Write Edit Publish December 2019 Footprints #WEP

 I love WEP, but I haven't participated in a bit. I hit a fizzle moment with Captain Wrath, so I won't be returning to that story cycle at the moment, but this prompt just kept speaking to me. I tried a few different things for it and wasn't really satisfied.

I'm still not satisfied, but here is an attempt at a poetic retelling of King Wenceslas (who was actually a very young king murdered by his brother in his twenties - despite all the depictions of him as an old, St. Nicholas figure).
At 449 words:

Footprints in the Snow

In a land far away and long ago,
a man followed footprints in the snow:

By his cozy hearth window, he had seen
A family laboring in the harsh cold
Bringing wood in stacks tall and clean
To Noble house hearths and stoves.

As the day waned and darkness fell,
The wood-cutter family walked home.
Their arms were empty, but they rang a bell,
Singing Christmas carols to praise the Son.

The King marveled at their joy so replete.
In his wondering he gazed at his empty luxury,
And with a sudden shout, he leapt to his feet.
With a hurried dash, he called out to me.

And together, we packed a full leftover feast,
including candles, dishware, presents, and all
For a celebration fit for Wise Kings from the East.
Then I followed him out into the cold snow fall.

We followed the family into the night.
Following deep footprints in the snow.
My young king laughed with joy and might
He hardly seemed to feel the freezing cold.

His purpose clear as he knocked on their door.
They answered but bowed exceedingly low.
But instead, he knelt down on their dirt floor,
Presenting himself as their servant now.

My king served them every morsel sweet,
He even cleaned every spoon and dish.
No one, not even I, could stop his feet.
As he danced about, as was his wish.

His song and laughter rang through the dark
and in the early morning, as the family slept,
My king and I, we woke with the morning lark
To leave the presents on the hearth he'd swept.

Back in his castle and his royal-filled life,
Nothing seemed to sate the Nobles greed.
My King had to deal with much Noble strife.
But they caught him looking to his servants' need.

Time passed, plots made, the passing of a year.
As winter's chill grew in the castle yard,
My king went out to pray with his brother dear.
But his brother's heart had become tarred.

The deed was done, my king was brought low
In bloody, muddy footprints in the snow.

The nobles wanted a puppet on the throne,
But the truth pierces the darkest of hearts,
So the light has ever, ever shone,
and the king's brother fell to love's darts.

He repented his sin, his murderous deed.
From that day forward, he ruled as his brother,
And now, with my help he has decreed,
On Christmas, we give to one another.

No one is to live in greed,
but all are to give to those in need.

For once, on a chill winter's night long ago,
My King followed footsteps in the snow.

And I, I follow my King.

IWSG December

Many thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting and managing this awesome and encouraging blog hop for writers! The hop has grown and become so much more due to the efforts of Alex and the whole administration team. To find out more, go here: IWSG Website.

Co-hosts for December: 

Tonja Drecker https://tonjadrecker.blogspot.com/ 

Nicki Elson http://nickielson.blogspot.com/

Beverly Stowe McClure  http://beverlystowemcclure.blogspot.com/  

Fundy Blue  http://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com/

and me

Optional Question: Let's play a game. Imagine. Role-play. How would you describe your future writer self, your life and what it looks and feels like if you were living the dream?  Or if you are already there, what does it look and feel like? Tell the rest of us. What would you change or improve?

I decided to tackle this with a letter containing what I hope things will be like:

Dear Future Writer Self,
I imagine you are in a cozy space with a cup of hot tea by your side, books lovingly placed on book shelves throughout your house, a journal and a laptop on a desk in front of you. On your walls, you have family pictures and photographs you've taken of your travels and adventures. I also imagine you've managed to tackle all of your projects - from poetry chapbooks and short story collections to novels who have reached readers all over the world, with a handful of graphic novels and some music lyrics written, too. You could retire, but you won't, because writing is your passion. Ideas are everywhere. You also take time to teach writing classes in a Story Arts Studio, a business of your own creation. If you are, like I imagine, close to that retirement age, you're considering who you could mentor to take over that Story Arts Studio, but you aren't ready yet. Or, maybe you already have a business partner who will take over when you're ready to step away. But again, you aren't ready yet. There's so much to do, so many adventures to still have - both in real life and on the page. And, you love encouraging other writers almost as much as writing itself.
I know the journey to where you are is a long road. I know there are many small steps ahead to get there and some mountains to climb, one small step at a time. But I know you're beckoning me onward, and so I will take those steps and climb those mountains, one word and one adventure at a time.
See you soon,
Current Writer Self

