The Storm in our Chests

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Enrique Betancourt will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

After being separated abruptly, best friends Benj and Élan reunite after five years. They are not children anymore, and teenage and experience changed them.

Benj used to be an isolated antisocial child, now he’s popular and outgoing, leaving for college in the following year.

Élan used to be chipper, now he’s sad and insecure after years of being tossed around the foster system and realizing he is gay, crushing on a boy he thinks is unattainable.

Their reunion proves to be a challenge as they are the polar opposites of how they knew each other, the journey to healing and proves to be tough. Bonding again may be the only thing that saves them. Through small moments and swift dramatic turns, Benj and Élan will have to prove they are more than friends - they are buddies, and the epitome of unconditional love.

Read an Excerpt:

ÉLAN

“Please! Don’t take my best friend away!”

I remember. Hurts every time.

Even if it’s been five years, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget that. The day that changed the course of my life, and the moment when I realized everything was lost. He was running behind the car, trying to reach me. I was crying, sobbing real tears that threatened to break my already shattered heart. I remember asking the social workers for leniency, to let me say goodbye to Benj. But they said this was for the better. They said this is what it was meant to be. They said it wouldn’t hurt that bad this way.

It still hurts every day.

I looked through the window and I saw him, crying for me. That was the last time I heard someone who loved me cry out my name. I know it’s stupid, it’s been five years and I should probably try to move on. Sometimes I want to forget, but then I remember that it would be worse. If I forgot Benj, I’d probably be hollow. So I held on to the memory of us as long as I could. He was my light in the darkness.

Every night filled with shadows, he was my anchor to strength. I kept saying that one day we’d meet again and things would be like they used to be, so I try to be strong. Even if I grow hair in unexpected places and my voice deepens, or if I’m taller, he would still like me. Even if I don’t see life the same way as before, he would still love me.

I was not Batman, he was.

He was my Batman.

About the Author:

I am the published writer of a novel called THE IMAGINARIUM OF THE INNOCENT by Austin Macauley Publishers, and also I have been awarded the Rosa Maria Porrúa Award for my Spanish-language novella SOBRE LAS CENIZAS. My books stand out for their literacy excellence that got me an award, and the dramatic and emotional way I handle my characters. I am Mexican who lived 6 years in the United States, I love to read, to write and music is such a powerful inspiring force for me.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7370307.Enrique_A_Betancourt
Twitter: https://twitter.com/enribetan

Purchase Links:

Barnes & Noble (Nook): https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1129696264…
Amazon (Kindle): https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HMNTR63/
Apple Books / iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/…/the-storm-in-our-c…/id1438271505…
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/the-storm-in-our-chests

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Can Dreams Come True? by Krysten Lindsay Hager

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Krysten Lindsay Hager will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

What books were your favorite as a youth and why?

My Mother was Never a Kid by Francine Pascal. One of my favorite YA novels of all time. Victoria time travels to see what her mother was like as a kid. The humor in this one is great.

The Great Mom Swap by Betsey Haynes. I was obsessed with this book as a kid. One of the characters, Scottie, wants to be an author, too.

Good-bye, Glamour Girl by Erika Tamar. I read this for the first time the summer after 5th grade. It’s a coming of age story about a girl whose family escaped Europe during WWII and she is trying to assimilate in America.

What did you want to be when you grew up? Why?

I always wanted to be a writer, but I also wanted to write for a soap opera and eventually create my own. I guess the novels I write—in particular the series books—are kind of like a soap in their own way.

What would you write in a letter to your teen self?

I would tell myself not to focus on what other people think and not to worry about keeping up with a certain image. I would also tell myself to enjoy writing without worrying about whether or not I got published.

What book is on your nightstand currently?

Save Me, Kurt Cobain

Favorite TV show from your childhood?

I was obsessed with soaps when I was a kid and I was devastated when they cancelled One Life to Live. I had been watching it since childhood.

Sum up your book for Twitter: 140 characters or less.

The idea of dating your favorite singer is the ultimate dream, but what happens when he likes you back?

Ideal summer vacation.

I love going to cute beach towns on Lake Michigan. I wrote two young adult books set in Grand Haven: Next Door to a Star and the other one is Competing with the Star. It’s such a pretty town and my favorite place in summer.

Which of your characters would you most like to meet IRL? Why?

Andrew Holiday! I’d love to talk to him and find out more about him. He’s so grounded for his age and isn’t caught up in his ego like you’d think he would be.

You’ve just won a million dollars and you’re not allowed to save any of it. What do you spend it on?

Can I buy a lake cottage??? Something really cute and vintage looking.

Playlist for your current book.

Lights Down Low by MAX: The first time I heard this song I thought this is the type of song Andrew Holiday would write and sing. It also addresses how Cecily would feel going into a relationship with someone like him.

Perfect by Ed Sheeran: Ed helped inspire me as I was writing the book. This song came out after the book had been picked up by the publisher, but it really sums up the type of those sweet love songs that Andrew would sing and would make Cecily like him more as an artist.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World performed by Aron Wright: This is the kind of music I imagine Andrew would perform.

I Feel It Coming by The Weekend: I could see Andrew recording a song like this and I listened to this song a lot while doing the final edit of the story.

End Game by Taylor Swift Ft. Ed Sheeran: This song fits the book because Cecily is reeling over having her steady trustworthy boyfriend, Zach, show another side of himself. Plus, her feeling she might fit with Andrew and realizing what a big deal that would be if they started dating.

Faith by George Michael: This is the type of song I can see Andrew singing. George inspired me to write this book, too.

Cecily has always had a huge crush on singer Andrew Holiday and she wants to be an actress, so she tags along when her friend auditions for his new video. However, the director isn’t looking for an actress, but rather the girl next door—and so is Andrew. Cecily gets a part in the video and all of Andrew’s attention on the set. Her friend begins to see red and Cecily’s boyfriend is seeing green—as in major jealousy. A misunderstanding leaves Cecily and her boyfriend on the outs and Andrew hopes to pick up the pieces as he’s looking for someone more stable in his life than the models he’s dated. Soon Cecily begins to realize Andrew understands her more than her small-town boyfriend—but can her perfect love match really be her favorite rock star?

Read the excerpt:

I started to feel anxious after lunch. After all, I had been an Andrew fan for a long time, and even though I had seen him in person, this was a huge deal to get to meet him. What if he wasn’t what I had imagined? I didn’t expect him to fawn over me or anything, but what if he was rude or ignored me? It would kill my fantasy of him as being this sweet, quiet, sensitive songwriter who wore his heart on his sleeve while also being kind of a loner/rebel with just a touch of bad boy in him. Oh man, I would be crushed if he didn’t notice me or worse—if he ended up flirting with Harlow.

In all his magazine interviews Andrew always said looks weren’t important to him, and what he noticed in a girl was if she was true to herself. He said he went for “bright girls who were sweet and easy to be with.” Now that I thought about it, that was the kind of fake crap magazines put out about all the teen celebrities. It was like when I saw Lawrence Claibourne, my favorite actor who claimed to be Mr. I’m-just-looking-for-a-sweetgirl-to-read-poetry-to on a red carpet with a model whose boobs were falling out of her dress and had overdone the lip fillers—I mean, you just knew he wasn’t into her for her personality. But Andrew wasn’t like Lawrence. Andrew seemed so sincere and deep. Lawrence had a smirk and you could tell he was a player, but Andrew seemed like he had been hurt and needed to find the right girl who he could open up to and learn to trust again. . .or at least that’s what he said in his last interview.

The final bell rang and my heart shot up to my throat. This was it. I was on my way to meet my crush. From now on, any dreams of him would be marred by the reality I was about to face.

Was it better to keep wondering what if and keep the fantasy alive or to go and actually meet him?

About the Author:

Krysten Lindsay Hager writes about friendship, self-esteem, fitting in, frenemies, crushes, fame, first loves, and values. She is the author of True Colors, Best Friends...Forever?, Next Door to a Star, Landry in Like, Competing with the Star, Dating the It Guy, and Can Dreams Come True? True Colors, won the Readers Favorite award for best preteen book and the Dayton Book Expo Bestseller Award for children/teens. Competing with the Star is a Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist.

Krysten's work has been featured in USA Today, The Flint Journal, the Grand Haven Tribune, the Beavercreek Current, the Bellbrook Times, Springfield News-Sun, Grand Blanc View, Dayton Daily News and on the talk show Living Dayton.

