Captian Superlative by J.S. Puller: Interview and Review

Today I'm happy to share with you a great new book I was introduced to called 

Captian Superlative by J.S. Puller.  

About the book

"Have no fear, citizens! Captain Superlative is here to make all troubles disappear!"

Red mask, blue wig, silver swimsuit, rubber gloves, torn tights, high top sneakers and . . . a cape? Who would run through the halls of Deerwood Park Middle School dressed like this? And why?

Janey-quick to stay in the shadows-can't resist the urge to uncover the truth behind the mask. The answer pulls invisible Janey into the spotlight and leads her to an unexpected friendship with a superhero like no other. Fearless even in the face of school bully extraordinaire, Dagmar Hagen, no good deed is too small for the incomparable Captain Superlative and her new sidekick, Janey.

But superheroes hold secrets and Captain Superlative is no exception. When Janey unearths what's truly at stake, she's forced to face her own dark secrets and discover what it truly means to be a hero . . . and a friend. 

J.S. Puller was kind enough to respond to a few questions I asked about!!

I work with Middle Schoolers. Can you talk about your middle school years and how (if it did) it made its way into the story?

Middle school was definitely a tough time for me.  I was going through a lot of difficult transitions, including the death of a grandparent, a close friend moving away (in the ancient

times before Skype and Google), and most of all having to face a great deal of bullying.  A lot of these struggles ended up on the pages of CAPTAIN SUPERLATIVE, in both Janey and Paige’s struggles.  I’ll also freely admit I said some things that I definitely regret, now.  Dagmar gets some of those lines.  Most significantly, in terms of CAPTAIN SUPERLATIVE, though, I developed a habit that drove my friends crazy!  I started arriving early to school and opening the doors for people.  Just like Captain Superlative herself.  To this day, I can’t really tell you why I did it.  Maybe I wanted to feel important.  Maybe I wanted to help.  It could really have been anything.  But I kept doing it.  In spite of funny looks, random insults, and my friends’ bewilderment.  I think, more than anything else, it was because in middle school, I was on a desperate quest to start learning who I was.  And a part of that became doing things like holding doors.  For no other reason than because I wanted to.

    

The book looks at "superheroes".  What is your idea of a superhero? Who were your superheroes throughout your life? 

A superhero, to me is someone we mere mortals should aspire to be like, who teaches us critical human virtues, not by lecturing at us or commanding our behavior, but by leading by example.  CAPTAIN SUPERLATIVE is dedicated to the two greatest superheroes I’ve ever known, my parents.  My mother never told me “You need to be a kind person.”  She simply was kind and showed me how to do it.  My father never told me “You need to work hard.”  He worked hard.  And I followed in his footsteps.  Now, that said, I was your typical, kind of stubborn kid who refused to believe that my parents were awesome so, growing up, my greatest hero and the person whose example I followed was…Kermit the Frog. “It’s not easy being green,” he would lament.  But ultimately, he always decided it was what he wanted to be.  Himself.  Is there a better lesson?

My students always want to know how an author writes a book - can you tell me about your writing process for this book?  How long did it take? 

Writing CAPTAIN SUPERLATIVE was definitely not a “normal” journey (although I might argue that “normal” is just a setting on a dishwasher).  It started one evening when I was visiting a friend.  She asked me to sing a song for her grandmother and I sang “A Little Gossip” from Man of La Mancha, the musical version of DON QUIXOTE.  I remember thinking to myself that it was a shame the role of Sancho, Don Quixote’s sidekick, was always played by a man.  I thought it would be fun to play as a woman.  The idea never really left me.  And then, over a weekend back in 2013, I decided I wanted to write a play about bullying.  The play became an adaptation of DON QUIXOTE, from the point of view of a modern Sancho, a girl named Janey, who was a constant bystander in life.  The play got developed.  Produced.  And as a challenge to myself, I decided to turn it into a novel.  I wrote the first draft in a month, then took a class at the University of Chicago to polish the manuscript.  And sent out over fifty query letters before I signed with an agent and did additional rewrites.  From there, it was auctioned to Disney Hyperion and I worked with an editor on even more rewrites.  From the first outline of the play to the final manuscript was a period of about four years!

Thank you so much for sharing!  I love hearing how her struggles in middle school made it into the book.  What a great thing for kids to hear! 

