C. Lee McKenzie's Blog, page 70
January 17, 2013
Whoopie! Another Book Event, A New Book & Her Grammarness Pushes On
Book Event
I mentioned Frances Caballo's SOCIAL MEDIA JUST FOR WRITERS before and pointed you to my review, but couldn't help but offer to host this author and her book here again because I really liked her book, and I think if you're new to this business of promotion or bogged down in so much promo, you've lost track of what you're doing, it could be very helpful.
Besides, this week, Frances is having a great book event. She's offered to giveaway a hardcopy of her book to anyone in the continental United States. If you're outside of the U.S. she's open to sending a pdf to a winner from this blog. So, here's all you have to do to win-- enter the contest on rafflecopter and I'll contact you if you're chosen.
Take a look at France's WEBSITE, visit her on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and Pinterest. And if you want to up your chances of winning, check out other hosting sites on her tour schedule. She's everywhere!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
________________________
New Book
TOUGH GIRL by Libby Heily is here.
Danger lurks everywhere in eleven year old Reggie's world—from the bully next door to the unwanted attentions of a creep at school. Raised by her mentally ill mother, Reggie is left to fend for herself in a rough
neighborhood. She escapes in daydreams, battling aliens with her alter ego,
Tough Girl.
When Reggie's mother disappears, her fantasy life spirals out of control and
starts to invade reality. She is hunted by a creature of her own design, and
even Tough Girl is not strong enough to stop him.
Will Reggie survive long enough for her mother to return, or will her dream
world take over?
Barnes and Noble Smashwords Amazon
________________________
Her Grammarness
One thing about English--or any language for that matter--it doesn't stay the same. Just pick up Shakespeare and read a few of those couplets. In four-hundred years we've lost doth and thee and thou along with the Elizabethan's more flexible syntax. (I'd love to talk about that here one day. Interesting.)
However, our written language is much more stable, especially the standard form. However, recently linguists are talking about a quicker pace of change, even in the written form. Here are two sets of words that, until very recently, had distinct differences. Today, not so much.
Few and Less: The rule I knew was USE FEW WHEN YOU CAN COUNT THE NOUN.
Few agents responded to my query. (Too true.)
Then USE LESS WHEN YOU CAN'T COUNT THE NOUN.
Writers have less time to write these days. (It seems this is also too true!)
Today I hear less for both the count and non-count nouns. What do you prefer? To keep the words distinct or to lose that rule entirely?
Then there's the issue of Farther and Further. I still like to make farther refer to distance:
The farther he threw his manuscript, the better he felt.
Then I keep further to refer to those abstract distances that I can't measure:
The further he delved into his manuscript, the more he lost his original story line. (This happened to me just last month, so I can relate to just how abstract further delving can be!)
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
January 14, 2013
Monday Miscellany: Super Cover Reveal Plus A Bit of Epub News About The Princess of Las Pulgas
Cover Reveal for The Dragon Empire by Heather McCorkle
February 2013
Compass Press
Cover Design by CP Design
On Yacrana, dragons stand at the top of the evolutionary ladder instead of humans. Such an advanced species is not without its issues though.
There's trouble in the Dragon Empire, the kind that could start a war between dragons and the races of people. Hidden factions of dragons believe they should rule the lesser races, not simply stand aside and allow them to develop as they will. Having lived so long in peace, the Emperors turn a blind eye, many oblivious that such attitudes even exist.
Despite being only an architect class, emerald dragon, Grendar is willing to risk banishment and death to stop that which his rulers refuse to see. The hope of peace lies not within the scaled breast of a dragon however, but within the hands of a group of people. But if the hidden factions have their way, these people won’t live to fulfill such a destiny. With a reluctant seer at his side, Grendar must leave his precious Empire for the outside world to save those that will one day save his kind.
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17158656-the-dragon-empire
AUTHOR BIO
Heather McCorkle
I am an author of fantasy, in all its many sub-genres. Living green, saving endangered species, helping other writers, and supporting fabulous authors are a few of my passions. I am also a volunteer for the IS Foundation which works to make the world a greener place. When I'm not volunteering, writing, or surfing my social networking sites, I can be found on the slopes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, I enjoy the outdoors almost as much as the worlds I create on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though, you can find me here, on my blog, and Monday night's on Twitter where I co-moderate the #WritersRoad chat.
