Pinterest!) that I can use as daily reminders, or reminders for tasks that are reoccuring. We’ll see how it works!

Speaking of Pinterest, I was really excited to get the 2023 “Pinterest Predicts” in my inbox! I do love Pinterest; however, I have to admit I actually let it lapse from my regular routine. But now I’m inspired to start exploring it again–and, yes, I did a planning sheet for that platform as well!

And, no sooner than I had typed that, I checked my email for something or other, and saw a notification to this post. Which is perfect in terms of creative-minds type of planning!

Regarding Twitter. Sigh. I went back and forth quite a few times–deactivating my account, reactivating it, etc etc. But then a news piece came onto my radar, and I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t been aware of it. I mean, I am even subscribed to news alerts, call-to-actions, and sign-the-petition requests from PETA (and many more nonhuman animal and environmental groups) and I still only  just learned about it a little while ago.

I’ve put in some links that have more information (sensitivity alert).

Here’s the article I first read about this issue. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/dec/05/neuralink-animal-testing-elon-musk-investigation

Another article. theprint.in/tech/elon-musk-called-out-by-peta-for-neuralink-animal-testing/1253973/

PETA’s news release waaaaay back in February of 2021. *gasp* www.peta.org/media/news-releases/peta-to-elon-musk-use-your-own-brain-leave-monkeys-alone/

And, just so you know, I don’t just include animal advocacy in my short stories, I put in the volunteer work as well. For example, I volunteered for call-bank shifts that contacted New Mexico residents and asked them to reach out to their representatives about these chimpanzees: https://apnm.org/what-we-do/securing-sanctuary-for-chimpanzees/.

And, (almost) last but not least, the updates that were part of the inspiration for this post.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2557814/almost-45-alamogordo-lab-chimps-were-denied-sanctuary-in-2019-a-federal-judge-just-ruled-that-wasnt-the-right-call.html

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/12/15/1143143941/judge-former-research-chimps-retire-federal-sanctuary-haven

Okay, so now I’m at the end of this post. Like I mentioned earlier, I knew that Kansas probably wasn’t the best place for someone like me, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. Sometime in the New Year, I’ll post up about the mind-boggling experience that is small-town Kansas. Or at least this small town in Kansas. There’s a certain date that has to pass, and it’s also probably predicate on getting myself and my cats to safety.

It’s felt very terrifying, dangerous, and threatening here–I mean, I grew up in a pretty urban environment, but who knew a small town in Kansas could feel even more scary than that? *wry laugh*

At one point, I was thinking to myself that it could be a good place to be an animal advocate, as there was plenty of work to be done, and progress to be made. But, wow. Just wow.

It’s my plan to unplug from the online world for a few days, maybe even as many as five, starting tomorrow. But, you know, the road to hell, and all that.

Happy New Year! See you on the flip side!

record player