Hey, Do You Want A Free Signed Copy Of My New Book?
August 18, 2017
Okay, but first you have to read this short piece I wrote. Small price to pay, right?
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WE ALL HAVE BLEMISHES
A beautiful girl with a giant pimple in the middle of her nose.
That’s the first thing that popped into my head — no pun intended, I swear! — when I embarked on the story that became THE REAL US.
This was a few years ago, and up to that point, all the middle-grade novels I written – the Charlie Joe Jackson series and its spinoffs, the Crimebiters! series – had a broadly comic bent to them. So naturally, as I dove in to this new story, I assumed that I would go down a similarly humorous path. But interestingly, I soon enough found myself writing a (slightly) more serious book about friendship, self-identity and the limits and labels we put on ourselves, and others, throughout our middle school years.
These are issues that I’ve always been fascinated by: it traces back to when I was a kid myself, trying to straddle the worlds between music (I was a pianist and percussionist) and sports (I played soccer). It wasn’t easy, because each of those pursuits was so self-contained, and all-consuming. And then I saw it in my three boys, Charlie, Joe and Jack, who each found a world to belong to in school, and then found it difficult when they were interested in exploring beyond the boundaries of that world.
Add the extra complication of looks into it – how the “attractive” kids are expected to act a certain way and hang around with a certain kind of person (namely, each other), and how the “less attractive” kids are supposed to stay in their lane and know their place – and you’ve suddenly got the makings of a story that could go in a lot of different directions. And I was interesting in following those directions and seeing where they took me.
I loved creating Calista, Damian and Laura – the heroes of THE REAL US. My goal was to make them funny, confused, complicated and real, or at least as real as fictional people can be.
But don’t worry. Calista – the beautiful one – still gets the giant pimple in the middle of her nose.
You didn’t think I was gonna let that one go, did you?
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OKAY NOW… To enter to win one of FOUR FREE SIGNED COPIES of THE REAL US, please use the comments section to answer the following question:
In the essay above, I mention a sport. Which sport is it?
a) Equestrian
b) Soccer
c) Competitive Eating
Good luck!
Your pal,
Tommy G
Comments
Catherine Strauss
B
Lauren Greenwald
B! Go Staples!!
Hey, since I’m family I have no biz getting a free book so don’t worry, we will buy one! It sounds fantastic and I’m sure we will love reading it.
Brenda Kahn
B. Soccer! Loved the essay and can’t wait to read it!
Pamela Gallo
How are you? Can’t wait to read it.
Cam Skene
B. Soccer. You were right, I was able to find the book for free somewhere!
JustinTb
B. Soccer. Hope I win!
Kristen Picone
The answer is B! Soccer!! All of your books are a hit in my 5th grade classroom! I can’t wait to read this new one!
Ashley Vela
B: Soccer. I cannot wait to get my hands I a copy of this book! I have two eleven year old boys who just started middle school. They both are into music and joined band and one is really into soccer as well. It sounds like you wrote it just for them, though that just shows how much all of us really make a similar journey to figure out life.
Phyllis Robinson
B: soccer
Mel B
d) Piano!
but seriously, e) Percussion.
-Mel
Gail Gauthier
Soccer.
Caragh O'Brien
You spoke of soccer, but you failed to mention if you still own a pair of cleats.
Josh Newhouse
Socc er it tu me!
Leora Tec
B. Soccer
Jamie Dutton
B. Soccer, although it sounds like this story itself will have all the attributes of a sport: teamwork, laughs, hard workers, the ones that just expect, memories, and knowing there is always more to learn! Can’t wait!
Maura Ripson
Soccer….
Ethan
B soccer 🙂
Noah
B soccer 🙂
Dan Kapral
Soccer.
Henry H.
B.Soccer …Your Pals Henry and Yariel ! Love the books we got in Chapp.
Allison Picard
Soccer
faaiq kamaldeen
B)soccer
Isabella Matarelli
I know this is way late for a signed book? but the answer is B
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