High School Advice #7 Guest post & GIVEAWAY for My Girlfriend Bites Blog Tour by author Doug Solter

Today, my blog serves a dual purpose as both a Guest post in my High School Advice #7 and as a stop for My Girlfriend Bites blog tour by author Doug Solter.  Again I cannot give enough thanks all the authors who have participated in this Guest post series for me.  You rock!

If you have missed some of the post catch up via the links at the end of the post.  And I'm really looking forward to reading Doug's book and if I do like it adding it to my classroom library to share with my students :)

Don't forget to enter Doug's fabulous GIVEAWAY too!!

Now onto Doug’s Guest post:

        Hi, Everyone! I'm Doug and I'm a writer of young adult fiction. Cassandra was nice enough to invite me here today to write about my experience in high school.     

        Interesting subject because I was a different guy in high school. I was very shy and got bullied a lot all through junior high and parts of high school. And I had no confidence whatsoever in asking girls out. Even the concept of going up to a girl and asking her out was too terrifying to think about. That's the one thing I like about writing young adult fiction is the awesome concept of do-overs.

        What would have happened if I told that one girl that I liked her? What was it like to be “popular?” What if I had special powers and the bullies didn't? What is it like to be a teen now? How is that different then when I went to school? Because I've found a lot of differences, but then it's always interesting to discover that some things never change and many kids still have to fight through some of the same things I did.

        The one thing I remember as a high school student was how I viewed the future. Sure, I had a vague idea of what I wanted to do after high school, but I didn't take it too seriously. I was always focused on the here and now. For me, surviving every school day was enough of a struggle because I didn't have confidence in myself and always had that stress a kid would get when they were bullied all the time. When I became a senior, things got a little better. But there's a steep climb to that senior year, and I almost fell off the mountain a couple times.

        In my case, I was lucky enough to physically move away from home and go to college. That saved the high-school me. College reset my life. I wasn't high-school me anymore. I could finally become the person that I wanted to become. The me that wasn't allowed to grow in high school because I had to act like everyone wanted me to act...changed into someone I didn't mind hanging with. And to be honest, everyone is different inside and that's awesome. One day the awesome you. The true you. The you that may have to hide inside a shell at school. That you, will have a chance to exist in the real world. I know that because it happened to me.

        All I'm saying is high school will not define you as a person no matter how hard it tries. It's your job to be the person you want to be. Maybe you won't be able to do this in high school because, it's not easy. But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. It's there. I've walked through it. Maybe that light isn't college. Maybe it's the military. Maybe it's a job opportunity in a field that you're really interested in or maybe it's something new and wonderful that you have yet to discover. Some wonderful thing that you didn't even know existed and forces you to ask; “People get paid for doing this?”

        And the big trick in finding that light at the end of the tunnel?

        Always be looking for it.

        It won't fall on your head despite all the wishful thinking in the world.

        If you told the high-school me that I was going to be a writer, high-school me would have said that's impossible. Yet, here I am writing this post. I had to go on searching into my late twenties before finding that awesome thing that I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

        As I said, everyone's journey is different so don't compare yours with theirs.

        Because they could be complete idiots.

        May your journey into the future be just as fun as the destination!

About Doug:  Growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Doug went to college at nearby Oklahoma State where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Radio/TV/Film production and worked in local television for 20 years. Doug began writing screenplays in 1998 and became a 2001 semi-finalist in The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. His script Father Figure was one of 129 scripts left from 5,489 entries. His tenth script, Rail Fan, became a quarter-finalist in 2009. Soon after, Doug made the switch to writing young adult novels in 2008. Skid, a young adult novel set in the world of Formula 1 racing, is his first.

Connect with Doug:

Author website, Goodreads, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google+

About MY GIRLFRIEND BITES:

A wimpy 16-year-old boy wants to find a girlfriend. When he falls for the perfect one, she shifts into a werewolf and throws his life upside down.

After his "dream" girl rejects him, 16-year-old Aiden tries to commit suicide. Yet he mysteriously survives. Now he feels like a loser with zero possibility of  finding the perfect girlfriend. Enter Bree, the creepy girl with too much hair who's rumored to be cloned from a frozen prehistoric cave girl that scientists discovered in Canada. But when he accepts a ride from “Cave Girl” during a storm, Aiden discovers this weird girl not only has a kind heart. She's also cute.

Aiden offers to help Bree in Algebra and the two become friends. When Aiden pushes that friendship into a date, Bree accepts. On a romantic night at the zoo, Bree and Aiden fall in love as the animals watch. Unlike Aiden, they can smell what Bree really is.

Bree decides to tell him her deep, dark secret. Her family are werewolves hiding from the Demon Skins, a mysterious new enemy hunting down all the werewolf packs on earth. Aiden struggles with Bree's revelation, but chooses to stand by the girl he fell in love with. But standing by his new girlfriend will be the biggest test of his life.

Too bad Bree can't turn a coward into a fearless werewolf. That bite thing is only a myth.

This forces Aiden to do the unthinkable...believe in himself.

Sometimes the boy gets the werewolf.

Interested in reading??

Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Amazon UK, Amazon CA

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm really looking forward to reading this book because it has my interest :)  So look for a review coming soon!!

  

My Girlfriend Bites Blog Tour Schedule

July 16 - Froze 8 Blog
http://katetilton.com/froze8s-blog
Guest Post by MGB character Bree Mayflower!

July 17 - I Read Indie
http://twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com/
Guest Post by MGB character Aiden Jay!

July 18 - Girl in the Woods
http://girlinthewoodsreviews.blogspot...
10 Things You Didn’t Know About My Girlfriend Bites.

July 19 - Cassandra Lost in Books
http://closkot.blogspot.com/
Guest post: High School and the concept of The Future.

July 22 - Lady's Book Stuff
http://ladysbookstuff.blogspot.com/
Guest post: Sneak Peek of first two chapters of My Girlfriend Bites.

July 23 - Oops I Read a Book Again
http://oopsireadabookagain.blogspot.com/
Interview with MGB character Bree Mayflower. Plus MGB dream movie cast!

July 24 - Morgan Dragonwillow
http://morgandragonwillow.com/
Guest Post: Protecting Manhood in YA. My opinion.

July 25 - Dana Square
http://danasquare.blogspot.com/
Author interview.

July 26 - Bittersweet Enchantment
http://www.bittersweet-enchantment.com/
Interview with MGB character Aiden Jay.

July 29 - Alli's World
http://mrscaptkirk51.blogspot.com/
Guest Post: What Inspired Me to Write My Girlfriend Bites

August 1 - Reading Teen
http://www.readingteen.net
Indie Spotlight

Previous Guest posts:  High School Advice #1, High School Advice #2, High School Advice #3, High School Advice #4, High School Advice #5, High School Advice #6