Body Swap: The world's first text message adventure romance with the other side!

by Jerome Parisse

Out of the blue, thirteen year old William and friend Pat receive a text message plea from cyberspace: Stephanie has exited her body during a coma and needs their help to return to her body! The two friends' initial solution misfires and a disastrous mix up occurs. William ends up trapped in Stephanie's body and shut out of his own. In Stephanie's body, William experiences things girls have to live with, from unwelcome approaches, to bras and high heels. The situation becomes even more desperate when Pat falls in love with Stephanie. But time is running out. To coordinate and apply the required body swap reversal therapy tests the three friends' formidable skills and energies to the limit. Will William stay in Stephanie's body forever? And who the hell is the evil creature now inhabiting his own body?

174 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2010

About the author

I was born and grew up in France, where I developed a love for language, literature, and good food. In my early thirties I moved to Australia where I am based now.

I am an agricultural economist and a linguist by education, and a management consultant by trade. However, my passion for writing and literature led me to more creative endeavours...
I started by writing short plays. Having studied acting in Sydney and in Paris, it just seemed a natural extension of performing on stage. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue. The rest is history, as we say... I write in both English and French. One of my plays, My Sister's Choice, also makes extensive use of sign language.


I have published two novels, The Wings of Leo Spencer and Body Swap, and three plays, My Sister's Choice, The Birthday Knife and Guys, Only Guys! I have written two full-length plays and a large number of short plays, which have been produced in America, Australia, the UK, Singapore and Malaysia. Some of them have won prizes. I have also written and published (mostly online) a large number of articles related to the issue of rare diseases, research and patients, translated in many languages throughout Europe. My writing credits also include an award-winning short story and a radio play.

I’m currently working on a thriller which will take place in Hong Kong. My next novel (in French), Metaphore du Rapide, will be published in February 2011.

Here's a list of my plays:

Full-Length Plays
My Sister’s Choice
Two sisters. Both Deaf. One who signs and one who doesn’t. It’s all very well, until one of them introduces her boyfriend to the other…
A two-act play written for Deaf and hearing audiences, with a mixture of spoken and signed languages

Eighty-three
What would you do if your eighty-three year old father told you he was dating someone, shortly after your mother’s passing? And what if he had been doing so for many years?

Short Plays

Love and Light
Tania’s deceased husband has left her with bills to pay, no job and no idea where he stashed the money. Will consulting a Psychic provide her with the answer she seeks?

The Birthday Knife
Never give someone a knife for their birthday… you may end up regretting it.

Guys, Only Guys!
David is about to reincarnate as a gay man… and he is ecstatic. But should he, really?

What if it’s Bad News?
An unopened letter, and the sad news it may contain…

Smell the Roses
Porn and mothers-in-law don’t go well together…

The Chopper
A play about passion, fate, and life choices

The Gene of Truth
A defective gene… and what ensues

For the Love of Men
Gabriel is at it again…. trying to dissuade unsuspecting candidates from becoming gay. But in whose interest, really?

The Review
We’ve all had performance reviews at work… and we all know they can be daunting. Craig had prepared well for his review, but nothing could prepare him for what he was about to experience…

In the Middle of the Night
Brad wakes up in the middle of the night. It’s pitch black and he can’t see a thing. But he can feel something is definitely not right…

It starts with a ‘D’
A day in the life of two very special girls

Bye Mum! Bye Dad!
A last farewell to Grandad and Grandma, or so it seems…

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 2 out of 5]

As I really enjoyed The Wings of Leo Spencer, I was quite looking forward to this. But I was a little disappointed.

My main problem with Body Swap was that I didn’t find that William and Pat spoke naturally. It often seemed a little stilted and unrealistic; almost forced sometimes. There was no slang and very little abbreviations as well as their topic of conversation being very unusual for thirteen year old boys. I wasn’t entirely convinced.

I also thought that their immediate response to Stephanie’s text was unrealistic. I think that it would take a little longer for an average person to be convinced by receiving texts from the other side. There was so little hesitation in their decision to help her.

The thing I did love about Body Swap was William’s reaction to being in a girl’s body. His confusion over putting a bra on, immediate discomfort in dresses and the horror at heels were brilliantly funny. It was excellent seeing a boy struggle in a girl’s world.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a YA novella, this one had some surprising depth. William is an interesting, well-rounded young man (with a strange fetish for coffee grinders), and Pat is a perfectly awkward best friend (with an equally strange fetish for big words). As for Samantha, for a girl who spends most of the book off-stage, she's surprisingly well-crafted.

Personally, I had hoped William would spend more time in Samantha's body, but that portion of the book is very well-handled and (most importantly) quite realistic. The obligatory scenes of struggling with a bra and heels are there, but it's handled with sensitivity instead of being used for slaptstick comedy. His emotional and mental struggles are the focus here, and they're quite touching.

Ultimately, what I think really pulls the story together is the backstory of William's family, including the tragedy of his sister's death.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book. It was so fun reading a young story written from a boy's point of view. Boys do think so differently than girls and it came across throughout the story. Many of the scenes were pretty dang funny with a boy in a girl's body and I laughed out loud at times. The best surprise however, was that it was a sweet and touching story about forgiveness and moving forward :) Great middle grade read!

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story does a great job of grabbing the reader and getting them to feel the main characters emotions. You will be taken by William and shown his world through his eyes. You will feel as he does and in the end have a better understanding of his life. I was mesmerized and will be on the look out for more by this author.

[Azqa]

I REALLY WANT TO READ THIS BOOK!!
IT SEEMS SOO GOOD!!

[Sol · Rating 3 out of 5]

good