my cousin Jason ... or my cousin David.
Today's post is in support of the release of Kirsten Hubbard's novel, Like Mandarin. In Kirsten's own words:
This is sort of a non-tour blog tour, in that it wasn't really planned ahead, and participation is totally optional. I actually don't know Kirsten as well as I do some other bloggers, and I haven't read Like Mandarin yet, but I love to lend a hand to other writers, and I keep hearing wonderful things about this book, so I thought I would play whatever little part I could.
You can visit Kirsten's blog post about the non-tour, here, but you should definitely follow her blog if you aren't already anyway, so I'll wait a second while you do that ...
... and you're back. Excellent.
So the idea behind the tour is to talk about someone in your own life who you looked up to in the way that Grace looked up to Mandarin.
My mom died when I was eleven years old. Dad was out of the picture, so my little sister and I moved to Minnesota to live with our aunt and uncle. The first year I was there I shared a room with my cousin Jason, who was a senior in high school.
He was oh so cool.
He was a linebacker, captain of the football team, popular beyond comprehension, and well liked by what were to me, countless beautiful women. I wanted to be like him so badly. Jason went on to attend the Air Force Academy, play more football, and eventually serve our country. Not a bad role model.
I spent my summers in Atlanta with another aunt and uncle. My cousin David was the one I looked up to most down there. David was an intellectual. He got his bachelors of political science from Duke University, worked in the Peace Corps for a few years, then returned to attend graduate school at Vanderbilt. David also worked at a cool independent bookstore, played D&D with me, and loved hanging out, even though I was probably a really annoying little punk.
What about you? Have you read Like Mandarin? Do you follow Kirsten's blog? Is there anyone you looked up to the way Grace looked up to Mandarin?
