Invitation to my Giveaway
Starts today!
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Alligators Overhead
by C. Lee McKenzie
Giveaway ends April 04, 2018.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
After my month of featuring LOVE, I’m now switching to CRIME.
I like variety.
Some of the authors who were selected to appear in the Insecure Writers’ Support Group newest anthology are visiting me in March. My first guest is Jemi Fraser.
My Review of Until Release: We all dislike that prisoner due for release. And the people who wait outside the prison hate him as well, each for different reasons. What will happen when Sean Walker steps outside that gate? Will he die or survive? The clock’s tick-tocking, and we won’t find out until the end. Told from multiple points of view, the story is a slow reveal of each person’s tragedy that all center on this one man. You gradually understand what kind of person is about to step into freedom. Ms. Fraser writes an edge-of-the- seat tale that you have to keep reading because you want to find out how justice is meted out or if it is. Take it away, Jemi!
My story in the Tick Tock: A Stitch In Crime anthology, is titled Until Release. I love this little story and I can’t wait for it to be out in the world. Until Release is a story about a criminal (Sean Walker) getting released early for good behaviour. Not everyone is happy about this and therein lies the heart of the story.
Jemi Fraser’s Snowy Environment
Jemi Fraser lives in beautiful Northern Ontario where she works hard and plays harder with both her family and her students. Holding an ever-present mug of Chai tea, she spends her free time baking cookies and writing Happy Ever Afters. The world can always use more of both.
Quiz Anyone?
It’s challenging to write a story from multiple points of view. Until Release succeeds in doing it well. Here are some other stories that have also done it well. Can you match the author to the book? Give it a try.
| A. My Sisters Keeper | E. William Faulkner |
| B. Poisonwood Bible | F. Margaret Atwood |
| C. The Sound and the Fury | G. Jodi Picoult |
| D. The Robber Bride | H. Barbara Kingsolver |
Answers to last week’s quiz about romantic couples in literature:
| A. Molly & Fibber McGee (old radio couple) | E. Mr. Darcy |
| B. Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy (Pride & Prejudice) | F. Rauol |
| C. Beatrice & Benedict (Much Ado About Nothing) | G. Fibber McGee |
| D. Christine & Rauol (Phantom of the Opera) | H. Benedict |
And how did you do?
Quote of the Week: Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I’m still reading the stories, and now I’m really curious about Jemi’s. It’s wonderful that you’re doing reviews for the stories!
Love the quiz and the quote, but especially your move from love to crime! 🙂
I knew you’d be all over that move! Hey, just finished your story. Loved it. You nailed that one.
Thanks Yolanda – I just finished the stories myself! Loved your story & the Detective!! Great ending 🙂
From love to crime. Heh. Excellent.
Congrats, Jemi. Until Release sounds like an edge of the seat thriller.
The two themes are often connected, aren’t they? It’s all about passion!
Thanks so much Sandra!! 🙂
Excited to read your story, Jemi! It sounds fantastic.
A good addition to the anthology, indeed!
Thanks so much Natalie!! I’m so excited for it to be out in the world!
That sounds like a story I want to read.
Hope you will, Liz.
Awesome! Thanks Liz!
Nice to see Jemi here. The story sounds interesting. Thanks for hosting, Lee!
Thanks Karen! 🙂
Thanks so much Karen!
What an interesting premise! Congratulations Jemi!
Fun to have the quiz, though it seems a lot of work. lol
Robert Jordan had multiple points of view in his Wheel of Time series. Sometimes who he chose to do a POV scene told the readers a lot.
I’d forgotten about the Wheel of Time – I enjoyed several of those books!
Sure a fine addition indeed to the anthology.
Thank you Pat!!! 🙂
Hi, Cheryl-Lee!
Thanks for introducing author Jemi Fraser of the Great White North. Here in alligator land we can only dream of a pristine frozen landscape like the one Jemi enjoys at this time of year (while we in Florida are running the air conditioner).
I like the method Jemi uses in Until Release, telling the tale from multiple points of view to reveal the back stories explaining how various people are linked to the prisoner about to be discharged. It reminds me of the storytelling technique used by Orson Welles in his 1941 film Citizen Kane which Wiki describes as follows: “Citizen Kane eschews the traditional linear, chronological narrative, and tells Kane’s story entirely in flashback using different points of view, many of them from Kane’s aged and forgetful associates, the cinematic equivalent of the unreliable narrator in literature. Welles also dispenses with the idea of a single storyteller and uses multiple narrators to recount Kane’s life. The use of multiple narrators was unheard of in Hollywood films.”
Thank you for posting that quote from one of my heroes, Martin Luther King, Jr. Stand up! Stand up! Stand up!
Have a wonderful week, dear friend Cheryl-Lee!
I love that quote too! Thanks so much for comparing my story telling technique in even a tiny way to Orson Wells! That’s definitely my thrill for the day 🙂
I’m so excited to read this anthology. Your story sounds like a great read, Jemi.
Hi Carol, I know you’ll enjoy it.
Thanks Carol! I had so much fun writing it!! 🙂
Your quiz? I have read them all. A-G, B-H, C-E, D-F.
Jemi’s premise sounds fascinating, and I am also a chai guzzler.
I can’t get past you on these quizzes, now can I? They are great books.
Chai guzzlers unite! 🙂
I never (EVER!) get the quizzes right!
Until Release sounds like a suspenseful story. I bet Sean is going to have a few problems when he’s released!
I hope you’ll read it and that you enjoy it.
You would bet correctly! 🙂
Hi Lee – your quiz .. no idea! Well could cheat – but I won’t. It’s good to see and meet featured authors … good luck to them all – cheers Hilary
You’re quite honest, but of course, we all knew that. Stay tuned for the answers!
I spotted them via the EC reader – I know she’s ultra well read … !! I must read some of them … an honest answer again! Cheers H
Jemi is a very wise woman – the world can use lots more cookies and HEAs 🙂
I totally agree.
Thanks Ellen – we’re on the same page! 🙂
I do third-person omniscient, but have never tried separating each POV into its own chapter or part. Until Release sounds like a really compelling story, particularly because it’s a short story instead of a full novel. I don’t think I’d be able to pull off that kind of structure with only a few thousand words!
You and I both! That is a challenge. I like third-person omniscient. It gives more opportunities for full exploration of characters.
That’s EXACTLY how I felt, Carrie-Anne! This was my first attempt in many different ways – and it was so much fun!
Multiple viewpoints is tricky, but I appreciate when it’s done well. Hi Jemi! 👋
It is tricky. People who write understand that.
Hi!!
It was a lot of fun to write – drove my crit buddies a little nuts at the beginning tho! 🙂
I loved that story. It had a lot of impact.
I remember your saying you enjoyed reading it.
Thanks Diane! That makes my day! 🙂
Looking forward to reading the anthology. Great cover too. Have a wonderful week.
I’m almost through it. Very interesting and so much variety inside the theme.
I entered your book giveaway! Fun to read a little more about Jemi. I’m looking forward to reading everyone’s story in this anthology!
Thanks for asking for a copy, Mary. Hope Goodreads pulls your name from the hat.
Me too!
I believe Sean gets what’s coming to him!
Spoiler Alert!
LOL – that’s all part of the fun! 🙂