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C. Lee McKenzie

Young Adult and Middle Grade Author

Drawn, A Perfect Summer Read and InkRipples Goes to the Movies

By 135 Comments

My June Featured Follower 

Chris Ledbetter

Evernight Teen 

author of 

Drawn

(Book 1 of a series)

Here’s what it’s all about:
Caught between the sweltering fall landscape of Wilmington, NC beaches and southern illusions and expectations, all sixteen year-old Cameron Shade thinks about is art. That, and for Farrah Spangled to view him as more than just a friend. Cameron hopes he can win her heart through art. 
After several warm interactions with Farrah, including painting together at the beach, Cameron discovers just how complex Farrah’s life is. Following a tense run-in with Farrah’s father, she forbids Cameron to speak to her again, but Cameron’s convinced there’s more behind the request. 
To impress Farrah, Cameron sketches her portrait into a mysterious sketchbook. He nearly jumps from his skin when the sketch moves and communicates with him. Farrah is now in grave danger because the sketch he drew of her sucked her real-life’s soul into the sketchbook. Cameron now has twenty days to extract Farrah. To save her, he must draw himself into the book. If he fails… they both die.

My Review for Drawn

Book 2 in the series is called Inked. It’s out July 1 Pre-Order now and find out what happens to Cameron and Farrah next.
Meet Chris Ledbetter. Someone who was once a young, reluctant reader, he writes to entice kids into stories. He’s done a fantastic job so far, so keep an eye out for what Chris has to offer. His books are also available at Evernight Teen. Visit their site and order Drawn if you haven’t already.

Sign up on my Special Offers List for a chance to win these eBooks and to be featured in one of the months ahead. 

#InkRipples is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll. They post on the first Monday of every month with a new topic. They’re all authors, but you don’t have to be to participate.

The idea of #InkRipples is to toss a word, idea, image, whatever into the inkwell and see what kind of ripples it makes. They provide the topics and will be blogging about them on the first Monday of the month. You can spread your own ripples by blogging about the topic any day of the month that fits your schedule, just be sure to include links back to Katie, Kai, and Mary.

This month #InkRipples goes to the movies. So here are the movies from the Write Game’s perspective. I’ve been casting movies of Sign of the Green Dragon on Pinterest, and I had fun gathering actors to portray my characters. Today I’m casting the two leads for Drawn. Chris has final say, of course, but here are my suggestions.

How about David Dust in the role of Cameron?

And for Farrah would this lovely be okay? Here’s an irony: this actor’s name is Dove Cameron. 



Quote for the Week: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein.

Comments

  3. that is not a bad cover actually! One of our publishers here has that style of split picture covers too, and I've always kinda liked it, but our covers here are almost always of much better quality than those in USA which always shocks me to no extent, which goes for blurbs too, not because I write them myself here 🙂

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  9. Chris, both books sound so wonderful and intriguing. Way to go! Best of luck to you. Thanks, C.Lee, for spotlighting Chris and spreading the word about his work!

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  11. It's so nice to read that Chris is now encouraging kiddies to read. I was also a reluctant reader as a child and especially as a teenager – mainly because the school chose what you HAD to read. It wasn't until my daughter was born that I actually used to enjoy reading. My daughter subsequently loved to read from an early age and now we are both avid readers and often talk about books! Great post and super intriguing premise.

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  13. Truly an interesting post, Lee. Wonderful book, Chris. All the luck with it. The two actors look right for the roles. They are young and beautiful. Thanks for sharing this with your followers, Lee. All the best.

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  15. Hi Lee and Chris,

    Well, I was certainly "Drawn" in by all of this. Awesome stuff and nothing like a mysterious sketchbook. Fascinating blurb and yes, I have to keep remembering that a "blurb" is a short description of a book and not something to do with indigestion. *Blurb!*…pardon me…

    Thanks for having Chris visit your must-read blog site, Lee.

    Penny's fictional character,

    Gary

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  22. I like the idea behind the story. It started off sounding so familiar and then takes a left turn into fantasy–cool. You picked quite an attractive pair to be in the movie.

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  25. Chris's premise is certainly one I haven't heard of before, and he did a great job of laying out the stakes. Wishing him and DRAWN much success!

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  26. Lee, thanks for introducing me to Chris – wishing him well! Love the idea of writing for reluctant readers. We need more great books just for them. 🙂 Have a great week!

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  27. I remember seeing Inked around and being curious about the plot. Now I want to read book 1 and 2. Wishing Chris the best of luck. These sound fascinating! 🙂
    ~Jess

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  29. Thank you all for coming and commenting!

    As I said above, I think David Dust could be a perfect Cameron! He may even be THE perfect casting! Nice pick!
    Dove Cameron as Farrah is a weeee bit off. Her eyes could be a bit more blue. Her cheeks could bear a few more freckles. Her hair could be a bit redder. But of course, that's what cinema hair and makeup is for. 🙂

    I will say this, my mind's image of Farrah matches closely to an actress named Bella Thorne. (too bad I can't post a pic here.)

    Thanks again for everyone who stopped by! <3

    Thank you again!

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  32. Congratulations Chris.
    I firmly believe that art (whatever genre) has power. Sometimes scary power.
    Though nothing I draw could be considered art. My subjects are safe.

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  37. Congrats to Chris! That's too funny that we're writing about the same thing. I'll have to check out your Pinterest page. I started doing that with my first book on Pinterest but haven't done anything with it lately. Time to get back into it. 🙂

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  38. Sounds a bit like my story, Picture Perfect, but with a delightful, riveting twist. Highest of sales, Chris! And the photos seem spot on. Like Alex, I wonder what Chris thinks of them.

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  41. Congrats to Chris! Sounds like a great series and I love the covers. I meant to join in on InkRipples last time I saw it on your blog and of course it slipped my mind the second I left your page. Maybe this time I will actually remember long enough to check it out.

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  51. I like the quote – but it brought to mind a certain candidate for president. He imagines himself as president but without intelligence/knowledge we're all doomed. 🙂
    Congratulations to Chris! I love your picks. Great job matching the characters on the cover. Love the premise!

    Reply

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