C. Lee McKenzie's Blog, page 22
February 6, 2019
February The Big Heart Month

The co-hosts for the February 6 posting of the IWSG are Raimey Gallant,Natalie Aguirre,CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!
Thanks for hosting, everyone.
The Question of the Month: Besides writing what other creative outlets do you have?
Does hiking or gardening count as creative? Well, maybe gardening. Here’s a pictorial answer to the question. A BEFORE and AFTER garden visit.






The first two pictures are my garden before I started. A house had occupied the space, but it had burned down several years before. I kept looking at this sunny spot until I couldn’t stand leaving it the way it was. About a year later, it had two ponds, flowers, and a vegetable patch. I guess the endeavor falls under creative. It also falls under the category called a-lot-of-work.
This month I’m featuring Michelle Wallace on my Email Connect. The lead article is How To Become An Overnight Success. And there’s a Valentine’s Day Treat. I’m warming to this way of connecting with followers.
Join the February WEP. The theme is 29 Days! It will be so interesting to read how many different takes writers will have on this one.

Quotes of the Month: “To be creative means to be in love with life.” ~ Osho. “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” – Albert Einstein. (I liked these both, so I couldn’t choose just one.)
January 2, 2019
The First First Wednesday
Didn’t we just post the Last First Wednesday of 2018? Yes. So now we get to start fresh with the First First Wednesday of 2019. Happy New Year and read on to find out what a great start we have!

The awesome co-hosts for the January 2 posting of the IWSG are Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, and Fundy Blue! The question of the month is “What are your favorite and least favorite questions as an author?”
My FAVORITE QUESTIONS:
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Ans: Sometimes. I like to steal some of the good ones for my own uses. I read both good and bad and try to learn from each. My one caveat is that they must be well-written. Poor grammar or sloppy writing in either the good ones or the bad ones turn me off, and I ignore them. I love it when there are big differences in how readers react to what I’ve written.
My LEAST FAVORITE QUESTION:
What is your advice for writers?
Ans: I have absolutely no advice. If someone wants advice they should go to an expert in writing/publishing, which I’m not.
What is your writing process?
Ans: My most current one is that I don’t have a process. If I did, I’d be ever so grateful. What I have are a lot of accidents that produce stories.
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In my Email Connect this month, I’m writing about my take on networking in 2019, and I’m featuring Diane Burton. I just realized that this first Email Connect of the year is my 58th, and I only send one or two each month. This might be where some of my time goes.
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And here’s some exciting news! We have WINNERS–a lot of them.


