Interview with Author C. Lee McKenzie

This week we had the pleasure of interviewing Middle Grade and Young Adult author C. Lee McKenzie! Her series, The Adventures of Pete and Weasel, follow two best friends as they cast spells, solve mysteries, and travel through time!  Join us as we talk about what it takes to write great stories for young people, how to prepare for the publishing process, and how to find your courage as a writer.

You write Middle Grade and YA Fiction. What’s your favorite thing about writing in these genres?

Because they’re so different, switching between the two keeps me from becoming stale. I think that’s my favorite thing about writing in both. That’s a short answer, but it really is at the core of what keeps me writing.

How do you approach writing for YA differently than writing for Middle Grade readers?

I set out to have fun when I write a Middle Grade story. Adventure. Fantasy. Whatever makes me smile or laugh and be excited. Of course, I like to develop themes like friendship or kindness or bravery because those are core values that kids can identify with, and I think parents appreciate them. Here’s a character learning about things they want their kids to learn.

With YA, I really focus on my characters. I want them to be as life-like and relatable as possible. I want my readers to feel as if these are people who could live next door or be in their geometry class. That way when my characters fail or struggle or succeed, I hope the readers will take those failures, struggles and successes to heart. If readers identify with characters, they can think, “I’m not the only one who (fill in the blank).” And what relief that is. I wish I’d had YA books when I was a teen instead of Silas Marner. Seriously? A fifteen-year-old girl should never have been required to read Silas Marner, unless, of course, the goal of the teacher is to instill a hatred of reading. If so, that effort fortunately failed.

Do you have any advice for writers who are looking to break into writing for kids or young adults?

When I learned to play tennis, I remember my teacher telling me to always play with someone better than I was. I’ve applied that advice to learning to write for kids or young adults. Read well-written books, not to copy, but to understand the categories and find out how those writers put together a great story. My other suggestion is also based on my tennis learning experience: play a lot of games =write a lot of stories.

You’re a California native, but have lived all over the world, including Hong Kong and Laos. Do you find that some of your experiences living in different climates and cultures have inspired some of your stories?

I’m sure those experiences influence my writing. I’m fascinated with Asia cultures, especially their stories. Sign of the Green Dragon is perhaps the best example of that. The ideal of hsiao (honoring parents) is a strong ethic in China, and one I admire, so I included it as a theme in that story.

I love England and France, and although I’ve never lived there, I’ve traveled there several times. Castles are almost as plentiful as Starbucks, and I love castles. Talk about something built to last! The medieval period covers several decades, but I’m particularly keen on the 1100s—its knights and jousts, its kings like Richard I who was a fascinating man. I think he would have been a party animal in this century. I had a lot of fun sending Pete and Weasel to that world in Some Very Messy Medieval Magic.

Your novel, Sign of the Green Dragon, is a story about a treasure hunt in which a group of friends have to follow a string of clues, solve an old murder, and escape a group of thieves in order to find a hidden treasure. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind your story?

Again, this story has a lot tucked into it that’s all about Chinese ethics and also astrology. In many Asian cultures where, how, and when a person is buried is extremely important. The idea of respectful, proper burial is important in this story. I also happen to love anything about the California Gold Rush, so I set Dragon in a 1850s boom town and wove together the ancient Chinese concepts with more recent U.S. history, and then added the modern world of art crime. All I needed were three kids and the promise of treasure to make the story complete. I guess this is a mashup?

You’ve also written several novels dealing with the heavy issues that many teens face today, including Sliding on the Edge, a novel about a young girl who contemplates suicide after suffering from a history of abuse and neglect. You’ve included a teacher’s guide with the novel and you have provided a wide range of resources to help people who are struggling with similar issues. Can you tell us a little bit about what made you decide to tackle this often-difficult topic head-on?

The sad truth is that nearly 1 in 5 students in U.S. Ivy League schools reported self-injuries like cutting or burning. School counselors are encountering this destructive behavior in high schools and middle schools across the country, and over 400 websites are discussing, and unfortunately, glorifying self-injury. When I discovered this, I planned to write an article about it, but it got away from me and became a novel. I’m still scratching my head over that.

How has the publishing process been for you? Do you have any advice for authors looking to get published?

I’ve had some great highs and some very deep lows. I’d placed two books with a publishing house, they were reading a third, and then kapow, they reorganized and closed down their YA imprint. It took months to get my rights back and figure out my next step. I was fortunate enough to find another publisher, a small but energetic press, and they took book three, then book four. That was great, but I still didn’t have a good plan for my future in this business, so I took a few months and hunted for an agent (this is, of course, a bit backwards, but it’s truly my publishing process). The agent has a couple of my YAs, and I’m hoping I’ll have some news this year. Between books, I subbed to some anthologies, and was very fortunate to be juried into four different ones.

As to advice: Pretend you’re a boy or girl scout. Be prepared! Seriously. I was caught very unprepared when I sold my first book. I’d barely grasped the idea of having a book between covers when I sold the second one. I should have known a lot more about the business before either of those books launched. Oh, and by business I mean how to network locally and more broadly via social media. I understood the basics of story creation and who my audience was, but I was sorely lacking in how to tell people about my books.

How do you find your courage? A lot of new writers are scared of putting themselves out there to be judged. So much so, that many of them never even take the first step. What advice would you give to them?

This is one of the most challenging parts of writing for publication. It’s right up there with stepping onto a busy street naked—at least for me. I started slowly. I found a small trustworthy group of writers that met once a month. That experience bolstered my confidence, and it taught me how to critique as well as how to accept criticism.

I ventured into online groups after that and found some excellent writers and editors. I’ve been with the same group of writers for over ten years. I’m much more confident now, but with a new book, I still get the jitters when I release it for someone to read. I’ve come to treat this the way I do stage fright. Just step out from behind the curtain and get on with it.

And here’s the rule I apply whenever I’m critiqued: I treat it as an honor (someone thinks enough of my work to read and offer help), I listen or read it carefully, I digest what the person is telling me (in other words, I don’t react, I just absorb), I mull it over (I give some time between getting the help and acting on it), then I decide how to use that information.

What’s next for you?

I have two YA books with my agent. I tackled the theme of justice in one and called it Not Guilty. The other is titled Retro Girl. In this one, I took on a difficult topic for me, senseless killing. I also played with the idea of how false perceptions lead people to make wrong choices, and how, when their long-held truths shatter, the shock restructures their reality. This is the second time, I’ve worked with this theme. The first time was in The Princess of Las Pulgas. I think my fascination with it must come from living in other places and different cultures and having a lot of stereotypes shattered.


To find out more about C. Lee McKenzie follow these links:

Website: http://www.cleemckenziebooks.com

Twitter: @cleemckenzie

 or buy her work on Amazon!