Conviction

by Kelly Loy Gilbert

This past Friday, September 4, 2015, Marcy and I posted our answers to Kelly’s debut novel Conviction. Today, you get to read Kelly’s favorites.

Great in depth answers and insight in to your characters, Kelly! We can’t wait for our readers to read the novel. And hopefully to give us a few of their favorites, too.

1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

There are so many demons Braden has to face down, and one that always haunts him is whether or not he's a good person, whether he's worthy of all the things he hopes and believes--and whether he's ever even known how to measure himself against any standard that wasn't his dad, what it means to be a good person when nothing is the world is what you always thought.  

Maddie was wrong, it turns out: in some ways, some of the worst ways, I am exactly like my dad.  

2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

My favorite is the very ending!  But, to avoid spoiling the whole book, another is this scene leading up to the night when the officer died:

“I forgive you,” he said in my ear.  “All right?  That was a terrible thing to do, but I forgive you.  I love you, B.  I love you so much.  I’m sorry you got scared.  I’m sorry.  It’s just because I love you.  Because you scared me.” 

I didn’t move.  I don’t know if he even realized he was doing it but he was gripping my shirt in his fist like maybe he’d thought I was going to try to get away.  That’s the part I think about now, how he did that.  Because what did he think I was going to do?  Where else did he even think I had to go? 

I don’t know how long we stood there, him re-tightening his grip around me every time he started to relax.  I was starting to go numb, to not feel anything anymore at all.  And he told me again: he loved me more than anything, and he was sorry, and everything was fine.  And it was true, wasn’t it? All of that.  Because eventually he led me back inside, he heated up a pizza for me and scooped ice cream into a bowl and made me have seconds, he sat me down on the computer and told me to buy myself something, anything I wanted, and then we watched ESPN highlights until we both fell asleep on the couch and the cops went back to their own houses, I guess, and for that night everyone was fine.

3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

He's been a somewhat polarizing character, but I'll put in a third vote for Braden's older brother, Trey.  I think it takes courage to come back to a place that nearly broke you, the way Trey does to avoid Braden being placed in a group home when their father is arrested, and I've always been compelled by the gap between the person Trey wants to be and the person he fears he actually is.  And, too, I'm always interested in what it looks like when a character hates himself and yet still has to wake up and somehow face himself day after day.

4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

This passage when Braden's describing a time his father took him on a surprise trip:

He was so happy afterward.  And at the time I thought it was just that I got over something you aren’t supposed to be afraid of and that I did it because he asked, because I wanted to make him happy.  And that was part of it, maybe.  That meant something to him.  But I think even more than that, he was so happy because he felt the way you do you when you’ve put things right in the world around you, because he’d told me something that was as true to him as anything else had ever been.  Even at the time it felt like some kind of prophecy spoken over me, a truth I’d be bound by and owe something and belong to, the thing I would again and again come back home to.  

5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

I have a soft spot for Braden's friends, who stand with him in their own way even as they can never really look outside their own perspectives:

Chase Singer goes off about how it’s going to be a bloodbath when we play La Abra this year, how I’ll need a bodyguard, and my catcher, Colin Sykes, smacks him and snaps, “Real sensitive.  Maybe try shutting up,” and tells me I have nothing to worry about, that I know they’re all behind me. 

Congratulations to Kelly on her debut novel, Conviction!

MY BIO:

Kelly Loy Gilbert is a fiction writer who believes deeply in the power of stories to illuminate a shared humanity and give voice to complex, broken people. She is passionate about social justice, the San Francisco Giants, and organizing things by color. She studied writing at the University of California—San Diego and at San Francisco State, and enjoys serving on the NaNoWriMo Associate Board and teaching creative writing workshops. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her family in a home teeming with books.

