Andrew Demcak's Blog, page 3

ALPHA WAVE BY ANDREW DEMCAK PROMO 2

GHOST SONGS FEATURED NOVEL AT TEEN TUESDAY/BLAST FROM THE PAST

Teen Tuesday
A blast from the past (2014) with Ghosts Songs fromAndrew Demcak
https://www.harmonyinkpress.com/books/ghost-songs-by-andrew-demcak-78-b
http://www.andrewdemcak.org/

ALPHA WAVE PROMO #1

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NEW INTERVIEW WITH ANDREW DEMCAK OVER AT NEWFOUND.ORG

I was interview by Josh King over at Newfound.org about one of my newest poetry projects, Cryptopedia. Click here to read there.

COMING MAY 2018: ALPHA WAVE BY ANDREW DEMCAK

With so many hunting her for the power she possesses, Keira Fairchild needs a friend in her corner.
After escaping from both the Paragon Academy and a ring of slave traders, Keira is searching for answers. Who is the mysterious alien being trying to contact her in her dreams, and why is he being held captive? Keira learns she isn’t alone. James, Lumen, and Paul are teens with powers like her own—and all of them are in danger. They’ve been sent by their alien father to look for Keira. The kidnapped alien needs their help, and the unscrupulous Dr. Albion has a plan to rob them of their powers and destroy them. In the battle that awaits them, standing together is their only chance.

SCHOLARLY BIBLIO-BIOGRAPHY ABOUT ANDREW DEMCAK IN CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS 2017

Wow - I found out that there is a scholarly biblio-biography about me and my work in the newest edition of the academic reference resource *Contemporary Authors.* Such a big deal for me, an author who has only published at small presses, to be recognized by the literary establishment. 
A really, really big deal for me. See complete article below:


Andrew DemcakBorn: September 23, 1968 in Silver Spring, Maryland, United StatesNationality: AmericanOccupation: NovelistDemcak's first publication, Catching Tigers in Red Weather, is a poetry collection that won the Three Candles Press Open Book Award. In an interview on the J. Scott Coatsworth Blog, Demcak remarked on this debut collection: "It was a book of experimental writing, Ten X Ten poems: ten syllables per line, ten lines per poem." Demcak further commented on his writing process in the same interview: "I write what I write. My work tends to bend/blend genres but not by any forethought from me. ... I write all the time in my head. ... I spent three years thinking about my first teen novel ... before I wrote a single word down. Then it took me four weeks to write it and another year to edit/revise/beta test. I write in the morning; afternoons and evenings are out. I'm too tired then."
Demcak followed up this first poetry collection with several chapbooks and the collections Zero Summer, A Single Hurt Color, and Night Chant. Demcak has stated that the collection Night Chant began with poems that did not fit in Catching Tigers in Red Weather. The author noted in a post for the Nervous Breakdown Web site: "The poems in Night Chant all have very formal metrical structures and/or rhyme schemes, but the forms are embedded in the line breaks to conceal them." Concealment and the hidden nature of things becomes a theme of these poems which are set mostly at night and deal with subjects from addiction to hate crimes. Speaking with Mickelson on the Literary Magpie Web site, Demcak commented on his fourth book of poetry: "On the surface, the poems Night Chant appear to be simple free verse, but there is a tremendous amount of deep structure to them. I think there is a backlash against formal poetry starting again right now. Perhaps is it the beginning of 'Occupy Poetry'--taking poetry back again from the establishment, the traditions of social exclusivity and academic barricades. ... So the poems in Night Chant are masquerading, but that is part of the theme of the book: what is hidden. ... Night Chant was a cathartic experience for me."
Demcak's first novel, If There's a Heaven Above, is set in the Gothic music scene of Los Angeles in the 1980s and features Matt, who is on the verge of becoming an adult and finds himself immersed in the party and drug scene of the time but is always looking for something more. He thinks he finds it in the form of Patch, tattooed and shirtless and very appealing. They spend a night together, and then Patch disappears. Now Matt, accompanied by friends Annie and Suzy, tries to find him again in the club scene of the time.
Reviewing If There's a Heaven Above online at Outlaw Reviews, contributor Nancy Ferris noted: "I so wanted to like this book. ... Unfortunately, I couldn't warm up to the characters at all. Their lives were boring, shallow, and pointless." Others found more to like in this novel: it was nominated as an "Outstanding" book for older teens by the American Library Association.Demcak writes for teens in two further novels: Ghost Songs and A Little Bit Langston. In the former title, Demcak features a gay fourteen-year-old musical prodigy, Todd Williams. He is having a hard time of it lately, with two bullies at his private school making life miserable for him, an alcoholic mother who is continually embarrassing him, and best friend Jennifer suddenly not talking to him. So Todd turns to friendly ghost Leroy for help in dealing with things.
Another young gay teen takes center stage in the paranormal romance A Little Bit Langston. James Kerr is a freshman in high school when he discovers that he is physically attracted to Paul Schmitz, his best friend. At the same time, James begins to channel a poet from the Harlem Renaissance (the fictionalized Montgomery Langston), completing a poem in a trance state for an English assignment. When this gift is noticed by adults, James is sent to the Paragon Academy, which specializes in juvenile paranormal research, and there discovers he has a Korean half-sister, Lumen, who may be able to help James understand his psychic ability. Meanwhile, Paul's father struggles to keep his son away from James. A Kirkus Reviews critic had a mixed assessment of A Little Bit Langston, noting, "This book really wants to take its place in the marginalized-will-lead-us genre ... [but] the message gets lost." The critic concluded, "Well intended but desperately unsuccessful."FURTHER READINGS:FURTHER READINGS ABOUT THE AUTHOR:PERIODICALSKirkus Reviews, September 15, 2015, review of A Little Bit Langston.ONLINEAndrew Demcak Home Page, http://www.andrewdemcak.org (May 12, 2016).Dream Spinner Press Web site, http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/ (May 12, 2016), "AndrewDemcak."Ethereal Book Reviews, http://etherealbookreviews.blogspot.com/ (October 2, 2014), "LGBT Month Author Interview: Andrew Demcak."Fiction DB, http://www.fictiondb.com/ (May 12, 2016), "Andrew Demcak."J. Scott Coatsworth Blog, https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com/ (January 31, 2016), "Author Spotlight: Andrew Demcak."Literary Magpie, http://jorymickelson.blogspot.com/ (January 30, 2012), Jory Mickelson,"An Interview with the Multifaceted Andrew Demcak."Nervous Breakdown, http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/ (February 1, 2012), Andrew Demcak: The TNB Self-Interview.Outlaw Reviews, http://reviews.logophilos.net/ (October 11, 2014), Nancy Ferris, review of If There's a Heaven Above.Poets and Writers, http://www.pw.org/ (May 12, 2016), "Andrew Demcak."Rainbow Book Reviews, http://www.rainbowbookreviews.com/ (March 10, 2014), author interview.St. Mary's College of California, https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/ (May 12, 2016), "Andrew Demcak."* Source Citation   (MLA 8th Edition)"Andrew Demcak." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2017. Literature Resource Center, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=LitRC&.... Accessed 29 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|H1000320795