WEBSITE: http://www.krystenlindsay.com/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/krystenlindsay/
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/KrystenLindsay
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KrystenLindsayHagerAuthor
PINTEREST: https://www.pinterest.com/krystenlindsay/
AMAZON BIO: https://www.amazon.com/Krysten-Lindsay-Hager/e/B00L2JC9P2/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1

Buy the book at the following venues:

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079S3KJSH
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079S3KJSH
Amazon IN: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B079S3KJSH
Amazon Germany: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B079S3KJSH
Amazon Canada: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B079S3KJSH
Amazon AUS: https://www.amazon.com.au/Dreams-Come-True-Cecily-Taylor-ebook/dp/B079S3KJSH
Barnes and Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/can-dreams-come-true-krysten-lindsay-hager/1128104849?ean=9781621357469

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Wedge of Fear by Eugene M. Gagliano

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Eugene M. Gagliano will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Overshadowed by the death of his brother, Tony is about to encounter the western way of life when his parents move from the East Coast to Wyoming. Starting in a new school as a sixth grader isn’t easy when your controlling mother is fearful of everything. Tony likes his new teacher, Mr. Brunswick, but Regina, the class bully, does her best to makes his life difficult. Jed, the son of a rancher, befriends Tony and helps him adjust to his new environment. Life becomes more complicated when his grandmother dies and a series of unpredictable events causes his father to question his ability to take care of himself and be responsible. In the end, Tony is tested when a tornado rips through his neighborhood.

Read an Excerpt

“Pssst. Pssst,” Regina said, waving a folded piece of paper under her desk. Through the classroom window, the early morning sun turned her hair to gold, as if she wore a halo. It should have given her horns instead. Tony looked at Regina. Why was she giving him a note? He ignored her.

“Come on, take it,” she whispered, pushing the note toward him.

He reached over and took the note. Tony unfolded it and read, MR. BRUNSWICK IS A JERK!

Tony glared at Regina. She gave him an innocent smile and raised her chubby hand.

“Mr. Brunswick. Tony’s passing notes,” she said.

“Tony, let me see the note.” Mr. Brunswick placed a math book down on his desk.

Tony stiffened and clenched his fists. He could feel his face turning red. “But I didn’t…” Tony was afraid to say that Regina wrote the note. Who knew what she might do to him? But he didn’t want Mr. Brunswick to think he didn’t like him. Frustrated, he bit his lip and fidgeted in his chair.

“Just bring it here, please.”

“Yes, sir.”

He brought the note up to Mr. Brunswick. Tony plunged his fists deep into his pockets and glared at Regina. Mr. Brunswick looked puzzled as he read the note.

“Tony, I’m surprised at you.” He frowned. “I want to talk to you after school.”

Tony nodded his head in agreement and hurried back to his desk. He slid into his seat. Regina smiled at him with folded hands, looking innocent as an angel.

About the Author:

Wyoming’s State Poet Laureate, known by many children as the “teacher who dances on his desk,“ Gene Gagliano is a retired elementary school teacher with a great sense of humor, who lives with his wife Carol at the base of the Bighorn Mountains in Buffalo, Wyoming. Gene is the author of: C is for Cowboy, a Wyoming Alphabet; Four Wheels West, a Wyoming Number Book; V is for Venus Flytrap, a Plant Alphabet; My Teacher Dances on the Desk; Little Wyoming; The Magic Box; Angel’s Landing; Booger, Dee and the Mammoth, and Is It True? A collection of humorous poetry. His newest book is a middle grade fiction book titled Wedge of Fear. He enjoys making his educational, entertaining and inspirational school visits, as well as presenting for adults at conferences and library functions. Gene’s hobbies include hiking, canoeing, singing, reading, painting, and gardening.