It has been a long time since I truly fell in love with a middle-grade book.  I've had some books I really enjoyed, but not fully fell in love with.  I fell in love with this book. I LOVED Janey.  She was real.  She was a kid I could completely see living and breathing in one of my classes.  I felt for her.  In the book, she talks about being "air".  She doesn't want anyone to notice her or call attention and she knows that no one really does.  She is "air".  So fitting for so many kids I see each day.  Sad by true.  This is a book I could hand to them, and help them see themselves in a story.  My daughter would have related to her!  

Now the plot - I did have to set aside my teacher mind a bit and let go of some of the stuff with Captain Superlative.  I just know some might now have happened in real life BUT I was ok with that! I loved Captain Superlative too.  I wish there could be more like her.  I liked her theory about starting small doing good things and then making it a habit.  I think it's an idea that would connect with kids.  

Can I just say one of my other favorite characters was Janey's dad! What a positive parental role-model in a book.  He was fantastic.  So much could've been done differently with his role after Janey's mother died - so many stereotypical things.  But instead, Puller choose to make he a great dad that did the right thing and loved his daughter fully.  I just love that kids could see him in this story and learn from him.  He was the right amount of wise father without being too much. 

I won't say too much about the plot because it really needs to be revealed to each reader.  I'll just say that it's a story that kids need because it's something they deal with and see.  All of it - the bullying, the secrets, friendship - everything.  Is it serious at a point?  Yup, but not every kid has a life that is easy.  They need to see themselves in the story.  And maybe - to help them understand the world around them - they need stories like this too see and understand what is not a part of their life.  

In short: Loved it.  Will be recommending it to several kids I know. 

Library? Yes, I would add it in a heartbeat. 

The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl Book Release Day Feature/Interview AND Giveaway!

Today the 3rd book in The Haunting of Sunshine Girl series is released.  In honor of that release I have an interview the author AND a giveaway!

About the book

Is Sunshine Griffith who she thinks she is? Now that her luiseach powers are fully awakened, and having barely survived an abyss full of demons at the end of Book Two, Sunshine must figure out who—or what—has been organizing the forces of darkness against her. 

Thanks to her brainiac boyfriend, Nolan, they not only unearth that Sunshine's death would trigger a calamitous event, but that all civilization depends on her survival. So when an unexpected event unleashes a fierce war between the luiseach and the demon army, Sunshine will learn a shocking truth about herself. Can she bring herself to make the ultimate sacrifice to save humankind?

About Paige McKenzie:
Paige McKenzie is the YouTube star and NYT Bestselling author behind the enormously successful Sunshine Girl series. In 2010, the then sixteen-year-old McKenzie teamed up with producer Nick Hagen and her mother, actress Mercedes Rose, to record an episodic series of paranormal-themed videos, which soon had millions of fans. Signed to The Weinstein Company, McKenzie has been covered by Entertainment Weekly, The Today Show, Seventeen, The New York Times, USA Today, TIME and others. Her YouTube channel today boasts more than 250 million total views, averages 7.5 million unique views per month and maintains more than 500,000 monthly subscribers. McKenzie lives in Portland, Oregon.

Visit Sunshine Girl online:

Website

YouTube

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

I'm very excited to welcome Paige to The O.W.L. today.  She was kind enough to answer some questions for us! 

THE FUN QUESTIONS - These are always things my middle school students wanted to know.

Do you chew gum?

I'm more of an Altoid girl. Fresh breath is my life!

Were school lunches just as yucky when you were a kid?
This is so embarrassing but I've never once eaten a school lunch. I've always packed my own. Even in kindergarten. It was a good excuse to have cute little containers. Plus my mom always wrote cute little notes and drawings for me. The lunch lady was never willing to do that!

Do you text?
I really just text my friends. I loath talking on the phone. And I'm usually so busy I don't have time to do any social media outside of what I have to do for The Haunting of Sunshine Girl!

ABOUT THE BOOK QUESTIONS

First or Third Person Point-of-View
The story is told from both points of view! Most of the trilogy is told from Sunshine's point of view. But each book has some chapters told from a different mystery person's point of view.

Boy or Girl Main Character
Sunshine is a girl. But not a girly-girl. I guess because she is a lot like me. But taller. And braver.

What genre
The genre is what I like to call horror-light.

Middle Grade or Young Adult
The books are classified under young adult. But I definitely have a lot of readers in middle graders and even younger. And of course, a ton of adults like it too.

10 Word Summary
Gilmore Girls /Paranormal Activity, very loosely based on a YouTube show!  (10 words exactly!)

THE SERIOUS QUESTIONS

For The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl what part/character/event are you most excited/proud about?
The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl finds Sunshine headed back home and reuniting with her mom and Nolan, which I thought was important for the final installment. There are some fun new characters and a lot of action.

Tell about your writing process.  How long did it take you to write The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl from idea to finish? Since this is the third book in the series how did it compare?
Sacrifice is so far removed from anything that I've done on the YouTube that it was fun to work out some new details. I always knew from the beginning that I wanted it to be a trilogy and wrap up nicely without it being a hard end. My co-author and I were already outlining book 3 before book 2 was even out so about a year from start to finish.

When you were in middle school what kind of student were you?  Did you write then? Did any part of the book come from middle school experience?
I was always a good student if not terribly studious! I got good grades without trying very hard. In hindsight, that probably wasn't the best choice! I never wrote anything very serious outside of what was required for school. But I've always been creative. And I've just always been fascinated with the idea of a character having to do normal life as well as something spectacular like saving the world. Very Buffy!

And because it's The O.W.L., my standard question always is: WHOOO do you admire when it comes to writing? OR WHOOO do you like to read or really enjoyed in HS or middle school?
My taste in books is as eclectic as my taste in music! I like everything from Stephen King to Sarah Dessen! Probably my fave book is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. I also love Beauty, The Princess Academy, The Night Circus and The Eyes of the Dragon.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today!  I love your choice in books!!!

1 SIGNED Copy of The Sacrifice of Sunshine Girl

Must be at least 13

Must be US Resident

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview: Walter Dean Myers and a Chance to Help Give to The Fallen Heros Fund

I'm unbelievably excited today! 

I had the amazing chance to ask one of  my most favorite authors, Walter Dean Myers a few question about his book Fallen Angels.  

Before I get into the interview you need to understand how much I love that book.  When I first started teaching 18 years ago I read Fallen Angels and was blown away.  It was the first YA book I read that was raw and realistic.  It showed me how powerful books for teens can be.  It has, since then, continued to hold a special place in my heart.  So when I was contacted by Goodman Media to share a wonderful opportunity to both share about the launch of Fallen Angels in ebook form and help veterans I jumped at the chance.  But then they offered to let me ask Mr. Myers some questions.  I just about fell over! I could not be more excited to share this all with you.


First if you don't know about Fallen Angels:

FALLEN ANGELS tells the story of seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Perry and his platoon - Peewee, Lobel, Johnson, and Brunner - come face-to-face with the Vietcong, the harsh realities of war, and some dark truths about themselves. The book has won numerous awards and accolades, including the Coretta Scott King Award, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, and a School Library Journal Best Book.

Now I would like to welcome Walter Dean Myers to The OWL

First I’d like to ask about Fallen Angels.  It was written at time when books this realistic were not widely written for teens.  What lead you to write the story and what did you hope teens would gain from reading it? 

  

The initial story was prompted by my own experiences.  I joined the Army at 17, full of spirit and patriotism, and little knowledge about war. My younger brother joined after I did and was killed on his first day in Vietnam.  A sobering experience.  I realized, of course, that I had influenced his entry into the military.  I wanted, needed, to remove the romanticism that had influenced me to join and this became my impetus for writing the book.  I wanted teens to understand the brutality of war when they were thinking of joining the Armed forces and also later, when they were in positions to influence our nation’s entry into wars.

Some people shy away from sharing Fallen Angels with students because of its content and the language in it.  What is your response to that issue? 

The bottom line of personal involvement is that you are asked to kill people you do not know, who have not personally offended you, and who might not be a danger to you if you did not engage them on the battlefield. To accomplish this soldiers are taught to dehumanize the enemy. Young men and women, fresh out of high school, need to be changed into young killers.  They are encouraged to use language and symbols that turns Asians into Gooks, Charlies, and the like. Unfortunately this language often slips over into the relations between soldiers.  I should have explained this better in the book.

