Good morning everyone! Please welcome author Phoenix Blackwood to Full Moon Dreaming! They are here today to talk about their new release, The Family That Finds Us. Phoenix will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to one randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning! To find the other stops on their tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!
THE FAMILY THAT FINDS US
Phoenix Blackwood
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GENRE: LGBTQIA+ Coming of Age
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BLURB:
Phee
hides her secrets well, until they become too much to bear. Her biggest secret
is one she’s kept even from herself. Her longest-kept secret is one that hurts
her every day. Her final secret is one that will set her free.
In
a school that doesn’t accept them, Phee, Theo, and Alex fight for a community
close to their hearts. The community desperately needs the trio to help the
rest of them leave the shadows without fear of violence and discrimination.
Through some heroic activism, the three push the school officials to their
limits — forcing them to act — for better or worse.
For
Phee, the fight for a place where she can be herself doesn’t stop when she gets
home. The strain of taking care of her alcoholic and abusive mother threatens
to break Phee away from her family bond forever. Her mother can go from a messy
drunk to an angry one in an instant, turning Phee’s home life from an obligation
to a war zone.
Theo’s
house offers respite to Phee. With compassion scarce in her life, Alex and Theo
are Phee’s light in the dark. They protect and cherish her. At Theo’s, Phee is
free to be herself and explore her identity safely — her chosen family ready to
catch her if she falls. That’s what family does, how family finds us when we
feel lost and alone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
“No!” I screamed, flailing against her as she pinned me down
with one arm and cut with the other, lock after lock of black hair falling to
the ground and into the sink.
Tears came next, as I fought the futile fight to get her to
stop. I shrieked, begging for her to stop, but she just kept going, until there
was nothing left. Just jagged tufts of hair sticking straight up from my scalp.
She let go of me, throwing the scissors back into the drawer and slamming it
shut without a word. She looked at me with the most haunting gaze I’d ever seen
out of her, shook her head, and then walked into her room, slamming her door
behind her. My knees grew weak, and I fell to the ground, clutching the
discarded chunks of my hair that lay strewn about the floor. My wails could’ve
been heard a block away. I’d found two things I liked about myself last night,
and now one of them was gone.
Eventually, I dragged myself into my room, picking up my
phone and texting Theo through my tears to come get me. Not even ten minutes
later, there was a knock at the apartment door. I was still crying as I opened
it to watch Theo’s face morph in horror as they caught sight of me.
“Oh my god, Phee, what did she do?”
I shook my head, staring down at the floor as tears fell
from my face. Theo wrapped their arms around me, and I choked out, “She was
sober.”
Theo rubbed my back for a minute, then guided me towards my
room, “C’mon, get your stuff. You’re gonna stay at my house.” I grabbed the
discarded makeup from my floor and stuffed it into a duffel bag, along with a
couple changes of clothes. Then, I grabbed my backpack and solemnly followed
Theo out the door, locking it behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Born and raised in New England, Phoenix has always been a creative
– whether it’s painting or writing. From a very young age, Phoenix has
envisioned and created characters, writing them into existence and exploring
them through visual arts. Having graduated to first-time short story author,
Phoenix is embarking on a journey towards novel writing as they finally bring
characters they’ve known for years into the world. Phoenix is neurodiverse and
intersex and hopes to bring more representation to both topics with their
writing. They believe in creating relatable characters that people can find
themselves in and empathize with.
Amazon buy link: https://www.amazon.com/Family-That-Finds-Us-ebook/dp/B0CQVC7WQ3/ref=sr_1_1
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1. What is your idea of how to spend romantic time with your significant other?
So here’s the thing, I’m a HOPELESS romantic. It’s not super well showcased in The Family that Finds Us, as the only couple in the story really is Theo and Alex, and their relationship is pretty well explored in the previous two books. I’m not a “big, extravagant gestures” type of person, I’m more drawn to the little things that a partner might remember about you – things that show they’ve paid attention to you. If I tell my partner I’ve had a tough day at work, and they welcome me home with a new warm, soft blanket (there will never be too many) and my favorite movie picked out on the TV, that’s as romantic as it gets. If they bring me something they made or something they found because it made them think of me, that thing is going on my shelf forever. If they read my favorite book so that we can talk about it, it’s an incredible gesture of love.
2. When you start a new story, do you begin with a character, or a plot?
My stories are incredibly character driven, so that’s usually where I start. There’s usually a premise to this character, but everything hinges on how the character navigates the situation. What do they need, what do they want, where are they going? It’s their journey and we’re just along for the ride. Maybe there’s a witch who lives in a swamp that everyone’s afraid of – the classic tale. But what was the witch’s life been like? What adventures has she been on? Why is everyone so afraid of her, what happened? Any of these answers create their own story and how it goes depends on how the witch navigates these scenarios.
3. Who’s your favorite horror villain and why?
Hands down, Alessa from Silent Hill. Her character does a beautiful job of showcasing the effects of trauma and being villainized and misunderstood. I honestly don’t even think she’s really the villain in the movie, although she is posed as one throughout the story. The rage she feels and revenge she enacts on the town is a direct result of the way they handled her trauma, and the way they treated her afterwards. She’s honestly a beautiful revenge fantasy in a character, and hey, sometimes we just need that.
4. Do you have an historical crush and if so, who is it?
Audrey Hepburn if we’re going purely on looks, but in her life’s work and legacy I definitely crush hard on Virgina Woolf. A bipolar, queer writer that did amazing things for the world of literature, I love her work and she definitely shaped some of the way that I write.
5. Is there a story that you’d like to tell but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
I think it depends on what part of the world we’re talking about. There’s definitely parts of the world that aren’t ready to hear the stories I’ve already written, and plan to write. I don’t particularly care about those parts, if I’m being blunt, as it’s mainly close minded individuals who use many crutches as an excuse to hate. They’re definitely not ready to hear about a queer foster child that falls in love with their best friend. But another part of the world is, and that’s the part I want to be there for. The struggling teen that doesn’t understand the feelings they’re having and have nowhere to turn, the adult that knows their child is different but doesn’t know how to help them, and even the adult queer who is firm in their identity but wants to see stories with people like them. Those are the people I’m writing for, and I think they’re ready for whatever I have to say.
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ReplyDeleteThis looks really good. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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