Good morning, everyone! Please welcome author Ari Rosenschein to Full Moon Dreaming today. Ari is here to tell us about his new release, Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph. Ari will be giving a signed paperback copy of his book (US only) to a randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter during the tour. The more you comment, the better your chances of winning. To find the other stops on his tour, go here. Don't forget to look for the Rafflecopter at the end of this post!
DR. Z AND MATTY TAKE TELEGRAPH
Ari Rosenschein
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Young Adult
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It’s
the late ’90s—the final days before smartphones and the internet changed the
teenage landscape forever. Zack and his mother have moved from Tempe to
Berkeley for a fresh start, leaving behind Zack’s father after a painful
divorce. A natural athlete, Zack makes the water polo team which equals social
acceptance at his new school. Yet he’s more drawn to Matthias, a rebellious
skater on the fringes, who introduces him to punk rock, record stores, and the
legendary Telegraph Avenue.
As
their friendship intensifies, Matthias’s behavior reminds Zack of his absent
dad, driving a wedge between him and his mother. Complicating matters is
Zaylee, a senior who boosts Zack’s confidence but makes him question his new
buddy, Matthias. Faced with all these changes, Zack learns that when life gets
messy, he might have to become his own best friend.
Dr.
Z and Matty Take Telegraph is about how a friendship can challenge who we are,
how we fit in, and where we’re going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
My eyes catch
the main event: Matthias, shirtless again, owning every inch of the bowl. No
matter how little I know about skateboarding mechanics, it’s obvious the dude’s
form is immaculate. I stand transfixed as he slides smoothly down one side of
the bowl and up the other, like a weight on a pendulum, his head peering back
over his shoulder, carefree. After gaining momentum, he hoists his lithe body
over the top and holds perfectly still, one hand on his board, the other
gripping the lip of the bowl. It’s dazzling.
As soon as he
breaks the pose, a small crowd erupts. “Sick handplant, Matthias,” yells a kid
in a yellow Carhart jacket.
Everything
looks straight out of a movie. Skaters in shirts with blocky logos give each
other high fives. Younger kids sit on the sidelines, boards glued to their
hands, watching the action but not ready to dive in.
When we read
On the Road during freshman year, Dad taught me a term that stuck with me:
subculture. I’ve got no desire to ride a skateboard. But this vibe? I want to
be a part of it. I’m swept up on a wave of California freedom.
Danny shoves
an elbow into my belly. “Matthias is a monster skater, right?”
“Never seen
skating like that,” I say. “Except on TV or in a movie.”
“Exactly.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ari Rosenschein is a Seattle-based author who grew up in the Bay
Area. Books and records were a source of childhood solace, leading Ari to a
teaching career and decades of writing, recording, and performing music. Along
the way, he earned a Grammy shortlist spot, landed film and TV placements, and
co-wrote the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Song of the Year.
In his writing, Ari combines these twin passions. Coasting, his
debut short story collection, was praised by Newfound Journal as “introducing
us to new West Coast archetypes who follow the tradition of California Dreaming
into the 21st century.” Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph (Fire & Ice YA) is
his first young adult novel.
Website: https://arirosenschein.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arirosenschein
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arirosenschein/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arirosenschein
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYQKNBKQ
Ari Rosenschein is a Seattle-based author who grew up in the Bay
Area. Books and records were a source of childhood solace, leading Ari to a
teaching career and decades of writing, recording, and performing music. Along
the way, he earned a Grammy shortlist spot, landed film and TV placements, and
co-wrote the 2006 John Lennon Songwriting Contest Song of the Year.
In his writing, Ari combines these twin passions. Coasting, his
debut short story collection, was praised by Newfound Journal as “introducing
us to new West Coast archetypes who follow the tradition of California Dreaming
into the 21st century.” Dr. Z and Matty Take Telegraph (Fire & Ice YA) is
his first young adult novel.
Website: https://arirosenschein.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arirosenschein
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arirosenschein/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arirosenschein
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYQKNBKQ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Which musical would you say best
exemplifies your life—and which character in that musical are you?
Anyone
who knows me now is aware that I’m not a massive musical aficionado. However,
in my youth, I was a fan of classics like West
Side Story, Into the Woods, Bye Bye Birdie, and Les Misérables. My dad turned me onto all kinds of musicals, even a
few obscure ones, like the rock opera Blondel
by Tim Rice and Stephen Oliver. I wouldn’t say that Blondel exemplifies my life, but I certainly relate to the
troubadour seeking musical stardom.
When you start a new story, do you
begin with a character, or a plot?
I
tend to begin everything with characters; that’s just how I write. I meet these
people on the page, and in exploring their personalities and circumstances, my
words grow into stories. Sometimes, those stories grow into books. I'm still
getting the hang of that process. But certainly, I consider myself a
character-based writer. I’m learning to outline my plots to get them in order
and to create a satisfying story arc.
If they were to make the story of
your life into a movie, who should play you?
Well,
this is one of those questions where one can flatter oneself and risk coming
off as conceited by choosing someone too glamorous. I suppose the first
question is what stage of life I’m at in the bulk of this imaginary movie. If I
pick roughly my current age, I think Jesse Eisenberg would be good. The actor
would have to be Jewish, and while I’m a bit taller, I think Eisenberg
possesses a neurotic energy that is in line with my own.
Do you have a historical crush, and
if so, who is it?
I’m
going to go with Joan of Arc on this one. Her bravery and tragic end make her
an endlessly compelling historical character. It certainly doesn’t hurt that
Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos portrayed her in Bill
& Ted’s Excellent Adventure as the coolest medieval rock and roller
imaginable, with an impossibly perfect hairdo. “Welcome aboard, Miss Joan of
Arc.” Plus, there’s a Leonard Cohen song named after her.
Is there a story that you’d like to
tell, but you think the world isn’t ready to receive it?
At
one time, I would have said that a story about my teenage experiences selling The Mercury News over the phone would
have been a commercial non-starter. However, in recent years, Sorry to Bother You and the HBO
documentary series Telemarketers have
proven that phone solicitation may be more compelling a topic than I thought.
Spoiler alert: I was utterly horrible at the job, so a memoir about that
experience might be amusing. Who knows? Its time may come yet.
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Thank you so much for hosting today - it's appreciated.
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