Oddly Suited by LG Keltner
Sea of Sorrows by AV Brown
Behind the Catcher’s Mask by Jennifer Lane
A Diver’s Ball by Angela Brown
Fearless Heart by Deborah Solice
The Dark Charade by CD Gallant-King
The Cog Prince by Elizabeth Mueller
Flower of Ronda by Myles Christensen
Remedy by Chelsea Ballard
Charleston Masquerade by Carrie-Anne Brownian
The top story has the honors of being included in the title. LG Keltner’s story came out on top! The official title of our next anthology – Masquerade: Oddly Suited. Congratulations, LG. (She was also in the top spot for our first anthology, Parallels: Felix Was Here.)
The IWSG Admins spent many hours reading the entries and fourteen were sent to our special judges. We certainly wish to thank them for taking time away from their own work to read the entries:
Elizabeth S. Craig, author
Kelly Van Sant, agent at Red Sofa Literary Agency
Elana Johnson, author
DL Hammons, Write Club founder
S.A. Larsen,author
Kristin Smith, author
Gwen Gardner, author and previous IWSG anthology winner
Look for Masquerade: Oddly Suited late spring!
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Quote of the Month: This seems like a good quote since book reviews often reveal very different thoughts about the same work, so we should love tha. “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” Walter Lippmann, Journalist
December 12, 2018
WEP Entry, Ribbons and Candles
I’m always open for criticism, but since this is a nascent piece, I’d really like it if you’d answer some or all of the questions I asked at the end. I guess that means something close to NCCO?
©The Ribbon Tree
by
C. Lee McKenzie
Jason Whitaker dreaded this visit home. Sure he wanted to see his mom, but what if she wasn’t holding it together? The answer was simple. His lifestyle would go up in smoke. Goodbye, Malibu. Hello, Fish Creek.
It wouldn’t hurt his brother to step up when Mom needed help, but Stanley—the number one bleeding heart in New York City—argued that his down-and-out clients needed him at the law clinic. That excuse got good old Stanley out of helping with Dad’s funeral arrangements, dealing with the termites at the family home, and almost everything else Jason asked him to do.
Stanley was already on the front stoop when Jason stepped out of the car. Jason wondered how long his brother had stood there waiting for him, not brave enough to go inside on his own.
Well, it hadn’t been good last year, Jason had to admit, so this time Stanley had a valid reason to wait for reinforcements. The call about their dad had come the day before Christmas. They’d both caught flights home and when they’d arrived they found their mother in her chair next to the Whitaker traditional Ribbon Tree. She’d been a devastated C-curve of a woman, not the ramrod matriarch they both loved and always obeyed.
Recalling that tableau from last year, and fearing that he’d see his mother like that again, he joined Stanley on the porch.
“Been here long?” Jason asked.
“A couple of minutes.”
Jason lifted his hand that was weighed down by a thousand pounds of reluctance and rapped on the door before shoving it open. “Mom!”
Her chair was empty, but he froze in the doorway because the tree stood decorated with shimmering gold ribbons the way he remembered from all the Christmases he’d spent in this house. The Ribbon Tree had always been Dad’s project, but it seemed his mom had decided to keep the tradition alive. A dozen candles flickered on the mantel, but unlike the candles that had delighted him as a child, these cast ghostly shadows against the wall. When he peeked into the dining room, the table gleamed under more candles and Mom’s china. All of these decorations were usual, yet not. A chill corkscrewed up his spine.
He sniffed. Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding.
Stanley shrugged when Jason looked at him with an unspoken question. Mom’s special Christmas dinner wasn’t what either of them had expected, but the cooking smells filtering through the air somewhat eased the tension between Jason’s shoulder blades. He shook off the vague uneasiness. He was just tired from the flight and worried about his mom’s mental state. Mom was okay. He was off the hook for extended Mom care. Even Stanley managed a smile that looked like relief.
“In here boys.” His mom’s voice came from the kitchen.
She stood guard at the stove, the oven door open and the steamy aroma of perfectly roasted meat and baked pudding pouring into the room. She’d tied the candy cane stripped apron at her waist and wound her salt and pepper hair at the back of her head into a tidy knot. At sixty-five, she still had a slim figure, and her keen eyes sparkled the way they always had. That vacant look of last year had disappeared.
“Your timing is perfect.” She hugged them to her, then set about directing them to uncork the wine and slice the roast while she dished up the whipped potatoes, set the puffed Yorkshire puddings on a plate, and tossed the salad. When dad was here, he’d do the carving, but now that job fell to Jason, and he tried to remember how it should be done. HIs mom was a stickler for well-presented plates, especially during the holidays.
Once at the table, Jason reached for the mashed potatoes, but his mother shook her head. “Has California made you forget to be thankful?”
“Sorry.” Jason bowed his head while his mom said a short prayer.
“Now, let’s give this a taste test,” she said, passing the meat platter.
The only thing he missed in Fish Creek was his Mom and her cooking. Stanley had to be thinking the same thing the way he inhaled the steam rising from his plate and practically purred.
Stanley should have been a woman, Jason thought, not for the first time. Always soft-footed when he entered a room, a voice so low that people had to lean in to catch what he said. The word delicate flitted across Jason’s mind. Delicate and precise. That was why Dad allowed Stanley, and only Stanley, to hand him the ribbons while he stood on the ladder to reach the top branches. Dad had a delicate touch and precision in him, too.
That had been fine with Jason. He’d rather watch football. Ribbons weren’t his thing.
He’d often wondered how two such different people could come from the same genetic material. Jason concentrated on his abs and always had three girls on the string at a time. Stanley’s abs didn’t exist unless you looked very closely. The only exercise he did was to walk up courthouse stairs. They were both about six feet, but Jason had a square jaw and short dark hair. Styled. Stanley’s jaw receded a bit, and his hair curled around his face in a brown fringe.
Yep, we’re very different, Jason thought.
His fork was half way to his mouth with a small mound of mashed potatoes when his mother said, “Your father has come home.”
Stanley, who as always, was beatle-ing his way through his food, one nibble at a time, stopped chewing.
“Say what?” Jason let his fork clatter onto his plate.
“Just what I said. He’s back and he plans to stay.”
Stanley always had a pale complexion, but his face had turned pasty. Jason thought his might have the same washed-out look.
“Surely, you don’t think I could have put up that beautiful tree,” she said. “He didn’t trust me to do it right either, so he did.” She sipped her wine as if she’d just commented on the weather. “I rather like having him back. It’s a comfort.”
Inside his head, Jason’s life exploded. His mom had lost it. He’d have to call work and beg for family leave again. Then there was Kylie and Marian and Jill. Cancel those dates.
“Where is he now?” Stanley’s soto voce question barely riffled the air.
“Upstairs. He didn’t want to shock you, so I was supposed to prepare you.” She looked first at Jason, and then at Stanley. “Are you?”
One didn’t prepare to meet a ghost, and certainly, not the ghost of your father.
“It’s a bit of an adjustment, but so worthwhile. I was terribly lonely, and I didn’t want to move in with either of you. Heaven forbid. This is the perfect solution.”
She walked to the stairs and called, “Malcom! They’re ready.” Looking back at them, she said, “I think.”
Questions:
So is she an addled, lonely widow in need of her sons’ help? Or is there a ghost waiting to descend those stairs and blow reality to shreds. What’s your preference?
Is Jason terribly self-centered or is he only trying to do what’s right by his mother while making his own way in the world?
And about Stanley—the do-gooder, except for his family—is he at all like-able?
The delicacy and precision characteristics that Dad and Stanley share play into a larger piece of this pie, at least at this moment. Was it distracting or intriguing?
December 5, 2018
The Last First Wednesday 2018!
Another year of First Wednesdays has happened. It’s time to wrap up 2018 and prepare for the new year. So let’s do it right.
Challenge yourself to visit ten new blogs on the IWSG list this month.
Encourage those bloggers to do the same.
Join the December WEP.
Get ready for the #IWSGPit in January.

