Adventures in Nowhere Virtual Book Tour March & April 2011

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Join John Ames, author of the coming of age novel, Adventures in Nowhere, as he virtually tours the blogosphere March 1 – April 29 2011 on his first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About John Ames

John Ames has a master’s degree in English from the University of Florida, where he was a Ford Fellow. After graduation, he built a rustic house and lived for several years on the edge of a spiritual community located near Gainesville, Florida. John’s search for enlightenment ended when he decided that he was too far from a movie theater. He moved inside the Gainesville city limits and taught English and film for thirty years at Santa Fe College.

He has produced and acted in numerous short films and videos, including the cable TV series the “Tub Interviews,” wherein all the interviewees were required to be in a bathtub. For ten years he reviewed movies for PBS radio station WUFT. He has appeared as a standup comedian and has designed and marketed Florida-themed lamps. He coauthored Second Serve: The Renée Richards Story (Stein and Day, 1983) and its sequel No Way Renée: The Second Half of My Notorious Life (Simon & Schuster, 2007), and Speaking of Florida (University Presses of Florida, 1993).

His recent book is a coming-of-age novel titled Adventures in Nowhere.

You can visit his website at www.johnamesauthor.com.

About Adventures in Nowhere

On the bank of a river sits a moss-covered mansion, moldy and foreboding. Yesterday it was a cheerful bungalow with a dog lazing on a sunny porch. There is no predicting what it will be tomorrow. A young boy sits on the opposite bank, his brow furrowed.

Adventures in Nowhere is told from the wry perspective of ten-year-old Danny Ryan whose realm is 1950s Florida, long before theme parks crowded out the possibility of real magic. Danny refers to his neighborhood as Nowhere, because it seems trapped in time, some parts on the verge of rebirth and others slowly falling apart. Among the things falling apart is the Ryan family, which is dominated by a schizophrenic father who makes every day an adventure, yet Danny keeps his good humor, seeking escape on the nearby Hillsborough River or in the little community of Sulphur Springs with its puzzling mix of the glorious and the shameful. These outings provide Danny a diverting blend of comedy and drama.

But Danny’s adventures take a fateful turn when he begins seeing a mysteriously changing house across the hyacinth-choked Hillsborough. Is he going crazy like his father? Though he feels terribly alone, Danny comes to realize that he has faithful allies among Nowhere’s eccentric inhabitants: Alfred Bagley, a quirky youngster whose fondest desire is to become a junk dealer; Abigail Arnold, an intellectual eleven-year-old with a penchant for blunt talk and red candy lipstick; Donna, a young woman of supernatural beauty and unfathomable motives; Al Gallagher, proprietor of Al’s Swap Shop, a business that is more than it seems; and Buddy Connolly, a confident teenager who prompts Danny toward an odd but powerful salvation.

Adventures in Nowhere is an absorbing story of the search for self, allowing a reader to live for a while in the mind of a remarkably thoughtful and intense boy caught at the final edge of childhood.

Read the Excerpt!

