Not Guilty by C. Lee McKenzie

A warm welcome to C. Lee McKenzie. What makes her protagonist in her latest release, Not Guilty, so special? 

Your question about what qualities my protagonist has that allow him to survive and thrive is an excellent one.  I had a chance to go back into the story and look at what my kid was all about.

Let me give you a quick profile sketch of Devon Carlyle. His name should be a dead give away. I hope so anyway because I really worked to find the right one. He’s a white middle class kid, his dad owns a small business, and his mom works at a non-profit. He has an irritating nerdy sister and one splendid golden retriever. He’s never missed a meal, he has nice, not designer, clothes, and his big goal is a basketball scholarship to a major university. He’s talented on the court, he’s popular at school, and he has a girlfriend who’s perfect. His one character flaw is that he’s quick to anger, and this will  cause him trouble—serious trouble.

When he’s accused of a crime, all of what Devon once took for granted vanishes. He’s shocked when his network of friends, some he’s known since childhood, shun him. This would be difficult for anyone, but for a teen still struggling with all of those adolescent “growing pains”  it’s devastating. Devon’s response is fear and, unfortunately, anger. While he has a fundamental code of conduct to guide him, even that isn’t going to get him through the ordeal of juvenile hall, and it most certainly isn’t going to help him prove his innocence because he doesn’t have a clue about where to start.

Enter Tats, Chewy, and Ice. While the main theme of this story is justice, friendship is one also. And these three characters helped me develop this second theme. They enhance Devon’s code of conduct, and at the same time, give Devon what he doesn’t have to survive and thrive in his new and totally strange environment—some street smarts and the true meaning of friendship.

When Devon sets out to rebuild his life, he finds out that he doesn’t want that old life with the so-called friends back. He’s discovered a lot about managing his anger, sticking by people when times are rotten, and developing compassion for kids very different from himself.

Thanks so much Susan for this chance to “talk” about my MC and Not Guilty. I’ve enjoyed being here.

For more information on Lee and her writing, connect with her on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/cleemckenzieauthor/

Twitter 

https://twitter.com/cleemckenzie

Instagram 

https://www.instagram.com/cleemckenzie/

Website 

http://cleemckenziebooks.com/

The author’s other young adult books include: 

Sliding on the Edge

https://www.amazon.com/Sliding-Edge-C-Lee-McKenzie-ebook/dp/B00DNJXC8C/ref=sr_1_1

Princess of Las Pulgas

https://www.amazon.com/Princess-Las-Pulgas-Lee-McKenzie-ebook/dp/B00AZBIS1W/ref=sr_1_1

Double Negative

https://www.amazon.com/Double-Negative-C-Lee-McKenzie-ebook/dp/B00M3JSV02/ref=sr_1_5

Sudden Secrets

https://www.amazon.com/Sudden-Secrets-C-Lee-McKenzie-ebook/dp/B00R75MVFS/ref=sr_1_1

NOT GUILTY is available at:

Smashwords

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/959648

Barnes & Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-guilty-c-lee-mckenzie/1133757423

Kobo

https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/search?query=Not+Guilty+C.+Lee+McKenzie

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do you know young people Devon's age? How do you think they would react in a similar situation? Have you ever been thrown into a completely strange environment like Devon?

Help Out

RWA shared some links last week where you can go and help out the libraries that were victims of the recent hurricanes. Funding libraries is likely not the first thing people or the government will think of as they rebuilt and recover. Yet, I think a lot of people may depend on the library for internet access until they get their homes up and running again. People need help first, but if you love your local library as I do, maybe you can spare them a dime also. Here is the link for the Texas libraries. And you can go here to help the Florida libraries.

While you're in the helping mood, C. Lee McKenzie could use your help voting for her book in the Go here and give the book a boost.
Readers Choice Contest. Her MG novel, Double Negative, could use your vote.

Next Monday, I'm turning my blog over to Nick Wilford next Monday. He'll talk about his book that is being released today. Black and White is the first in a dystopian series. One of my favorite genres of speculative fiction.

I have lots of good books on my shelf and on my Kindle to read, after adding Nick's today, and that's a good thing. Because TV sucks right now. I'll probably watch Scorpion when the new season starts and Once Upon a Time, but I'm not that excited about them. Supernatural had a great season ending in May, so I'll have to give that a try. But I don't even know the dates they return. Blah.

I need to pick up my word count on my current WIP. Only wrote around 2K this week. I'm only halfway through and I'd hoped to have it done this month. Not looking good at all.

