K. J. McKenzie is a Scottish author best known for creating the Still Standing series, with her debut novel Why Change to Vodka? published and available to purchase.
K. J. is passionate about storytelling that fosters connection, clarity, and engagement. Her official website brings together news and updates on her books and current projects, including the forthcoming books, personal reflections in her own words, and information about her life and writing career.
Why Change to Vodka? is a powerful story of survival and self‑discovery. Growing up in small‑town Scotland, Zoe Fitzgerald is pulled into her mother’s world of secrets, obsession, alcohol, and chaos. As she fights to hold onto her childhood and her sense of self, she discovers love, strength, and the courage to rewrite her future. She learns that even through and after chaos, she can grow, find clarity and become who she is meant to be.
Look out for the next book in the Still Standing series. It follows Zoe through the storms, rainbows and quiet triumphs that shape an eventful, challenging and ultimately happy and fulfilling life. Across the series, the books trace her journey from a childhood marked by instability and emotional volatility to an adulthood built on resilience, identity, clarity, comfort and contentment. Each instalment reveals a brave and joyful journey through a life well lived.
At its core, Still Standing is about survival. The kind that happens quietly, in the shadows, long before anyone notices. It’s about the courage to rewrite your own story when the adults around you are losing themselves, and the strength it takes to keep rising when life keeps knocking you sideways. Through heartbreak, humour, grief, connection and the raw edges of truth, the series shows that standing tall is not about perfection. It is about choosing hope, choosing growth, choosing your own tribe and choosing yourself.
For readers who have ever faced challenges or felt confused or broken but want to move forward with confidence, Still Standing offers not just catharsis but recognition. It tells the story of a life where storms were navigated with courage and where brighter days gradually came into view. These are stories of becoming and resillience; stories of finding your voice, standing up for yourself with tenacity. Stories of finding your people and discovering the belief that you can rise, grow and thrive through life’s storms. The possibilities are endless, you can be who you want to be and you can learn to dance in the rain.
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K. J. McKenzie 