“Boys, what’s going on out there?”
Alfred went stiff at the sound of his father’s voice, his uncontrollable mirth replaced by dry fear.
“Come out of the weeds,” Mr. Bagley said. “Walk this way,” he added, using one of his favorite phrases.
It was a command that could not be ignored. Alfred rose up and proceeded like a robot toward his father. Danny raced ahead to do damage control.
“Hi, Mr. Bagley,” he chirped. “Do you know where we could find some fleas?”
Mr. Bagley eyed him suspiciously and rattled his key chain.
“Fleas?” he asked.
“We want to see if we can kill them with tobacco stems. Alfred said you could, but I don’t believe it.”
Mr. Bagley shifted uncertainly.
“Tobacco stems won’t kill fleas,” Mr. Bagley said, looking over Danny’s head at Alfred, who was moving toward them ever more slowly.
Danny wished Alfred was quicker on the uptake, but he had been undone by the magnitude of his crime. Tobacco and matches together. To Alfred’s way of thinking, nothing could possibly stand between him and his father’s belt.
“See, Alfred, I told you. Fleas don’t care about tobacco stems.”
“Huh,” Alfred said, still yards away and slowing by the second.
“You’re wrong!” Danny shouted.
“Don’t raise your voice, Danny,” Mr. Bagley said. “People might think you were angry.”
“Yes, sir. Sorry.”
“Tobacco stems don’t kill fleas, but they do drive them away. Do you mean to say that you boys were out in the weeds looking for fleas?”
“Yes, sir!” Danny said before Alfred could incriminate himself. “We left the stems back in there. Want me to go get them?”
“No. We can do without those tobacco stems. Don’t you two have anything better to do than look for fleas? If that’s the case, I think Alfred could spend his time studying the Bible in his room. What was so funny?”
Danny was much relieved now that Mr. Bagley was coming to the point. Apparently, he had not seen or smelled smoke; rather, he had heard suspicious mirth coming from the weeds, and for Mr. Bagley, where there was mirth there was a good possibility of ungodly behavior.
“We have fleas at my house,” Danny said.
“Is that so?”
Danny could see that Mr. Bagley’s interest was piqued. This was excellent. Now to go back and soften the lie.
“We’ve seen a couple.”
Mr. Bagley was crestfallen but not completely.
“Where there are two, there can be many more,” he said. “And Alfred was laughing at the fleas in your house?”
“He couldn’t control himself.”
“Is that right?” Mr. Bagley asked Alfred, who had arrived on the scene in a glazed-over state, having heard nothing.
“Yes, sir,” he answered automatically.
Alfred could be counted on to answer ninety percent of his father’s questions with “Yes, sir.” Danny felt that things were falling into place nicely, and he iced the cake by assuming the melancholy demeanor of a kid with flea problems. Mr. Bagley looked him over reflectively.
“You’re welcome to have lunch with us, Danny,” he said after a moment. “Come inside, boys.”
With that, Mr. Bagley moved off toward the breezeway. The looking-for-fleas-in-the-weeds story was patently ridiculous, but adults believed kids to be capable of incredible stupidity. Danny often depended on that fact of life
“What happened?” Alfred whispered.
“You laughed at the fleas,” Danny said through clenched teeth.
“The fleas?” Alfred replied too loudly.
“Anybody can have fleas,” Mr. Bagley said over his shoulder.
“I didn’t know you had fleas,” Alfred whispered and started to giggle.
“Alfred!” said Mr. Bagley sternly.
Alfred shut up immediately, and the boys followed Mr. Bagley into the house where Mrs. Bagley was laying out the lunchtime meal in the dining area adjacent to the kitchen. If Mr. Bagley had not come home for lunch, as he often did not, the meal might have been sandwiches, but today she had fixed slices of ham, lima beans, greens, and fresh biscuits. As always, there was sweet iced tea in wavy glasses with silver threads running through them. Mr. Bagley took his favorite seat, with his back to the kitchen so he could look out the window.
The moments just before a meal at the Bagley house were always agonizing for Danny because everyone had to hold hands while the blessing was said, usually by Alfred. Every now and then, Mr. Bagley would delegate the chore to his wife or would do it himself. Danny cringed when Mr. Bagley did it. He was an impressive man, too portly, but with strong features and a wealth of dark curly hair. His voice was commanding, and when he lit into the blessing, it was enough to send a chill down your spine, altogether too much religious fervor for a simple midday meal.
Occasionally, Mr. Bagley would ask Danny to say the blessing. This was awkward because the Catholic Church was very specific on the subject of whether or not Catholics should pray with Protestants. The correct answer to that dilemma was “not.” So, just being in the room while Protestants were praying was a dangerous situation, and when you acquiesced to the hand-holding, you were probably increasing your time in purgatory. Danny figured if you actually agreed to pray yourself, the ante shot up considerably, and he could not go that far. Besides, it irked him that Protestants had a “blessing” and Catholics had a “grace.” If a guy asked for a blessing, would it be polite to provide a grace? There were endless confusions in the matter of religion.
Today, however, Alfred got the call, and in his usual unaffected way ran through a quick recitation: “Lord, we thank you for this food, in Christ’s name, Amen.” As he was doling out the food, Mr. Bagley made conversation.
“I found the boys out in the weeds, Mrs. Bagley.”
Danny was amazed that the two addressed each other so formally. He assumed it was done for his benefit. Surely when they didn’t have a stranger in the house, they lowered the tone a bit. His own parents called each other “Mama” and “Daddy,” which, he realized, probably sounded strange to Alfred. Abigail’s parents called each other by their first names, Dick and Louise. Why couldn’t people get together on these things? It was like they were conspiring to make it confusing for kids.
“It’s getting hot, Mr. Bagley. Danny and Alfred were probably cooler out there.”
“That’s probably it,” Mr. Bagley said, winking at Danny and Alfred.
“I thought they might go swimming later if it doesn’t rain.”
Mr. Bagley looked at Danny.
“Should Danny go with that bandage on his hand?”
“I wouldn’t get it wet,” Danny said.
This was a complete lie, but there was no reasoning with adults in these matters. He had already had the bandage muddy and wet that very morning with no ill effect, but nothing could be gained by pointing that out. He would only seem careless. However, while Mr. Bagley was looking him over, Danny had a brilliant inspiration. He scratched his arm as if suffering from a flea bite. Mr. Bagley looked away.
“If his mother gives Danny permission, Alfred can go with him. Just to the pool and straight back.”
“Tell your father thank you,” Mrs. Bagley said.
“Thank you,” said Alfred.
“Thank you what?” asked Mrs. Bagley.
“Thank you, sir.”
“That’s all right, son. Be careful,” Mr. Bagley said.
The rest of the meal passed with Danny and Alfred on their best behavior so as not to provoke a change in the swimming decision; however, there was one singular moment. Midway through lunch, the biscuits were exhausted, and Mrs. Bagley got up to get more. While she was up, Mr. Bagley noticed his glass was empty and without bothering to turn around, he held his empty glass up over his shoulder and said sternly, “Tea!” Mrs. Bagley was fumbling with the biscuits and did not come running with her usual speed. “Tea!” Mr. Bagley repeated after five seconds, and after five more, he added, “Woman, walk this way!”
“I’m coming, Charles. Give me a moment, please.”
A combination of disbelief and anger crossed Mr. Bagley’s face, but in the next second, his glass was full, and he lowered it to the table in a state of confusion. Meanwhile, Mrs. Bagley settled into her chair.
Danny wondered if Mrs. Bagley might get the belt later that day.

