Z is for: Zowie!

Celebrating the final letter of the A to Z. Wasn't positive I'd reach the end but so happy I stuck it out.

What the Challenge has done for me:

• I've returned to writing as a daily activity.
• I met some wonderful, inspiring writers.
• I've fallen back in love with blogging
• I proved to myself that I'm still up for a good challenge.

Thank you to all the A to Z organizers. Good came of this.

Y is for: Young at Heart

I suppose I often don't act my age. I choose to dress the way I feel comfortable, like what I like, and still value and enjoy a view of the world through childlike eyes.

The body ages, eventually to cross life's finish line, but not the soul.

I will continue to write the words that insist on being written and tell the stories that come to me in urgency.

And I'll look for the youth and goodness in everyone.

X is for: Xrays and Pat-downs

Airports are exhilarating and intrusive at once. We know that 9-11 changed the way we all travel forever. While I`m glad to know that national security is more of a priority and that many of the right people are paying attention now, I still feel violated sometimes.

Any of you who know me most likely wouldn't consider me to be terrorist material. You`re right about that. So, it  surprises me how often I`m pulled aside for special screening. My sister says it`s because I look far from suspicious, and I`m just a token pat-down who turns out to be a another clean traveler who causes minimal paperwork if any.

I don't know why this makes me nervous. Maybe it's because concentrating on me keeps them from tuning in on the real threats, the ones who rip our world apart.

W is for: While We Wait

While we wait for
                             the phone to ring
                                   the rain to stop
                                         the mail to come
                                                 the test results...
remember that we are
                       right here, in this moment,
                              the only one of its kind.
                                         A gift like none other.

V is for: Vulpine

Merriam-Webster defines VULPINE as: of, relating to, or resembling a fox.

The Flip Dictionary says similar words for VULPINE: clever, crafty, cunning, foxy, ingenious, shrewdness, skillful, sly, tricky, wily.

There. I just thought you should know.

U is for: Under Writer

Hi. My name is Maggie, and I`m an under writer. Not to say I work in insurance, but that I use my words too sparingly. When most writers get done with a draft, they need to cut much of their words to lower the count. I have to come up with chunks of content, mainly in my descriptions. I must have taken `write tight` to literally.

When I write an article, this is a good thing. I liked short story writing, too, because I could say quite a bit in a few words. Novel length fiction, as much as I love it, is a challenge. One writer`s lovely description of a scene may be my babbling like a brooke to beef up the count.

Books I find helpful are Description by Monica Wood and the Flip Dictionary by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Sometimes I just need to slow down and really look at each word I`ve written. There is often a clearer way to say something without becoming verbose.

Are there any other under writers out there? If so, please send me a few words of advice.

T is for: Thick skin, tender heart

Writers must realize that rejections galore from agents and editors are only business, not a personal kind of thing. We grow thick skin, impervious to the sting of the form rejection. Mighty, tough.

Also, we write words sweet enough to bring a tear to Satan's eye. Tender, empathetic.

Mighty, tough, tender, and empathetic. I should also add that we writers are quirky, delusional and frequently not all together sane individuals.

And when we gather together as a pack, well, it`s not for the weak.