FREE BOOK GIVEAWAY - A LITTLE BIT LANGSTON & ZERO SUMMER BY ANDREW DEMCAK

Free Book Giveaway! I'm giving away one signed copy of my GLBTQ Teen novel, A Little Bit Langston, and two signed copies of my classic second poetry book, Zero Summer. CLICK ON THE COVER BELOW TO ENTER!!!

ALPHA WAVE FORTHCOMING FROM HARMONY INK PRESS, SUMMER 2018

The sequel to A LITTLE BIT LANGSTON, Alpha Wave (Harmony Ink Press, 2018), will be published in Summer of 2018. I just signed the contract.  You can get a head start by reading the first chapter here.

SKYE ALLEN: Why Is My Queer YA Story Not a Romance Nor a Coming Out Story?

Why Is My Queer YA Story Not a Romance Nor a Coming Out Story? By Skye AllenThere’s a trope about coming out in LGBTQ+ young adult fiction. And there’s another trope about falling in love. Pick up a queer story with a teen protagonist, and I would understand if you expected certain things. Kissing. Maybe sex, depending on your idea of what makes something a YA book versus a book for adults. A story that centers on the big gay reveal to Mom/Dad/Coach.
I get where that came from. The whole concept of queer young adult stories told in a positive light, that genre being a thing at all, that is still fresh and wonderful. Queer literature in general is relatively young as a category, and it’s no surprise that the first few generations of stories had a lot to do with falling in love and coming out. After all, that’s what makes us different. It’s who we are and who we love. And the dangers that can strike when we tell the world the good news. That makes for pretty huge drama, and no matter how enlightened your family or your hometown, the day you come out is always going to be a pretty huge day.
But some of the best queer YA books, lately, have not been love stories. They haven’t even been coming out stories. The audience is ready for that now; they have been for some time. There’s no closet factor in these non-romances, no miserable gay teens who can’t show themselves in all their splendor for fear of violence or being misunderstood by the people they have to live with. It’s just…kids. Kids who already came out before the book started. Some of them have sweethearts. Some are single. Some are fixated on that special diving champion or choir girl, or just on losing their virginity, but some are fixated on their mother’s immigration status or the app they’re creating or any one of a million different real-life things.
In other words, they’re real kids.
In Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan, the central relationship is between two friends, a gay boy and a straight boy. There’s a mention of sex, but not between those two. The story explores the range of complex emotion in a teenage best-friendship. That’s what it’s about. And I love it for that. Andrew Demcak’s beautiful Ghost Songs is similar: the main character is gay, but that’s a given. His story is about bullying, and a deep friendship, and an alcoholic parent, and just plain growing up as a sensitive kid. It’s not a romance. It doesn’t need to be.
I knew when I started writing The Songbird Thief that there was no love story. Or -- there was, but not a romantic one. It’s the story of Lee, a fifteen-year-old girl from rural Marin County who runs away to San Francisco to be near her grownup friend, Sonja. Lee has a crush on Sonja, but it’s not reciprocal. Sonja is like a mother to Lee. Girls Lee’s age come along who could be love interests, and there’s a flirtatious moment or two, but Lee is busy looking for a job and trying to find her real father. Lee’s life is complicated by magic, and her singing voice makes people do things like unconsciously walk into traffic. She’s distracted. She’s a girl who happens to be gay, whose story has nothing to do with kissing.
She’s a real kid. And I’m happy there’s a place on the bookshelf for her.