Here’s what reviewers are saying about Adventures in Nowhere!

“John Ames has written a superb coming-of-age novel in the tradition of J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye and Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Ten-year-old Danny Ryan wrestles with clashes between his keen observations and deep sensitivities on one side and the cruelties and complexities of adult life on the other. With the Hillsborough River as his trusted companion, the imaginative Danny plunges into adventures, some life threatening, that force him to change, creating a narrative that is dark and delightful at the same time.”

—Bill Maxwell, Syndicated St Petersburg Times Correspondent, author of Maximum Insight

Adventures in Nowhere Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Tuesday, March 1
Interviewed at Virginia Beach Publishing Examiner

Wednesday, March 2
Interviewed at Literarily Speaking

Thursday, March 3
Guest blogging at The Book Faery Reviews

Monday, March 7
Interviewed at Blogcritics

Tuesday, March 8
Book reviewed at Write for a Reader

“The story pulls you in, takes hold, and doesn’t let go, even after you’ve turned the last page. Ames has written a winner. Open the cover and take a trip back in time with Danny; you’ll be glad you did!”

Wednesday, March 9
Interviewed at Pump Up Your Book

Thursday, March 10
Book reviewed at Southern Fiber Reads

“Written for adults, this book is a well-written account of a young boy in the final days of his childhood. Highly recommended!”

Friday, March 11
Interviewed at Review From Here

Monday, March 14
Interviewed at The Hot Author Report

Tuesday, March 15
Book spotlighted at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

Wednesday, March 16
Interviewed & book giveaway at I Am a Reader, Not a Writer

Friday, March 18
Interviewed at Beyond the Books

Tuesday, March 22
Book reviewed at Life in Review

“I VERY highly recommend this book! I read all sorts of books, but suspense and thrillers are usually my preference. For a drama to keep me hooked the way this book did, is amaazing! When I say that I hated to put it down, I mean that if I absolute had to put it down, I would still be thinking about it until I could get back to it. I was wondering how everything was going to turn out for Danny and his family, and his friends. The writing is so exquisite that I hung on every word. I could feel every emotion and very often it was laugh-out-loud funny. Other times I found myself just distraught over what might happen next. It’s what some might call a coming-of-age type story, but it’s a book about growing up that really can only truly be appreciated by adults. I was just sad that it had to end! I thought this was an amazing story and I hope you do too!”

Wednesday, March 23
Interviewed LIVE at Blog Talk Radio’s A Book and a Chat

Click here to listen!

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Thursday, March 24
Interviewed at As the Pages Turn

Friday, March 25
Guest blogging at Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Chat & Book Giveaway at PUMP UP YOUR BOOK’S MARCH 2011 AUTHORS ON TOUR FACEBOOK PARTY

Monday, April 4
Guest blogging and book giveaway at Bookworm Lisa

Tuesday, April 5
Guest blogging and book giveaway at Night Owl Reviews

Wednesday, April 6
Guest blogging at As the Pages Turn

Thursday, April 7
Book reviewed at By the Book

“Adventures in Nowhere is a beautifully written novel — a wonderful story of hope in hopeless situations with characters you will love, living in a special time in Florida history.”

Friday, April 8
Guest blogging at Beyond the Books

Monday, April 11
Interviewed at The Book Connection

Tuesday, April 12
Interviewed at Book Marketing Buzz

Wednesday, April 13
Interviewed at Shine

Thursday, April 14
Interviewed at Blogger News Net

Friday, April 15
Interviewed at Paperback Writer

Monday, April 18
Guest blogging at The Book Bin

Tuesday, April 19
Interviewed at The Writer’s Life

Wednesday, April 20
Guest blogging at Literal Exposure

Friday, April 22
Guest blogging at Literarily Speaking

Monday, April 25
Book reviewed at Books and Thoughts and Adventures

“It was sad and sweet and funny and heartbreaking and disturbing. It was a thought provoking Huckleberry Finn kind of book.”

Tuesday, April 26
Book reviewed at Books, Fitness & Other Stuff

“This is a book I won’t forget and plan on reading again.”

Thursday, April 28
Book reviewed at WV Stitcher

Friday, April 29
Chat & Book Giveaway at PUMP UP YOUR BOOK APRIL 2011 AUTHOR ON TOUR FACEBOOK PARTY

John Ames’ ADVENTURES IN NOWHERE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 will officially begin on March 1 and end on April 29 ’11. Please contact Dorothy Thompson at thewriterslife@yahoo.com if you are interested in hosting and/or reviewing his book or click here to use the form. Thank you!

If you would like to book your own virtual book tour with us, click here to find out how!

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