I really miss summer vacation. When I was a kid, summers meant weeks of uninterrupted reading time; every morning began with a trip to my local library, where I loaded up on seven or eight books. I lugged them home, settled into my favorite armchair, and devoured them all one after the other like literary Pringles. My school would have a summer reading challenge to see who could read the most books. It’s no surprise that the summer I read more than 100 books, at the start of the fourth grade, I suddenly needed glasses.
Now, as more or less of an adult, there’s no such thing as summer break. (Cue the violins.) Even when I get a vacation, I’m constantly working on something: My idea of “time off” is several days of uninterrupted writing time. But I remember what it was like as the summer dwindled away and September approached with its promise of full school days and nights and weekends doing homework. As much as I enjoyed learning and reuniting with friends at school, it was always a tough adjustment.
Literary Escapism is hosting a unique blog series this month, featuring thirty authors who are sharing stories about their book characters returning to school. I was delighted to be invited to participate. I contributed a short piece starring some characters from Fair Coin and Quantum Coin, in which Nathan Mackenzie finally steals some of the limelight from his best friend, Ephraim Scott.
Many of the posts include giveaways of the authors’ books, and Pyr has generously offered up a copy of Fair Coin and Quantum Coin to be given together to one lucky winner. More details will follow when the post goes up near the end of the month. In the meantime, here’s a list of all the stories, which will be updated throughout the month, including one from K.D. McEntire about Wendy, Eddie, and Piotr from her books Lightbringer and Reaper.
Listen… The bell’s ringing for first period. You’d better get to class and crack open those books!