That's the kind of life I hope for as a writer - a life of confident creativity and adventure with some dreams fulfilled and some yet to be written. Right now, I feel like I'm still on the first bit of foothills before the real climb.

And now, I just want TO CONGRATULATE all of the 

ANTHOLOGY WINNERS!!!

The Third Ghost – Yvonne Ventresca  http://yvonneventresca.com/blog.html

A World of Trouble – Rebecca M. Douglass  https://www.ninjalibrarian.com

Winter Days - Katharina Gerlach  https://www.katharinagerlach.com

Feathered Fire – Roland Clarke  https://rolandclarke.com/

The Ghosts of Pompeii – Sherry Ellis  http://www.sherryellis.org/

The Blind Ship – Bish Denham  http://bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Return to Cahokia – L.T. Ward

Dare Double Dare – Louise M. Barbour  https://selkiegrey4.blogspot.com

Simon Grey and the Yamamba - Charles Kowalski  https://charleskowalski.com/

The Orchard - Beth Anderson Schuck  https://twitter.com/schuck_beth

These writers wrote an submitted Middle Grade (ages 9-12) stories for the IWSG MG Anthology Contest and won a spot in the anthology!

If you wrote but didn't win, I hope you submit your stories to another contest, anthology, or magazine. You can find a place for your work!

As someone who has received rejections on my stories, poems, and novels, I know it's hard, but you can keep going. You can find publication.

Keep writing! 

Keep sending out your work!

IWSG Updates:

In January, we will post on the second Wednesday because the first Wednesday is New Year's Day.

The Twitter Pitch Contest is in January! Get ready to Pitch!!!

For the Goodreads IWSG Reading Group, the book for December/January is On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. 

On Instagram, we mainly have today's post celebration, a note on the WEP contest, and per usual, some writing tips from the website, and some encouraging quotes to keep you writing!

For WEP in December:

A few brief updates from me:

1. The last few months have included some unexpected life stress which will not be named (it felt that dark), but I kept on writing. I attended a comic con, and I read my work out loud at an open mic night. I went to a critique group, went to several write-ins with an ongoing write-in group, and I won NaNoWriMo with 50,000 words of a jumbled, partial novel which will take much revision to be the novel it's meant to be.

2. I decided to participate in Dressember to help fight human trafficking with awareness and fundraising. To know more about Dressember, go HERE. If you want to help me fund raise, go to A Dress with Comfortable Shoes.

Dressember's vision: A World Without Slavery.

3. I had the honor of having two previously published poems republished in this new anthology by Z Publishing: Washington's Best Emerging Poets

How are all of you doing, IWSG? Any news? 

What does your future writer self look like?

#TheIWSG and #NaNoWriMo: Here Be Dragon Slayers

Sorry for posting late, I had this partially prepped and then forgot to schedule it. 

It’s time for another group posting of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group! Time to release our fears to the world – or offer encouragement to those who are feeling neurotic. If you’d like to join us, click on the tab above and sign up. We post the first Wednesday of every month. I encourage everyone to visit at least a dozen new blogs and leave a comment. Your words might be the encouragement someone needs.


The awesome founder of this hop is Alex J. Cavanaugh and his co-hosts today are Sadira Stone, Patricia Josephine, Lisa Buie-Collard, Erika Beebe, and C. Lee McKenzie!

OPTIONAL QUESTION FOR NOVEMBER: What's the strangest thing you've ever googled in researching a story? 
I ended up not using it (yet) but I researched the haka, a Maori dance, for my superhero-novel-series-project-that-may-never-get-finished. My main character is part-Maori, part-Scottish-American with some alien DNA. I've also researched habitable planets in the Milky Way for that project (there are none what we know of, but I can still "dream" right?).

