BLOG TOUR with AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Book Title: Butterflies In The End Zone
Author and Publisher: Jacob Gelman
Release Date: June 15, 2023
Genres: Contemporary M/M Young Adult Gay Romance, #ownvoices
Tropes: strangers to friends to lovers, bi awakening
Themes: coming out, communication, sports
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 72 000 words/169 pages
It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Alex has everything going for him. He’s the quarterback of the football team. He has a great group of friends. He’s popular. He’s got stellar grades. So, why is he so enamored by the new kid from the Bay Area?
Meanwhile, Jamie doesn’t understand why the quarterback of Scalia’s football team could possibly want to be friends with him: the closeted Jewish kid. It’s the last thing he needs to worry about after leaving California for Jacksonville. He planned on just keeping his head down and finishing his senior year quietly to get into his dream school.
Against the odds, though, they become close friends in an area that would teach them to be enemies. But, over time, their friendship turns into something deeper – scaring the both of them. Will their love survive the trials of being in a homophobic environment? Or will it all prove to be too much for them?
Excerpt
I’ve been in Florida less than a day and already I’m in a life or death standoff. The gator stares at me, his eyes glowing against the moonlight. I stare at the gator, my eyes wild with fear. Shit, I’m gonna die.
He could have been small as a chihuahua or large as Godzilla, but in my California brain he was the most terrifying thing I’d seen in my life. This was not how I expected my senior year to start.
Me dying was the cherry on top, really.
It wasn’t like I had much to live for anymore, after leaving the Bay Area and all. My friends. My childhood. My family. It was all gone now. I had come out just a month before, ready to live my truth in an accepting area until...poof.
“We’re moving,” my mother had told me. “To Florida.”
“Just like that?” I’d asked her.
“Just like that,” she’d told me.
“Why?” I’d prodded, hoping maybe there could be some solution to this unbearable fate. There wasn’t.
We weren’t even in Miami either. We were in Jacksonville. Not even in Jacksonville, an hour away in some nowhere suburb called Scalia – whatever the heck that is. San Francisco to Scalia: the name of my personal horror movie.
My parents were architects. Their company decided to move them to Florida. I was suddenly in Florida. Suddenly about to become the dumbest news headline possible: LOCAL GAY KID DIES FROM GATOR. That simple, I guess.
My heart leapt towards my throat.
His tail, is it...moving?
The gator began walking, or waddling, or slithering – whatever it is gators do when they move – away from me. I stood beside my bike, nearly ready to collapse from fear and adrenaline. Finally, he crawled out of sight – back to the depths of whatever abyss from which he came.
I let out a sigh, almost sad to live another day. I got back on my bike, slowly peddling back home, tears lining my path.
I was sad. Sad about everything. Sad about leaving my friends behind. Sad about leaving my family behind. Sad about no longer being in a Jewish area. Sad about no longer being in an accepting area.
I wasn’t only sad, either. I was scared. Terrified, even. My whole life people had talked about the south like it was some far off universe, some faraway hell the Bay Area would forever be safe from. I had heard stories of how unaccepting it was, how women couldn’t choose what happens to their bodies, gay people couldn’t be teachers, trans students were expelled. Now here I was: in the south. In Florida. Back in the closet.
My eyes were red from tears by the time they stared at my bedroom ceiling, my pillow resting against my neck. I had only a week before I started school at Scalia High. What would that be like? Visions of people with confederate flags, driving trucks, and listening to country music came to my mind and immediately I was near tears once more. I wasn’t sure about many things, but I was certain of this: nothing good would come of this year.
About the Author
I'm a staunch advocate for lgbt rights. I'm originally from Melbourne, Florida. I am a board member for colectiva queer and a founder of the political action group Florida Fighting Fascism. I have worked with the Brevard Democratic Party, Equality Florida (twice), Congressman Darren Soto, and am a current fellow with People for Power Florida. I am a current student at Brown University studying political science. At university, I am part of the philosophy, politics, and economics society and the Brown Debating Union. I have written for Queerty, OutTraveler, and Florida Today. I am the author of the young adult gay romance novel entitled Butterflies In The End Zone (2023).
Author Links
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Tell us a little about yourself and your writing goals
Hi!! My name is Jacob Gelman and I am the author of the debut novel Butterflies In The End Zone. I currently attend Brown University and study political science. I would love to one day be traditionally published :)
Congratulations on your new release. Please tell us a little bit about it. What’s your favorite aspect or part of the story? Do you have a favorite character? Who/Why?
So my story is about Jamie, a Jewish kid from San Francisco, who moves to a suburb outside of Jacksonville. He’s totally a fish out of water. Well, anyways, Alex – the quarterback of the high school football team – ends up befriending Jamie and it tells the story of the two of them falling for one another. I love Alex, he’s my book boyfriend.
Are you a planner or a pantser? How much do you know about your story before you start writing? How often does your plan change? Why does this work best for you?
Definitely a planner. I can’t even begin writing without a full outline. But the outline does change as I add or remove scenes and as the story changes.
Do deadlines motivate you or block you? How do you deal with them?
Deadlines. Well. Hmm. Deadlines are a tricky thing. I really don’t know. I guess they motivate me?
Do you schedule a certain amount of time for writing each day/week, or do you just work it in when you can? Would you like to change this, or does your current method work well for you?
I schedule an hour a day.
What was the most difficult part of writing this book? Why?
The rewrites. They were rough, and receiving criticism to the extent that you have to rewrite the entire book is never fun.
How do you develop a story idea? Do you always use the same method? Specifically, which do you develop first in your story building, the characters or the plot?
I usually come up with a kernel of a story, then tell it to my sister and she makes it pop.
What are your favorite genres when it comes to your own pleasure reading? Do you prefer to read ebooks or print?
Ebooks for sure. I love romance, and due to Fourth Wing I think I may be a fantasy girly.
Does writing energize or exhaust you?
Exhaust.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Don’t listen to the haters.
What is the best money you ever spent as an author?
An editor.
What is your favorite underappreciated novel?
Either The Humans or Bright Lights Big City.
What did you edit out of this book?
A lot. Too much to tell. There was a dead brother in the first draft.
What were your goals for this book? Did you achieve them?
To make just one person feel seen. I hope I achieved that.
What do you think about when you’re alone in your car?
The state of this country.
Thank you.
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