Author Links:
Website: http://heathermccorkle.blogspot.ca/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4957267.Heather_McCorkle
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Heather-McCorkle/211058455603533
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeatherMcCorkle
My News: After going at it for two years, I've gotten my rights back from the publisher that went out of business and **DRUM ROLL HERE** The Princess of Las Pulgas is now an ebook. You can't see me, but imagine the jumping up and down. WAIT. Here's a picture.Since The Princess has been in hiding for so long, I'm giving away five ebooks to the people who Tweet, Like, Tag, mention . . . whatever on fb, Amazon, Tweeter or blogs.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
This can't be truly Monday Miscellany if I only talk about books, can it? So here's two of my favorite quotes for the week.
"Meetings are indispensible when you don't want to do anything." John K. Galbraith
"A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world." John le Carré
Now I'm out of here. I'm tired of this "dangerous desk place," so it's time for a hike and maybe a few more jumps while I'm outside. What do you do to celebrate a victory, or reaching a goal? What do you think of Heather's cover for her Epic Fantasy Novel?Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
January 10, 2013
Christmas Déjà Vu. Also, Her Grammarness Strikes Again! All right?
Featured Books
Lionel should have been here before Christmas; however, I took a break and Lionel had Christmas presents to wrap, so we're both a bit late. Okay, shoot us! But Christmas will come again and very soon. So here's a lighthearted and sweet book to tuck away for next year. And Paul R. Hewlett has other--not so seasonally specific adventures for Lionel. Check out his other books as well. And READ A SAMPLE. Enjoy!
Her Grammarness
I had a special request from Marcia for this week's post, and, so--all right-- here we go! Is that all right with everyone? Her Grammarness doth love getting it all right, so if it's all right with you I'll proceed. Of course, I realize that it's not that big OF a deal, these nerdy Grammar Issues. Oops! Just made a bit of a flub there, Marcia.
Crown askew.
Adjust.
All better now.
Starting again. Ahem!
It may not be that [NEVER USE OF HERE WHEN WRITING UNLESS YOUR CHARACTER SPEAKS THAT WAY. "IT'S NO BIG OF A DEAL" IS SPOKEN ENGLISH, NOT STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH.] big a deal, but I like to know where I stand in the all right v. alright discussion because I'm a writer. All right is the standard English synonym for adequate or permissible. Alright has moved from being a misspelling, to having slightly different meaning, to maybe. . .just maybe becoming a word in its own right. In any case, check out the publisher/editor/agent you're subbing to and find out what they set as "standard." I'm sticking with all right because of this crown.
Do you have any burning questions for Her Grammarness? If I can't answer them I have an army of linguists to tap into. They love grammar, phonological and semantic questions. Makes them feel needed.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
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Lionel should have been here before Christmas; however, I took a break and Lionel had Christmas presents to wrap, so we're both a bit late. Okay, shoot us! But Christmas will come again and very soon. So here's a lighthearted and sweet book to tuck away for next year. And Paul R. Hewlett has other--not so seasonally specific adventures for Lionel. Check out his other books as well. And READ A SAMPLE. Enjoy!
Her Grammarness
I had a special request from Marcia for this week's post, and, so--all right-- here we go! Is that all right with everyone? Her Grammarness doth love getting it all right, so if it's all right with you I'll proceed. Of course, I realize that it's not that big OF a deal, these nerdy Grammar Issues. Oops! Just made a bit of a flub there, Marcia.
Crown askew.
Adjust.
All better now.
Starting again. Ahem!
It may not be that [NEVER USE OF HERE WHEN WRITING UNLESS YOUR CHARACTER SPEAKS THAT WAY. "IT'S NO BIG OF A DEAL" IS SPOKEN ENGLISH, NOT STANDARD WRITTEN ENGLISH.] big a deal, but I like to know where I stand in the all right v. alright discussion because I'm a writer. All right is the standard English synonym for adequate or permissible. Alright has moved from being a misspelling, to having slightly different meaning, to maybe. . .just maybe becoming a word in its own right. In any case, check out the publisher/editor/agent you're subbing to and find out what they set as "standard." I'm sticking with all right because of this crown.
Do you have any burning questions for Her Grammarness? If I can't answer them I have an army of linguists to tap into. They love grammar, phonological and semantic questions. Makes them feel needed.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
January 7, 2013
Monday Miscellany or How Can I Blog About the S&P 500 Index and Kim Kardashian in the Same Post?
During my Christmas break, I actually "talked" to people and I've been such a writing hermit that I realized how out of the loop I really was. So, I set out to fix that. I started reading the New York Times again, I read three articles in Forbes and, just for balance, People Magazine--two whole pages of that.
