Flash Fiction Challenge #3

It's time for Flash Fiction again! I always miss it those weeks we don't do it, but then again, I miss poetry the weeks we don't do that too. I'm hopeless either way. lol I'm hoping you'll enjoy this week's prompts. As usual, I'm trying to do something a little different and keep things interesting, so go check it out and join us!

You have one hour to write and edit your story from the moment your pen hits the page or your fingers hit the keyboard, and you need to submit them to me no later than Friday night at midnight, though I'm hoping for sooner rather than later. Good luck everyone! Now go have fun!!!

Results for Poetry Challenge #3

Well, this has been a rather interesting challenge. I was a bit inspired with the beautiful music that was our writing prompt and wrote four poems this time around and entered them all. Now, you may have noticed there were only five entrants this time. Yes, the deck was stacked in my favor, I will admit, and have felt a bit bad about it, but my co-entree held his own for most of the past few days. We went back and forth, pulling ahead and falling behind, but in the end, I am happy (and a little embarrassed) to admit, that the poem, AWAKENING, pulled ahead and barely won. And yes, it was one of mine.

Thank you, all of you, for your votes and support. None of this could happen without your help and participation. :)

And here's the winning poem, inspired by the song Awakening by Secret Garden!

Awakening

Deep in the earth she is buried

Asleep. Silent, but for the gentle creak

Of boughs in the breeze

And the occasional stir

Of a rabbit passing through—

And then the awakening begins.

Darkened trees in a monochrome world,

Soil and grass covered with snow

That now begins to melt

And the water that has been frozen

In endless sleep

Frees itself to soak into the soil.

The sun arises high in a clear,

Blue sky, its rays shining down,

And the sleeping earth stirs.

The trees, so dark and sparse,

Sprout leaves of green

That wave and whisper in the breeze.

The grass, yellow and brown, transforms

And grows into tall stalks of life.

The underbrush moves as squirrels

And rabbits, deer and mice,

Come out to see the sun

And high overhead the birds flit

From branch to branch

As they sing their songs.

Mother Earth came to life today

And brought my heart back home.

Poetry Challenge #3

The voting polls are open! Please read the poems (there are only 5 this time around) and vote for your favorite one. If you are one of the poem authors, please don't tell your friends and family to vote for you and show them which poem is yours. Let them choose for themselves. Also, if you entered a poem and want to vote, please do not vote for yourself. Either refrain from voting altogether, or vote for someone else. Let's keep it fair for all of us.

Now go and cast some votes! We want to hear from everyone!

Book Review: "Sleight of Hand" by Deanne Blackhurst

I saw Deanne co-teach a class with her brother, Jeff Savage, at the LDStorymakers Writing Conference and was rather impressed with her knowledge. She was right up there with her brother in sharing information, unlike so many other team-teaching presentations I've seen where one person dominates the discussion. She held her own with her multi-published brother, and I loved seeing the two of them interact.

That made reading and reviewing this book that much more fun, as I had already seen that she knew her stuff, I was not surprised to discover that she knew how to write as well.

Sleight of Hand is the story of a con-man who dies just before he is about to get out of the con business, and once in the afterlife, discovers that he has to pay for the pain he inflicted on others. It's all about progression, understanding, change, and forgiveness, both of self and from a loving Heavenly Father.

When I first started reading, I wasn't sure I was going to like the book. I mean, I knew Deanne knew how to write, she was excellent at it, in fact, but the main character was a con-man? How was I supposed to identify with him? Fortunately, Deanne's writing style and attention to detail kept me reading, and as I saw the growth in the main character as he faced the actions of his past, I came to love him as a person, imperfect as he was, and by the end of the book I was in tears. It was fantastic. Some of the best Christian Fiction I've read. Ever.

Deanne, I salute you. You have created a believable world that enchanted me and made me want to believe in your version of an afterlife. It was beautifully written and masterfully carried out. I would recommend this book to any Christian reader.

Deanne has thoughtfully made the digital version of this book available to readers at a remarkable price through August 31st. Go HERE and enter the code MX73D on checkout to get the book for $1.99. It's worth the price, believe me. Actually, it is worth much, much more. I can't stop thinking about this story, and was actually sad to see it end.

Take a chance, guys. READ. THIS. BOOK! It is amazing to see a master at work.

