Cody Kennedy's Slaying Isidore's Dragons Blog Tour

 Cody Kennedy and the Business and Pressures of being an Author

     Today I'm honored to welcome author Cody Kennedy to my Athenaeum! He's here to promote his incredible new book, "Slaying Isidore's Dragons".

 



 

 

 

     Cody has kindly agreed to answer a few questions about some of the pressure he faces in writing LGBTQIA YA books. Thank you, Cody, for visiting. If you're ready, we can get started with my annoying...er...my probing...umm...no. Not probing. Let's just start, shall we?

 

Join me in welcoming Cody back to my blog!

 

Cody: Hey, Jase, thanks for having me again. It’s always great to be here.

 

Jase: We’ve been friends for a couple of years now and one of the things we periodically discuss is the business of writing and that includes some of the pressures we experience and business decisions we make as authors. Talk about some of the pressures you endure in order to bring us your books?

 

Cody: Writing and editing deadlines are some of the most difficult. They require one to be creative on demand, so to speak, and the imagination doesn’t always cooperate. I love to interact with readers but need forty-eight hour days in order to be able to do so and keep up with the demands of writing. Another of the pressures stems from simply being human. I am generally patient and easy going, and like to have fun on social media. Yet, occasionally something will occur that requires me to be serious and it surprises people that I can be, and very direct if something calls for it.

 

Jase: I understand that you chose to write young adult LGBTQIA books for the boys for whom you advocate. What has been the best thing about writing them? And the worst?

 

Cody: Without a doubt, the best is seeing hope blossom in my readers. Nothing is more satisfying to me. The most frustrating is two-fold. First, trying to educate and deal constructively with the intolerance that exists toward the LGBTQIA community is a tall order. Second, being unable to put our books into the hands of the youth who need them most is extremely frustrating. Harmony Ink Press does everything within its power to distribute our books in all markets and venues, and make appearances at conferences and festivals. Yet, the youth who desperately need our books don’t have access to them. They don’t have access to them because mechanisms aren't in place for schools and libraries to purchase and carry them. It's also important to know that Harmony Ink’s books aren’t only for LGBTQIA youth and I’d like to find a way to market that effectively

 

Jase: Have you suffered personal or professional criticism for writing the type of books for youth that you do?

 

Cody: Both personal and professional, but none that I’ve allowed to affect me. Advocating for abused youth is very important to me.

 

Jase: You also write for adults under pseudonym. Of the genres you write, which are your favorite? And what genre have you not yet written that you would like to write?

 

Cody: That’s a tough question. I have three favorite genres. They are science fiction, fantasy, and high-action thriller-mysteries. I have yet to write historical fiction but plan to write a young adult novel next year about the youth who helped restore books and artwork after the Arno River flood of 1966. The youth were referred to as Mud Angels and I’ll write a book by the same name.

 

Jase: That sounds like it’ll be a great book. In conclusion, is there anything you’d like to say to everyone reading this interview?

 

Cody: Thank you for reading my books!

 

Jase: *grins* Thanks, Cody. As always, it’s great to have you here.

 

Cody: It’s always great to be here, Jase!

 

      Please check out Cody Kennedy's new book, "Slaying Isidore's Dragons"! I know you'll love it! And thank you all for taking the time to come to here and read this. I know I speak for Cody as well as myself when I say we greatly appreciate it! **HUGS**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow Slaying Isidore’s Dragons’ Book Tour!

 

About Slaying Isidore’s Dragons

 

5 Best friends
4 Vicious brothers
3 STD tests
2 Guys in love
1 Car bombing
&
Nowhere to run

     Follow the burgeoning love of two teens during the worst year of their lives. Irish-born Declan David de Quirke II is the son of two ambassadors, one Irish and one American. He is ‘out’ to his parents but to no one else. French-born Jean Isidore de Sauveterre is also the son of two ambassadors, one Catalan and one Parisian. His four half brothers have been told to cure him of his homosexuality. Both teens have lost a parent in a London car bombing.

 

5 Weeks of hell
4 Attempts on their lives

3 Law enforcement agencies
2 Dead high school seniors
1 Jealous friend
&
A love that won’t be denied

 

     Declan and Isidore meet at the beginning of their senior year at a private academy in the United States. Declan is immediately smitten with Isidore and becomes his knight in shining armor. Isidore wants to keep what is left of his sanity and needs Declan’s love to do it. One is beaten, one is drugged, one is nearly raped, one has been raped. They are harassed by professors and police, and have fights at school, but none of it compares to running for their lives. When the headmaster’s popular son attempts suicide and someone tries to assassinate Declan’s mother, they are thrown headlong into chaos, betrayal, conspiracy, allegations of sexual coercion, even murder. And one of them carries a secret that may get them killed.

 

5 New family members

4 BFF’s
3 Countries
2 Extraordinary Psychologists
1 Courageous Mother

&
A new beginning for two young men in love

 

Read Chapter One of Slaying Isidore's Dragons

 

Now available in print and ebook at Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press
Amazon   GooglePlay   Barnes & Noble   OmniLit/ARe   Beam-eBooks in Europe

Ingram Books for Libraries and Schools

About Cody Kennedy

 

     Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Cody doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward, and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Cody contemplates such weighty questions as If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Cody can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary. 

 

Stop by Cody’s Blog with questions or comments, or simply share what’s on your mind.

Find Cody on Facebook, Twitter @CodyKAuthor, Medium, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google+,

Ello, Goodreads, & read Cody’s free serial story, Fairy