C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

All About Alligators and Launches and Fireworks

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Happy Indie Independence Blog Hop! Let the Fireworks begin.

This has been a fast-paced month. Zip it was the first of June. Zap and June was gone and July arrived. So what happened in June that caused it jet past?

Alligators took up most of my time. I sent the final edits to the publisher and the presses are rolling. Do presses roll any more? I think not. Change and more change. That’s what this publishing business is all about and at a very fast clip.

I organized a Blog Tour for Alligators Overhead with some extra special people that you’ll be seeing here in August. I’ve never organized one of these before, so I appreciated the help from the pros like MPax and LMPreston. Yay for mentors.

I created a somewhat handsome eBook anthology of some of my middle grade short stories. I’m still not 100% happy with the conversion from pdf to mobi, but the stories are readable and the images clear. It’s that darned page break thing that doesn’t always seem to work that bugs me. If anyone has a fix for that, I’d be very grateful. I’ll even send over an alligator or two.

I set up a fb page for my new book, and now I’m wondering if that was worthwhile.  I have a hard time figuring out what to post on those darned book pages. If you have some ideas, another alligator for you.

I read Journeys of Wonders and enjoyed the short stories by Ian Kezsbom, Lisa Gail Green and Leslie S. Rose. Give it a read.

So what happened for you in June? Were you busy with writing, reading, promoting, traveling? *Sigh* I need a vacation.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

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The Three Billy Goats Gruff was one of my favorite stories when I was young. There was something very appealing about those three. I guess I admired their determination to cross that bridge and escape being eaten by the Troll. Sort of like me and the writers I know these days. If we can just get across that bridge, we’ll reach the side where that lovely grassy hillside lies. In this rather creaky metaphor that would be the world of successful publication. 


I still enjoy the story and so to make it a little longer and extend my enjoyment, I adopted a baby goat-actually my neighbor’s baby goat. I couldn’t resist. Now I can say there are four Billy Goats Gruff: a baby, a small one, a large one and a very LARGE one. I’m rather partial to this littlest addition. He’s only a week old, but he sure gets around.

Do you have a favorite very young book that you remember from childhood? Did it have a message that stuck with you?

Monday Moods

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I guess today I’m waxing a bit NOSTALGIC. *She looks into the near distance, hand propped under chin and sighs.

I was reading a blog post several months ago about spinning yarn, not telling stories, either, but really spinning yarn. I know, “Why were you reading about knitting?” you ask. Well, this blogger said something that stuck with me. Here’s what Ashling wrote in The Confessions of a Would-Be Mountain Woman:

“[The people in the shop] told me that their local spinning group (Elmendorph Spinning Guild) had 40 people show up for their monthly meeting. What does it say that so many are returning to this ancient art?”

My comment was: “As to why people are returning to ancient art . . . I think it’s because we’re so isolated in this techi world of internet “love” that we crave a connection of some kind to our past. Just guessing, here.”

After reading Ashling’s post I dug out my grandmother’s quilts and studied the beautiful stitches she’d made my hand and marveled at her art and her skill. Now I do think my comment was right.

I want a connection with things that are tangible and things that give me a feeling of being connected with the people in my life. Even after they’ve gone from this world, they’ve left behind the traces of who they were and where I came from. How about you? Have a need for connections to your past?

Insecure Writer’s Wednesday

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This is my first blog post for May, so 

I went back through my posts from the first year I blogged. That was interesting because I’d forgotten all about them. It was kind of like finding little presents scattered over the years. Here’s one that I did back in May of  2010. 

Okay, someone go find April and bring it back. I didn’t get anything done I had on my list, the list which I can’t find, but know has important stuff waiting to be done.

Some poetry for May:
Clouds over
Tree-dotted hillsides
I lick dust from dry lips
And run on to escape
The whir of defeat

That must have been a day I’d bumped into some rejection and I suffered an INSECURITY attack. I still like the idea of escaping the whir of defeat. I should expand on that.

