IWSG Review: Rattlesnake

 

February is here already. It is a month of love, presidents, human rights, groundhogs, and ice & snow. First Wednesday is kind of late this month, but it is here, and so is another Insecure Writers Support Group (IWSG) post. This month, I am going to forego the question and jump right into my post.

I had the pleasure of reading fellow ISWG member C. Lee McKenzie's latest young adult offering, Rattlesnake.

I always look forward to Lee's books because she can elevate a story by adding an out of the box twist. Rattlesnake is no exception. The story of Jonah, his sister Allie, and his aunt Margaret are pulling up stakes and moving from New Hampshire to his deceased uncle's silver claim in Rattlesnake, Nevada.

Needless to say, Jonah and Allie are none too pleased to uproot their old lives for the unknown. Their aunt is trying to treat it all like a grand adventure and hopes the experience will be beneficial for all (there is the promise of an inheritance that includes a silver mine). When Rattlesnake turns out to be an unfriendly, God forsaken, dust bowl and the inheritance fails to materialize, everything goes from bad to worse.

I enjoyed the whole premise. McKenzie elevates the entire story by weaving in the story of a girl from the 1800s named Catherine. You won't believe how her story impacts Jonah's and vice-versa. When those two plotlines unexpectedly intersect, the book goes to a whole new level.

I think teens will enjoy the mystery and suspense. I know I certainly got caught up in the two plots, which to me were perfectly paced. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult, mystery, and historical fiction.

About the Book

The desert town of Rattlesnake isn’t a destination. It’s a last resort. Seventeen-year-old Jonah Guthrie’s aunt sold their home in New England and fled to this place to escape the humiliation of his dad’s indictment for embezzlement and subsequent disappearance.

While their late uncle left them a house and a silver mine, the house is a shambles and the mine is defunct. They’re almost out of money, so they have no choice but to stay in Rattlesnake. And then Jonah discovers they’ve inherited something else. Her name is Catherine, and she’s been dead for over a hundred year. Now, she needs his help.

About C. Lee McKenzie

I always have free gifts for visitors to my Blog, so stop by. Sign up and get your gift today, and you can see all of my work on Amazon. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram, too!

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.

Where to Get It

Amazon

Smashwords

Kobo

Barnes & Noble

A Writer's Week #94: With a Little Help From My Friends

It's been a couple weeks since I've had a chance to sit down and compose a Writer's Week post, so let's get caught up. Hmmm, where to start? I had a fantastic day at the Newtown Holiday Festival last Sunday in Newtown, CT. Everybody was so friendly and a sold some books to some great kids, made some friends and hopefully some new fans. For every book I sold, I donated a matching copy to the Salvation Army for their wonderful Christmas Distribution program.

  


 

Thanks to everyone who has purchased a copy of either Sharky & the Jewel or Order of the Crystal Lion and some wonderful authors who have donated copies of their books (C. Lee McKenzie, Karen Pokras Toz, Kimberly Sentek, Margo L. Dill and Celia & Orison Carlile) I have 88 books. With a week to go, I only need 12 more books to reach my goal of 100. Help us do it by visiting my store. Thanks so much! We're almost there!

Last night I sat down with illustrator Daniel Vogel for the last of our meetings to review progress on the cover for The Deliverers 3: The Golden Dragon of Ang. It is really coming along. We discussed some tweaks and color/style points. I'm really pleased and excited by the way it's shaping up. I should have the final artwork to review shortly after Christmas and the finished front cover in early January, which means we're still on track for a February release. I'm really looking forward to it as I'm extremely pleased with the book.

With all this activity, I have not allocated much time to finishing the plotting of The Deliverers 4. That's okay, though. Most of the major plot points have been worked out. I think I'm ready to start writing and I'll let the characters sort out how to handle whatever crops up. That being said, I suppose I need to get on with writing the darn thing. So, my plan is to begin writing this week. I'll let you know how I make out next week.

Oh yes, this coming week will feature a couple of exciting things that you should watch for. Order of the Crystal Lion is being reviewed on Wednesday the 11th on The Secret Files of Fairday Morrow. They will also be running an interview with me on (gulp) Friday the 13th, which I hope does not prove to be unlucky for either myself or them. Jessica and Stephanie are good friends and I am grateful, as usual, for their support!

I also have one other bit of news that I will share with you next Friday. I can't say much, but if you have a Kindle, like middle grade fantasy, and like to save money you will love this announcement. Watch this space on Friday to find out what it is. Peace!

