Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Something I Am Not by Cher Gatto, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: Something I Am NotAuthor: Cher Gatto
Publisher: Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Genre: Mature Young Adult
A father who never loved him. A woman who stole his worth. A brother he couldn't protect. Where does someone run in the face of his deepest shame?
Billy McQueen works hard to keep his life together ... and concealed. At seventeen, he dreams of an escape from the barroom, his father’s manipulation, and the advances of his father’s girlfriend. However, on his eighteenth birthday, he is introduced to a younger brother he never knew he had. An eight-year-old, barely capable of navigating the distorted and corrupt world of his father’s boxing club. Billy realizes in order to protect his little brother, he can never leave.
After discovering a battered young woman in the back shed of the club, Billy uncovers the true nature of his father's activities. Before he can share it with the sheriff, Billy is kidnapped by his father and sold to a wealthy old maid who imprisons him on her yacht in the Gulf of Mexico. His death is fabricated and his little brother used as leverage for his compliance.
In order to secure his freedom, Billy must fight for it. To save his little brother who is next in line for the slave trade... he must die for it.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository
Visit her website: www.journeywithwords.com and sign up for her newsletter and monthly blog for inspiration and encouragement. Follow her on Instagram @chergatto.
CONNECT WITH CHER: Website | Facebook | Instagram
Hi Cher! Thank you for taking the time to answer
these questions and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your
new book- Something I Am Not- a little bit better. I always like to
begin these interviews the same way with something fun… tell us 5 random facts
about yourself that we WON’T find in your bio!
Five random facts, huh? I’m a number one (Perfectionist) on
the Enneagram which means I’m already evaluating my answers for this and
thinking they don’t measure up! I spent my childhood on the back of a
horse, usually upside down and backwards. I collected every stray I came across
assuming it needed a home—my husband jokes, saying he was the last stray I
brought home. While we lived in the desert for ten years, I pumped water into
my washing machine, ran a generator for power, and ate rattlesnake and donkey
stew (well, not every day… just a few times). I also doused myself in lavender
every night to ward off the scorpions. Best ten years ever!
Let’s talk writing! You didn’t start writing until later in life--- how did that come about?
Yep, I never meant to be a writer. It's
something that happened to me when I wasn't looking. Our family lived in Mexico
developing a horse ranch for kids in poor areas, at-risk youth, and broken
families. Our co-workers ran a women’s shelter, and we used the horses to love
on them. I say “women’s” shelter, but most were children (13, 14, 15 years old)
trying to raise babies of their own. Many of the babies a result of abuse,
rape, or incest. Some had been drawn out of trafficking. Their stories tragic
and incomprehensible.
About a year after we got on the field, the shelter closed down for a dangerous breach in security. All the girls were sent back to where they came from. We could do nothing. Nothing at all, but watch them go. A few months later, I saw one of the girls at church escorted by her “father.” When our eyes met, the vacancy in hers shattered my heart. I will never forget it. And one day, while I was cleaning a horse corral, I had Billy’s story. Not the whole thing, but a piece of it. Just one distinct scene, actually.
I hid myself away whenever I could for months and wrote furiously. I had no idea how the story would unfold, or even what themes would develop. But three hundred and fifty pages later, I was done. I guess it was all in there, needing to come out. Billy's journey gave me the key to process and heal from things I saw around me but couldn't change. Things that broke my heart.
I needed a different ending—a redemption.
I thought I was done. One story in me, and that was it. But one turned into the next, and now I’m hooked. As of today, I finished my second novel, REGENT (in final edits) and just began Billy's sequel.
About a year after we got on the field, the shelter closed down for a dangerous breach in security. All the girls were sent back to where they came from. We could do nothing. Nothing at all, but watch them go. A few months later, I saw one of the girls at church escorted by her “father.” When our eyes met, the vacancy in hers shattered my heart. I will never forget it. And one day, while I was cleaning a horse corral, I had Billy’s story. Not the whole thing, but a piece of it. Just one distinct scene, actually.
I hid myself away whenever I could for months and wrote furiously. I had no idea how the story would unfold, or even what themes would develop. But three hundred and fifty pages later, I was done. I guess it was all in there, needing to come out. Billy's journey gave me the key to process and heal from things I saw around me but couldn't change. Things that broke my heart.
I needed a different ending—a redemption.
I thought I was done. One story in me, and that was it. But one turned into the next, and now I’m hooked. As of today, I finished my second novel, REGENT (in final edits) and just began Billy's sequel.
What advice or encouragement would you offer those who have found a new (or renewed) love of writing at a later point in life?
Fantastic! I believe
the more we’ve lived, the more fodder we have for story-telling. Sometimes life
brings us seasons that we never expect. It’s exciting when a new talent or gift
is uncovered and we have the courage to explore it. I would say do not be
discouraged as the learning curve is steep. It’s a one day at a time thing. It
doesn’t happen as quickly as we expect it too.