Join Us Now
What are five objects we’d find in your writing space?
The question is always optional.
The awesome co-hosts for the December 5 posting of the IWSG are J.H. Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker , Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey!
There’s usually something to drink while I’m writing. Depending on the time of day it’s water, coffee (cappucino), mint tea, wine. That kind of sums up about eight hours of imbibing and working at my desk. Noise silencers like those airline give to their employees on the tarmac have become a regular feature since my closest neighbor has purchased a leaf blower with an obnoxious noise and likes her driveway pristine–impossible in a forest, I might add, so she blows a lot. Because it’s usually very quiet where I live, this blower sounds even louder. Outside of those items, it’s just me, my keyboard and the monitor. An essential writing trinity.
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It’s time to sign up for the December WEP, and the 2019 WEP Themes are up for you to see. They are wonderful and Olga Godim’s badges are beautiful. Be sure to visit and see all of them. And did you read the winning October WEP?
We have two other winners to announce as well. Tryrean Martinson’s entry called Footprints won our theme contest here at Camp IWSG. Congrats, Tyrean. And Toi Thomas won the February WEP theme challenge with 28 Days. She’ll appear in the next IWSG Newsletter!
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On my homefront I have a few interesting things happening.

The covers on COVER WARS link to Amazon (affiliate links)
SIGN OF THE GREEN DRAGON’s cover is up for a vote in Masquerade Crew’s COVER WARS. I’d love it if you’d give me your vote. You can vote once a day. (Scroll to second page to find the voting option.)
All of my middle grade books are now comfortably tucked in on the shelves of Riverhouse Books in Carmel. Monterey County boasts several Indie Bookstores, and each is a treasure.
My second reader/editor gave my latest YA a lot of help, and I’m digging into the edits between the holidays. I still have no title, and one doesn’t seem imminent.
My Email Connect is featuring Jemi Fraser this month.
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Quote of the Month:
November 7, 2018
A Full First Wednesday
When I started to plan this blog post, I couldn’t believe how many things I wanted to share with you today. So beware, this could be a long post.

