Double Negative
by C. Lee McKenzie
Published by: 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.
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AUTHOR BIO
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:
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.
Five Things I’d Do Before I Published My Book
1. Have a professional website and/or blog designed.Be sure the navigation is easy and the pages are easy to read.
Buy a domain name. Mine’s cleemckenziebooks. I wish it were simply cleemckenzie. The simpler the better.
Don’t use music. People often browse in public places and music isn’t always appreciated.
Be sure people can pull up your site on all their mobile devices.
2. Become visible on the Social Networking Media
- Goodreads
- Shelfari
Amazon (Especially, become familiar with Authors Central)
There are more, but these are ones I’ve chosen to focus on. You’ll have to choose the ones that work best for you.3. Build a relationship with well-respected and highly visible reviewers.4. Build an email list of people who know you and know your work.5. Find bloggers with a large following and similar interests: books, hobbies, lifestyle. Build a relationship with them.Why these 5?Your website/blog is going to be a major marketing tool. It’s going to reveal who you are and what you write. You’re unique, so this is where you show that uniqueness.The Social Networking sites are all a bit different, and there’s a learning curve for each one. That takes time, and after you’re published, you really don’t have much of that anymore. Learn how to use each of these or ones you find more comfortable using.If you only have time for two, go with fb and twitter.When you build a relationship with a reviewer you’re doing double duty. You’re learning what they like and how they respond to different types of books. They’re also reading your comments and learning a bit about you. You’ve established a relationship before you ask for a review. I think that’s important.Email is a powerful marketing tool. Just be sure you know the people you’re contacting and they know you. Don’t be a spammer.Bloggers are amazing. First, they love content, so if you know what they want, you can give it to them. Second, they’re pretty cool people who like to help others because they know others will help them when the time comes. It’s a very symbiotic relationship, and it’s effective for writers who are marketing books.
What is Realistic Fiction?
The simple answer is it’s an oxymoron.All the while I’m creating characters and stories that are supposed to reveal or be “real” life, I’m really working to disguise what I’m doing.Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But as a writer of realistic fiction, I have to use language to generate the idea in readers’ minds that what I’ve created is indeed real. But it’s not. Not in the least.Actually, writing stories about fairies, zombies, witches and angels is more straight forward. No one thinks for a minute these are anything except artifice. These are worlds that don’t exist, but serve to enchant, entertain and give another perspective on real life.So what are some of the ways I use to disguise what I do as a realistic writer? One has been the First Person point of view. I can give direct access to my characters’ thoughts, feelings and motivations using this convention. Readers feel an immediate connection with my characters. They enter with me into what I guess Spock would call a “Mind Meld,” and they are more likely to say, “ Yes. This is how it really is. I know. I’ve been there. I’ve felt that.” Because we have a shared history of this convention, they forget they’re inside a fiction. Sometimes I forget as well.I use “real” or “near-real” everyday items. One problem I’ve had is technology. I no sooner write this fantastic realistic scene with a character flipping his phone closed than the flip phone is the dinosaur of cells. Okay. I change all those scenes to iPhones 3, the iPhones 4 enter and the only teen caught dead with an iPhone 3 is a kid who can’t afford a new phone. I make a note that maybe using outdated equipment is a great way to reveal who my character is.I build my worlds as carefully as sci-fi and fantasy writers do. These worlds must, after all, appear real. That doesn’t mean I describe real cities or towns. No, it means that once again I go to that commonly shared code about what is real—the code that says, towns have districts—rich and poor, cluttered and spacious. Cities have garbage trucks that rumble through the streets in dim daylight on a specific day of the week. Those are my kind of details. Those are what I use to create the illusion of reality.I love realistic fiction, but that’s evident because it’s mostly what I write. I think it’s important for kids to read about characters who deal with real life problems. I believe it helps them if they see how those characters handle problems and how they feel while they do. The more I can trick readers into believing the story is real, the better the result.Where Do Stories Come From?