The Poetry Challenge #3

We're doing something a little different for the poetry challenge this time around--something I think you will like, so if you've been tempted to jump in and join us, now is the time to do it.

A quick reminder of the rules. There are only two, really.

1-Keep it clean.

2-Don't tell anyone which poem is yours until AFTER they have voted in order to keep it fair for all. Thank you!

Now go check out this week's prompts. You are going to love it!

Flash Fiction Challenge #2 Winner!

And I am proud to announce that our most recent winner of the Flash Fiction Challenge is . . .

SYDNEY SQUIRES for TRACTON!

What makes this an even happier and more spectacular moment for me, is that Sydney is one of my teenage students in the after school writing program I co-teach for one of our local junior high schools. I'm so proud of her!

And without further ado, here is her story. Enjoy! (And I apologize for the formatting. I can't fix it no matter what I try!)

Tracton

Fretchen pulled at the gears. The tracton bucked and violently shuddered as it plowed through the field. The tracton’s gray and green scales glistened dully in the hot sunlight. The powerful breeze smacked at her silky brown hair and sent it flying. It got in her eyes quite frequently.

I can’t believe it, Fretchen thought sourly. Grellem gets magic lessons and what do I get? A stupid tracton.

She kicked at the machine angrily. It made a slight snorting noise. It was half tractor, half dragon, raised from the dead to plow through fields and kill bugs. And it made quite a lot of fertilizer.

The tracton slowly smoothed out the terrain and killed the weeds, yet somehow left the wheat stubs unharmed. However, if she let it sway at all, she had to reset the system.

“Hey, Fretchen!”

Her younger sister Grellem ran down the sloping hills of the fields, donned in her wizard’s cloak. “You won’t believe what I’ve learned today!”

The tracton shuddered and sniffed the air until it found Grellem. It snorted steaming ashes onto the budding crops. Fretchen winced, but Grellem hopped up and down eagerly.

“It’s a separation spell!” she chirped in her high pitched voice. We made spaghetti and meatballs spaghetti, meatballs, and sauce and we turned boiled eggs into boiling water and raw eggs! You have to see it!”

“I can’t do magic,” Fretchen said dully. “Remember?”

Grellem stopped jumping. “Oh, yeah. Can I show you?”

“I’m not sure if that’s such a good idea,” Fretchen began, but Grellem ignored her.

She pointed her finger at the tracton and shouted, “SEPERATION SPELL!”

The air bent, and Fretchen was roughly thrown sideways. When her vision cleared, she saw a dull gray dragon right beside a simple green tractor. Grellem was trying to talk to the dragon, but the dragon simply roared and took off in a dead sprint through the fields.

“We have to catch it!” Grellem shouted in distress. “Oh please, Fretchen. You have to help me!”

Why do I always end up fixing some the problems she causes? Fretchen thought sourly. She climbed onto the tractor. It was a lot simpler now, but that as probably good. She pulled the levers and pushed the buttons, and the tractor rumbled off.

It wasn’t very fast. It destroyed the wheat and the weeds, and the dragon was growing further and further away. However, Fretchen was certain they’d be even slower on foot. All the same, she peppered Grellem with questions.

“Do you have any joining spells?”

“No, that’s tomorrow’s lesson.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Fretchen grumbled as she steered the wheel. The tractors machinery cut through the fields and left a clear path to show where they’d come from. “Why not teach you tomorrow’s lesson today?”

Grellem cocked her head in confusion. “Wouldn’t that ruin the point of tomorrow?”

“No,” Fretchen snapped. “It would save us a lot of trouble.” They cut through the tiny wheat clumps. “And I hope you have a repair spell, because we’re ruining all the crops.”

“Oh,” Grellem said. “Well you can fix that, can’t you?”

“No.”

The dragon was getting further away, a mere ashen speck in the endless fields that Fretchen had spent so much time tending. The hot sun continued to beat down, but Grellem didn’t complain despite her heavy wizard’s cloak. She probably had a cooling spell or something.

“Why are we going so slowly?” Grellem asked.

“This is as fast as we can go,” Fretchen snapped.

“What about a speeding spell?”

“I. Don’t. Have. Magic. However, if you have something, that would be useful.”

“SPEEDING SPELL!”

