Blog – C. Lee McKenzie

That Extra Hour Come March

March 23, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

It’s said that during this month, people start behaving oddly. Well, no wonder. Here in California, everyone’s a bit nuts because we’ve lost an hour of sleep, and it takes a while to adjust. I’m used to writing early in the morning, so it takes almost all of March to get used to writing in the dark. Even the dogs are off schedule, needing their walk or their dinner at the usual time, but having to wait an extra hour just because…

Just because why?

Because it saves energy. That’s the justification. The idea came from New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson (1895) and British builder William Willett (1905). I think we’re lucky that neither of their proposed form of DST was adopted. Hudson wanted the clocks to go forward two hours! If we thought losing one hour was bad, think of two hours.

Willett had a more complicated suggestion. He wanted us to set the clocks ahead twenty minutes each Sunday in April, then back in the same fashion in September.

I don’t know about anyone else, but with this system, I’d never be on time to anything.

What’s your take on DST? Love it? Hate it? Could care less?

So what’s coming up that’s of interest to writers?

The WEP in April has a great theme: “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” Entries start April 20. If you’re interested, here’s the LINK to the details.

If you missed the March 14 post about Where to Begin Your Marketing Research by L. Diane Wolfe, you can read it now. It has a lot of solid information for writers.

Quote of the Week: “I don’t mind going back to daylight saving time. With inflation, the hour will be the only thing I’ve saved all year.” — Victor Borge (It seems history does repeat!)

A Did-You-Know-This Wednesday

March 16, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

I’ve just finished reading Thunderstruck (thank you Jeff for the recommendation) and–as usual I’m impressed by Erik Larson’s research and writing. In short, Larson does another masterful job of threading together two stories that unfold during the same time and have historical significance.

In Thunderstruck, one of these stories is about Marconi’s struggle to perfect wireless communication while the other is about a Dr. Crippen, a mild-mannered man driven to murder by a dominating, demanding wife. I thoroughly enjoyed discovering how these two stories had any bearing on each other.

…and here’s the Did-You-Know-This part.

I also enjoyed discovering some things about this Edwardian period that I didn’t know. For one, I’d always thought the co-axial cable that connected Europe with the U.S. had been laid on the Atlantic floor sometime in the mid-1900s. Actually, it first connected both sides of the world in 1858. It ran from Ireland to Newfoundland.

And did you know Marconi was not a trained scientist? I didn’t. That was one of the reasons, the scientific community resisted his claims. Another was that he didn’t behave like a scientist–well, that figures. He refused to share his failures and fudged a bit on his successes. Not very scientific.

Whenever I learn something new while reading a well-crafted, well-researched book, I’m grateful and excited. If you have a book to recommend, I’m always up for suggestions.

This month I did a bit of promo for my Pete and Weasel middle-grade fantasy series. N.N Light Book Heaven is running a giveaway that you might be interested in if you’re a reader and like to buy books.

The Adventures Of Pete and Weasel — Available on Amazon

https://youtu.be/hv7-hdcvfQY

Enter Here

Enter and get some free books…maybe.

Quote of the Week: “You know, everybody’s ignorant, just on different subjects.”
― Will Rogers

Ashes On This First Wednesday

March 2, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and the hashtag is #IWSG.

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG posts. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience, or a story. Include your answer to the question in your IWSG post or let it inspire your post if you are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!

March 2 question – Have you ever been conflicted about writing a story or adding a scene to a story? How did you decide to write it or not?

The awesome co-hosts for the March 2 posting of the IWSG are Janet Alcorn,Pat Garcia,Natalie Aguirre, and Shannon Lawrence!

I’m skipping this month’s question because I don’t have an answer. I can’t remember being conflicted about including a scene. Now, I’m scratching my head because I’m wondering if I should have had this experience and somehow missed it.

For those who want to continue playing with WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY, please carry on. This is one long-lived meme!