As I went through those old posts, I discovered that somehow things haven’t changed. I’m still trying to keep up with my list. I’m still losing that list. I’m still forgetting what was important enough to take the time to write it down. Hmm. Seems I’m getting OLDER, but I’m not getting any better! Do I have any others out there in the same situation?

A to Z Blogging Challenge-Y

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Y is for . . .

Young Adult what else? But I’m wondering if they can continue to call this category of fiction by that name much longer. It seems that a lot of Mature Adults are finding the writing and the stories captivating. In a recent AARP Magazine article their lead story began with Trends: Teen Lit You’ll Love, Why the best new fiction for adults is written for kids.

Maybe I’ll start telling people I write MA. What do you think? 

A to Z Blogging Challenge-X

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X is one letter that can stand on its head (X) or its feet (X) and look exactly the same. The only others I can think of are H and O.  Am I desperate to cross the A to Z Blogging Challenge finish line, or what?

Still, if you think about it, standing on your head gives you a very different perspective as a writer. (I’ve already said that in an earlier post, but it bears repeating.) We just don’t look right upside down the way H, O and X do. Okay, I’m certifiable. Come take me away.
 

Here are some special XXX for the other A to Z Challenge organizers (I already said thanks to Alex and Lee).  Thanks for all the work, bloggers. Thanks for all the fun.

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)
Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp) Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)

A to Z Blogging Challenge-W

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The Wow Factor
According to my urban dictionary the Wow Factor is a distinctive appeal that an object, behavior or person has on others.  So I started thinking about what or who has WOWED me lately?
 WMagazine kind of WOWED me this month, and  I guess it’s because in one issue there was an article about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And in a current issue you can watch Nicole Kidman’s screen tests. Very WOW.

If you’ve read my blog, you know that Andy wows me a lot, so I have to mention him in this WOW post. He doesn’t have to do a screen test for me. He can be in my cast any day.

I kind of like cars with the WOW Factor, but I have a wide range when it comes to what WOWs me in this category.

This one is for the nostalgic WOW in me and . . .

this one’s for the more modern WOW. 

That’s my husband inspecting the interior of this beauty. He kind of WOWs me, too!

Okay, share your idea of what or who has the WOW Factor. 

A- Z Blogging Challenge-V

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The letter V rules today!

Today’s letter is V which is kind of exciting because that means I’m near the end of this alphabet marathon. Only 4 more days, and then I slump to the desktop-OR-will I not know what to do with myself when I come to Z and there’s no more A-Z Blogging Challenge? 

I’ve be re-Vitalized by this Challenge. I’ve Visited a lot of new blogs and found so many Various, Vital people with strong Voices out the there who I’ll Visit again after this challenge ends.

Have to thank all the organizers who put in so much time and Vitality in this Challenge to make it the success it was. Here are the first two on my thank you list:

Arlee Bird, with his Vivacious, Vivid Marketing posts.
Alex Cavanaugh with his Varied, Vigorous salutes to others.

How about you? Are you glad to see V arrive or will the end of April leave you wanting more?

A-Z Blogging Challenge-T

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Today’s letter T is all about TIME-the most precious and fleeting commodity we humans have. We spend it, we waste it, we lose it, we find it, we set it aside for things we want or love to do. Sometimes we have a good TIME; sometimes we have a bad TIME. I hate it when things TIME out, but I love it when my losing team takes TIME out to plan new strategies.

TIME is also one of the silent communication forces at work between people. If you’re ten minutes late to an event, is that okay? Do you have to apologize? Probably not. 

If it’s going to be twenty minutes to half an hour don’t you feel you have to say something? “The traffic was terrible.” “I’m so sorry, but  . . .”

Then let’s go for more than thirty minutes or more. Do you call ahead to say something’s held you up? Do you arrive with flowers? Is your apology more elaborate?

Of course, the formality of a situation and some personal variation are always factors, but in general this is the North American time etiquette.

I love to talk about time etiquette in our culture. What’s really interesting is to discuss how this silent communication works in social situations involving different cultures. But that’s for another TIME when I’m not in the A to Z Challenge mode.

For now, Tempus Fugit, so go say hi to the A-Z bloggers who have something to say about the letter T.