Here's what I now know:
The US is in deep goat poo.
Gross generalization, but terrible and true. We're about to see a half-trillion dollar tax increase--this will affect every working American. In case you've never written a check for a half a trillion, here's how I finally was able to grasp the meaning of all those zeroes. I posted this on fb and here last year.
Start at birth and you have 0.
1 million seconds= your are 10 days old
1 billion seconds= you are 31 years old
1 trillion seconds= you've been dead for 30,000 years
10 trillion seconds (closer to the national debt figure)=you've been dead for 317,000 years
I'm not a political activist. I'm just a very scared tax payer--well, actually I'm just a writer who doesn't like the idea of leaving our kids with all this debt.
To HELP us even more, our retired and elderly are likely to see cuts in programs like Social Security. But that's okay, really. Because the senators and representative aren't on Social Security.
2012 was a great year for the S&P 500 Index
Did you invest last year? Wish I had.
Katie Holmes is the best dressed star for the week of December 29.
Kim Kardashian is pregnant.
Any 2013 plans for keeping up with what's going on in this world? After all of this "research" I'm going back to reading books by Alex Cavanugh, Mary Pax, Lynn Kelley, Stephen Tremp and Nancy Thompson. Then I'm going for a long hike.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
Here's what I now know:
The US is in deep goat poo.
Gross generalization, but terrible and true. We're about to see a half-trillion dollar tax increase--this will affect every working American. In case you've never written a check for a half a trillion, here's how I finally was able to grasp the meaning of all those zeroes. I posted this on fb and here last year.
Start at birth and you have 0.
1 million seconds= your are 10 days old
1 billion seconds= you are 31 years old
1 trillion seconds= you've been dead for 30,000 years
10 trillion seconds (closer to the national debt figure)=you've been dead for 317,000 years
I'm not a political activist. I'm just a very scared tax payer--well, actually I'm just a writer who doesn't like the idea of leaving our kids with all this debt.
To HELP us even more, our retired and elderly are likely to see cuts in programs like Social Security. But that's okay, really. Because the senators and representative aren't on Social Security.
2012 was a great year for the S&P 500 Index
Did you invest last year? Wish I had.
Katie Holmes is the best dressed star for the week of December 29.
Kim Kardashian is pregnant.
Any 2013 plans for keeping up with what's going on in this world? After all of this "research" I'm going back to reading books by Alex Cavanugh, Mary Pax, Lynn Kelley, Stephen Tremp and Nancy Thompson. Then I'm going for a long hike.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
January 3, 2013
So Do You Like Book Events? How About Super Helpful Books or Fun New Books? Her Grammarness Serves Up a Dollop of Detail
Book Events
A BOOK EVENT YOU'LL LIKE: January 4 7:30PM Kepler's in Menlo Park, CA 94025 is hosting three of my old 2009 Debs: Lauren Bjorkman, Kimberly Derting and Stacey Jay. Stop by and hear what they have to say about World Building.
YOUNG ADULT EVENT
New Year's Reads with Lauren Bjorkman, Kimberly Derting, and Stacey Jay
Friday January 4th,
7.30 pm
Start the New Year with some of our favorite YA reads.
The Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman: Meet Erin. Smart student, great daughter, better friend. Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie. Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy..
The Essence by Kimberly Derting: At the conclusion of The Pledge ,
Charlaina (who can understand all languages in a country where the language you speak determines your class) defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen's Essence is fused to Charlie's psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.
Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay: All will be revealed for fans who have breathlessly awaited the sizzling sequel to
Juliet Immortal
. This time Romeo takes center stage and gets one chance, and one chance only, to redeem himself.
If you have a book event and what a bit of a shout out. Let me know. I can shout.
___________________________________
New Books
A SUPER HELPFUL BOOK: A few week ago--and now I totally forget how it happened--I was contacted and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing a new book about social media.
"Heck yeah," says me.
I can use all the help I can get. I didn't really expect much, but I was surprised. SOCIAL MEDIA JUST FOR WRITERS by FRANCES CABALLO is a winner of a book. Here's my AMAZON review, but if you're still scratching your head over profile pages and fan pages and how those charts work and on and on and on, grab this book. It's a hit list of what to do for each of social media giants.
A FUN NEW BOOK: Lauren Bjorkman's MISS FORTUNE COOKIE (Holt) is out. The tag line: Fate will come looking for you. Don't bother hiding. Sounds enticing, doesn't it?
