Clean
by Mia Kerick
Release Date: December 1st 2015
Young Dudes Publishing
Summary from Goodreads:
High school senior Lanny Keating has it all. A three-sport athlete at Lauserville High School looking at a college football scholarship, with a supportive family, stellar grades, boy band good looks… until the fateful day when it all falls apart.
Seventeen-year-old Trevor Ladd has always been a publicly declared zero and the high school badboy. Abandoned by his mother and sexually abused by his legal guardian, Trevor sets his sights on mere survival.
Lanny seeks out Trevor’s companionship to avoid his shattered home life. Unwilling to share their personal experiences of pain, the boys explore ways to escape, leading them into sexual experimentation, and the abuse of illegal drugs and alcohol. Their mutual suffering creates a lasting bond of friendship and love.
When the time finally comes to get clean and sober, or flunk out of high school, only one of the boys will graduate, while the other spirals downward into addiction.
Will Lanny and Trevor find the strength to battle their demons of mind-altering substances as well as emotional vulnerability?
Clean takes the reader on a gritty trip into the real and raw world of teenage substance abuse.
About the Author
Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox players. Her husband of twenty years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled men and their relationships, and she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.
Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com.
Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled men and their relationships, and she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.
Mia is proud of her involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.
Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com.
Author Links:
Hello and
thank you for inviting me to your blog to promote my new release Clean.
1) Talk to us about your characters in
this book. What makes them unique?
I tried
very hard to make Lanny and Trevor come alive to the readers. With Lanny, I
used a first person present narrative in which he thinks about everything he
must deal with, all the pain in his life with his parents and his disabled
sister, his growing feelings of love for Trevor, his gradual dependence on the
substances that help to get him through each day. I think this very personal
portrayal of a seventeen-year-old boy’s struggle to survive, provides a unique
glimpse into his mind, and allows the reader to truly know and understand a
character who is very good in many ways, but who is doing the wrong thing at
every turn.
Trevor is
truly a unique character, as well. He is a tortured hero, a very good bad boy. Beta
readers have expressed a wide range of feelings about Trevor; some have a
difficult time warming up to him, others are emotionally with him from the
moment he enters the story. Trevor is a very damaged person. Nonetheless, he is
strong. He has used his fine-tuned defense mechanisms to avoid showing emotional
honesty to others, because he has learned that love leads to pain, and
dependence leads to torture. The way I convey Trevor’s unique way of looking at
the world is through the use of a stream of consciousness technique that I
researched deeply. I wanted the reader to experience Trevor’s thoughts and
feelings right along with him. I wrote and rewrote the Trevor passages, until I
finally had it exactly as I wanted it—understandable, yet random.
2) What was
one of the most surprising things you learned in getting your book from start
to publish?
I was
surprised by the fact that I had to put Clean aside halfway through writing it
and focus on a different project, as it was very emotional for me to write and
a bit depressing, as well. I was surprised at the emotional toll reading Clean took
on my beta readers. Their reactions were intense. I was also surprised by the impact
the book had on my publisher, as well.
3) Have you
ever gone to a convention? If so, how was it? If not, do you think it’s something
you’d like to do in the future?
I have
attended several conventions, though none recently.I attended a Writers Digest conference
in New York City, and I went to the workshops and learned a great deal about writing
compelling romance. I also went to the YALSA Conference in Austin Texas where I
was able to show my book to many YA librarians and readers. I had a lot of fun
and learned a great deal at both conferences, and I would definitely like to go
to another. I think I would enjoy going to GRL in Kansas City next year if I
can get and author’s position there. We’ll see!!
4) Would
you like to be a full-time writer?
Yes...and
lucky me, I pretty much am a full-time writer. Not that I make as much money as
a full-time...well, a full-time anything! But I spend at least 40-60 hoursper
week working on writing fiction, writing blog posts, promoting my books, and
doing all kind of everything to make the public aware of my books. I am lucky
because I get to write full-time, as I am a homemaker and my kids are in high
school and college. And I am also lucky because I am able to write for the joy
of it, not just for the financial benefit.
5) Design
the ultimate pizza.
I don’t
need to design it, as Pizzeria Uno has already done this!! I love their
deep-dish individual cheese pizza. In fact, I want one right now.
GIVEAWAY:
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