Double Negative
by C. Lee McKenzie
Publisher: Evernight Teen
Publication Date: July 25th 2014
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Synopsis:
“My life was going,
going, gone, and I hadn’t been laid yet. I couldn’t go into the slammer before
that happened.” Hutch McQueen.
Sixteen-year-old
Hutchinson McQueen is trapped between an abusive mother and an absentee father.
Shackled by poor vision and poor reading skills, he squeaks through classes
with his talent for eavesdropping and memorizing what he hears. After another
suspension from school and suffering through one of his mother’s violent
attacks, he escapes to a friend’s house that turns out to be a meth lab. The
lab is raided and Hutch lands in juvenile detention. When the court sentences
him to six months in a new juvenile program, he meets a teacher with
Alzheimer’s who will change his life and hers.
Buy Links:
GUEST POST
Three
Things YA Fiction Writers Should Avoid
If you’re not writing historical fiction, there are three things YA fiction
writers should avoid.
Including
Identifiable Technology:
I wrote a
story a few year ago called The Princess of Las Pulgas, and by the time I’d finished it, and it was ready to submit to publishers, I had some
major changes to make. One big change had to do with technology.
In the
original story, I had a flip phone—remember
those? They were the latest in cell phone technology a few years ago, but not
in 2010 when Princess came out.
This writer
can’t keep up with the changes that Intel or Apple or whoever, comes up
with. They spew new software and new devices faster than a high powered
automatic.
I now try to
make my techie references as generic as possible and hope those won’t be outdated before publication.
Using Current
Slang:
Slang comes
and goes about as fast as techie stuff, so finding something fresh, but not
soon to be on its way out is difficult to impossible. I often approximate slang
with what I call “loosely correct”
grammar, or I just stay away from it entirely. It
doesn’t necessarily add to character. In fact, I sometimes think it
detracts. Still I do resort to some when it suits the character and I can’t come up with another way to express something.
Including
Well-known Celebrities:
I took a big
chance in Double Negative when I mentioned Lady Gaga. I knew I shouldn’t use a well-known celebrity, but I did anyway because the scene and
the elderly character of Maggie begged for it. Here’s a snippet to give you an idea of how I trapped myself and probably
will date my book within a few years.
The scene
takes place at Thanksgiving dinner. Dixson Wang’s mom
is Chinese and doesn’t speak English well. Hutch is the pov character.
I look over at
Wang who’s leaning close to his mother. I guess he’s telling her what people are saying because sometimes he translates
what she says to him. “Mom says the peas are delicious,” or “My mom has never tasted this kind of salad, but she likes it very
much.”
Moss keeps
shoveling food into his mouth as if his elbow’s set
to a timer, and Meeker’s already taking seconds. Like me, they don’t talk, but they look around at the others.
That’s when Maggie says, “We should talk about sex
or Lady Gaga. The boys are bored.”
Heather chokes
and grabs her water glass.
Maggie asks
Liz, “What is it about that singer that makes her so popular in the gay
community?”
Dixson Wang
isn’t translating anymore.
I hope Lady
Gaga stays in style for a while.
About the Author
In my other life--the one before I began writing for teens and
younger readers--I was a teacher and administrator at California State
University, San Jose. My field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural
Communication has carried me to a lot of places in the world to explore
different cultures and languages. I can say, “Where’s the toilet?” and
“I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two dialects. Go ahead.
Pat me on the back.
My idea of a perfect day is one or all of the following: starting a new
novel, finishing writing a blockbuster novel, hiking on a misty morning
trail in the Santa Cruz Mountains, saying Namaste after a great yoga
practice, sipping a cappuccino topped at a bustling café, reading in front
of a fire with snow outside, swimming in an ocean someplace.
I've just set out my perfect life. Day after day after day.
Author Links:
***GIVEAWAY***
One ebook copy (ePub, Mobi or PDF) of Double Negative up for grabs.
Ends September 12th (Midnight GMT).
Prize will be sent out after September 20th.
Ends September 12th (Midnight GMT).
Prize will be sent out after September 20th.
Book Blitz Organised by:
Thanks for hosting me today!
ReplyDelete