For my current WIP, one odd thing I have researched: maps which feature the notation "Here Be Dragons." It turns out, there's only one and it's a small globe. The rest of the ancient maps just have drawings of dragons, mermaids, and rhinos (?!).

NaNoWriMo: Here Be Dragon Slayers
I decided to participate in NaNoWriMo 2019, the 20th year edition of NaNoWriMo. I really appreciate the end of the year, kick in the pants I get from NaNoWriMo. Whether I win or lose, I learn from the process of writing and plotting, and thinking about noveling in an intense way all month long.

I am writing about a traditional fantasy trope: dragon slayers.
Unlike the traditional dragon slayers, I decided to hang out with my favorite dragon slayer whose name is Mel aka Melisan Winter, an orphaned young woman who kills dragons with a variety of weapons but never with a sword, and her business partner and sidekick, Gavin Summer, also an orphan. If you think they are in a romantic relationship, think again. They are best friends, business partners, and they both have their eyes out for others ... (so, romance will happen, but not with each other).

Mel and Gavin will probably meet up with another dragon slayer by the name of Mad Maud, a character from a previous short story "Of Words and Swords" which can be found in the 2017 IWSG Fantasy Anthology: Mysteries of Death and Life. However, this is not Maud's main story. I haven't quite decided where he's going to land yet, other than as a reluctant mentor to these two.

A few fantasy tropes will be used, twisted, and re-imagined. There is a "chosen one" but it's not who you think. Dragon slaying will occur, but not quite on purpose every time, and well, it gets more complicated when a particular character comes on the stage. Not every dragon looks like a dragon and not every dragon is a dragon ...

I am actually plotting and pants-ing as I go. I have plot points. I am following them like guidelines and sign posts. I am following Save the Cat Writes a Novel ... mostly.

A Rich Palate for the Traveling Writer and the Not Guilty Book Tour!

I’m delighted today to welcome author C. Lee McKenzie to my site to talk about her latest release, NOT GUILTY, as part of her MC Book Tour Blog adventure. 


After you find out more about C. Lee and this tantalizing new story, be sure to enter Lee’s giveaway featured below. 

A Rich Palate for the Traveling Writer
By Guest C. Lee McKenzie, the YA author of Not Guilty

Hi Tyrean. It’s great to be at your place today, and thanks for the question you asked me:
How Do Travels Influence Your Writing?

This question couldn't have come at a more perfect time because I’m on a trip, and I have a chance to answer it while I make my way around Morocco.

On this journey, I’ve moved from large cities like Fes and Marrakech to the vast Sahara desert and passed through small villages, so I’ve interacted with a lot of different Moroccans--those who speak English, French, and Spanish as well as their native language, and those who speak only their native tongue and have never left their birthplace.

When I arrived, two things immediately struck me. First, the people’s speaking distance between themselves and strangers is closer than for the North American. I found myself stepping back at first to keep my comfort zone, but of course they only stepped forward to keep theirs.

Also they touch frequently,. Even if they don’t know you, they like to take your arm or rest their hand on your shoulder. With friends they might hold hands. Men will easily walk hand in hand while they chat.

These aren’t earthshaking differences, but if you’re thinking of crafting a scene between Moroccan and North American characters, you can use them. Here’s a scene I wrote as an example:

Heat shimmered up from the mosaic floor tiles. The ceiling had long ago collapsed and the sun blazed overhead like a slightly off center chandelier.

Ben lifted one foot, then the other in an effort to cool his thin-soled sandals.

“Monsieur, WC is only there.” The guide motioned to his left, totally mis-reading his client’s discomfort.

Ben shook his head and pointed overhead. “Just hot.”

The guide pulled him into the slice of shade along one wall, and keeping a grip on his arm, leaned close. “Here is the hamam, you see. And--” now pulling him into another dark ruin of a room “--the cauldera. It is here.”

Ben tried to step away, but the wall was at his back so there was no putting any distance between him and his guide who always seemed about to embrace him.

