Release Date: December 1st 2015
Young Dudes Publishing
Summary:
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.
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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.
Author Links:
Hello, and thank you so much for welcoming me to your blog today. I am so thrilled to be here to celebrate the release of my new YA LGBTQ Contemporary Romantic Fiction, Clean.
Today I’d like to talk about critical events that have shaped who I am, and relate this topic to my new release.
Have you ever played your life through your mind like a movie, but quicker? I did this in an effort to determine the events in my life that have shaped who I am. What I realized as I did this, was that it wasn’t single events that shaped my life, as much it was “event themes” that molded me into the person I am. So I will now fill you in on some of the themes that have shaped me:
1. Romance Theme - Over the summer when I was about ten, I remember being at the beach and watching couples stroll along the shore hand-in-hand. When they waded into the water and wrapped their arms around each other, I just knew I wanted what they had. And since I wasn’t old enough to actually have that for myself, I started creating “families” with pictures of a cute young man (my husband) and (my) children clipped from my mother’s home magazines.And I started to write pre-romance stories. So the concept behind this theme in my life was introduced to me as a child and shaped a huge part of me.
2. Teaching/Job Theme - Realizing that I could actually do what I was trained to do in college, the huge sense of accomplishment I felt as a result, was an empowerment that gave me confidence and shaped me. It was difficult—one of the most difficult things I’d ever done—to face 100 squirming seventh graders in the classroom five days a week. I had to challenge them and interest them and earn their respect and show them compassion. And to top it off, there was all of the paperwork and correcting that went with it. But getting the job in the first place, being creative with lesson plans, and successfully implementing them was something I could do. That is a feeling that shapes you.
3. Intimate Relationships Theme - I think this theme of my life has shaped me more than any of the others. From a young age I wanted to have a boyfriend, and as I grew older I longed to have a partner with whom I could share my life. I’m just programmed this way, I guess. But the places my search for romance took me were what shaped me the most. The negative relationships in which I sought security and couldn’t find it, the boyfriends who wanted only one thing from me and did whatever it took to earn barely enough trust to get it, some relationships in which there was a level of emotional abuse that I tolerated so I didn’t have to be alone. And then the relief and release I experienced upon meeting the man I married and how my comfort and security with him shaped me in a different way. I still dream of being alone and looking for the desired partner to complete my life.
4. Pregnancy and Children Theme - Strangely, where I was rather obsessed by the notion of having a person with whom to share my life, I was not obsessed with the idea of having children. This sentiment lasted until I was married for one year and then an irresistible urge started to mold me. I suddenly HAD to have a child with my husband. It was a desire so strong that like the other desires in my life it became a life-shaper. And after a miscarriage that further convinced me I needed to be a mother, I become pregnant, had a baby, and was faced with motherhood. At first I was honestly afraid to be alone with baby #1. Terrified, even. But just like I’d done with teaching job, I dove right in and did what needed to be done. And the realization that this job was a 24/7 job that no one else could do but me, made me grow up. Motherhood also drew out characteristics I didn’t recognize, like protectiveness and empathy as well as the inability to be happy,myself ,without seeing the smiles on my kids’ faces. Motherhood shaped me to be a braver, more confident and selfless person.
5. Adoption Theme - My son’s adoption was an event that changed me greatly. I think it was the “taking a leap” aspect of adopting that made me grow the most. You never know what is instore for you in life, and when you give birth to a child you take whatever God gives you. Adoption is a very deliberate choice. You are choosing to love as your own a virtual stranger, from the moment he is placed into your arms. This decision took soul searching, as we are parents of three children already, and the decision was not just about us. I learned of the huge capacity our human hearts have for love. I loved my son from the day I saw his picture. I loved him before that day, when I didn’t know who he was going to be, and I wrote a journal dedicated to “little one” my someday baby from South Korea. Meeting other adoptive families and being exposed to the openness of hearts, further opened mine.
6. Writing Career Theme -The development of my professional writing career has factored largely into making me who I am. At first I had to allow the creativity to flow, and then I had to let it be judged. Was what was in my heart sufficiently worthy to be put into print so others could take it into their hearts? A terrifying concept. I then had to place it before the public and let it be judged by anyone and everyone. I had to accept the criticisms along with the praise. I had to bare myself to the world, in many senses. And it was scary and thrilling and empowering and I have done it fifteen times, including Clean. So I think it has shaped me in a positive manner and into a more creative, open minded, tuned-in person. Realizing success had actually molded me into a more optimistic person, as well.
7. Death of People I Love - There is no doubt that losing people who you love to death causes you to change profoundly. About fifteen years ago I lost my father, and with him, there was an enormous battle in my soul about what I was going to believe in terms of heaven and whetherthere anything beyond this life. His death forced me to face a reality: life ends. And it forced me to deal with that fact. When my mother passed away this summer, I had new issues to deal with. I was very close to her, so there was a loss of a person I spoke to every day. I felt I had to step up and be strong for my children. I had to again face my issues involving my faith regarding whether there is an afterlife. And prior to this, I had to help my mother deal with eight years of intermittent suffering due to her illness before her death. All of these responsibilities and questions and deep emotions are responsible for shaping me into who I am today.
Lanny and Trevor have also experienced life-shaping events. In Clean, we experience the aftermath of painful events in these boys’ lives. Lanny experiences a horrible accident in his immediate family that shapes the dynamics of the family so that they are completely dysfunctional, thus creating the need in Lanny for a coping mechanism. Trevor is enduring a painful and dangerous interaction with his guardian. In order to survive the abuse, Trevor is forced to shape himself into a defensive person who seemingly cannot be hurt.
Life-changing events can carry with them happiness or sorrow, gains or losses, joy or devastation. Without experiencing them, though, we would not be who we are today.
Today I’d like to talk about critical events that have shaped who I am, and relate this topic to my new release.
Have you ever played your life through your mind like a movie, but quicker? I did this in an effort to determine the events in my life that have shaped who I am. What I realized as I did this, was that it wasn’t single events that shaped my life, as much it was “event themes” that molded me into the person I am. So I will now fill you in on some of the themes that have shaped me:
1. Romance Theme - Over the summer when I was about ten, I remember being at the beach and watching couples stroll along the shore hand-in-hand. When they waded into the water and wrapped their arms around each other, I just knew I wanted what they had. And since I wasn’t old enough to actually have that for myself, I started creating “families” with pictures of a cute young man (my husband) and (my) children clipped from my mother’s home magazines.And I started to write pre-romance stories. So the concept behind this theme in my life was introduced to me as a child and shaped a huge part of me.
2. Teaching/Job Theme - Realizing that I could actually do what I was trained to do in college, the huge sense of accomplishment I felt as a result, was an empowerment that gave me confidence and shaped me. It was difficult—one of the most difficult things I’d ever done—to face 100 squirming seventh graders in the classroom five days a week. I had to challenge them and interest them and earn their respect and show them compassion. And to top it off, there was all of the paperwork and correcting that went with it. But getting the job in the first place, being creative with lesson plans, and successfully implementing them was something I could do. That is a feeling that shapes you.
3. Intimate Relationships Theme - I think this theme of my life has shaped me more than any of the others. From a young age I wanted to have a boyfriend, and as I grew older I longed to have a partner with whom I could share my life. I’m just programmed this way, I guess. But the places my search for romance took me were what shaped me the most. The negative relationships in which I sought security and couldn’t find it, the boyfriends who wanted only one thing from me and did whatever it took to earn barely enough trust to get it, some relationships in which there was a level of emotional abuse that I tolerated so I didn’t have to be alone. And then the relief and release I experienced upon meeting the man I married and how my comfort and security with him shaped me in a different way. I still dream of being alone and looking for the desired partner to complete my life.
4. Pregnancy and Children Theme - Strangely, where I was rather obsessed by the notion of having a person with whom to share my life, I was not obsessed with the idea of having children. This sentiment lasted until I was married for one year and then an irresistible urge started to mold me. I suddenly HAD to have a child with my husband. It was a desire so strong that like the other desires in my life it became a life-shaper. And after a miscarriage that further convinced me I needed to be a mother, I become pregnant, had a baby, and was faced with motherhood. At first I was honestly afraid to be alone with baby #1. Terrified, even. But just like I’d done with teaching job, I dove right in and did what needed to be done. And the realization that this job was a 24/7 job that no one else could do but me, made me grow up. Motherhood also drew out characteristics I didn’t recognize, like protectiveness and empathy as well as the inability to be happy,myself ,without seeing the smiles on my kids’ faces. Motherhood shaped me to be a braver, more confident and selfless person.
5. Adoption Theme - My son’s adoption was an event that changed me greatly. I think it was the “taking a leap” aspect of adopting that made me grow the most. You never know what is instore for you in life, and when you give birth to a child you take whatever God gives you. Adoption is a very deliberate choice. You are choosing to love as your own a virtual stranger, from the moment he is placed into your arms. This decision took soul searching, as we are parents of three children already, and the decision was not just about us. I learned of the huge capacity our human hearts have for love. I loved my son from the day I saw his picture. I loved him before that day, when I didn’t know who he was going to be, and I wrote a journal dedicated to “little one” my someday baby from South Korea. Meeting other adoptive families and being exposed to the openness of hearts, further opened mine.
6. Writing Career Theme -The development of my professional writing career has factored largely into making me who I am. At first I had to allow the creativity to flow, and then I had to let it be judged. Was what was in my heart sufficiently worthy to be put into print so others could take it into their hearts? A terrifying concept. I then had to place it before the public and let it be judged by anyone and everyone. I had to accept the criticisms along with the praise. I had to bare myself to the world, in many senses. And it was scary and thrilling and empowering and I have done it fifteen times, including Clean. So I think it has shaped me in a positive manner and into a more creative, open minded, tuned-in person. Realizing success had actually molded me into a more optimistic person, as well.
7. Death of People I Love - There is no doubt that losing people who you love to death causes you to change profoundly. About fifteen years ago I lost my father, and with him, there was an enormous battle in my soul about what I was going to believe in terms of heaven and whetherthere anything beyond this life. His death forced me to face a reality: life ends. And it forced me to deal with that fact. When my mother passed away this summer, I had new issues to deal with. I was very close to her, so there was a loss of a person I spoke to every day. I felt I had to step up and be strong for my children. I had to again face my issues involving my faith regarding whether there is an afterlife. And prior to this, I had to help my mother deal with eight years of intermittent suffering due to her illness before her death. All of these responsibilities and questions and deep emotions are responsible for shaping me into who I am today.
Lanny and Trevor have also experienced life-shaping events. In Clean, we experience the aftermath of painful events in these boys’ lives. Lanny experiences a horrible accident in his immediate family that shapes the dynamics of the family so that they are completely dysfunctional, thus creating the need in Lanny for a coping mechanism. Trevor is enduring a painful and dangerous interaction with his guardian. In order to survive the abuse, Trevor is forced to shape himself into a defensive person who seemingly cannot be hurt.
Life-changing events can carry with them happiness or sorrow, gains or losses, joy or devastation. Without experiencing them, though, we would not be who we are today.
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Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog today!!
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