Wednesday Word: Collywobbles

collywobbles |ˈkälēˌwäbəlz|plural noun informal chiefly humorousstomach pain or queasiness : an attack of collywobbles.• intense anxiety or nervousness, esp. with such symptoms : such organizations give him the collywobbles.ORIGIN early 19th cent.: fanciful formation from colic and wobble .
This is one of those words that need to become more popular. I rarely have stomach problems--my anxiety manifests itself in shoulder and upper back pain. I had a lot of it while writing Dead In L.A. No colic, but a lot of emotional wobble. Instead of letting it cripple me, I decided to harness it and channel it into Jon, the narrator. It became the stuff of his fears, bitterness, and secret yearnings.

Monday Men: Man with Cat

There's something heart warming about a macho guy with a soft and furry feline. I have a theory that people who are cat-haters are control freaks.

Just yesterday I discovered a Pinterest board: Tattoos and Kittens. Go check it out. I guarantee it'll make you go awwww.

Wednesday Word: Trivet

trivet |ˈtrivit|noun    • an iron tripod placed over a fire for a cooking pot or kettle to stand on.• an iron bracket designed to hook onto bars of a grate for a similar purpose.• a small plate placed under a hot serving dish to protect a table.ORIGIN late Middle English : apparently from Latintripes, triped- ‘three-legged,’ from tri- ‘three’ + pes,ped- ‘foot.’Semi-recently I had a conversation with friends about food. It happened after consuming a delicious meal of untraditional sausages (mine was duck). The word trivet came up and I was surprised to find out that to my friends it only meant the metal thingie you put under a pot. While to me it brought to mind the three-legged stand used to hang a cauldron style cooking pot from.

Monday Men: Not!

When I bought this photo at a paper fair I thought it was of two men in an nondescript backyard. Only later, when I scanned it in did I realize they were women dressed in full male regalia. I'm guessing it was not something they did regularly because those suit coats are way too big on them.

Will You Be My Vampire?

(Art by AdroVonCrow – DeviantART)

While the word vampire is only a few hundred years old, it's predated by a wide variety of myths around the world of spirits and demons feeding on the blood, flesh, or life force of the living. The current popular image came from east European beliefs, however it got a facelift along the way.

In Slavic, Romanian, and Romani (Gypsy) folklore vampires are hideous monsters with ruddy complexion and crude manners. They were believed to rise from the bodies of witches, criminals, and suicide victims, or alternately, those of who died violent and untimely deaths.

It was the writers of fiction who gave vampires their pallor and sexual magnetism. The monster became a Byronic hero, alluringly dark and mysterious, and not to mention moody.

"It was evident that he was a prey to some cureless disquiet…" (Lord Byron, Fragment of a Story)

If brooding were an Olympic sport, the children of the night would win every medal. Angel, Edward, Bill…they'll glare at you with their dark, smoldering eyes and tell you that you should run from them, they're cursed, will make you unhappy,  and so on. If it were me, I'd run. All that sulking is such a drag.

I mean, seriously, they're practically immortal, don't age, have cellulite or high cholesterol, and don't even have to go to they gym. What is there to sulk about?

I wanted to write story, something short and sweet, about a vampire with a sense of humor and appetite for (un)life. Just to get it out of my system. Naturally, my intended novelette turned into a full-blown novel of over 70,000 words. The protagonists are Harvey, the spunky young vampire and his love interest, Gabe, the conflicted slayer. Spirit Sanguine will come out at the end of April, but is available for pre-order on Amazon and at the Samhain store.

Wednesday Word: Bodacious

bodacious

|bōˈdā sh əs|

adjective

1. South Midland and Southern U.S. thorough; blatant; unmistakable: a bodacious gossip.

2. Slang.

   a. remarkable; outstanding: a bodacious story.

   b. audacious; bold or brazen.

   c. sexy; voluptuous.

ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: perhaps a variant of southwestern English dialect boldacious, blend of bold and audacious.

Of all people Mae West embodied this word the best. 

"Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before."

Monday Men: Before The Storm

Four and a half man before getting swept up in history.

Wednesday Word: Galumph

galumph |gəˈləmf|verb [ intrans. ] informalmove in a clumsy, ponderous, or noisy manner : she galumphed along beside him | [as adj. ] ( galumphing)a galumphing tortoise.ORIGIN 1871 (in the sense [prance in triumph] ): coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass; perhaps a blend of gallop and triumph .


If there ever was an animal that galumphed, it's the hedgehog. For small creatures they make a lot of noise as they wobble around on their short legs.

Monday Men: Fishing

I think the guys might be brothers. I wouldn't know about the fish.