TheWriteGame

Gone Fishing

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:38:00 +0000

Back June 5!

Today (from my fishing hole) I'll be sending Tweets and doing FB Posts for Laura Eno and Marian Allen. Here's all my best to them both on their books!

AtoZ Reflection and Happy Trails to You

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

MY REFLECTIONS on the AtoZ Blog Challenge

There are some highly imaginative bloggers out there that turn their creativity into captivating moments or highly instructive ones. Either type of blog is great to me and I've enjoyed visiting each of them. I wish I could have visited more, but time . . . well, you all know about Time.

YAY! Here's my badge for crossing the finish line.

Here are a few of my favorites. This is not a complete list by any means, but only a sampling.

I learned so much about the lore of British Cookery from Hilary and she taught me about Pond Pudding. More about that in the near future.

D.L. Hammons had a great contest during this AtoZ. He posted bits about himself all month, and then gave his visitors a chance to win a prize if they answered quiz questions based on those posts. I didn't get all the answers to his quiz, but I had fun trying.

Medeia Sharif featured a book each day by authors in alphabetical order. My book, Alligators Overhead, was very lucky to have a spot in one of her posts.

Mark Means updated me on all sorts of super-powered heroes. Some I'd never heard of before this Hop.

Bish Denham gave me a brief vacation to her beautiful island every day.

Laura Eno delighted me with her cat sayings and, of course, her Snarky Teas.

Al Diaz introduced me to his very special dragon cave with minions and dwarves and magic, so each day was special when I stopped in for a visit.

Samantha was a delight with her "What I've Learned" theme.

Carol Kilgore made me want to read her book by giving me glimpses of her characters. Very clever theme.

There are so many I could mention, but another time--after I get some R & R and my head isn't buzzing alphabetical.

Thanks again to Arlee Bird and Alex Cavanaugh and all who co-sponsored this year's hop. It takes a lot of work and you made it smooth and easy for all of us.

The big news is that I already have my theme for next year. I feel like this smug pup or his twin, the president.

Now I'm mounting up on my trusty steed and riding off into the month of May. I'll leave you with these Happy Trails lyrics, but you'll have to hum the melody.

Lyrics to "Happy Trails" by Dale Evans Rogers

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.
Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

Some trails are happy ones,
Others are blue.
It's the way you ride the trail that counts,
Here's a happy one for you.

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.
Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then.
Who cares about the clouds when we're together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather.

Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.

Small Things That Count

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Fri, 03 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Inspired by VikLit

As I was thinking about what small things I'd include in today's post, I realized that none of what I had in mind were small in the least. But I guess we call these small because they don't make a headline splash or they don't send us out to shout about them. They just bring a moment of joy, a chuckle, a sigh of satisfaction. So I'll say these are the small things I celebrate, but taken in total, they are amazingly large.

A Crecopia Moth's Brief Visit

He tucked himself under the handle of grocery bag for a nap. He stay all day, then flew off just as the sun set.

This year's crop of peas produced some beautiful pink and red flower, then gave us handfuls of the sweetest peas for dinner.

A first Iris all white and tinged with a royal purple. Loved his kingly arrival.

Off to celebrate more small things with others in this Hop. Hope you'll stop by and say hi to them.

Insecure Writer Me

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Wed, 01 May 2013 08:49:00 +0000

Writers, consider this today, and then go write something good. I'm officially out of blogginess this first day of May, so this is short and to the point. It's not terribly creative, and I feel my insecurities popping out all over as I write it.

“Don't be afraid to write. I think a lot of writers of all ages have a fear that they aren't any good at writing. That fear is normal. I feel it. Most writers who care about what they are writing feel it. When you feel like you're not good enough, write anyway. It's just a pesky bug that's whispering lies. The best way to swat the bug is with your pen.” Anonymous

AtoZ Blogging Challenge Ends Today! Z Has Arrived At Last

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

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

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

Zippity Do Dah!

All this Zip brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge Y!

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

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

Yertle

Yertle is too a word.

Here's some sentences to prove it:

Don't give me that Yertle jive!

That new leader is Yertling over much, methinks.

She's not just any tryant; she's a Yertle.

See? Adjective, Verb, Noun, ergo word.

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

Yertle brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. X?

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

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

XEROTRIPSIS

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

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

Xerotripsis, what does it mean?

This nap has been brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. Wow! Almost At The End

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Wow!

Wowzer!

Woot!

Whee!

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

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

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

All of this excitement is brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit.

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

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

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

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

or Tyrannosaurs Rex and his.

