Alison J. McKenzie

The Hatchery: a blog about my adventures in bird watching

Interesting article: Politico / It Really Is Different This Time

Article: Two dozen experts explain why these protests may have long-lasting effects on our society.

June 7, 2020
Injection of life

Hi, all, posting on a Saturday after weeks of silence because time is a construct and the world is on fire and who needs schedules anyway, ha ha ha ha ha… I’m attending (virtually, obviously) Flights of Foundry this weekend and holy bazoly are conventions necessary for me to exist as a writer. Norwescon is…

May 16, 2020
Writing: New horror WIP

Welcome to Snakeskin, Arizona. Deep in the desert, a town of magic, obsession, and sacrifice is the site of a frenzied treasure hunt for a powerful artifact.

April 15, 2020
Marching forward

…because it’s March. Yep. Here’s what’s going on for me at the midway mark of this month: Finished freelance editing project that has been looming over me like a really tall guy with no sense of personal space (it wasn’t that bad, but I had crisis after crisis the moment it hit my plate—remember to…

March 15, 2020
Too many books in the freezer

I was contemplating making a “best reads of 2020 so far” post, since I’m ahead of schedule on my Goodreads Challenge. However, I looked back through my ratings and found most of them are 4 or 5 stars, so “best reads of” would basically be “almost everything I’ve read in.” I had a long dry…

March 8, 2020
Back on schedule

Sorry about the unexpected hiatus—I had to take a short mental health break for a while after a stressful event that turned out okay but was frightening at the time. The problem with even short breaks is the backlog piles up, especially when you’re juggling multiple commitments, but this runaway train is finally starting to…

March 4, 2020
Weekend writing: getting away

Yesterday, I checked in at a local hotel for some focused writing time. That desk by the window is where I’ve been sitting since, plugging away at the book with no distractions beyond food and sleep. I try to do this at least once for each large project, for two reasons: It can be hard…

February 2, 2020
Highlights from the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot

If you haven’t heard, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) has released the 2019 Bram Stoker Awards preliminary ballot. What it is An annual award for superior achievement in horror writing, named after Bram Stoker. Categories are as follows: Superior Achievement in a Novel Superior Achievement in a First Novel Superior Achievement in a Young Adult…

January 26, 2020
Horror books 2020

Last year, I almost didn’t hit my Goodreads Reading Challenge goal. The reason: podcasts. I got so hooked on podcasts (My Favorite Murder being the primary culprit) that I didn’t listen to audiobooks. Most of my reading is done over audio (other folks with ADHD—I love audiobooks because they allow me to multitask, which I…

January 19, 2020
Self care as a horror lover

To continue discussion of self care from my previous post, I want to talk a little bit about how being a horror fan (and specifically a horror writer) can sometimes cause problems. Horror is booby trapped. Earlier this week I finished A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay. It destroyed me. I couldn’t sleep…

January 12, 2020