If you have a new book coming out. I'll post about it. Just send me links, a two-three sentence tag line and a cover. I love new books and I love posting about them. If you've just read a book you couldn't put down, I'd love to hear about it.
___________________________________
Her Grammarness
Here's more than you ever wanted to know about the adverb ALREADY and its friend, ALL READY! But here it is anyway. First, they're not the same words. They have two meaning and, as you can see two spellings. Unfortunately, some writers treat them as siamese twins. They're not even fraternal twins.
ALREADY means IT--whatever IT is--is done, finished, kaput.
In American English we often say, "I already edited that manuscript. I'm not doing it again." (I suggest writers don't say this to their editors.)
The Brits kind of keep "already" for use in the present perfect. You know those Brits! "I've already edited that manuscript, you obtuse critic, you."
ALL READY is reserved for "Are you all ready to publish your book?" Meaning, "Are you prepared to get that @~# manuscript out of your C Drive?" OR "I am all ready to become a New York Times Bestselling author." There's a small gap between those two sentences in terms of time, but PREPARED is the synonym for all ready in both. BTW I just read a book that had these words ALL WRONG. Oops!
Do you have any burning questions for Her Grammarness? If I can't answer them I have an army of linguists to tap into. They love grammar, phonological and semantic questions. Makes them feel needed.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
A BOOK EVENT YOU'LL LIKE: January 4 7:30PM Kepler's in Menlo Park, CA 94025 is hosting three of my old 2009 Debs: Lauren Bjorkman, Kimberly Derting and Stacey Jay. Stop by and hear what they have to say about World Building.
YOUNG ADULT EVENT
New Year's Reads with Lauren Bjorkman, Kimberly Derting, and Stacey Jay
Friday January 4th,
7.30 pm
Start the New Year with some of our favorite YA reads.
The Fortune Cookie by Lauren Bjorkman: Meet Erin. Smart student, great daughter, better friend. Secretly the mastermind behind the popular advice blog Miss Fortune Cookie. Totally unaware that her carefully constructed life is about to get crazy..
The Essence by Kimberly Derting: At the conclusion of The Pledge ,
Charlaina (who can understand all languages in a country where the language you speak determines your class) defeated the tyrant Sabara and took her place as Queen of Ludania. But Charlie knows that Sabara has not disappeared: The evil queen's Essence is fused to Charlie's psyche, ready to arise at the first sign of weakness.Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay: All will be revealed for fans who have breathlessly awaited the sizzling sequel to
Juliet Immortal
. This time Romeo takes center stage and gets one chance, and one chance only, to redeem himself.If you have a book event and what a bit of a shout out. Let me know. I can shout.
___________________________________
New Books
A SUPER HELPFUL BOOK: A few week ago--and now I totally forget how it happened--I was contacted and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing a new book about social media.
"Heck yeah," says me.
I can use all the help I can get. I didn't really expect much, but I was surprised. SOCIAL MEDIA JUST FOR WRITERS by FRANCES CABALLO is a winner of a book. Here's my AMAZON review, but if you're still scratching your head over profile pages and fan pages and how those charts work and on and on and on, grab this book. It's a hit list of what to do for each of social media giants.
A FUN NEW BOOK: Lauren Bjorkman's MISS FORTUNE COOKIE (Holt) is out. The tag line: Fate will come looking for you. Don't bother hiding. Sounds enticing, doesn't it?
If you have a new book coming out. I'll post about it. Just send me links, a two-three sentence tag line and a cover. I love new books and I love posting about them. If you've just read a book you couldn't put down, I'd love to hear about it.
___________________________________
Her Grammarness
Here's more than you ever wanted to know about the adverb ALREADY and its friend, ALL READY! But here it is anyway. First, they're not the same words. They have two meaning and, as you can see two spellings. Unfortunately, some writers treat them as siamese twins. They're not even fraternal twins.
ALREADY means IT--whatever IT is--is done, finished, kaput.
In American English we often say, "I already edited that manuscript. I'm not doing it again." (I suggest writers don't say this to their editors.)
The Brits kind of keep "already" for use in the present perfect. You know those Brits! "I've already edited that manuscript, you obtuse critic, you."
ALL READY is reserved for "Are you all ready to publish your book?" Meaning, "Are you prepared to get that @~# manuscript out of your C Drive?" OR "I am all ready to become a New York Times Bestselling author." There's a small gap between those two sentences in terms of time, but PREPARED is the synonym for all ready in both. BTW I just read a book that had these words ALL WRONG. Oops!
