TITLE This Is Not A DrillAUTHOR Beck McDowell
PUBLICATION October 25th 2012 by Nancy Paulsen Books
READ October 29 to 30, 2012
SOURCE From Beck McDowell for the blog tour
Two teens try to save a class of first-graders from a gun-wielding soldier suffering from PTSDI always get nervous going into a short novel about whether or not there will be enough substance packed in for me to come to care about the characters and the events of the story. Beck McDowell proved that worry completely unfounded; in 224 pages she created a bond that I cared about and got me all misty multiple times.
When high school seniors Emery and Jake are taken hostage in the classroom where they tutor, they must work together to calm both the terrified children and the gunman threatening them--a task made even more difficult by their recent break-up. Brian Stutts, a soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in Iraq, uses deadly force when he's denied access to his son because of a custody battle. The children's fate is in the hands of the two teens, each recovering from great loss, who now must reestablish trust in a relationship damaged by betrayal. Told through Emery and Jake's alternating viewpoints, this gripping novel features characters teens will identify with and explores the often-hidden damages of war.
This is Not A Drill is the story of two high school students, Emery and Jake, who are French tutors to a first grade class. The day starts out like any other but that all changes when one of the students father, Brian Stutts, comes to pick him up and the class quickly finds themselves in a hostage situation. This story starts off with a bang, McDowell wasted no time to get the story moving which at first had me a bit disjointed. But as the story goes on and we are fed Stutt's history on his tours in Iraq as well as the romantic history between Emery and Jake. I enjoyed both aspects of the story so much and found myself feeling terrible for Brian which was not an emotion I thought I would have for him going into the novel. The horrors that he saw overseas and how the effects of that touched everything in his life when he came back was haunting. The author created this gray area where you knew that what Brian was doing was terribly wrong but once we delved more into his life it was almost as if he had his back against a wall and was just so desperate to have his son in his life. Now, that doesn't make what he did OK but it definitely made me understand his motivations perfectly.
Brian's story is not the only one we are treated to here, we also get glimpses into Emery and Jake's history and see what they have gone through together. I really liked Emery she was incredibly smart and she was fantastic with the children. I loved how much she had absorbed from the teacher in her few months tutoring and watching her step into Mrs. Campbells role once she was gone was great. Jake's history was another aspect of the story that really pulled at my heartstrings. Seeing how lost he was after the loss of his mother was so sad and so was the resulting rebellion when his father started dating "The Christine."
Don't be fooled by the small number of pages of This Is Not A Drill, this story packs a punch and is full of characters that you will come to care immensely about. This is a tough subject and it truly frightened me, it probably wasn't the best book to read on a day when my 5 year old daughter was at school. Beck has created a frighteningly real story that will make you think and will definitely have you grabbing for a box of tissues.
Guest Post
Path to Publication
People often ask how I got a contract with Penguin for THIS IS NOT A DRILL. On the surface it sounds like an overnight success story. When I submitted the manuscript to 7 agents on July 7 (my lucky 7-7-7 strategy), Jill Corcoran offered representation within 24 hours, we had our first offer within two days and we finalized a book deal within 2 weeks – crazy fast in a publishing world that sometimes moves at a glacial pace. But there’s certainly more to the story . . .
I started writing seriously in 2005. My first novel about a boy whose brother has committed suicide garnered a long string of rejections. I knew many authors don’t sell their first book, and my teacher-self reminded me how much I’d learned in the process of writing it – but it was tough to realize it wasn’t going anywhere.
Then I heard about a boy who stole a school bus and drove stranded neighbors out of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I contacted him, and – over a period of two years wrote the non-fiction work LAST BUS OUT. In my first round of submissions, the book was picked up by a respected agent with a top NYC firm. I was ecstatic! My work was finally going to reach a wide readership.
My new agent and I worked together on revisions, then he sent it out on Dec. 2, 2008. If you google “Black Wednesday” and “Publishing,” you’ll learn that Dec. 3 is now known as Black Wednesday in the publishing industry, due to massive lay-offs because of the economy and the uncertainty facing publishing at that time. Could there be any worse timing? We got great feedback from editors (I still have the emails), that ended with, “We’re not buying much right now.” The short version of the long story that followed: I decided to turn the book into an enhanced e-book with photos and video links, and eventually a paperback. This process just wasn’t something my agent did, we parted company amicably.
So I’d been down that road twice before when I finished THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I knew I’d always write (it gets in your blood) but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go through the angst of the submission process again. When I pressed “send” on July 7, I had very little self-confidence as a writer. I can’t say what made me keep going – determination, stubbornness, a deep-rooted tendency toward optimism – but I’m really glad I did. Think what I’d have missed out on if I’d given up – an amazing editor at the premiere publishing house in the country and a fabulous team of publicists, sales reps, book designers, and artists.
I hope my story will inspire someone else who’s struggling with self-doubt. Don’t let the bumps in the road deter you. Any success worth having is worth working hard for. Do everything you can to prepare yourself by studying, practicing, and steeling yourself for the rejection that is part of any creative endeavor. Trust your instincts and go for it! It only takes one “yes” to make it happen!
-Beck McDowell
Such a great post, Beck! It's awesome to see that persistence can get you to exactly where you want to be, don't let the bumps get you down!
Beck lives in Huntsville, Alabama with her lawyer husband, David; her two adult children, Emily and Drew, also live there. She's not a fan of routine so she writes anywhere from two hours a day to fourteen hours, sometimes in pajamas (but occasionally in pearls,) usually in the morning, but now and then all night. Beck loves being allowed to "pay it forward" in honor of favorite writers who hooked her on reading at a young age. She values the process of writing above any product; time spent learning to do something well is never wasted.
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