Someone at a book signing recently asked me where I came up with the stories I’ve written and what my process was for getting those stories out of my head and onto the page. The short answer would have been, “Don’t ask me.” But I’m not into short answers, so I gave the question some thought and here’s what I’ve come up with.Stories come like clouds, usually when I least expect them and usually when I’m attending to other things, like brushing burrs out of my cat’s fur. Some of these clouds are dark and filled with the promise of a storm; others are those lovely white ones that come in spring and mist the air before scudding out of sight. Some look like mythological creatures or rabbits or faces that shift expressions while I watch. Once a cloud has settled in my brain it pretty much stays there until I do something about it.The problem is it stays day and night, mostly night, so when I’m trying to sleep it’s shifting around in my brain, storming or misting or behaving like a unicorn or a satyr. Then my bed starts to fill with characters. They talk to me and to each other. Locations like cities or forests or horse ranches pop up like movie sets and suddenly those characters are in a place, their place, the one they expect me to create on a page, so they’ll be able to have somewhere to live.Then the question of “What’s this story about?” starts nagging at me. Who are these people yammering at me, and what do they want or need? I usually wrestle that down in a one or two sentence premise. Once I have that I can start entering the words into a file. I do almost all of my writing on my computer, but during the early “wrestling” stages I’ll make notes on just about anything, including the back of my hand--really.The rest of the process is daily grind or euphoria, depending on how the writing goes. I look forward to plowing through to the end, so I can start the real delving and expanding. Rewriting is my all time favorite job, and I’m not being sarcastic. I have the main threads woven from beginning to end; next it’s all about embroidery and texture. It’s at this stage I really feel free from the mechanics of who, where, when, how, and why. I don’t know if that makes sense, but this is the closest I can come to explaining how I feel.While this topic of “where do you get your stories” keeps coming up, I don’t think readers or writers tire of hearing about the creative “process.” Each writer is unique and that’s what makes books the treasures they are. We can enter those writers’ worlds, look at life from a different perspective, and learn or enjoy so much every time we turn a page.I love to hear how other writers “find” their stories and what their process is, so if you’re one of those writer types, please share.Thanks for this opportunity to appear on your blog. It’s been great to be here.
Interview
1.Who are you?I'm a native Californian who grew up in a lot of different places; then landed in the Santa Cruz Mountains where I live with my family and miscellaneous pets—usually strays that find me rather than the other way around. I write most of the time, garden and hike and do yoga a lot. I taught at San Jose State University and my field was Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication which carried me to a lot of places in the world to explore different cultures and languages. I'm proud to say I know how to ask, “Where’s the toilet?” and scream “I’m lost!” in at least five languages and two dialects.2. What are your books about?In my books I take on modern issues that today's teens face in their daily lives. My first young adult novel, Sliding on the Edge, which deals with cutting and suicide was published in 2009. It's received 4.5 ratings on the B&N website, GoodReads and Amazon.My second, titled The Princess of Las Pulgas, dealing with a family who loses everything and must rebuild their lives, came out in 2010. Here's what Francisco X. Stork (author of Marcelo in the Real World, NY Times Notable Children's Book, 2009; Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009) had to say about this book: "A beautifully written, meaningful, young adult novel. Carlie Edmund will jump off the page and pull you into a poignant and timely story of loss and ultimate gain.”Double Negative is my third Contemporary/Realistic YA. This one is different in that the main character is a teenage boy. He can barely read and he’s always in trouble. Right now it has 5 stars on Amazon.3. What are the Top 3 skills to hone for people just starting in your business?If I'd written this when I first started out, my response would be very different from what I’m writing today. I would have said, master