Inside Whistler

Take a look inside the real Whistler, the inspiration for the sailboat featured in Knockdown. I've also included some possible thoughts that the characters in the book might have had along the way. What do you think you would do if you were trying to wait out a huge tsunami at sea?

Whistler

All is calm. Who would think of a Tsunami as a possibility on such a nice day?

This is the perfect place to hang out in and let a Tsunami pass. We will be home soon, right?

The kids are in Whistler and out to sea..good thing they’ve got shelter to ride out the storm..home in no time!

Aboard Whistler and out to sea to avoid the Tsunami. We will be just fine...right?

We’ve been out at sea for a while now...hopefully we will make it home soon..

I hope you have enjoyed this sneak peek inside Whistler. Stay tuned for more!

Brenda Beem

A Taste of my Second Novel, Beached

      Welcome to my blog. I live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. For a number of years I taught school, raised three children, and sailed the Pacific Northwest waters. I’ve always loved stories where kids are creative and figure out ways to survive in strange new worlds. I now write a series of novels that combine my joy of sailing with my love of dystopian young adult novels.

       In my first novel, “Knockdown,” a group of kids survives a world disaster on a sailboat. In “Beached,” the second novel, the kids have arrived at a safe island. Or so they think.

      Here’s an excerpt from the first pages of “Beached.”

     When the rowboat was about a hundred feet away, the scruffy guy rowing bellowed, “Get your captain. We need to speak to him.”

     Dylan and I locked eyes. He was eighteen. I was sixteen. We’d survived a tsunami and a thousand miles of rough seas. We’d been threatened by the Coast Guard, a motorcycle gang, and an Ice Age.

     Dylan and I were the captains.

     It was so fun writing about these two characters. In the first novel, “Knockdown,” they siblings lost a loved one. Dylan response was to get drunk for days. Toni, who is only sixteen years old and Dylan’s little sister, had to step up and take over the boat during a storm.

     Here is later scene from “Beached,” most of the kids are camping on the shore of an island. Toni hears voices coming up the trial. Her boyfriend, Takumi, is walking with a girl they just met, a beautiful Goth girl.

     The important thing was that the danger to us was over. I was being silly. Takumi

had the right to laugh with Kat. I wanted him to laugh.

     I just wanted him to laugh with me.

     And lastly, here are a couple of lines near the end of the novel. The youngest member of the crew has been held for ransom. One of the islanders is demanding the sailboat. Takumi, Toni’s boyfriend comes to the rescue.

     Takumi hurried over to the tree and returned, seconds later, with a spear gun.

     Kat raised her eyebrows. “Umm. Hate to tell you, but pistol beats spear gun.”

     I hope these few lines give you a taste of what you will find in my novels. I’ve tried to balance the life and death drama of the story, with a dash of humor, and a pinch of romance.

     I’m working hard to finish up my third novel, “Anchored.” It takes place a month after the original world disaster. The stakes for the crew of Whistler and humanity are greater than ever before.

     It is very exciting. Can’t wait to share it with you.

     Brenda Beem

YA Insider

Join The YA Insider Q&A Giveaway

*Look for the answer to my Q&A quiz question in the description of Knockdown on the sidebar.

For an additional chance to win a copy of Knockdown or an Amazon Gift Card, answer the following quiz questions by commenting your answers:

1.If Seattle hadn't been destroyed, and there was still a homecoming dance, what color dress would Takumi ask Toni to wear?


a. Black
b. Blue
c. Yellow
d. Red


2.The sailboat has a ship's dog. A little dachshund named Boots that the crew rescued from:
a. the top of a floating doghouse.
b. the beach.
c. a floating tree.
d. under a collapsed building.

Five Tips to Inspire Future Authors

People ask my advice about becoming a writer and I laugh. I’m still learning the craft myself. But I can suggest a couple of things that I did that helped me get on the right path...


1. Join a writing group: 

The first thing I can suggestion is to find a writing group. It’s important that you meet with a group of people who like to read and write in the same genre you write in. If you can’t meet in person, your group can exchange pages online. Be sure you read your work and theirs out loud.

2. Accept Constructive Criticism: 

The second thing I learned to do was accept criticism of my work. This is hard. We all get attached to our writing. But for me, the scene I see in my head doesn’t always appear on the paper, or if it does, it can often be written better. I need to know this.

3. Join a Writing Organization:

The third helpful tip is to join a local or national writing organization. Most large cities host these types of groups. I write Young Adult and found The Society of Book Writers and Illustrators, (SCBWI) very helpful. They hold monthly meetings, a yearly conference where publishers come to meet prospective authors, and most importantly, they have a list of writers who are looking for writing groups.

4. READ:

My fourth suggestion is to read as much as you can, and especially in the genre you are writing in. When you read a novel with a great voice, take note. An interesting plot, analyze it. A fun or unique phrase, think about it...

5. WRITE:

Most importantly, make time to write. Some writers set aside the same time every day. I write one or two days a week. It’s not a race, but you do have to keep at it. And life is always trying to interfere.

But If I can write two novels and get them published, you can too.

I can’t wait to read your story!

-Brenda Beem

Nine Ways to Survive With...Duct Tape?!

If I am ever stranded on a desert island, forget the gorgeous movie star. I want at least six rolls of duct tape. Not as fun to look at, but much more practical.

