Publication date: April 7th 2014
Genres: Mystery, Young Adult
Jake Brown is your average, above-average kid. He generally has his mind on the usual things that male high school seniors think about: girls, avoiding Spanish class, girls, pizza, surfing, girls, and of course, girls. None of that changes when he and his best friend, Dean, go surfing and find a body with a hole in its head floating beyond the waves.
Shortly after “the big discovery,” Sydney, a cross country running teammate of Jake’s, asks him to go to Morp—“Prom” spelled backwards—a Sadie Hawkins-style dance where the girls ask out the boys. As if life isn’t exciting enough trying to solve a murder, it looks like Jake is about to have his fondest wish granted—a real, live girlfriend. Despite Sydney’s obvious attraction to him, it takes a little work to convince Jake the attraction is real. Luckily, Sydney is very convincing.
In the beginning, Jake and Dean try keeping Lily and Sydney out of harm’s way, but high school girls are pros at teasing out even the most well-kept secrets. Eventually, the foursome becomes entangled in clues—and preoccupied with making sure dire threats from their prime suspect don’t pan out!
Death at Carp High has as many peaks and troughs as a winter swell at Rincon, and it’s all Jake and Dean can do to avoid wiping out.
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Shortly after “the big discovery,” Sydney, a cross country running teammate of Jake’s, asks him to go to Morp—“Prom” spelled backwards—a Sadie Hawkins-style dance where the girls ask out the boys. As if life isn’t exciting enough trying to solve a murder, it looks like Jake is about to have his fondest wish granted—a real, live girlfriend. Despite Sydney’s obvious attraction to him, it takes a little work to convince Jake the attraction is real. Luckily, Sydney is very convincing.
In the beginning, Jake and Dean try keeping Lily and Sydney out of harm’s way, but high school girls are pros at teasing out even the most well-kept secrets. Eventually, the foursome becomes entangled in clues—and preoccupied with making sure dire threats from their prime suspect don’t pan out!
Death at Carp High has as many peaks and troughs as a winter swell at Rincon, and it’s all Jake and Dean can do to avoid wiping out.
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Can you tell us about your latest book?
Can you tell us about your latest book?
Jake and his best friend Dean, head out to catch some waves before school one morning when they find a body floating in the surf. This sets them on a course never meant to be taught in high school. The course: how to track down a murderer. In the midst of the mystery, a cute cross-country teammate of Jakes asks him to a dance and for the first time in his life, Jake becomes romantically involved.
What inspired you to write it?
How did you come up with the idea for the cover?
What made you want to become an author?
How do you come up with character names?
Name one of your all-time favorite books?
Despite the controversy surrounding the author, one of my favorites is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. Who knew the guy wrote such brilliant fiction.
Who, or what, inspires you?
Brilliant writers, good stories, great characters, my son and his friends, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, nature, and all the videos—the ones you’ve got to see!—people post on my Facebook wall.
Where is your favorite place to write?
What is your favorite movie that was based on a book?
Name two of your favorite authors.
If you could have a dinner party with any authors from any time in history, who would you choose and why?
Tell us a random fact about yourself.
Who would play you in the movie about your life?
Tell us an interesting fact about where you live.
What are your (writing) plans for the future?
Tell us one thing that’s on your bucket list.
Who did you want to be when you were a kid?
What inspired you to write it?
My biggest inspiration came from watching my son and his friends talk, play, eat, attend school, and do what teenaged boys and girls do.
How did you come up with the idea for the cover?
Ellen Reid turned me on to the great cover artist, George Foster. The design was all his.
What is it about this genre that appeals to you so much?
My wife and I read to our son since he was old enough to understand a few basic words. We always had a book going. Whether we were driving in the car, sitting in a hotel room on vacation, or waiting for our food to arrive at a restaurant, we always had a book with us. It was during these years that I grew to appreciate the YA genre. I like reading about kids figuring out how to overcome obstacles, too.
What made you want to become an author?
I love to read. And I love to write. It’s fun telling stories.
How do you come up with character names?
If they don’t pop up immediately in my head, I might peruse the phone book or look online for names that appeal to me. Since it’s easy to change all the same words in a book with just a few keystrokes, I’m not averse to going back and changing names that I’m just “not feeling.” I use some of my son’s classmate’s names, too.
Name one of your all-time favorite books?
Despite the controversy surrounding the author, one of my favorites is Battlefield Earth by L. Ron Hubbard. Who knew the guy wrote such brilliant fiction.
Who, or what, inspires you?
Brilliant writers, good stories, great characters, my son and his friends, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara, nature, and all the videos—the ones you’ve got to see!—people post on my Facebook wall.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Any one of a half dozen coffee shops in Carpinteria and Santa Barbara.
What is your favorite movie that was based on a book?
The first one that came to mind was The Princess Bride, by William Goldman.
Name two of your favorite authors.
Robert B. Parker. J.K. Rowling.
If you could have a dinner party with any authors from any time in history, who would you choose and why?
Lately, a friend has been posting quotes from Dorothy Parker. When asked to use the word horticulture in a sentence, she said, “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.” Wow!
Tell us a random fact about yourself.
A dachshund bit a hole through my tongue when I was elven.
Who would play you in the movie about your life?
George Clooney. Quentin Tarantino would direct!
Tell us an interesting fact about where you live.
Carpinteria was named by the first Spaniards sailing up the coast of California when they saw the Chumash Indians constructing and caulking their canoes with the natural tar found at the beach.
What are your (writing) plans for the future?
Write book number nine.
Tell us one thing that’s on your bucket list.
Travel around Europe.
Who did you want to be when you were a kid?
Myself. I just wanted to be the person I knew I had the potential to be. I wanted to be unshackled.
Jeremy Gold is seventeen years old…in his mind. He lives in Carpinteria, California, a small beachside town, ten miles south of its more celebrated sister, Santa Barbara. He loves hiking, mountain bike riding, and of course, writing. Death at Carp High is the first in the six-part Jake Brown mystery series.
Jeremy and his wife, Calla, have been married since 1979. Any resemblance between their 21-year-old son, Dan, and Jake Brown is purely…understandable.
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Tour-wide giveaway
--Signed copy of Death at Carp High (Open to US and Canada, ends Sept 2nd)
Jeremy and his wife, Calla, have been married since 1979. Any resemblance between their 21-year-old son, Dan, and Jake Brown is purely…understandable.
Website
Goodreads
Tour-wide giveaway
--Signed copy of Death at Carp High (Open to US and Canada, ends Sept 2nd)
Thanks for being on the tour, Suzy! :)
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