Website:  http://kellyloygilbert.com/Kelly/Welcome.html

Blog:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/blog/

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/kellyloygilbert/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KellyLoyGilbert

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Conviction-Kelly-Loy-Gilbert/dp/1423197380

Good Reads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7244154.Kelly_Loy_Gilbert

First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day

by Dave Amaditz and

Marcy Collier

Welcome to September’s version of - First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day. In this monthly series, we ask five simple questions about a debut novel that will hopefully entice anyone reading this post to pick up the novel and read it themselves, and/or give them at a glance some insight into the author's writing style and voice as well as how some of the characters might think or act. We do this by presenting, first, answers to our Five Favorite Things, followed by the author's answers in a follow-up post.

This month we're pleased to highlight debut novelist, Kelly Loy Gilbert and her novel, Conviction. When Braden’s dad gets arrested for murder, he struggles through difficult times and must rely on his faith to make a life changing decision.

1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

Dave –  Maybe it’s because of what I have going on in my life right now, but this particular line struck me.

Faith always makes more sense when you can look back later on, but when you’re in a bad place you don’t know that’s not where your story ends.

Marcy – Maddie, who Braden is beginning to like more than a friend, confides in Braden that she doesn’t think he’s at all like his dad. This is a turning point when Braden realizes people see him differently than he sees himself.

“You know, I don’t really think you look like your dad.”

“No?”

“My parents listened to him sometimes before we moved here, and I remember being really surprised the first time I met you because I thought you’d be more like him. I didn’t expect you to be like you were.”

“And what was that?”

“Quieter. More private. I can’t imagine you talking on a public broadcast every day.” She hesitates. 

“And…nicer. I remember when we were picking lab partners in Science and you asked Austin O’Connor when you saw he was all by himself.” She unfurls herself – I can trace the line of her calves in the low-lit dusk – lies down on the sand, too. “And I remember when my younger sister spilled grape juice on you at church when we were doing Communion and you were really nice about it. Your dad’s … more intimidating.”

2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

Dave - This ending comes from earlier in the novel.

It’s not particularly great, as jokes go, but it makes her laugh anyway. And it’s funny about that laugh - it makes me feel a kind of calm I haven’t felt much these days, like something twisting and then settling inside me. I smile back at her. I wish more things felt like this.

Marcy – Braden is at the field punishing himself for going soft during a baseball game by running up and down the bleachers 100 times. His buddies try to convince him to go hang out and asks how many sets he’s done already.

He sighs and shoves his cap back. “God Braden, you’re such a drama queen sometimes. How many have you done so far?”

I mutter that I’ve done thirty.

“Okay,” he says. “Well, seventy over five is…crap. Fifteen? That’s not right, is it?

Fourteen, moron,” Chase says. “What did you fail fourth grade?”

"All right, fourteen, Mister Mental Math.” Colin motions with his head, and the four of them come and line up on the bottom step of the bleachers, flanking me.

"We’ll split them with you, Raynor. Fourteen each. Let’s go.”

3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Dave – Just like Marcy has indicated below. Trey. He’s an in-depth character, and although it doesn’t always show, he cares about his brother.

Marcy –  Braden’s brother, Trey is my favorite character. He cares deeply about his brother but expresses how he feels subtly, like in the below paragraph.

“So how did you know I don’t throw cutters?”

“I read when you told that woman from the Stockton Record you don’t have much use for them. I” – he pauses like he’s embarrassed, then makes an expression like, Eh, screw it –“ I get it sent to me in New York.”

“You what?” You don’t have papers there you like, or what?”

“I don’t have time to read the paper. I just read about your games.”

4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

Dave -  Braden’s father ran over a police officer with this car and is in jail, ready to go on trial for murder. I think this captures well how Braden feels when someone finally approaches the subject around him.

It has been all over the news, but so far everyone’s at least had the decency to not say stuff like that around me, and this is how it feels when you hear that said aloud for the first time: like someone’s pouring acid down your throat.

Marcy -  This paragraph hit home and concisely describes how Braden feels in that particular moment, how anyone would feel in his situation.

