This week's writing prompt is "things I'm allergic to." Hoo, boy, that could go so many ways!

I'll start with the most prosaic: actual allergies.

Way back when in the middle of what appeared to be a nasty case of seasonal allergies, a doctor tested me for allergies. More than one person predicted I'd have to rid the house of my furry critters. I cannot tell you the relief and validation I felt when I learned that, no, I am not allergic to cats. I am particularly allergic to grass pollen, dust mites, and cockroaches.

I learned back in high school that I am lactose intolerant, which is basically an allergy to cow's milk. I tried goat's milk and ... ewww. That was nasty. I don't often drink milk or eat ice cream and limit consumption of cheese, because my body doesn't like them no matter how good they taste.

I've seen allergies affect horses, most notably HYPP, also called "Impressive Syndrome." Back in the 1990s, scientists finally confirmed what Quarter Horse, Appaloosa, and Paint horse breeders knew on an experiential level: many horses descending from the famous and wildly influential stallion Impressive had something wrong with them. Scientists discovered that something to be a genetic mutation originating with Impressive. Without going into lots of scientific detail I don't understand, HYPP is basically an allergy to alfalfa hay. Some horses are more allergic than others, with severely allergic horses suffering convulsions and even death from exposure to alfalfa.

Going on to the less prosaic, I'm allergic to idiots. Like those who don't suffer fools gladly, I have little patience with people who do and say stupid things with dismaying regularity. We all succumb to occasional outbursts of foolishness and silliness, but some people ... it's best not to get into detail, lest my already high blood pressure spike even further. Unfortunately, I probably fall within that category of idiot.

I'm also allergic to TSTL (too stupid to live) and doormat heroines and womanizing, abusive heroes. I don't understand the appeal of a woman who consistently makes poor decisions--especially those which put herself and others in danger--and holds on to her usually erroneous convictions with a pigheadedness to the point of terminal obstinacy. Such characters are those who do not learn or evolve.

Doormat heroines exhibit the opposite quality: they let everyone else run roughshod over over them. They exhaust themselves pleasing everyone else and trying to fulfill others' demands, not matter how unreasonable. They never stand up for themselves. When I encounter BDSM romance (which, by the way, I don't like), that type of personality tends to feature in heroines of those stories.

Then we come to the jerks, the cads, the so-called heroes whose words and actions lead one to think they could have written the Malleus Maleficarum. I understand the appeal of a bad boy: every woman wants to be that special woman who reforms the rake and turns him into a devoted, supportive husband. What I don't understand is the appeal of a man who views and treats women like toilet paper: good for one (probably disgusting) use only and to be used just the once. Add that attitude to a twisted pleasure derived from striking and confining women (cuffs, ropes, etc.) and my stomach turns. Ain't nothing sexy about that.

My allergies extend to poor writing. Sure, I freely admit that what I produce doesn't fall under the category of deathless prose. Much of it's pretty mundane and humdrum. But I know the proper use of apostrophes. I understand that good writing doesn't drone on and on in passive voice.

So, you have this week's regularly scheduled rant according to someone else's prompt. Next week, I'll discuss how my family survives my writing.

#HenHousePublishing #HollyBargoBooks #SpringfieldOHBookFair

This week's writing prompt fits in with the Halloween season: My biggest fear.

I'm not a brave person, never have been. As a kid, I feared getting into trouble, because punishment usually involved painful spankings and humiliation. That fear lingers. I don't worry about a physical whupping, but humiliation still burns. The older I get, the more I fear being hurt. Where I once might have faced off a fractious horse, I now duck aside because I am cognizant of my own mortality.

I suffer many fears large and small, most hidden behind a facade of reserve. Other fears I have no problem in expressing. I cringe and squeal like a coward when faced with wasps, cockroaches, spiders, and rats. On the first trail ride on Diva (aka "the monster"), I ducked, squirmed, and squealed as she plowed through every single spider web on the trail. The horse did a stellar job of concentrating on the business at hand rather than the idiot on her back. I couldn't fault her there.

I fear failure. Who doesn't? But I fail often enough that failure itself has become an old friend. It's almost comforting to know that, yep, once again just wasn't good enough. So, I'll lick my wounds and sulk for a while, then hoist myself up by my own bootstraps to try again.

Any author who doesn't get accustomed to failure will never succeed. At least that's what I tell myself. If I'm going to write--and I am--then the discouraging fizzle of book after book cannot prevent me from trying again with a new story, a new plot, maybe even a new genre.

But what's my biggest fear? I don't know. Perhaps it's the fear of disappointing those close to me or the fear of disappointing myself. Or something greater. I tend toward obsession and melancholy and must always guard against backsliding into acute depression. My younger son likes to state that writers have a higher rate of mental illness than other professions ... hint ... hint.

Some things are best kept private.

This week's blog challenge prompts participants to write about their favorite apps.

I associate apps with smartphones, something I neither have nor want. But apps, being the vernacular term for "applications," applies to desktop, laptop, and other handheld computers, too. So, I'll play.

• Adobe Creative Suite: I remember PageMaker. It was fabulous and a marked improvement upon the desktop publishing program I had been using. Now I use InDesign and flirt with Illustrator and PhotoShop. Acrobat is a treasure!
• Google Docs: Absolutely wonderful for sharing documents, it really comes in handy when I draft content for a client's review. No cumbersome swapping of files and getting lost in who's got which version.
• YouTube. Is this an app? Regardless, it's my own personal radio allowing me to listen to the music that suits my mood when I work.
• Calibre. This nifty program helps me know what my books will look like in epub and mobi formats.

For what it's worth, I dislike Microsoft Word, although I use it all the time. I really detest the way it assumes it knows what I want. I really liked WordPerfect, but that's just not a viable program anymore.

I'd included Amazon's Kindle, because that's how I read most books these days, but I've got the device and don't need to download the Kindle Reading App.

I have a love-hate relationship with Gmail. For some weird reason, it makes me login at least twice, if not three times, to access any of my email accounts. That's a nuisance and just darned irritating.

I do use social media, although I don't particularly like it.

Being more or less a technophobe, I have no  great affection for computers, regardless of how much time I spend using them. They're tools.