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Monday, October 28, 2019

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.


The author’s other young adult books include: Sliding on the Edge, Princess of Las PulgasDouble NegativeSudden 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. 5th.

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

 
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.


10 comments:

  1. I love the motivation. As a reader before blogging I never dreamed of all the "behind the scenes" work a writer puts into a book. Roland, thanks for being a part of Lee's tour and sharing this.

    Congratulations, Lee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It all looks so different until you go behind the curtain, doesn't it? Lee and you are friends, so, of course, I wanted to help!

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  2. I seem to be haunting your place this week, Roland. But I have great company. Mark and I have such interesting chats. He cheers me up with his wit. Oh, and he's the one who actually wrote this post. Well, he ghost wrote it.

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    Replies
    1. Mark thought he had fooled everybody. But not you, Lee! :-)

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  3. That was a fun read. I seem to love the word and too, so I get what you mean. See what I did there. LOL

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Holly. We all have our crutch words, don't we? :-)

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  4. I love that motivation!!
    My 1st drafts are absolutely littered with those overused words - maybe because I'm a pantser too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So is Dean Koontz, Jemi, and look where it got him! :-)

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  5. I didn't realize you were a pantster! No matter how you do, your stories always work themselves out in the end.

    ReplyDelete