Blogging 101

Welcome 2016!

As Rainbow Hill Meanders is almost two years old, I’ve decided to finally learn blogging. Thank you WordPress Blogging 101! Today’s assignment is revisiting the who and why of the blog.

Rainbow Hills Meanders is thus named because (surprise, surprise) the house is on a hill, has many skylights and some inlaid multi-colored glass. When the sun shines, and even in the Pacific Northwest this occasionally happens, rainbows appear everywhere. The cats love this. I also think the hill often wanders through the space-time continuum. When that happens, who knows what will pop up here.

I’m an aspiring writer of fantasy and I’m currently enjoying weaving a middle-grade novel. My subtitle of “Writer’s A.D.D.” is truth in advertising as I’m all over the place with random research, joyful discoveries, and whatever flashes into my attention span.

I will segue into what really is a related subject: a group of cats is called a clowder or glaring of cats. I have my own glaring of three very mischievous Bengal cats and somehow their pictures keep infiltrating this blog. Sometimes Arna, our ancient dachshund also makes an appearance.

Besides being a bibliophile… I love PICTURES.

Every picture I use in my blogs is one taken either by me or by my very talented husband, Paul Hall. Paul’s Flickr Page

As a fantasy writer, I wade waist-deep in mythology, linguistics, history and random facts.

Besides long walks on the beach, I travel and explore and take as many diverse classes as I can. I’m looking forward to 2016 being a truly great year.

~lisa

Rainbow Hill Meanders Report

In the paradox of the space/time continuum, while the goats of Planet Goats, http://www.planetgoats.com/ gave Rainbow Hill a much needed haircut, the Hill meandered on a cross-country adventure.

I was, perhaps, a little too adventurous, but I wouldn’t change anything about my three weeks on the road except for the long fall, the painfully bruised ribs and the fact that I’d use several more layers of bug repellent.

As usual, there was so much more to do, explore and experience than I could fit in. Just means I’ll have to go back. I love road trips.

As my son retires from dance, we say goodbye to wonderful Kansas City, Missouri and hello to NYC.

I will miss KC, but I also love Manhattan. It’s another chapter in the ongoing adventure of life.

Confession time:

I am a random stop, follow-that-sign type of traveler.

One of our first adventures was a sculpture garden. I saw it from the road, but there was no signage after the freeway off-ramp.

So I super-navigated by that little compass hidden in my brain.

I followed along the curves of a dirt road and then it was there. The drive into the unknown was so worth the dusty road.

We discovered sculpture Wayne Porter at Porter Sculpture Park http://www.portersculpturepark.com/ 

His garden contains a wide array of fun, wacky, thought-provoking sculptures that makes one feel like Alice entering Wonderland.

And did I mention there were dragons?

I would love to hear from you about the best places to discover and explore. My list is long for the known adventures, but I also love the off-key and unusual. Send me suggestions.

~lisa

More cool things to come, but right now, it’s time to cuddle with the menagerie

Rainbow Hill

Rainbows shine through almost every window on Rainbow Hill.
It is always a delight to move from room to room and see slivers of the rainbow arcing across a room.

On Rainbow Hill, when it is not meandering around the world, you will find cats basking in pools of rainbow sunshine.

Loki and Kuri

 

Today’s focus on Rainbow Hill is because like most magical places, it has a few downsides. For The Hill it is brambles. One brave driveway cuts through the fairytale, head-high brambles like a magic sword, but the brambles have been on a winning streak.

I’m pleased to announce that the tide of the battle has turned. The ferociously aggressive brambles are now losing.
Our valiant warriors come from Planet Goats. www.joe.medalia@planetgoats.com. Eco-Friendly Brush Clearing Specialists.
Joe, Lead Goat Assistant, brings in the herd of twenty darling goats.

These goats, without flinching and with more effect than a magic sword, are making short work of the monstrous shield that surrounds the hill.

These friendly little warriors all have names and vastly different personalities, but all are dedicated to the job at hand. Joe will tell you the story of each goat, many of which are rescue goats who have found their dream job.