Join Us Now
Remember, the question is optional!
How has your creativity in life evolved since you began writing?
The awesome co-hosts for the November 7 posting of the IWSG are Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Ann V. Friend, JQ Rose, and Elizabeth Seckman!
If anything creative has happened to me since beginning to write, it has been that I’m more aware of people and events around me. I talk less, listen and look more. I’m more inside my head than interacting or sharing what I know or think I know. And as I’m soaking up voices and images, I’m turning them into scenes. Of course, these scenes have no stories to complete them, but they’re stored away for sometime when they’re needed. A small example happened a few years ago. I was in an ice cream shop and three boys all about ten years old came roughhousing their way inside. They were noisy, but not rude, just having some boy fun. They bought their ice cream and sat at a table in front of me, so I could see and hear them.
“Lookit,” one of them said. “My mom’s picking me up at 3, so we got us some time. What do you guys want to do?”A few years later when I was writing The Great Time Lock Disaster, here’s what happened.
“Lookit. . . Dr. Wraith,” Weasel said, “I don’t like time travel. I hate it.”
Then with Sign of the Green Dragon, Joey’s voice had a lot of this in it. “Let me see that.” Joey snatched the yellowed paper from Sam. “We got us just one small problem.”
I’m not sure this counts as creativity, but maybe it does. Since I began writing, I’m taking snippets from real life and using them in my stories.
My EMAIL CONNECT this month is called NETWORKING 101, and that’s because I just attended a book event at a local library where I picked up some interesting ideas, so I wanted to share those with my followers. If you’re not on my list and want to be you can link up HERE. I’m also featuring DENISE COVEY. She’s a great writer to know and she does some very interesting online networking.
I hate this picture. I look kind of ghoulish (October appropriate, but definitely not a good November look). However, it does show some of the authors I sat on the Fantasy/Sci-Fi panel with. L-R: Donald Craghead, Andrew J. Stillman, Ajax Minor, Brian Paona, Ned Huston moderator, R.L. King (not shown) and me.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Panel at Monterey Library, October 2018
BIG NEWS:
If you’ve been off spelunking, you may have missed that WEP AND ISWG have partnered. Now for the newest BIG NEWS…you can enter a contest to choose the WEP February 2019 theme. Here’s all you have to do:
Submit your idea for a WEP February theme by November 12 to admin@insecurewriterssupportgroup.com. Nothing too U.S. culturally bound because we are open to WEP entries from around the world.
If your theme is chosen, you’ll be featured in the December IWSG newsletter. Good publicity for writers! And, of course, the winning theme will be the official February WEP theme!
Deadline: November 12. The winner will be announced in the November newsletter on November 28.
I hope you made the deadline for the IWSG anthology. It should be another great one and to be included will be very exciting. If you missed that opportunity, please don’t miss the next Twitter Pitch Party.
WEP OCTOBER WINNERS!
Why Leap? You can read this at Kalpanaawrites.
Deja Vu by Jemi Fraiser at Jemi Writes
Deja Boo! Susan Swiderski
ON THE WRITING FRONT:
I’m sort of limping back into writing and have a draft of a new piece. I’ve broken one of my promises to myself in writing this one. I always said I wouldn’t write a YA fantasy, but I think I just did. Maybe it was my weakened state of mind, but whatever caused it, the characters are here, the plot’s in place, and I wrote The End. Now, as any here who write know, I need to get some readers to plow through it, churn it a bit and give me some yays and nays. Then it’s edit time. Oh, one thing I don’t have is a title. I’ve been writing it with only the MC’s name as my title, and I’m not sure that’s what I want.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: “My Golden Rule for Networking is simple: Don’t keep score.” Harvey Mackay, author
October 3, 2018
October October October First Wednesday

Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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!
October 3 question – How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?
I’m skipping the question this time around. I have too much to say about this topic at the moment.
The awesome co-hosts for the October 3 posting of the IWSG are Dolorah @ Book Lover, Christopher D. Votey, Tanya Miranda, and Chemist Ken!
Have you started your story to enter it in the next Anthology Contest? I hope so. Check out this LINK to find out all of the details.
My favorite month has just arrived. If it were up to me, we’d have three months of October; then January. I’d make pumpkin pie every four weeks because, of course, I’d have to carve fresh Jack-O-Lanterns and have them at the door for the Trick-or-Treaters that would come at the end of each October. At last, I could really get some good use out of my witch hat, and I wouldn’t have to do my hair–the messier and witch+ier the better. I love orange and black together, so seeing that theme for ninety days would be just fine by me. I’d have to stock up on more apple cider and cinnamon sticks than usual, but Trader Joe’s has plenty of each. As to the ghosts and gremlins that hang out during this season, I’d use them as writing inspiration. So I think this year, I’m keeping October around until the ball drops in Times Square.