This was his fourth hamam, so Ben had become bi-lingual when it came to discussing the bathrooms of a “typical” historical Moroccan riad. He’d like to free his arm, but that didn’t seem possible. The guide was on a mission to drag him from room to room until they’d visited this entire hotel that had seen its last guest sometime in the second century.

The contrasts between cultures offer a rich palate of opportunities for creating humor or drama in stories. The misunderstandings, the discomforts, the moments of enlightenment when different cultures come in contact are unlimited.

I’ve also discovered that when I’m traveling, these contrasts make me more keenly aware of my own culture. If you see a schematic of  any culture, it looks a lot like an iceberg--most of it out of sight and out of awareness, particularly the culture you exist in. By culture I don’t mean art or language or how we dress, I mean how we treat time, space and other silent forms of communication, like the ones I’ve mentioned above.

You don’t have to travel to other countries to find differences between people. In my books, I often include U.S. characters from different backgrounds, and one of the main themes I like to explore in all of my young adult books is our uniqueness as well as how much we’re alike. No matter how different we look, sound, behave in our communities we have underneath our veneer of culture, a common humanity--a need for safety, food, and shelter, a love of family and friends; a desire to succeed and be recognized--all in degrees, of course, but things that are basic to human existence.

Travel in the U.S. brings me together with people of all ages, education, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. In Not Guilty, I used some of those experiences to tackle the story of an anglo middle class kid who winds up in juvenile hall where he meets others with a different life experience--experience he lacks but desperately needs once he’s in trouble. His life-long friends abandon him, but he discovers his new ones will stand by him regardless of his short-comings.

Here’ s scene in juvie between Devon, the MC, and his new friends, Tats, Chewy, and Ice. He finally trusts them enough to tell them his plan for proving himself innocent.

“Hey.” Devon coughed. Nervous because he wasn’t sure his plan was good. “I’ve laid out some ways to find the guy I’m serving time for. Want to hear it?” 

“Lay it on us,” Tats said.

He did. And they listened without breaking in. When he finished, nobody said anything. “Well?”

Chewy finally broke the silence. “Grandma Marika says, ‘The proof’s in the pudding.’”

“What’s that mean?” Ice asked.

“It means you don’t know—”

Tats cut Chewy off. “—if something’s good until you start to eat it.”

“I still don’t get it.” 

“I do,” Devon said. “My plan might work, but I won’t know until I try it out.” 

“Ah! Okay. Now why don’t you two say it clear like English does?” 

“Go to sleep, Ice. Give your brain a rest.” Tats cut a big one, and they all laughed. 

Devon closed his eyes, thinking how much he was going to miss these guys. 

Thanks once again, Tyrean for letting me visit. I hope your readers found something useful in the post.

I'm sure they have, C. Lee!!! 

* Not Guilty

* by C. Lee McKenzie

* Publication Date: October 25, 2019

* Genre: Young Adult

          A blood-smeared knife. One young man’s word against another. A lifetime dream crushed.

          The evidence points to Devon Carlyle. He was there when it happened. Everyone knows he had it in for Renzo Costa. And Costa says Devon was the one. In the judge’s rap of a gavel, Devon’s found guilty of assault. The star of the Oceanside High’s basketball team loses his shot at the one thing he’s worked so hard for—the championship game where college scouts could see how good he is.

          Now he makes his great shots in Juvenile Hall with kids far different from those that have always been in his life.

          Angry? Hell, yes.

          He’s bent on finding who did the crime. He’s bent on making them pay because he’s Not Guilty.

          But can he prove it?

A SUPER SHORT REVIEW FOR NOT GUILTY - FROM TYREAN
Devon is one of those guys. Everything in his life seems to be going right, and then it all goes devastatingly wrong. Even knowing Devon wasn't guilty, I wondered how he would prove himself innocent. All the evidence is against him. He's at the wrong place and the wrong time. He gets thrown in Juvie. He's angry. He's grieving. And, life on the inside isn't easy.
Devon was one of those characters who, once I stepped into his messy story, I started rooting for. His inner dialogue, his way of struggling through, really made him a "real" character and I felt drawn into his dilemma and his world right away. The writing in this book is excellent. The story-line is gripping, and I think anyone who picks it up is going to be hoping Devon manages to prove that he's Not Guilty.