To learn more about the author go to Gene’s website and to his Facebook page.

http://www.gargene.com/main
https://www.facebook.com/dancingteacher

Wedge of Fear is available on Amazon.com: http://a.co/d/gY2VS8O

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Willow Bloom and the Dream Keepers by E.V. Farrell

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. E.V. Farrell will be awarding the use of the winner's name in the sequel to Willow Bloom and the Dream Keepers to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Willow Bloom’s biggest challenge is to organise her thirteenth birthday party. However, a walk in the woods near her home provides some big surprises – a mystical guardian from another world, a magical forest, and the discovery that her parents are part of a secret order that protects dreams. With the discovery comes a calling. A prophecy tells of a young one who can push back the dark forces that threaten to corrupt our hopes and dreams. Is Willow that young one? Can she take on the forces of evil, the Underlord Maliceius, and win?

Read an Excerpt

Willow swallowed uncomfortably at the unexpected sadness in her mother’s words. She held back a few moments. “Mum,” she said softly, “why hasn’t there been a Light Keeper in our family for so long? And what exactly is a Light Keeper?”

Her mother didn’t answer straight away; there was a faraway look in her eyes.

“Those are big questions, Willow, that require big answers.”

Audrey slowly tucked her hair behind her ears then crossed her arms on the table.

“There haven’t been many Light Keepers anywhere for over a century and there are very good reasons as to why, and we will tell you. But just not right now – not all at once. And why I haven’t been Awakened – well, I wasn’t chosen. Simple as that.”

She lowered her eyes.

Willow stared at her mother. She wanted to say something but felt completely lost for words. So she had been chosen and her mother not? Why?

About the Author:

E.V. Farrell lives in rural Victoria with her husband and two sons. This is her first novel.

http://www.hooklinebooks.com/young-adult-novels.php
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ev_farrell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
The book is on sale for only $0.99

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Willow-Bloom-Dream-Keepers-Farrell-ebook/dp/B07GDPSRH5/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/willow-bloom-and-the-dream-keepers

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Goddess Fish Tenth Anniversary Month Celebration

Welcome to the Goddess Fish Promotions Tenth Anniversary Month Long Celebration!

Who is Goddess Fish Promotions? And what do we do? We're glad you asked!

We didn't want your visit here to be dry and boring, so we decided to have a poetry competition and put what we do into verse. Here are the initial entries:

Marianne:

Roses are Red.
Violets are Blue.
I'm awful at poetry.
Coffee.

Judy:

You've written a book
And now you say
You want people to look
And hopefully pay.

So come see us
To create a tour for you
Without a fuss
And you won't be blue.

Yeah, for some reason, Judy won!

Even better, her poem is correct. We DO offer virtual book tours as one of our options! Here are a couple of testimonials from clients:

Working with Goddess Fish was such a pleasant and professional experience. Each and every morning, they were on top of the tour stops, thanking the host and engaging the readers. I’ve had such positive feedback on this tour and cannot thank Goddess Fish enough. I look forward to working with them again in the future. – John Feldman, author of Out of Hiding

*

It is a pleasure to work with such a professional company. I am so pleased with everything from start to finish. The tour hosts always do a wonderful job setting up the post and spreading the word. I appreciate the hosts who took the time to read my book and write an honest review. The response from the tour is amazing.

I look forward to working with Goddess Fish Promotions again for my next release. – Kathleen Ann Gallagher, author of Night Magic

We also offer Virtual Book Tours, Graphic Design, Social Media Promotion and more. You can see more testimonials here.

We hope you enjoyed getting to know us a little (more information is below) and we'd like to do the same. We'd LOVE to see a little poem that tells us a bit about you in the comments. We'll be awarding random book giveaways and $5 Amazon GCs to some of the best poetry we find. It might not be at every stop, but when something really makes us smile, we'll reward it! Come on, be daring...

And now, more about us:

About Goddess Fish Promotions

Goddess Fish Promotions was established October 14, 2008. Why? Well, when Marianne became a published author and got her the first taste of trying to promote a book on a budget, there was only one other virtual book tour company in place at the time, and their fees were simply too high for a small press author. After coordinating and running her own tour, she knew other authors could use the same service for a reasonable price. Thus, Goddess Fish Promotions was born.

Because both Judy and Marianne were authors and editors prior to running Goddess Fish Promotions, they approach the business with a unique point of view, and treat their clients how they would expect to be treated.

