A warm welcome to author Vanessa North joining us today on the blog tour for her newest release “Blueberry Boys”.

A Strange Nostalgia

When I wrote Blueberry Boys, I made a choice to set the majority of it in the same small town where I grew up—a setting so familiar to me, I could probably draw a map from memory decades after moving away. I’ll admit, this is a choice that I’ve questioned—and along with it my sanity. Fictionalizing a real place and populating it with strangers creates a weird feeling of dissonance—but in the end, the story is set where the story came from—blueberry fields.

While Blueberry Boys focuses mostly on Jed and Connor and their romantic relationship, the setting as a character—sometimes nurturing, sometimes alienating—became one of the foundations of that relationship unfolding. Setting as character is a time-honored tradition across genres—what would a gothic horror be without its decaying manse? A space opera without it’s starship? A small town romance without its small town?

Blueberry Boys is a love story; how would Jed’s disability, Connor’s self-esteem issues, and their common queerness be affected by the small town setting? How would it draw them together? And when they were placed in another environment with different stresses and expectations—would they feel the same way about each other as they felt in Jed’s farmhouse?

What I didn’t expect, though I should have, in hindsight, was to be caught up in my own memories of growing up and moving far away and the feeling of both alienation and belonging I’ve felt on the few occasions I’ve returned. It’s a strange nostalgia, to create fiction from a place that shaped your insides as much as Blandford shaped mine—I hope you’ll enjoy your visit there.

About the Book

Connor Graham is a city boy—a celebrated fashion photographer in New York. When his uncle’s death drags him back to the family blueberry farm, all he wants to do is sell it as quickly as he can. Until he meets his uncle’s tenant farmer.

Jed Jones, shy and stammering, devout and dedicated, has always yearned for land of his own and a man to share it with. Kept in the closet by his church, family, and disastrous first love, he longs to be accepted for who he is. But now, with his farm and his future in Connor’s careless hands, he stands to lose even the little he has.

Neither man expects the connection between them. Jed sees Connor—appreciates his art and passion like no one else in this godforsaken town ever has. Connor hears Jed—looks past his stutter to listen to the man inside. The time they share is idyllic, but with the farm sale pending, even their sanctuary is a source of tension. As work, family, and their town’s old-fashioned attitudes pull them apart, they must find a way to reconcile commitments to their careers and to each other.

Buy Links:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

Author of over a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories, Vanessa North delights in giving happy-ever-afters to characters who don’t think they deserve them. Relentless curiosity led her to take up knitting and run a few marathons “just to see if she could.” She started writing for the same reason. Her very patient husband pretends not to notice when her hobbies take over the house. Living and writing in Northwest Georgia, she finds her attempts to keep a quiet home are frequently thwarted by twin boy-children and a very, very large dog.

Connect with Vanessa:

• Website: vanessanorth.com
• Facebook profile page: facebook.com/AuthorVanessaNorth
• Twitter: @VanessaNWrites
• Goodreads: goodreads.com/VanessaNorth

To celebrate the release of Blueberry Boys, Vanessa North is giving away a $30 Amazon gift card! Your first comment at each stop on this tour enters you in the drawing. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 5, 2015. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. Entries. Follow the tour for more opportunities to enter the giveaway! Don’t forget to leave your email or method of contact so Riptide can reach you if you win!