Huston Piner's Blog - Posts Tagged "ya"
The Day Before Jitters
Today will always be memorable to me for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's my birthday. (Yea! Me!)
Secondly, it's the day before my first novel My Life as a Myth will be published by Prizm Books. To say that I'm more than a little nervous is like saying World War II was a minor skirmish.
Happily, I came across a lovely piece by Holly Robinson at the Huffington Post. It's titled When You Finish Your Novel, What Then? Below is a quote:
Meanwhile, you experience doom-and-gloom sentiments: "What good am I? I can't even pick up the living room!" Maybe you think, "The novel is dead. Why do I bother? Nobody reads anymore." Or, "I'm not earning money doing this. In fact, I'm costing myself money! I should quit before my family has to live out of the car!"
Check it out.
Secondly, it's the day before my first novel My Life as a Myth will be published by Prizm Books. To say that I'm more than a little nervous is like saying World War II was a minor skirmish.
Happily, I came across a lovely piece by Holly Robinson at the Huffington Post. It's titled When You Finish Your Novel, What Then? Below is a quote:
Meanwhile, you experience doom-and-gloom sentiments: "What good am I? I can't even pick up the living room!" Maybe you think, "The novel is dead. Why do I bother? Nobody reads anymore." Or, "I'm not earning money doing this. In fact, I'm costing myself money! I should quit before my family has to live out of the car!"
Check it out.
A Word about My Life as a Myth
Good morning! I’ve been asked to say a few words about the history of My Life as a Myth published today by Prizm Books.
Rummage sales are the last vestiges of the old medieval markets. Believe me; poke around and you’re likely to come across things you’ve never seen before. Last year, I found something very unusual.
I was rooting through the offerings of a couple in their late-fifties, both aging flower children still wearing tie-dye shirts and dungarees. They certainly had a weird variety of things they’d accumulated over the years: old books, records (Lawrence Welk? Guy Lombardo?), bongs awkwardly disguised as flower vases, and assorted odds and ends. Really, I wouldn’t have been surprised to find a mummy.
Sifting through the bric-a-bracs, I felt like an archeologist, pondering the culture that had brought these strange things together in one place. But what caught my eye was a cloth-covered book. My curiosity got the better of me, and I picked it up. It was fairly old, worn and coffee-stained, and filled with yellowed handwritten pages. (There were only a few dozen blank ones at the end.)
Steeply priced at ten cent, I wondered who would even consider buying such a thing. But you know how it is; once a reader, always a reader. My eyes involuntarily began deciphering the clumsy script.
What I discovered was the journal, a diary if you will, of a high school freshman named Nick Horton from way back in 1969. I was even more surprised that the kid had lived in my hometown and gone to the very high school I attended many years later. After a couple of pages, I knew I had to read the whole book, and if possible add it to my own growing collection of clutter for a future rummage sale.
I went to the man sitting next to the cash box. I was a bit afraid the book might be something that had made its way to the for sale pile by accident.
“This is marked ten cent,” I said, holding it up so he could see it.
“Okay then,” he said. “Five cent too much?”
“No, ten cent is fine,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you intended to sell it.”
“Why not? It’s an interesting read if you’re into that kind of thing.”
“Then why are you selling it?”
“We found it when we moved in here. The Old Lady and I are getting on; we’re moving to a smaller place near the kids and won’t have the room.”
I paid him the ten cent.
When I got home I made a pot of tea and picked the book up again. Bittersweet memories of the longings and dreams of teenage life kept me reading. Because I’m from the same town as Nick, if from a somewhat later period, it was easy to get lost in his story. As I read, I remembered visiting The District with friends and the many ups and downs of high school life in Chadham, Virginia.
“Are you ever coming to bed?” my partner asked sometime after midnight.
“Just a bit longer,” I mumbled, entranced by the story of this kid who reminded me of so many people at that age, including myself.
My partner just shook his head, tousled my hair, and stumbled back off to bed – over the years he’s come to know me too well when it comes to books. I finished sometime before dawn and spent the next several days getting over the exhaustion of my marathon reading session. (Don’t believe what they tell you about people needing less sleep the older they get.)
Weeks passed and Nick’s journal continued to haunt me. I encouraged my partner to read it and often found him crying or laughing at this or that entry, just like I had. We began talking about Nick’s adventures and agreed that it was a story worth sharing with others. So after typing it out, I took it straight to Prizm Books.
With very few emendations, everything Nick wrote is what Prizm is publishing today in My Life as a Myth. If you ever saw the original, you’d be thankful that I’ve corrected the spelling! Other than that, only two or three entries were omitted, things that ultimately had little or nothing to do with the important events that happened that year.