It’s Ash Wednesday, so when that dawned on me, I turned my thoughts to what that day means for so many. Because my mind seems to skip around a lot, I re-read one of my favorite poets, Mr. T. S. Elliot, and then wrote this post.

The practice of marking people’s heads with ashes from the burnt palms of Palm Sunday gave this day its name. As I remember, the ashes are a symbol that represents man’s mortality. “From ashes you came and to ashes you shall return.” The ritual of this day is meant to remind Christians that while they are physical beings, they are also spiritual beings.

T. S. Elliot, had long been dissatisfied with the materialistic world of his day, and set out to explore this dissatisfaction in his poetry (The Waste Land and The Hollow Men). In his poem, Ash Wednesday, Elliot speaks to hope for human salvation in a faithless world. In it, the point of view character, begins as one who is hopeless and distraught about his human error. As the poem continues, it moves on to address what Elliot himself was striving for, an acceptance of true love. This was about spiritual love, not worldly love.

It seems that by the time he penned this poem, Elliot had turned from the materialistic world toward the spiritual one. He wrote, “Because I do not hope to turn again.” I take that to mean he believed he was on the right course away from the world he’d left us in with The Hollow Men and The Waste Land and was now headed toward one that was full of meaning and hope and spiritual fulfillment.

I’m sure my take on this is simplistic, but this is how I’ve always thought about these poems and T. S. Elliot who grappled with one of man’s largest choices in life. I’ve always been fascinated with how brilliantly he put such an important philosophical journey into words for others to consider.

If you’d like to read the entire poem, here’s a LINK that will take you to it.

Quote of the Week: “When the whole world is running headlong towards the precipice, one who walks in the opposite direction is looked at as being crazy.”– T. S. Elliot

La Fin et Le Tigre

February 23, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

So this is the last week of February and the last week I’ll be posting the WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY. This has been fun, and I hope some of you have enjoyed the stories–reading them or writing them. These are my last two lists for the month of love. Have at it.

In case you’re new, here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme: “Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching are encouraged.”

enchanted	champagne
lavish	caviar
scurrying	candlelight
bouquet	heartshaped
smash	flee
anyway	excitement

Image credit **Ian-Robinson** on **Wunderstock** (license)

It seems that not only is February my birthday month, but 2022 is my year as well. Yes, I am a Tiger…Whoopty do! I thought that was just wonderful, but when I looked into the characteristics of people born in this year, I discovered there may be some drawbacks. While we all love to hear how great we are if we’re Aquarians or Capricorns–Tigers or Pigs, we should heed what our other, perhaps more objective, characteristics are. Since I’m into creating tables this month, I thought I’d list my positive and negative personality features, so if we ever meet, you’ll know how to deal with me.

The Great Tiger	The Not So Great Tiger
competitive	impetuous
independent	irritable
confident	overindulgent
brave	given to depression

Quote of the Week: “The good news is that she is one of the nicest people in the universe. The bad news is, that’s because she always does exactly what she pleases. An Aquarius female is rebellious, headstrong, and contrary. She can be selfishly independent and exasperating, especially when she is running through the house screaming, “freedom!”
― Hazel Dixon-Cooper, Born on a Rotten Day

Another Wordy Wednesday

February 16, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

This month I wanted to do something a little different, so I offered to come up with Words For Wednesday, and I’ve enjoyed the new visitors and their creative stories. I hope my regulars will find this a fun departure. Some have already jumped in and written some short, shorts using the prompts. They’ve all been fun to read. So here we go again.

Here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme: “Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching is encouraged.” Ready. Set. Go!

Sweetheart	Married
Succotash	Lately
Semi-stable	Diet
Solace	Denied
Singularly	Squash
Solution	Urban

Shattered by C. Lee McKenzie — AMAZON . B&N . SMASHWORDS . EVERNIGHT TEEN

I’ve been watching the Olympics, and as usual, am in awe of what athletes from around the world have achieved. When I came up with the idea for Shattered, it was during a winter Olympic season, and I started with a question. What if you’d trained most of your life for a chance to compete for the Gold, and then something happened that denied you your one opportunity?

