I’m
delighted to welcome you to Thoughts in Progress as it is a fun-filled,
jammed-packed day for me.
First,
I’m thrilled to welcome Author C. Lee McKenzie here as part of her MC Book Tour
for her latest release, NOT GUILTY. She is also offering a
tour-wide giveaway. Much more on that fascinating story shortly.
Second,
Happy Halloween to those celebrating far and wide. It’s a fun-filled day for
kids of all ages. It’s a great time to dress up as your favorite character ad
collect lots and lots of tasty treats (I’m talking about the kids of course).
Today at work a group of us are dressing up as the case of Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs. I’m playing the Evil Queen.
Now let’s find out more about Lee’s new book.
* Not
Guilty* by C. Lee McKenzie
* Publication Date: October 25, 2019
* Genre: Young Adult
A blood-smeared knife. One young man’s word against
another. A lifetime dream crushed.
The evidence points to Devon Carlyle. He was there
when it happened. Everyone knows he had it in for Renzo Costa. And Costa says
Devon was the one. In the judge’s rap of a gavel, Devon’s found guilty of assault.
The star of the Oceanside High’s basketball team loses his shot at the one
thing he’s worked so hard for—the championship game where college scouts could
see how good he is.
Now he makes his great shots in Juvenile Hall with
kids far different from those that have always been in his life.
Angry? Hell, yes.
He’s bent on finding who did the crime. He’s bent
on making them pay because he’s Not Guilty.
But can he prove it?
Now an
excerpt from the book to tempt you even more.
Chapter
Three
It took
less than fifteen minutes for his parents to arrive. And it wasn’t an arrival
so much as an invasion. His mom barged into the sheriff’s office slightly ahead
of his dad, her face as flushed as Mr. Miller’s.
Dad grasped
Devon by the shoulders. “Is this about the ticket? Was there more to it than
speeding?”
Devon
managed to shake his head, but he couldn’t speak. A deafening audio loop kept
repeating, “Somebody stabbed Renzo Costa. They think I did it.”
Underneath
that loop, Adam Miller’s voiced droned while he explained what was going on,
the attack, and how Devon’s presence at the beach and his earlier fight with
Costa had triggered the questioning.
His dad
stood his arms crossed, his back straight, and his lips one thin line. Devon
couldn’t look at his mom, but her sudden intake of breath was loud.
“The next
step is to have Devon released into your custody. I don’t think they have
enough evidence to charge him and keep him in juvenile detention.”
Devon
rested his arms on his thighs, his head down. Charge me? Keep me? Give me
detention? Each of those sent his heart into his throat.
He looked
up when the door opened and the sheriff stepped inside. “Devon, wait out there
with my deputy.” The sheriff held the door open until Devon left.
In the
outer office, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. This could not be
happening. He could not be facing possible arrest for a crime he had no part
in. He could not be waiting to find out if he was going home with his mom and
dad or if he was going to be taken to Juvenile Hall. But that was exactly what
was going on. That and the end of his basketball scholarship. He pushed away
from the wall and shoved his hands in his pockets. No. That couldn’t happen to
him. They’ll find out I didn’t do anything more than shove Renzo around, and I
had a damned good reason.
Closing
his eyes, he imagined Kristen. Her voice when she heard about him being hauled
into the sheriff’s office. “I know you’re not guilty, Dev.”
The door
opened and his mom followed Mr. Miller out. Her face was even more flushed and
pinched with worry than before. Dad walked behind her with his hand at her
back.
The
sheriff waved his deputy inside his office, leaving the four of them facing
each other.
“You’re
to go home with your parents, Devon,” Miller said. “The sheriff’s investigation
is ongoing, so we’ll have to wait until all the evidence is in before we’ll know
the next step.”
“What
evidence?” Devon asked.
