The Grown Ups
A Novel
By: Robin Antalek
Releasing January 27th, 2015
William Morrow
Blurb
From Robin Antalek, author of The Summer We Fell Apart, comes an
evocative and emotionally resonant coming-of-age novel involving three friends
who explore what it means to be happy, what it means to grow up, and the
difficulties in doing both together. Spanning over a decade, and told in
alternating voices, The Grown Ups explores
the indelible bonds between friends and family and the challenges that threaten
to divide them. It is the addictive and moving story of these old friends who
wind up confronting their past in order to find happiness in their adult lives
that make this novel an anticipated winter release.
Sam Turner, the summer he turns 15,
feels lucky enough to enjoy the unexpected attention of his friend Suzie
Epstein, even though it’s only a few secret months. For reasons Sam doesn’t
entirely understand—and will never question—the budding relationship is kept
hidden from their close circle of friends. But before their summer tans can
even start to fade, Sam’s world unexpectedly shatters twice: Suzie’s parents
are moving away to save their marriage, and his own mother has suddenly left
the house, leaving Sam’s father alone to raise two sons.
Watching as her parents’ marital troubles escalate, Suzie Epstein takes on the responsibility of raising her two younger brothers while simultaneously planning an early escape to college to seek independence. Though she occasionally thinks of Sam, it’s her oldest friend Bella Spade she finds herself missing. Embarrassed by the destructive wake of her parents as they left the only place Suzie could call home, Suzie makes no attempt to reconnect with the one person she needs. Its years later that a chance meeting with Sam’s older brother Michael will reunite her with both Sam and Bella—finally forcing her to confront her friends, her past and what she left behind.
After losing Suzie, Bella surprisingly
finds her first real love in Sam. But his inability to commit to her or even
his own future eventually drives them apart. Watching Suzie and Michael as they
seem to have worked it all out, Bella’s only to wonder where she went wrong and
how to make it right.
The 7 Stages of Writing a Novel
~ Robin Antalek
1.
The Crush. You have an idea? It makes you
smile at the thought? You don’t do anything, yet. Every time you think about it
– and you can’t stop thinking about it – it gives you a secret thrill. With The Grow Ups I had one sentence. The
first sentence. That was all I had for about a month.
2.
Flirting.
You put a few words down on paper. You imagine what the characters look
like, where they live, what they eat for breakfast. You tear out pages from
magazines or scour photos and place them around your desk. Anything that gives
you a sense of who these characters are.
Because of that first sentence I had an entire neighborhood, a
close-knit groups of friends and their parents in my head before I even wrote a
word. We went on a lot of walks and bike
rides together.
3.
The First Date.
You are bursting. Your fingers may even tingle. When you can’t stand it
another minute you will sit down and write – maybe in starts and stops, and
maybe in a torrent of words. It doesn’t
matter how you do it. You ARE
writing. When I sat down to write I had
no expectations of a novel – as a matter of fact I thought I had a solid idea
for a short story. When that short story was finished, I kept going. I
submitted the first chapter as a short story to Glimmertrain magazine and it
ended up as a finalist in a contest. It validated the idea to continue past the
original idea.
4.
Making it Official.
One chapter leads to two, two to three, and on and on. You shouldn’t be
counting words, or editing, you should just be getting it all down on
paper. This is the best part of writing
– the discovery process. Where do the characters want to go? What obstacles are
in their way? Let them do what they want.
You want to be surprised now. I
just kept writing. I didn’t stop. It was a very, very fast first draft – under
three months.
5.
This Might Be Getting Serious.
It doesn’t matter how long it took you to get here. You have a first
draft. Some come quickly, some don’t. There are probably huge gaps, continuity
could be a problem, pacing and plotting might be rough. It doesn’t matter. I had been letting my agent read bits and
pieces as I wrote. When I had that first draft she asked me a few questions. I
went back into the manuscript (another couple of months) and addressed her
concerns. It wasn’t long after that she submitted it to my editor at Harper
Collins.
6.
The Commitment. You can’t leave these characters
hanging no matter the issues. If you want to see this to the end – you might
have to let some of them go, do things to make them hurt or worse. Make no mistake about it: it’s hard. This is
the real work of writing. Give the
manuscript to a trusted reader. Read the manuscript out loud. Put it aside and
return to it later if you can’t be objective. No first draft is perfect. Let
that go. In the case of The Grown Ups, I had written the draft in first person,
single POV. My editor asked if I had ever considered third person and multiple
viewpoints? Because the main dramatic tension in the novel was between the male
narrator and two female – she asked me to try writing some chapters in their
POV. The original draft was on the slim side – around 260 pages – I could
afford to add which was easier. Turning first to third, rearranging the
structure of the novel, trying to figure out where these other voices came in –
took about another six months. It was rough, but made for a much more
multi-layered story. I lost a chapter I loved during the re-write. Both editor
and agent said it wasn’t necessary, but totally my call. After much
deliberation I let it go. Kill your darlings.
7.
Congratulations. You may have killed a character
or two, dropped lengthy passages that you were sure was some of your best
writing, added a narrator or deleted a narrator. You probably gained a little
weight. It’s okay. You are holding your manuscript in your hands.
About the Author:
Robin
Antalek is the author of The Summer We Fell Apart. Her nonfiction writing has
been published in literary journals and in several collections, including The
Beautiful Anthology; Writing off Script: Writers on the Influence of Cinema;
and The Weeklings: Revolution #1 Selected Essays 2012-1013. Her short fiction
has appeared in 52 Stories, Five Chapters, Sun Dog, The Southeast Review, and
Literary Mama among others. She lives in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Giveaway for 3 print copies of
THE SUMMER WE FELL APART by Robin Antalek