There are so many ways this story could have played out, but I chose to write about a girl who must not only deal with a plan-altering event but also with a life-altering one. Fortunately for my heroine, she turned out to be one tough and resilient woman.

EXCERPT: Libby’s mom delivers the tragic news.

Mom swiped at both cheeks, then between tight lips, whispered, “Libby, you can’t ski in the games.”

I knew hearts didn’t stop beating until you died, yet I was certain mine had just stuttered to a halt. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs refused to expand. My throat went dry. I’d planned most of my life for this one year. I’d worked out, built my strength, gone to ski camps, kept at it until I’d made it through the selection process—until I’d almost made the US Olympic slalom team. I had my passport. I’d packed my bags weeks ago. Now, my mother was telling me I couldn’t do what I’d lived for all these years?

EXCERPT: Libby’s first lesson on an adaptive ski.

Mack stood behind me and pushed me across to where instructors were giving new skiers lessons on Franklin Hill.

The upside was that I wasn’t staring down a steep slope. The downside was that I wasn’t staring down a steep slope. I’d stopped skiing on Franklin Hill when I was eight.

“We start here, Libby, but I have a feeling we’re going to be moving on real quick all the way to Stover’s Mountain. You’ve got the skills, so I know you’re going to be one fast learner on this new equipment.”
I wished I felt as confident as he did.

Mack held onto the back of the ski and shoved off, skiing behind me. Panic fluttered inside my chest when I started down the gentle white hill. I’d done this before, but on two skis when I’d been a kid. My dad used to stand me between his knees and zig-zag all the way to the bottom. Now here I was back starting at stage one with someone showing me how to ski. I had to learn a whole new way of doing this. I was a beginner again.

Quote of the Week: “A writer gets to live yet another life every time he or she creates a new story.”
― Pawan Mishra

A Salute To The Short Story & Words for Wednesday!

February 9, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

What is my favorite short story?

While it was a hard choice, The Lottery won with A Rose For Emily a very close second. I suppose they both fall in “the best” short story category for me because they both employ one of my favorite strategies–a dawning sense of horror. Instead of clubbing you over the head with brutality, Shirley Jackson leads you like a lamb to the slaughter.

She sets the scene in the village with a description of a sunny June day–flowers, children, and their families gathering in the town square. There’s an anticipation of what’s to come, a celebration–a tradition the people inherited from so long again that the “box”– a central piece of the ceremony–was terribly shabby. The townsfolk couldn’t be folksier: Bobby Martin, Harry Jones, and Dickie Delacroix, Mr. Summers, “a round-faced, jovial man…” They all have a chance to win, and that’s what electrifies the entire village.

In about three thousand words, the fundamental irony and the subtle use of symbol create a story that you’ll never forget.

If you like short stories, you’ll find The Lottery a gripping one. If you’re thinking about writing them, then take a look at this help-filled book by Shannon Lawerence.

Business of Short Stories by Lawerence — There’s never been a better time to get into short stories!
$3.99 for e-book | $13.99 for paperback
**Amazon** | **Barnes & Noble** | **Smashwords**

Blurb: Whether you’re looking to add short stories to your repertoire as a solo pursuit or in addition to novel writing, The Business of Short Stories covers every aspect from writing to marketing. Learn the dynamics of short story writing, where to focus your editing efforts, how and where to submit, how to handle acceptances and rejections, what to do with reprints, and how to market yourself and your stories online and in person. The information in The Business of Short Stories has been distilled from over a decade of short story publishing experience so you don’t have to learn the hard way. You’ll find information on submission formatting, cover letters, querying a collection, sending proposals to writing events, how to create a website, SEO, social media, and so much more. This is an invaluable resource for short story writers.

