When I read the first chapter to SLIDING ON THE EDGE, a few years ago, I was knocked out. I knew Lee would get this pubbed. The voice is compelling and the story rocks along. Lee also has a gift for making the reader feel like they are living in her story's settings. So settle in, learn more about my critique buddy Lee, and buy the book!
About Sliding on the Edge
Shawna Stone is a heartbeat away from making the worst mistake anyone can. She’s close to taking her own life. Kay Stone is a grandmother Shawna has never known, and at sixty-four Kay feels there is little left in her life to look forward to. When they are thrown together they circle each other in a crucible of secrets and distrust until saving a doomed horse unites them and gives each a reason to live.
Lee answered my 3 favorite questions:
-I think teen books can, and should, be read by grown-ups. Tell my grandma Grace why she should read your book.
Grandma Grace might enjoy my Grandma Kay, a woman with a past who gets a chance to set a few things right. And I agree with you, Pam, there are a lot of great YA books that the more mature reader can enjoy.
--What would your 16-year-old self say if she read your book?
I think my 16-year-old self did read it, after she wrote it. That person felt pretty scared for the MC and really wanted her to pull through.
--I am fascinated by writers' inspirations. Tell me about a real-life setting that found its way into your book.
The town I call Sweet River is loosely based on Auburn, CA. A small frontier town in the Sierra Foothills. Auburn is bigger and more up-scale than Sweet River, but the flavor is the same.
And here are the details about Lee:
A native Californian, C. Lee McKenzie has always been a writer, but to eat and make contributions to children's college funds, she’s also been a university lecturer and administrator. Lee’s written and published non-fiction articles, both in her field of Linguistics and Inter-cultural Communication, and in general readership magazines. For five years Lee wrote, edited, and published a newsletter for U.S. university professors who were managing global classroom issues. Since she turned in her academic hat and began writing for young readers, Lee’s fiction and non-fiction works have been frequently published in the award-winning e-zine, Stories for Children, and Crow Toes Quarterly has published her ghostly tales. Sliding on the Edge is her first young adult novel. Writing for teen readers keeps Lee in touch with the young members of her family, and allows her to re-visit those wonderful years in life when everything is possible. When she isn’t writing, Lee’s hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains in Los Gatos, California.
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