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

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

Here's the List and the people below bring you this voracious hop:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge--Spotlight on U

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

We're coming into the home stretch on the A-Z Blogging Challenge. U is the 21st letter in our alphabet, so we only 5 more posts before we can fall across the finish line and pat ourselves on the back.

I had a hard time picking a word for today, but I finally decided on one that I'd never heard before. And here I pride myself on knowing a lot of words.

*Take Smug Expression from Linguistic Face.*

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

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

Brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge-This Hop is Tantalizing

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Tantalize

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

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

This tantalizing post has been brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

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

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Superciliousness

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

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

The cat box need attention.

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

I've got my limb. Go find your own.

This un-supercilious blog hop is brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

A Rambunctious AtoZ Blogging Challenge Day

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

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

Ta Da!

Now about R:

Rambunctious

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

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

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

I love rambunctious characters! I love the word rambunctious!

This Rambunctious Hop is brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge and Back to Small Things.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Querulous is the word of the day!

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

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

Here's a stab:

When the door opened and Max blustered in, Josh tightened his grip on his book. Billy Willis slid low in his seat and Felicia Martinez tucked her homework inside her binder. Curtis Blatz set one pencil on top of his desk, folded his arms and waited. Max would break it in half just as he did on all of his "bad" days. Marshall Lowenstein left for the back of the room and stayed there reading the bulletin board as Max made his way down center aisle, rapping his knuckles on the desks or poking kids’ arms.

Is Max querulous enough? Did using other characters' reactions work to create querulous Max? How would you show a character is querulous?

Onward to R. Be sure to visit more of the intrepid AtoZ Bloggers! you read about these

Small Things to Celebrate

a pat on the back by a pal

an unexpected present for absolutely no reason except someone thought of you

the scent of the first rose in spring

a good burp after a splendid meal

Ahhhh, those small things!

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. P Has Arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Perspicacious/Perspicacity

Keen, Sharp and Intelligent.

How can perspicacious or perspicacity not make it to the top of your favorite words to use? With those plosive sounds and that staccato beat, these words pop out of your mouth. They even perk up a written sentence when you're reading and all those words on the page are filled with the humming, nasal sounds of M's and N's and breathy vowels. Then suddenly here come the pop, pop, poppity P's of perspicacious/perspicacity to wake you up.

This little "wake up" post brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

Bloggers to visit.

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. O Has Arrived!

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Ossification

Relative. A Bony Headed Lizard

There have been times during these writing spurts I suffer, that I'm sure my brain has hardened into a bony mass. Brain Ossification is the worst when I'm in the middle of a story and suddenly I don't have a clue where to take it next. What happens: sleepless nights, twitchy days and lots of pacing between the computer and the kitchen, where I seek solace from the refrigerator. It seems to be the only thing in the house that understands me.

Still ossification is a fabulous word with its hissy sibilant sounds. Do you suffer from ossification of the brain when you're writing? If so, where do you go for help? Please don't tell me you go to the refrigerator, too. But if that's the case, whisper to me and tell me what your favorite comfort food is that you keep stashed there.

Brought to you by: Be sure to stop in at some of these blogs.

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. Nuance Much Lately?

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Nuance

I love writers who leave something for me to figure out in their stories. One effective way they do this is to go for the subtle shadings in action or in description rather than using the blatant approach. Here's an example of what I mean.

". . .but it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it . Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years."

In The Kite Runner, we know from this early sentence in the book, that something life-altering happened a long time ago. I've italicized the words that give us that information. Hosseini carefully chose them for the effect he wanted to create (dark, tinged with guilt, long-lasting). Whatever happened deeply affected the main character. But instead of telling us what it was and how it affected him, the writer nuances the event and leaves us wondering. Now we must turn the page to find out what this story is about. We're hooked by this subtle glimpse of this character's past.

Are you intrigued by what's not explicit, by the nuancing of information in books?

This very subtle and nuanced post brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Mellifluous. One yummy sounding word.

The sound of warm honey, sliding from the spoon. . .

water sheeting over sleepy midstream boulders. . .

leaves whispering secrets to the jays and chickadees. . .

a kitten purring contentment into your lap.

Ah, what a word that is! Do you have a word that really appeals to your ear?

These mellifluous sounds brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. Welcome to Luscious Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Luscious

I can't say this word without drool being involved. I think of food immediately. Like

this 284 calorie (158 g.) Hot Fudge Sundae with 25% saturated fat content.

Or (have to have at least one green veggie, right) green beans (1C. 125g), .078g saturated fat--without butter, of course.

Enchilada (1/ 192g) 323 calories, 45% saturated fat!

Hotcakes (2/ 232.g) 520 calories, 29% saturated fat. Oye. Who can eat only 2?

Mud Pie (1/8.5 oz) 680 calories, 49% total fat. Did you know you have to walk 189 minutes to burn 680 calories?

Sorry I have to go eat now!

Did I make you drool? Hope so.

Did ruin anyone's favorite food snack by posting the calories and fat information?

Do you care a flying fig about any of this?

The LIST

Brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. Almost Kaput, But Not Quite.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Before you go to my K word today, here's something I found. I'm a researcher by nature, so when one of the blogger posted Hebbie-Jeebies as an H word, I had to find out where that came from. It was coined by a cartoonist named W.B. "Billy" DeBeck of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith fame. He came up with or popularized other long-lived words and phrases as well, including bodacious, my B word on this AtoZ luxury cruise. If you come across hotsy-totsy, hot mama or horsefeathers give credit to that cartoonist DeBeck. Now onto K.

Kaput

I love this word, not the way I love words like kaleidoscope

or kalanchoe

or even kestrel.

Well, you get the idea. These words stay a while in your mouth while their syllables roll around on your tongue. Kaput is a word that sounds like two strokes of an axe. It comes right to the point.

The agent points her finger my direction and says to the publisher, "That writer's kaput!"

See?
Two axe strokes. Very harsh.

What's your K word?

Da LIST

Brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge I'm on Day 10 and Still Jocular--Mostly.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Jocular

This word needs a good laugh--laughter heals and brings peace to your soul even during the AtoZ Challenge, and--I've been told--lowers your blood pressure.

Have a jocular day!

This LIST is long!

These laughs brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. It Be Day 9!

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Idolize

Ever idolize (idolise, if you're a Brit) anyone? Ever admire someone so much that you crave to be like them?

How about now? Anyone you look up to as a hero?

I kind of thought she was cool, but I grew out of that phase. My husband didn't!

Of course, being idolized might be a pain.

Idolizing might be not a good idea. (I think I just wrote a rotten sentence)

Some people have Billy as an idol.

Have you seen this LIST? Staggering.

Brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. H is King Today.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

Just to remind readers what I'm doing here, I'm reposting my earlier explanation. Here 'tis!

As a writer, my real tools are the words in my language. Fortunately, English has a ton--with more being added everyday. You can see where this is going, right? My favorite words from AtoZ. Okay, stop the sniggering. I'm not as creative as some, so give me a break, take a look and add your favorite word in your comment. I can always use more words.

Harrowing

How would you use this word in one of your stories, or would you? What's harrowing for you anyway? Do you feel more harrowed by reading the reports of real events in the real world, or by Stephen King's latest weird adventure in the land of fiction? Here's a film that gives me the true feeling of what a harrowing experience is. Ever seen The Deep? I only thought I'd see the opening of this video about the making of that film, but I had to watch it all. Incredibly harrowing.

This harrowing experience brought to you by:

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. HERE's THE LIST.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. G's Big Day

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

This post is short and to the point. It's Monday. It's sunny outside. I'm outta here!

G is for Gregarious.

This is an old word from the 1600s. Latin gregarius "pertaining to a flock; of the herd, of the common sort.

And if you're a gregarious type, you love to be with a group, just like these guys.

And then there are the A-Z Bloggers

www.coolmob.org

Brought to you by all these peeps and here are the other thousand!

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.

AtoZ Blogging Challenge. This Hop is Formidable.

noreply@blogger.com (C. Lee McKenzie) — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:30:00 +0000

The brainchild of Arlee Bird, at Tossing it Out

If you've been visiting me for the past five days, you know what this AtoZ Blogging Challenge post is going to be about. It's time for the letter F to step up to the plate. I have a splendid F word I really like, and, no, it's not that ubiquitous OTHER F-word--although after yesterday and a small computer glitch I was sorely tempted. Who needs the computer to start burping during the AtoZ?

Today's word is a brilliant one with the power to evoke a strong emotion--in this case, fear.

Formidable

www.phocabulary.com

The IRS agent smiled, but his demeanor was still formidable.

BTW, are you aware there are only 9 days before APRIL 15? Sorry for the formidable reminder.

This formidable post is brought to you by a whole gang of formidable bloggers :

The Madlab Post (Nicole Ayers)

Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)

Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)

Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)

Life is Good (Tina Downey)

Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)

Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)

The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)

The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)

Leave it to Livia (Livia Peterson)

No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)

Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp)

Spunk on a Stick (L. Diane Wolfe)

We also have a Facebook page, email address 2012azinfo@gmail.com, and the Twitter hashtag is #AtoZChallenge. Join in.