This is my stop during the blog tour for On The Move by K.V. Flynn. This blog tour is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. The blog tour runs from 1 till 14 October, you can view the complete tour schedule here.
On the Move (On the Move #1)by K.V. Flynn
Genre: Boys' action-adventure/ dystopia
Age category: Older Middle Grade/ young Young Adult
Release Date: September 2, 2014
Blurb:
Callum Vicente and his four best middle school buddies live in a Southern California beach town, and narrowly miss being grounded for life after they sneak out of town on the bus for a great skateboard day just before promotion from 8th grade. Their pal Justice ends up with a wicked broken leg, but their parents soon forget about it because weird, tense things are happening in the news. So Callum, Levi and his bff Apollo are soon deep into their best summer ever at PEAK skateboard camp where they learn tricks from the pros, grind on endless street courses, and careen off one awesome ramp straight into the lake. It is mad fun until the War breaks out: the teens watch major cities blown up on TV, have no idea what’s happened to their parents, and then lose virtually all communication with the outside world.
Stranded, the boarder buddies strike out on their own to find their families, travelling north through all of California and Oregon, following a network of underground message boards and savvy riders who they find holed up in skate parks along the way. They pick up their school buddy Mateo Beltran and hitch a ride with their Native friend Obbie, on his way to safety on his dad’s reservation in Washington state, and even get some surprising help as they try to figure out a world gone crazy while they are On the Move.
You can find On the Move on Goodreads
Note about the book from the author:
This is older MG/young YA, targeted at 10-15-year-olds. It’s action adventure with boys as the main story focus—I think that there are never enough books for and about boys in this reading level. ON THE MOVE really lives inside the world of skateboarding and boys’ friendships. Also, this is about a totally multi-cultural group of buddies: Obbie is Native American, Mateo’s Mexican, their camp friend Martin is African-American, and narrator Callum is half Spanish. And, because these guys experience a huge War, they also pick up on a cool underground network of retro tech, green living, secret clues, and skater support like no other you’ve read about before.
Like all the great teen adventures—think Maximum Ride, Pendragon, Ender’s Game, Demonata and Cirque du Freak—the boys in this book are strong, smart, funny, resourceful, and tight. Also, unlike many YA books, the boys experience a very real, world-changing event that challenges what they know and where they’ll go. But their skills, their brains, and their love of skateboarding guide them through the chaos and complications—plus, most of the time, they have a blast doing it!
About the Author:
K.V. Flynn is a writer who lives in Southern California, kind of near Manhattan-Huntington-Malibu Beach. His action-adventure book ON THE MOVE about 14-year-old skater friends who are stranded at skate camp when a War breaks out, comes out on Sept.2. Follow the news about it at www.OnTheMoveBooks.com. His favorite ride is an 8.25" Krooked deck, Independent trucks, and 53 mm Spitfire wheels. He is half Spanish and half Irish. K.V. has a dog, and has been watching "Pretty Sweet" by Chocolate Skateboards, "Stay Gold" by Emerica, and "The Deathwish Video" by Deathwish Skateboards. What about you!? He and his bros regularly cruise Venice, Stoner, Skatelab, and Van’s. Talk back: KVFlynnOntheMove@gmail.com.
Interview:
Where are you from?
I grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and went to college in Western Massachusetts. I’ve been out in Southern California for a while now, though, and after a certain point you’re considered a native—even if you’re not born here!
Tell us your latest news?
The publication of On the Move this month is my biggest news! I’m busy working with my publisher, Astraea Press, to expand awareness of the book and to do marketing to the readers and parents of middle-grade fiction. I chat a lot with skaters around the world, too, and reach out to active teen boys—I really want them to know there’s a book out there for them.
When and why did you begin writing?
I remember writing something most all of my life. But I began writing On the Move about five years ago, when I knew these kids as young teens. They inspired me to write about them because they were so cool and interesting, but also because they were always looking for books for and about them. There were never enough to choose from on the shelves.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
Inside I’ve considered myself a writer from before I was a teenager. But it wasn’t until much later that I had some short stories in journals and anthologies, and then, just now, published my first novel. Each of those things celebrates my being a writer, but because I write every day some which way, I’ve been a writer for maybe ever!
What inspired you to write your first book?
First, the 12-14-year-old boys I knew in Southern California inspired me. They were skating middle school buddies who also played soccer or baseball and had rock bands and hung out together—they were awesome. Their passion for skateboarding was my next inspiration—just listening to them talk, hearing what mattered to them, and seeing how great they were to one another, as friends, had a big impact on this story. And third, those boys loved certain books like Maximum Ride and Cirque du Freak, and they’d read them for fun and for book reports and for summer projects, but then they’d run out of them! I wanted to write a new series that could be for those middle-school and young high school readers looking for more adventure and action and, of course, skating!