The tractor sped up and raced through the hills. Fretchen just managed to steer the wheel. She tried not to destroy the crops, but the beastly machinery swayed like crazy. Grellem clapped her hands.

“Look, the dragon stopped!”

Sure enough, the bulky beast had halted on top of the hill. Even from the distance, she could see his opaque gray scales and coruscating yellow eyes. It was crouched like a cat about to pounce.

When they reached the top of the hill, the dragon stared at them silently. It growled.

“Uh… nice dragon?” Fretchen tried.

The monster snorted and raised its head angrily. It roared.

“Any joining spells, Grellem?” Fretchen asked as the dragon began to approach.

“Nope,” she answered with naïve joy.

“How about since the rest of your spells are things like ‘Separation Spell,’ why don’t you try ‘joining spell’?”

“That’s stupid,” Grellem snorted, but she tried it all the same. “JOINING SPELL!”

For a moment, Fretchen couldn’t see. Then, when her vision cleared, Grellem was standing above her and giggling. “Hey, look Fretchen, your hair is the color of wheat!”

“What?” Fretchen groggily grabbed her hair. It was no longer silky brown, but it was now blunt yellow and straw straight. “What did you do?”

“I joined you with wheat!” Grellem giggled. “You’re lucky you didn’t get wheat eyes or something.”

“You wait, Fretchen growled. “I’m going to get you!” She stood, and then stopped. “Where’s the dragon?” The shiny tractor was still right there, but where was the dragon?

“It ran off while your hair was turning yellow,” Grellem said simply. “Really, Fretchen I thought you would’ve been able to catch it.”

“Next time, how about your hair turns yellow and I do all the fancy spells?” Fretchen suggested.

When they got home, all Fretchen got was a scolding about the state of the fields and the disappearing half of the tracton. When her parents turned to Grellem, however, she said simply, “I was only showing her my education. She said it was fine.”

Fretchen spent the next few weeks fixing the damage to the crops. Grellem was always a step behind her, chattering about how well she’d done in magic lessons.

Grellem’s favorite subject was how well she was doing in joining spells.

Voting for Flash Fiction Challenge #2 has begun!

It's time to vote on your favorite stories! Please take the time to read them. They're lots of fun this go round and we appreciate all the votes we can get. Just remember that, YES, you CAN vote if you entered the contest, just please don't vote for yourself. Also, if you could read all five of the entries before you cast your vote, that would also be appreciated. It won't take you long, and you're helping out your fellow writers by taking the time. You can cast your votes through Monday at midnight.

Thanks everyone!!!

Flash Fiction Challenge #2

I talked it over with some of my regular participants, and we decided that holding both a flash fiction challenge and a poetry challenge every week in the same week is a little too much, so I've decided instead to alternate them every other week. I was supposed to post this yesterday, but I was a little busy launching my book, The Sapphire Flute, as an e-book (only $1.99 from Smashwords.com) and forgot to get things moving.

So, here we are now. Every Tuesday, I'll post a new prompt and we'll take submissions until Friday night, then vote Saturday through Monday, with winners announced on Tuesday, then start the next week with the poetry, alternating back and forth.

Hope that made sense, because I'm out of time and have to run out the door. I just need to say one thing though. Thank you, everyone, for the support, both for me as an author, and in these challenges. I have loved doing this with you and hope we can continue for many years to come.

Now, go to the Flash Fiction Challenge tab and find your writing prompt! I can't wait to see what you come up with this week!

A New Cover and a New Direction

Well, hello there my wonderful friends. I've been getting some questions, specifically on Facebook, about the direction I am going to be taking in the future, and now that my new book cover is showing up, It's probably well past time to clue everybody in.

To begin, I should probably back up a bit. I'm not sure how many people know at this point, but despite great effort and desire to make it successful, my publisher has gone out of business. I hold no bitter feelings. Some disappointment--well, a lot of disappointment--but I feel that they did all they could and it is time for me to move on.

I've done a lot of thinking and praying over the past few months, trying to decide what to do. I know how challenging it is to find a publisher for a series that has already started, but I didn't want this one to sit on a shelf for ten years while I try to build up a reputation with my other work so I could reprint and finish out The Woldchild Saga. So many of you have asked repeatedly when the next book is coming out, and I've hated to tell you that I didn't know.

