Chad McClendon is in the hot seat!

Welcome all!

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Chad McClendon author of Lipstick Trace

Penny: Hi Chad, thank you for agreeing to this interview. Tell us a little about yourself and your background!

Chad: Hi Penny, thanks for inviting me here today. I’m a recovering skateboard punk rocker, who has attained a love/love relationship with Information Technology now that I’ve learned how to adult. I have three beautiful children and a breathtaking wife. We live in the more rural side of Kentucky, and enjoy going to the Zoo and camping.

Penny: What were you like at school?

Chad: I was nothing in school like I am today, I stress that point because in school I was introverted to a fault. My tongue would turn to stone the second I tried to talk to people. I found solace in the punk rocker crowd, and was regularly seen carrying my Element Skateboard and wearing spike bracelets, along with having my hair any color of the spectrum except my natural brown.

Penny: What are your ambitions for your writing career?

Chad : My ambition is to have my work known, I want people to read my stories. Would I like to get paid for them? Yes, I would, and that’s certainly nice. But to me, stories are about more than just money. They are our immortality, and our magic. I want to appear on bookshelves in local and national bookstores, I want someone to walk by and go “Wow, cool looking book!”

Penny : So, what have you written?

Chad: I have written a total of three novels, close to fifty short stories, and a smattering of flash fiction stories. I have three novels, as I mentioned. My first novel was Lipstick Trace, and it is a light-hearted Young Adult novel centered around two boys in love with the same things; both of them are considered outsiders. Through their friendship they are able to discover themselves and overcome questions of self-worth, love, and is water as thick as blood. It is getting released on May 20th 2016, and can be found on Amazon or at myBook.to/lipsticktrace

The other two I don’t want to share a lot of details on yet, but keep checking my website at www.cmcfiction.net for sneak previews!

Penny : When did you decide to become a writer?

Chad : Oh it was decided as soon as I read my first story. Through my life I’ve wanted to do many jobs, I’ve worked in a grocery store, I’ve been a Camp Counselor (Camp Korelitz Represent), a Teacher’s Aide for Elementary Schools, but writing has been the constant. No matter what else I’ve been doing, I’ve always been writing, and that has kept me focused on my goal.

Penny: Let’s take a look at Lipstick Trace for a moment, your first novel. Give us an insight into your main character. What does he do that is so special?

Chad : Our main character is Quincy Abrams, he is a recent transfer student who has a difficult time making friends because of all the walls hes put up around himself. He is very into old 80’s rock in a world of Destiny’s Child, Boy Bands, and Pop Punk. He has a lot of self-worth issues because of an emotionally abusive father, and often struggles with his emotions as a result. Through meeting William Denslie, our second protagonist, he is able to shift his perspective on life that he does have worth. Trouble begins however, when William dates Quincy’s crush and he must choose is it more worthwhile to befriend both of them and give up his own crush, or just give up all together.

Penny : You mentioned that this was Young Adult. What will make your readers like this story in your opinion?

Chad : Well, there are topics covered in Lipstick Trace that a lot of my readers will be struggling with themselves. There are conflicts of when your parents don’t show their love enough, when they don’t show it at all, does love transcend social expectations, dietary struggles, the pressures of being the best. All of these and more are discussed and combated in this novel, so among my four main characters many readers may find parts of themselves in these four. Whether it’s Quincy the transfer student, WIlliam the boy stuck in the hippie era, Alice the perfect student and daughter, or Rosalyn who has Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome.

Penny: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

Chad : You need to read, and you need to write. You need to do both of those things every day, and whenever you feel like skipping it you need to ask yourself “Do I want this bad enough?” If you say no, it’s not the end of your writing career. But this needs to be your daily process. One day, when you don’t feel like writing, you will ask yourself that question, and you will make yourself write. Do this, and you will improve.

Penny: How can readers discover more about you and you work?

Website: www.cmcfiction.net
Blog: www.cmcfiction.net/wordpress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cmcfiction/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CMC_Fiction
Amazon Author Page: Author.to/chadmcclendon

Penny : Thank you for spending some time with us today!

Chad : My pleasure! Thank you for featuring me.

Coming May 20!

Blurb for Lipstick Trace - 

Two unlikely young boys become best friends and fall in love with the same things; women, glam rock, and in some ways each other. Follow Quincy Abrams & William Denslie as they form a band in a world that is in a boy band decline of the early 2000’s. Together they overcome questions on sexuality, friendship, and the limitations of true love.