The boy who couldn’t imagine himself as a writer now can’t imagine himself being anything else.
OUT IN 2024
OUT IN 2024
THERE IS NO MAP FOR THIS: a high-adrenaline story of what it really means to man up.
Seventeen-year-old Ren Adams feels lucky to be living with his brother, Levi, and Levi’s girlfriend, Ellie ― a welcome escape from his mother and her fundamentalist husband. Ren finally feels able to breathe, even if Levi and Ellie insist on trying to RENovate him, make him push his limits, live up to his potential ― “man up” … whatever that means.
Ren does his best to keep up ― until Levi is killed in an avalanche on one of their follow-the-leader dares. Overcome with grief, Ren feels unmoored, while Ellie embraces new risks and adventures, and tries to pull Ren into her orbit. He cannot resist her wattage, and when she comes to his bed one night, he stops trying.
The next morning, Ellie has disappeared. Ren throws himself into full Ren-to-the-rescue mode ― out of love, brotherly loyalty, guilt or grief? He doesn’t quite know. His search is by turns enlightening and reckless, as he discovers that there is no map for becoming a man.
“A stunning book. Compulsively readable. Brutally honest, and, somehow, at the same time, both heart-wrenching and heart-warming.”
“An unusually raw, frank bildungsroman.”
BOOKS FROM TOM BIRDSEYE
WHAT’S ON TOM’S MIND
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ADVICE FOR WRITERS
1. First of all, understand there is no secret code
...or magic wand that will suddenly turn you into a writer. It takes time, and patience, and -- yes, you guessed it -- plenty of practice (in other words: hard work). But what's new about that? The same is true for anything you want to get good at: basketball, piano, gymnastics, art, spelling (yuck!), you name it. The key is to relax and enjoy the process.
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