In my novel Knockdown, a tsunami is approaching the sailboat seven teenage characters are on. They wrap duct tape around the downed sails on their boat to protect the sails if the boat should flip over. They make a life jacket smaller and a sweatshirt larger by closing seams with duct tape. Hatches are covered with duct tape to keep the water out. Sails are repaired. Spears are made by adding knives to the end of a boat hook.

When I researched duct tape, I found lots of other survival uses for this wonderful invention. Here are just a few:

1. Clothes and shoes become completely waterproof when covered in it.

2. You can wrap tree branches together to create a shelter with duct tape.

3. Tents, sleeping bags, and holes in just about anything can be sealed with duct tape.

4. It makes a great bandage.

Duct Tape Bandage

5. Splints can be made by using a stick and duct tape.

6. Duct tape makes a great sling for an injured arm or shoulder.

7. Wrap your equipment together with duct tape, add duct tape straps, and you can carry you gear on your back.

8. A broken a fishing rod can be repaired.

9. You can create Help signs and use duct tape to mark your trail.

I hope you never need to use duct tape for any of these emergencies, but it’s nice to know you can.

Read my novel Knockdown to find out more about how duct tape helped seven Seattle Teens battle a mega tsunami!

Brenda Beem

Evernight Teen's Birthday Blog Hop

EVERNIGHT TEEN is celebrating their anniversary this month with a 3^rd Birthday Blog Hop. It’s EVERNIGHT TEEN’s birthday but we're giving out the presents with a Grand Prize of a $100 Amazon gift certificate!

EVERNIGHT TEEN books feature fresh teen fiction that is raw, gritty and real. Whether paranormal, contemporary, sci-fi or suspense, our books are about real issues and pack a strong emotional punch. You’ll find cutting edge fiction that today’s young adults can relate to and will keep you turning the pages long into the night.

I’m proud to be an EVERNIGHT TEEN author. Enjoy this tease from my books, Knockdown and Beached.

A sailboat can tip over and come back up again. Sailors call this a knockdown.

In eighteen hours a mega tsunami will hit the Pacific Coast. It will leave in its wake massive destruction and the threat of an ice age.

Sixteen-year-old Toni, her brothers, and their friends race the clock as they sail Toni’s family boat far out to sea. They must get beyond where the wave crests, or the boat will be crushed.

Without their parents to guide them, the reluctant crew improvises. Romances bloom and tempers flare. There is no privacy. Cell phones won’t work. The engine breaks down. They are running out of time.

Even if they survive the wave, there is nowhere in this ravaged world to go. When disaster strikes, it is up to Toni to find the strength to lead the crew when her brothers cannot.

Excerpt: “Sure. We’ll be fine.” He took a deep breath. My brothers were terrible liars.

Toni and the young crew of the sailboat, Whistler, have just found a safe harbor. Or so they thought...

They may have survived a tsunami, but they’re racing ahead of an ice age as they continue the frantic search for their families.

The island they’ve anchored near is anything but safe. Dangerous men lurk nearby—along with snakes, stingrays, and sharks. An island girl threatens to destroy Toni and her boyfriend’s relationship, the youngest member of the crew gets lost in a narrow dark cave, and Zoë is more annoying than ever.

Will Toni and her crew survive the island and its treacherous waters?

Excerpt: The important thing was that the danger to us was over. I was being silly. Takumi had the right to laugh with Kat. I wanted him to laugh. I just wanted him to laugh with me.

 ____

For the chance to WIN a $25 Amazon Gift Card, comment below with the most creative thing you can make with duct tape that would aid you in outdoor survival. Be sure to include your email so we can notify the winner!

Be sure visit each stop on the BLOG HOP for more chances to WIN the GRAND PRIZE of a $100 Amazon Gift Card. You’ll receive bonus entries for commenting on each blog!

 http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/disp

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 http://evernightteen.blogspot.com

Pre-dystopia

My favorite novels have always been stories where kids outsmart adults. Think Harry Potter, Ender’s Game, and Hunger Games.

It wasn’t a far stretch for me to write about teens surviving a world disaster on a sailboat. I’ve sailed the Pacific Northwest for years and live in Seattle, U.S.A., near two giant volcanoes.
I used to imagine how I'd save my family if an earthquake or disaster struck our area. Now I write about it.

The number of survival web sites I’ve found while doing research for my novels is incredible. Yes, there are people out there even more obsessed than me. Did you know that seaweed is packed full of vitamins and you can make penicillin out of citrus rinds? And those tiny little pills you put in fish tanks when your fish get sick? Well, they’re penicillin too. (Not that I recommend you take them. See a doctor if you need meds.) And don’t get me started on Duct tape. It even comes in patterns.

But a good novel is really about the characters. The pre-dystopian world I created is only the back drop for the drama of the characters in my books. How they react during a crisis is so telling.

One of my favorite characters is a teenage girl named Zoe. She is very ditzy and falls apart if a fingernail breaks. However, if there is a medical emergency, Zoe becomes a skilled medic.

My main character Toni, who has grown up in the shadow of her older brothers, takes charge of the boat when disaster strikes.

In my novels friendships are tested, and yes, lives are lost. But the characters endure and carry on with their search for their families and a safe harbor.
I’ve loved creating this world where teens out maneuver and survive in a world that is changing so fast, adults can’t cope.

I hope you love it too.
Brenda Beem