Author Extra: The Syrup Incident by Ava Kelly

The Syrup Incident by Ava Kelly

Buy Link:
http://www.prizmbooks.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=82

Blurb:

Andy gets dragged by Jerry into spying on their other roommate, who may or
may not be hiding a bloody knife in her purse. Taking trips into her closet
and following her into alleys on the bad side of town only increase Andy’s
internal struggle with his feelings for Jerry. As shenanigans morph into
clichés and turn their lives into a rom-com movie set, will the boys find
their ways into each other’s arms?

Author Extra:

The first time Jerry meets Andy, he thinks that they could be good
roommates. The second time Jerry talks to Andy, he thinks that they could be
awesome friends. The third day Jerry wakes in their apartment, coming out of
the shower with his usual towel-clad swag, Andy walks into a wall.

Jerry stops thinking.

The first time Dennis spends the night at Andy and Jerry’s, he thinks he’s
imagining how Andy glares at Jerry’s T-shirt. The second time Dennis runs
into the boys on campus, he thinks it’s almost cute how they keep eating
from each other’s plate. The third time Dennis goes to a concert with his
friends, he thinks that Jerry holding Andy from behind in the crowd to be
protected by strangers needs to be addressed.

Dennis stops thinking and calls Sharon.

The first time Sharon worked at a shelter, it was for community service. The
second time Sharon met Eric, she wanted to test his IQ –- the man was a
genius. The third time she did Dennis a favor, she ended up apologizing to
Eric for a week.

Sharon stops what she’s doing when the thought pops in her head. “Hey, Eric!
Where did you put those hidden cameras that crazy dude donated?”

New Release Day - Happy Holidays!

The Syrup Incident
By: Ava Kelly
14 pages / 4000 words
$1.99
Buy Link: http://www.prizmbooks.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=82
Blurb:
Andy gets dragged by Jerry into spying on their other roommate, who may or may not be hiding a bloody knife in her purse. Taking trips into her closet and following her into alleys on the bad side of town only increase Andy’s internal struggle with his feelings for Jerry. As shenanigans morph into clichés and turn their lives into a rom-com movie set, will the boys find their ways into each other’s arms?

Awkward teenage bisexual confessions, and representation for young girls who crush on girls

Last week I remembered something I hadn’t thought about in a really long time. The summer when I was fifteen, and had only been aware of my feelings for other girls for about a year, my mom used to take me to this vegetarian café where you told the person behind the counter what kind of ingredients you wanted on your salad and then at the end of the line they weighed it and you probably paid by the ounce. The girl who worked there was about my age and I found her fiendishly attractive. She was on the fatter side of average, bosomy, brown hair, with facial features that reminded me of my own people (I know you’re not really supposed to “look Jewish” so let’s leave it at that.) I won’t post her name here because I feel like that would tip this post into ‘creepy invasion of privacy’ territory.

At that age, crushes consumed me. I had about ten crushes at once, some on men, but most of the most intense ones on other girls around my age. I was also fifteen and, despite being grades-smart and reading-level-smart, I wasn’t smart enough to, you know, start an actual conversation with her about what she was into and did she like Star Wars or play an instrument or did we even have anything in common at all. That’s how you start a relationship, and I knew that. I totally knew that! I’d even written it into the stories I wrote at that age!

But did I do any of that? No. What I did do, was call the store and invite her to my Sweet Sixteen. A total stranger. On the basis of being attractive.

Faceplant.

Naturally, she said no. So why am I talking about this?

Because I realized while facepalming about this earlier today that a major motivation for writing about my character Shulamit’s awkwardness, her crushes on most of the women she encounters in The Second Mango, and her lack of finesse in finding a girlfriend –- a major motivation for me was to show someone feminine fretting that way over other girls. To show that someone like me could fret like that and HAD fretted like that.

You see, in literature and movies, the awkward teenage boy crushing on beautiful female peers is a beloved trope of the coming of age genre—whether it’s set in modern times, historical times, fantasy, or sci-fi. Everywhere from Archie Comics to the demonstration on how all the parts of your body work together at Disney/EPCOT’s short-lived Health pavillion talk about young men struck into silliness by a combination of hormones and lack of experience when they see pretty girls.

