Showing posts with label C Lee McKenzie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label C Lee McKenzie. Show all posts

Monday, February 24, 2020

Not Guilty & The Great Timelock Disaster by C. Lee McKenzie




Talented author C Lee McKenzie is here today to share some of her secrets.
And share her two recent releases

1.   What was your hardest scene to write?
I actually think it was the first scene in The Great Time Lock Disaster. I’m a novice at writing sequels, and I was scared about not setting up the story so it would follow the tone and capture the characters from the first book, Alligators Overhead. I must have written that opening scene ten times before I was satisfied.

2.   What makes you run screaming?
Bears do the trick, but since I’ve only encountered one of those and it was on the other side of a creek, I might have to go with something else— launching a book, for example. I’ve had a few moments of terror in my life—landing in a plane on the tail-end of a typhoon, falling into a Class V rapid from a raft, raising a teenager—but launching a book is at the top when it comes to inducing fear.

3.   You’re about to be dropped in a remote spot for a three-week survival test. Where would you go? What three tools would you take?

For a truly dangerous challenge, I’d choose Australia’s Outback. After reading Bill Bryson’s book, I know that continent has some of the most poisonous critters on the planet and all kinds of natural disasters to survive. I guess I’d take a hefty supply of water, sturdy hiking boots, and a native guide. I see no reason to try this on my own. I’m not ready to die.

4.   What behind-the-scenes tidbit in your life would probably surprise your readers the most?
I once lived in a war zone. That experience taught me a lot about why war is not only futile, but a true “comedy” of errors. Whoever, decides to go to battle, should go himself and not send others out to do the job.

5. If you had the opportunity to live anywhere in the world for a year while writing a book that took place in that same setting, where would you choose?
This answer would change with each trip I take. However, the south of France is high on my list of places to be while writing. Of course, every place I go is full of distractions: castles, vast deserts, pyramids, beaches. I’d do better to stay home that year to write and not be tempted by those unexplored treasures.

6.If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Enjoy every moment and learn from the best. Read everything, and find out what those authors do that engage you.

7.What does literary success look like to you?
If you’d asked me this question when I first started writing to publish, I would have said, being a published author. Later, I would have said getting good reviews. Today, I’d say, writing good books that people will enjoy reading for many years. 

8.Tell us about the book you’re working on now.
It’s not a middle grade and it’s not a young adult book. I’m a bit worried because it falls between the marketing cracks, and the closest label I have is New Adult. It’s a contemporary/realistic story that deals with a young skier who becomes a paraplegic due to a calculated “accident”. There’s a mystery, but there’s also what I hope will be a life-affirming story about overcoming the biggest challenges life can hurl at us.
*****

At heart I’m a Californian, maybe even a Valley Girl who grew up and found out Dorothy was right. “There’s no place like home.”
I have a Master of Arts, in Linguistics.
My Passions: 
Besides reading and writing, I love to do two things: I love to hike. I love to practice Yoga. Well, three things if you count eating. I love to eat. That’s why I love to hike. Might as well make it four things, because I love to spend time with my family and friends. Wait! I love to grow my own salad. And cats—I love to grow them too, so now I’m up to six things I’m passionate about. I know there’s more, but I’m out of space and you don’t need to be bored.
My Favorite Books:
Anything with Hobbits. Anything Stephen King writes, except I don’t like some of those stories at night when I’m alone or even if I’m not because I’m a real sissy in the dark. Anything with a dragon in the title or on the cover. Barbara Kingsolver’s books. Edgy Joyce Carol Oates books. E.B.White’s Essays, and stories that start, “Once upon a time . . . .”


The Great Time Lock Disaster (The Adventures of Pete and Weasel Book 2) by C Lee McKenzie


No YouTube. No smoothies. No Manga. Not ever again. Unless Pete figures out how to reverse his bad spell and free Weasel and him from the past. A young wizard accidentally opens a time lock and he and his bookish friend are swept into Victorian England, where they will be trapped forever if that wizard-in-training can’t find a way to reverse his bad spell by the next full moon--just three days away!

Read My Review HERE:        


Not Guilty by C Lee McKenzie

"NOT GUILTY is a compelling, engrossing, and ultimately uplifting and rewarding read. I couldn't tear myself away!"—Cheryl Rainfield, author of Scars, Stained, Hunted and Parallel Visions.
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?
     Read My Review HERE:

*****

Thank you, Lee. 
Congratulations! 
You are one talented woman and I think many of us will agree
WAR should be fought only by those determined to solve their problems by it!

