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C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

School Presentation: How and Why To Do Them

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LOS ALTOS HIGH SCHOOL CAMPUS

On Thursday I was at Los Altos High and had the pleasure of talking to three English classes–one senior and two sophomore sections. The kids were so wonderful that it made me nostalgic for those classroom days when I taught English.

LOS ALTOS HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH CLASS

In the 40 minutes I had, I told them a little about who I was and what I wrote, read from two of my YA novels, then gave them a 10 minute writing exercise, saving the last 5-10 minutes for Q and A.

I based the exercise on beginnings. A few weeks before I’d submitted sample beginnings of stories I’d written, they’d read them and we discussed what I call the EICE, /ice/, formula. Credit for this goes to Stein in Stein on Writing, and I keep it posted above my desk.

  • Excite the reader’s curiosity about the character or relationship.
  • Introduce the setting and tone.
  • Create images for reader.
  • Evoke emotions.
They wrote, trying to follow the formula and produced some great beginnings. 
The best part of this kind of presentation is that you not only engage with young readers, you also have the chance to meet their teachers and talk to school librarians. As a result of my presentation, my books will be on Los Altos library shelves. 
I left bookmarks, business cards and some postcards with my book covers on them. The students snatched those up, so I’m hoping they’ll be interested enough to follow through with a visit to my website and that they’ll be curious enough about my books to read them. 
Of all the promotion I do, this is my favorite.

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What To Do Between Christmas and New Years

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If you’re anything like me, you run full tilt from October through December. More food to buy and prepare, more people to contact, more company and more stuff in general. The day after Christmas, you can generally find me unwrapped and under the tree. Comatose.

So between Christmas and New Years, I’m slower than a sloth. What I like to do is see movies. The Hobbit was on my list, so I checked that off. I thoroughly enjoyed that movie. It’s so much better than Lord of the Rings. Go see it. Eat popcorn and let Hollywood cinematography wash away the holiday sludge.

I even resort to looking up trivia to give my brain its well deserved rest between the change from one year to the next.  Here are a few I thought were  interesting.

Did you know that Rudolf Valentino’s real name was Rodolpho d’Antonguolla? What? How do you pronounce that?

And Kirk Douglas? You’ll never guess what his real name was before Hollywood polished it up. Issur Danielovitch Densky. Yep. No lie.

As to the Oreo Cookie: It first appeared in 1912 and the source of the name is a mystery. Most likely it was a pleasing sound to some long forgotten person in a marketing department. 

There. I feel better already with nothing but trivia to consider. How about you? How do you refresh yourself after the rush of November and December?  See you again on January 8 when the ISWG hits the blogOshpere for the first time in 2014

How To Get Your Book Into The Library. Let’s Celebrate the Small Things

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A few years ago, I met a librarian named Lois Peterson. She was very kind and very helpful when I asked her how a new author went about getting libraries to buy their books. Here’s her advice.

“Libraries’ jobs are to make books available to their customers that their customers will read.

  • If your book has a local elements – you’re the writer and/or it’s about the area – you have a good leg-up.
  • If you and you book have been featured in the local press, that’s a plus, too
  • If it’s been reviewed in one of the journals such as School Library Journal, Quill and Quire etc. it may well get ordered because of that. (A Kirkus Review is also helpful.)
  • If you approach the library professsionally, possibly with a one sheet that includes all the book info. – Title, author, publisher, ISBN, price, perhaps a quote for a review, etc. they then have all the info. to pass along to their acquisitions people if the librarian you speak to thinks it’s a good book to have.
  • Many library websites have an online Request to Purchase feature. Get your friends/family to request that the library buy your book. Or just send them in asking for it to create a demand.
  • If your library offers author readings, let them know if you’re available and willing.
  • You might even suggest you do a book launch in the library – but be aware you may have to do much of the work to put bums in the seats.”

I’ll add another suggestion. Donate a book to your library, then be sure it gets checked out. All my friends have library cards and are readers, so I ask them to at least take out my book once. I’ve found that libraries will often order extra copies or buy the eBook version.

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Thanks VIKLIT
Here’s the LINKY

I’m celebrating November 1st! Can’t believe it, but we are at the end of this year and staring Thanksgiving in the face. Well, here’s to wrapping up 2013 and enjoying these winter months ahead.

Check out Tyrean Martinson’s blog today. I’m there!

I’m also celebrating being a member of UncommonYA. It’s a great group of writers.

Stop in and Say Hi!  I post there along with 29 others.

Market Your Book In Person. Connect With Your Readers. Check Out UncommonYA

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Every writer knows that writing the book and selling it to a publisher is only part of the project. You have tons of work to market what you’ve created. There are all sorts of online ideas for enticing readers to buy your book, and that’s great, but when I thought about my own book buying habits, I had to admit that I don’t like social media as the only way to showcase my work. 
Other authors say the same thing. Here’s what one author wrote just recently.
“I don’t wait to buy a book until I read the first chapters in the library or a bookstore. I buy a lot of books that I haven’t read one sentence in. Since Amazon, I buy a lot books I’ve never picked up in my hands.”
So why do many people buy books?
  • They’ve heard the author speak.
  • They’ve gone to a book signing.
  • A friend said, “Don’t miss this one.”