Nick’s journal was written in a different time, both simpler and more complicated than the one we live in today. Some things were better then; many are better now. The major difference is that Nick’s world was much more innocent than own. What hasn’t changed is that delicate first flowering of young love, the awakening of passion, and the challenge of being yourself. (There are other things that haven’t changed, but you’ll read about those in the book.)
It is my hope that you will find My Life as a Myth as important as my partner and I do. For those of you Nick’s age, I hope you celebrate his triumphs and learn from his mistakes. In the end, whatever you think, I hope you come away from it stronger than you were and that you always remember, reputations seldom deliver on promises of happiness.
Huston Piner
Rummage sales are the last vestiges of the old medieval markets. Believe me; poke around and you’re likely to come across things you’ve never seen before. Last year, I found something very unusual.
I was rooting through the offerings of a couple in their late-fifties, both aging flower children still wearing tie-dye shirts and dungarees. They certainly had a weird variety of things they’d accumulated over the years: old books, records (Lawrence Welk? Guy Lombardo?), bongs awkwardly disguised as flower vases, and assorted odds and ends. Really, I wouldn’t have been surprised to find a mummy.
Sifting through the bric-a-bracs, I felt like an archeologist, pondering the culture that had brought these strange things together in one place. But what caught my eye was a cloth-covered book. My curiosity got the better of me, and I picked it up. It was fairly old, worn and coffee-stained, and filled with yellowed handwritten pages. (There were only a few dozen blank ones at the end.)
Steeply priced at ten cent, I wondered who would even consider buying such a thing. But you know how it is; once a reader, always a reader. My eyes involuntarily began deciphering the clumsy script.
What I discovered was the journal, a diary if you will, of a high school freshman named Nick Horton from way back in 1969. I was even more surprised that the kid had lived in my hometown and gone to the very high school I attended many years later. After a couple of pages, I knew I had to read the whole book, and if possible add it to my own growing collection of clutter for a future rummage sale.
I went to the man sitting next to the cash box. I was a bit afraid the book might be something that had made its way to the for sale pile by accident.
“This is marked ten cent,” I said, holding it up so he could see it.
“Okay then,” he said. “Five cent too much?”
“No, ten cent is fine,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you intended to sell it.”
“Why not? It’s an interesting read if you’re into that kind of thing.”
“Then why are you selling it?”
“We found it when we moved in here. The Old Lady and I are getting on; we’re moving to a smaller place near the kids and won’t have the room.”
I paid him the ten cent.
When I got home I made a pot of tea and picked the book up again. Bittersweet memories of the longings and dreams of teenage life kept me reading. Because I’m from the same town as Nick, if from a somewhat later period, it was easy to get lost in his story. As I read, I remembered visiting The District with friends and the many ups and downs of high school life in Chadham, Virginia.
“Are you ever coming to bed?” my partner asked sometime after midnight.
“Just a bit longer,” I mumbled, entranced by the story of this kid who reminded me of so many people at that age, including myself.
My partner just shook his head, tousled my hair, and stumbled back off to bed – over the years he’s come to know me too well when it comes to books. I finished sometime before dawn and spent the next several days getting over the exhaustion of my marathon reading session. (Don’t believe what they tell you about people needing less sleep the older they get.)
Weeks passed and Nick’s journal continued to haunt me. I encouraged my partner to read it and often found him crying or laughing at this or that entry, just like I had. We began talking about Nick’s adventures and agreed that it was a story worth sharing with others. So after typing it out, I took it straight to Prizm Books.
With very few emendations, everything Nick wrote is what Prizm is publishing today in My Life as a Myth. If you ever saw the original, you’d be thankful that I’ve corrected the spelling! Other than that, only two or three entries were omitted, things that ultimately had little or nothing to do with the important events that happened that year.
Nick’s journal was written in a different time, both simpler and more complicated than the one we live in today. Some things were better then; many are better now. The major difference is that Nick’s world was much more innocent than own. What hasn’t changed is that delicate first flowering of young love, the awakening of passion, and the challenge of being yourself. (There are other things that haven’t changed, but you’ll read about those in the book.)
It is my hope that you will find My Life as a Myth as important as my partner and I do. For those of you Nick’s age, I hope you celebrate his triumphs and learn from his mistakes. In the end, whatever you think, I hope you come away from it stronger than you were and that you always remember, reputations seldom deliver on promises of happiness.
Huston Piner
True Colorz Featured Author
Jackie Nacht has notified me that I will be the True Colorz review site featured author on July ninth. You can look forward to an interview and discussion about My Life as a Myth and writing in general. Drop by and leave a comment!
