Today, I have author Jacob Gelman in the interview chair. We’re discussing his latest release Butterflies in the End Zone, a young adult, m/m contemporary romance. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway.
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1. Hi, Jacob. It’s great to have you on my blog today. Before we get started, can you share with the readers about the everyday you?
Jacob: Haha sure! I don’t really know what to say. I like to go on daily hot girl walks. I adore my kindle and I’m currently reading Fourth Wing (loving it so far!). I currently attend Brown University and study political science. I stay up at night thinking about where this country – and my state in particular – is headed. So, yeah, there are a few things about the everyday me 🙂
2. I’ve been to your Goodreads page. I see this is your first novel. Can you tell me why you chose to write in the young adult genre?
Jacob: I chose to write in the young adult genre because I was (and still am) a young adult when I started writing. I wrote the book for other people, of course, but it started off as the book I needed. So, yeah, that’s why I chose young adult.
3. Let’s move on to the main characters. What do you love most about Alex and what makes you want to shake him?
Jacob: I love that Alex is sweet, kind, and accepting of others’ differences.
4. The same for Jamie. What do you love about him and what makes you want to shake him?
Jacob: I love that Jamie has a dream and goes for it no matter the obstacles in front of him.
5. Without giving away any spoilers, what was your favourite scene to write?
Jacob: The ball scene, hands down. That scene is just so much fun and I felt like I had a breakthrough in my writing while creating it.
6. What makes Butterflies in The End Zone different from other contemporary, young adult, gay romances?
Jacob: Well, for one, it features an Arab Jewish main character – I haven’t seen that many places! Another thing is it’s set in the south.
7. If a reader asked why they should read Butterflies in the End Zone, what would you tell them?
Jacob: Hmmm. I’d tell them that first and foremost, this book is for queer and Jewish people from unwelcoming and conservative environments. That’s who it will always be for. I guess if they’re not either of those two things, I’d tell them to read it to learn more about what the experience of being queer or Jewish in that environment is like.
8. Can you share what you’re currently working on? Readers love hearing about works in progress.
Jacob: Sure! Without giving too much away, I’m currently working on a political romance set in Washington D.C. where two former lovers and now enemies share the same internship on the hill.
9. I enjoy doing random questions, so humour me:
- What’s your favourite movie?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - What book is currently in your e-reader?
Fourth Wing - Who’s your favourite musical group?
The Smiths - What song puts a smile on your face?
Anything Lady Gaga
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Title: Butterflies In The End Zone
Author and Publisher: Jacob Gelman
Genres: Contemporary M/M Young Adult Gay Romance, #ownvoices
Tropes: strangers to friends to lovers, bi awakening
Themes: coming out, communication, sports
Release Date: June 15, 2023
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 72 000 words/169 pages
Blurb: Alex has everything going for him. He’s the quarterback of the football team. He has a great group of friends. He’s popular. He’s got stellar grades. So, why is he so enamored by the new kid from the Bay Area?
Meanwhile, Jamie doesn’t understand why the quarterback of Scalia’s football team could possibly want to be friends with him: the closeted Jewish kid. It’s the last thing he needs to worry about after leaving California for Jacksonville. He planned on just keeping his head down and finishing his senior year quietly to get into his dream school.
Against the odds, though, they become close friends in an area that would teach them to be enemies. But, over time, their friendship turns into something deeper – scaring the both of them. Will their love survive the trials of being in a homophobic environment? Or will it all prove to be too much for them?
Note: It is a standalone book and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
I’ve been in Florida less than a day and already I’m in a life or death standoff. The gator stares at me, his eyes glowing against the moonlight. I stare at the gator, my eyes wild with fear. Shit, I’m gonna die.
He could have been small as a chihuahua or large as Godzilla, but in my California brain he was the most terrifying thing I’d seen in my life. This was not how I expected my senior year to start.
Me dying was the cherry on top, really.
It wasn’t like I had much to live for anymore, after leaving the Bay Area and all. My friends. My childhood. My family. It was all gone now. I had come out just a month before, ready to live my truth in an accepting area until…poof.
“We’re moving,” my mother had told me. “To Florida.”
“Just like that?” I’d asked her.
“Just like that,” she’d told me.
“Why?” I’d prodded, hoping maybe there could be some solution to this unbearable fate. There wasn’t.
We weren’t even in Miami either. We were in Jacksonville. Not even in Jacksonville, an hour away in some nowhere suburb called Scalia – whatever the heck that is. San Francisco to Scalia: the name of my personal horror movie.
My parents were architects. Their company decided to move them to Florida. I was suddenly in Florida. Suddenly about to become the dumbest news headline possible: LOCAL GAY KID DIES FROM GATOR. That simple, I guess.
My heart leapt towards my throat.
His tail, is it…moving?
The gator began walking, or waddling, or slithering – whatever it is gators do when they move – away from me. I stood beside my bike, nearly ready to collapse from fear and adrenaline. Finally, he crawled out of sight – back to the depths of whatever abyss from which he came.
I let out a sigh, almost sad to live another day. I got back on my bike, slowly peddling back home, tears lining my path.
I was sad. Sad about everything. Sad about leaving my friends behind. Sad about leaving my family behind. Sad about no longer being in a Jewish area. Sad about no longer being in an accepting area.
I wasn’t only sad, either. I was scared. Terrified, even. My whole life people had talked about the south like it was some far off universe, some faraway hell the Bay Area would forever be safe from. I had heard stories of how unaccepting it was, how women couldn’t choose what happens to their bodies, gay people couldn’t be teachers, trans students were expelled. Now here I was: in the south. In Florida. Back in the closet.
My eyes were red from tears by the time they stared at my bedroom ceiling, my pillow resting against my neck. I had only a week before I started school at Scalia High. What would that be like? Visions of people with confederate flags, driving trucks, and listening to country music came to my mind and immediately I was near tears once more. I wasn’t sure about many things, but I was certain of this: nothing good would come of this year.
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I’m a staunch advocate for lgbt rights. I’m originally from Melbourne, Florida. I am a board member for colectiva queer and a founder of the political action group Florida Fighting Fascism. I have worked with the Brevard Democratic Party, Equality Florida (twice), Congressman Darren Soto, and am a current fellow with People for Power Florida. I am a current student at Brown University studying political science. At university, I am part of the philosophy, politics, and economics society and the Brown Debating Union. I have written for Queerty, OutTraveler, and Florida Today. I am the author of the young adult gay romance novel entitled Butterflies In The End Zone (2023).
Follow Jacob: Blog/Website | Instagram
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Maggie Blackbird 