So, I've taken things into my own hands. As of today, I printed The Sapphire Flute as an e-book at Smashwords.com and you will eventually be able to find it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble as well as other places, all downloadable for only $1.99. You may be blinking your eyes right now in astonishment that the cost of the book is 1/10th of its hardback price, but you saw right. It is $1.99.

When I began writing, I did it for the sheer joy of it and only wanted to share my stories with others. Publishing this way allows me to do that. You can have the book, cover and all, for less than it would cost you to make a quick drive-thru for lunch. About 1/3 of the cost. All I want to do is share this story with others and let them find some joy in it as I have.

Now, I know some of you may feel you can't download an e-book because you don't have a nook or a kindle or other e-book reader. But guess what? You don't need one. My brother reads books on his phone all the time, and if that is too small a screen for you, you can read on your computer. Amazon has a Kindle version for PC, and I know there are many others types out there.

If you don't have an e-book reader yet, may I just put in a word about them? They are amazing. My eyes tire easily and I have a hard time reading from a computer screen for long periods of time, but reading from my kindle is just like reading a newspaper because of the new technology called electronic ink. It literally looks like it is printed on the screen, and then you push a button and voila! The next page is there. I love my kindle more than almost anything in my house--aside from people, of course--though there are days with my kids I wonder . . .

Just kidding! Wow, I've gone way off from where I meant to go with this.

Going back now. In leaving my publisher, I received my rights back, but they, understandably, kept the rights to things like the artwork, cover art, typesetting, etcetera, so I've had to redo that myself or have it done. Now, since I am NOT an artist, no matter how much I might wish to be, I hired a friend of mine who is also a writer by the name of Deirdre Eden Coppel to do my cover art. She did a fantastic job, well beyond my expectations.

Here, let me show you. The original cover, in case you need reminding, was this:

Now, I love this cover. I really do. It is a bit juvenile looking for the story inside, but it is stunning to look at. I have a poster of it on my wall, and with it being the first book I ever published, it will always have a place in my heart. It's bright. It's colorful. I love the way the flute is twined with the title. I love the wolf. And though you can't see it, I love the dark tree line on the back.

But obviously I couldn't keep it, so Deirdre and I talked about what I wanted and what she envisioned, and we came up with something that I think we both love. I know that the first time I saw the finished draft I stopped breathing, I was in such awe, and I literally had tears in my eyes. It is beautiful and exactly what I wanted.

And finally I have a cover that represents my book. It is a true reflection of what is inside. Want to see it? Well here you go!

So, it's been a journey--sometimes hard, and other times wonderful. I plan to publish the entire series as e-books and also as audio books, all for download. I'll be doing the reading myself as I have a small studio I built here in my office. That will be coming soon. And if there are enough people asking, I may even have some actual books printed, though I'm not sure when at the moment.

I'm sure many of you are still asking, "Karen, when can we expect the NEXT book? I've already read this one!" Well, let me tell you. Deirdre has agreed to do the covers for the entire series for me, so as soon as I have a cover for The Armor of Light, I will make it available through Smashwords, also at a really good price, then will have the audiobook follow shortly. I'll finish the series as quickly as I can. I just have one other book to write first.

Anyway, that is what has been going on. I'll keep you updated on when things change or I have a new version or book or audiobook available for upload. For now, if you want The Sapphire Flute you can get it HERE. And let me know what you think. I always love to hear back from my readers.

The Poetry Challenge #2

We have a winner! I must admit, as soon as I read this author's two entries, I knew that all three of mine were going to be skunked. This is a well deserved win, and without any further ado, I shall announce that our winner for Poetry Challenge #2 is . . .

Rebecca Blevins for The Reading Tree!

Congratulations, Rebecca! You've just been granted bragging rights, and to prove that you won, I'm sending you a widget/button to go on the sidebar of your blog announcing your win to the world.

Any of you that didn't get the chance to read the poems this week, I'm leaving them posted until this week's challenge begins, so you still have time to go and read them. It's worth the time, believe me. And just to wet your appetite for more poetry, I'm posting Rebecca's poem right here.