As you all know, True Colorz is one of the top Internet resources dedicated exclusively to Young Adult LGBTQ literature. It features monthly updates and information on new releases, featured author interviews, recommended reads and, most importantly, a full selection of books & resources related to bullying.
Really, I can't recommend True Colorz enough and encourage you all to check it out, especially on July 9th!
Suggestions?
I will be guest hosting at Torquere Press' Happy Hour's Journal later this month. I would appreciate any suggestions regarding what I should include. I've noticed that some folks give updates on favorite hobbies or projects while others talk about their published works or WIPs. My hobbies (reading, listening to music, watching Teen Wolf and Supernatural, hitting the gym, occasionally, when I remember it, when I motivate my lasses butt) probably wouldn't translate well. I do have a WIP I’m working on, but with only one published book, I don’t really know what’s typical/expected of this kind of thing. I suppose I could think up some short piece to include.
Any thoughts?
You can offer suggestions via comment or messaging me.
Thanks! :)
Huston Piner
Any thoughts?
You can offer suggestions via comment or messaging me.
Thanks! :)
Huston Piner
My Life as a Myth receives honorable mention!
My Life as a Myth receives Honorable Mention 2013 Rainbow Awards!
"Cherie: This book should be required reading for every high school student, assigned of the first day of school in their freshman year. Wow. I honestly believe it could do a great deal to eradicate bullying of every sort, and might well help more than one scared, lonely and hurting kid survive long enough to understand that people aren't just mouthing platitudes when they say it will get better. Frankly, the book is so well written that even the kids on the other side of the bullying equation would be drawn in, and learn what it's like to be the kid bullied. It might well save them too."
http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwid...
"Cherie: This book should be required reading for every high school student, assigned of the first day of school in their freshman year. Wow. I honestly believe it could do a great deal to eradicate bullying of every sort, and might well help more than one scared, lonely and hurting kid survive long enough to understand that people aren't just mouthing platitudes when they say it will get better. Frankly, the book is so well written that even the kids on the other side of the bullying equation would be drawn in, and learn what it's like to be the kid bullied. It might well save them too."
http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwid...
Congratulations to Ashley E!
Ashley E has won a free autographed copy of My Life as a Myth. Congratulations Ashley; and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! I'm shipping it out to you this morning.
And thanks to everyone who entered the Giveaway! (I'm kocked out that over 500 signed up.) While you may not have won a free copy, you can still get your own copy at Prizm Books, Amazon and other fine online stores!
And thanks to everyone who entered the Giveaway! (I'm kocked out that over 500 signed up.) While you may not have won a free copy, you can still get your own copy at Prizm Books, Amazon and other fine online stores!
Oops! An Interview and an E-Book Giveaway
Things have been nuts around her for the last couple of days. Consequently, I forgot to tell you about my interview and My Life as a Myth e-book giveaway at Julie's Book Reviews.
Check it out and register for the giveaway here!
Check it out and register for the giveaway here!
My Life as a Myth - Greedy Bug Review Book of the Year 2013
It's certainly been an eventful year, and as it draws to a close I discovered a great early holiday gift last night. Greedy Bug Book Reviews has chosen My Life as a Myth as one of their six Books of the Year for 2013! I now truly know what it is to be "flabbergasted." Given the excellent quality of the other five choices, I am deeply honored.
My humble thanks to Kazza K and colleagues; I'm so glad you like My Life as a Myth. (And I hope you'll like 2015's Conjoined at the Soul just as much!)
My humble thanks to Kazza K and colleagues; I'm so glad you like My Life as a Myth. (And I hope you'll like 2015's Conjoined at the Soul just as much!)
Rainbow Book Reviews Interview
Hop over to Rainbow Book Reviews which today features a new interview with yours truly. In it, we discuss My Life as a Myth and I reveal a bit about next year's "Joined at the Soul" as well as this year's Halloween season novella release "Light in Endless Darkness," two works I'm sure you'll love! (Poke around and you'll also find a review of Myth.)
My thanks to Serena and all the great people at Rainbow Book Reviews. Rainbow is a site you should bookmark for regular reference!
My thanks to Serena and all the great people at Rainbow Book Reviews. Rainbow is a site you should bookmark for regular reference!
A brief excerpt from "Joined at the Soul"
What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies.
Aristotle
Chapter 1
Of Mirrors and Locker Rooms
The bus stops and Blake Rogers stumbles on; it’s running three minutes late. (I hate being late!) Blake is my best friend. He’s exhausted this morning because he put off doing his homework again and had to stay up late last night. Today is going to be one of those days.