Do you have any burning questions for Her Grammarness? If I can't answer them I have an army of linguists to tap into. They love grammar, phonological and semantic questions. Makes them feel needed.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
January 2, 2013
Insecure Writer Me Takes Flight in 2013!
Insecure Writer Me Takes Flight in 2013!
Happy New Year
May 2013 not have any
END OF THE WORLD PREDICTIONS
BAD WRITING DAYS
COMPUTER MELTDOWNS
STAGNANT MANUSCRIPTS
and most importantly
*INSECURITY FOR ANY WRITER IN THE WORLD*.
Let us all chant together:
Down with Insecurity!
Up with confidence!
Just to be sure none of us in this monthly support group backslide, please give each one a visit and a gentle pat on the head. You'll get an, "Ahhh. Thanks" in return.
CLICK HERE
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
December 17, 2012
Monday Miscellany
Due to LIFE!!!!!
This will be my last post until after the first of the year. So I'd better make the Monday Miscellany good, hadn't I?
________________________________________________________________
Raffelcopter did its thing and chose four winners in the Two & Twenty Dark Tales Giveaway: Congrats to Pat Kahn for winning the paperback and the signed book plate. Sheri Larsen, Carolyn Brown and Tess Watson won signed book plates. Thanks to all of you who entered.
________________________________________________________________
This is a SLIDE SHOW that's funny and informative for any of us who write books and who blog and tweet about that fact. It takes a minute, but the message is perfect. Most of you have this down pat, but some may not.
________________________________________________________________
My book purchases for last week were: Lynn Kelly's Curse of the Double Digits and The Mistaken by Nancy S. Thompson. Now I can curl up under the tree and read, read, read. Did you buy books this December? Are there any you've fallen in love with? How about a gift suggestions while there's still time?
________________________________________________________________
I'm always in a fuddle about GENRES and SUB-GENRES, but here's a great UNFUDDLING LIST that helped me out. Thanks to Al Diaz who posted this.
________________________________________________________________
And just to make this truly Miscellaneous, here are some random thoughts on this season.
It should have snow because Hallmark says so.
We need a remake of "It's A Wonderful Life."
Gifts: I'm giving money to charities this year and hugging each member of my family a little longer.
I'm giving up on hoping for world peace. Instead, I'm asking for increased understanding and tolerance on a local level.
Like Charles Dickens, "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
I'm not going to make any more promises than that last one. It's a biggie and deserves my undivided attention throughout 2013.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hannaka, wonderful readers. See you all again 2013. Inshallah. :-)
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
This will be my last post until after the first of the year. So I'd better make the Monday Miscellany good, hadn't I?
________________________________________________________________
Raffelcopter did its thing and chose four winners in the Two & Twenty Dark Tales Giveaway: Congrats to Pat Kahn for winning the paperback and the signed book plate. Sheri Larsen, Carolyn Brown and Tess Watson won signed book plates. Thanks to all of you who entered.
________________________________________________________________
This is a SLIDE SHOW that's funny and informative for any of us who write books and who blog and tweet about that fact. It takes a minute, but the message is perfect. Most of you have this down pat, but some may not.
________________________________________________________________
My book purchases for last week were: Lynn Kelly's Curse of the Double Digits and The Mistaken by Nancy S. Thompson. Now I can curl up under the tree and read, read, read. Did you buy books this December? Are there any you've fallen in love with? How about a gift suggestions while there's still time?
________________________________________________________________
I'm always in a fuddle about GENRES and SUB-GENRES, but here's a great UNFUDDLING LIST that helped me out. Thanks to Al Diaz who posted this.
________________________________________________________________
And just to make this truly Miscellaneous, here are some random thoughts on this season.
It should have snow because Hallmark says so.
We need a remake of "It's A Wonderful Life."
Gifts: I'm giving money to charities this year and hugging each member of my family a little longer.
I'm giving up on hoping for world peace. Instead, I'm asking for increased understanding and tolerance on a local level.
Like Charles Dickens, "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
I'm not going to make any more promises than that last one. It's a biggie and deserves my undivided attention throughout 2013.
Merry Christmas and Happy Hannaka, wonderful readers. See you all again 2013. Inshallah. :-)
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
December 13, 2012
Book Event, New Books & Her Grammarness
Book Event
This December Writers4Writers is spotlighting Nancy Thompsonand her book, THE MISTAKEN. Be sure to check out the book AND join in spreading the word about this author and her work. It's easy to do:
Go to Stephen Tremp's blogger home and follow the easy directions.
