Item: The Signs We Missed
Author: Gina

The Signs We Missed by Lena S. May | Guest Post, Excerpt, & $10 Giveaway

A book blog tour from Goddess Fish Promotions.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Marianne & Judy at Goddess Fish for providing me with the information for this tour.

Book Details

The Signs We Missed by Lena S. May
Published by Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC on 08/02/2022
Genres: Contemporary Fiction, LGBTQIAplus
Format: eBook, Hardcover, Paperback
Pages: 297

Thrown out by his mother, 17-year-old Luke hopes to overcome his narcotic addiction and depression by changing his surroundings. At his new school, he quickly becomes friends with Sean, but finding that his developing feelings aren’t returned, Luke retreats into old habits. Determined to hide his self-injurious behavior and an advancing eating disorder, he soon risks much more than a broken heart.

When Sean meets Luke, the last thing on his mind is falling in love with a boy. Grappling with his own conflicting emotions and trying to keep them from his suspicious girlfriend, he brushes off Luke’s strange behavior. But when Luke suddenly cuts him off, Sean is forced to confront the truth and take action to save his best friend.

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Excerpt from The Signs We Missed

It’s my fault.

I’m not sure how yet, but it’s what the white blank hospital room walls keep hammering into my head as the pungent, antiseptic smell makes my eyes water when all I’m trying to do is keep my composure.

My fault.

It’s what they’re all trying to say – the half-dead, bled-out body of the boy lying in the bed beside me, his fingers slowly losing their grip on mine, the over-worked and under-paid nurse already rushing down the corridor, the non-specialist assistant doctor, paying half his attention to the arrhythmically beeping monitor, the other half to fumbling his phone to mute.

And then there’s my brother, leaning against the wall in the corner, his crystal blue eyes asking not what I’ve done but when I’d planned on telling him that I was gay – which I’m really not. When I don’t react, he looks down to the face resting on the pillow next to my elbow, and I do, too: empty whiteness staring back.

I’m beginning to think it’s burning into my retina, sucking every last speck of color out of the sky as I finally raise my glance to the window. I can’t let myself get lost in the void that is now his face if I want to clear my head, but there isn’t a single cloud drifting by to take hold of my attention, not a single leaf left in the trees, no bird, not even a gust of wind.

It’s just me and my trembling heart and my racing thoughts, and yet, my loneliness is nothing in the face of what I now know he has been going through.

Excerpt provided by the author/publisher for use in this post.

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Purchase Links for The Signs We Missed

Amazon – OneLink for every country

Bookshop/IndieBound

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Guest Post from Lena May

Five Fun Facts about The Signs We Missed

The Signs We Missed is, in parts, a rather dark story that deals with several serious topics like self-harm, addiction, and eating disorders. I’ve been talking about those aspects quite a lot recently, so today, I decided to share some light, fun facts about the book, the characters, and the writing process.

1) The pronunciation of Sean’s name. First, here’s what the book says:
“How do you spell that?” Confused, Sean replied, “As it sounds. Like bean, but with an S.”

So, why on earth is Sean pronounced like bean? Well, when I first started writing about him, I was 14 years old and had never heard that name, only read it, and that’s how I pronounced it in my head for years before I learned how you actually say it.

(This. This is how I found out, like WAIT A SECOND, IT DOESN’T???)
Anyway, I obviously couldn’t change his name in my head anymore (I doubt I would have named him Sean had I known how it’s pronounced), and it was extremely important to me that readers know what his name sounds like, which is why I included the passage above in the final version of the novel.

2) Like I just said, I started writing about the book’s characters more than ten years ago. Those were mainly short stories in no particular order. After that, there were several drafts of the manuscript, a whole lot of editing done by both the editor and me, scenes that were deleted and scenes that were added – and there are still snippets that survived almost word for word, all those years and all those versions, which is a very exciting and somewhat comforting thought to me. Shoutout to 15-year-old me, here’s one of them:

“Hi, I’m sorry for calling so late. Is Sean there?” he asked, a little out of breath.
For a short moment, there was only silence.
“Yes. You want me to wake him up?”
“That would be…” Bold, rude, excessive? “Great.”

3) Probably the least common way I’ve ever used to create a character: My best friend did it. When she first came up with Shayne, though, it was just for fun, without any intentions to ever put him into a novel or even a proper short story, but I guess I just kind of adopted him along the way. She decided how he would look, though, and picked another trait of his that made it into the book (it was more of a magic superpower back in our 7th or 8th-grade imagination).

Maybe you’ll be able to detect it when you read the book. Hint: Back when it was still a magic trick, he’d work it by looking deep into your eyes (not too much has changed about that, honestly).

And then, the two most important female characters, who both took a turn that surprised me in the actual novel:

4) Sophia: Sophia is, and has been since I started writing about her, Sean’s girlfriend. Personally, I have always liked her, and until I first let people read my drafts for The Signs We Missed, I considered her to be a rather likeable character – something that none of my friends have agreed with so far. Apparently, readers who ship Sean and Luke regard her as an antagonist, which I understand, but it’s not how I viewed her.

5) Fly: Fly has been around since the beginning as well, and…I never really liked her. I knew I had to include her because she was an integral part of Shayne’s story, but when I started writing the first draft for The Signs We Missed, the plan was to have her leave in chapter seven or eight (of 21).

My characters have a tendency to have a mind and plans of their very own, though, and instead of leaving, she became what I think is one of the strongest characters I have ever written, and quite literally a lifesaver. I can’t say how it happened, but there’s a very special place in my heart reserved for the girl I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of.

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I love my Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. So many books, so little time!

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About Lena S. May

Lena S. May is a Germany-based author and student. Living with her dog, she enjoys long walks, ideally followed by a cup of tea and an equally long reading session. After graduating university with a degree in English and American and German Studies, she is working towards her Master of Education to become a secondary school teacher.

With her writing, Lena hopes to raise more awareness for mental health and the importance of looking out for one another and oneself. Her debut novel will be published in August 2022.

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