A Writer's Week #73: The Write Stuff

This was a terrific writer's week. It was filled with wonderful things, not the least of which was my return to writing after an almost two month hiatus! More on that in a bit. The first great happening of the week was my appearance at the Preserve New Fairfield Strawberry Festival on Sunday. The weather was great and there was a large turnout.  I had a great time chatting with people, making new friends and catching up with old ones. I even managed to sell a few books.

Lovely setting for a book signing!

The really encouraging part was that everyone was asking me about the second book and when it was coming out. As a matter of fact, I'm being asked that question quite frequently lately. It's been great being able to tell them that it will be out soon.

This month's meeting of the Character Book Club is meeting on C. Lee McKenzie's page. Guess what? Eric and Stig are being featured in an interview with Pete, the main character from Lee's fantastic book, Alligators Overhead. I know Eric and Stig had a great time meeting Pete and being interviewed by him. The CBC is a great place where characters from your favorite middle grade novels get together to find out what's going on with each other. Next month, Pete is going to be interviewed
by the Detective Mystery Squad from The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow. I'll let you know

Strawberry shortcake, yum!

when and where.

So as you can see, things are heating up here at White Owl Manuscripts. I'm still waiting the final files for The Deliverers 2: Order of the Crystal Lion, but it's great to know that I'm not the only one. As I said before, I hear from many people who are looking forward to it coming out. All I can say is be patient, I don't think we're too far away.

The really big news of the week is that I've finally resumed writing on The Deliverers 3: Thee Golden Dragon of Ang. Looking back, I haven't done any new writing in almost two months! Wow, has it really been that long? I'm not sure why I haven't been writing. I did some editing on it and mapped out the remainder of the book, so I haven't been completely idle. I guess I

The band was excellent!

just needed a break. The last two and a half years have been extremely busy for me both at work, and on the writing front, so I just had to relax a little and attack things afresh.

Than being said, I'm raring to go. I started writing again today and cranked out 1,400 word in a couple of hours. You know I can bee a numbers person at times (a career in banking will do that to you), so here they are. I'm at 37,500 words, 37 chapters and 164 pages. Look for that number to grow in the coming weeks.

As I was writing today, I had a mini-revelation. I think I've finally hashed out the true nature of what Eric & Co. will be up against in the rest of the Deliverers Series. An indication appears in book 2 and it's coming to the fore in book 3. It should take off from there. I'll give you a little more info (and maybe a preview) next week!

The Character Book Club Welcomes Millicent Marie...er, Millie

Hey everybody! Today's a real special day, because Greg has handed over control of the Deliverers Blog to me--Eric--and my owl friend, Stig. Why has Mr. S. given us power over his blog? We've been asked to host this month's meeting of the Character Book Club! The CBC is this cool club where characters from great middle grade novels hang out and get to know each other better! I'm really excited that Stig and I have been asked to join. I mean, who doesn't like to be part of an awesome club?

Right now the club is made up of Stig and me, the Detective Mystery Squad from The Secret DMS Files of Fairday Morrow, Nate Rocks from the excellent series of the same name, and Millie from Millicent Marie is Not My Name by Karen Pokras Toz. This month, Stig and I will be interviewing Millie. Let's see what she has to say.

Eric:  Hi Millie. Welcome to the Deliverers Blog. I think this Character Book Club is a really cool idea and I’m thrilled that we’re all a part of it. Have you ever been part of a club before?

I know! I love it too! Last week I got to interview the gang from the DMS (Detective Mystery Squad) on my blog – they were so cool!! And now here I am on your blog! I can’t wait to see who will be next.

Stig:  I must say that while clubs can be a lot of fun and they allow you to meet a lot of people, I find that I prefer the company of a few good friends. Who are your closest friends?

Well, my best friend is Natalie. We have a lot in common, but we are also a lot different. I think that’s important in a friend, because then you can learn about new things. For example, she travels every summer with her family, and then when she comes home, she tells me all about it. It sort of makes me feel like I went there too. So far Paris is my favorite.

Eric:  I was reading your blog the other day, and I thought it was really cool. What’s your favorite thing that you like to write about on your blog?

Oh I don’t know – I guess it depends on what is happening in my life at that moment in time, you know? One thing is for sure; I try really hard not to gossip, because that got me in real big trouble before.

Stig:  Are your parents supportive of your after school activities?