For those who aren’t familiar with the author, here’s a bit of background on her.

C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. She has published five young adult novels: Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, and Sudden Secrets. Not Guilty is her most recent one. 

          Sometimes she likes to jump into the world of the fantastic and when she does, she writes for the middle-grade reader. Some Very Messy Medieval Magick is the third book in the time-travel adventures of Pete and Weasel, with Alligators Overhead and The Great Time Lock Disaster being the first two. Sign of the Green Dragon, a stand-alone, takes the reader into ancient Chinese dragon myths and a quest for treasure. 

          When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot of questions about things she still doesn’t understand. 

For more information on Lee and her writing, connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at her Website. 

NOT GUILTY can be found Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. 

The author’s other young adult books include: Sliding on the Edge, Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, Sudden Secrets

GIVEAWAY

With Halloween celebrated this week, Lee’s giving away five digital copies of NOT GUILTY and a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate. This tour-wide giveaway will end at midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 5th.

To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient. If the widget doesn’t show up, just click HERE and you’ll be directed to the widget.

Thanks for stopping by today during Lee’s visit. Do you enjoy stories where the underdog becomes the champion? Don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review Lowdown and Wielder's Prize by Elle Cardy

In addition to this post, I have a post at the Insecure Writer's Support Group website on How to Use Instagram as an Author today! Go there, and check it out if you're interested!


I love reading! However, I have a tough time writing reviews. I want to give fully honest reviews, but I'm afraid I'm going to hurt someone's feelings. I know how that feels.  I also know how much reviews mean to authors because I am one, so I write them.

Did you know that you have to have 50 reviews at Amazon to get featured in their newsletters? I don't think they all have to be superstar reviews, but there is some kind of algorithm to it.

Did you know Amazon doesn't always let writers review other books? This is crazy to me. Trolls get to review. Writers aren't supposed to review. This is why it's good to have two Amazon accounts. That's how my reviews get posted and stay posted. And no, I'm not a troll, or even a super-reviewer. I don't get paid to review. I review the books I like, that's it.

Speaking of which:

Wielder's Prize by Elle Cardy is out today!!! I was given a free copy to review, but please note this does not bias my opinion here.

AWESOMENESS: 

Action - I love action in fantasy novels and this novel had action!

Mystery - I love not knowing everything right away and this novel delivered on all of its promised hints later on in the story! (Agh. The desire to throw in spoilers is really strong, but I'm holding it back.) The bread crumbs of intrigue led to a satisfying conclusion!

World-Building - The slow unveiling of world-building and the power structure of the magic users was awesome! I loved how we learned alongside the main character and discovered what her powers meant and how to use them, as well as why she doesn't seem to have a focus. 

Tension - This book had it. It was tough to put down, and I read it in two sittings.

WHAT I LOVED, BUT WASN'T SURE I DID AT FIRST:

Character-Building for the MC - I admit I struggled to like the main character in the first chapter or two. I wanted her to get out of her tough situation a lot faster, but then as the novel progressed, I found myself drawn more and more into her situation, how she was who she was, and how she began to understand who she could be. I realized the farther I got into the book, just how well the author had written this character. Jasmine is one of the most fully realized fantasy characters I've read in a long, long time.

SLIGHT CAUTION:

This fantasy novel is excellent, but there is an abusive relationship shown in the beginning. It is handled well, but it was troubling when I first saw it. There is justice, but not the way the reader might expect. 

OVERALL: 5 OUT OF 5 STARS!!! This book was one of my favorite recent reads. I really enjoyed it and found it to be fun, as well as thought-provoking. I really liked how the author showed the main character growing into her strengths and finding her footing, even if I didn't like where she was at the beginning.

Do you write reviews? If you ever read one of my books, please feel free to give me a review - even if it's not that many stars. Really. I would like one of my books to get up to 50 reviews someday. Be honest. Give it to me straight. I'll be okay.

And, have you picked up Wielder's Prize yet? I recommend it!

Please check out my post at the IWSG site today!