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Book: Those We Knew In Summer

Q1. Hello Sir, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

My name is Nicholas DeRosa. I am a high school history and economics teacher in Ewing New Jersey. I also coach Cross Country and Track and Field. Other than my writing hobbies I am a big gaming nerd. I enjoy playing board games, Magic the Gathering, and open world video games.  I have a loving family, a beautiful and supportive fiancé, and an emotional support Corgi named Phil.

Q2. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Those We Knew In Summer’ book?

Writing the book was not too difficult. I drank a lot of coffee and only walked away from computer to sleep and use the bathroom.  But it was the months/years of editing, plot analysis, workshopping with other writers, and the frequent self-doubt and anxiety that were the most challenging aspects of writing the book. My most challenging objective was that I wanted to be sure my characters both had a continuity of personality and genuine nature to themselves, but that they also showed growth through their experiences at the festival.

Q3. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Any book that embodied the chaotic nature of young adults.  I needed the angsty and reckless motifs of younger generations, but also how those actions had some larger significance for the time period in which the stories to place.
For this book I tried my best to pay homage to the “lost generation” of writers and the “beatniks” that represent a lot of the counterculture in the United States.  Authors of particular influence were, JD Salinger, Hunter S Thompson, Nathaniel West, Ernest Hemingway and Jack Kerouac.  If you have read any books by those authors, you’ll understand where I am coming from.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

My hometown of Clinton New Jersey is where the story takes place. It’s important for this book in particular because I refence it’s characteristics often.  It is where my friends and I grew up and it will always be home for us.  Other places I love are Gettysburg, PA because I have had some of my favourite history memories there with my Dad, students, and friends, and I had my first writers conference and workshop there; and Mystic, CT because I just love the town.
  
Q5. Is there lots to do before you drive in and start writing a book?

One word, research.  Most of my books have some kind of historical component that requires research.  For this book I needed to research the history of the town in regard to the Bellewood Amusement Park and I also needed to compile the musicians and songs I wanted to use for the book. It’s a lot of scene building to make the story come alive.  Which is also why the book has a map of the festival that comes with it.

Q6. How long did it take you to write ‘Those We Knew In Summer’ book?

The draft took about two weeks. I wrote it between the end of summer camp (yes, I work at a summer camp as well) and the beginning of the school year.  The edits took about two years.

Q7. On what all platforms readers can find your books to buy?

On Amazon you can order paperback and Kindle versions.  On my Blurb Bookstore (links on my website and socials) you can order paperback, hardcover, and an ebook version for tablets. You can also email me for merchandise like stickers and the festival map.

Q8. Tell us about the process of coming up with the cover and the title of your books?

Oddly enough, my Mom came home one day with a painting she did of a night scene overlooking a lake with lights in the distance.  It fit perfectly to my story.  I brought the idea to my fiancé Amanda (@acrossendesign) and she designed the cover, map and stickers.   The cover is from the vantage point of the campsite looking over the lake to the festival in the distance.
The title is representative of the friendships and experiences the characters have when they escape to the festival every summer. Though the characters only see these festival goers once a year, they feel the closest to them. 

Q9. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

You must write things that have some relevance or connection to everyday life.  I am a huge fan of JRR Tolkien, but even the characters of Middle Earth have a connection to our lives in the non-fantasy world.  Without this connection in your writing, no one will care to read it.

Q10. Are there any secrets from the books (that aren’t in the blurb), you can share with your readers?

There are many secrets.  Every interaction and observation that occurs amongst the characters has some significance to the inner conflict of the main character.  These little vignettes of exposition and dialogue also provide social commentary as well. Nothing is random in this story and every scene has some underlying significance.  My best suggestion is, watch the behaviour of the main character and you will notice the subtext.

Author’s Profile

Book Is Available On Amazon

Those We Knew In Summer

Q1.  Hello Ma’am, can you please introduce yourself? Readers would love to know more about you.

I have been teaching yoga and meditation to children and teens for over ten years.  My award- winning book Worry Bee I wrote in 2011 for my preschool yoga class that told me often they were worried which was 4 and 5 year old children.  I could not find  book that applied the principles of yoga  breath-work along with laughter for children to use in everyday life to relieve stress and anxiety so I made my own paper book and used it in classes with songs that went with it.  They would keep telling me then “Miss Ann I won’t be a Worry Bee.”  It was then published in 2018 by Pear Tree publishing.

Q2.  Tell us about the process of coming up with the book cover and the title ‘Mindful Moon’?’

Oh this is pretty funny story the book was originally a mindful spider and I had writers block.  I love spiders and my favorite book in elementary school was Charlotte’s Web.  However, I was sitting at our  lake home in New Hampshire watching the sun set as a full moon was rising, and I rewrote the book to be Mindful Moon.  Colleen Sgroi who illustrated the book came up to our home in NH and really saw my vision for the book.  The book won a Moon Beam children’s best illustration and I am very proud of it.

Q3. Is there lots to do before you dive in and start writing a book?

My work with children inspires my writing.  Children love to be read too and when I work in therapeutic or paediatric hospital settings doing meditation and yoga therapy I see how they relate to using mindful breathing or calm cantering with a book.

Q4. What’s your favourite spot to visit in your own country? And what makes it so special to you?

The White Mountains of New Hampshire where I was inspired by the view of the moon rising over the mountains while the sun was setting to write  Mindful Moon.  I get to see this in every season. Right now is truly one of my favorite Fall with all the gorgeous colours.

Q5. What were the key challenges you faced while writing ‘Worry Bee’ book?

I wanted to make sure that parents, caregivers and educators could really easily follow the directions to do mindful breathing like Worry Bee and use it in a way that supports calming children’s worries.

Q6. Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers about?

I AM ….. It is called Mind Buzz another bee theme, but it is a meditation workbook for teens.  Stay tuned everyone.  It is great for adults too!

Q7. What does success means to you?

Finding  joy in the present  moment  not because everything is perfect, but because you choose it.

Q8. When writing a book how do you keep things fresh, for both your readers and also yourself?

I meditate every morning even if it is only for five minutes and when I get stuck in the process I  leave the work and go meditate more!

Q9. What books or authors have most influenced your own writing?

Oh this is a great story as my parents were teachers and educators their entire careers, so reading was instilled to be very important in our household. When I was a young girl my mother bought me the book Ann Likes Red by Dorothy Seymour it was my favorite book as a young child especially with my name being Ann. Then my father bought me Charlotte’s Web in elementary school by EBWhite and I am a big animal lover spend every week in a barn with my rescue horse and rescue donkey.

Q10. Lastly, do you want to give any advice to someone wanting to write and publish a book?

Oh yes… when you think of what you are writing is a gift to the reader  you have a whole different idea of  gratitude for the process.

Books are Available On Amazon