WHAT DRIVES YOU AS A WRITER?

Many writers might say they would
want a chauffeur 
in a luxury limousine!

 But not C. Lee McKenzie

 AMAZON: 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZJNNDRD/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1,

In her blog tour for her latest,

NOT GUILTY,

She and I talked about motivation.

So without further delay 
here are Lee's thoughts ...

My biggest motivation to write is my love of language and my desire to tell a good story. 

 

 

 For me, it’s a game to see how I can express what’s in my head so that it’s understandable 

 

And --I hope-- enjoyable for others to read.

 

 

When it comes to language, my drafts are wretched things with lots of compound sentences--one damned “and” after another!

 

 

 The “justs” abound, and I can’t use

“so” enough it seems. 

 

 

Then after something similar to water torture, the prose starts to look and sound more like the melody I want. 

 

 

However, I’m never satisfied, so I suppose I’m doomed to repeat the torturous process.

 

 

And don’t even ask about plot. I’m terrible at getting that right. 

 

If I could lay out a plot instead of write the story by the seat of my pants, I know I’d have better luck

with what happens first and next and last, 

 

 

but I’ve tried, and any motivation I had

to create a story vanishes in a flash. 

 

I’m doomed to re-write a lot, to move

sections around, and delete, delete, delete. 

 

 

If I used a real wastebasket instead of a virtual one, 

 

I’d be emptying it hourly some days.

 

 

I’m a reader and have read a lot longer than I’ve written stories. 

 

Good writers intrigue me, and I think I’m motivated to keep writing so one day I can be in their

company. 

 

That would please me no end.

 

 

I have to also admit that it’s fun playing goddess. I love to decide who the good guy is, 

 

what he looks like, and just how much trouble I can drop him into. 

 

It’s a very powerful feeling to choose the character who winds up with the gold ring and which one loses out. 

 

 

But my most favorite part of writing and often what

keeps me going is 

 

when I can re-write scenes from my real life, so they turn out much better in my stories than they did when they actually happened. 

 

 

I love it when a character comes up with the perfect retorts or the best solutions, 

 

the ones I didn’t have the presence of mind to use when I had the chance once upon a time.

 

Thanks for asking me about my motivation, Roland. 

 

I liked this question.

Be sure to enter Lee’s giveaway featured below.

* Not Guilty
* by C. Lee McKenzie
* Publication Date: October 25, 2019
* Genre: Young Adult

          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?

For those who aren’t familiar with Lee, here’s a bit of background on her.

C. Lee McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young readers. 

She has published five young adult novels: Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, and Sudden Secrets. Not Guilty is her most recent one.

          Sometimes she likes to jump into the world of the fantastic and when she does, she writes for the middle-grade reader. Some Very Messy Medieval Magick is the third book in the time-travel adventures of Pete and Weasel, with Alligators Overhead and The Great Time Lock Disaster being the first two. Sign of the Green Dragon, a stand-alone, takes the reader into ancient Chinese dragon myths and a quest for treasure.

          When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or practicing yoga or asking a lot of questions about things she still doesn’t understand.

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

The author’s other young adult books include: Sliding on the Edge, Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, Sudden Secrets

GIVEAWAY

With Halloween celebrated this week, Lee’s giving away five digital copies of NOT GUILTY and a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate. This tour-wide giveaway will end at midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 5^th.

To enter the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter link below

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/019b32f8342/?

 

Thanks for stopping by today during Lee’s visit. Do you enjoy stories where the underdog becomes the champion? 

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway.