One of my favorite guest posts ever is from author David Stahler, Jr. His new novel, Spinning Out, just hit the shelves!
High school senior Frenchy has little ambition beyond hanging out at the smoking rock until his best friend, the ever-witty and conniving Stewart, gets him to try out for Man of la Mancha. To everyone's surprise, the guys are a hit. But when Stewart's antics begin to grow more obsessive he wears his costume 24/7, freaks out about little details, and displays an incessant hatred of the high-tech windmills outside of town Frenchy worries that there's something deeper going on. Is Stewart spiraling into madness, just like Don Quixote? And can Frenchy battle through his own demons in time to save his friend from self-destruction before it's too late?
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Confessions of a (Blog) Virgin
How’s that for a snappy title?
This is the inaugural post for the whirlwind blog tour that Chronicle has been kind enough to arrange for me as I set out to promote my latest novel, Spinning Out. I’m excited and honored to have the first stop be here at WORD—a site run by an actual young adult (though on her way to full-fledged adulthood) and so infused with the energy I’ve come to associate with the YA scene.
As such, I’d like to begin by way of a confession: I don’t have a blog nor have I ever posted to a blog before. Sounds odd, probably, coming from a writer. Also, I don’t facebook or twitter (tweet?) or glog or glitter, for that matter. I probably sound like an old fogey admitting all this, but that’s the other odd thing—I’m not. I’m still in my thirties (which everyone knows is the new twenties), I love technology, I love computers, I love (too much, probably) the Internet. I’m the kind of guy that other people often go to when they’re having trouble with their computers. And I love blogs. I’ve been visiting the Daily Dish every day for over ten years.
So why don’t I have a blog of my own? Why haven’t I started a Facebook page? Maybe it’s because I’m a bit of an introvert by nature. Maybe it’s because, as a high school teacher, my instinct has always been to maintain a certain zone of privacy. Or maybe I’m just plain-old shy. But I can’t be anymore. Not these days, especially as a YA writer. Because this is where it’s happening, at places like WORD. This is where many of my readers—or those who I want to be my readers—spend their time learning about books, talking about books, and building a community. It’s been three years since my last novel (Otherspace) was published, and it’s pretty shocking to see just how fast the online community of YA blogs and Twitter accounts and Facebook pages has grown. In just three years! Reading all these blogs over the last month in preparation for the tour and to read the reviews for Spinning Out has been a pretty incredible experience. Of course, I’m no stranger to the energy of teenagers. But to see it move from the classroom to the beautifully lit pages of cyberspace has been quite a treat. And I have to admit, I want to be a part of it.
So here I am, ready to go. Thanks, Nicole, for giving me a start.
You're quite welcome, David.