“Good morning,” I say in sarcastic cheeriness.
“Mumm-ning, Randy,” he yawns. He’s already dozing before his butt even hits the seat. I’m guaranteed a quiet, peaceful ride to Chadham High. Good! I need the time to think. See, today, September 17, 1979, is a day of historic importance. This morning, I woke up and discovered I am gay.
I know I know I know; it’s not supposed to work like that, but that’s just what happened. I was brushing my teeth, spit out, and looked in the mirror. A pointy-nosed sixteen year old with mousy brown hair stared back at me.
“Randy Clark,” he said. “You, young man, are gay.”
I should probably explain. I didn’t just go to bed last night as the straight Randy Clark only to have the gay pixie come and sprinkle fairy dust all over me; it’s not that simple. The truth is it’s something I’ve kind of seen coming for a couple of years now. It’s like a process: one day you start adding up all the times in your life you caught yourself looking at guys or couldn’t stop thinking about a particular guy, and then it just hits you -- you’re gay.
It’s funny, but now that I’ve admitted it, I feel more at ease than I ever have in my life; it feels natural. But it’s also kind of scary too. I mean being gay isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can just announce to the world. Some people would instantly hate you; others would express their feelings with a few punches (and I get more than my share of those already). It’s enough to make a guy a little nervous.
And then there’s the problem, the real problem; something’s missing in my life, something important, very important. See, a straight guy can look forward to the possibility of getting married. But what about me? Is there someone out there waiting for me? I mean sure, friends are important in life, but they’re not enough -- what I need is a boyfriend, that special someone to turn me on and send me into sexual orbit. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Blake won’t be the first person I tell I’m gay. It’s not that he’d stop being my friend or anything, it’s just more urgent to find someone I can go to for advice about guys first. Blake likes girls too much to be any help on that issue.
For that job, I know exactly who I need: Annie Brock and Jeremy Smith. They’re in my Art class. If there are any two people on earth who will be able to help me find a boyfriend, its Annie and Jeremy.
"Joined at the Soul" - coming in February 2015 from Prizm Books.
Aristotle
Chapter 1
Of Mirrors and Locker Rooms
The bus stops and Blake Rogers stumbles on; it’s running three minutes late. (I hate being late!) Blake is my best friend. He’s exhausted this morning because he put off doing his homework again and had to stay up late last night. Today is going to be one of those days.
“Good morning,” I say in sarcastic cheeriness.
“Mumm-ning, Randy,” he yawns. He’s already dozing before his butt even hits the seat. I’m guaranteed a quiet, peaceful ride to Chadham High. Good! I need the time to think. See, today, September 17, 1979, is a day of historic importance. This morning, I woke up and discovered I am gay.
I know I know I know; it’s not supposed to work like that, but that’s just what happened. I was brushing my teeth, spit out, and looked in the mirror. A pointy-nosed sixteen year old with mousy brown hair stared back at me.
“Randy Clark,” he said. “You, young man, are gay.”
I should probably explain. I didn’t just go to bed last night as the straight Randy Clark only to have the gay pixie come and sprinkle fairy dust all over me; it’s not that simple. The truth is it’s something I’ve kind of seen coming for a couple of years now. It’s like a process: one day you start adding up all the times in your life you caught yourself looking at guys or couldn’t stop thinking about a particular guy, and then it just hits you -- you’re gay.
It’s funny, but now that I’ve admitted it, I feel more at ease than I ever have in my life; it feels natural. But it’s also kind of scary too. I mean being gay isn’t exactly the kind of thing you can just announce to the world. Some people would instantly hate you; others would express their feelings with a few punches (and I get more than my share of those already). It’s enough to make a guy a little nervous.
And then there’s the problem, the real problem; something’s missing in my life, something important, very important. See, a straight guy can look forward to the possibility of getting married. But what about me? Is there someone out there waiting for me? I mean sure, friends are important in life, but they’re not enough -- what I need is a boyfriend, that special someone to turn me on and send me into sexual orbit. That’s what it’s all about, right?
Blake won’t be the first person I tell I’m gay. It’s not that he’d stop being my friend or anything, it’s just more urgent to find someone I can go to for advice about guys first. Blake likes girls too much to be any help on that issue.
For that job, I know exactly who I need: Annie Brock and Jeremy Smith. They’re in my Art class. If there are any two people on earth who will be able to help me find a boyfriend, its Annie and Jeremy.
"Joined at the Soul" - coming in February 2015 from Prizm Books.