The Two and Twenty Dark Tales Giveaway will end shortly. I'll post the winners on Monday Miscellany. Would appreciate some tweets if you have time. :-)
New Books
A few weeks ago I won The Mapmaker's Sons by V.L. Burgess. Thanks again to The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow for choosing me as the winner. I loved the book and read it quickly. You can see my review on goodreads or Amazon.
Her Gramarness
Remember that sneaky grammar quiz from last week? Well, here are the answers and a short explanation. At the end is the winner!
1. Correct: "Now I lay ME down to sleep" is the opening to that old child's prayer. (It used to scare the bejeebers out of me when I had to recite it.) But this sentence would take the present tense, transitive verb lay because of the object that follows it, ME.
2. Incorrect: My manuscript lies moldering on my C drive. (Unfortunately, this is a true statement.) But the reason the verb should be present tense, intransitive is there's no object following.
3. Correct: Sit down and write if you want to publish a book. Set (most general usage) means put or place something. Sit means put your butt in a chair.
4. Incorrect: Now you need the put or place verb. He sets his pen aside and falls across his desk. "The End."
5. Incorrect: It's one of those dangling modifiers we talked about a week ago. Who's on the parapet, looking wild-eyed? The person referred to as "I" in the sentence or Madame Cuthbert? Semantically, it makes sense that you want to refer to the Madame C. I saw Madame Cuthbert, on the parapet, looking wild-eyed like a hungry zombie. Best rule: Put the modifier right up close and personal to whomever you're describing.
It's a tie. THE WINNERS ARE JEMI FRASER & THE GOLDEN EAGLE. Any time you need a pair of eyes to read your first 5 pages, you've got it. Just let me know.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
December 10, 2012
Monday Miscellany, Alex Fest, Christmas Recipes.
I'm festing and hopping all over the BlogOSphere today. The holiday season for events is in full swing. Hope you enjoy these because they were a lot of fun to participate it. Sooooooo, without more preamble, here are they are.
Here's the blogfest to wrap up 2012. Those who joined had to respond to 4 questions, which included writing a piece of Flash Fiction (100 words, using all prompts).
What does Alex look like?
Taut, muscled and stealthy, Alex is truly Ninja head to toe.
Who could play Alex in a documentary?
Johnny Depp is a dead ringer for Alex. I’d say he should play Alex in any documentary.
Who does Alex remind you of?
It depends on the day: Shinobi-Wan Kenobi on his stealthy days and Steve Irwin when he’s stalking alligators.
How Does He Do It?
Nimble Ninja Xela crept forward. His taut, muscled form gliding in silence. Feeling his way in darkness, yet seeing more clearly than ordinary warriors in sunlight, Xela, could be mistaken for Shinobi-Wan Kenobi or—Johnny Depp. He had to bring the list to the NNG (Next Ninja Gathering), and he had to do that without the Listmaker’s knowledge. He stepped up to a lighted window. Inside, the Listmaker slumped at his desk, snoring. In one leap, Xela popped open the window without a sound, slipped the list from under the sleeping man and exited with next week’s book releases.
Now, don't miss the other 5,000 fest posts.
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Character interviews are always kind of fun. I chose to interview Weasel. He's the twelve-year-old sidekick for my MC in Alligators Overhead. Let's see if I really know this kid. Here's Weasel answering the questions.
Hi, I'm Weasel and just so you know, that's a nickname my dork-head brother laid on me. I'm fine with it, really because my real name kind of sucks. No. It really sucks, so I'm not telling you what it is. They call me a "brainiac." I'm in 7th grade, but I go to the 8th grade class for math because . . . well, I already know 7th grade math.
I'm supposed to say something about how I feel about winter, but I live on the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the southeastern part of the U.S. We don't get too much of what people think is winter. Maybe 60's in the day and 40's at night in December. When we get a winter storm, it's cold and wet. And I like that because sometimes they close school and I can stay home and read, which is what I like most. See? I am a Brainiac.
All I need to laugh out loud on any day is my friend, Pete. He's amazing for making all kinds of mistakes and getting into all kinds of trouble. The problem is, while I'm laughing, I have to figure out how to get him and me out of the trouble he's stirred up.
I played truth or dare on a camping trip once. I'm not good at lying, so I chose truth all the time. Pete was with me. Guess what he chose?