This is why I hate when people tell me I don’t know how you’re surviving – because that implies you get a choice. What do they think, you’re actually going to die?  Because that’s not how it works. You don’t get an escape into nothing; you get a brother who half the time acts like he can’t stand you anymore and you get a seashell-themed bathroom in your pastor’s house to escape to because a nice dinner with people who believe what you wish you could about God is more than you  can take.

5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

Dave - I think this line shows what a caring kid Braden is. He is talking to one of the younger kids on his baseball team who is nervous about facing a pitcher in one of the first baseball games his father has attended.

“Everyone gets nervous. You’re supposed to. I’m still a wreck before each pitch. If you don’t feel that way, because you don’t care. Okay? You’re in a good place.”

Marcy – The day Braden’s mom dropped him off to his dad when he was only a baby. This was Braden’s dad’s reaction of disbelief.

“You want to leave your kid with me?”

Website:  http://kellyloygilbert.com/Kelly/Welcome.html

Blog:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/blog/

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/kellyloygilbert/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KellyLoyGilbert

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Conviction-Kelly-Loy-Gilbert/dp/1423197380

Good Reads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7244154.Kelly_Loy_Gilbert

The Distance Between Lost and Found

by Kathryn Holmes

This past Friday, August 7, 2015, Marcy and I posted our answers to Kathryn’s debut novel The Distance Between Lost and Found. Today, you get to read Kathryn’s favorites.

Awesome answers, Kathryn! We can’t wait for our readers to read the novel. And hopefully to give us a few of their favorites, too.

1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character’s development and/or growth?

Page 190-191:

The rain starts: sharp, hard drops that sting Hallelujah’s arms. It feels like an attack. Like they let their guard down, and now nature is back with a vengeance.

But Hallelujah breathes in deep. Limps along. Tries to think of her skin as armor. She’s not the same person she was two days ago. That girl ran from rain, fell down mountainsides, scrambled in the mud, blind and gasping and scared.

This girl, this new Hallelujah, is still scared, but she watches her footing, and she holds on to Jonah and Rachel instead of pushing them away. She watches the rocks grow closer. For once, she knows where she’s going.

2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

Hard to do without spoilers! I love this final image from page 105:

Jonah pokes at the fire with a stick. His shoulders are hunched. He looks young. He looks vulnerable. He says it again: “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” Hallelujah repeats. She hesitates for a second, then puts her arm around him, just across his back. It feels both totally wrong and completely right—to be sitting here, now, under an open sky, raw and injured and exposed, to be comforting Jonah, to be apologized to. She doesn’t know if it feels wrong or right to him, because they don’t talk after that. Jonah adds a few more branches to the fire. After a while they lie down, closer this time, careful not to disturb Rachel, whose sleep exhales puff white and frosty in the mountain air.

3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Since DISTANCE spends so much time with only three characters, it’s hard to choose between Jonah and Rachel! Jonah has my heart. He means well—but he screwed up, big time, and he’s trying desperately to make up for what he did. Rachel makes me laugh. She knows just what to say to lighten the mood. She’s a caring friend. Hallie needs them both on her journey, and as their author, I love them equally. J

4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

Here’s one of my favorite descriptive passages, from Page 89:

The view is incredible. A 360 panorama. If this were a movie, the camera would sweep around and around, taking in their wide eyes along with the mountains rolling into the distance. There would be a swell of strings, a breathless final swoop before the dialogue, soft and awestruck.

It’s not the tallest peak. Not by a long shot. They’re at the top of what can’t even really be called a mountain, not with everything else around. There are mountains visible behind other mountains, rising up behind valleys, peeking out, hills upon hills upon hills. The green mounds look so much softer and gentler from a distance. Almost like a blanket that someone left rumpled. Or that someone’s still sleeping under.

And there are so many trees. So many shades of green. Sunlit green and shadowed green. Grass green and moss green and pine green and the greens of every variety of leaf.

5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

I’ll pick a lighter moment, from Page 118:

“We have to maintain order, so we don’t go all Lord of the Flies.”

Congratulations to Kathryn on her debut novel, The Distance Between Lost and Found!

MY BIO:

Kathryn Holmes grew up in Maryville, Tennessee, where she was an avid reader and an aspiring writer from an early age. She now lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and piles upon piles of books. A graduate of The New School’s MFA in Creative Writing program, Kathryn works as a freelance dance journalist, among other writing gigs. The Distance Between Lost and Found is her debut novel.

LINKS:

Website:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/

Blog:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/blog/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynholmesauthor

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kathryn_holmes

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Distance-Between-Lost-Found/dp/0062317261

Good Reads:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18660756-the-distance-between-lost-and-found

First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day

by Dave Amaditz &

Marcy Collier

Welcome to August’s version of - First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day. In this monthly series, we ask five simple questions about a debut novel that will hopefully entice anyone reading this post to pick up the novel and read it themselves, and/or give them at a glance some insight into the author's writing style and voice as well as how some of the characters might think or act. We do this by presenting, first, answers to our Five Favorite Things, followed by the author's answers in a follow-up post.

This month we're pleased to highlight debut novelists, Kathryn Holmes and her novel, The Distance Between Lost and Found. When Hallelujah gets lost in the woods while on a camping trip with her church group, she realizes that “being found” relates to so many more things than a simple physical rescue.

1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

Dave – Although there are so many particular passages to choose from, I chose this because I think it is when Hallelujah begins to realize that the situation she was in prior to getting lost was manageable, especially in comparison to being lost in the Smoky Mountains.

She used to think alone was the answer. Alone would stop the whispers and the taunts. Alone couldn’t get her into any more trouble. Alone meant not getting hurt. Now, she’d give anything to see another human being. To hear someone call her name. She settles for listening to her own voice. “Hello,”

Marcy – In this point in the story, Hallelujah begins to take responsibility for her actions and wants to stand up for herself and her friends.

Hallelujah thinks before she can help it. And just like that, she decides not to be useless anymore. It isn’t only up to Jonah to get them out. Or up to the rescuers to find them. She can do more than just keep from falling behind.

2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

Dave - This particular chapter ending comes from early in the novel.

Jonah shows them how to rate their bags so there tucked up in the nearest tree. Then they gather back around the fire. It’s only 830, but in the dark, in the cold, it feels later. With the woods looming on all sides, it’s like the fire is the only thing keeping the trees and the darkness from swallowing them whole.

Marcy - This particular passage struck me when Hallelujah and Rachael are having a heart to heart conversation.

“And I don’t want to be that girl anymore. I don’t”

Rachel squeezes Hallelujah’s arm. “So don’t be,” she says.

With those three words, Hallelujah feels something lifted, a heavy coat shrugged off. So don’t be. Like that’s all there is to it.

But is it that easy? Can she just decide not to be that person anymore—the one she hates? Can she really move on?

3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Dave – Jonah is my favorite secondary character because of his strong, steady resolve and his inner sense of self security. The following line gives an example.

“I know too many people who are one thing when they think it matters and another thing the rest of the time. And I don’t want to be like that. So I don’t curse at all. It’s like-what you see is what you get.”

Marcy –  Rachael is my favorite secondary character because of her straightforward, no-bull attitude. Like in this paragraph when she’s talking about Jonah.

“Because he’s upset, and we have to be a team.” Rachel is matter-of-fact. “And because he’s the one who knows how to make a fire and keep our food away from bears.”

4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

Dave -  Picking my favorite line of description was extremely difficult as there were so many great images to choose from, but I settled on this particular passage because as well as paining a beautiful image it gives us insight into Hallelujah’s personality.

The scenery is enough to distract her. Sunrise over the mountains, all pinks and purples and peaches with white cotton-ball clouds. The clouds are low, so low Hallelujah feels like she could reach up and grab one. Light streams down, split into actual shining rays. The see of trees is a vivid, happy green in the early morning light, a stark contrast to last night’s dark, threatening void. The hills still stretch out in all directions, but now they look bright and new. And for just a moment, Hallelujah feels hope burble up in her chest, fresh and sharp and cold as a mountain spring. Anything could happen today. Great things could happen today. Rescue-improbable as it seemed the last night-could happen today. And she is hit by such a strong sense of everything is going to be okay that she gasps.

Marcy -  This paragraph took me right to the campsite. The imagery and sensory details made me salivating to eat the fish too.

They dig in. Fingers scooping up fish, tongues licking lips. The fish has no seasoning except the smoke from the fire, but it’s warm and it’s solid and it’s delicious. Hallelujah barely stops to breathe before her pile is gone. She gasps. She licks each finger, slowly, savoring. She closes her eyes. Inhales the smell of burnt fish. Relishes the feeling of food in her belly.

Rachel burps. Loudly. It startles Hallelujah’s eyes open. “Nice,” she says.

5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

Dave - I chose this line because I believe it says so much in so few words.

“All you control is you,” Jonah murmurs.

Marcy – Jonah is explaining to Hallelujah why he doesn’t swear.

“I wouldn’t like it if people yelled ‘Jonah!’ every time they stubbed their toe. But it’s more that—" He turns to look at Hallelujah and Rachel. Walks over. “I know too many people who are one thing when they think it matters and another thing the rest of the time. And I don’t want to be like that. So I don’t curse at all. It’s like—what you see is what you get.”

Website:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/thedistancebetweenlostandfound/

Blog:  http://www.kathrynholmes.com/blog/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/kathryn_holmes

Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/The-Distance-Between-Lost-Found/dp/0062317261

Good Reads:  http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18660756-the-distance-between-lost-and-found

First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day

Welcome to July’s version of - First Friday - Five Favorite Things - Debut Novel Day. In this monthly series, we ask five simple questions about a debut novel that will hopefully entice anyone reading this post to pick up the novel and read it themselves, and/or give them at a glance some insight into the author's writing style and voice as well as how some of the characters might think or act. We do this by presenting, first, answers to our Five Favorite Things, followed by the author's answers in a follow-up post.

This month we're pleased to highlight debut YA novelist, David Arnold and his novel, Mosquitoland. After being uprooted from her home and mom in Cleveland, Ohio, Mary Iris Malone (Mim) is not okay. She hates living in Jackson, Mississippi with her father and stepmother. And now that all communication has been cut off with her mom, Mim is on the run to save her mom.

1) What is your favorite line or paragraph from the novel as it relates to the main character's development and/or growth?

Dave – Home is hard. Harder than reasons. It’s more than a storage unit for your life and its collections. It’s more than an address, or even the house you grew up in. People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home is the heart. Not a place or a time, but an organ, pumping life into my life.

Marcy –  Mim remembers when her mom would give a homeless man money. She’d purposely go the long way to soccer practice so she could give the man three dollars. One day Mim’s dad was with them. He started complaining about how the lazy bum could get a job, when Mim’s mom rolled down the window and handed Reggie three dollars.

Later, just before bed, I asked her if Dad was mad that she gave three bucks to Reggie. She said no, but I knew better. I asked if Dad was right, if Reggie was nothing but a lazy drunk. Mom said some homeless folk were like that, but she didn’t think Reggie was one of them. She said if he were, she would give him three bucks. She said it wasn’t her job to pick which ones were genuinely starving and which ones were faking it.

“Help is help to anyone, Mary. Even if they don’t know they’re asking for it.”

I said that made a whole lot of sense, because it did.

And it still does.

Here’s the thing, Iz: my mom needs help right now. And I know it, even if she doesn’t.

2) What is your favorite chapter ending or cliffhanger?

Dave - I jog up to cement stairs, unable to hold back a smile of my young adult life. This detour has already paid for itself.