There’s nothing better than talking to someone who has just brought your book!

It’s personal.

One great personal way to put your book into the hands of readers is to do a workshop. I’ve done several of these. Some for young adults and more recently, with the release of my Middle Grade novel, for eight to twelve-year-olds. 
These writers are my readers, too. And I love knowing them.
This year I did a Young Writers’ Workshop at our town center. Twenty, eight to twelve year-olds attended, and every one of them wrote a story or created a draft of a story, so they had a taste of the process. I created the workshop around three simple premises.
  • In the beginning, the main characters must want or need something badly.
  • In the middle, the main characters can’t get what they want or need. Every time the reader thinks that might happen, snatch that something away. 
  • In the end, the main characters either succeed (happy ending) or fail (sad ending) to get what they want or need.
The workshop is about four hours and when they’re done they at least have an idea about the structure of a story and what holds a reader’s interest. That’s a great time to let these readers hear your first chapter.
They write amazing stories.
I read once that you don’t have to do much to persuade people to buy your book. Readers only need a single reason. So at the end of the workshop, I read the first chapter of my book and ask them if I’ve done what I told them to do in the beginning part of their stories? I ask if they like my characters based on this brief sample. And I always ask them to guess what they think will happen in the middle? In the end? 
I’ve created curiosity. I’ve created the single reason for someone to want to read my story. I never take home any unsold books. The kids have the experience of getting their own autographed copy, and each year I have at least four who return to do the workshop again. The only problem I have is writing a new book in time for that next workshop. 
Have you had a chance to meet your readers in person? What was your experience? Do you prefer in-person promotion or social media online? Any hints for other writers who are telling about their books? 
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There’s a new group of Young Adult authors that is offering some

books for the teen+ reader. I hope you’ll take a look and spread the word.

    

How to Celebrate Small Things in Your Next Book

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My grandmother always said, “The Devil’s in the details.” Details = SMALL THINGS, like dates and times and names spelling correctly. The T’s you must cross.

I didn’t really understand what she meant until later when I had a job that was filled with nothing but those SMALL THINGS. If I messed up–didn’t hit a deadline or didn’t schedule something when I was supposed to–I met the Devil and he wasn’t pretty.

Fortunately, that job is gone, but another one, one that has just as many SMALL THINGS is now mine.

I’m what people call a WRITER. 

One thing I’ve learned (the hard way, of course) is that details not only have the Devil in them, they have the spark that can give a story some zing. (Did you notice this clever segue?) See what you think of these passages and their details.

* Here are some excellent details about how one character views another.

 I like your looks. You’re tall, your face isn’t exactly handsome, but it’s better than that. It’s interesting. I like that small sexy scar on your chin. I like the way your lips move when you smile, the expressions in your eyes, as if you feel a lot of things you don’t talk about. [Rock ‘n Roll Suicide, West]

* Sometimes it’s only a single word that snaps the picture into focus. Here’s an example of that from the obscure book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkabzn.

“. . .and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.” [Rowling]

*This one makes me hungry all the time I’m learning to care about the character and what her life will turn out to be.

From a street vendor, Rasheed bought her ice cream. It was the first time she’d eaten ice cream and Mariam had never imagined that such tricks could be played on the palate. She devoured the entire bowl, the crushed-pistachio topping, the tiny rice noodles at the bottom. She marveled at the bewitching texture, the lapping sweetness of it. [A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini]

Do you have any favorite passages that sparkle because of some word or phrase, just the right detail to bring that character or that setting to life?

HERE’S WHERE TO JOIN VIKLIT’S HOP

How You Can Celebrate Small Things and Raise Your Amazon Rankings

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Thanks to Scribblings of An Aspiring Author

I’m celebrating Getting Reviews as one way to improve your sales and your ranking.

Have you tried STORY CARTEL to ask for reviews?  I just put ALLIGATORS OVERHEAD up on their site. The basic listing is free with an option to pay for more book exposure in their newsletter. You give reviewers a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. I added a chance to win 3 $10 Amazon gift certificates, but you can also add an autographed copy of your book. I’ll let you know how or if this works.

Another way to boost your Amazon number is through short stories, small stories with BIG meaning burrowed inside. I think they’re harder for me to write than novels because I have to pack a lot in and do it in a small space. Most of the short stories I celebrate are those that require me to interpret, not escape. If I’m lucky I can have a bit of both. And those with a bit of both are the kind I try to write. It has been a challenge, but I’ve managed to publish two short stories, and I hope I’ve succeeded in tantalizing the readers’ interpretive talents and also let them escape if only for a while.

When I contributed Premeditated Cat to the anthology of short stories, The First Time, I did it because I wanted to see if I could write to a deadline and a theme that someone else set out.

When I contributed Into The Sea of Dew to Two and Twenty Dark Tales, I did it because I wanted to see if I could write a retelling.

I discovered that I could accomplish all of that. Whew! What I didn’t discover until later was that I could boost my Author Ranking on Amazon by being included in these anthologies.

If you check your profile on Amazon Authors Central, you should see the list of your books. Be sure all of them are included. Don’t forgot those anthologies with your stories. Amazon ranks you in different categories. Some of these you might not even write in, but if you’re in an anthology that’s included in this category, you will be, too.

Now that’s a reason to celebrate, isn’t it?

Here’s the list of others who are celebrating the SMALL things this week. Stop by. Say hi!

How A Few Tricks Can Keep the Momentum Going on That New WIP

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Strategy Part II: Continuing from PART I

When I’m trying to get started and I’m a little scared that I might not be able to keep the momentum going I resort to a few tricks.

Sometimes I write against my usual habits. So, for me, that would be to do absolutely NO description. I try to put everything into dialog or action.  Or I work at nailing the emotional moment with internal thought or an expressed desire. Sometimes this strategy stretches my brain out and makes me see possibilities I hadn’t before.

In Sliding on the Edge I’d written all kinds notes about my MC’s lifestyle: her crummy apartment, the seedy part of town she lived in–tons of description. I loved it all, but I couldn’t think of starting my book with any of it. 

Then I wrote two words. They expressed her internal fear. Not one bit of description. Amazingly enough this is how the book began. Something’s wrong. 

Another little trick I play on myself is to write what the character wants more than anything else. 

Here’s a start to one of my young adult WIP’s. I’m still fiddling with this, but I’m getting closer to where I think this book should start.

After the hanging, Catherine made one vow. She’d clear Pa’s name. She’d have him buried in sanctified ground. Until she’d done both of those things, she’d not rest. And she didn’t. Then Jonah arrived, but over a hundred years too late.

Action, especially if I can combine character, helps me with my starting point, too. Here’s how I’ve decided to begin the sequel to Alligators Overhead, my first middle grade novel.

Pete rolled his bike across the porch and down the ramp, slow and quiet. Once he got to the sidewalk, he straddled the seat and shot off to Weasel’s. After being grounded for almost a week Pete needed a Weasel fix. Mostly he needed to tell him about the mess he was in and get him to figure out how to read the mysterious note. That note might be exactly what he needed to get out of trouble.

Any tricks up your writerly sleeves? I’m always looking for more ideas. Actually, I need all the help I can get. 🙂

How To Start Writing That Next Book and Not Lose The Excitement

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Getting Started 

on your next story is always exciting, but sometimes it can be frustrating. If you’re anything like me, you dither a bit about how to start. My mind blurs with questions about just what I can write to capture the readers’ attention and make them want to continue into my story.
Should I launch right into the scene where we meet the young boy in Afghanistan? He’s a main character. His journey is central to the plot.
Or should I start back in the idyllic setting where another main character has a rose garden and dreams of his first trip to Afghanistan where he will be a teacher?
No. No. Let’s go to that other MC–the one the rose garden guy will meet on his journey–the one who has only football on his mind when he meets and falls in love with a girl who’s a USAID worker heading to Afghanistan.
But there’s the romance!  I should start here because this is inciting incident, right? This is where Francesca breaks up with Enrico because he’s so selfish. She’s girl on the rebound when she meets that football guy . . . .
By now my head’s in a twist. If I’m not careful I could wind up dumping the whole concept and going for hike. I’ve done that. But wait! I can start. I just have to have a strategy. Here’s some of mine.

Strategy Part 1


First I take a few deep breaths to untwist my synapses; then I choose one of the story elements that excites me: maybe it’s the interaction with another character or the environment. I might write about how a character in this element looks or acts. I might write a few lines of dialogue to “hear” the voice.

I might even write a single scene and not even think about where I’ll finally use that scene in the story. All I care about is Getting Started.

I love to write description–you know the stuff you have to cut and cut and finally dump all together–so I do that. I’ve been known to write pages and pages of nothing but setting. Other times I go on and on about the character’s childhood. I know I won’t see that in the story, but I’m creeping up on my starting place. I’m finding out  more and more about the characters, where they live, how they interact with others, what makes them tick. These are my messy pages. Really messy.

The best part is after I know where I want to start, I don’t have to come up with those perfect opening lines just yet. The killer lines will come. They’ll fit the story in tone and engagement because they will have grown from the heart of the story.


Do you have a strategy for when you’re stuck with Getting Started? Share, please. I have some more ideas and I’ll post those next Monday. If I find other techniques for getting over this blank page problem, I’ll put them in as well. I’ll probably need them in the future.

How Paying Attention To Small Things Can Jazz Up Your Story

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Thanks to VikLit for this great Idea

JULIE MUSIL posted something on her blog the other day about taking a notebook to her son’s football camp and noting details. She wrote about the location, the artificial turf, the weather and Powerade stations where players could get a quick hydrating drink.

She wrote about the people around her–what they wore, their haircuts, the way their moms and dad watched or read or talked on their cell phones.

Small details about sights and sounds and activities.

Why?

There’s nothing like being able to recreate a real life scene in your fictional one, and Julie’s details are exactly what will help do that.

So today, while you’re celebrating small things, take a notebook along with you and write down some of them. When you’re in the middle of a scene, read those details and see which ones will Jazz Up your story and bring it to life.

Hope you’ll stop by some other blogger sites and see what they’re celebrating this week.