In less than two weeks, my debut novel, Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me, will be launched.  I'm so excited, I've stopped sleeping.  But there's another book coming out this month that I can't wait to hold in my arms:  C. Lee McKenzie's debut YA novel Sliding on the Edge. Why?  Because it's a great story, filled with jump-off-the-page characters, a compelling plot and a satisfying ending.  But also because C. Lee McKenzie is my writing buddy. I've never met Lee in person.  There's three thousand miles between us.  I'm on the east coast, and… Continue reading

Connect with C. Lee McKenzie Today is  another thirteenth on the calendar and not only a thirteenth, but the second Friday with the number thirteen in 2009. First February and now March. How "lucky" is that? I wonder if this has anything to do with the plunging stock market? And here we've been blaming greed. Tsk. Tsk. I was thinking about how the world of children's literature capitalizes on our superstition.  One famous example that pops up when you Google those key words is A Series of Unfortunate Events by Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket. Does he end his children's book series at… Continue reading

• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2009
• Publisher: Westside Books
• Release Date: April 23, 2009
• ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-934813-05-8
• ISBN (paperback): TBD

Overweight Wrenn Scott desperately wants to be popular and snag a hot boyfriend. Living with her single mom and younger sister, Karly, she lands a lead role in the high school musical, her voice for once overshadowing her weight. Pushing to get thinner by opening night, Wrenn's waistline shrinks as she learns all the wrong ways to lose weight from a new "it-girl" friend in the show. Meanwhile, her mom is falling for Phil, "a balding Channel 8 News-nerd"; her sister is wrapped up in her… Continue reading