A warm welcome to author J.K Pendragon joining us here to talk about new release “Junior Hero Blues”.

Welcome J.K 🙂

Secret Identities

 

I’ve loved superheroes since I was a little kid. And one of the things I always loved most about superheroes was the secret identity aspect. When the character had something about them, something super important to their life and their identity that they have to keep a secret from those closest to them, I always tended to identify with them more, and get really excited and nervous for them when their secret was revealed.

 

I guess now it’s obvious why I liked that aspect of the story. I remember vividly being a young, closeted teenager and thinking that having a secret really wasn’t as glamourous as stories made it out to be. But I still liked seeing other people go through the same thing as me. Especially when it turned out that the secret they were keeping was actually something really cool about them, and something the people they told ended up accepting about them.

 

A lot of the superhero movies and shows that come out these days really dial down the secret identity aspect, which disappoints me. I knew if I was going to write a superhero story, it had have the secret identity stuff front and centre. In JUNIOR HERO BLUES, Javier isn’t in the closet. His parents know he’s gay, and always have (well, since he announced at seven that he was going to marry Enrique Iglesias anyway.) But they don’t know that he’s a superhero. The story of Javier keeping that secret from his parents, and the way it affects his relationship with them is very much a metaphor for closeted queerness.

 

The big difference between this story and the ones I loved as a child though, is that the queerness isn’t just in the metaphor, hidden between the lines for queer kids to desperately eek out. Javier is gay, and he’s dealing with having a secret and “coming out,” but in a way that’s a little less on the nose than your typical gay angst story. Which I know I appreciate, so I suspect there are some other readers out there who will as well.

 

And, FYI, Javier is still going to marry Enrique. He just hasn’t figured out how to break the news to his boyfriend yet.

 

JUNIOR HERO BLUES is now available for purchase from Riptide Press’s YA imprint, Triton Books! Check it out, and also leave a comment on this post with your name email for a chance to win one of three $15 Amazon gift cards.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

About Junior Hero Blues

 

Last year, Javier Medina was your average socially awkward gay high schooler with a chip on his shoulder. This year, he’s . . . well, pretty much the same, but with bonus superpowers, a costume with an ab window to show off his new goods, and a secret identity as the high-flying, wise-cracking superhero Blue Spark.

 

But being a Junior Hero means that Javier gets all the responsibility and none of the cool gadgets. It’s hard enough working for the Legion of Liberty and fighting against the evil Organization, all while trying to keep on top of schoolwork and suspicious parents. Add in a hunky boyfriend who’s way out of Javier’s league, and an even hunkier villain who keeps appearing every time said boyfriend mysteriously disappears, and Blue Spark is in for one big dollop of teenage angst. All while engaging in some epic superhero action and, oh yeah, an all-out battle to protect Liberty City from the forces of evil.

 

Welcome to the 100% true and totally unbiased account of life as a teenage superhero.

Buy links:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

 

About J.K. Pendragon

 

J.K. Pendragon is a Canadian author with a love of all things romantic and fantastical. They first came to the queer-fiction community through m/m romance, but soon began to branch off into writing other queer fiction. As a bisexual and genderqueer person, J.K. is dedicated to producing diverse, entertaining fiction that showcases characters across the rainbow spectrum, and provides queer characters with the happy endings they are so often denied.

 

After writing in the romance community for several years, Junior Hero Blues is J.K.’s first book for young adults. Having been very positively affected by the queer books they came across as a teen, J.K. hopes their young adult books can have a similar effect on teens who may have a harder time finding books about people like themselves.

 

Notable works by J.K. Pendragon include Ink & Flowers, a contemporary romance novel with coming out themes, and To Summon Nightmares, a horror-fantasy that follows the journey of a young trans man into a world of magic and danger. To Summon Nightmares is the winner of the 2015 Rainbow Awards’ Best Transgender Fiction award. J.K. also contributed to Less Than Three Press’s Geek Out: A Collection of Trans and Genderqueer Romance.

 

J.K. currently resides in British Columbia, Canada, with a boyfriend, a cat, and a large collection of artisanal teas that they really need to get around to drinking. They are always happy to chat, and can be reached at jes.k.pendragon@gmail.com and on twitter @JKPendragon.

 

Connect with J.K.:

• Website: www.jkpendragon.com
• Blog: www.jkpendragon.com/blog
• Twitter: @JKPendragon
• Tumblr: jkpendragon.tumblr.com

 

 

To celebrate the release of Junior Hero Blues, three lucky winners will receive $15 Amazon credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on November 12, 2016. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!