your craft, learn to be an excellent writer/editor, and above all, learn how to work with a group of writers who will give you honest feedback.I still say these are very important skills, but at the front of all of these I'd now add: Learn about social networking. You can write a dynamite book, you can edit it so it's word perfect, you can work well with the best critique group on planet earth, but if you don't know how to network, you might as well stand on the street corner and sell your books one at a time. Well, that's a bit drastic, but it's close to true.4. What are your top 3 locations to write?I work where I feel comfortable. I read that some writers love to play music and lie on the floor while writing. Others prefer the quiet space with their computer in front of them. I fall into that latter camp. Quiet. Light and airy in summer, snug and warm in winter. Windows that look onto my forest of redwoods that I often stare at for inspiration. They don't fail me. When I'm ready to print out, I usually take the pages onto the deck, sit in my glider (I wouldn't part with that for anything.) and sip coffee or something cold while I shred what I thought I'd perfected shortly before.Such fun.But location is important to me when I'm really writing. When I'm jotting notes about ideas, I do that anywhere: grocery lines, ATM machine, trails or at 3AM in bed.5. What did you want to be when you grew up?Don't laugh. I wanted to be an archeologist. I thought it was absolutely the most fascinating occupation anyone could have. When that didn't pan out, I decided a career in journalism or acting was the next logical step.You don't see the connection?It took me a while to figure it out, but when I did, it made sense. I love to investigate, to search, to piece together stories from scattered facts. Since none of those careers happened, I studied linguistics. Are you seeing a pattern here? Bits and pieces, sorting, organizing, figuring out things, then creating stories.Now I write books. Why writing books fits with my other career choices should make perfect sense to any writer.
Picture Interview
1. What were you like as a kid?I was kind of a tomboy, in spite of all that my mom and gram did to make me girly. There were mostly boys my age on our block, so that may have been what influenced my behavior.
I was playing three flies up, tripped and fractured my kneecap. Ouch. I look happy, but that cast was an itch a minute.
2. What was your first published book?The title was Sliding on the Edge. Like Double Negative, it was an edgy YA. That book came out in 2009 and dealt with cutting.
These are some avid fans. No, not really—two friends who were kidding around.
3. Where did you write most of Double Negative?A lot was written in the winter and spring before I could go outside, so I worked at my desk. But I also did a lot of the story in summer, and that’s when I like to sit by my pond to write.
This is a perfect place for writing and thinking about writing, especially when I can’t cough up the story I want.
4. What’s your favorite holiday?Halloween. I go all out for All Hallows Eve. It’s fun. It’s macabre enough to give me chills. It inspires ghostly tales, and I like to write those once in a while. I have a lot of short stories about ghosts.
Here I am getting ready to make a chocolate graveyard cake. Yummm.
Quick This or That
Coffee or Tea?Coffee is my mainstay drink in the morning. I seldom drink tea, but once in a while I love green tea or the kind that smells like cinnamon.Cats or Dogs?Cats. They help me write without slobbering on the keyboard.Cake or Pie?Pie as long as it's fresh fruit, preferably apple.Summer or winter?Summer because there are tomatoes.Vampires or Shifters?Shifters. Vampires have been done to death. Well, so have shifters, but these are the choices, right? :-)Hamburgers or Hotdogs?Hamburgers. I'm a big eater when I'm hungry. One hot dog doesn't cut it.Last sport event you attended?A college Lacrosse tournament. Fabulous. Our team won.Last book you read?I hate to say this, but it was mine. I had to read it before sending it out to readers! Now I feel very self-centered.Parting Thoughts On Writing?Yes.Oh, that’s not what you meant. Here’s a parting thought: Don’t let a bad review get you down. Here’s why. From the Musical Courier, 1887“Brahams evidently lacks the breadth and peer of invention eminently necessary for the production of truly great symphonic works.”Everyone sees, hears and thinks differently.Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule and stopping by the blog!
I really liked your questions. They made me think! Hope your readers enjoy the interview.