Marcy –This paragraph speaks for itself.

I am tired of being alone.

“You need help?” Walt’s quiet voice brings me back to the now, the real, the detour.

I, Mary Iris Malone, smile at the bright new moon. Wiping away my tears, I wonder if things are finally changing, “Yeah, Walt, I might.”

3) Who is your favorite secondary character and why?

Dave – I chose Mom as my favorite secondary character. She has so many lines that made her seem to me, so carefree, so down-to-Earth. Mim, the main character, is worried her mother is going to be mad after she got into a fight in school defending a friend.

“There are worse fates than being slow-witted,” she says. “You broke that other kids nose, right? The one who made fun of Ricky?” I say, “yes ma’am, I did.” “Good,” she says, taking another bite.

Marcy –  This novel has an amazing lineup of characters. I would choose Walt for his innocence and love of life. He has down’s syndrome and has been abandoned by his father but has an amazing outlook on life.

“Ready to swim?”

Walt looks up at me with wide-eyed enthusiasm. He’s shirtless now, holding a flashlight and sporting a pair of cutoff daisy dukes. The Cubs hat and the green Chucks he’s still wearing as well as that infectious smile that sets my heart aflame. It’s the same smile my dad and I used when we made waffles, only Walt’s is magnified somehow, like I-don’t-know-what…the Belgian waffle version or something.

“Here,” he says, offering a wad of denim. “My backup pair.”

Hopping down from the boulder, I take the shorts and hold them out in front of me. They’re a little wide in the waist, and far shorter than any shorts I’ve ever worn.

Walt throws his finger in the air, spins on his heels, “This way to my pool!”

4) What is your favorite line or paragraph of description?

Dave – As often happens, Marcy and I choose similar favorite lines. She has chosen one below that I had picked, so I will choose another. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory why I chose this, as it paints a pretty vivid picture.

ED’S PLACE: CHICKEN-N-GAS The image in my brain is unsettling to say the least: Ed, a disgruntled Vietnam vet, stands over a stove with two ashy cigarillos hanging from either side of his mouth; he’s stirring a giant pot of his famous chicken-petroleum soup.

Marcy –  Mim gets wiser as she gets closer to seeing her mom.

I swear, the older I get, the more I value bad examples over good ones. It’s a good thing, too, because most people are egotistical, neurotic, self-absorbed peons, insistent on wearing near-sighted glasses in a far-sighted world. And it’s the exact sort of myopic ignorance that has led to my groundbreaking new theory. I call it Mim’s Theorem of Monkey See Monkey Don’t, and what it boils down to is this: it is my belief that there are some people whose sole purpose of existence is to show the rest of us how not to act.

5) What is your favorite line of dialogue?

Dave – This line of dialogue from Walt, a homeless, mentally disabled young man, made me laugh when I read it. It easily cinched my favorite when I read the end of the novel.

“Yes,” says Walt, going back to his butterfly. “I’ll remember the rendezvouski.”

Marcy –  Words of wisdom from Mim’s mom:

My mother was the greatest alarm clock of all time. Every morning, without fail, she threw back the curtains to let the sun in, and always, she said the same thing.

“Have a vision, Mary, unclouded by fear.”

Congratulations to David for the praise he’s received on this wonderful novel!

— Kids' Indie Next List "Top Ten" Pick (Spring 2015)
— ABA Indies Introduce Debut Authors and New Voices title
— A Junior Library Guild selection

— Publishers Weekly Spring 2015 Flying Start

To read more about David Arnold and his debut novel, Mosquitoland, please go to:

Website:  http://davidarnoldbooks.com/books/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/davidarnoldbooks

Twitter:   https://twitter.com/roofbeam

Instagram:   http://instagram.com/iamdavidarnold

Amazon:   http://www.amazon.com/Mosquitoland-David-Arnold/dp/045147077X

Good Reads:   http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18718848-mosquitoland