The Reading Tree

Book bangs at my side suspended,

Wrinkly plastic crinkles as I

Jump, hug the rough branch, swing my

Bare legs around, bark does bite, but

Worth a scrape or three

Shift around, slightly shaky then

Become concrete, steady, steady

Stand and climb, four, five, the story

Thumps with golden promise, it is

Nearly free

Reach, pull, sit and rest and

Dangle legs, lean back on another

Branch, quiet, sacred, no one else

Comes here, but ants—I share, birds all

Ignore me

Slide the plastic off my arm and

Hold my world close to me, sunlight

Splashes, dots the pages, I am

Smiling by myself—but I am not

Alone.

Poetry Challenge #2 Voting

The poems are posted and voting has begun!

The poetry challenge voting runs through Saturday at midnight and anyone can vote. Just read through the poems under the poetry challenge heading, then go to the sidebar and click the button of the one you liked best.

A few new rules:

1) If you entered a poem, please don't vote for yourself.

2) If you entered a poem and want your friends and family to vote, please don't tell them which poem is yours. Let them choose their favorites just like everyone else does. It's only fair, right? Let the poems speak for themselves.

That's all! Now go and enjoy these beautiful entries, all memories from childhood by the authors.

Flash Fiction Challenge Winner!

Well, our first Flash Fiction Challenge is done, and boy did we have a blast with this one. The prompts for the challenge were a wolf, purple, and murder. Things were neck and neck for quite a while there, with a four way tie that was finally broken near the end.

And without further ado, I will announce our top three winners. You might want to take the time to go and read the stories if you haven't had a chance yet. All of the entries were entertaining and very good. But the one who took the cake, triumphing over all other entries, was--

"NIGHT DANCE" written by James Blevins with 6 out of 23 votes

Coming in a close second was "MURDER IN THE PINES" by Karen Hoover (ME!) with 5 votes

And a very close third was "THE PRANK" by Betsy Love with 4 votes

Thanks to everyone for entering, voting, and reading. I hope you'll return next Monday for Flash Fiction challenge #2 with all new prompts and a heck of a lot of fun! Way to go, James!!!

Poetry Challenge #2

Hello, my friends! A new poetry challenge begins today. Visit the Poetry Challenge tab to find out what this week's prompt is.

You have until Midnight Thursday to submit your poems to me for posting, and then voting will begin,

Can't wait to see what you come up with this time around!

The Flash Fiction Voting Begins!

The stories are posted and ready to be voted upon! Now, here are the rules if you wish to vote.

You must read all the stories all the way through, not just vote on a story because your friend wrote it. You may still vote for your friend, but please take the time to read the rest of the stories first.

You may pick only one to receive your vote

You must go to the sidebar and press the button of your favorite story.

Check back on Friday to find out who won.

Read away, dear friends, and don't forget to vote! (gee, I sound like a commercial . . .)

Celebrate Life

A friend of mine posted this on Facebook today and it just hit me particularly hard. I had to share.

First EVER Flash Fiction Challenge

Hi guys! Today begins the first flash fiction challenge I've ever had the privilege of hosting. You might be wondering what the heck is flash fiction? Will it explode? The answer to that is, heavens, NO! Flash fiction is a 1,000 word short story or scene that is written in no more than an hour. And yes, it can be less than 1,000 words. Just not more. I've laid out all the rules for you under the challenge instructions tab, and the prompt and further instructions are on the flash fiction challenge tab.

Now, before you start freaking out and run away screaming from my blog, you need to know this isn't as hard as it seems. I used to say I could never write short fiction. All my short stories turn into novels, and my novels into series. And they still do! But I've gotten some great story idea starts from flash fiction. It's a great exercise because it shuts down the editor. You don't have time to listen to that pessimistic critic because you've only got an hour to write. It lets your creative brain just fly and teaches you how to let her.

Now, the biggest challenge for all you perfectionists out there is the no editing rule. That's right, I said no editing-unless you type super, super fast and can get your thousand words done and have time left over to edit within the hour. When the hour is up, you're done. Kaput, Finished. You're on your honor with this, but please be honest so it will be fair to all the other players.

Again, don't be scared. Try it. Life is all about trying new things and seeing what fits, right? Give this one a chance and you might have just found a new way to spark your creativity.

I can't wait to see what you come up with!

The Poetry Challenge Results Are In!

I know I said I'd post the results on Monday, but the contest is now officially over, and our winner won by such overwhelming odds, I just couldn't wait.