Outtake 1
So often I have to cut something that doesn’t add to the story or that takes the story in a direction I’d rather not have it go. These tangents require some dealing with, and I go through several stages before I make the final decision to take them out.Stage One: I ignore them and keep writing, hoping that there will be a light at the end of the tangent tunnel. . .and soon.Stage Two: I stop writing and cut the part that’s giving me fits. Paste it into a new document and play with the possibilities. What will happen if I continue down this path? Will I eventually end up where I want the story to go? Where could I end up if I keep going with this?Stage Three: I take a hike. Always my last resort and usually the one that works.I went through all of these stages before I removed this tangent.In my original version of Double Negative, I had the mom leave, then return. This is a scene that never showed up in the book because I changed my mind, and she never came back, The impact of her disappearance was much stronger, than if I’d had her return and continue interacting with her son, my main character, Hutch.In this scene, Hutch enters the kitchen to find his dad. He’s heard his mom come in during the night, and he’s tense about the reunion.Jimmy’s at the counter, sipping from his mug, looking out the window. He looks over his shoulder at me when I come. “You get in late last night?”“About midnight. Had a job with Eddie.”“Your mom’s back. Did you know?”“Yeah. I heard her come in.”He puts his mug in the sink. “I’m leaving today for Arizona.”“You coming back?” I try to stifle the choke, but Jimmy catches it.“Come on, kid, I never know what what I’m going to do ‘till I do it.” He reaches across and touches my arm.“So why’s she here?”His smile spread off to one side of his mouth. “Guess.”I love to read my out-takes because it makes me remember what I was thinking of doing during the drafting of the book. If I’d kept scene like this, my story would have been very different.Outtake 2
Sometimes when I have to cut scenes, it’s like chopping a piece of myself out, but when I go back and read how I’ve incorporated the same information, but differently, I’m always pleased. The decision to take out something is hard, but I’ve learned to let my instincts lead the way.Here’s a scene between Father Tim Kerry and his friend, Mac, the sheriff. Father Kerry’s trying to keep Hutch, the kid he believes is worth saving, from going to jail. The only way to do that is to convince Mac to put the boy back into the special Intervention Program. Father Kerry’s in the sheriff’s office. He and the sheriff, Mac, are good friends. Father Kerry speaks first.“I want Hutch back.”Mac shook his head and took off his glasses. “You’re are one pushy—”“Remember you’re talking to a priest, Mac.”“I can’t—““Sure you can. You the boss, remember?”Mac leaned back in his chair, making the springs complain under him. “What I got from the police report is there’s nobody to take responsibility for him if I let him out.” Mac set his glasses back on the end of his nose and peered over the top.“There’s me.”“Damn it, Tim.” Mac slammed his hands on his desk and pushed himself up. He paced to the window and back. On his third turn he stopped and stood looking down at the priest. “Give me one good reason this kid gets another chance when the others didn’t.”Father Kerry stood to look Mac in the eye. “Because if someone hadn’t given me that last chance I’d be up at Attica.”Mac returned to the window as if there was an answer outside waiting for him. When he turned back to face the priest, he said, “Once more. That’s it. If he doesn’t stay clean this time, I won’t do anything to help him. Are we clear?”“Yep.”In the final version, this scene never happened, but when Hutch is in the courtroom, I knew it had taken place, and I wrote the new scene with the old one in mind. All the reader knows is somehow Hutch is given this second chance, and that’s all that Hutch knows, too. I’m the only one who knows how it happened, at least until later. That’s one of the privileges of being the writer.Outtake 3
Changing the Point of View
