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Showing posts with label #atozchallenge2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #atozchallenge2015. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Goodbye 2015. Hello Christmas.


It has been quite a year on the road this 2015. Here's a recap of some things that have made this year full and fabulous.


New Books Galore. Every time I visited a blog there were new books from the writers I've been connecting with for a few years. 



We had a great AtoZ Challenge with so many amazing bloggers entering to provide interesting and entertaining posts throughout April.


The Team put together a year long tribute to Tina who organized so well for the AtoZ Challenge. She was greatly missed, and hugely valued by her friends.


Some new Hops filled up the Summer Days and linked us with other bloggers we might have missed otherwise!

Unfortunately, a lot of the bloggers we enjoyed retired or took long breaks, but they left with grace and for good reasons.


Jeremy Hawkins designed a super T-shirt for the AtoZ Challenge Survivors. 




The Insecure Writers Group continued to be a huge success each first Wednesday of the month with so many excellent and supportive posts.


There's a lot more, but these were the highlights for me. Now I'm fastening my seatbelt and getting ready for 2016. This is my last AtoZ Challenge post of 2015, so I leave you now to hunt down the tree and find the egg nog.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Throwback Thursday #AtoZChallenge style!

When I realized that the letter T fell on a Thursday this year I KNEW I had to do a Throwback Thursday (#TBT) post for you all!

So I asked all the co-hosts to send me a link to their very first A post for the Challenge. It's fun to see how long we all have been participating - turns out 2012 was a good crop year for co-hosts - and also how our topics (and comments!) have changed. Click on our links below to take a step back in time!

Check 'em out:
Arlee Bird @ Tossing it Out 
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh 
Jeremy @ Hollywood Nuts 
Nicole Ayers @ The Madlab Post 
Author Stephen Tremp (Due to a catastrophic SPAM battle with Google, Steve only has his A post from last year :( But we promise he's been around awhile!)
Heather M. Gardner 
AJ Lauer 
Pam @ An Unconventional Librarian 
Matthew MacNish @ The QQQE
Zalka Csenge Virág @ The Multicolored Diary and MopDog 
S. L. Hennessy @ Pensuasion 
C. Lee McKenzie @ The Write Game 
Joy Campbell @ The Character Depot 
Susan Gourley @ Susan Says 
John Holton @The Sound of One Hand Typing 
Lisa Buie-Collard, Author 

I was going to post the #1 single on the charts on April 1, 2010 but it was a song by Rihanna and I made y'all suffer through twerking last week so I didn't think it would be nice to do that to you again :)

And also because it's T and this fits into the Throwback theme, Tina's post welcoming me to Tina's Terrific Team in 2013 after she cajoled me into giving her an embarrassing childhood photo... <3

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Have you checked out our new A-Z merch?

Our hero Amy has made it through 19 crazy letters of the alphabet - will you help her make it through the last 6? Stop by to help her decide what to do!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

B As In Babe Ruth



 
Who better to inspire a “B” post, than Babe Ruth himself? When deciding what to post, I thought of writing and its importance in my life, and sports, that I watch because those I love watch it, but isn’t my favorite pastime. Yet Babe seemed to have a lot to say to me today, and perhaps to you, no matter what you do. Here are a few Babe Ruth quotes that I felt spoke directly to us as folks who blog, no matter what about.

To begin, “Watch my dust” and You just can't beat the person who never gives up said exactly what I try to tell myself each time I hit a bump in the road.


As a writer, I have to make sure that the final product I release to the world must be the best I can make it. and I have to follow the steps, the guidelines that will help me reach that goal. So did Babe. “I had only one superstition. I made sure to touch all the bases when I hit a home run.”

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” Told me never to give up. To keep on swinging and make every try count, not just the ones I “hit.”

“Yesterday's home runs don't win today's games.” I can’t rest on my laurels and hope success will take care of itself. I must be in constant motion. Each time I finish one, I must begin a new creation.
 
“All I can tell them is pick a good one and sock it. I get back to the dugout and they ask me what it was I hit and I tell them I don't know except it looked good.” How do I know the work I’ve done is worth the time and effort I’ve put into it? I don’t! My last novel (released January 2015) was a different writing experience for me, so because it looked good, felt right, I stuck with it.

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.” I might write the books, but I have so many people who help make it the best it can be, experts who share their insights, beta readers who tell me what works and what doesn’t, artists who create my covers, my family and friends who keep me going. This is a team job alright and I’d be nothing without my team.

 With writing, it’s all or nothing. I can’t write without commitment to the project because it won’t gel. My work is only as good as the energy I put into it… “How to hit home runs: I swing as hard as I can, and I try to swing right through the ball... The harder you grip the bat, the more you can swing it through the ball, and the farther the ball will go. I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can.”

“Gee, its lonesome in the outfield. It's hard to keep awake with nothing to do.” Don’t slack off! Yes, take time to recharge batteries, of course, but never leave alone what you love too long. I hate to think readers might fall asleep while reading one of my books!
 





Monday, March 30, 2015

C. Lee McKenzie Meet Your Host

AtoZChallenge


The Hosts during this challenge are a varied as the stock at K-Mart. We come from all kinds of backgrounds, we're of different belief systems, we live in places all over the world.

Isn't it amazing that we can come together like this to complete such a unified and demanding task? Twenty-six days of blogging and commenting. Makes my brain tired. You've already met some of these Team Members; now it's my turn to reveal who I am.

My Work
When you were invited to ASK US ANYTHING on the AtoZChallenge Blog, the questions were as varied as the Hosts. Here are some of my answers to your questions.

Susan Scott  wanted to know what our best form of exercise was. That's so easy for me to answer. I hike or I do Yoga. For hiking all you need is good pair of shoe and water. I don't have to haul around a golf bag or find a partner to hit a ball to me across the net. It's just me and trail. Yoga doesn't even require shoes! I think you can categorize me as a minimalist.

Barbara in Caneyhead asked what we'd do if our computer bellied up during the Challenge. Don't even think that, Barbara! But if it did, I'd hock the cat and buy a new computer.

CA Heaven asked if we were skiers, and I answered I used to be. If I had to choose between skiing Breckenridge or Arapahoe Basin, I'd choose Breckenridge.

Betty asked a great question: How do we mange time during the A/Z Challenge. My answer was simple. Get up earlier . Go to bed later. Take breaks, stretch and walk. The family's on its own in April. 

Now I've planned a hike for this morning, so I'm out of here. Bye computer. Bye Internet. See you later.