We had seven poetry submissions that were all inspired by the picture of a celtic butterfly. Yes, this one here. Each and every poem was beautiful in its own right, but there was one that stood out above the rest, receiving nine out of the seventeen votes cast.

And our winner is . . . TAMARA PASSEY! And for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of reading her words, I'm posting the poem here for all to see.

The Masterpiece

Who drew us this way?

Me here and you there

where we fit so seamlessly

If I look close and follow aline

I think I see where I end and

You begin

But then I don't

Curves are hard to follow

And I'm sure the artist

Planned it

So we wouldn't spend our time

Trying to see how separate we are

But notice, instead, the

masterpiece

We are together

Delicate and strong enough

To take flight.

Isn't that beautiful? I'm going to leave all of this week's entries up on The Poetry Challenge Page, until I post the next prompt on Wednesday. Take the time to read them, if you will. Poetry brings such a joy in language and I'm so thrilled to have so many joining me in this challenge. Thanks to you all for your hard work and beautiful words.

Until next week! Adios!

Sprinting Friday

Just a reminder that the poetry challenge voting runs through Saturday at midnight and anyone can vote. Just read through the poems under the poetry challenge heading, then go to the sidebar and click the button of the one you liked best. It's that simple! And be prepared. Monday is my first ever flash fiction challenge. Don't worry, I'll explain more about how you can participate Monday.

Now on to other things. :)

Today I'd like to introduce you to a few friends of mine. Some of them are new,some of them are old, but all of them are freakin AWESOME! To begin, I need to tell you the story of how this all got started. You see, my good friend (and brilliant editor) Tristi Pinkston held a marathon writing sprint a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday. We started around noon and went to midnight. Some people could only write for a portion of the day, but there were a lucky few of us who wrote all day long, taking breaks every hour for about ten minutes, and a longer break about mid-way.

I wrote 10,000 words that day. Now for those of you who don't realize how many words that is, YA Fantasy comes in around 60,000 to 80,000 words, unless you're J.K. Rowling. That is a HUGE chunk of a book written in a single day. Well, I had so much fun with that, I didn't want to stop, so I created this awesome place where writers can go. It's called Sprint Writers Central and you can find it at sprintwriters.blogspot.com. There is a chat room that is just for visiting with other authors, talking over writing problems, brainstorming, begging for help, or just hanging out. It's called The Chatterbox. There is also a separate chat room that is for our writing sprints called The Splatterbox, as we tend to splatter our words across the page when we are sprint writing.

Now, you may be asking yourself at this point, "What the heck is sprint writing???" Well, let me tell you. Sprint Writing is writing without thought as fast as you can. We set a timer. There is one beneath The Splatterbox, if we choose to use it. When the timer begins, we start writing on whatever we are working on, be it poetry, essays, blogs, novels, or even edits. We work for a set period of time that could be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour, depending on who is there. When the timer stops, we stop and take a break, then come back to it later. Sometimes we do several hours of sprint writing at a time. Other times we put in fifteen minutes before folding our laundry. Whatever time is available, we use it.

The most awesome part of Sprint Writers Central, are the friends I have made, first, and second, that I actually write. I'm no longer alone! It doesn't matter that some of our sprinters live in Canada and others in Missouri or Kansas or Utah. We are able to come together as a community of writers and work together as if we were sitting in the same room.

IT. IS. AWESOME!!!

So, if you're looking for someone to write with, or a community of writers to help inspire you, come and join us anytime. There is a schedule posted on the site of when some of us will be there. Starting today, every Friday I am hosting a write-in, at Sprint Writers Central from 8:00 pm until Midnight. I'll be there writing.

Will you?

Quote of the Day: "Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space."

~Orson Scott Card

TODAY!

The Poetry challenge begins today! It seriously is lots of fun and I hope you guys will take advantage of this opportunity and join in the fun. Otherwise I'll be playing all by myself, and where's the fun in that???

So, if you're interested in joining, read the challenge instructions, then go look at the Poetry Challenge Prompt and see what you can come up with by tomorrow night. It doesn't have to be perfect. Just have fun and we'll see you on the other side! It's so much fun, I just said FUN five--no--SIX times in this short post! How fun--I mean--AWESOME is that??? (subliminal message here. Poetry=fun. Poetry=fun. Poetry=fun . . .)

Photo credited to JJPacros on Flickr.com