Email Connect
In my October Email Connect I tackle Honesty and how Social Media affects our Truthfulness. Do you ever think about telling a fib on, let’s say, Facebook, and then change your mind? Why? Stanford Social Media Lab has some interesting findings about the TWO ONLINE WORLDS AND TRUTH. I’ve shared that this month. I’m also featuring another of my good friends and supporters L. Diane Wolfe.
If you’re on my list, let me know what you think. If you’re not, JOIN now and get a free short story that only my mailing list will ever see. I only drop into your inbox once a month as long as you want me to.


Now, here’s an added October October October Bonus:
A HALLOWEEN GIVEAWAY
Since we’re in the ghostly-ghastly season, I thought a giveaway with a touch of horror would be in order. I’m in love with Roland Yeoman’s prose, and his amazing journeys with the literary, scientific, and political geniuses of the past. Imagine all time restrictions lifted. Imagine what kind of synergy brilliant minds from from different times can create when allowed to mingle.
I recently REVIEWED SILHOUETTES IN THE KEY OF SCREAM and Roland has generously agreed to give away 10 eBooks of that short story collection AND 10 of the companion collection, PERCHANCE TO NIGHTMARE. If you want to shiver and shake this fall, here’s your chance. To enter to win, just jump through three quick social media hoops; and then tell him which book you want when you leave a comment. Good luck.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Quote of the Month: “Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves, we have had our summer evenings, now for October eves.” Humbert Wolfe
September 5, 2018
No Fake News Here!
It’s the first Wednesday in September, and in my monthly Email Connect, I’m writing about fake news, but here I’m extolling #IWSG, which doesn’t do fake news. Here’s what this group is all about:
“The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a website media business with affiliates to enhance our service to visitors. We are a home for writers in all stages; from unpublished to bestsellers. Our goal is to offer assistance and guidance. We want to help writers overcome their insecurities, and by offering encouragement we are creating a community of support.” Alex J. Cavanaugh

What publishing path are you considering, or what one did you take, and why?
Remember, the question is optional!
Please visit the awesome co-hosts for the September 5. Here they are:
Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler!
I’m skipping the question this month because most of my readers have already heard about my “journey.” I don’t want to bore you with a rehash.
But here’s something un-boring: Sharpen your computer keys and get cracking. It’s anthology contest time. This one is YA romance and the theme is Masquerade. It should be great fun and I’m sure there are going to be a lot of amazing entries. Jump in and I hope your story is chosen.
Submissions accepted: September 5 – November 4, 2018
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin@ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.
I miss doing my Featured Author each month, but while I’m not doing that I am giving some authors a shout out in my Email Connect and here on the IWSG First Wednesday. Here’s one of Bish Denham’s books. To see all of her work, click HERE.
I’ve been adjusting to life as a single person since May, and the ups and downs of doing that have kept me busy; however, I am slowly coming back to writing. I even managed 1,000 words on a manuscript yesterday. Of course, I haven’t read them today, so I could wind up with closer to 50 that I like. Oh well, baby steps it is.
I’m starting to reconnect with the writing community a bit and will put in an appearance at J.Q. Rose’s Focused on Story September 12. Then in October, I’ve been invited to an all-day writer event at the Monterey County Library. I’ll be on a panel and teaching a workshop.
This will give me a chance to do a bit of promo for Some Very Messy Medieval Magic, and that will be fun. I don’t have all of the details yet, but will share them when I do.
Quote of the Month: “Grief does not change you, Hazel. It reveals you.”
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
August 1, 2018
If It’s Wednesday, It Must Be #IWSG Time

It is #IWSG Time again!
And there’s some excitement.
You now have a chance to enter an anthology contest! Here’s all you have to do and all you have to gain.
The 2018 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest
Word count: 3500-6000
Genre: Young Adult Romance
Theme:
Masquerade
A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren’t. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation.
Submissions accepted: September 5 – November 4, 2018
How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.
Judging: The IWSG admins will create a shortlist of the best stories. The shortlist will then be sent to our official judges who will be announced September 5.
Prizes: The winning stories will be edited and published by Freedom Fox Press next year in the IWSG anthology. Authors will receive royalties on books sold, both print and eBook. The top story will have the honor of giving the anthology its title.
August 1 Question – What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey? Remember, the question is optional!
I suppose I’d caution writers not to rush to publication. I did that the first time tried my hand at Indie publishing. I’d always had excellent editors in my corner with my other books, so I was over-confident and thought I’d created a “perfect” manuscript. I hadn’t. How embarrassing! Save yourself that embarrassment by hiring a good editor. It’s worth the time and the money.
The awesome co-hosts for the August 1 are Erika Beebe, Sandra Hoover, Susan Gourley, and Lee Lowery!

