Today I'm honored to have C. Lee McKenzie.
Author of Sign of the Green Dragon
her third Middle Grade novel.
You can read my review HERE!
Welcome Lee!
1.
How long does it take to research a topic before you
write? And for this book? Did you learn something unusual during your research
that you can share here?
ANSWER: Each book takes a
different length of time. For Sign of the Green Dragon, I’d already done a lot
of research into Chinese Dragon lore, and I had a fair background in the early
history of the Gold Rush era. I happen to love that period in California
history, so I read a lot about it.
I think the tenacity of the
Chinese miners is the most unusual thing I stumbled on and used in this story.
When white men abandoned a mine because it didn’t have the gold they wanted,
the Chinese were “allowed” to take over. They mined what’s called the
“tailings” and with long hours of
back-breaking work they pulled out a lot of gold. They suffered a lot of
injustice from our system, and were so heavily taxed that many left mining and
went to live in San Francisco.
2.
What resources do you use? In general and for this
book? Do you use professionals to verify your facts, such as the police? Is
there a good way to approach them? How valuable is their input? Or do you just
wing it?
ANSWER: With Dragon, I used
my background knowledge of the era and what I’d read about dragon mythology.
For other stories, I’ve gone to the police to ask for verification of what I
think is true. I’m just wrapping up a young adult story and I wanted to use a
lucky charm to save a shooting victim’s life. I needed to be sure 1) a small
charm could deflect a bullet sufficiently and 2) I could write that it was a 22
calibre bullet used in the shooting. Two police people have said yes, so I’m
going with it.
My first book was about
cutting, and I had never known a cutter, so I read a lot, but I was very lucky
to sit next to a suicide counselor at a conference. We talked and she offered
to read the scenes I wasn’t sure about. She was a great help and my scenes
about the cutting and the counseling sessions are as accurate as I can hope to
make them. BTY since that book, I’ve met cutters. They’ve read my book, and
they say I got it right.
3.
Did you self-publish or have a publisher? Would you
recommend self-publishing and building an audience before approaching a
publisher? What's the best way to build an audience before publication?
ANSWER: I’ve done both. I’ve
had two publishers. One bought two of my young adult books, and I received
$5,000 for my debut novel and $6,000 for the second one. (I’m telling you this
because the story of my publishing journey is weird, yet probably not unique)
Then I “sold” two more young adult stories to a different publisher, but this
time out I didn’t see any up-front cash. They only pay me in royalties.
I self-published my three
middle grade novels. Frankly, I never expected to make any money from these
books. I wrote them because I needed a break from YA angst and I love to write
adventure/fantasy for this age group.
I have no idea if self-publishing is a route to
take and build an audience. In fact, it probably isn’t. A lot of agents don’t
like to take on self-published people unless they’ve sold mega books and
created a stir. That’s hard to do, but when it happens it’s wonderful. One
thing I know for sure, there is no formula for building an audience except: a
darned good book and lots of promo. Even if the promo’s good, if the books
isn’t, there’s not a ghost of a chance for an audience.
4.
Does writing provide you a sufficient income to live
on? If so, how long did it take before this happened? Is it your goal to be
financially successful, or do you write and publish solely for the
'satisfaction of sharing your stories’?
ANSWER: No. Pure
and simple. I’d have to move to the middle of the Mojave and eat insects if I
had to live on what I make writing. I’ve had one career and that has made me
financially secure and very happy in many ways. I write stories because I love
to do it, and I so appreciate that money isn’t a motivation.
5.
What's the funniest thing that happened to you on a
book tour?
ANSWER: I had to
evacuate a hotel in my coat with nothing else on. The fire alarm sounded just
as I stepped out of the shower, so I threw on my coat and headed to the fire
escape along with hundreds of others. I was in New York on the 20th floor of
the Hilton. Do you have any idea how far twenty floors is when you can smell
smoke and you’re wearing nothing but your coat?
Oh yes, and my hair was wet. It was February. I remember thinking how
much I loved California because having wet hair there in February wouldn't have
been such a big deal. It didn’t seem funny at the time, but time has revealed
the humor to me.
6.
What's the next step for you? Television, movies, a
new genre? Tell us what the future holds - what can your fans expect?
ANSWER: No new
genre yet. I’m always open to TV and movie contracts, but they don’t seem
headed my way. However, my next book should be on the way to my lovely agent
soon. It’s a young adult and it’s one of the hardest books I’ve ever tackled.
I’ll have to write three middle grade stories to recover from this one.
Blurb:
Three plucky sleuths. A crumbling skeleton. A buried
treasure.
After six months in a new school, Sam’s finally fitting in.
He’s the one kid with enough talent to hit the winning home run and bring the
baseball trophy back to Haggarty Elementary. But Sam’s guardian is shipping him
off to boarding school before that can happen.
When his teammates, Joey and Roger, hear his bad news, they
plot to hide him until the big game. Their secret cave is a perfect place until
an earthquake shatters a wall and reveals a wooden chest with a red-eyed dragon
carved into its top. Inside, a crumbling skeleton clutches a map with a cryptic
note, promising treasure if the finder reveals the truth about an old murder
and returns the remains of the victim to China.
Is the note a hoax? Maybe. But what does Sam have to lose?
With Joey and Roger, he sets off to track down the clues and hopefully discover
treasure. When finally some puzzle pieces start to make sense, they become lost
in a labyrinth of underground tunnels, trapped by dangerous thieves and sealed
inside an airless tomb.
Sign of the Green Dragon gets a high five for fantasy, fun
and some fearsome adventure. If you like intrepid would-be knights on
impossible and dangerous quests, you’ll love this story. As one reader says,
this book, “has more twists than a dragon’s tail.”
Buy now and jump into the adventure.
*****
C. Lee
McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural Communication. Her
greatest passion is writing for young readers. Sign of the Green Dragon is her
third Middle Grade novel. Alligators Overhead and the sequel, The Great Time
Lock Disaster were her first two. She has traditionally published four young
adult novels: Sliding on the Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative
and Sudden Secrets.
As a
native Californian, and after living a lot of different places in the world, Lee
landed back in her native state on the edge of a redwood forest. When not
writing or blogging Lee is hiking or practicing yoga.
Read more about the talented C Lee
McKenzie, HERE!
***
Thank you, Lee!
How about you readers?
Have you experienced your worst nightmare during a book tour?