You now have a sequel, Sunrise over Fallujah, and a prequel, Invasion, to Fallen Angels.  The stories take place many years apart.  Why did you decide to create the series in that way? 

What constantly shocks me is the seemingly never ending idea that violence can possibly answer man’s problems. Today, nations continue to build atomic arsenals at a time when the entire world is convinced that these weapons can end all life on this planet.  The poorest nations spend their resources on arms and soldiers instead of feeding their people. Can’t we ever learn that wars don’t work?  Perhaps not. But we have to teach that wars are not the answer.   It’s our only hope.  I keep revisiting the different conflicts in an effort to understand the thinking that caused them.

Your stories withstand the test of time.  Fallen Angels was first published in 1988, yet students still relate to the characters now?  Why do you think that is?

We are fascinated by the extremes of human emotion.  Love, fear, hatred, serve as beacons to help us explore the feelings that drive us from day to day. When those extremes are combined, when the fear of combat is melded with the friendship of the young soldiers, we recognize the  complex stages of our own lives.

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions!

Thank you for your continued interest.  

I feel now like I understand the book and it's sequel/prequel much more!

Ok if you've never read Fallen Angels, or you want to reread it - November is the time to pick up the ebook.  Here is why:

WALTER DEAN MYERS’ VIETNAM WAR CLASSIC FALLEN ANGELS

 FINALLY AVAILABLE AS AN E-BOOK EXCLUSIVELY FROM ZOLA BOOKS

Proceeds from E-Launch to Benefit Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the original publication of FALLEN ANGELS, the multi-million-copy bestselling novel by current National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Walter Dean Myers, Zola Books is releasing it as an e-book for the very first time.  FALLEN ANGELS, lauded as one of the best of the post-Vietnam novels, has continued to sell in paperback year after year, and today, Zola is excited to bring the powerfully moving story of a young man’s first experience of war to an even wider audience. 

Released on November 7, 2013, the FALLEN ANGELS e-book will include a bonus interview with Walter Dean Myers. The discussion covers Myers’s perspective on how war has changed over the years, the most poignant reader reactions to FALLEN ANGELS, his advice for readers coming to it for the first time, and more.

To commemorate the e-release, days before Veterans’ Day, Zola Books will launch a limited time promotion to raise funds for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, an independent not-for-profit organization that has provided close to $150 million in support for the families of military personnel lost in service to our nation, and for severely wounded veterans. Both Walter Dean Myers and Zola Books have agreed to donate 100% of their proceeds from all sales from November 7 through November 30.  The FALLEN ANGELS e-book will be available for $6.99.

You can find the book HERE.

And it can be read on Nooks, Kindles and tablets.

“I have been a fan of Walter Dean Myers – the writer and the man – for many years, and it is an honor to publish one of his most significant books,” said Joe Regal, CEO and co-founder of Zola Books. “There is no better way to honor Walter’s body of work, particularly FALLEN ANGELS, than by making a donation to the IFHF, an organization that offers tremendous support to the men and women who have sacrificed for our country.”

About Walter Dean Myers:

Walter Dean Myers is the New York Times bestselling author of Monster, the winner of the first Michael L. Printz Award, the 2012-2013 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and inaugural NYC Literary Honoree. Myers has received almost every single major award in the field of children’s literature. He is the author of two Newbery Honor books and five Coretta Scott King Awardees. He is the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults, a three-time National Book Award Finalist, as well as the first-ever recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. He was the 2010 United States nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and is considered one of the preeminent writers for young people. Walter lives in Jersey City, NJ with his family. You can visit him online atwww.walterdeanmyers.net.

About Zola Books:

Zola Books' mission is to create an online paradise for book lovers. Zola takes everything readers do in the real world – browse bookstores, read book reviews, visit blogs, follow authors, share reviews and recommendations, and buy all kinds of books – and puts it all in one place. Zola also shares profits with booksellers who recommend books online and off. In addition, Zola offers exclusive e-books from major writers - including The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The New Hunger by Isaac Marion, and The Accidental Victim by James Reston Jr. Visit us at http://www.zolabooks.com and follow us at @zolabooks.

Author Interview: M.D. Payne - Monster Juice Series

Today Hooked on Books is happy to welcome M.D. Payne. He is the author of the fun Monster Juice Series.

My students brainstormed questions they had for an author, and I narrowed it down to the most common or interesting. Before we get to the answers a bit about the books.

The Fear the Barfitron
When Chris Taylor discovers that the residents of the retirement home where he volunteers are secretly monsters--and have stolen what appears to be his life essence--he leaves to recruit his friends to help him get it back. But once they return to the retirement home, the boys find themselves at the center of a vomit-inducing war against some of the grossest monsters this world has ever encountered. Will Chris and his friends join the residents to fight off the Barfitron?



Fartsunami
Chris Taylor and his friends are sent on an unexpected school field trip to a remote tropical island--only to find their new monstrous friends waiting for them. Once again, they need the boys' help: A new evil is on the rise. And it's a frightening sea monster made entirely out of dead skin. Will the boys be able to help defeat such a monster?

They look like pure fun!

Now for the interview.  Welcome to Hooked on Books!

Why do you write?

This question reminds me of a famous quote made by one of the first people to climb Mount Everest, George Mallory. When asked why he wanted to climb Everest, George replied, “Because it’s there.” The idea of doing something simply because you feel like you must rings true for me. I write because I feel I have to create, and I’ve been lucky enough, after years of dabbling in music, acting, audio production, radio, film and television that I’ve found a really fun creative outlet.

Does writing all day get boring?

I would love to find out! At the moment, I juggle my children’s book writing with a full-time job and a family that includes a beautiful 14-month old girl. That being said, my full-time job as a Director of Communications at a private school in Manhattan also requires a large amount of writing, and it does sometimes feel like I’m stuck in a computer all day long. So, I wouldn’t say it gets “boring” so much as, like anything you do non-stop, endless and overwhelming. Sometimes I feel like I spend so much time writing that I can’t communicate properly without a keyboard in front of me.

When you were in middle school did you like to write? When did you start writing?

I’ve always liked writing. When I was seven, I wrote a book of cool presidential facts—not for school or my parents or anyone but me. (That reminds me—I really need to ask my mother where that is!) In middle school I won the Young Writer’s Competition and had my worked published in my local paper, the Idaho Statesman. I just recently re-read my story, Creatures of the Night, and I was shocked at how violent it was. I was writing for adults as a kid, and now, as an adult, I’m writing for kids! But, it’s all been horror so far.

Where you a big reader when you were a kid?

Yes! I remember reading during recess out in the huge grass field behind Rio Vista Elementary School. I read a lot in elementary school—Bunnicula, The Celery Stalks at Midnight, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The House with the Clock in its Walls, A Wrinkle in Time, and countless other tales. By the time I hit middle school, I spent most of my free time playing video games, but I still read, mainly Stephen King and lots of non-fiction.

This premise of this series is pretty funny and crazy. What was the inspiration for them?  Where did the ideas come from?

The series started with a very simple idea—what would a retirement home filled with monsters look like? Then, I had to figure out what would happen if kids unraveled the secret of the retirement home. Then, I realized the reason that the old monsters were so old was because newer, more evil monsters were taking over. And what would save the old monsters, and in turn, all of humanity? Gross stuff. Barf and burps. By then, I was just really excited to see how I could mix everything together—be funny, gross and scary all at once, but in a way that moved the story along.

I have so many influences. On the funny-scary side, Goosebumps was a huge influence, as was The Addams Family and The Munsters. On the funny-gross side, my number one influence was the cartoon Ren and Stimpy, which to this day I regard as the funniest thing ever animated. And I’ve always been a funny person—I love making people laugh.

Are any of the characters in Monster Juice series based on people you know or people you’ve met?

Many of the characters in Monster Juice are based on people I know. I actually had a really hard time figuring out how to write the first book, until I started thinking about my own time at middle school, and all of the people I knew there. That’s what got me goin’! Chris is me as a kid, so I get to write as “myself.” Shane is a dear friend of mine from middle school who is like his namesake in many ways—having a black belt, for one. Ben is an interesting character because I wrote him with an adult friend of mine in mind--I never actually knew him as a kid. Gordon is totally made up. Then there are teachers featured who actually were real—Mr. Stewart is the greatest science teacher of all time, and I was lucky to have him in the 8^th grade.

How long did it take you to write either book? How many times did this book get sent back to the editor for changes? – Basically how many drafts did it go through – how long did it take?

