A warm welcome to author J.E Birk joining us today to talk about her newest release “The Worst Bad Thing”.
Welcome J.E 🙂
Five Weird Truths about The Worst Bad Thing
It’s finally happened: The Worst Bad Thing is out! This book means a lot to me personally, and I’ll forever be grateful to Dreamspinner for helping me improve it and make it the book it is today. In honor of Tate and Gabriel’s introduction to the world, I’m sharing five weird truths about the inception of this book.
#1. This book was kinda sorta based on a true story.
Sadly, a tragedy very similar to the one Tate experiences in The Worst Bad Thing happened within my own community. We were lucky, and the outcomes for us were not nearly as horrific as those Tate’s community experienced. Still, I turned to writing to handle all the difficult emotions surrounding me at that time…and this story came out as a result.
#2. My husband and I took virtually the exact same trip that Tate takes.
When I decided that this book would take Tate on a journey of some kind, I also decided to have him follow almost the exact itinerary of a trip my husband and I once took through Iceland, London, and Paris. As I was writing this book, I would literally pull up our digital picture albums while I crafted the descriptions of each place Tate visited.
#3. In the first version of this story, Gabriel was going to be a weapons smuggler.
When I first started writing The Worst Bad Thing, Gabriel had very different secrets. They involved guns, the CIA, and all sorts of other international organizations. In the end, though, that plot didn’t work with Tate’s story, and Gabriel’s character-building took some drastic shifts. I left one line in the book, though, as an homage to what Gabriel might have been. As they’re leaving the airport, Tate makes a joke about how Gabriel’s “guns” should be illegal, and Gabriel becomes very upset—until he realizes Tate is talking about his arm muscles. That joke had a lot more meaning in the original manuscript.
#4. As Tate and Gabriel prove, the Beatles musical is way underrated.
I’m here to tell you: if you like the Beatles’ music, you will love the Beatles musical. That’s all. And who doesn’t like the Beatles’ music? Anyone on this planet? As such, that musical just had to make its way into this story.
#5. I still can’t explain where Gabriel’s best friend came from.
At about the same time I realized that Gabriel wasn’t going to be a weapons smuggler, Emory appeared in this manuscript. He was never written into any of the original outlines and I never intended to create him until he appeared on the page. He quickly became one of my favorite characters and is now in great danger of getting his own book.
I greatly appreciate Love Bytes for having me on their site today so I could share all the bizarre and strange details about this story. I hope you enjoy spending time with Tate and Gabriel!
Blurb for The Worst Bad Thing
By J.E. Birk
Iceland, Stonehenge, London, Paris….
To the casual observer, it looks like a dream trip. For Tate O’Reilly, it’s anything but. He’s a man on a mission to rectify a critical mistake, and there’s nothing to hold him back—certainly not friends or family. For Tate, it all comes down to one simple thing—he must fix what he has broken.
What he doesn’t count on is meeting Gabriel Carillo. Gabriel is kind, mysterious, and seems to be on his own mission to ensure their paths keep crossing. But Tate’s hiding an awfully big secret—one he’s certain even Gabriel can’t forgive.
Does a man’s past have to determine his future? In the middle of cities filled with history, Tate is going to find out.
Buy links for The Worst Bad Thing
Biography for J.E. Birk
J.E. Birk has been telling stories since she could talk and writing them since she was introduced to the alphabet. She hails from Colorado, where you can usually find her skiing, training for a 5K she won’t end up running, or watching grown men run into each other on football fields and in hockey rinks. You can follow her ramblings on Twitter by looking for @jebirkwrites. She’s also been known to ramble on Facebook as J Elisabeth Birk.
I’m so thrilled to be here today! Thanks for having me. 🙂