Hottie McHott aka Angelo Tells Us More About...

Angelo, Have you always lived on the island where Kenzie now lives?
I don’t live on her island. I live across the channel from her. There are hundreds of islands here, you know. And yep, I was born in the Keys, but my parents came from Cuba.

Do you get bored living so far from the mainland? Kenzie seems to think there’s nothing to do.
Yeah, sometimes. I’ve been to Miami, and it’s an amazing place. Like being in movie-star city. Gotta say the beach scene is… (He whistles through his teeth.) uh… cool. Exciting stuff. Bright lights. Awesome music. But it’s too crowded for me. Gotta say, I’d rather be cruising in my boat on open water than sitting in a line of traffic. Yeah. About Kenzie. She doesn’t have a clue. If she ever quits treating us locals like dumb hicks she might make some friends who’d fill her in.

What music is on your play list?
*scoffs* My play list? Like when would I get to listen? I don’t have much free time. When I can, I play Green Day, Black-eyed Peas, Lady Gaga. Stuff like that. Some Latin beats. I can actually get Dad to play Nelly Furtado. When school’s out I work at Dad’s fish house, and they keep the local radio station on. It’s mostly country or oldies. And out fishing, I don’t play anything, even on my iPod. I’d miss key clues—

Wait. Clues? Sorry, I don’t get that.
Clues to finding fish. Like faint ripples or splashes or the sound of diving birds. And I don’t want to spook fish with sound vibrations. About the only time I can rock out is when I’m on my bike or skateboard.

Finding fish? Wow that's quite a different lifestyle you have as compared to Kenzie's in New York. Speaking of Kenzie, I am rather curious about how the both of you met...

Readers, we will be back on Friday with exclusive excerpts of the first time Angelo and Kenzie met in both their point of views! Not only that, there will be some illustrations from the book too!

An Interview with Island Sting's Kenzie

Kenzie is the brilliant protagonist from ISLAND STING by Bonnie Doerr.

So, Kenzie, I get the feeling you weren’t particularly happy about your move to a place people call Paradise. Am I right?
*Kenzie bites her tongue and takes a deep breath.*
Move? It was more like I was kidnapped. I mean, Mom did have permission to take me out of state, but she practically had to handcuff me.

Has leaving New York really been as bad as you expected?Honestly? Yes. It was a nightmare.
Leaving my friends, my school, my teams—

Excuse me, but please tell us what teams?
Swim and softball. Anyway, so I move to this island with zero culture. No museums or theatres. People here are all about fishing. Yuck. There are more boats than cars and more canals than roads. And all these really tiny deer run all over the place like they own the island. They’re endangered, so there’s not much development, nothing to do, and nowhere to hang. But it’s not like I really have friends to hang with. *Kenzie’s expression lightens and she seems to float away for a second.* Or at least not friends like the ones back home…

You must have met people your age by now. You could hardly avoid it in such a small community.
Mmm. There is this cute guy. I went to a girls’ school so it wasn’t easy to meet boys. And my dad totally freaked out the few boys I dated. I think the guy factor might be the only good deal about living here.

Ah. So tell us about this cute guy. What’s his name?
Angelo Sanchez, I fell for him my first day here, and that’s all you’re getting from me. *She grins.*

Alright guys, Kenzie is being secretive about Angelo now. Hmm, looks like I will have to talk to this cute guy myself. Come back on Thursday for a chat with Angelo!

Check out the trailer for ISLAND STING!

Bonnie Doerr Tells Us All About Wanting To.. Be A Boy?

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A horse first, a boy second. We watched lots of old western TV shows and I was always devastated when the horses were shot or injured. That’s when I decided I’d rather be a boy. The odds of living were better.

Why do you think you wanted to be a boy?
First, let me say I didn’t have a sister. Perhaps it was because my dad and brother were seriously involved in the Boy Scouts. We spent a great deal of time at the woodland scout camp enjoying rituals that involved Native American costumes and dancing, canoeing and nature activities. Exotic adventures that fascinated me. I failed Girl Scouts. The one year I went door-to-door with cookies, I was bit on the ankle by a Chihuahua. I took that as a sign. Plus, the Girl Scouts expected me to sew and cook. I watched my mother and grandmother slave over those activities and I wanted no part of them. The only cooking I wanted to do was on a stick over a campfire. Luckily, that’s all changed these days.

So, when did you adjust to the fact that you’d have to live with being a girl?
I began to see the potential when boy scouts came up to me with snakes in their hands expecting me to eek and run. Instead, I stroked the snakes and asked to hold them. Their expressions were priceless. Unique approach to flirting, but it worked. I also loved when at scout jamborees my dad and brother were asked to trade me for prized collector patches. I know. These days that sounds chauvinistic to say the least, but it was all in good fun.

Were you writing at all through all of this?
I don’t think so. I was way too active and out-doorsy. But in junior high, about the time I became aware that legs covered with bug bites held no appeal, I became a stay-at-home voracious reader. I was always insatiably curious about places and people. Still am. Reading went a long way toward satisfying that curiosity. I loved the way books transported me to different towns, states, countries, and I loved the pseudo experience of crawling around inside other people’s heads. It fascinated me to learn how unlike people are, one from the other, and to follow their train of thought. I could safely experience dangerous adventures and hang out with wickedly nasty characters when in real life I wouldn’t dare. As a teen, I’d sit on our front porch devouring books while hoping that the boy of my momentary interest would ride by on his bicycle, and in later years, in a car. I didn’t write much until high school when I began to make up for lost time.

As a teen, what were you most anxious about?
No surprises here--my body. At age twelve I was two long legs and a nose. Walking noses are rather awkward. Then, suddenly, I blossomed into a tall, buxom girl. At an age where many boys are inches shorter than girls, well, let’s just say I was never without a slow dance partner and leave it at that. I absolutely hated my body and worse, hated that everyone spoke to my chest. I went from being two legs and a nose to two boobs, period.

In junior high what were your finest and worst moments?
Okay, worst first. For a girl who had wanted to be a boy, I sure hated physical education. In fact, I managed to get out of it entirely in HS, but that’s another story. The activity I hated most in PE was climbing the rope. The one time I made it over halfway to the top I lost my grip and slid down the rope to the mat. Boom! The only one in the class to do so, and it had to happen while the boys were still in the gym. What a klutz. And what gruesome rope burns on my legs and hands. Ugly red blotches that became ugly scabs.

My finest moment in junior high was at a dance attended by 450 students. (I know this number because I just found the newspaper article about it.) I loved to dance and I can’t imagine a better dance period in history—Motown rocks! My partner and I won the twist contest! Heady stuff for me.

Tell us about your best and worst dates ever.
Hate to be cliché but best was my senior prom. I was on the homecoming court. My date was my best friend and sweetheart of two years—brilliant, handsome, basketball star, incredible dancer, and perfect gentleman. My first dance was with my wonderful Dad. The rest were with my fabulous date.

Worst was without question my sixteenth birthday. I was stood up for my own party. Enough said…

Now, for one final question, Which book published in 2010 are you most excited for?
I'm going to dodge any YA books because I'm excited for every one of my fellow 2k10 class member's books. Instead, I'm going for Ann Lamott's Imperfect Birds. I can't get enough of her honest, tough, real-life humor.

Hope you will enjoy Island Sting half as much as I enjoyed being featured on your blog.

Stalkerage:
Bonnie Doerr Books
Twitter

Cross-posted at: Read This Book! on 13 January 2010.