Do you have a specific writing style?
I have a few. But the style of On the Move is the narrator Callum’s style. It’s told through the way he thinks and acts, what he notices about his friends, and what he remembers about a very challenging and amazing adventure that they all share together.
How did you come up with the title?
Skating is very kinetic, of course. And middle school boys are in constant motion, in their bodies and in their minds. Even, when they get together, when they talk! So I can’t remember a time when this book wasn’t called On the Move! And that led to the inevitable other titles in the series: On the Rim and On the Lipslide.
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
13-14-year-old boys are amazing. They are smart and funny, resilient, loyal and resourceful. They are vulnerable to the madness we rain down on them as adults in charge of this world but they are fearless to find ways to survive. Plus, they know how to keep their friends close and the fun rolling. JHF—Just Have Fun—is definitely a message of the novel, too!
How much of the book is realistic?
Well, the skating and the small beach town and the awesome summer skate camp in the mountains are 100% realistic, as are the skate brands and professional teams. Thank goodness we haven’t had a war like the one these boys encounter in On the Move. But we could. So that part is kind of a real imagining… like all good dystopian fiction about a messed-up possible future. Another thing that’s really realistic, though, is the science and green technology, the backdoor ways the kids use the internet and the work-arounds they encounter after power and other resources start failing in the United States.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
I do know all of these kids—Callum, the smart skater narrator who remembers everything; the lanky Native kid I call Obbie who’s writes songs and is always hungry; the Mexican boy Mateo who is a speed drummer and band organizer; the immigrant families who live in wealthy communities working in big houses and sending their kids to schools like Surfside High; the privileged sons of moguls, like PJ Steele; the brainiac waterpolo players like Levi; and the soulful handsome children of the sun like Apollo and his tiny quiet brother, Kaspar. But those weren’t their names…!
What books have most influenced your life most?
I have read, maybe, one zillion books. And they all influence my thinking, my writing, my understanding of people and the world in some way or other, from Charles Dickens to Suzanne Collins. I dug A Wrinkle in Time, growing up, and The Tripods books set under domed cities, and tons of Ray Bradbury. Michael Chabon’s Summerland I could read over and over. I read all the MG and YA books in the 2000s, like Maximum Ride and Hunger Games and Harry Potter, of course, and they influenced my taking this professional direction in my life to write for teens.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Every writer is a mentor to me, I think, from Thom Jones to James Patterson. Suzanne Collins is really gifted, as is Donna Tartt—man, too many! Please don’t make me choose, Deal Sharing Aunt!~
What book are you reading now?
True to my dystopian bent, I’m into California by Edan Lepucki. Just finished David Eggers The Circle. And I have some new YA on my Kindle from indie writers, too.
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Edan Lepucki’s really new; I’m liking her stuff a lot.
What are your current projects?
I did
the research this summer for the second book in the On the Move series. It’s
a prequel with the same kids called ON THE RIM. That story follows Callum and Mateo,
Levi and Obbie through eighth grade at Surfside High, and
then sends our band of buddies on a school Spring Break trip to Europe. Of
course, they squeeze in some excellent skating side trips, but when some scary
stuff starts going down in Spain, they get separated from their group and have
to plug into the dark skateboard underground of Marseilles, France in order to
find help and get home.
What would you like my readers to know?
On the
Move is a great read for boys and girls, for teens, for skaters,
for middle-schoolers who like action and adventure. There’s a lot to talk
about, once you’ve given it a look, so maybe parents want to read along, too,
and then have a fun conversation with their teen reader. Also, there’s lots
more skating stuff at my website, www.OnTheMoveBooks.com, which also has my Tumblr blog, tumblr.onthemovebooks!
Thanks, Aunt!!
You can find and contact K.V. Flynn here:
- Website
- Goodreads
- Tumblr
- Google +
There is a tour wide giveaway for the blog tour of On the Move. These are the prizes you can win:
- A set of Orangatang Cages—key clue in the book—and a skateboard sticker
- Skateistan t-shirt and a One the Move skateboard sticker
- On the Move Skateboard sticker!
Set of Orangatang Cages:
Skateistan t-shirt:
For a chance to win, enter the rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Very cool to visit with Deal Sharing Aunt! Thanks for the interview!
ReplyDeleteK.V.