“The
victim’s statement, for one. And the fingerprint comparisons aren’t back from
the lab.” He tucked papers into his briefcase. “Also, it seems their search of
your room turned up nothing. Excellent news.” The lawyer shook hands with Dad
but only nodded at Mom. She didn’t respond. Her eyes had a vacancy Devon had
never seen before.
After the
lawyer left, Dad guided Devon and his mom out the front door and into their
SUV. The trip home was dense with silence. What had happened that morning
scared Devon more with each mile they drove. It was like the time he was eight
and he’d lost his footing on the steep edge of a trail. The moment he almost
fell was terrifying, but it became worse afterward when he had time to think
about it. The sheer drop of hundreds of feet. The rocks below. For months, he
had nightmares.
Once they
were in the living room, Dad faced Devon. “You couldn’t have done this. Your
mother and I know that.”
“Sit
down,” his mom said. “We need to hear everything from your side.”
He went
back over that Wednesday, starting with Susan and ending with how he’d put the
shoe on the picnic table.
“I’m
assuming this is the same Susan you just broke up with,” Mom said.
“Yes.”
Dad
paced. “You know the boy who was attacked. That’s what the sheriff said.”
“I’ve
seen him around, but I only met him once—that night at a party when I caught
him with my girlfriend.”
“And this
Costa.” Mom sat next to Devon, facing him. “Did you get into a fight over
Susan?”
“I slammed
him against the wall. A couple of times. He came back at me but changed his
mind, and I walked out. She wasn’t worth a fight.”
 |
| Author C. Lee McKenzie |
C. Lee
McKenzie has a background in Linguistics and Inter-Cultural
Communication, but these days her greatest passion is writing for young
readers. She has published five young adult novels: Sliding on the
Edge, The Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, and Sudden Secrets. Not
Guilty is her most recent one.
Sometimes she likes to jump into the world of the
fantastic and when she does, she writes for the middle-grade reader. Some
Very Messy Medieval Magick is the third book in the time-travel
adventures of Pete and Weasel, with Alligators Overhead and The
Great Time Lock Disaster being the first two. Sign
of the Green Dragon, a stand-alone, takes the reader into ancient
Chinese dragon myths and a quest for treasure.
When she’s not writing she’s hiking or traveling or
practicing yoga or asking a lot of questions about things she still doesn’t
understand.
For more
information on Lee and her writing, connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and
at her Website.
The
author’s other young adult books include: Sliding on the Edge, Princess of Las Pulgas, Double Negative, Sudden Secrets
GIVEAWAY
With
Halloween celebrated this week, Lee’s giving away five digital copies of NOT
GUILTY and a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate. This tour-wide giveaway will
end at midnight on Tuesday, Nov. 5th.
To enter
the giveaway, just click on the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the
instructions. The widget may take a few seconds to load so please be patient.
If the widget doesn’t show up, just click HERE and
you’ll be directed to the widget.
Last, but
not least, today is my 10th Blogiversary. Thank you, thank you for
all your support throughout all these years, especially the last year when my
posting hasn’t been on a regular schedule.
When I
scheduled that first post 10 years ago, I never imaged it would continue for
this long. It has been an amazing ride so far allowing me to (virtually) meet
so many wonderful new friends. I have learned so much about authors and all the
hard work they go through so that we readers can escape to magical places time
and time again. I am in awe of how sharing and caring bloggers are. Bloggers
(including those who are authors) are supportive and encouraging.
I’ve
mentioned this before but must say it again. I started this blog due to the
help and encouragement of Authors Elizabeth Spann Craig and Cleo Coyle. They
were and continue to be extremely helpful in so many ways. By the same token,
so many of you were super helpful in my project recently helping me to
accomplish an adventure I never dreamed I would – writing a book (IT’S
ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE).
I can’t
thank you all enough for your help, support and friendship. Thank you for
stopping by today. Are you dressing up for the holiday? Have you checked out
Lee’s latest book? Be sure to enter the giveaway below. Don’t you just love a
character that grows as the story unfolds?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