Fear the Barfitron took a really long time, as I was working with my editor on the entire series idea as well as the first book that would kick it off. We started talking about the idea in 2009, and it wasn’t until mid-2011 that I really started drafting. Then, it took about a year of going back and forth with changes and refinements to make it right. The main bulk of the book went through 3 major drafts before we focused in on just a few sections and finished it off. Fartsunami was a completely different beast—it only took 2-3 months to draft, there were only a few structural changes in a second draft, and then a lot of changes came after it was laid out because it was too long. I think, all told, Fartsunami took 6 months from beginning to end.

What is the hardest part about writing this series?

This was my first series, as well as my first books, so the hardest part was just answering the question, “Can I really do this?!” I had a lot of doubts that I had to break through, and I also had to learn patience—as you see from above, writing a book takes a lot of time! The second hardest thing was writing for 8-10 year olds—you become quite limited not only by simpler words but by simpler plot devices: you can’t confuse the reader or they’ll slam the book shut, but you need to keep the story going. I think I hit a happy medium.

What is something you want us to know about this series?

I had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs writing it, so I hope that readers have a lot of fun and tons of laughs while reading it. It takes a while to get into the characters and the story, but then once the second half gets cookin’, BOOM, you’re off! So be patient. I know I had to be. J

Thank you so much for visiting with us! If you want to know more about the series check out the video below or M.D. Payne's Tumblr account House of Payne.

This interview was also ran on my student book review blog Hooked on Books.

Author Interivew: T. Glen Coughlin Author of One Shot Away +GIVEAWAY

I have the honor of hosting T. Glen Coughlin author of One Shot Away.  

He is on a blog tour hosted by Kismet Book Tours.  I was lucky enough to be able to participate   As an English teacher I'm constantly looking for "boy" books, and when I saw this one I was very excited.   Especially when I saw it was about wrestling.  Wrestling is huge in my school district!

A bit about the book

It’s senior year and the last season for Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor on the Molly Pitcher High School varsity wrestling team. And they all want the same thing: to win.

But Diggy’s got to compete with his older brother’s legacy, and now he’s in danger of losing his spot to newcomer Trevor. Jimmy’s got the cops after him, and a girlfriend who looks down on him. Then Diggy does the unthinkable—he betrays a teammate. Can the team forgive him? And can he forgive himself?

Experience the pressure with Diggy, Jimmy, and Trevor as the stakes rise and loyalties splinter. They’ve got just one shot to make weight and get onto the mat. But pinning your opponent is about more than just winning.

About T. Glen Coughlin - Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads

Coughlin’s first novel, The Hero of New York, was finished when he was 23 years old and explored the dark side of the middle class suburban dream. New York Times reviewer, Dennis Smith (1986) wrote, “The Hero of New York is solid tough-guy entertainment, and Mr. Coughlin’s descriptions can be hilarious.”

Coughlin’s second novel, Steady Eddie, is a coming-of-age story set in Long Island, New York in 1977. George Needham wrote “Coughlin neatly captures a person’s essence in the simplest gesture, but each character is drawn with sympathy and wit, even when the characters themselves lack these attributes. A fine novel.”

Coughlin has published short stories in Doubletake Magazine, the South Dakota Review[3] and DUCTS, an on-line magazine. His story, “The Grief Committee” was analyzed in The Politics of Mourning: Grief Management in a Cross-Cultural Fiction.[5] Coughlin”s poetry has appeared in The Dead Mule – School of Southern Literature and Hanging Moss Journal.

In 2012, Coughlin published his first YA novel, One Shot Away, A Wrestling Story, Harpercollins. The novel is the story of three high school wrestlers trying to balance their personal lives, family conflicts and maintain their weight class on the Varsity Squad.

Wecome T. Glen Coughlin to The O.W.L.!!

First lets start with the easy questions

What Point of View -1st or 3^rd:

One Shot Away is told in the 3^rd person from three different POVs: Trevor Crow, Diggy Masters and Jimmy O’Shea.  This writing style is a departure from my first two novels, which were told in the first person.  This is my first YA novel, although the other two were both coming of age novels.

Boy or Girl main character (or both!):

The novel has three main characters, all boys, and two minor girl characters, Jane and Roxanne. 

Genre:  

One Shot Away is a YA sports related coming-of-age novel.