My best winter memory is the time Pete got caught playing hooky just before Christmas. Principal Pitt gave him detention every day for a week. I had a lot of time to catch up on my reading. I guess by now you know what I do most of the time: work on getting out of trouble that Pete causes or read.
A book would be my best creative Christmas gift ever. I'm reading the bio of Queen Victoria. You know who she was, right? And I guess that answer another question because that's my favorite book right now.
I might start a snowball fight, if I had some snow, but then maybe not. I'd probably not get the first snow ball off. Pete would be way ahead me on that one.
My family celebrates Christmas like most people, I guess. Mom puts up one of those trees from Walmart, Dad sprays some "evergreen" stuff around the room, and then we go to dinner at a restaurant we all like--Guido's Chinese Palace.
Hey! Great that you wanted to interview me. I kind of liked this.
•••••
Want to join the fun? Here's the Linky:
_______________________________________________________________________
Christmas Countdown: 15 days and counting!
________________________________________________________________________
If you're in need of some simple and tasty recipes for this busy time, go visit SOUTHPAW. She's posting some great menu ideas . . . really. I have tried several and they are delicious and some are fast. My kind of meal!
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
Here's the blogfest to wrap up 2012. Those who joined had to respond to 4 questions, which included writing a piece of Flash Fiction (100 words, using all prompts).
What does Alex look like?
Taut, muscled and stealthy, Alex is truly Ninja head to toe.
Who could play Alex in a documentary?
Johnny Depp is a dead ringer for Alex. I’d say he should play Alex in any documentary.
Who does Alex remind you of?
It depends on the day: Shinobi-Wan Kenobi on his stealthy days and Steve Irwin when he’s stalking alligators.
How Does He Do It?
Nimble Ninja Xela crept forward. His taut, muscled form gliding in silence. Feeling his way in darkness, yet seeing more clearly than ordinary warriors in sunlight, Xela, could be mistaken for Shinobi-Wan Kenobi or—Johnny Depp. He had to bring the list to the NNG (Next Ninja Gathering), and he had to do that without the Listmaker’s knowledge. He stepped up to a lighted window. Inside, the Listmaker slumped at his desk, snoring. In one leap, Xela popped open the window without a sound, slipped the list from under the sleeping man and exited with next week’s book releases.
Now, don't miss the other 5,000 fest posts.
<!-- end LinkyTools script --/>
________________________________________________________________________________________
Character interviews are always kind of fun. I chose to interview Weasel. He's the twelve-year-old sidekick for my MC in Alligators Overhead. Let's see if I really know this kid. Here's Weasel answering the questions.
Hi, I'm Weasel and just so you know, that's a nickname my dork-head brother laid on me. I'm fine with it, really because my real name kind of sucks. No. It really sucks, so I'm not telling you what it is. They call me a "brainiac." I'm in 7th grade, but I go to the 8th grade class for math because . . . well, I already know 7th grade math.
I'm supposed to say something about how I feel about winter, but I live on the edge of the Ornofree swamp in the southeastern part of the U.S. We don't get too much of what people think is winter. Maybe 60's in the day and 40's at night in December. When we get a winter storm, it's cold and wet. And I like that because sometimes they close school and I can stay home and read, which is what I like most. See? I am a Brainiac.
All I need to laugh out loud on any day is my friend, Pete. He's amazing for making all kinds of mistakes and getting into all kinds of trouble. The problem is, while I'm laughing, I have to figure out how to get him and me out of the trouble he's stirred up.
I played truth or dare on a camping trip once. I'm not good at lying, so I chose truth all the time. Pete was with me. Guess what he chose?
My best winter memory is the time Pete got caught playing hooky just before Christmas. Principal Pitt gave him detention every day for a week. I had a lot of time to catch up on my reading. I guess by now you know what I do most of the time: work on getting out of trouble that Pete causes or read.
A book would be my best creative Christmas gift ever. I'm reading the bio of Queen Victoria. You know who she was, right? And I guess that answer another question because that's my favorite book right now.
I might start a snowball fight, if I had some snow, but then maybe not. I'd probably not get the first snow ball off. Pete would be way ahead me on that one.
My family celebrates Christmas like most people, I guess. Mom puts up one of those trees from Walmart, Dad sprays some "evergreen" stuff around the room, and then we go to dinner at a restaurant we all like--Guido's Chinese Palace.
Hey! Great that you wanted to interview me. I kind of liked this.
