Celebrate the Small Things-May 25, 2018

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain!  I am her co-host.

I'm posting super late today.  I'll be honest and say I just plain forgot to.  I wish I had a better excuse for that, but I don't.

It's been a weird and stressful week, so rather than rehash all that (don't worry, we're all okay, it's just been a bit crazy), I thought I'd take the time to help promote someone else's work.  A good book is always worth celebrating, right?

SOME VERY MESSY MEDIEVAL MAGIC 

By C. Lee McKenzie

Pete’s stuck in medieval England!

Pete and his friend Weasel thought they’d closed the Time Lock. But a young page from medieval times, Peter of Bramwell, goes missing. His absence during a critical moment will forever alter history unless he’s found.

There’s only one solution - fledgling wizard Pete must take the page’s place. Accompanied by Weasel and Fanon, Pete’s alligator familiar, they travel to 1173 England.

But what if the page remains lost - will Pete know what to do when the critical moment arrives? Toss in a grumpy Fanon, the duke’s curious niece, a talking horse, and the Circle of Stones and Pete realizes he’s in over his young wizard head yet again...

Release date – May 15, 2018

Juvenile Fiction - Fantasy & Magic/Boys & Men

$13.95 Print ISBN 9781939844460

$3.99 EBook ISBN 9781939844477

C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot questions about things she still doesn’t understand. 

http://cleemckenziebooks.com

Links:

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

iTunes

Amazon

Kindle

Foyles

Goodreads

What would you like to celebrate?

Celebrate the Small Things-May 18, 2018

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain!  I am her co-host.

Winter is definitely well behind us now, which means I've been walking every chance I get.  The exercise and healthy eating has helped me increase my endurance, and I've lost about 15 pounds so far.  I have quite a ways left to go before I hit my target, but this is a good start.  It's enough that I need to look into getting some new clothes.

Zoe is learning to talk more and more all the time.  She can now clearly say Lyle's name.  She can't say Jude yet, which has him feeling a little jealous, but she'll get there in time.

Our refrigerator had been acting up for awhile, and it really went on the fritz a couple weeks ago.  We found a used one in good shape for $60, and we got rid of the old one through an appliance recycling program.  That got us a rebate of $50.  So instead of having to pay to dispose of it ourselves, we made back all but $10 of what we spent on the replacement to have someone else do the work for us.  I'm labeling that as a win.

What would you like to celebrate?

Celebrate the Small Things: May 11, 2018

 

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain!  I am her co-host.

My son Lyle's birthday is today.  He's seven now.  It's amazing how fast the years go by.

The boys are playing T-ball again this year.  Practices start next week, and they're looking forward to it.  I'm sure Zoe will have a good time watching, as well.

I'd also like to celebrate salad.  I've always enjoyed a good salad, and since I've been eating healthier lately, salad has become an even more essential part of my diet than it used to be.  It's also a versatile dish that you can make in so many different ways that I can't see myself getting bored with it.

What would you like to celebrate?

Celebrate the Small Things-May 4, 2018

It's Friday!  Let's Celebrate the Small Things with Lexa Cain!  I am her co-host.

The boys have their spring concert on Monday, and they've been working hard practicing their songs.  They're really looking forward to it.  They've always enjoyed performing.

My new exercise routine is still going well.  I've been steadily building up my endurance, and muscle soreness hasn't been nearly the problem that it was in the beginning.  The improved weather has also made it possible to do a lot more walking, and I know the kids enjoy it too.

I also want to celebrate the upcoming weekend.  It looks like we're going to have some great weather, so we'll probably be spending some time outside.

What would you like to celebrate?

The Insecure Writer's Support Group: May 2018

Is it really the first Wednesday of the month again?  Yes, yes it is, and you know what that means.  It's time to convene another meeting of The Insecure Writer's Support Group.  Our leader Alex J. Cavanaugh has rounded up another bunch of fantastic co-hosts: E.M.A. Timar, J.Q. Rose, C. Lee McKenzie, and Raimey Gallant.

Be sure to check out the IWSG website for great resources and support!

Before I go on, I'd like to ask for a favor if I might.  I have a short story called "Becoming Death's Personal Assistant" appearing in the Normal Deviation anthology.  This collection of stories were all inspired by the same strange image.  It's truly amazing how such a wide variety of tales can come from the same photo.  Anyway, the publisher is running a Kickstarter campaign to help cover costs.  If any of you can help out by spreading the word, I'd really appreciate it.  I've included a couple of pre-written tweets to make it easy for you.  Thanks in advance for the help!

Tweet #1:

What happens when you put out a #strange photo and ask #authors to write #shortstories about them? Support the #NormalDeviation #anthology and you can find out! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/335044740/normal-deviation-the-completed-weird-fiction-antho

Tweet #2:

A #weird photo inspires #bizarre #shortstories. Check out and support the #NormalDeviation #anthology on #Kickstarter to find out where inspiration guided this group of #writers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/335044740/normal-deviation-the-completed-weird-fiction-antho

Now it's time for the question of the month.

It's spring!  Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?

I'll say this much.  Inspiration isn't lacking for me right now.  Motivation to actually put words on the page has suffered some, but I might have an easier time powering through that if my kids weren't wanting to spend so much time at the park.  I can hardly blame them.  Now that the weather is actually feeling springlike, I'm enjoying being outside, too.  It makes it a little harder to squeeze in my writing, but I've been doing the best I can.

What season most inspires you to write?