In a few weeks a much more civilized hill will once again be meandering around the world. While we wait, just a few more goat pictures. & thank you Planet Goats.
~lisa

Bye Bye Brambles

The Writer’s Paradox

The Hill is back meandering again. For those of you who are new, Rainbow Hill Meanders darts around with glee as the hill roams through the diversity of life, mythology, cultures and eclectic odds and ends.

  It’s been a long and exhilarating journey these last few months, but that is what brings me to today’s subject.
Writers are told to “write what they know.” I’ll be the first to admit compared to everything I want to know, I’m fairly ignorant.

The other adage is “write from your experience”, and I would add that there are so many things in life to experience, where will I find the time to experience all of it?

With a few caveats, I can agree with both pieces of advice.
It’s not easy to write about the ocean without knowing the taste of salt on your lips. Sure we can imagine the setting, but the details are in the sea breeze, in the force of the wind bringing sand against your skin and the air filled with the crash of waves and the call of birds.

I could perhaps write forever about the beach from so many experiences in so many climates. There are movements caught in the periphery of vision, and the smell of the sea life on each wave rolling in. All beaches smell a little different, sound a little different and all of them can surprise you with something new.

There are so many great experiences to try, bask in, absorb and feel. There are so many things to learn and find and revel in the knowledge of. There is so much life that we can’t ever experience all of it, but we can expand our experiences by embracing each other whom we meet, by bridging the gap and exchanging our experiences, our triumphs, our failures, and our moments of wonder.

Back to writing.

As a writer you read everything in your genre or subject. Mostly as a writer you need to write. Writing is the ultimate goal. So where do all of these writing adages take me?
We all struggle with work/life balance. Writers add on read/learn/experience/explore and then write. Sometimes this is a daunting commandment. Other times it is the richest gift life has given me.

I’ve tried many methods over the years. This meandering blog is one of my favorites. After all, being a writer encompasses the love of sharing with others. We share our stories, our imaginations, our experiences and our dreams.
If I can share through words the tickle of a crab scuttling sideways across your hand and leaving a small trail of abandoned sand behind then I have shared with you. When I read, it is the other writer sharing back. If I can share a lively detail of dodging a tornado with friends then they can share their own lively tales back.

And back to the writer’s paradox. There are all those hours and connections that enrich us beyond measure, but then there is the solitary art of going into the flow, of coalescing all of richness into a story to share with others.

My wish is that all of the writers out there forever enrich us with their words, their art and the dedication of what is mostly a solitary endeavor. My wish is also that they may enjoy the world and people around them in equal balance.

May tomorrow always bring new discoveries.
~lisa
What do you think the best strategies are for balancing writing and experience? Life and the work it takes to share our passions? I would love to hear your advice.
 

 

RHM Intro 3 2014 6 24

It has now been three months since the birth of Rainbow Hill Meanders (RHM). And The Hill still meanders through the space/time continuum, subject to glorious subject.

You may have noticed that the tag line has changed to better reflect the blog’s content. Writer’s A.D.D. more correctly sums up the eclectic nature of the subjects covered.

There is always a bright, new, shiny subject that needs exploring.

We live in a most amazing world and I often say:

“Oh, I can use that in a book!”
“Why is that so?”
“Where did that come from?”

And quite often I add: “Ooh, I want to know more.” That said there are a lot of strong themes that will remain the same.

 I’m passionate about mythology.

Not only will there be a cultural mythology of the month (or months), but also an exploration of the cultural significance of certain common parts of our lives such as cats or roses. The latter being tenuously tied in by a connection to the month in which the subject is posted.

I’m fond of quirky history and why and how we celebrate things.

I feel strongly about the battle against several diseases and will put those forward as millions of people hope for a cure. May none of them be forgotten.

 I have learned that a single or even multiple blog posts can’t do justice to the subjects I cover or even do more than scratch the surface of the wealth of information out there.

With completely random bias, I select what I think are the most salient points. I then tell myself I’ll come back to the subject in future posts. On most of the subjects I cover, it is unlikely that I will ever run out of new material. There’s just so much good stuff out there.

Next month I hope to add widgets and make it easy to search subject by subject through the various posts. It will be all the excitement of new sidebars.

As always send me any comments and questions you have. I love to hear from you.

 May there be a little myth, a little surprise and a lot of joy in everyone’s life.

