Guest Post and Giveaway Chasing Prophecy by James Moser

Published: January 2014

A stellar read for teens and adults, full of hilarious growing pains, tenderness and a few surprises.

Moser’s debut is an unflinching young-adult novel that sees a group of friends tested by bigotry and the illegal machinations of a religious cult. (Kirkus Review)

Description:

"Chasing Prophecy" is the story of Mo, a teen boy just trying to survive high school in the mountain town of Boulder Creek, Washington. 

Boulder Creek is an isolated and mysterious place, proud of its reputation as the "Bigfoot Sighting Capital of the World". 

Mo falls in love with a girl named Prophecy who lives with a group that some call a commune and others call a cult. When she disappears, Mo must find the courage to face the monster that her family has become. 

"Chasing Prophecy" is a heartwarming contemporary coming of age story. 

This book chronicles the adolescence of one boy who must transform himself to save the girl of his dreams.

Real monsters don’t always hide in the woods. Sometimes they turn out to be people we’ve known all our lives.

GUEST POST

TEEN HUMOR

“Funny” is the word that has come up in every review, so far. I wish I could take credit. The truth is that there is something about being a teenager which just makes people plain smarter and funnier than adults. Maybe it’s because this is when we’re looking around really hard, thinking really hard about who we are, what we want to be, and what inspires us. Great humor is in the details, and no one notices the details more than teenagers. 

The stuff people find funniest in the book is mostly just straight out of my journals. I like to write down some of the great things they say. I once asked my juniors to write an essay comparing an author to someone noteworthy. One student turned in a paper he called:

“Hemingway and my Noteworthy Uncle Thad--What a Couple of Drunks”

Later in that same school year, a student turned in something she called, 

“Some articles who think Huck Finn is gay”

These might be the 8 funniest words ever written. It’s amazing how many things are communicated in those eight words. It’s a title that says “Mr. Moser, I am more bored by this assignment than any assignment anyone has ever given me. In the history of education, the boredom I’m feeling right now is unsurpassed at any time, on any continent. Please, next time you’re thinking about assigning something this boring, just don’t.  Rather, pick up something heavy and hit me in the head. Please.”

While reading Lord of the Flies, one of my all-time favorite kids told me, “If William Golding were a dinosaur, he would be a Boring-o-saurus.” Then his friend across the room added, “No, this book is so bad, William Golding would be a Boring-o-saurus REX—the apex predator of all other Boring-o-saurs.” 

OK, I have NEVER written anything that funny in my life. When you’re loving the way my characters talk to each other, I’ll take credit for the punctuation and that’s about it. 

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About the authors:

The author works with high school students because young adults inspire him. As such, he wanted to write about teenagers transforming themselves to overcome obstacles, which is what he watches them do every day. This book's mission is to entertain adults while inspiring teens.  The result is "Chasing Prophecy," a story about love, loss, redemption, and monsters. 

Boo Radley is the author's all-time favorite literary character, which is how the Seattle-area legend of Bigfoot entered "Chasing Prophecy".

The author lives in Seattle with his beautiful wife and lively eight year old son. When he's not reading and writing, or talking about reading and writing, he's watching too much television and snacking on frozen treats from Trader Joe's. Man, those things are good.

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