Join me in welcoming Raine O'Tierney and her new novel, I'll Always Miss You, to my blog! I love character interviews, and today I have the pleasure of interviewing Isa Zaman, one of the main characters from the book!
Welcome, Isa. It's great to have you on my blog. Tell me, how does it feel to be interviewed?
Do you want to visit Morocco?
Welcome, Isa. It's great to have you on my blog. Tell me, how does it feel to be interviewed?
—I dunno. Weird, I guess. I don’t feel like I have much to say. Nothing quote-worthy. If you want deep thoughts, you should interview Mackie.
You don’t have to be ‘quote worthy’ to have important things to say. Just being you is important.
—Ha. Well, that’s good you think so, ’cause you’re not getting much interesting out of me.
Okay…let’s skip right to it, then Mr. Zaman. You get bullied at school sometimes—
—I wouldn’t say bullied.
People are always asking you questions you don’t like, you say. Hurtful, loaded questions.
—Well, sure. The questions are idiotic. What’s it like to ride a camel? Are you from Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan? Is your Dad a terrorist? That last one really pisses me off. My dad is awesome. And for the record, I’m from here. You don’t get much more American than us. Which, y’know…
You know?
—Well, I wonder what it would be like to be…y’know…more in touch with our Moroccan roots.
—Mackie and I both do. Maybe someday.
You mention Mackie a lot. Is he someone special to you?
—He’s been my best friend since we moved to Rainy Hill.
Nothing more than that?
—Moving right along.
Okay, so what have you been up to this summer?
—It’s going to sound stupid.
Oh? Do tell.
—Yeah. Really stupid. Idiotic, even. We’re sort of…investigating. Mackie and me. And I know you are gonna think we’re crazy, and it’s fine because we probably are crazy. It’s just that there’s been some weird stuff going on in the house. Like crazy freaky stuff that neither of us can explain. Noises and things moved around. And our weirdo neighbor says the house is haunted so we’re just trying to figure that out.
Did you figure out if it’s haunted?
–Whatever. I knew you wouldn’t believe me. But how often do you find a graveyard on your property? All that and ghost stories? It sort of adds up.
Anything you want the world to know about you, Isa Zaman?
—Nope. I am perfectly content with going unnoticed. Like I said, not quote-worthy.
Thank you for joining me today, Isa. And there you have it. Soft-spoken, doesn't-want-to-be-noticed Isa who is determined to figure out who is haunting the house!
I'll Always Miss You is NOW Available in ebook and print from
Amazon Barnes & Noble & OmniLit/ARe
ISBN-13: 9781632165244 Pages: 256
Cover Artist: Bree Archer
Categories: Young Adult | Bisexual | Coming of Age
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Excerpt
And that’s when I realized that my friends had become jerks.
I don’t know what it was, staring at their backs, that made me realize it, but they had.
And I was a jerk too.
Because I hadn’t stood up to them, and I’d put Mackie in this position again, when I knew he didn’t want to be there.
I turned immediately to go.
I knew we couldn’t abandon them, but that didn’t mean I had to stay inside to wait for them. I bumped into a couple dancing and somehow avoided the long-nailed grasp of a very drunk woman who wanted me to dance with her, and then I was near the door. I waited only until the people coming in had moved, and then I charged out of the club. I even told the bored guy with the stamp to kiss my ass.
A couple of girls near the front of the line giggled when they saw me, but I ignored them. I ignored them, and I went to find Mackie and the car.
He sat with his hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. No, glaring straight ahead.
I opened the passenger side door, and I climbed in.
“That was qui—”
I didn’t let him finish his sarcastic remark. I just grabbed his shirt and I pulled him across the seat to me, and I kissed him. Long and hard and good. I was fifteen years old, and I really, really, really didn’t want to be at a bar in Kansas City.
“Let’s go see the library,” I told him.
“Okay,” he replied dumbly.
“Right now, let’s leave those idiots and go see the library.”
“Okay,” he said, putting the car in gear. “Yeah, we’ll come back for them.”
