Guest: C. LEE McKENZIE Not Guilty #giveaway @cleemckenzie

I’m delighted today to welcome author C. Lee McKenzie to my site to talk about her latest release, NOT GUILTY, as part of her MC Book Tour Blog adventure.

I met Lee through Insecure Writers Support Group. When she asked for reviewers for her new YA story, I couldn't volunteer fast enough. You can read my review at the end of this post.

After you find out more about this tantalizing new story, be sure to enter Lee’s giveaway featured below.

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

Hi Diane,

Thank you for hosting me today and giving me a chance to talk about where Not Guilty came from.

I love the theme of justice, or as in this story, injustice. It’s a long-time interest of mine and probably started when I was about ten and discovered life wasn’t fair all the time. People aren’t always afforded justice, but when they are it’s a beautiful thing.

I wrote another story with this same theme, and one day I set out to revise it. That revision turned into Not Guilty, a very different book. That’s the first time revision has taken the bit between its teeth and run away like that. I’m still scratching my head, wondering how it happened.

In both books, the boys are falsely accused and ostracized by the people they’ve known all of their lives. Their families suffer as well. While there are similarities between Book One and Not Guilty, those end after the first few chapters. Book One, heads off into a Nevada ghost town while Not Guilty is rooted in the community Devon, the MC, has grown up in. Most of the story is about how he sets out to prove he’s innocent.

I kept some of the scenes from that first book, so I thought I’d show you one of those side by side to give you an idea of how similar they are. This is the scene of the boys’ homecoming after they’ve been released from custody.

Book One

With Dad’s arm slung over his shoulder, they walked to the porch. Jonah caught his reflection in the front window. He looked exactly like the boy who’d left this house six months ago, but that was impossible. A bitterness crept up into the back of his throat, burning his tongue and bringing a sting to his eyes. In that one second, he wasn’t at the front of his house. Instead, he was in a different time and a different place—one he wanted to forget.

His dad’s hand pressed on his back. “It’s over, Jonah. Let it go.”

But it wasn’t over and Jonah knew it. It would never be over. It would always be in his gut and in everyone’s mind.

Not Guilty

With Dad’s arm slung over his shoulder, they walked to the porch. Devon caught his reflection in the front window. He looked exactly like the person who’d left this house five months ago, but that was impossible. A bitterness crept up into the back of his throat. The Devon Carlyle who left from this door for the courtroom didn’t exist anymore. In that one second, he wasn’t at the front of his house. Instead, he faced Room Five and it was March. He was about to walk in on JD and Reeker.

One thing’s for sure, if I ever go back to work on Book One again, I have to dump a lot of scenes. What worries me is what will happen if I try another revision. I’m afraid it will turn into Book Three about justice and injustice.

BLURB

          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 the author, 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.

For more information on Lee and her writing, connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and at her Website. 

NOT GUILTY can be found Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.

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 widget below and follow the instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient. If the widget doesn’t show up, just click HERE and you’ll be directed to the widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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.

Diane's Review: 5 stars

This story about a young man falsely accused of a crime disturbed me. The author made the situation in juvie so real I had to put down the book. But the story was so well written I had to find out what happened to Devon. My persistence was rewarded. As the story unfolded, the characters became real to me. The situations Devon and his family encountered were equally realistic. Devon's obsession with discovering the true culprit "forced" me to keep reading. I had to know if he would be successful. Young readers and adults will find the book compelling.

Guest: NANCY LEE BADGER Rescuing Christmas

A big thank-you to Diane for hosting me, again. This time, I am proud to share the release of my 27^th book. Yes, I am a multi-published and award-winning author, but this is my first attempt at penning a sweet romance. (that means that there might be some sexual tension between characters, but not much more than a kiss or two on the pages.)

I set my story in Vermont and filled it with sights, sounds, great characters, small town comforts, and a fire department fundraiser in danger of cancellation due to a lack of snow. I combined my love of New England, where I raised my family, and my years as an EMT, Firefighter, and 911 Dispatcher. I believe my history helped me come up with the ideas that bring this story to life. Sometimes, writing what you know is a way to kickstart a plot. No, I did not base the heroine on me, nor did I know a city bigwig that morphed into my hero. They simply evolved! Elinor and Bradley are strangers, but how they meet and what comes next is fun and exciting!

Book Blurb

A Manhattan businessman in a Vermont ditch meets a muddy female firefighter. No snow since November might ruin the town’s annual fire department fundraiser. Can Elinor and Bradley stop their squabbling long enough to Rescue Christmas?

Excerpt from Rescuing Christmas

A lone figure stood on the roof where fire spewed toward the sky. 

“Dear Lord!” Bradley had spotted Elinor. She stood encased in smoke, just below the roof’s peak.

A firefighter raced by him, heading in the other direction. “Sean! Elinor is in trouble. Help her!”

Ignoring Bradley’s plea, Sean disappeared beyond the fire truck. Was he coming back?

Bradley was running before he knew he had moved. He grabbed a helmet and a pair of fire-retardant gloves off the back of the firetruck. Racing to the side of the house where flames licked from an upstairs window, he called up to her. “Elinor! Are you all right?”

She didn’t answer and appeared to be bending over, choking on the smoke. He had to save her, but how? Cinders spewed from the open window, and he tripped over something laying in the grass. “A ladder! Hold on. I’m coming!”

He slapped the helmet on his head, then pulled on the gloves. Seizing the heavy aluminum ladder, he struggled with its weight, but managed to prop it against the house. It barely reached the roofline where he had last seen Elinor.

“Elinor! Walk to the ladder!”

Could she hear him? The smoke was choking him, but he would not leave without her. Elinor must not have spotted it, so he slipped his glasses in his coat pocket and raced up the ladder. The helmet slipped sideways and the gloves were cumbersome, but Elinor’s safety was paramount.

Reaching the top, heavy smoke drifted into his eyes and throat and his cough must have caught her attention. The flames from a hole in the roof had been replaced with smoke, so she jumped over the hole and grabbed the top of the tall ladder.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked.

Buy Links

Amazon

Amazon UK

Amazon CAN

Amazon AUS

Goodreads

*coming soon in print! ISBN 978-1697443608

Nancy Lee Badger grew up in Huntington on New York’s Long Island. After attending Plymouth State, in New Hampshire, she earned a Bachelor of Science degree and met and married her college sweetheart. They raised two handsome sons in Rumney, New Hampshire, where Nancy volunteered as an EMT and firefighter while working full-time. When the children had left the nest, and shoveling snow became a chore, she retired from her satisfying job as a 911 Emergency Medical Dispatcher and moved to North Carolina, where she writes full-time. She and family volunteer every fall at the NH Highland Games.

Nancy is a member of Romance Writers of America, Heart of Carolina Romance Writers, Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers, and the Triangle Association of Freelancers. She loves to travel with her husband and is never far from her laptop. She finds story ideas in the most unusual places. Connect with her here:

Website     Twitter    Facebook   Amazon Author Page     Blog

BookBub     Goodreads

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: I'm Confiscating Your Ship

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. Sorry I'm late this week. I think I got my post in under the wire.

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. In this snippet, Celara has landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo. There. a mechanic catches her eye. She just introduced herself.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

When he reached into the pocket of his work uniform and pulled out a zircan leather folder, she groaned before he even opened it. She knew what the folder contained. A shiny gold badge, carved with an intricate array of stars, swirls and a tiny red jewel in the center. The insignia of the Coalition.

“I am Administrator Trevarr Jovano.” He snapped his fingers and two armed Security personnel stepped out of the shadows of the Agilean Speeder. “I am impounding your ship and confiscating your cargo.”

That's the end of chapter one and the last snippet from this book. Next week, I'll begin with my work-in-progress--the fourth in the Outer Rim series.

There's no place like home, and he stole hers. 

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: And You Are?

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week, which wasn't a good week for me. After dealing with my husband's health issues, I had no energy to visit. I will try to hit both your post last week and this one on my visits.

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. When Celara's ship is hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security, she gives them the slip in an asteroid field. In this snippet, she's landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo. There. a mechanic catches her eye.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.
  

“Did you arrive on that hauler?” He nodded to her ship, his voice, a tantalizing allure of baritone and chokiris, sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yep, that’s my ship,” She tucked her thumbs into the side pockets of her trousers and thrust out her chest a little in pride, “D’Enfaden’s Thermopylae, fastest little transport in three sectors.”

He walked past her to examine her ship then ran his hand—long, strong fingers, she noted—over the dents and scrapes along the aft section, “It appears to have sustained damage.”

“My thruster gimbal got damaged when I kissed an asteroid evading filthy pirates—they didn’t catch me, though,” She grinned, “Hey, you new around here? Don’t remember seeing you before—and I sure would remember seeing you.”

He arched his dark eyebrow.

She raised her hand, palm outward, in the traditional indie greeting, “Celara d’Enfaden.” As he stared at her with green eyes as sharp and clear as veridion, she raised her own eyebrow, “And you are . . .”

There's no place like home, and he stole hers. 

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: Wanna Party?

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. When Celara's ship is hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security, she gives them the slip in an asteroid field. In this snippet, she's landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo and sees a mechanic bent over an engine. The last sentence was: As she stared at his butt, all she could think was oh, mama.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.
 

Celara hoped he was human and the rest of him lived up to the preview—better yet, she hoped he was in a party mood. After escaping from the pirates, she wanted to howl . . . and someone to howl with.

“Hey, big boy,” she called to the mechanic, “Wanna party?”

“Yo, d’Enfaden,” a pilot hollered, “How come you never ask me to party?”

“You space jocks will party all night then stick me with the bill,” she shot back before approaching the mechanic, “You there, working on the Agilean—that is one fine ship.”

When he turned around, she sucked in a breath, Oh, yeah, a primal part of her sat up and took notice. His backside, gorgeous as it was, didn’t compare to the rest of him—the broad shoulders and muscles of a laborer plus the black hair, square jaw and blade-straight nose of Bricaldian aristocracy—what a delicious combination.

He tossed aside the rag on which he’d wiped his hands, then he raised his arms to slip them into the work uniform, and she noticed a fading red scar near the bottom of his ribcage. Knife fight . . . he was lucky the wound hadn’t been deeper or higher.

There's no place like home, and he stole hers. 

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

It's Ba-ack! Pets in Space 4 #sfr

The latest Pets in Space (#4) dropped into my iPad yesterday. Hurray! I love this series. The stories are varied, as varied as the authors themselves. I can't wait to read this latest anthology. 

Cassandra Chandler is back to tell us more about the stories included.

Pets in Space® 4 is Back!!

by Cassandra Chandler

Who doesn't love a pet?! Now put that pet in space and watch the universe spin!

Pets in Space® is back for its fourth year and they’ve had a wide variety of pets sharing star billing with our heroes and heroines in the last four years. This year, their pets are even more diverse and feisty, even dangerous, than ever. Each of the 13 authors in Pets in Space® 4 have given me an exclusive peak of their pet in this year's Pets in Space® 4. Which is your favorite pet?

S.E. Smith - MADAS' FALLING STAR

L’eon is one of those characters that captures your heart. Hurtling into space after his home is destroyed, he mourns the lost of his species until he is found on the Tearnat home world by an unsuspecting Tearnat Princess. When he is found by Madas, he is immediately smitten with her gentle and kind heart. Madas is unaware that L’eon is a species that is feared by those that know about them. Lightning Chameleons may look cute and cuddly, but they are highly intelligent, virtually impossible to kill, and extremely lethal when threatened!

Anna Hackett - DARK GUARD

My cyborg cat started her life as a small hunting cat from the lawless desert world of Carthago. After an accident, she is rescued by the cyborg gladiators of the House of Rone, and given several cybernetic enhancements. Cat is very interested in the lives of the gladiator cyborgs of the House of Rone. She meddles, goes where she thinks she’s needed, and has a matchmaking streak she puts to good use. I definitely have a soft spot for this super-smart, independent, interfering feline.

Tiffany Roberts - ENTWINED FATES

Cypher is an inux, a creature that’s much closer to a living organism than a robot, and he has his own unique personality and intelligence that are belied by his animal appearance. Cypher is a loyal companion, but he also has a will of his own, and he isn’t afraid to risk himself to protect the people he’s bonded with.

Veronica Scott - STAR CRUISE: IDOL’S CURSE

I liked the idea of making Charrli a darling little dog who could be carried around in a purse but who actually has all this ferocious military style training and abilities. He’s not afraid of anything, not even alien idols!

Pauline Baird Jones - CYBORG'S REVENGE

This year, my pet is a snake, about the size of a boa conscritor. I know. I am not quite sure how this happened. I might be a little afraid of snakes. Snake’s name isn’t the only secret lurking under the reptile’s hide. She also has some surprising skills that help save the day. But the greatest thing that Snake and the other pets offer to their humans is their unconditional love, companionship, and loyalty. And I never thought I’d say that about a snake.

Laurie A. Green - SPYDOG

Maura may be the craftiest and most resourceful of all the StarDogs yet, because she's a very special brand of bio-engineered upgrade, created to work as a partner with deep cover Network agent, Rigel Blackline. Maura has a number of enhancements above and beyond “normal” StarDogs, creatures who often serve as ship's mascots and companion animals.

Donna McDonald - NOTHING REMOTELY FAMILIAR

After listening to an Australian friend talk about the mythical mutant koalas called Drop Bears, all my other ideas about pets fled because I couldn’t stop thinking about a cute koala bear with fangs. Adding an alien twist, I decided antenna were also going to be needed. Fangs are admittedly good in a fight, but I couldn’t send my cute creature to an alien ice planet without his own personal warning system.

Regine Abel - DOOM

Stran is a Creckel, a warrior beast that resembles a pangolin with a dragon head. Bigger than a Tibetan mastiff, he’s covered with thick, dark scales that protect him from almost any form of damage when he rolls up into a ball. As Doom’s lifelong friend and war companion, he has come to Earth to help free humanity from the Kryptid invaders who had also previously attacked his homeworld. Though he cannot speak, Stran is extremely smart and can communicate through telepathic imagery. The minute he sees Victoria, he recognizes her as his best friend’s soulmate and becomes extremely protective of her.

Alexis Glynn Latner - WINTER'S PRINCE

Characters in fiction come alive for the author. If they don’t, they may not come alive for the readers either.  Prince definitely came alive for me. He let me know that, like mythical unicorns, he has a special affinity for women who aren’t pair-bonded.  There’s a Medieval legend about how unicorns would come to a virgin and lay their head in her lap. In Winter’s Prince, he helps two women each find their true love—while our heroines and heroes battle a criminal smuggling ring that has invaded the Winterfair.  Prince is one of the heroes. And he knows it, too!

JC Hay - HEART OF THE SPIDER'S WEB

The behavior of my hero Rayan Barr’s goanna, Darcy, is patterned after a green iguana I kept for many years and was often described as acting like a big, scaly cat. Darcy is a big, insistent goof, and a bit of a food-hound, much to the delight of the ship’s crew.

E.D. Walker - THE PRINCESS AND HER BODYGUARD

Pym, the caliba, is a species of mystical birds who have an empathetic connection with their chosen person. In this case, Pym is linked to Liana, and he has mystical powers that he can use—but only to help her. The caliba are beautiful and deadly, and the villain of my story wants to exploit the wondrous birds for profit. Of course, my hero and heroine would never let that happen.

Kyndra Hatch - INTERRUPTING STARLIGHT

Squeak is a molk, a burrowing animal that resides in Korthan space with the look and size of a large hedgehog of Earth. Trumpet ears allow him to hear very well, especially when hunting. Playful and social, molks make great pets. They are scavengers, but also fierce hunters with the bonus that anything they scavenge or catch can also be eaten by humans

Cassandra Chandler - IMPORT QUARANTINE

I adore cats, and calicos are among my favorites. When it came time to pair a certain Sadirian soldier with an Earth pet, the first thing that came to mind was a super-sweet calico with a few big patches of orange and black on her white fur. Meredith is from the clowder of semi-feral cats that we met earlier in the series. She wins everyone’s hearts before long, unless they’re trying to hurt her friends and family! And this little Earth-cat is harboring a big surprise...

Grab your copy of Pets in Space® 4 today! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com For a limited time, Pets in Space® 4 brings together today’s leading Science Fiction Romance authors to help Hero-Dogs.org, a non-profit charity that helps our service veterans and first responders.

Journey to far off worlds with Anna Hackett’s House of Roan or board Veronica Scott’s Nebula Zephyr for another amazing Interstellar cruise. From S.E. Smith’s Lords of Kassis, Tiffany Roberts’ The Infinite City, to Pauline Baird Jones' Project Enterprise series, plus stories from Laurie A. Green, Donna McDonald, Regine Abel, Alexis Glynn Latner, JC Hay, E.D. Walker, Kyndra Hatch, and Cassandra Chandler, you’ll find the perfect story along with a few unusual pets.

Thirteen incredible stories by thirteen of today’s bestselling authors. Don’t miss out on this limited time offer for Pets in Space® 4 and help a great charity! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com

Proud supporters of Hero-Dogs.org, Pets in Space® authors have donated over $7,100 in the past three years to help place specially trained dogs with veterans and first responders. 10% of all pre-orders and the first month’s royalties of Pets in Space® 4 will again go to Hero-Dogs.org. Open your hearts and grab your limited release copy of Pets in Space® 4 today so together we can continue to assist this worthy charity! https://www.petsinspaceantho.com