The people behind the fish

Judy Thomas -- The Goddess

Judy has a college degree in English and she’s worked in retail, education, at her local library as well as an editor for a small press and for the now defunct ShadowKeep Ezine. She’s also a published author so can see things from both sides of the fence. In 2013, she “retired” and now spends her days helping authors make their dream come true—as well as working as much as she can with her local theater group.

Marianne Arkins - Fish

Grammar freak and coffee lover, Marianne wrote her first novel at ten years old, built her first commercial website in 2000, and published for the first time in 2006. She worked as a professional editor for just over a year, and knows what it’s like to write, edit and promote a book on a budget.

One of our interviews during the tour explains our nicknames ... keep visiting daily to find out!

http://www.goddessfish.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoddessFishPromotions
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GoddessFish
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/goddessfish/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariannejudy/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+Goddessfish

Now, the goodies ... want to win stuff? Here are the rafflecopters:

Readers: a Rafflecopter giveaway Authors: a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Exene Chronicles by Camille A. Collins

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Camille will be awarding a lovely pen and notebook to a randomly drawn winner. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Camille A. Collins's lyrical debut novel speaks to the passionate engagement of adolescent girls—with music, with injustice, with love, with life. This is a courageous coming-of-age story, one that poet Nikki Giovanni recommends "sharing with our teenage sons and daughters."

Collins's 1980s southern California set novel is a literary debut that tackles social inequality with poetic riffs and heart-pounding angst.

Read an Excerpt:

Cobblestones, crisscrossed by scarlet rills…

Away from the clean, wide streets of Coronado, downtown San Diego, with its vagrant hotels, Salvation Army treasures, and errant trash tumbling along the gutters, provided Ryan and Lia some undefined relief. The grit egged on their teething pathos, their emerging view of life through some inverted prism, where on the one hand, they believed that in some far-off distance they would attain a sort of middle-class contentment, but for the present, nothing besides a noncommittal flirtation with the dark, baneful, and untoward, procured in the pedestrian way of most fourteen-year- olds (through books, music, and imaginative musings), could create for them a sense of satisfaction.

In order to feed their insatiable quest for all things bleak on a diet more substantial than what Danielle Steel had to offer, the girls’ eighth grade English teacher introduced them to Baudelaire. Whether or not they had really understood The Fountain of Blood was hard to say.

“Romeo and Juliet isn’t so melodramatic,” Ryan murmured reflectively.

“I mean, who wouldn’t die for love? I would…if it came to that.”

“You’re nuts.”

“It’s just…I think that Prince song is right: the party’s over in the year 2000. Do you realize we’ll be, like, thirty years old, if we even live to see 2000?”

“Wait. What’s that got to do with anything?” Lia frowned.

“I dunno, it’s just … I’d rather die young for love instead of living without it, not knowing what might happen. Have you ever seen those warships down at the end of Palm Avenue? I hate them.”

Lia paused to consider Ryan’s words.

“You’re right. I never thought about it that way … but you’re absolutely right. I guess I’d prefer it that way too.”

Apparently, what Mrs. Buchanan had offered as a cautionary tale had suffered gross misinterpretation.

About the Author: Camille A. Collins has an MFA in Creative Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been the recipient of the Short Fiction Prize from the South Carolina Arts Commission, and her writing has appeared in The African-American National Biography, published by Harvard University and Oxford University Press; in The Twisted Vine, a literary journal of Western New Mexico University, and other places.

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B07HGLR7FN/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vu00_tkin_p1_i0
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4398269.Camille_Collins
Publisher Author Page: http://www.brainmillpress.com/the-exene-chronicles

Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FB2MHT1/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i0

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Labors of an Epic Punk by Mark & Sheri Dursin

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Mark and Sheri Dursin will be awarding a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Why do you write juvenile fiction? What draws you to it?

MARK: I don’t know if I’m “drawn” to YA literature in general. For example, the “dark” and “edgy” subset of YA lit does not really appeal to me at all. Instead, I prefer books that fall into the “John Green” camp—stories that balance humor and insight, populated with likable, relatively normal characters. Voice is really important to me, and my favorite YA books—going all the way back to Catcher in the Rye—have that.

What’s your favorite sweet treat?

SHERI: This one is super easy for me to answer…ice cream! My absolute favorite dessert is Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. Sadly, they have a very mean tendency to discontinue some of my favorite flavors (Dublin Mudslide, Fossil Fuel.) But thankfully there are still many great flavors to choose from!

