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C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

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Good News, AtoZChallenge Theme Reveal and Hats Off Corner Welcomes Nick Wilford

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Good News


Principal Kyle Niederman deserves a pat on the back for putting his Cincinnati school kids at the forefront of concern. The school was to be closed for the 5th day in a row due to severe weather, and many of his students depend on free or subsidized lunches to guarantee one meal a day. No school. No lunch. So this principal asked his staff to deliver bags of food to those kids most in need. Now that’s a caring kind of guy.

 And Now. . . The AtoZ Challenge Theme Reveal!

SIGN UP FOR THE ATOZ NOW

If you’ve been here a few times this past year, you know I was in Burma (Myanmar) in November. Some of you who’ve stuck with me for a few years know I have the travel bug, and it bites quite frequently, so it can’t be any surprise that my theme this is going to be. . .Burma from A to Z.

I’ve added a small T/F quiz at the end of each post, so you can test you knowledge about this part of the world.  No grades. Just a bit of a challenge to pique your interest.

Hats Off Corner Welcomes Nick Wilford


REBEKAH ROMANI
A Change of Mind and Other Stories consists of a novella, four short stories and one flash fiction piece. This collection puts the extremes of human behavior under the microscope with the help of lashings of dark humor, and includes four pieces previously published in Writer’s Muse magazine.
In A Change of Mind, Reuben is an office worker so meek and mild he puts up with daily bullying from his boorish male colleagues as if it’s just a normal part of his day. But when a stranger points him in the direction of a surgeon offering a revolutionary new procedure, he can’t pass up the chance to turn his life around.
But this isn’t your average surgeon. For a start, he operates alone in a small room above a mechanic’s. And he promises to alter his patients’ personality so they can be anything they want to be…
In Marissa, a man who is determined to find evidence of his girlfriend’s infidelity ends up wondering if he should have left well alone.
The Dog God finds a chink in the armor of a man with a megalomaniacal desire to take over the world.
In The Insomniac, a man who leads an obsessively regimented lifestyle on one hour’s sleep a night finds a disruption to his routine doesn’t work for him.
Hole In One sees a dedicated golfer achieving a lifelong ambition.
The Loner ends the collection on a note of hope as two family members try to rebuild their lives after they are torn apart by jealousy.
Bio
Nick Wilford is a writer and stay-at-home dad. Once a journalist, he now makes use of those rare times when the house is quiet to explore the realms of fiction, with a little freelance editing and formatting thrown in. When not working, he can usually be found spending time with his family or cleaning something. Nick is also the editor of Overcoming Adversity: An Anthology for Andrew. You can find him hanging out on his blog or on Goodreads or Twitter.
Preorder Links: Amazon US, Amazon UK

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Quote for the Day “The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball.” Columnist Doug Larson

Will you be AtoZing? Does learning a bit about Burma interest you at all? (Lie if the answer is no.) Was the news good enough about the principal? 




Comments

  5. Go Nick! Those sound like intriguing dark tales.

    Burma – never been, but sounds interesting, Lee. I do like to travel, but the older I get, the more I just love to come home 🙂

    Have a great weekend!

    shahwharton.com

  9. How nice of the principal and the staff. It breaks my heart to think of kids going hungry. I'm really looking forward to your posts. I love to travel and haven't been there yet. Thanks for the heads up on Nick's book. Just pre-ordered my copy! Woot!

  10. I left a comment but I wasn't signed it so I don't know if it went through once I singed in. I hate to repeat it all, if it goes through. If it does, I apologize for the double comment. Burma is a fascinating theme and I am eager to learn more. It will all be new to me so I will be definitely be back in April.

  16. Sound fun to hear about Burma! Great idea. You are amazing for posting about the principal. He sounds like an amazing man and person. Good luck with the A to Z! It's almost here!

  19. We love to travel but haven't been to this part of the world. It will be great to read your perspectives, as we're always looking for new places to see.

  22. Congrats to Nick on his release! I'm looking forward to finding out about Burma from first-hand info, rather than just what we read in the news.

    I'm actually a little horrified that there are children who don't eat unless it's in school. Where's the food stamps, welfare, church groups, food banks? How can people be starving in the richest country in the world?

    Thanks for your comment on my blog. I'm glad you unburied an ms, polished it up, and sent it to your CPs. I'm sure there will be no knives streaking back at you. 😉

  25. Good luck with the A-to-Z challenge! Looking forward to seeing all the things you have to share about Burma, especially since I personally know zilch, haha.

  29. Inspiring story about the Principal!
    Myamnar will be fascinating. I had many colleagues who settled in my city in India, after their families had to flee Myamnar in the early '60s when Indians were targetted. From them, I learnt to eat khow suey! Love it!

  31. I love the story about the principal! That's a loving heart doing selfless acts and getting others to participate spreads the goodness. Love it! And I'm going to enjoy learning about Burma. I don't get to travel much but I do get to travel vicariously through travel posts so I'll look forward to a quick Burma vaca — if only in my mind…
    Michele at Angels Bark

  42. The principal deserves a major hug and kudos for his efforts. What an inspiration! Looking forward to your posts on Burma! Exciting! Congratulations Nick!

  43. The principal deserves to be in the news-that is very compassionate. I am doing the A to Z too and I will enjoy your posts. Not sure how good I will do on the tests but it will be fun. My friend is in Thailand so in that neck of the woods:) He will be coming back very soon to get back to work

  44. What an interesting A-Z theme. I know I will be learning a lot! 🙂 Also, it was very kind of the teachers to deliver those meals.

    Wishing Nick the best of luck!
    ~Jess

  45. Looking forward to expanding my travel knowledge with some facts about Burma. Glad there are people like that principal in the world. And thanks for helping me out today!

  50. Thanks for visiting my blog (A Bench with a View) and your comment 🙂 Hats off to that principal for caring for his students and making sure they got at least a meal a day while school was out due to weather! Your A/Z sounds interesting! Good luck with it!

    betty

  54. Geographic locations are very popular for A to Z. Maybe I need to take notes on my travels and cover something next year! I know someone did Washington D.C. last year and I made notes of places I want to visit during my (someday) vacation there.

  57. Yay for the school/teachers who delivered the food. We have a program in the summer called Operation Sandwich which provides a lunch in various parks for anyone who's hungry.
    I'd love to learn more about Burma. Thanks for the map.
    Enjoy! And, yep, I'm in the Challenge again this year.
    Play off the Page

  63. What that principal asked of this staff was truly thoughtful and for the staff to make it happen is an immense testimony that we as humans really are not a lost cause 🙂

    Glad to see Nick's cover reveal making the blogging circuit.

    And Burma will make an interesting theme.

  69. Fellow travel buff here and I would love to learn more about Burma. My A-Z theme last year was Travel & Culture. Good luck in the challenge! ☺

  71. So there is going to be a test on Burma, never heard of the place… it will be lots of fun… 🙂

    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]

    There's no earthly way of knowing.
    Which direction we are going!
    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!

  72. What a wonderful principal. I love coming here and reading good news. It starts off the day on the right foot. 🙂 And what an interesting theme. Can't wait to see what you post. Congrats to Nick!

  74. That is one principal that definitely needs to be recognized. He truly cares about his students. Looking forward to learning about Burma. Congrats to Nick.

  75. Hi Lee – what a great headmaster … so many will be so happy and pleased. I'm going to love Burma and the little quiz bits! Good luck to Nick too for his release in May .. cheers Hilary

  76. Congratulations to Nick on his new book! And I love your Good News feature. With so much news out there about terrible, horrible people and disasters and war, these little nuggets brighten my day.