Can you make a clean break from a troubled past
and start a new life?
Four lives intersect when Celeste Vanek leaves her husband, Adam. His compulsive gambling and physical threats have poisoned their marriage and emotionally damaged their young son. Celeste moves to a small rental across town, works to gain financial security, and helps her son navigate his fantasy life.
But she quickly finds that starting over is not easy.
Adam demands his family back, and things get out of control. Jake, who witnesses a violent struggle between Celeste and her husband, becomes Celeste’s ally and friend, while struggling with his own emotional and ethical issues. Jake carries a history of failed relationships—one of them with Sara, a married and childless police detective who has a private agenda to pursue when a crime is committed that links these four characters together and changes their lives forever.
Why I let my kids read my novels
My novels Clean Break and Stash are the equivalent of R-rated movies. Not because they contain graphic sexual scenes or sensational violence. Although there is sex. There is violence. And there are drugs. Some characters make poor decisions.
So when my daughter, then eleven years old and a voracious reader of fiction, asked to read my first novel, I immediately said no, you’re too young. She was upset, she complained. She also complied. Instead, I told her the story, chapter by chapter, introducing each character, explaining adult situations in a way she could understand.
When she was twelve and a half and asked again, I said yes, she could read Stash. There were scenes I had toned down when telling her the story that she now experienced first hand through the language, voice, and detail of the novel.
Yet I realized she could only see in her mind what she could imagine at her age. It wasn’t the same as what an adult can imagine or what a film will imagine for you. As she read, we talked about the story again, this time on a different level. She asked intelligent questions about the novel. She told me how much she liked it (sweet girl).
My daughter is thirteen now—going on nineteen. Mature and responsible. For the last year she’s been asking me, “When can I read Clean Break?” “When it publishes,” I said. Again disappointment. Again compliance. As I did with Stash, I resorted to telling her the story, at night, scene by scene, resting with her in her bed.
Throughout this saga about my daughter reading my novels, my son, a year and half younger, watched from the sidelines. Another enthusiastic reader, he devours YA novels and non-fiction. He asked if he could read my books since his sister had permission. I said yes, but I knew he wasn’t ready for the adult worlds of Stash and Clean Break. I was right; so far, he’s stayed away, not that interested.
Finished copies of my new novel, Clean Break, arrived the other day.
“Daddy, can I?” my daughter asked. She dove right in. She likes this one better. The characters are stronger, she says. As with Stash, Clean Break contains sex and violence and addiction and unethical behavior. At the same time, the characters demonstrate powerful bonds of love and loyalty, stick to their moral principles, and courageously risk themselves for others.
And this, my children, is the real grownup world: the forces of good and evil engaged in battle, both inside ourselves and in the world around us. My kids already understand that. They’ve read Harry Potter only a million times. They’ve read about kids fighting to the death in The Hunger Games. Yes, it’s a leap from YA fantasy to contemporary adult realism. Which means, it’s up to me, their parent, to understand their maturity level and know when they are ready for the next step.
David Klein is also the author of another book called Stash.
Both of these books are available as an E-book as well. Check out Davids website to read more.
CLEAN BREAK :PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 5, 2012 This is a guest post by
Author David KleinAuthor Web site:
www.bydavidklein.com Connect on
FacebookFollow David on
Twitter:
@byDavidKleinYou can buy David's book Clean Break at
http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Break-Novel-David-Klein/dp/030771683XMy thanks go out to David Klein for being a guest poster on my blog.
2 comments:
I like how David Klein shepherded his daughter through his novels - it's what we need to do as parents when are kids are interested in or exposed to adult information!
I've read both of his novels and couldn't put either one down. The characters are multi-dimensional and find themselves in realistic situations that force them to make difficult choices. STASH and CLEAN BREAK share strong writing that creates an unrelenting tension as you get deeper into the story. I highly recommend them!
Thank you for your very nice comment.
Post a Comment