Middle Grade or Young Adult:  

The novel is more appropriate for a YA reader.  The story line is a little edgy.  The hardships and drama take a look at the serious side of competition, which can sometimes turn ugly.

More boy or girl book (stereotypically):  

I was a bit surprised to learn that One Shot Away appeals to both boys and girls.  Obviously, it has an appeal to anyone involved in the sport of wrestling (yes, girls are now wrestling!).  The novel tells the story of three high school wrestlers living in the same community, but going through the insecurity of high school, a desire for acceptance, the emotional confusion of first relationships, and the pride of achievement.  I know girls can relate to these issues.

The Serious Questions!

For One Shot Away what part/character/event are you most excited/proud about?

I am most proud of the end of the novel, as I didn’t sell out and make it a 100 percent “feel good” ending.  My second novel, Steady Eddie, was criticized for having an ending where the two main characters sort of sailed happily into the sunset.  In One Shot Away, I had many choices to make.  I could have had Diggy, my most controversial character, get forgiven for all the havoc he caused.  He could have wound up a success story (I don’t want to give away the ending here).  But, I chose to tell the story with integrity and truth.  I wanted my readers to learn that acts have consequences.  Jimmy and Trevor are my success stories, which bring an abundance of light to the book.  Diggy, although I do love him, had to pay some dues.

One Shot Away is a book for guys.  One struggle I have as a middle school teacher is getting my boys to read more, so I’m glad to see books like yours.  Can you talk about writing for “the guys” and in particular how this story will interest them? 

From the first page, One Shot Away is filled with conflict that propels the action.  It’s a book where things happen and it’s not always what the reader expects.  The main characters, Trevor, Jimmy and Diggy, have interesting dilemmas.  Each goes about solving their problems in different ways.  Dialogue and all of the slang in the novel was basically pulled from real teens.  The dialogue is snappy and real and boys will enjoy the exchanges.  Lastly, the plot of the novel is more than just wrestling.  It’s about the team concept.  It’s about learning to respect a girlfriend.  It’s about discrimination and overcoming hurtful words and bullies.  Lastly, this novel is a fun read.

Tell about your writing process.  How long did it take you to write One Shot Away from idea to finish?  Please tell about revision if you can!

Good question, as I’m sure there are many potential writers who might read the book.  Start to finish, the writing took about four years.  I know that’s a long time, but I write on weekends and vacation days, as I work a full time job.  I like to develop my characters before I even know my story.  At the beginning of One Shot Away, I put Trevor Crow into motion.  I am a big believer in knowing your character’s back-story.  For instance, I wrote one hundred pages of back-story regarding Trevor’s father’s heritage as a Penobscot Native American. 

At one point, One Shot Away ballooned to 440 pages!  I had to cut it in half in order to increase the tension.  Cutting is tough, but necessary for most writers.  I know writers who fall in love with their own words and are unable to cut.  I try to think of my reader.  What will make the reader stay up late turning the pages? 

My second character developed was Jimmy O’Shea.  I wrote about his house, his room, what he ate.  I gave him a girlfriend, Roxanne.  I wrote a short story about Jimmy leading his wrestling team in practice.  Next, I did the same for Diggy Masters.

Then, I introduced conflict through the plot.  In Trevor’s case, he is facing the loss of his father, and the need to fulfill his father’s vision of being a varsity wrester.  Jimmy’s father leads him down a dangerous path.  Diggy makes his own trouble with poor choices.   

Fine tuning the plot was the hardest part of finishing the novel.  I needed it to be exciting, believable, and compelling, but also have the reader feel like they entered the character’s world.  The plot must carry one chapter into the next.  I wrote about twenty drafts of this novel (I’m not exaggerating).  I would finish it, print it, read it, and then rewrite.  It sounds like a lot of work; lucky for me I love the entire process of creating a novel.

When you were in middle school what kind of student were you?  Did you write then?

I was a mediocre student.  Report card day was always rough.  I’d line up behind my three sisters, who had A’s and B’s.  I never failed, but an A was as rare as steak at the hot lunch menu.  Most of the time, I scraped by with a C or a B-.  By the time I went to high school, I was scheduled into a lot of shop classes.  I worked on cars, built cabinets, learned to weld metals.  In ninth grade English, my teacher assigned Catcher in the Rye.  I read it in two days (it was a half-year study).  She began sneaking me novels by John Steinbeck, S.E Hinton, Claude Brown, Harper Lee and lots more.  I realized I loved to read. 