Read more from Skye Allen at her blog - click here.

GREAT REVIEW OF A LITTLE BIT LANGSTON OVER AT QUEER SCI-FI!

Review: A Little Bit Langston by Andrew DemcakPosted on August 20, 2016 by Jay Hawke — Leave a reply
Title: “A Little Bit Langston.”Author: Andrew DemcakGenre: Science Fiction, Young Adult.Publisher: Harmony Ink PressPages: 204.Blurb:Being different can be dangerous, and discovery can be deadly.High school freshman James Kerr is finding out he’s not quite like his classmates. Around the time he realizes he’s attracted to his best friend, Paul Schmitz, James starts channeling a dead writer’s poetry and also discovers he has an ability to manipulate energy-a super power. Before James can figure out why this is happening to him, tragedy strikes in the form of Paul’s abusive father, and James is sent to a government-run school, The Paragon Academy, which specializes in juvenile paranormal research. There, he meets Lumen, the daughter of a famous Korean actress. Lumen’s psychic ability might be the key to helping James understand both his poems and his own power.Review:I was in a really bad mood when I picked up a copy of A Little Bit Langston, having had an especially horrendous week of insomnia. But I picked it up anyway, really just out of habit, hoping to kill some time before the end of the day. Before I knew it, I had finished half the book. If you can overcome one of my insomnia induced zombie states, you are an especially engaging author.A Little Bit Langston is not at all what I expected. It follows a young teen, James Kerr, as he tries to come to terms with a highly strange occurrence. He is assigned to write a poem for class, and unwittingly, he writes a beautiful poem that just happens to resemble the work of the famous poet, Langston Hughes. The mystery is instantly gripping, as James tries to figure out what exactly happened. Is he somehow channeling a long dead, poet? His teacher naturally thinks he plagiarized it, and poor James doesn’t know what to do. His quirky mother finally intervenes and decides to enroll him in a unique school, Paragon Academy, where they work with “special” kids. And that’s where the strangeness intensifies. Now cut off from his mother and friends, James discovers that this school is not what it professes to be, and he must learn to tap his strange power, as well as rely upon some equally gifted teens, to solve the institution’s very odd secret.Demcak’s strength as a writer comes through in the eminently likable characters he creates. James himself is a beautiful, if confused soul. And I loved his interactions with his new friend, Lumen, a Korean girl already familiar with much of Paragon Academy’s strange secret, due to her own unique ability. And finally James has a love interest in his best friend Paul, who himself gets caught up in Paragon’s bizarre past.This was a great, quick read, and lots of fun — exactly what I needed during a long hot summer day and a week of insomnia. I enjoyed following James as he first discovers his strange powers, and then learns their true origins. X-files fans will especially enjoy the ride. Those steeped in UFO lore will get a bit more out of this, as Demcak makes references to famous cases throughout. And if nothing else, the book gives you the most poetic euphemism for “gay” that I’ve ever seen, a phrase captured in the book’s beautiful title. I know the author has already penned a sequel to A Little Bit Langston, called Alpha Wave. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for it to be published.You can purchase  A Little Bit Langston  from Amazon or directly from Harmony Ink Press. And as a special bonus, here is an interview Queer Sci Fi’s, J. Scott Coatsworth, did with Andrew Demcak a few months ago.Jay Jordan Hawke is the award winning author of the Two-Spirit Chronicles, which includes:  Pukawiss the Outcast ,  A Scout is Brave , and  Onwaachige the Dreamer . He is an avid sci-fi fan. His first love was Star Wars, but alas, he married Star Trek. Learn more about Jay Hawke at  www.jayjordanhawke.com.