News Flash!
IWSG and WEP are teaming up!
Now that all of the really new news is finished, here’s my hello to bloggers and writers and friends. I’m missing our contact, and I’m trying to sort out all of the business side of my life so I can return and be more engaged in the community again. I didn’t think it would take months, but I was really wrong. Every day there’s something that has to be taken care of–usually past due–and every day there’s a learning curve involved. I am, however, much better at reading legalese than I was before. I think I’ll make a quick glossary of terms for surviving spouses if there isn’t one already.
Quote of the Month: “I do not think much of a [person] who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” Abraham Lincoln
July 3, 2018
The First Wednesday on Tuesday
My title sounds a bit like Lewis Carroll, doesn’t it–sort of a Mad Hatter line. But I’m not mad yet, just stating the facts. We’re posting today so everyone can celebrate. And what are we celebrating, anyway? Raise your hands.
INSECURITY!
Well, not exactly, but we are taking that demon on each month and wrestling him to the mat by offering support and information to all writers who might have insecure episodes.

Sign Up HERE! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG. Hashtag #IWSG
Every month, we announce a question that members can answer in their IWSG post. These questions may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or 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!
July 3 question – What are your ultimate writing goals, and how have they changed over time (if at all)?
Be sure to visit the awesome co-hosts for today: Nicki Elson, Juneta Key, Tamara Narayan, and Patricia Lynne!
Quite honestly I have one ultimate writing goal–to write the very best I can and enjoy every minute possible while trying to do that.
Of course my goals have changed since I started writing. First I just wanted to write a book. Then I wanted someone to publish that book. I reached those goals, so I set some new ones: write another book, have someone publish it, repeat. After a few young adult novels, I thought it might be fun to try my hand at something different, so I set a goal to write for the middle grade reader. Check!
Goals are great to set, great to reach, and great to look back on. I see a lot of writers who blog and put down theirs regularly. It’s always exciting when they post a follow up to say they’ve accomplished what they set out to do.
REMINDER: THE NEXT #IWSGPIT IS COMING JULY 19, 8AM to 8PM. For details click HERE.

I can’t do my Featured Author for a while, but today I want to give a shout out to some writers whose books I’ve enjoyed. Carol Kilgore is writing a series that has me waiting for the next installment. THE AMAZING GRACIE TRILOGY, BOOK 2 is on its way. You might want to pre-order Bluebonnet Ballerina now. It’s on sale for .99. Good only through July 9th.
I read book 1, THE JALEPENO CUPCAKE WENCH. My review’s here.
Jacqui Murray’s another writer who grabs my attention. I really enjoyed her book, Twenty-four Days (my review) and her latest one, Born in a Treacherous Time (my review). This is quite a different kind of story, and points out that this writer has some excellent storytelling talent.
QUOTE OF THE MONTH: (since I’m only posting monthly for a while) “I will keep smiling, be positive and never give up! I will give 100 percent each time I play. These are always my goals and my attitude.” Yani Tseng
June 25, 2018
One Decision More
Since May 17, I’ve been making a lot of decisions. The biggest difference in all of this decision making is that I’m doing it on my own. What I’ve found is that I’m much more cautious than I used to be. Perhaps because there’s no safety net anymore. If I screw up, I have to fix it myself.

So here’s my latest solo decision: I’m going to start blogging on #IWSG Wednesday only…at least until next year. Then I’ll reevaluate where I am and what my plans going forth will be. However, just because I’m pulling back on my weekly posts, doesn’t mean that I won’t visit my friends. As I said in an earlier post this month, I’ll just be slower and not as regular for a while.
I’ll send out my Email Connect monthly, too, instead of twice a month. I can hear the sighs of relief. “One fewer email in my inbox!”
Soon, I hope to be back doing what I love to do, which is to write and “talk” about books on my social media, and I hope to include my Featured Author program again. I enjoy that a lot, and it will be a nice addition to my angsty posts about Insecurities. I also have many thank you’s to dole out to those bloggers who took over my book launch in May, so those thank you’s will dot both my Email Connect and my monthly posts as well as elsewhere whenever possible.

One person I want to send a huge bouquet to is L. Diane Wolfe, who has been so understanding. Her most frequent comment has been “Take all the time you need.” Thank you Diane. And thanks for publishing Some Very Messy Medieval Magic.
Quote of the Week: “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt