Today (5/7) is the day ANTHONY hits the shelves! This is the story of two unlikely friends who witness a not-so-friendly incident — all told with humor and heart. I hope you’ll love reading it as much as I loved creating it. Go get a copy from your local bookstore or from any of the store links on this page.
Hey, everyone! I’m so excited for my upcoming book tour. This year, most of it will be on the east coast. Some of my stops are adjoined with book festivals. I’ll also be visiting Vancouver, BC, Canada to meet my western Canadian readers!
Along with the listed public events, I’ll be visiting schools in the cities above as well as in Atlanta, Buffalo, Boston, and Frederick, MD. For registration and/or details about the public events, go to these links:
May 7: Enoch Pratt Free Library (Baltimore, MD)
May 11: Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books (Pittsburgh, PA)
May 17: The Silver Unicorn Bookstore (Acton, MA)
May 29: KidsBooks (Broadway) (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
May 30: KidsBooks (Highlands United Church) (Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Hope to see you! In the meantime, you can order (or pre-order) ALWAYS ANTHONY here!
Ah, unexpected pairings. Aren’t they the best? Not just true of romantic relationships, but of friendships, too. I’ve experienced both, and it’s never dull. For example, my marriage is quite the yin-yang mash-up. My husband Mike is a very math-oriented, logical/practical, sci-fi-y dude, whereas I…am not. Okay, I can be practical, but I think that’s partially a product of his influence.
(Yin and Yang, 1996)
ALWAYS ANTHONY features the unexpected friendship of two total opposites…or so it seems. There’s popular, cool-as-a-cucumber Anthony Randall…
(not an actual representation)
…and timid-but-brainy Leah Ruben.
They are paired up because Anthony (kinda like my hubs) is great at science and math but has a harder time with writing. The English teacher, Mrs. Winn, has asked Leah to tutor Anthony to help raise his Language Arts grade. Along the way, Anthony and Leah discover they do have a lot in common, and they develop a blossoming friendship.
Surprises and obstacles ensue. Among them is a bullying incident they both witness which may threaten their budding friendship. You’ll just have to read the book to see what happens.
(Anthony imagines one of the bullies as a hungry bear)
Ultimately, what I really enjoyed about writing this story (like most of my others) was shoving two “opposites” together to see how they’d interact. Although Anthony and Leah are more opposite than most of my pairings, I love all the commonalities that emerge and how they help each other navigate so much along the way…like crushes, passion projects, and – ultimately — how to express their feelings (in different ways).
I do think people in the most enduring “unlikely” relationships end up having unexpected similarities. As I mentioned, my husband and I appear to have little in common on the surface. But over the years, we’ve found that we, in fact, have LOTS in common: values, sensibilities, a habit of eating way too fast (argh), and so much more (I won’t get into our shared workaholic tendencies).
And, thanks to two grown kids, a dog, and almost 28 years of marriage, we also have tons of shared history.
I don’t know if Anthony and Leah will be friends that long, but I do know one thing: if their friendship is meant to be, they’ll find more and more commonalities along the way.
Exclusive gift! Preorder Always Anthony before May 7th and submit a copy of your receipt to receive a free pack of two friendship bracelets! Click here to preorder and receive your gift.
ALWAYS ANTHONY comes out on May 7! For a fun teaser, here’s a little read-along video + brief intro to the story. (Enjoy my voice acting skills and ever-so-fashionable headset [trust me, you don’t want that office echo]).
Often, when I’m speaking at a school or library, I’ll be asked about character names in my stories. Specifically, where they came from. Were they named after people I know? People I love? People I hate? How’d I first come up with “Emmie?” “Izzy?” And so on.
I have so, so, SO many characters that sometimes I can’t even remember the origins of their names. Therefore, I thought it might be fun to compile a list of them; if anything, maybe it’ll help jog my memory.
So here you go, dear readers: the semi-complete (I’m know I’m missing some*) list of main characters, secondary and minor characters, and all their name origins. Buckle up, it’s a long one. Note: strangely, most of the main characters’ names are totally made up while many of the minor characters’ have special meaning!
Emmie: Ah, where it all began. Admittedly, like many of the other names, “Emmie” was used for title purposes only. I knew I wanted the adjective “Invisible,” and “Emmie” just flowed well with it. But I truly think her name fits her; it’s sweet, youthful, and unassuming.
Izzy: Echoing “Emmie,” “Izzy” flowed well with “Positively,” an adjective I had in mind for the title. I love that it’s a little retro, which – if you’ve read the book – works perfectly.
Brianna, Tyler, Maya, Mia, and Leo: these were just names I selected arbitrarily. I was searching for contemporary, youthful, tween-ish names online, and they met the criteria. Funny, though: much like with real kids, I think the characters have grown into their names. I can’t imagine them having any other names than their own.
Jaime: This was a very strategic name. Originally it was supposed to be “Jasmine,” but JUST JASMINE was already taken (by a website or a show or something), and I didn’t want to compete. I wanted to keep “Just” in the title (so perfect), and nothing combined with it as well as a “J” name. So, “Jaime” was chosen.
Ruby: Ruby was the first character whose name I especially chose for her personality. Previously, she was just known for her moniker, “Baked Bean Girl,” and I thought she deserved a real name that complimented her. She seemed like a “Ruby” from the start. In this case, “Ruby” came before the title adjective, “Remarkably.”
Sarah: I chose her name waaay back while writing INVISIBLE EMMIE, and I’m pretty sure I named her for my niece.
Anthony: He is named after a nephew. By the way, I don’t actively seek out special characters to name after relatives, it’s very random (whoever comes to mind at the time I’m writing).
Now here’s where it gets fun. These are all the secondary and background characters I’ve named after loved ones:
INVISIBLE EMMIE:
POSITIVELY IZZY:
JUST JAIME:
BECOMING BRIANNA:
TRULY TYLER:
REMARKABLY RUBY:
SURPRISINGLY SARAH:
ALWAYS ANTHONY (coming soon!):
And here’s a list of arbitrary ones (those I made up or looked up for culturally appropriate names):
INVISIBLE EMMIE: Katie, Joe Lungo, Lindsay Donsky, Kyle Duncan, Mrs. Winn
POSITIVELY IZZY: Danielle, Becca, Dev Devar
JUST JAIME: Celia, Grace
BECOMING BRIANNA: Zoe Torres, Olivia Frank
TRULY TYLER: Zachary Ross, Ms. Laurie, Malik, Ethan, Coach Durdle
REMARKABLY RUBY: Juan, Leah Ruben, Josh Bentz, Keya Devar
SURPRISINGLY SARAH: Adam Weller, Laney, Sophia Friedman
ALWAYS ANTHONY (coming soon!): Lulu and Jada, Lucas & Eddie
After writing this, I realize (gasp) I still have many relatives and friends unaccounted for. Hmm, I think we know what that means…
…I’ll have to write more books!
*I’ve come to realize: