Today's special guest is Chris O'Guinn. In his own words, he says:
I’ve
been writing since I was fifteen, not that those stories will ever be allowed
out of the dark hole I buried them in. I focused primarily on the Fantasy genre
for the first two decades, occasionally diverting into modern fiction. In 2010,
I embarked in a self-publishing career, focusing on the young adult novel
genre. When I’m not writing, I am contributing to TheBacklot.com, a gay
entertainment website.
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR
Was Justin's character based on anyone you've known in real
life?
Justin is largely based on me, which was entirely
accidental. I was extremely introverted in high school, and full of bitterness
and teenage angst. I was also really isolated and untrusting. I found it easy
to pull on a lot of my life to build Justin’s world. Even the school he went to
was based on my high school. And the relationship with his parents was very
similar to what I had with my parents.
Can you tell us a little about how Justin became such a
cynic?
Oh, some meta info for your readers, the sort of thing that
wasn’t in the book. The book does make it clear that he’s had a lot of friends
drop him. Having his trust betrayed so many times made him very suspicious of
people and their motives. What wasn’t in the book was what brought about his
parents’ divorce. His father made some really risky investments which
bankrupted them. Justin went from a lower middle-class life to being quite
poor. The acrimony between his parents that came about from this and the
inevitable divorce gave him a jaded view of relationships. This all added up to
make him quite cynical.
Tell us about Liam and how he and Justin meet and/or become
friends.
Liam is an observer. He noticed Justin, saw how cut off he
was, but he also saw how Justin was kind to those around him. He asked Justin
for help with his schoolwork as a way to get to know him better, but that
didn’t work out very well. He ran smack into Justin’s defenses—solid stone
walls surrounded by a moat filled with man-eating sharks. However, as much as
Justin didn’t want to try another friendship, he was lonely. So he agreed to
help Liam with his schoolwork and very quickly found that Liam was a great guy
to know.
Is there a message you'd like for this book to convey to the
reader?
There are two main messages. The first is that you can’t let
fear rule you. This is easier said than done, I know. But really think about
it. Life is so fleeting. You need to get everything you can out of every single
day.
The other message is how foolish it is to judge others
without knowing them. In society and especially in high school, it’s so easy to
see a way a person dresses, the way they look and assume you know their story.
But you will almost always find out that you’re wrong.
ABOUT THE BOOK
At
fifteen, Justin is already a cynic. He’s experienced too many betrayals, too
many disappointments. He doesn’t want to be involved in anything. He doesn’t
want to be popular. He doesn’t even want friends anymore, since they only ever
let you down. He just wants to get through high school and the best way he can
come up with to accomplish that goal is to simply be invisible.
His
self-imposed exile from high school life is threatened when Liam, the scary
stoner, reaches out to him. What starts out as a strange and unsettling
encounter with the unnerving,
pot-smoking teenager evolves into the sort of friendship that changes
the course of a person’s life.
But
as Liam drags the reluctant Justin out of his shell, Liam’s own secret is
revealed.
Fearless is the story of
the myriad shades of love, how to find one’s courage and the transformative
power of friendship.
AN EXCERPT
“Man,
I can’t believe we’re stuck at home instead of at the Homecoming Dance.”
“Trust
me, this is better,” I told him. “At least for me. My dance moves are outlawed
in twelve states.”
Liam
cracked a smile. “I got to see that.”
I
frowned at him. “No.”
Liam’s
eyes lit up with mischief. “Uh uh, you can’t keep claiming to be bad at
everything without proof. You have to show me.”
“I
really don’t.”
He
went over to my laptop and called up the music player. “Hmm, let’s see, what do
we have for playlists? ‘Life sux?’ ‘Love sux?’ I’m sensing a theme here.”
“At
least I’m consistent.”
“True.
Hey, ‘OMG the 80’s’ I think we have a winner.”
“I’m
not dancing,” I told him.
I
thought my tone was pretty firm. That didn’t prevent him from yanking me to my
feet, though, with a strength I didn’t think he had. As the familiar beat of
one of my favorite classics warbled out of my laptop’s crappy speakers, I
folded my arms and backed away from the crazy guy with the infectious smile.
“Come
on, feel the beat,” Liam coaxed.
I
just couldn’t hang onto my glower, not with him gyrating and flailing like a
fish out of water. It didn’t seem possible, but somehow he was actually as bad
or worse than me.
“Oh
girls just want to have fun,” he sang—badly—and danced (if one could call it
that) over to me.
“You
really don’t get the whole ‘no’ concept, do you?”
LEAVE A COMMENT - AND WIN A GIFT!
Chris
will be awarding a $100 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during
the tour.
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better
your chances of winning.