Sort of. I used to always just play soccer, and then I wanted to join the drama club. My mom wasn’t really happy I was dropping soccer, but eventually she came around. I just had to quit soccer though because this girl who was a bully was on the team, and this boy who is super cute was in drama club, so it was sort of a no-brainer for me. In the end, my parents were cool with it.

Eric:  I don’t have any brothers or sisters and sometimes I kinda wish I had one or two. Stig’s got, like, 50 or so, but he’s not really close with any of them. What’s it like having a little brother?

Doogle? Ugh. You heard what he did right? He took my PRIVATE diary and he published it all over the Internet for EVERYONE to see. He got in really REALLY big trouble. He’s been better since then, but he’s still a royal pain. (and no – that’s not gossip – everyone KNOWS he’s a royal pain!)

Stig:  I have to say that Eric may be overestimating the amount of siblings I have, but I have to admit I do have quite a few. He’s correct in his statement that none of us are close, owls tend to go their own way, you see. We like to travel and see the world, or in my case see many worlds. If you could travel anywhere to any time, where would you go, and who would you bring with you?

Oh my gosh – that is a super cool question! Wow – okay, so I would definitely take Natalie because she’s an expert traveller. I think I’d like to go to Europe in the 1920s. See, I was named after this old relative named Millicent  - she kind of did all this stuff that got her in trouble that no one ever talks about. If you ask me, I think she sounds kind of cool and fun, so I’d like to travel to Europe when she was alive to see exactly what it was she was up to!

Eric:  That's really cool. I know you’re into some awesome stuff yourself, like soccer and set design. I saw a video on YouTube from your school play that was pretty sweet. Do you think you’ll try out for a part in the next one?

Seriously? We were on You Tube? Wow oh wow oh wow!!! I definitely want to be in the next one. It was super fun.

Stig:  We owls spend a great deal of time studying. I myself love to read, and I know Eric and the rest of the Deliverers do as well. What types of books do you like to read?

Well don’t tell that Toz lady (she’s the one who wrote my book), but my favorite author is Judy Blume. I love reading books about other kids. Oh and it’s no secret that I LOVE “The Secret DMS File of Fairday Morrow” and your book looks awesome too! I can’t wait to read it.

Eric:  I noticed on your blog that you give advice. I’ve been picked on a little bit in the past—I kinda think everyone has to some degree. What advice would you give to someone who’s getting teased at school?

Getting teased stinks. First of all, remember that it’s not you who has the problem, but the other person. Second, don’t be afraid to speak up. Tell an adult – tell a bunch of adults. It may be hard to talk about, but they will help!

Stig:  Now that “Amanda’s” blog has ended, what are your future plans? Are you ready for middle school?

Well, as you know, I have my blog “Millie Says.” It’s good to be able to write as Millie instead of Amanda. Trying to be two people at once is hard work! Middle School? Oh yeah – totally! It’s going to be so cool. I can’t wait!!

Eric:  I guess that’s it for now. Thanks for stopping by, Millie. I had a great time. It’s been really interesting and cool talking with you.

Hey well thanks for having me! This has been super fun!

Stig:  Thank you my dear for taking some time to chat with us a bit. You are quite a charming young lady. I can’t tell you how much fun it’s been, a real pleasure. You know, if you’re ever in the mood for an adventure, I’m sure the Gatekeeper would love to send you on an Assignment with the Deliverers.

Oooh – I would love that! When do we get started?

Eric:  Yeah, that’d be awesome. There are a lot of worlds out there that need help. I think Kate and Hallo would love to have you join us some time.

Count me in – you know where to find me!  Thanks again for having me on your blog today. It was so nice to meet you both. I have to admit, I was kind of nervous, well mostly because I’ve never spoken to an owl before (or even seen a talking owl to be honest), but I have to say, you both are tops on my list!

Now ... guess what? Here's something really exciting. We're holding a Fan Art Contest for the rest of this month! Draw a picture of Millie doing something she loves like writing on her blog or playing soccer or acting to win a signed copy of Millicent Marie is Not My Name!

Send your illustration to: Email: haightjess@gmail.com  Snail Mail: The DMS 6 Butternut Lane New Fairfield, CT 068112 The winning illustration will be chosen by a panel of judges and displayed at the next Character Book Club meeting, which will be announced in Fairday's June newsletter!  And speaking of the next meeting...

Be sure to join us for next month's Character Book Club meeting! It's going to be awesome and you'll never guess who is getting interviewed .... me & Stig!! Yup, We're getting interviewed by Pete from Alligators Overhead by C. Lee McKenzie! I can't wait!!

See you next month!!!