Featured Author: Sophie Bonaste

Sophie Bonaste Sophie Bonaste is a novelist who never set out to be a novelist. As a child, she wanted to a Broadway actress and spent her childhood in numerous productions. But when adulthood set in and reality took over, Sophie chose to give up the theatre for a steady paycheck and instead turned to writing as a creative outlet. She stumbled into the M/M genre through fanfiction and never looked back. Sophie is quite happy with her change in artistic expression and doesn’t plan to stop writing for a long time.

A self-proclaimed nerd, Sophie is an avid fan of all things Star Wars and Harry Potter. (Sophie is a member of the Slytherin house, for those who were wondering.) Sophie also spends many hours watching and re-watching nerdy television shows. When she is not obsessing over the latest and greatest in nerdy entertainment, Sophie can be found screaming at her television during American football games. (Go Pack Go!) Sophie currently lives in Pennsylvania, about twenty minutes from her childhood town of The Middle of Nowhere.

Connect with Sophie Bonaste on Twitter @SophieBonaste or visit her website: http://sophiebonaste.blogspot.com.

Q&A with Author Sophie Bonaste:

1. What did you like to read when you were a teenager?
   
   Strangely enough, absolutely nothing. I hated to read. I didn’t start reading for fun until I was out of college. But that didn’t mean I didn’t read a lot. I was homeschooled and my Mom made me read 25 books every school year. She let me choose 12 of them, so I found a lot of Star Wars and other YA Science Fiction books. I found that much more tolerable than William Faulkner, but I never really enjoyed it. It just felt like a chore to me. Enjoyment came later. Something to keep in mind: sometimes your interests change as you get older.


2. If you could travel back in time and tell the teenage you one thing, what would it be?
   
   That one day I would have really great friends. I never really connected with anyone when I was a teenager and it was hard for me. I didn’t even know why. I’m straight, white, have no handicaps of any kind. All of the typical stereotypes that prevent teenagers from making friends never applied to me. It didn’t matter. I still didn’t have friends. But when I got to college I met some people that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. And it has made all the difference in the world.


3. How do you do research for your books?
   
   Google. Google is the best research tool ever. (Although, I don’t recommend it for research papers. Just saying.) I think the best thing about Google is that you can find a lot of personal stories. With this novel, I really wanted to find stories about homeless people. I didn’t just want to read a bunch of statistics. Google helped me find a lot of news articles that were really helpful. Plus, I love Google Maps. Since I’ve never been to Alabama, Google helped me figure out some of the geography in this novel, as well as in the second novel I wrote.


4. What are your writing goals for the next five years?
   
   Really, I want to keep writing. I would love to write about four novels a year, with some smaller projects on the side. I realize that this might be a tall order, but I really love what I’m doing. I’m also hoping that in about two to three years, I will be able to quit my day job and make writing my full-time gig. Let’s just hope my ideas last that long.


5. Tell us something we’d be surprised to learn about you.
   
   I did amateur puppeteer work throughout most of my teenage years.


6. What would you like young readers to take away from your novels?
   
   I would like young readers to understand that being a teenager is really hard. You have to face a lot of obstacles and sometimes there aren’t a lot of resources to help you. But there are a lot of people out there who are more than willing to help and support you. They might not always be the people you expect, but they are there. You just have to look for them.

Now Available from Sophie Bonaste:

The Sacrifices We Make Adam Jameson has always felt like an outsider in his own home, where his parents’ constant efforts to instill religious fervor have instead filled him with fear. Most of the time, he just wants to stay out of everybody’s way. But when Adam is forced to volunteer at a homeless shelter his senior year in high school, everything changes. He’s introduced to people who care about more than religion and, as a result, he starts to come out of his shell. For the first time in his life, Adam finds people that he wants to be around.

Mickey Stafford lives on the streets, a teen kicked out by his parents for being gay. He comes to the shelter for food and medical care, and after they literally run into each other, the two boys strike up a friendship. As Mickey introduces his new friend to the world he lives in, Adam starts to question everything: his parents, their religion, even his own beliefs . Once Mickey kisses him, Adam starts soul-searching and finds his heart, which is full of love for Mickey. But these two young men will have their love put to the test, as they face a future of uncertainty and fear.