I'm taking my daughter to her first story time at the library this week. It's for 0-18 months old. She's not a fan of noisy places or loud things so we'll see how it goes. How do you keep a lot of infants interested in a story? We'll see.

The leaves are turning though it's pretty warm this week. Fall is upon us this Friday. I'll have to teach that granddaughter to rake leaves.

Have you donated to the victims of the recent hurricanes? Do you love your local library? Is dystopian a genre you enjoy? Do you enjoy fall and raking leaves?

A Week of Opportunity

Where to begin? This Thursday is #IWSGPit. I hope you've polished and perfected that pitch.

There's an amazing list of participants, agents and editors.

Also, this is the last week to send your submission for the next Insecure Writer's Support Group nonfiction anthology Guide to Writing for Profit. Can't wait to get my hands on that.

C. Lee McKenzie is offering Sliding on the Edge for free:

 Scarred. Scared. Alone. Can sixteen-year-old Shawna Stone overcome her inner suffering and transcend the past? 

Shawna has spent the first sixteen years of her life in Las Vegas and learned to handle anything from a Las Vegas hustle to skipping out on the rent. Damaged inside and out, she's survived with a tough, hardened attitude. When her mother abandons her, with only a bus ticket and the name and number of stranger to call, this troubled , desperate teen finds herself on a California horse ranch with Kay Stone, the steely, youngish grandmother she's never known. 

Kay overwhelms Shawna with rules and daily barn chores, and Shawna baffles Kay with her foul-mouthed anger and shrugging indifference to everything--except the maltreated horse on the ranch next door. But it's worse than even Kay suspects: Shawna's driven to cut herself by Monster, that strange voice inside her head. Kay struggles to keep the ranch going and fears that unless she helps this girl, she could lose her last living family member.

As this unlikely pair struggles to co-exist, will they overcome their suffering and transcend the past?

Find it on Amazon,   Smashwords,   Kobo,   Barnes and Noble

Michael J. Sullivan, once a guest on IWSG, has a new book release tomorrow. Age of Swords in the second book in his newest series. He's one of my favorite fantasy writers and a nice guy on top of that. If you're looking for a good epic fantasy series to indulge in, try this author.

Tomorrow is also the day my latest, Hunter's Exiled Lady, is available on Amazon. After a frustrating week finding the time to write, I'll be excited to see how this book sells. Sometimes when I get my royalty checks I want to weep.

Wow, does the trailer for the second season of Stranger Things promise another great season. I hope the show avoids a sophomore slump. Salvation, the short season summer show on CBS, is pretty good. Lots of science and intrigue along with interesting, imperfect characters. Zoo gets a little crazier every season, but it's summer so I'll take it.

Do you have your Twitter pitch ready? Know something about promotion you can share with IWSG members? Ready to pick up a free book from C. Lee McKenzie? Did you see the trailer to Stranger Things?

IWSG: February and So Much News

Welcome all to February's version of IWSG. There is so much to share. Started by Alex J. Cavanaugh, this group supports other writers by giving advice, empathy, and sharing victories and rejections. Everyone helps everyone. Wouldn't it be great if the real world worked as well as this group? I think we need Alex to run for President in 2020.

Check this out! IWSG is now offering merchandise sharing the cool graphics with the world and on your desk. You might already have a tee shirt like I do, but there's more. Go to the Merchandise Page and check it out.

The winners of last fall anthology have started a group blog to tell the world about their upcoming book. Visit Hero Lost: Mysteries of Death and Life.

You may notice some new administrators helping to run our wonderful group, but they're probably not strangers. Welcome C. Lee McKenzie and Heather M. Gardner.

If you haven't joined IWSG on Twitter, please do. Each day we share a lot of links to great writing articles covering all genres and the business of writing.

And please welcome some new members of IWSG by visiting them on their first posting day.

Blue Fox Cafe

Kathy S Collier/Author

My Brain Injourney

The Write Project

Write Accountable

Going Solo with spelling errors

600 Second Saga

Putting the Clothes On, Taking the Gloves Off.

Northern Lights Gothic - KT Wagner

Danger, Love, and Mystery

Writers Read – That’s What They Do

Ray Pace at Large

And today's question if you chose to answer it: How has being a writer changed your experience as a reader?

It has changed it in many ways. First, those spelling and grammatical errors jump out at me. Mistakes in POV bother the heck out of me. Use of adverbs by 'big time' authors irritates me. How come they're allowed to do that and I'm not? Being a writer makes me very critical of other works. And I'm quicker to give up on a book than I used to be. There are so many good books out there, I don't waste time on mediocre ones.