And literature also talks about how young women are struck into equal stupefaction by their male peers, or male celebrities. We all grow up knowing what it looks like to be a young woman mooning over a boy, or a young man mooning over a girl.

I didn’t see any girls mooning over other girls. And even if I did, they were very masculine-presenting girls, so it didn’t even feel like representation to me—it felt like the same as Archie crushing on Veronica, only it was an Archielike girl, instead of someone like me.

What would that even look like?

It would look like a little teenaged violinist with braces and big hair, calling up a stranger who worked at a salad shop because she was so goshdarned pretty.

Shulamit totally would have done that. That’s the part of me I put into her.

I remember how alone I felt, and I think a big part of that loneliness was the lack of seeing that happening to anyone else in fiction. If you crushed on a girl, if you weren’t a boy you were at least masculine.

Anyway, it feels good to have my little fictionalized representation of what I was like at that age. And, Salad Lady, wherever you are, I’m sorry I was such a dope – if you were queer, I should have asked you out the right way or at least made friends, and if you were straight, well, you once got asked out extremely badly by a bisexual girl and you are welcome to laugh at me.

Those of you who are in that place right now — make friends. And good luck. My heart goes out to you :)

Shira Glassman blogs and posts character art here.

2013 Rainbow Book Awards

We want to congratulate ALL winners and runner-ups.  However please give a special shout-out to our Torquere/Prizm winners!!!

The link for all winners is:  http://reviews-and-ramblings.dreamwidth.org

Best LGBT Young Adult
2. Jere' M. Fishback - Tyler Buckspan

6. Huston Piner - My Life as a Myth

7. Laura Hughes - Don't Ask


Best B/T & LGBT Debut
2. Laura Hughes - Don't Ask


Best Gay Debut
9. Huston Piner - My Life as a Myth


Best LGBT Novel
3. Laura Hughes - Don't Ask

Dreaming Big!

When I was 16, having read Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings for the fourth time, I tried my hand at writing fantasy. A dismal failure. Way too derivative. I gave up, except for one university assignment where I successfully told the Beowulf story from the queen’s perspective.

For the next few years, I wrote a little poetry and got busy in community development work. Then, I got a job where I had to tell two stories every week. I needed to delve into old myths and let them shine light on modern everyday questions. This was really good practice (I work as a protestant minister.)

So about ten years ago, when the itch to write fantasy could no longer be resisted, I delved into the myths of Greece. I immersed myself in that world and began to tell the story of a girl who meets a centaur. Eventually I enrolled in a correspondence program in creative writing and learned how little I knew about setting a scene and narrative arc.  I revised and revised and revised. Learned a lot! That story waits in a drawer for rebirth one of these days. But I had the bug, and a bit more of the knack. I picked up another theme, the captive princess/ Helen of Troy story. Once more I plunged into the world when the gods of Olympus were young. The novel  Moon of the Goddess published here at Prizm Books came to be.

This novel required two research trips to Greece, a wonderful side benefit to the choice of setting! And it took lots of revision, and some patient, helpful readers. But I enjoyed the project from start to finish. I hope you do too!

So, if you dream of writing, or whatever, don’t give up! The princess in Moon of the Goddess didn’t. I didn’t. Keep at it and amazing things can happen.

Holiday New Release!

A Christmas Caroler
By: John Amory
42 pages / 12000 words
ISBN: 978-1-61040-620-8
$2.99
Buy Link: http://www.prizmbooks.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=81
Blurb:
Jeremy Walsh is a high school senior who's got big plans for his future -- namely, to perform at Carnegie Hall. But before he can get there, he needs to secure the solo in his renowned high school choir's Christmas concert and get into college. Everything seems to be on track until a cute new student, Zach Brooks, shows up and ruins all of Jeremy's plans by snatching the solo out from under him. With his college auditions looming and the Christmas concert fast approaching, Jeremy has more on his plate than he can handle. Can the magic of the Christmas season bring Jeremy and Zach together?
Coming Next Week...


The Syrup Incident
Ava Kelly
What could bloody knives, closets, cheesecake, shovels, and dark alleys have in common? I’ll tell you what: heart attacks!
Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, Mystery/Suspense, Romance