Kenna McKinnon Author: January 2013

Justin Bieber growing up? Not on my site yet

We all have to grow up, and Justin Bieber is growing up, I notice. The teen crowd is soon going to be the New Adult group, and I've been thinking of my next book, a mystery, aimed at the New Adult group. There's going to be a schizophrenic female private eye, and a Sudanese roommate, and a series of grotty killings.

Any comments or suggestions about possible names for protagonists? Who dun it? Indeed? Is it her boss, or the Sudanese roommate, or his cousin? Or the farmer in the red truck? Hmmmmmm....

So you don't think I've lured you into this post unwittingly with a teen idol's name at the top, I'll tell you where you can buy a Justin Bieber pillow. If you'll pull out the latest Canadian Avon catalog you'll see him there cuddling up to a pre-teen girl - his image, of course, on a pillow. 'Nough said. There's my lure to a teen idol and at the same time promoting one of my favorite businesses (not Avon, myself).

Meet the amazing Eileen Schuh, Author - The Traz FREE January 3-5, 2013

THE TRAZ is free Jan. 3, 4 & 5, 2013 around the world on Amazon Kindle.

She’s only 12, out on the streets after midnight, watching, listening, learning. Delivering illicit drugs in exchange for excitement. She is Katrina, the young protagonist in THE TRAZ.

Life away from parental guidance is not as easy as she first imagines and soon the lessons she’s learning escalate from heart-thumping to horrifying and beyond.

Street children like Katrina are vulnerable to criminal gangs, easy prey for sophisticated adults. Are often addicted and sometimes sex slaves. Some are recruited to be enforcers for gangs...or couriers of illicit substances. Street kids are prevalent around the world. Many don’t survive. Katrina does.

Her home life as she hits her teens is worse than the family life of many young teens, but better by far than some. She takes with her onto the street some life-saving skills that many street kids don’t possess.

Perhaps it’s her skill with hand guns, learned from her cop father that saves her. Or, perhaps it is her skill with long guns, taught to her by her grandfather over many seasons of hunting.

Perhaps her uncanny ability to not only hide her emotions, but control them keeps her safe. Or maybe it’s her high-IQ and her quick learning of body language.

Maybe what saves her, is her ability to control her breathing and heartbeat. She can stay steady in the face of fear and get off a clean shot even when her life’s on the line.

Katrina learned how to control her breathing and heartbeat from her grandmother during lessons in yoga and meditation. Although such a skill may not seem possible, biathletes know it is. They receive intensive training on controlling their heartbeat and breath and must master that ability because their sport demands it.

Several times during a biathlon event, athletes must accurately fire up to five rounds from the rifle they are packing—this after coming off an exhausting cross-country ski. From the intensely aerobic, heart pumping strenuous ski, the athletes quickly slow their breathing, quiet their heart, and take aim at the targets. It’s not just for a split second they need this control, they need to it to last for as long as it takes for them to fire off five shots at the targets. Then, they are quickly pushing across the snow on their skis again, to repeat these events a kilometer or so down the trail.

Maybe it is a combination of skills that helps Katrina survive a year with a murderous biker gang. Maybe she ignores the blood on her hands, switches from horrified to angry without anyone knowing, understands exactly what her enemy is thinking, keeps a steady heartbeat, begins breathing deeply and evenly...and takes aim.

Maybe that’s what happened. Find out. THE TRAZ is free Jan. 3-5 on Amazon Kindle.

THE TRAZ on Amazon.com