40 Day Blog Jog - Day 22 - The Elephant in the Waiting Room

The Elephant in the Waiting Room is Sally Zigmond's blog.
Sally writes short stories and is the author of Hope Against Hope.
I love reading her blog, of course, else I wouldn't have it as part of my Blog Jog (which incidentally, has been a bit harder than I thought).
I met Sally at the Writer's Festival in York earlier this year. She is a lovely lady. She's approachable, kind, no-nonsense and had great advice about writing.


http://theelephantinthewritingroom.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 21 - tales of a fourth grade nothing

Mary Anne doesn't blog often. In fact, the last time she blogged was the 1st of March. I don't know when or if she'll be back, but read her blog anyway. She was preparing for a trip to South Africa, so maybe that's where she is.

My favourite piece is what she says about her grandmother. It is so sweet and precious.
She generally just talks about life and stuff and because I like to hear what others think about life and stuff, I like to read her blog. And the fact that she says, 'Because I owe it all to Judy Blume.' Judy Blume was my favourite author while I was growing up.

http://gnomeiswheretheheartis.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 20 - D.J. Kirkby

D. J. Kirkby is a registered midwife, teaching midwifery two days per week and working three days per week for her local Public Health department. At the age of 40, she was diagnosed with a form of autism called Asperger syndrome, in addition to dyslexia and dyspraxia.  She has had short stories published in several anthologies. Writing under her academic surname she has had numerous articles accepted for publication, was a monthly columnist for FMA-UK magazine, and is now their midwifery expert on pregnancy and childbirth.  She is available for interviews, and to write articles on Asperger’s, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and midwifery.  Without Alice is her first novel.


http://djkirkby.co.uk/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 19 - The Life And Times Of Kiki Dee

Marriage in all it's misery.

http://thelifeandtimesofkikidee.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 18 - Bah! to cancer

There is a saying in Afrikaans: Na lekker lag kom lekker huil. Which means after a good laugh comes a good cry.
So, yesterday we had a good laugh at everything Sheena Says - damn that woman is funny, but today we are onto something a lot more serious.
Stephanie Butland was diagnosed with cancer in November 2008.
I have read a few accounts of people who have had cancer, but there is something quite different about Stephanie's story. It has a lot to do with the way she thinks.

How I Said Bah! to cancer: A guide to thinking, laughing, living and dancing your way through, is due for publication in October this year. You can go here to preorder what I know is going to be an amazing read, because I was lucky enough for Stephanie to send me the beginning of the manuscript last year and it really is great.

This book tells how one woman said ‘Bah!’ to cancer through thinking strategies, a proactive approach to treatment, and a determination to keep the rest of her life going and retain a sense of humour (most of the time!). It shares everything she learnt along the way, from the nature of cancer cells and chemotherapy drugs, to how she was able to help her friends and family to help her. ‘I was never going to die from cancer. That hard lump peeping out of the top of my bra was aggressive but it was small enough to be contained, and I was young and strong and otherwise well. All the signs were good. Words like “lucky” and “caught in time” were thrown around like rice at a wedding. No, I was never going to die from cancer. But from the beginning, I never planned simply to survive it. Oh no. I was going to say a great big Bah! to it. Please, join in. Cancer? Bah!’

http://bahtocancer.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 17 - Sheena Says

Sheena says many, many funny things. The woman is a comic genius! I wish I could be that funny.
 I had a hard time trying to choose which one of her hilarious posts is my favourite. So, I didn't choose one. You'll have to go to her blog and read them all yourself.
Some of the best ones are her application for a job at the Aston Villa Football Club, the job application to Nasa and her genius idea of making money from a beer calendar.

Don't miss out on a really good laugh. Go see what Sheena has to say: http://sheenasays.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 16 - David Brydon

David Brydon, retired Canadian soldier,  describes himself as a Refuge Insomniac.
I describe him as a great poet.
I love poetry and am so envious of people that can write proper, meaningful poetry.
David Brydon in one of them.
Don't miss out: http://davidbrydonblog.blogspot.com/

40 Day Blog Jog - Day 15 - yTravel Blog

Okay - so this is a bit embarrassing. I knew I was going to have a busy week ahead, so I put all my Blog Jog posts together and selected the dates and times I wanted them posted and went off about my business. So - today when I thought best I get the next ones ready, I see that none of the posts are up! I have no idea how that happened, because I checked and it's all as it should be, but the posts are all still sitting very snugly in the unpublished section. It seems you can't expect your blog to keep jogging unless you are jogging along with it.

So, here I am today, in person, introducing yTravel Blog.
Caz & Craig have been traveling and living around the world since 1997.
Their blog contains a wealth of knowledge about traveling. There are great travel tips, stories about their travels, where they have lived, what they have done, tips on how to travel happily with children, etc.
It is one of the best travel blogs I have come across.

Go on over to them and enjoy their stories. http://www.ytravelblog.com/