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C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

AtoZ Blogging Challenge Ends Today! Z Has Arrived At Last

By 33 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

I ended the 2012 AtoZ Blogging Challenge in this same way. But I love this and I love the joy in the song!

Can I make this my tradition? What do you think?

Zippity Do Dah!
All this Zip brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge Y!

By 27 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out


I’m back. Crisis somewhat contained on the MOM-Front. You must not fall is now my motto. I’ll be around to say hi to all my favorite and new blogger friends and catch up on this Challenge. BTW did anyone notice this is Y day?

Yertle

Yertle is too a word. 

Here’s some sentences to prove it:
Don’t give me that Yertle jive!
That new leader is Yertling over much, methinks.
She’s not just any tryant; she’s a Yertle.
See? Adjective, Verb, Noun, ergo word.

Did you love this story?
Which Dr. Seuss story was a hit at your house?
Anyone hate Dr. Seuss?

Yertle brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. X?

By 35 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

X is not the greatest letter to work into a creative post for this challenge. However, I’ve managed to find one word that applies to my life as a writer. Ready?
XEROTRIPSIS



Here’s an example of xerotripsis. Can you guess what it means?

The day was very bright and sunny and I felt really good. Then Joe came by and we talked for ten minutes about the weather. He likes it when it’s sunny, too. After that I went for a walk down the street to the store and said hello to my friend, Mary. She is the clerk at the store.

Xerotripsis, what does it mean?

This nap has been brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. Wow! Almost At The End

By 39 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out



Wow!

Wowzer!

Woot!

Whee!

How can you have only one W word when these are so jam-packed with excitement? The fact that they mean nothing, but express so much makes them doubly interesting. Well, to me. 


Of course, our “doing it backward” AtoZ Auxilary Blogger covered W back on April 3. With his Wee Folks Wedding post. Miss it? Go see it NOW.


I’m determined to go to the end in this Hop, but I may not be around to all the bloggers I enjoy in the next couple of days. My mom isn’t doing well, and I’m off to see what I can do to make things work. Here’s to wrapping 2013 AtoZ Challenge up. It has been a great ride.

All of this excitement is brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. A Hop For Those With A Voracious Appetite For Fun

By 53 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

When someone says they have a voracious ANYTHING, that makes me stop and pay attention. The word conjures up images of Tom Jones and his eating habits

or Tyrannosaurs Rex and his.

If someone tells me they’re a voracious reader I picture them buried under a pile of books . . . some of them mine. Dream on, Lee!

So what are you voracious about in your life? I’m thinking I should go gobble up something about now.  I’ve given myself a voracious appetite.


Here’s the List and the people below bring you this voracious hop:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge–Spotlight on U

By 34 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out
We’re coming into the home stretch on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. U is the 21st letter in our alphabet, so we only 5 more posts before we can fall across the finish line and pat ourselves on the back. 
I had a hard time picking a word for today, but I finally decided on one that I’d never heard before. And here I pride myself on knowing a lot of words. 
*Take Smug Expression from Linguistic Face.*

Have you ever heard of uranoscopy? Maybe some astronomers or star gazers have this in their vocabulary, but not me. However, if you’ve ever done any star-watching, you’ve participated in uranoscopy.

I’ve got to see what others of you have posted on your U Word Day. Anyone use uranoscopy?



Brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge-This Hop is Tantalizing

By 32 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Tantalize 

comes to us from one of those Greek myths about a vindictive Zeus.  Of course, in this case Zeus did the right thing. I mean what a rotten guy Tantalus was to cook up his own son for his dinner guests. When Zeus got wind of that, he put old Tantalus into a lake and made it so that he could never drink from it or eat the fruit that hung from a tree branch just overhead. To be forever thirsty and forever hungry was the fate of Tantalus.

Here’s what tantalizes me a bit. What tantalizes you?


This tantalizing post has been brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

A-toZ Blogging Challenge. The Affliction of Supercilious+ness

By 49 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Superciliousness

Is that a real word? If not, it should be. Or am I being supercilious?

One thing I know for sure is that all cats have the supercilious gene. Either that or they’ve just come into money and are waiting to see your expression when you find out.

The cat box need attention.

I’m not in the mood right now. Come back later.

I’ve got my limb. Go find your own.
This un-supercilious blog hop is brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

A Rambunctious AtoZ Blogging Challenge Day

By 37 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

I have to take a moment to comment on P and Pond Pudding. Hilary’s post intrigued me so much that I had to try her Pond Pudding recipe. To recap: first, you beat the lemons with sugar, then you heat the cream and pour it into a teapot. Standing up as high as is safe (note the footstool with my lovely toes showing) and drip, drip, drop, drop, splat the cream into the lemon mix. Voila! Frothy Pond Pudding. We had it for dessert the next night and it was delicious–very rich, so I’d advise small and infrequent quantities. Also its a good idea to warn your significant other about what you’re doing. My husband thought I’d gone over the edge when he found me in the kitchen on the footstool. “Just cooking, dear!” I said. His look was priceless.

Ta Da!

Now about R: 

Rambunctious

Whenever I read this word I see characters like Maniac McGee or Dory from Finding Nemo who “Just [keeps] swimming. Just [keeps] swimming.”

Denise the Menace was one of the most rambunctious characters Ketcham ever created. And his ADHD antics kept us all entertained.

And what about Pippi Longstocking? How this chatterbox charmed us with her impulsive, rambunctious nature.

I love rambunctious characters! I love the word rambunctious!

This Rambunctious Hop is brought to you by:
The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)
Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)
We also have a Facebook page, email address [email protected], and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge.  Join in. 

AtoZ Blogging Challenge and Back to Small Things.

By 49 Comments

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Querulous is the word of the day!

A few synonyms: petulant, peevish, pettish, complaining, fractious, fretful, irritable, testy, tetchy,cross, snappish, crabby, crotchety, cantankerous, miserable, moody,grumpy, bad-tempered, sullen, sulky, sour, churlish, snappy, grouchy, cranky.

I don’t like to use this adjective in stories I write for young readers, but I like to use it as a springboard for characterization. How do you make a person in the story querulous without saying, “He was a querulous type of person.” ?


Here’s a stab:
When the door opened and Max blustered in, Josh tightened his grip on his book. Billy Willis slid low in his seat and Felicia Martinez tucked her homework inside her binder. Curtis Blatz set one pencil on top of his desk, folded his arms and waited. Max would break it in half just as he did on all of his “bad” days. Marshall Lowenstein left for the back of the room and stayed there reading the bulletin board as Max made his way down center aisle, rapping his knuckles on the desks or poking kids’ arms.
Is Max querulous enough? Did using other characters’ reactions work to create querulous Max? How would you show a character is querulous?
Onward to R. Be sure to visit more of the intrepid AtoZ Bloggers! you read about these 

Small Things to Celebrate 

a pat on the back by a pal
an unexpected present for absolutely no reason except someone thought of you
the scent of the first rose in spring
a good burp after a splendid meal
Ahhhh, those small things!