Author, A. J. Llewellyn

Current mood:  contemplative
Category: Writing and Poetry

 

As an ebook author, I know only too well how we all come to rely on the Internet to meet and stay connected with other authors and readers. When a prolific author with a heavy web presence suddenly vanishes, it’s often difficult to find them.

When author Jon Michaelsen realized prominent M/M novelist Carol McKenzie had become awfully quiet after revealing a shocking diagnosis of lung cancer, he urged his publisher to track her down.

It has sent ripples of shockwaves through all of us who knew her that Carol McKenzie, who, according to Jon never smoked a day in her life, died two weeks after her initial diagnosis.

My heartfelt condolences go to her husband, her family, her publishers and co-authors and her legion of readers who had come to worship the 30 books she published in a very short time.

Virgil once said, “Death plucks my ears and says, ‘Live, I am coming.’ ”

It certainly seems Carol lived, and wrote at a marvelous pace, leaving us with a lasting legacy of amazing work.

“She was such a wonderful lady, with a tremendous passion for writing and a need, a desire to get as much out there as she could….almost like she knew time was short,” Jon told me last night. “I will miss her for a very long, long time.”

I personally came to know Carol interviewing her for Dark Diva Reviews. My respect for her as an author, particularly as an M/M author grew with each new book.

Her men spoke like men. Her writing had verve, believability and originality.

Even her non-sexual scenes contained a depth of layers you don’t see in many books, particularly M/M. Her talent was in the details:

Blake Kingsley pulled his truck and fifth wheel into a vacant island of Huck’s Gas Mart in downtown Longview, Washington, and stopped the engine. He climbed out and put his gray Stetson on his head. Heavy, cold rain beat down on the overhang and the air smelled of gasoline. He lifted the nozzle, pressed the mid-grade button and pumped forty dollars worth of gas into his tank, mumbling his displeasure the whole time. When he finished, he put handle back and ambled toward the pay station, the soles of his boots smacking in puddles.
A sleepy-eyed, brunette attendant behind a counter looked at him over her gold-rimmed glasses and blinked long, curling lashes.
Tipping onto his toes, he drew a couple of wadded bills from his tight jeans’ pocket and placed them on the steel counter.
The attendant took them without a word.“Thank you, Ma’am,” he said and returned to his truck. – From Cowboys’ Christmas.

Her sex scenes too, never felt like they were phony:
“Relax, honey,” Blake said, putting hands on Riley’s shoulders.
He massaged him for a few minutes, paused and put more gel onto his hand. Blake wiped a glob on Riley’s hip. “I need to massage down here too and work my way up. Don’t bolt on me.”
“I’m afraid you’ll make me hot.” Riley squinched his eyes closed and mashed his face into the pillow, trying to relax.
In a soft voice, Blake echoed his thoughts. “I get hot from doing it to you. It’s nothing. It happens.”
After dousing Riley’s ass cheeks, Blake grasped one hip in each hand and massaged by pushing them together and then spreading them. He continued until the sides of his hands moved against Riley’s ball sacs.
Riley sucked in a noisy breath, relieved he was face down, hiding his nine inch arousal.
Blake’s deep voice broke into his thoughts. “How does it feel?”
“You had to ask, didn’t you?”
“Yep.”

Carol McKenzie’s pen has been stilled, but her work lives on.

Her books, available in ebook format and paperback are and will still be available for some time.

A memorial service will be held at her publisher, Love You Divine’s yahoo group this Saturday, November 14:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveyoudivine/

They will be posting her excerpts and giving away copies of her print volumes, The Ex Factor, Cowboys and MEN: From His and His Kisses.

For purchasing and other information about Carol, please visit her links:
http://xanga.com/mckbooks

http://loveyoudivine.com

Aloha oe,

A.J.

Currently listening: Paradise and Lunch By Ry Cooder Release date: 1990-10-25