August 1, 2019
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#CripLit, Amazon, Are You Seeing Me?, ASD, AYSM, Booktopia, CanLit, Caregiving, Chapters Indigo, Disability, Five Years Ago, LoveOzYA, Orca Book Publishers, Penguin Random House, Random House Australia, Road Trip, Twins, YA, YA Fiction, YA Lit, YA Novels
It doesn’t seem right, but it’s the fifth anniversary of Are You Seeing Me? coming into the world.
The little novel about Justine and Perry’s last glorious vacation together was released August 2014 and things would never quite be the same for its grateful author.
It managed to do amazing things, including this.
And this.
And even this.
Perhaps most impressively, it has managed to stick around, still getting read here, still being discussed there.
To celebrate AYSM’s continuing journey, I thought I’d share a little bit of the behind-the-scenes that shaped the novel we know today. Here are five things you probably didn’t know about AYSM.
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September 21, 2018
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Navel Gazing
Authors, Books, Brothers Grimm, Brothers Groth, Fabulism, Fairytales, Fiction, Infinite Blue, Literature, Magic Realism, Novels, Writing, YA, YALit
Infinite Blue — a collaboration between myself and younger brother cum San Francisco Giants tragic, Simon Groth — has now officially hit the shelves. As this little fabulist novella makes its way into readers’ hands, I thought I might provide some insight into the IB inspiration we derived from our brothers-from-another-mother: Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm.
It’s short.
Despite what Disney would have you believe, The Brothers Grimm fairytales were brief affairs. So brief they crammed 86 tales into the first edition collection. We weren’t into that level of abbreviation — IB comes in at just under 180 pages — but we did want to honour the Grimm tradition of concise legend.
It’s archetypal.
Characters in IB, though contemporary in construct, should still call to mind those populating the pages of Grimm lore. The Caregiver, The Hero, The Villain, The Mentor, The Sage, The Jester, The Orphan. Even water — our constant presence and ‘shadow narrator’ — could be tagged as The Ruler, perhaps even The Lover.
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March 18, 2018
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Fireproof Garage Podcast
Arson, Beards, Books Podcast, Brothers Groth, Fabulism, Fairytales, Ideas, Infinite Blue, Literary Podcast, Siblings, Writing Collaboration, Writing Podcast, Writing Process, YA, YA Fiction, YA Lit
LISTEN AND WATCH HERE!
January 17, 2018
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Brothers Groth, Coming Soon, Fables, Fabulism, Infinite Blue, New Books, New Releases, Orca, Orca Book Publishers, Sept 2018, YA, YA Lit
Behold the cover for Infinite Blue, a contemporary fable penned by Simon Groth and his dodgy older brother. It’s hitting North American shelves September 11, 2018.
All credit for this beauty goes to the brilliant pair responsible: artist Iveta Karpathyova and Orca Books designer Teresa Bubela. If you’d like a peek inside the creative process, Iveta has posted a couple of cool videos here and here.
Counting the days!
July 4, 2017
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Navel Gazing, News
Are You Seeing Me?, Assisted Living, Broken Heart, Ceaseless Wonder, CPR, Down Syndrome, Exchange of Heart, Fair Go, Inspiration, Munro vs. the Coyote, Wonder, YA, YA Fiction, YA Lit
quickmeme.com
With the AUS/NZ release of my new novel a mere four weeks away, here’s a little insight into the wondering that produced the tale.
Exchange of Heart / Munro vs. the Coyote grew from two story seeds.
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June 6, 2017
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Navel Gazing
#CripLit, #NoVoices, #OwnVoices, #WeNeedDiverseBooks, Disability, Diversity, Exchange of Heart, Intellectual Disability, Munro vs. the Coyote, Neurodiversity, New YA Lit, Special Needs, YA, YA Lit
(Image from Flaticon)
#OwnVoices is an essential movement. If you don’t know about it, you should read this. Incontrovertibly, marginalized groups must be afforded every opportunity to tell/write/publish/sell their own stories. Privileged, able, cishet, white, middle-class, dude scribblers like me do not have to stay out of the imaginative lanes of these groups, but we must drive with extreme care. It bears repeating — #OwnVoices is an essential movement.
No less important are those groups with #NoVoices.
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March 7, 2017
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August 2017, Book Covers, Books, Coming Soon, Exchange of Heart, New Book Covers, New Books, New YA, YA
A second round of cover goodness has arrived – this one, the Aussie front for my new YA novel out later this year, titled Exchange of Heart in Oz.
Fans of Are You Seeing Me? might be pleased to see the similarities in style, design and font. I’m pleased to see that I did indeed write Are You Seeing Me? and it wasn’t all just a lovely dream.
If you’re in Australia and wish to pre-order Exchange of Heart, you can do so here.
If you’re in Canada/US and wish to pre-order Munro vs. the Coyote, you can do so here.
January 31, 2017
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#WeNeedDiverseBooks, Assisted Living, Book Blurb, Coming Soon, Disability, Diversity, Exchange of Heart, Fair Go, Heart Problems, LoveOzYA, New Books, New YA Lit, Special Needs, Student Exchange, YA
Sometimes, Life takes on a life of its own…
Since the sudden death of his younger sister, Munro Maddux has been stuck. Flashbacks. Anger. Chest pains. And a voice – taunting, barking, biting – that his counsellor calls ‘the Coyote’. Munro knows a student exchange will not be the stuff of Disney movies. But in Australia he intends to move beyond his troubled past.
Forced by his new school to join a volunteer program, Munro discovers the Coyote is silenced in one place: Fair Go, an assisted living residence in Brisbane’s west, where Munro gets to know his team of residents: dogged designer Bernie; sleeping refugee Shah; would-be wedded couple Blake and Dale; comic creator Iggy; and self-defence tutor Florence. As this unlikely group shows Munro the sights, Munro’s notion of what it means to be a big brother begins to change.
But the burden Munro carries is not so easily cast aside, and unexpected developments at Fair Go prompt a devastating flashback that threatens to end the student exchange. Will the Coyote ultimately triumph? Or can Munro find the fortitude necessary to mend his heart?
‘Funny-sad, authentic and uplifting – Groth is a writer who can pivot from heartbreak to humour without missing a beat.’ Vikki Wakefield, author of All I Ever Wanted
Exchange of Heart will be published in AUS/NZ July 31, 2017. In CAN/US, the book will be released October 17, 2017 under the title Munro vs. the Coyote.
You can mark it as ‘to-read’ on Goodreads here and here.
January 26, 2017
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Books, Coming Soon, Munro vs. the Coyote, MvtC, New Books, New Releases, New YA Lit, October 2017, Orca, Orca Book Publishers, YA, YA Lit, Young Adults
My brand new YA novel is coming out this year. In North America, it’s titled Munro vs. the Coyote and the cover looks a little like the awesomeness above.
Not bad, eh?
Every image within the Coyote’s head speaks to moments, elements and characters in the story.
I can’t wait to see this jacket on the real deal come October.
July 4, 2016
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Fireproof Garage Podcast
Author Reading, Books Podcast, Brothers Groth, Infinite Blue, New YA Lit, Pitches, pod, Podcast, RL Stine, Works in Progress, Writing Collaboration, Writing Podcast, Writing Process, Writing Sample, YA, YA Lit
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