Shannon Lawrence has made a career of short stories, with over a decade of experience and more than fifty short stories published in magazines and anthologies. In addition, she’s released three horror short story collections with a mix of new and previously published stories. Her true-crime podcast Mysteries, Monsters, & Mayhem is going into its third season.

My Website and Social Media

Website . Facebook . Twitter . Instagram . Book Bub . Goodreads . Amazon . Podcast Website

Here’s Words For Wednesday, Week Two!

I’m providing the prompts for this long-lived meme for February’s WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY. All the prompts will have something to do with LOVE, so I hope this will get and keep you into the spirit of St. Valentine’s month and that you’ll leave your story in a comment. If you don’t want to play, enjoy what others leave. It’s fun no matter how you play.

Choose either column one or column two, or if you’re really into this, write something using the words from both columns. Ready. Set. Write!

Gift	Yesterday
Surprise	Lovely
Stubborn	Sprinkled
Laughter	February
Generous	Husband
Flowers	Marriage

Quote of the Week: “Write a short story every week. It’s not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.” Ray Bradbury

It’s Time To Write About Love On This First Wednesday

February 2, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

This month is special to me for a lot of reasons: I met my husband in February. My birthday’s in February, and chocolate eating is encouraged in February. So to celebrate…I’m posting the prompts for February’s WORDS FOR WEDNESDAY. Of course, all the prompts will have something to do with LOVE, so I hope you’ll get into the spirit of St. Valentine’s month and leave your story in a comment. If you don’t want to play, enjoy what others leave. It’s fun no matter how you play.
Here’s what Elephant’s Child writes to explain the meme:

“Essentially the aim is to encourage us to write. Each week we are given a choice of prompts: which can be words, phrases, music, or an image. What we do with those prompts is up to us: a short story, prose, a song, or a poem… We can use some or all of the prompts, and mixing and matching are encouraged.”

Choose either column one or column two, or if you’re really into this, write something using the words from both columns. Ready. Set. Go!

Realize	Flummoxed
Sticky	Diet
Chocolate-covered	Stuffed
Wrapped	Inspected
Doorbell	Heart-shaped
Delight	Box

Sign of the Green Dragon by C. Lee McKenzie

Let me do a quick segue into another love-related topic–FOOD! But What Are They Eating? is hosting The Sign of the Green Dragon today with my post From Quesadillas to Bok Choi. Come see what my kids munch on during their adventure to find hidden treasure.

Remember, the question is optional!

Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn’t around anymore? Anyone you miss?

The awesome co-hosts for the February 2 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler,Jacqui Murray,
Sandra Cox, and Lee Lowery!

My husband was my staunch supporter. He read what I wrote, and that alone was a huge deal because he was a non-fiction–technical manual–financial report kind of reader. When I needed to get to a book event anywhere in the world, he helped me with the details: flights, packing, presentations. Yes, he even listened to what I planned to deliver at conferences.

If I was up in one of my MOODS–“I can’t write…Why do I even think I’m a writer…”Nobody’s going to read this!–he was there to talk me down. I guess I don’t need to state it more clearly. I miss him and all that he did for me every day.

Quote of the Week: “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” Dr. Seuss

Did You Know This?

January 26, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

I love to read history, so when I came across a book that covered a lot of history about libraries–one of my favorite haunts–I had a few weeks of great reading. It was quite fittingly called The Library Book.

Librarians are as diverse as any population, and Charles Lummis (librarian of the early 1900s) brought some interesting ideas into the profession. They didn’t stick, so interesting can be read as unacceptable. He decided he would make sure the library patrons read only “healthy” material and created the “Literary Pure Food Act” to warn readers about certain books with dangerous content.

He despised pseudoscience books which I suppose we classify as Sci-Fi today, so they in particular were the target for his warning system. To his credit, he didn’t take these books off the shelves, but he had a blacksmith make a branding iron with a skull and crossbones, then branded the “distasteful” books on each frontispiece.