“We’ll come back for them,” I agreed. “But right now, just you and me. Let’s go. Take the car and drive.
And that’s when I realized that my friends had become jerks.
I don’t know what it was, staring at their backs, that made me realize it, but they had.
And I was a jerk too.
Because I hadn’t stood up to them, and I’d put Mackie in this position again, when I knew he didn’t want to be there.
I turned immediately to go.
I knew we couldn’t abandon them, but that didn’t mean I had to stay inside to wait for them. I bumped into a couple dancing and somehow avoided the long-nailed grasp of a very drunk woman who wanted me to dance with her, and then I was near the door. I waited only until the people coming in had moved, and then I charged out of the club. I even told the bored guy with the stamp to kiss my ass.
A couple of girls near the front of the line giggled when they saw me, but I ignored them. I ignored them, and I went to find Mackie and the car.
He sat with his hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. No, glaring straight ahead.
I opened the passenger side door, and I climbed in.
“That was qui—”
I didn’t let him finish his sarcastic remark. I just grabbed his shirt and I pulled him across the seat to me, and I kissed him. Long and hard and good. I was fifteen years old, and I really, really, really didn’t want to be at a bar in Kansas City.
“Let’s go see the library,” I told him.
“Okay,” he replied dumbly.
“Right now, let’s leave those idiots and go see the library.”
“Okay,” he said, putting the car in gear. “Yeah, we’ll come back for them.”
“We’ll come back for them,” I agreed. “But right now, just you and me. Let’s go. Take the car and drive.
Enter for a Chance to Win a $25 Amazon.com gift card and
an ecopy of I'll Always Miss you!
Isa Zaman might forgive his parents for taking in a friend’s son if only he wasn't the most boring teenager in the universe. Macklin “Mackie” Cormack’s only interests are reading and the outdoors. Yeah, right. Isa's convinced Mackie is either a pyro or a klepto. Plus, as a white kid, Mackie looks ridiculous in the Zamans' Arab American household. Forced to share a bedroom, the boys keep butting heads until an absurd fight finally breaks the tension between them.
Isa’s just starting to figure life out: this new house-guest, his cultural identity, school, and even girls, when the entire family is uprooted from their home for reasons Isa can't understand. They move from their tiny city apartment to a giant, old house in a small town, hours away from everything he's ever known. Oh, and the new house? It's probably haunted, or so says the blank-faced ten-year-old next door. As if things weren't weird enough, Isa's friendship with Mackie suddenly takes a strange turn down a path Isa's not sure he’s ready to follow. It turns out Mackie Cormack isn’t nearly as boring as Isa once imagined.
Raine O'Tierney loves writing about first loves and friendship. She believes the best thing we can do in this life is be kind to one another, and hopes her stories always reflect that. Raine loves encouraging people to write and has been known to repeat the phrase "I believe everyone has a story to tell" endlessly, until she breaks down even the most stubborn non-writer!
Raine lives outside of Kansas City, Missouri, with her husband, fellow M/M author Siôn O'Tierney. When she's not writing, she's either playing video games or fighting the good fight for intellectual freedom at her library day job.
Contact her if you're interested in talking about point-and-click adventure games or about which dachshunds are the best kinds of dachshunds!
Congratulations on your new release! Great interview too.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!! <3
DeleteYay, Raine! This sounds like fun! Great interview!
ReplyDelete*hugs Yukari!!!* thank you so much! <3
DeleteCongrats on the book release and I can't wait to read it!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Vicki!! <3
DeleteI LOVED this character interview- I think I can really tell what Isa is like. Great job!! And great questions, Cody!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Mia-Mia!! Isa is one of my favorite characters <3
DeleteGreat interview. I love when characters are interviewed it gives them more depth. Adding to my tbr/wish list.
ReplyDeleteAwesome!! Thank you for your kind words! <3
DeleteThank you so much. This character interview was so much fun ;
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was great fun to "talk" with Is a <3
DeleteCongrats on the new book. Looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDeleteThat makes me so happy! Thank you!! <3
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