When I set out to create a book, I usually have a very clear idea of whose head I’m going to be in before I start the story. With Double Negative that didn’t happen. In my first draft I jumped around to different characters’ points of view. While I liked being able to go into several of the characters’ heads, the story that I wanted to tell about Hutch, the boy who was worth saving, wasn’t coming out the way I wanted it. So I decided to tell the story from Hutch’s perspective and no one else’s.I had two reasons that I settled on a First Person narrator. I wanted the reader to view the world the same way Hutch viewed it. It was my intent to slowly change that world view, to open it to a wider vista and let the reader make that journey with my main character.Here’s one of the Third Person narrator scenes that never made it into the book. Father Tim Kerry finds out that Hutch has been arrested again and won’t be returning to the Intervention Program that’s kept him out of jail. The scene starts with a phone call from the sheriff, Father Kerry’s friend.“Got another one of your kids here, Tim.” Mac’s voice came through the phone level, professional.Father Kerry, cradled his forehead with his free hand. “Who’s it this time?”“That McQueen kid.”If someone had hit him in the stomach with a baseball bat, it wouldn’t have hurt as much as this news did. Now he’d never reach this kid. Why had he ever thought he could do anything with any of this bunch? One by one they were sliding back into the ooze, and he couldn’t do a thing about it.“How many does that leave you?” Mac asked.“Without Hutch, I’ve got four.”The silence from the phone probably meant he was about to be “un-volunteered” and the program closed.“Want to come in and talk?” Mac hadn’t said “the end,” but he would say it once they sat across from each other. That’s how Mac dealt with things, face-to-face.“I’ll be there about ten.”At ten, Father Kerry sat across from Mac in his office. He’d do a little begging. Maybe call in a favor. One thing he was sure of, he couldn’t let Mac stop this program. He took the offensive, a move his old friend would respect. “I want Hutch back.”Mac shook his head and took off his glasses. “Your are one pushy—”“Remember you’re talking to a priest, Mac.”So much of how your book comes together, how you craft the prose and characterize your people, is based on who narrates the story. What I found was that it was better to re-think my choice of point of view in Double Negative, even though I’d written several hundred pages with multiple points of view.
Outtake 4
There are times when a thread you’re developing just isn’t right. Then you’re faced with unthreading that throughout your book. I had this brilliant idea that I’d have one of the girls in Double Negative develop a crush on Father Kerry. He was handsome. He was young. And this was one way to show that. Well, it just didn’t work. Here are bits and pieces of those unthreaded scenes.Scene: Father Kerry’s in a classroom with his group of boys who’ve been released from their juvenile sentences to attend his Intervention Sessions. His job is set them on the right path and keep them from winding up in trouble with the police again.While they’re sitting in a circle, working on a project, he’s thinking this:Which one needed to fill the silence by leaning across to his neighbor and whispering? Who picked his nose and wiped in under the desk? Every action spoke to who that kid was—small clues he’d learned to attend to during mass or at those Rec Room receptions.He let his thoughts leave the circle and go to Liz, the newest hot teen trying to lure him from vows he’d made to his church. She was a challenge, all right. One he’d have to face soon.And another bit, but this time from Liz’s point of view:Liz clutched the draft of her grant proposal, her excuse for getting Tim Kerry alone after the service. Mrs. Tacci wasn’t here today. The flu had answered Liz’s prayers and put the watch dog into bed.She caught him on his way across the walkway between the church and the Rec Center.“Would you like to read this and give me some feedback?” She held out the grant proposal.“That was fast.” He smiled at her as he took the paper.His smile stopped her heart. She was sure it wouldn’t start again. She was sure she would die now, but with no regrets. He would be hers in heaven if not here.“Are you coming in for coffee?” He held the Rec Room door open, and she brushed his chest with her arm as she walked past.They took their coffee to a table and sat side-by-side while he read. She kept her eyes on her coffee, her hands wrapped around the paper cup, trying to ignore the exciting contractions below her navel.Somehow this seemed too adult to me. Liz came across as older than the sixteen-year-old I wanted her to be. That was the first problem, then I just didn’t like the idea of a sixteen-year-old stalking anyone. Out that thread came. I immediately felt so much better about the story. I even liked Liz again, and I was beginning not to like her at all.
GIVEAWAYS
Individual giveaways:
One (1) ebook copy of Double Negative.
Open internationally.
End September 16th, 2014.
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