Ah, the good old days!

So who was Charles Lummis besides someone who thought it was his duty to protect the reading public from their own bad choices in books?

He was born in 1859, in Lynn, Massachusetts, and became a journalist, and used his pen to advocate for Indian rights and historic preservation. As a young man, he traveled throughout the Southwest, finally settling in Los Angeles. By the end of his life, he had been a historian, photographer, ethnographer, archaeologist, poet, and librarian.

And speaking of books…there’s a new one out February 1 from Dancing Lemur Press!

My Magic Summer
With the Moon Maidens
By Brian Carmody
Print 9781939844804 $17.95
EBook 9781939844811 $4.99
Young Adult – Contemporary Fantasy/Coming of Age/Boys & Men

Who are these moon maidens?

Summer of ’94 and Connor Whelan is excited to spend the last three months before his senior year with his uncle in Texas. Aware this trip is due to his mom’s cancer treatments, he still hopes this will be a season of magic.

He gets his wish when he encounters three magical women one night. Claiming to be from the moon itself, bewitching Iluna, flighty Eiru, and motherly Cassiopeia are about to make Connor’s last summer of childhood one to remember.

However, his interest in local girl Laura puts him in hot water with her tough boyfriend. His fascination with Iluna also confuses him. Will the moon maidens’ lessons about joy, wonder, and hope get him through this crazy summer?

An award-winning screenwriter and author, Brian Carmody is a dreamer, a wisher, a hoper, a prayer, a pretender, and a magic bean buyer. He’s had moondreams from Texas to Virginia, and now California, where he has plenty of other flax-golden tales to spin by his fire. www.brianzwriter.com/

Links:
Dancing Lemur Press – http://www.dancinglemurpressllc.com/new-adult-young-adult
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0965XBJ7Y
Barnes & Noble – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-magic-summer-brian-carmody/1139629159?ean=9781939844804
iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id1573280572
Kobo – https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9781939844811
Scribed – https://www.scribd.com/search?query=9781939844811&language=0
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58346132-my-magic-summer-with-the-moon-maidens

Quote of the Week: “Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.” Henry Louis Gates, Critic and Scholar

Secret Tributes

January 19, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

I love writing and sharing that experience with other people. And I love creating and receiving secret tributes from fellow writers when they publish. Unlike dedications, only the writer and the person being mentioned know about these gifts of gratitude.

So what am I talking about?

In my book, Not Guilty, I had a lot of favorite characters, but there was one named Buddy that was special. He was special because not only was he a fabulous dog, but a real one. Buddy had his own website with tales about his adventures with his favorite human, Mike. Mike posted from Buddy’s point of view a lot of the time, and his take on the world was heartwarming and funny.

I was so sad when Buddy died. I felt as if he and Mike were good friends of mine. I asked Mike if he would mind if I paid my own tribute to his beloved Canine Couch Potato, and he not only didn’t mind, he loved the idea.

Buddy Mike Boyd's best friend — The Real Buddy

Here’s a scene about Buddy from Not Guilty.

By nature, Buddy was a people-loving retriever-mix who had come to him by some unknown chain of dog owners. He had a long history of being in and out of the pound. On their first day at the beach together, Devon found out why. Buddy hated water. He even hated wet sand under his paws. It took a lot of convincing to get Buddy on the sand that first day. Then they’d no sooner settled on the blanket when Buddy let out a yelp and hightailed it back to the asphalt. His leash whipped behind. People jumped out of the frantic dog’s way. Devon didn’t catch him until they’d run the length of Sugar Cove. Over the next few years, Buddy finally agreed to walk on the dry sand, but he never became the beach buddy Devon had imagined. And Frisbees could sail overhead all day without a single blink. He was a failed retriever, but he wasn’t a failed friend.

Not Guilty by C. Lee McKenzie — AMAZON . SMASHWORDS . EVERNIGHT TEEN . KOBO . APPLE

As every writer knows, books come into the world in different ways, but one thing is for sure, they need early readers with keen editorial talent to help get through those drafts. I’ve been so lucky to have great critique partners over the years. A few have been with me since before publication. They’ve suffered through a lot of my bad writing. They’ve pushed me to do better each time I’ve crafted something, and they’ve always been there for me when I finally launched a book. They’ve also said “Thank You” by tucking me into their stories.

In Black Flowers White Lies, by Yvonne Ventresca, I’m Lee, the flower seller. I loved this walk-on role, and I loved the secrecy–kind of a Members Only exclusivity. Yvonne and I have been writing friends for years. I’ve always valued her help with my manuscripts.

Weekly Quote: “I think if I’ve learned anything about friendship, it’s to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don’t walk away, don’t be distracted, don’t be too busy or tired, don’t take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.” Jon Katz, Author

Good News For Superman

January 12, 2022 By C. Lee McKenzie

One thing about taking a break from what you usually do daily is that your mind likes to take mini excursions into places it doesn’t often have time to visit. So while I was lolling around the house in December, it strangely and suddenly occurred to me that Superman was in deep trouble. He might still be leaping buildings in a single bound and peering through the walls of the bank vault with his electromagnetic spectrum vision, but where is he changing from Clark Kent into the super flying hero?

I haven’t seen a phonebooth outside of period movies in a decade.

Image credit: **tom_bullock** on **Wunderstock** (license)

I know. This sounds like the lead into a Jerry Seinfeld joke, but I couldn’t stop wondering. And then just last week, I discovered the answer. It’s what I call a Zoom Booth. Yes. It’s about the size of a phonebooth, but it’s soundproof and kind of sIeek with its metal and glass design. It appeared in my newly refurbished gym just when I was about to give up finding an answer to my question. What do you think? Is this the perfect 2022 replacement for Superman’s old changing room, or what?

Now, I admit that I haven’t seen the Superman & Lois series, so maybe the changing room issue has already been solved by the writers for that show. You can let me know, but if the writers haven’t come up with something as clever as the Zoom Booth, I feel I should let them know.

Now moving on to something totally unrelated, but important to me…

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that for two years I’ve been setting “virtual” destinations and walking to them. Walking every day for 3 or 4 miles (sometimes more on good days), was a substitute for not having access to my gym due to Covid.

My first challenge in 2020 was from the San Jose area to LA and back. That was a total of 696 miles. When I started, it was more of a joke than anything because I really didn’t expect to even get out of the town limits, but I was surprised how daily walks (almost daily…I wasn’t that strict) added up.

John Nicoles Trail, Santa Cruz Mountains, 2020

In 2021 I did a couple of challenges one was to Yosemite and the next was to Lake Tahoe, which meant I had to include a lot of steep trails if I was going to be “semi-accurate” in my virtual journey. The total miles were only 330, so I added deadlines to each trek to make the challenge more exciting. I didn’t make my first deadline, but I did just make my second one.

The benefits? I saw things on foot that I never saw from the window of my car. My calves became ready to take on just about any trail, and I gathered a rooting section along the way. One follower kept track of my mileage and my deadlines. That was really sweet.

So now I’m back at my gym. Back at a full schedule of Yoga and cardio. I still want to walk, but I’m going to have to create a different walking schedule. I just can’t do those daily miles. I need a new destination, and I’m excited about my walks in 2022!

I rambled on today, but sometimes it’s nice to set down what’s on my mind which might seem to have little to do with writing, but actually, it does. In December between thoughts about Superman’s predicament, I finished the first draft of a new book. And on all of those walks, I came up with ideas for stories or ways to fix ones I was working on.

Quote of the Week: “In the first place, you can’t see anything from a car.”
― ed abbey, author & essayist