I’m happy to be a part of the Never Always Sometimes tour today! I’ve got Adi here to take us behind the scenes on his writing, and you can also enter to win before you go! First, let’s see what this book is all about:
Never Always Sometimes by Adi Alsaid
Published by Harlequin Teen on August 4th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
Never date your best friend
Always be original
Sometimes rules are meant to be broken
Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.
Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.
Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.
Guest post by Adi Alsaid
Behind the Scenes- My Writing Office(s)
As I sit down to write this, I’m at a restaurant patio in Siem Reap, Cambodia in the midst of a 5-week backpacking trip throughout Southeast Asia. I’m a bit sweaty, but it’s early evening and the heat is past its peak. My feet are up on the red cushion of the large lounging chair I’ve camped out in while I wait for my friends to finish their yoga class and meet up with me for dinner. I’m not using my laptop, but rather am typing away on a bluetooth keyboard connected to a Microsoft Word-loaded mini iPad that my sister gave me because she wasn’t using it.
This is not my usual writing office, but I’m not complaining.
When I was writing Never Aways Sometimes, I was on deadline, and made heavy use of my more typical settings. Various Starbucks in the Condesa/Roma area of Mexico City, assorted coffee shops, my place, my girlfriend’s, the gym at the school where I coach basketball. I wrote the first draft in a six week flurry, for which I needed a calendar with each chapter having its own deadline. I wrote about 2,000 words a day, sometimes more, sometimes quickly, sometimes deep into the night. I didn’t quite have the luxury for a slow day or a day off.
During revisions I was traveling for Let’s Get Lost and taking some personal road trips, so I wrote on airplanes, in hotel rooms, in coffee shops hastily Yelped, in between panels at the Anderson’s Teen Lit conference in Naperville, IL. I sent in the final draft from the public library in downtown Seattle.
Now, I’m in between deadlines, and only sitting down to write these blog posts, or maybe add to a project that’s in the works. When a new idea came to me on an overnight train ride from Bangkok to Chiangmai, I sprung up in my sleeper cabin and wrote the thought down in my oft-neglected notebook. I write postcards in hostels and foreign, unexpected treasures like the one I’m in right now, maybe try to journal to remember the details of this trip.
So, okay, I don’t always have a usual writing office. Sure, I get recognized at certain spots in Mexico City, where I live. Some baristas know my name and my drink order. But when you’re a traveler, when you’re lucky enough to have your publisher send you to multiple book events throughout the year, when you’re on deadline and have no choice, it helps to be a little flexible. And who would complain?
About the Author
Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it’s no surprise that after graduating he packed up his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a writer.
He’s now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats or cooks as spicy as possible.
In addition to Mexico, he has lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him that more places will eventually be added to the list.
This post is part of the Never Always Sometimes blog tour.
Click on the banner for the full tour schedule!
Giveaway
Thanks to the amazing team at Harlequin Teen, each stop on the tour will be offering up a copy of NEVER ALWAYS SOMETIMES, so be sure and follow along for more guest posts, interviews and chances to win! To enter, please fill out the Rafflecopter form.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Blog design by