And one last thing to check out. There's some info coming out on the 2017 A to Z Blogging Challenge. Still unsure if you're going to participate? See what's up.

Thanks for sticking with me through all these links. Hope you find something interesting to read. Are you reading for IWSG merch? Are you a critical reader? Alex for president?

Today, I'm turning my blog over to C. Lee Mckenzie. Read about her release and join her contest. You can find me at Michelle Howard's blog as she helps me celebrate the reissue of Keepers of Sulbreth from Musa Publishing. Also, if you didn't check in on my post yesterday at Dianna Gunn's blog, The Dabbler, I would love to hear your thoughts as I share who and what helped my career in the early days.

AMAZON

There's nothing’s more dangerous than a wizard-in-training. And Pete Riley, has just proven it. He's worked a bad time spell--a very bad time spell.

No YouTube, no smoothies, no Manga. Not ever again. Not unless Pete figures out how to reverse his spell and free Weasel and him from Victorian England. 

He has until the next full moon. Only a few days.

Tick. Tock.

Here’s how the story starts, and it only gets worse.

One minute the clock was tick-tocking on the mantel and the next it was a smoldering mess.

“No,”􏰁Harriet shouted. Then she braced one hand on her desk and covered her eyes with the other.

Pete froze, not blinking, not breathing, but waiting to see if Harriet would point one of her long, bony fingers at him and turn him into a turnip or something slimy.

SEQUEL TO ALLIGATORS OVERHEAD

To celebrate the launch of The Great Time Lock Disaster I'm giving 20 eBooks away. Hope you'll jump in to the copter and go for a ride!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Usually, C. Lee takes on modern issues that today's teens face in their daily lives. Her first young adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, which dealt with cutting and suicide was published in 2009. Her second, titled The Princess of Las Pulgas, dealing with a family who loses everything and must rebuild their lives came out in 2010. Double Negative (2014) was her third young adult novel. Researching it turned her into a literacy advocate. Her fourth YA, Sudden Secrets came out in December 2014. 

When she really want to have FUN, she writes middle grade books. Alligators Overhead and The Great Time Lock Disaster are now available.

WEBSITE   BLOG   FACEBOOK  TWITTER  GOODREADS

Are you familiar with C. Lee and her books? Have you met Michelle Howard or Dianna Gunn yet? What are your plans for the weekend? Are you thawing our or deeper in the freezer like us?

Must Do List by C. Lee McKenzie

I'm thrilled to have C. Lee Mckenzie here as my guest today. She's going to share four things she's feels are necessary for those terrific books she writes. Don't forget to stop by her blog, TheWriteGame where you'll always find an interesting post and follow her on Twitter

Since I started writing, I’ve collected a few “Must Do’s from the Get-Go.” Here’s some I have on my list:

  

1) My first scene must pull my reader into the story.

I think I started three stories with people traveling to a destination, staring into a mirror, studying. Why? Who knows? But now I really try to have them at their destinations, already in trouble or about to be in trouble. They never stare into the mirror.  :-(

2) At the start I must create questions the reader wants answered.

This is my favorite first line, but I haven’t written the story for it yet.

“The first thing she did was hide the knife.”

Like it?

3) Right away, the reader has to know a lot about my MC, and want to know more. In Sudden Secrets here’s one place I tried to give the reader some insight into my MC’s problem.

“Mom was desperate to move. I was desperate to move, too, but not here. All I saw was a spooky, dangerous place.”

4) The last line of chapter one must pull the reader into chapter two.

Here’s the one from Sudden Secrets.

“As we pulled away, I glanced out. A shadow flickered across the upstairs window of the vacant house. It was only a split second, but somebody moved inside that place. I was sure of it.

Those are my most important Must Do’s. What are yours? I always like adding to my list.

 Sudden Secrets

 one Secret

            Cleo has struggled to heal after her baby sister’s death, but the flashbacks to the accident won’t go away. With the move, she vows to keep her tragedy a secret and avoid pitying looks.

one Mystery

Something’s strange about the abandoned house across the street—flashes of light late at night and small flickers of movement that only someone looking for them would see.

Everyone says the house is deserted, but Cleo is sure it isn’t, and she’s sure whoever is inside is watching her.

another Secret

In one night, Belleza’s life changes forever. So famous, her only choice is to hide her secret from the world so she can silence small town bigotry.

Then Cleo happens.

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All Lee's Books

Thanks for visiting, Lee. What do you think of her list? What would you add? Don't you love that name, Belleza?