What superpower would you love to have? Why?

MARK: I’ve got to go with teleportation. Think of all the time you’d save. Some technical things will have be worked out, obviously—How do you not teleport INTO something or someone? Are all your molecules being taken apart and then put back together? Do your clothes get teleported along with you? (Because if not, that’s kind of a deal-breaker)? But overall, I think teleportation has all the advantages of flight, without worrying about getting bugs in your eyes.

What book is on your nightstand currently?

SHERI: Right now I’m in the middle of three books: 1) The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes. She’s been one of my favorite authors since I first discovered her years ago. She has an amazing way of writing humor but also touching on deep and serious topics. 2) The Caller by Juliet Marillier which is part three of the Shadowfell series, a YA fantasy trilogy. She writes fantasy novels for adults and teens and she’s my favorite! 3) The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. I’ve heard so many great things about this book, and obviously it falls right in my mythology wheel house so I’m excited to finish it!

What reality show would you love to be on? Why?

I would love to be on Survivor because this show has been a family favorite for years. My boys absolutely love it and we haven’t missed a season since they discovered it. Sadly, I think I would be the world’s worst Survivor contestant (I’m not very athletic or outdoorsy) and I would probably be voted off the island on the first episode!

Favorite TV show from your childhood?

MARK: Looking back, I watched a lot of shows in the Happy Day universe—Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mork and Mindy, even Joanie Loves Chachi. I can’t remember more than a handful of episodes, but those shows were definitely “Must See TV” for me in the late 70s/ early 80s—which seems very quizzical to me now. As an adult, I have some questions about Happy Days: What does it mean to “sit on it”? What made the Fonz so cool, anyway? He hung out with a bunch of nerdy high school kids, and his “office” was the bathroom at Arnold’s.

Mac is an epic punk. No wonder: after his dad went off to fight in the Trojan War and never came back, Mac spent his childhood evading his mom's scumbag suitors—all one-hundred-and-eight of them. Of course, he turned out this way—a moody, friendless sixteen-year-old who blows off work, alienates everyone at school, and pulls pranks. But when he trains a flock of birds to defecate on the headmaster, Mac (short for Telemachus) goes too far. The administrators give him an ultimatum: prove that he's truly the son of Odysseus by doing something heroic—or get out. A school story that just so happens to take place 3,000 years ago, Labors of an Epic Punk is a tale of friendship and transformation, regret and redemption, and a reminder to us all that even heroes need to survive adolescence.

Enjoy an Excerpt

Mac never remembered his name. He only knew him as the short kid with the bad foot and the big mouth who had the distinction of being, almost without peer, the least “cool” kid in school. Not because of his height, exactly (he barely reached Mac’s shoulders), or any other aspect of his physical appearance—his floppy black hair, say, or his ill-fitting school-issued tunic. And not even because of his pronounced limp, caused by a twisted, misshapen left foot. Those things didn’t help, certainly, but he could have been better looking than Adonis himself, and none of that would have mattered. He was just different.

And today, the kid was definitely different. While everyone else had on these goofy battle accessories, this guy was decked out in an obviously homemade furry cape with a hood, a circular mane-kind-of-thing tied around his chin.

“What are you supposed to be?” Mac heard someone ask, as the pitiable sap limped to the front of the group, wearing his weird get-up and clutching a large sack and a bunch of scrolls.

“For your information,” the kid said, disdainfully, “this is an original Nemean lion costume.” Met with silence, he clarified. “Uh, Nemean lion? Heracles had to kill it as one of his labors? You people honestly don’t know the Nemean lion?”

“Why do you have it?” another person asked.

“My mom made this for me when I was in the fifth grade.”

“You can fit into something from the fifth grade?” an anonymous voice asked.

About the Authors:

For many years Mark, a high school English teacher, and Sheri, a freelance writer and blogger, wrote independently. No matter the writing project—newspaper articles, retreat talks, college recommendation letters, fan-fiction, blog posts on spirituality or 80s pop songs—they tended to work alone. Separate rooms, separate computers. But raising their twin sons helped them discover an important truth: All Good Things Come in Twos.

https://epicpunk.com/

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