Best wishes on your New Adult novel!

Well folks, do you have a question for Lee?


Wednesday, May 30, 2018

SOME VERY MESSY MEDIEVAL MAGIC


 I am thrilled to be part of the announcement for 
C. Lee McKenzie's
 latest release.


Having read much of Lee's work 
I highly recommend this latest!



SOME VERY MESSY MEDIEVAL MAGIC

By C. Lee McKenzie
Pete’s stuck in medieval England!
Pete and his friend Weasel thought they’d closed the Time Lock. But a young page from medieval times, Peter of Bramwell, goes missing. His absence during a critical moment will forever alter history unless he’s found.
There’s only one solution - fledgling wizard Pete must take the page’s place. Accompanied by Weasel and Fanon, Pete’s alligator familiar, they travel to 1173 England.
But what if the page remains lost - will Pete know what to do when the critical moment arrives? Toss in a grumpy Fanon, the duke’s curious niece, a talking horse, and the Circle of Stones and Pete realizes he’s in over his young wizard head yet again...

Release date – May 15, 2018
Juvenile Fiction - Fantasy & Magic/Boys & Men
$13.95 Print ISBN 9781939844460
$3.99 EBook ISBN 9781939844477



C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot questions about things she still doesn’t understand.  http://cleemckenziebooks.com







Amazon 

Kindle  




Help the author advertise by sharing this tweet!

Available now - Some Very Messy Medieval Magic by @cleemckenzie Barnes & Noble https://tinyurl.com/y8lessr9 iTunes https://tinyurl.com/yaz4sqb6 Amazon https://tinyurl.com/y92g67q5 #middlegrade #magic


Monday, August 7, 2017

FEATURED!


An awesome blogging friend, C. Lee McKenzie, author of some truly fabulous YA novels, and a blog called THE WRITE GAME has chosen me as Featured Author for the month of August. I am beyond honored, and truly thrilled for this great marketing opportunity.

WOW!

THANK YOU, LEE!



And she's sharing MY BOOKS!



It takes a true artist to pursue his victims in the art of seduction, and Stowy Jenkins is no exception, especially with blood as his medium.


Excerpt:

Reality Check
 The axe struck again and again. The surrounding snow-covered mountains echoed each chop. Muscles rippled, and sweat glistened on a bare chest, but with each strike, the tension eased from Steven’s body. Jena’s rejection and Reed’s continued dismissal from key crime scenes had him searching for answers, and the mountains of the Brooks Range was the place he always found them. His Uncle Sky Quinn’s cabin had always been a sanctuary. After his Uncle Atian was murdered, Quinn, an Inuit tracker, became Steven’s honorary uncle and took over as his mentor and trainer. But Quinn was much more than that to Steven, and while calling him uncle was a sign of respect, he knew Quinn thought of him as a son.
“I had several days’ work out here,” Quinn said when he handed Steven a bottle of water. “Appreciate your efforts. You remind me of Atian. He used to do the same thing when troubled.”
Steven grinned, drank half the bottle of water, and poured the rest over his head. “It’s just what I needed.”
“The water or the work?”
“Both.” Steven began stacking the wood.
Quinn picked up a couple pieces of wood and added them to the stack. They worked together in silence until Quinn asked, “What’s going on?”
Steven put the last of the wood on the pile. “There’s a monster killing young women in Anchorage.”
“Why do you think he’s doing it?”
“Because he can. Because he gets off on it. Because the bastard has the means.”
“So, he walks among ordinary folk, his evil cleverly hidden.”
“Exactly. How do I unmask the beast?”
“Make him come to you.”
“If I were his type that would make it easy,” Steven frowned. “But I think this monster means to make the state bleed.
“Such creatures are cunning. You need to make yourself known to the beast. Get in his way. But, remember, if you bait a grizzly, be prepared for a ferocious fight.”



&



A killer plays cat and mouse with a young widow against the snowy backdrop of an Alaskan winter. 




World damnation is a psychotic man’s goal, but two obstacles stand in his way, greed and a dedicated detective.

&





Flames burn between a hardboiled cop and a gifted artist, but soon extinguish as another man’s obsession ignites into an inferno of desire, driving him to destroy the object of his madness.