Featured Author & Giveaway: Geoff Laughton

Geoff Laughton grew up very near the locations he writes about. Raised in western Michigan, he attended high school outside Muskegon and Ludington. After college, Geoff moved a lot, traveled a lot, and ended up living at one time on both coasts. He currently works for a major corporation and writes in his spare time. Together with his partner of almost twenty years, Geoff still travels, collects antiques, read all kinds of old crap, and loves to get his hands dirty in the garden. He currently lives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Q&A with Author Geoff Laughton:

1. In what way is your story unique compared to other books in this genre?
   
   When I was developing by The Creek, I wanted to include an Amish character in order to explore characters that come from two very different worlds.


2. What part of the story was the most fun to write? The most challenging?
   
   This story took me on a journey to my own teen years. I set the novel very close to where I grew up. The most challenging part of the book to write was coming up with a plausible happy ending.


3. What did you like to read when you were a teenager?
   
   I was a real nerd in a country high school. I read the classics. Generally I took them from the school library and I sometimes had to blow the dust off them. The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Great Expectations, Tess of the D’ Ubervilles


4. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
   
   I would love to be able to fly like Superman. Even as a child that was the one thing I always dreamed about. As a kid I wanted to use it to get away from bullies and the kids who picked on me.


5. What other interests do you have outside of writing?
   
   I love to travel, garden, and spend time with my two nieces. I also collect antiques. Like I said earlier, I’m a real nerd.


6. What would you like young readers to take away from your novels?
   
   When I was growing up, there was no young adult gay fiction. The reason I wrote By The Creek was simply so that gay kids would know that they weren’t alone.

Now Available from Geoff Laughton:

By the Creek Soon-to-be high school junior David Harper hates his family’s move to the country. There’s nothing to do, and he misses his friends in the city. But he doesn’t have a choice. His mother’s job is in Mason County now, so David and his mom are too, and he has to make the best of it.

At first, the only redeeming feature of David’s new home is the swimming hole across the field from his house. Then David meets Benjamin Killinger, and suddenly life stops being so dull.

Benjamin is Amish, and cooling off in the swimming hole is one of the few liberties he and his brothers enjoy. A friendship with an English boy is not—but that doesn’t stop him and David from getting to know each other, as long as it's on the neutral ground by the creek. After David risks his life to save Benjamin’s father, the boys’ friendship is tolerated, then accepted. But before long, Benjamin’s feelings for David grow beyond the platonic. Benjamin's family and the rest of the community will never allow a love like that, and a secret this big can’t stay secret forever...

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By the Creek Giveaway!

Geoff Laughton has generously donated a free copy of By the Creek for one lucky winner. To enter the drawing, please leave a comment below along with your email address. A winner will be chosen on August 19th.