~lisa

Other subjects that often catch my eye: The Arts, Bengal cats and Bengal Cat Pictures, Quotes, Names, Writers, Writing, Superstitions, Folklore, Fable, Seattle, Flowers, Gems, Anime, Fonts, Ecosystems, and so forth. Stay tuned.

 

Intro 2 – Rainbow Hill Meanders

Rainbow Hills Meanders has finished its first month of publication!

I started this blog with the April A-Z challenge. It was an easy over-arching theme based on letters, fonts and eclectic interests.

Now Rainbow Hills Meanders is heading into its own destiny (direction).

“The world’s favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May.”
– Edwin Way Teale

The blog will still Meander (Rainbow Hill Meanders) through my various interests but here are the core topics:

First let there be Mythology & Folklore. I will have a mythology of the month in which I hope to achieve some depth as well as breadth. This month of May will devoted to Bulgarian Folklore & Mythology.

There will be tributes to Authors, Poets, Painters and other greats in the Arts and their works. My choices as to which to share will be arbitrarily decided by their birthdays (month and day). See Machiavelli on May 3rd.

Writing tips, tricks and my favorite writing advice plus a dip into the pool of the business side of writing (Queries, What a Synopsis Is and other basics). Plus Words and Names

There will be Quotes, Maxims, Folktales, Magic, Mythic Creatures, Seattle Tidbits and Links and Odes to the Month the blog is written in.

May is emeralds (birthstone) and lilies (birth flower).

I still love Fonts, but will only cover one font a month. I’m still fanatical about Bengal Cats, but will not include them in too many posts.

There will also be a wide range of Random Topics simply because my interests are eclectic and I love to share them and sometimes surprise both myself and readers with the things I find.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know how excited I can get about the Cool Things I find in this world.

I might occasionally even write something serious and contemporary (See X=Xenophobia).

Finally this blog will not be published every day as I have a fair amount of fiction to write as I move my novels forward. I’m looking at posting about three times a week, though I do not plan on following a strict schedule. Sometimes there will be more and occasionally (though I hope not too occasionally) there will be less.

I always welcome suggestions comments and blog ideas of things you would like me to explore and research.

I look forward to going on this journey with you.
~lisa

Introducing Rainbow Hill Meanders

“Please excuse the mess. This blog is currently under construction.”

Rainbow Hill Meanders is thus named because (surprise, surprise) the house is on a hill and it has many skylights and some inlaid multi-colored glass.  When the sun shines, and even in the Pacific Northwest this occasionally happens, rainbows appear everywhere. The cats love this.  I also think the hill sometimes wanders through the space-time continuum.  When that happens who knows what will pop up here.

The author of this blog is Lisa Kraft, writer of fantasy and science fiction. You can find out much more about her at http://www.lisakraft.me/.   She also writes for the photo blog, Photocatography .

Meanders is also because my interests are varied and sometimes random.  I am passionate about writing and all things that involve words.  I’m a bibliophile (that implies a problem with buying too many books and over-frequenting the library). My other interests are a bit eclectic.  Beside books and writing,  I like Bengal cats, fantasy, seashells (especially the nautilus), remote places, linguistics, history, good narrative, tengu, world mythology and… I expect this list will grow into a sidebar. Right now, this seems a bit like a singles ad.  I’m also based just outside of Seattle so you can also expect Seattle to feature in some posts.

I’ve given up soda for lemon water, sugar for veggies and couch time for exercise. It’s a tough transition, but am now, better late than never, finally listening to all the advice I’ve always given my children.

Speaking of children, check out the Kansas City Ballet  http://www.kcballet.org/. It’s very cool. 

Also speaking of children, you’ll find a few things about teaching — high school.  I admire how brave she is.

When we speak of husbands, you will probably find several comments on Xbox and photography.  Did I say to check out http://photocatography.wordpress.com/ ?

A few other tidbits:  I love black opals, the diversity of the people around me, and the diversity of opinion which makes this world so fascinating to live in.

Favorite quote (or at least my favorite at this moment, for sometimes my nature is fickle):  “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt

I’m addicted to Twitter. Follow me there at @lisakraftme

I lurk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lisa.kraft.547

Webpage is http://www.lisakraft.me/

I love feedback, comments and questions.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

— lisa