Thursday, January 10, 2019

The Number 19 and Me #OurAuthorGang

From The Artful Scribbler,
Rick Haynes


The number 19 and me.
I was born in the late 1940’s.
My address was 19 Hoyle Road somewhere in darkest London. Well, just after the war and food rationing still in force, none of my family had enough to eat, let alone pay the electricity bills.
My first sexual encounter arrived at the age of, you guessed it, 19. Talk about a leap, or was it a grope in the dark?  Without such a willing and very sexy blonde partner, I guess my virgin years would have continued. Thank goodness they didn’t for the joy of sex was strong in this fumbler with the lights out.
I was brought up to be polite so always said thank you before we redressed.
Not long after, I found myself surprisingly engaged to the blonde haired bombshell. I was still only 19 years old. Don’t ask me how or why, but the young lady in question was definitely not up the duff. In new English speak that means she was not pregnant, with child, or in any other way you wish to call it.
I hadn’t reached my 20th birthday when we split up. Alas, she had found another mug; I mean a nice man with lots of money who treated her to all the things she yearned for. Surprisingly, she returned my engagement ring. Unsurprisingly, I bought a very nice red and white motor car with the money from the sale of the ring.
I worked in an office in the City of London with the address 19-21 Moorgate. They were happy days but the traveling - a two-hour journey into London from my home on the south coast of England, then from the midlands - wore me down. It took me 19 years to break the long distance travelling habit.
Writing my first short story in 2014 should have been fun but I ceased at 19 words because it was complete rubbish. My writing group were far to kind to say so, but their faces told me all I wanted to know. It was back to school, big time.
My mottos are, 
Laughter - the best medicine in the world. 
Reading and writing- the best pastime. 
Laugh Loud – Love Always – Live Long
Yep, you guessed correctly, they total 19 words. Another relationship to my legendary number then.
If that isn’t a coincidence, what is?
Tenuous Links.
In Tarot, the number 19 is associated with the sun. I love the warmth of the sunshine and am really active in the summer months. If I could hibernate in winter, I would, as I absolutely loathe the cold.
The number 19 is masculine and that is definitely me. 
November 19th is International Men’s day and without any doubt, I am a man. If asked, I would like to think my lovely wife would confirm that very fact. 
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1877-1881) was the  19th president of the United States. With only the -n- missing in his surname, I’m sure we are related as I looked up the ancestry of the old English name of Haynes. Hayes was clearly a derivative of Haynes. And if you replace the letters Bir with Ri, you have Richard. No doubts now are there? Maybe I should run for president?
The average age of the combat soldiers in Vietnam was just 19. The war started on November 1st 1955 and ended on April 30th 1975. It thus lasted for 19 years; we’ll forget the extra six months. Don’t you see what this means? If I had been born in America, I would have been drafted in 1967 at the age of 19.
Nearly the end.
19 backwards is 91. I hope to live that long as I have so many novels to write and publish. And that’s ignoring all the ideas floating around in my overworked brain.

Rick Haynes

I was called many names as a kid but luckily my original moniker has stuck with me over the years. I can imagine the confusion if I was still called Doughnut or Onze instead of Rick.
My passion is fantasy and my two novels, Evil Never Dies and Heroes Never Fade, have received excellent reviews. The third in the Maxilla series, Magic Never Ends, should be available later this year once my new novel, Outcast has been published.
As one reviewer posted about Heroes Never Fade – ‘Fans of Games of Thrones must read this book!’
From the time that my dad told me tales when I was young, I have always loved short stories, and with his inspiration, I have written several collections, as well as being invited to submit tales for other anthologies. 
I do like a little bit of fun and Chocolate Chunks From Crazy Crete - a collection of tales from that magical isle - is as zany as the people. With the locals asking me to listen to their stories, how could I refuse their plea to put them all in a paperback? You’d never believe what they told me so you must read my book.
The first reviewer posted, ‘It landed on my Kindle this morning and I haven’t stopped laughing.’
With humour running through my veins and my eyes sparkling with the thought of another funny story bubbling away inside my head may I warmly welcome you to the world of my vivid imagination.
Love and Laughter.
Rick

Read our older posts:
2019
2018
2017
https://asmallgangofauthors.blogspot.com/p/2017-post-gallery.html

COMMENTS

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Erika M Szabo via Google+

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Interesting post about the lucky number 19 at #OurAuthorGang
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Thanks for having me on board, Erika.

Joe Bonadonna via Google+

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today on #OurAuthorGang, Rick Haynes talks about himself, love, laughter and what the number 19 means to him.
 
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Thanks Joe. Maybe I should add that I am writing in the year, 2019.
 
+Rick Haynes -- Ha! I didn't think of that!

Chris Weigand

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Great post. Thanks for sharing.
 
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Thank you, Chris.

Chris Weigand shared this via Google+

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
 
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Thank you for sharing, Chris.

Joe Bonadonna

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Excellent and very personal blog, Rick!
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Toi Thomas via Google+

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Today, The Artful Scribbler Rick Haynes shares his relationship the number 19. #OurAuthorGang
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Thank you kindly, Toi. I enjoyed your video.

Tricia Drammeh shared this via Google+

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Thank you, Tricia.

Eva Pasco

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
 
Applauding the onset of your writing journey--with 19 claps.
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Nice response, Eva. Thank you.

Stephanie Collins via Google+

3 weeks ago  -  Shared publicly
Erika M Szabo originally shared this
 
Interesting post about the lucky number 19 at #OurAuthorGang
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Thank you Erika and Stephanie.

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