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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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.
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.
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.
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.
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