C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

Christmas Déjà Vu. Also, Her Grammarness Strikes Again! All right?

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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.

In The Throes of Thursday-What I’ve Learned About Writing Novels_6

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What’s in a name? 

That question is pretty famous, and I often think of it when I’m trying to find a name for one of my stories. What I soon discovered was that I was really bad at titles. I knew I needed help, so I started by looking at books that were on the shelves and, most importantly, either selling well or enjoying the status of a classic.

Here are a few from own bookshelves-some new, some the classics we love.
Insatiable. 
The Secret Life of Bees
The Body Finder
Al Capone Does My Shirts
The Devil’s Arithmetic
Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird
Red Badge of Courage
A Moveable Feast

So what made these titles stand out, grab the reader? Why did they work? What did I learn from them?

Each one immediately made me curious. I wanted to know who was insatiable and about what; secrets  instantly intrigue me and who on earth would WANT to find bodies? Al Capone doing laundry-that’s something I had to find out about, and anything about the devil gets my attention, especially since I have to know what kind of math this dude could possibly do. You get what I’m saying. Each of these titles made me want to find out what was inside that cover.
A couple of these were metaphors and those always capture the imagination. I mean, how do grapes and wrath have anything to do with each other? And a feast that moves? What’s that about?
What I learned from this little bit of research is that if a title isn’t compelling, the book has a major strike against it.
Here are some books that started with one title and ended with another. Can you guess what they were published as?
The Mute ………………………………………………………….The Heart is a Lonely Hunter
Private Flemming, His Various Battles………………….The Red Badge of Courage
To Climb the Wall……………………………………………..The Blackboard Jungle
Hurray for the Red, White and Blue……………………..The Great Gatsby

How do you choose your titles when you write? How important are titles to you when you’re buying a book?