Also, our writing at
any age can make us feel vulnerable and can take captive our identity like
nothing else. We expose our insides to the world, and that can be scary. As
authors, we experience good days and bad days. Approval and rejection. All of
us. We tend to give too much power to a stranger. So we need to be grounded in
something more. Something greater that doesn’t bounce our value around like a
yo-yo. It makes a huge difference when I start my day with that deeper
understanding of who I am.
Something I Am Not is your debut novel… congratulations! What has that experience been like? What was it like seeing your words in print for the first time?
All amazing and wonderful! Being an author, I thought finishing my first book—just finishing it—would be the ultimate accomplishment. Wow. I wrote 350 pages of something. Fifty-seven chapters. One hundred twenty-eight thousand words. Phew. I was done. But then I had to publish it. Rewrites. Edits. Cover design. Formatting. Launching. And off it went to the press. And I held my very first book in my hands! Done-Wow! Nope. I had to write another one and get a contract for that one. Maybe strive for audiobooks … a movie deal… best seller list.
But the thing I’ve
come to realize is that the idea of finishing is illusory. There actually is no
end. No end to the laundry. No end to the dishes. There is no finish line to
working on our marriage or even raising our kids (they’re our kids even at
50!). We don’t brush off the dust and say, “There. I’m done with that.” At
least for most things … including writing.
It can all feel a
little like MC Escher’s staircase, right? Never really going anywhere. But how
much fun we would have in MC’s stairway if we weren’t trying to get to the top.
If we were more focused on the journey than the end. We could meet some
interesting people. See some amazing sights. And even hang upside down every
now and then. Imagine if each day we wrote just to write.
Every single day I
have to remind myself of that!
Can you tell us a little bit about Something
I Am Not?
Something I Am Not is the story of Billy McQueen, a seventeen-year-old who dreams of escaping his father’s rural Pennsylvania barroom. On his eighteenth birthday, he is given a prostitute for a gift and introduced to a younger brother he never knew he had—an eight-year-old, barely capable of navigating the corrupt world of his father’s boxing club. In order to protect his little brother, Billy knows he can never leave. When he uncovers the true nature of his father's activities and the ring of human-trafficking, he is kidnapped before he can share it and sold by his own father as an escort to a wealthy old maid. His death is fabricated and his little brother used as leverage for his compliance. In order to secure his freedom, Billy must fight for it. But to save his little brother who is next in line for the slave trade, he must be willing to die for it.
Something I Am Not is the story of Billy McQueen, a seventeen-year-old who dreams of escaping his father’s rural Pennsylvania barroom. On his eighteenth birthday, he is given a prostitute for a gift and introduced to a younger brother he never knew he had—an eight-year-old, barely capable of navigating the corrupt world of his father’s boxing club. In order to protect his little brother, Billy knows he can never leave. When he uncovers the true nature of his father's activities and the ring of human-trafficking, he is kidnapped before he can share it and sold by his own father as an escort to a wealthy old maid. His death is fabricated and his little brother used as leverage for his compliance. In order to secure his freedom, Billy must fight for it. But to save his little brother who is next in line for the slave trade, he must be willing to die for it.
Something I Am Not won the ACFW Genesis
Award for unpublished works (as Billy)
and was contracted with Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. Though published
as a general market young adult, the book’s strongest reader group is women
over 40. It’s raw, gritty, and deals with tough topics, but does so discreetly
and maintains a Christian worldview without preaching. This makes Something I Am Not a great bridge novel
for secular readers as well as Christian.
What do you hope readers will take away from
this book?
The story is really
about never being too far away, too hidden, too broken to be redeemed. Billy’s journey
is a spiritual allegory of living under the wrong “father.” Believing the lies
and living in the fear of that world. It’s about what happens when he (and any of
us) encounters the place he truly belongs, the thread of eternity that was in
him all along, and he is called home.
I have found that writers are so often some of
the best readers too. If we were to take a look at your own TBR, what might we
find there?
I love the classics—Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, C.S.
Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, etc.—but lately I’ve been trying to expand my YA
reading. I have really enjoyed John Green’s novels as they’re similar in voice
to my own. I love his honest portrayal of the existential crisis in the heart
of teens, the pressures of youth, and learning to cope in a world that feels
upside down.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer my
questions. Before we go, can you give us an idea on what we can look forward to
next? Any projects you are currently working on that you can share?
From
popular demand, I have begun a sequel to Billy’s story. Although it never
called for one and is complete on its own, my readers have asked what happens
next. After finishing my second novel, Regent
(still in the editing phase), I started Inside,
Something, a journey into the healing process of someone (in this case,
Billy) salvaged from the slave trade.
I love
hearing from you! Please visit me at www.journeywithwords.com! You
can watch my book trailers and read a first chapter of my upcoming works. I
also write a blog on the “intangibles” of life. Happy reading and writing!
(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon Gift Card!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight April 27, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on May 4, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
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The blurb sounds great! I like the cover too.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the cover.
ReplyDeleteAmazing interview, as always!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great post sounds like a great book!
ReplyDelete