about the book
Wayne Kovok was obsessed with spouting trivia.
Did you know the red poinsettia originated in Mexico and is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States minister to Mexico?
Rattling off random facts served as shield for Wayne. They filled awkward social moments and helped him cope with the difficulty of talking to his “sort-of” girlfriend and his overbearing grandfather.
Factoids no longer help, though, since Wayne lost his voice.
Wayne and his mother were bringing back the body of his war veteran uncle to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery when their plane crash-landed. The two survived, but Wayne was left with a large L-shape facial scar (L for Loser) and the loss of an eyebrow and his voice.
Now what?
His grandfather simply barks orders at him throughout the day, and Wayne has no idea what his girlfriend, Sandy wants. And then there’s his part-time dad, “the Flee” with his endless promises that he doesn’t deliver on.
As Wayne struggles with the aftermath of the accident, he realizes he must literally and figuratively find his own voice in the world.
about the author
“The first key to writing is to write, not think,” says author Karen Harrington.
Her advice to young, aspiring writers? Fill a notebook with ideas and don’t stop to look at it until it’s full. “Out of all the pages in the notebook, maybe five or ten will be golden. It is so worth it to get to that golden space.”
Karen has been writing most of her life—though not all of it was novel writing. At one point in her career, she was a speechwriter for GreyHound Bus Lines. Characters, and a deep yearning to know more about them, inspire Karen to develop storylines. Often, minor individuals in one book become protagonists in later books. For instance, her first novel was an adult thriller, Janeology. A character in that book lead to her first young-adult read, Sure Signs of Crazy.
Nerdy Wayne, in Courage for Beginners, was the catalyst for her most recent work, Mayday.
In order to understand some of her characters, Karen sometimes creates song playlists that she imagines her characters would enjoy. More than a few times she has listened to the playlists while editing her work. Karen considers “Learn to Fly” by the Foo Fighters, for example, as Wayne’s theme song.
Born and raised in Texas, Karen is a die-hard Texas fan and naturally patriotic. Pictures of long-gone ancestors, some of whom date back to the Revolutionary War, dot the walls of her Dallas home and serve as personal inspiration. Lengthy walks with her rescue dog Sam break up her writing and Mom duties. And while she dreams of dining with Pope Francis, she hopes cantaloupe is not on the menu—she hates it!
Sources:
Author Website
Author Interview: BookPage
Author Interview: Bookish Serendipity
Also by Karen Harrington:
Courage for Beginners. Little, Brown and Company. 2014.
Sure Signs of Crazy. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 2013.
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