In the tenth grade, I joined a meat cutter’s union and worked 4 pm to 10 pm weekdays, and 8 am to 8 pm on Saturdays, cutting chickens.  I didn’t have time for sports or much of anything, except work.  After I cleaned the butcher shop at night, scraped all the cutting blocks and put down sawdust, I’d read in the break room.  In my second novel, Steady Eddie, I wrote about my teen life, and was able to get some of it out of my system.

In the eleventh grade, my English teacher assigned the class a writing assignment; a two page fictional story.  I remember writing about the end of the world.  She liked it and read it to the class.  I don’t think anyone ever told me I was good at anything, until that story.  I began to believe that I could write a novel.  I started carrying a notebook.  I wrote scenes in the meat department break room that eventually evolved into The Hero of New York.  I finished the novel about five years later.  It was published when I was twenty-six.

And because it's the owl, my standard question always is: WHOOO do you admire when it comes to writing? OR WHOOO do you like to read or really enjoyed in HS or middle school?

In high school I enjoyed many YA novels that are now considered must reads.  I read To Kill a Mocking Bird and loved it.  I read all of John Steinbeck’s novels, my favorite being Of Mice and Men.  I enjoyed S. E. Hinton’s novels, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish and That was Then, This is Now.  I loved, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, everything by Ray Bradbury, Jack London, John Knowles, and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Today, I read a lot of adult fiction, but also enjoy YA novels.  Lately, I have enjoyed The Giver, by Lois Lowry, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie, Bird Nerd, by Tracy Edward Wymer, the novels of Terry Trueman, and The Fault in our Stars, by John Green.

Presently I’m reading Ghosts of War, a true story by Ryan Smithson.  It’s a terrific YA novel of a 19-year old GI sent to Iraq.

One novel that really changed my idea of fiction was The Wanderers, by Richard Price.  I read it when I was a senior in high school.  It breaks a lot of rules.

The Fun Questions! (based on what middle school students do!)

Do you chew gum? 

Yes, I chew Wrigley’s “Solstice” –“A warm and cool winter.”  Sugar-free – 15 to a pack. Try it!

Do you text?

Yes, I do text and I carry a blackberry.  My son and daughter are text nuts.

Was school lunch just as yucky then as it is now?!  

My mother wasn’t one to “pack a lunch.”  It was hot lunch or no lunch.  School lunch was a completely sad affair from 1^st to 8^th grade.  The food was just terrible, watery tomato soup and wet PBJ’s, Sloppy Joe’s with unidentifiable red meat that smelled like four day old barbeque grease.  Chinese night was cream of chicken chow mein!!!  The cream grossed us out.  Oh it was just the worst.  I used to starve and save my lunch money.  I’d buy a sandwich at a deli around the corner about once a week.    

Thank you so much for joining us here on The O.W.L.  I will be sharing with my students how many drafts you wrote!  They  need to hear things like that.  Plus that you're reading Ghosts of War.  I have it, and a few students have picked it up to read as well.

Stay tuned for my review of the book coming up later!

The Giveaway!

Up for grabs is a Kindle Paperwhite skinned in the One Shot Away cover art!

To enter fill out the rafflecopter.

And check out the rest of the stops on the tour!

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Author Links: Twitter Facebook Goodreads 

Book Links: Goodreads Amazon B&N Indiebound 

Tour Schedule: 

Monday, April 8th - Mundie Moms 

Tuesday, April 9th - Froggarita's Bookcase 

Wednesday, April 10th - Alice Marvels 

Thursday, April 11th - Chick Loves Lit 

Friday, April 12th - Simply Infatuated 

 Monday, April 15th - I Like These Books 

Tuesday, April 16th - Sweet Southern Home 

Wednesday, April 17th - The O.W.L. for YA 

Thursday, April 18th - Basia's Bookshelf 

Friday, April 19th - Chapter by Chapter 

 Monday, April 22nd - The Book Cellar 

Tuesday, April 23rd - Contessa at the Crossroads 

Wednesday, April 24th - The Bookswarm 

Thursday, April 25th - Buried in Books 

Friday, April 26th - The Page Turners