•••••
Want to join the fun? Here's the Linky:
_______________________________________________________________________
Christmas Countdown: 15 days and counting!
________________________________________________________________________
If you're in need of some simple and tasty recipes for this busy time, go visit SOUTHPAW. She's posting some great menu ideas . . . really. I have tried several and they are delicious and some are fast. My kind of meal!
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
December 6, 2012
Two and Twenty Dark Tales & Day Laughs Night Cries
Book Events
Two and Twenty Dark Tales
Giveaway with signed bookplates
DARK retellings of nursery rhymes.
I will a very lucky reader a copy of Two & Twenty Dark Tales, which will have a signed bookplate included. Authors who signed the bookplate: Nina Berry, Suzanne Lazear, Nancy Holder, Gretchen McNeil and Moi!
I will also send these bookplates to 3 other readers, so they can add it to their copy of Two & Twenty Dark Tales.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hop on this today! We're featuring Nancy Thompson's MISTAKEN.
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New Books
Peaches Ledwidge's
Day Laughs Night Cries
Getting 5 Stars on Amazon!
During the light of day, young Peaches is quiet, shy, and loved by her mother, the members of her church, and the people of her Jamaican village. But when darkness falls, night brings a catastrophic event that thrusts Peaches to do the unthinkable. Day Laughs, Night Cries - a timeless and universal mother-daughter story - rattles with love and hate, tension and chaos, trust and distrust, hope and despair. It whispers of childhood physical assaults and traumas. It reveals teenage confusion and street survival. This engaging account applauds the resilience of the mother-daughter bond.
Hope you'll check this one out, buy it and review it. Writers need reviews. They help keep us visible.
______________________________________________________________________________
Her Grammarness
The Prescriptive Hat
Want to take a little test? Just for fun & maybe a small prize (A FIRST 5 PAGES READ AND CRITIQUE.) for ONE "A" student? Come on. You're good at this stuff. I see straight A's for everybody. In your comment just tell us which ones are incorrect. If you're looking for Xtra credit, make 'em right in the comment. You can also opt out of the crit and just have fun.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
My manuscript lays moldering on my C drive.
Sit down and write if you want to publish a book.
He sits his pen aside and falls across his desk. "The End."
On the parapet, looking wild-eyed like a hungry zombie, I saw Madam Cuthbert.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
Two and Twenty Dark Tales
Giveaway with signed bookplates
DARK retellings of nursery rhymes.
I will a very lucky reader a copy of Two & Twenty Dark Tales, which will have a signed bookplate included. Authors who signed the bookplate: Nina Berry, Suzanne Lazear, Nancy Holder, Gretchen McNeil and Moi!
I will also send these bookplates to 3 other readers, so they can add it to their copy of Two & Twenty Dark Tales.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hop on this today! We're featuring Nancy Thompson's MISTAKEN.
_______________________________________________________________________________
New Books
Peaches Ledwidge's
Day Laughs Night Cries
Getting 5 Stars on Amazon!
During the light of day, young Peaches is quiet, shy, and loved by her mother, the members of her church, and the people of her Jamaican village. But when darkness falls, night brings a catastrophic event that thrusts Peaches to do the unthinkable. Day Laughs, Night Cries - a timeless and universal mother-daughter story - rattles with love and hate, tension and chaos, trust and distrust, hope and despair. It whispers of childhood physical assaults and traumas. It reveals teenage confusion and street survival. This engaging account applauds the resilience of the mother-daughter bond.
Hope you'll check this one out, buy it and review it. Writers need reviews. They help keep us visible.
______________________________________________________________________________
Her Grammarness
The Prescriptive Hat
Want to take a little test? Just for fun & maybe a small prize (A FIRST 5 PAGES READ AND CRITIQUE.) for ONE "A" student? Come on. You're good at this stuff. I see straight A's for everybody. In your comment just tell us which ones are incorrect. If you're looking for Xtra credit, make 'em right in the comment. You can also opt out of the crit and just have fun.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
My manuscript lays moldering on my C drive.
Sit down and write if you want to publish a book.
He sits his pen aside and falls across his desk. "The End."
On the parapet, looking wild-eyed like a hungry zombie, I saw Madam Cuthbert.
Sliding on the Edge, C. Lee McKenzie, WestSide Books, Spring '09
The Princess of Las Pulgas, WestSide Books, Fall '10
The First Time, Fall '11 (Anthology story: Premeditated Cat)
Alligators Overhead, Outskirts Press, Fall '12
