My childhood best friend's landline number is also the only one I still remember! The similarities between Jude and Tommy's friendship and mine with my best friend, aptly named Tim, are uncanny so far.
Loving this, Clancy! The blink-182, Green Day, and landline references…ahh, you bring me right back to my childhood in a heartbeat. It’s great to see the two boys forming their bond through books, as well. Stellar stuff!
That’s a great description. Thanks so much, man. Ha! I don’t know if I’d go that far. I would certainly put you in that category before me! You wrote and published a novel here, and that is one hell of an accomplishment. I’m just happy to be in such good company with so many talented writers!
Having these boys as bookworms is important. Reading is the key to lifelong learning and success. Bookworms are often cliche secondary characters that serve as the butt of jokes and an example of what's uncool. I was fortunate that my mother took my sister and me to the public library regularly as young children. A progressive mother of one of my classmates in grade school started a Great Books discussion group and invited me to join. I read and discussed 6 or 8 literary classics of interest to children, e.g., Treasure Island, Robinson Caruso, Tom Sawyer. What a great opportunity! This chapter builds on the first and strengthens the bond between the two boys. Big T possesses an interesting combination of qualities that make him an intriguing character.
My childhood best friend's landline number is also the only one I still remember! The similarities between Jude and Tommy's friendship and mine with my best friend, aptly named Tim, are uncanny so far.
I love that James. I am counting on that being the case for a lot of people reading and it’s all so relatable!
Loving this, Clancy! The blink-182, Green Day, and landline references…ahh, you bring me right back to my childhood in a heartbeat. It’s great to see the two boys forming their bond through books, as well. Stellar stuff!
thanks Justin. I think Bob Graham described it as "nostalgia for a time you didn't know you lived through" or something like that!
and I figured two kids bonding over books would go over well on Substack.
congrats on 1,000 subs by the way. You are a fiction LEGEND!
That’s a great description. Thanks so much, man. Ha! I don’t know if I’d go that far. I would certainly put you in that category before me! You wrote and published a novel here, and that is one hell of an accomplishment. I’m just happy to be in such good company with so many talented writers!
You are killing it with this book: the voice and dialogue and characters ~ chefs kiss.
thanks Keith!!!
Having these boys as bookworms is important. Reading is the key to lifelong learning and success. Bookworms are often cliche secondary characters that serve as the butt of jokes and an example of what's uncool. I was fortunate that my mother took my sister and me to the public library regularly as young children. A progressive mother of one of my classmates in grade school started a Great Books discussion group and invited me to join. I read and discussed 6 or 8 literary classics of interest to children, e.g., Treasure Island, Robinson Caruso, Tom Sawyer. What a great opportunity! This chapter builds on the first and strengthens the bond between the two boys. Big T possesses an interesting combination of qualities that make him an intriguing character.
Thanks KC! He is definitely the 'main' character as opposed to the narrator.
Lovely continuation, Clancy. But oh no, the foreshadowing of that closing line! 😬
Haha thanks Nathan — don’t worry, it’s just middle schoolers being middle schoolers!
I love this growing friendship ☺️❤️.
I love these guys, so relatable in their wholehearted booknerdness and varying degrees of social ineptitude. 🫶🏼