Revenge Of The Nerd, a.k.a. High School High

One of the nicest things that's happened with the release of BAND GEEK is that I've gotten so much support from my former high school classmates. I really wasn't expecting this, but many -- some whom I don't know well -- have purchased the book and have shared my Facebook page with others. Some got it because they wanted to see if they recognized anyone in the characters, but most were just happy to hear about a fellow alum doing well.

This means a lot to me, not just as a writer, but as a person. As I've written earlier, I wasn't popular in high school. I wasn't exactly an outcast and had a group of friends, but I was shy, quiet and often felt invisible. There weren't many photos of me in the yearbook. I didn't win any of the "Most" or "Best" awards that students voted on. I wasn't hated, but many didn't know my name -- or at least I didn't think that they did. Plus, my school Sachem was HUGE. We had 1300 kids just in our class! I knew maybe 200 or so. What's funny is that in real life, I've become the opposite of how I was in high school -- outgoing and opinionated. But I still feel "invisible" when I think back on those days.

In BAND GEEK, my narrator, Melinda, goes from shy, quiet girl to someone who learns to stand up for herself and make herself known to her peers. In a way, this is my story of making myself known to my high school classmates. It only took me 20 years to get there, but my 18-year-old self is very pleased!

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Best Friends Since Birth

Of all of the characters who exist in BAND GEEK, the one who's the most like a real-life person is Melinda's best friend, Lana.

True, Mel is based a bit on me, but we're also very different. She's edgier and willing to break rules when pushed to it. I'm well... not. That's what made writing her so much fun; she ended up doing things that I never would've done as a teen.

Lana, however, is an homage to my real-life childhood friend, Lani. Lani is a year older than me, but I've literally known her since birth. Her family lived across the street from mine (still do, in fact) so my parents used to have us play togther as babies. They figured that if Infant Me played with One-Year-Old Lani, she'd be a good influence since she was ahead in skills. I did learn to read ar a very early age so perhaps their strategy worked.

Lani has two siblings who are much older and I'm an only child, so we grew up like sisters. She'd sometimes sleep over at our house for days at a time. Other times, we'd fight like siblings. She used to drag me around the floor by my hair. I once tied her up with a jumprope and pushed her down the stairs. Good times!

Lani has always been very outgoing and knew how to charm adults. My mom loved her because she'd VOLUNTEER to help clean the house. She could -- and still does -- make friends with anyone. She met her first boyfriend when she was 13 and dated steadily until she got married. She often got into trouble for being mischevious in school.

I was the opposite. I was shy, quiet and studious. I wasn't the life of the party. Yet we remained friends.

When we were younger, we mainly hung out with the neighborhood kids, but as we got older, we fell into separate crowds. Lani was fairly popular and loved high school. She had steady boyfriends and, as far as I know, never felt like an outsider. I had a group of nice friends, but I didn't date much and saw myself as a dork. High school was mixed for me.

She and I went through a brief period where we didn't hang out too much. This was during my junior and her senior year. Lani was busy with her boyfriend and large group of buddies. I was busy with my Positive Image Club (yes, this was really the name of the organization) pals. I figured that we were growing apart; after all, that happens when people grow up, but once she entered college, we grew close again. She had a car and I didn't yet have a license so during my senior year, she'd drive us to the movies every weekend.

Now that we're adults, we're closer than ever. We don't see each other as often as I'd like but we were in each other's wedding parties and traveled to London, Mexico and Puerto Rico together. She's still way more outgoing than I am, but always supports me. She's also really honest with me when the situation calls for it.

When writing Lana, I tried to capture Lani's loyalty, goodness and off-beat sense of humor. I didn't want Lana to be just a sidekick; she has passions, interests and problems and stands up to Mel when need be. I think I did a pretty good job in creating a literary version of Lani because Lani -- without having yet read the book -- made the exact same joke as Lana in real life. Spooky, but cool!

BAND GEEK is about so much more than Mel's revenge scheme or even her romance with Josh. It's about her relationships with everyone in her life and how they help her grow as a person. Lani certainly influenced my life and Lana does the same for my narrator.

Here we are on May 15, 1992 when Lani came to see me off before my prom. That's me on the left in the white gown and Lani on the right. Gotta love the hair!

Please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Real-Life Band Geek Moments

In my book, REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, Melinda endures many "band geek" moments. She's picked on by her classmates, her pants split in the middle of the hallways and she blows an audition in front of the entire band -- causing her to lose first chair flute. While I've never personally gone through any of those things, I have had some real "band geek" moments of my own.

When I was in school, our high school jackets were really fashionable. Our school colors were black and yellow, and all of the cool kids wore jackets that had those colors, plus the school's name on the back. Most of these kids were also on some kind of sports team so their school jacket would say, "Sachem Soccer" or "Sachem Cheerleading."

I really wanted a jacket of my own so I asked my parents if I could get once that said, "Sachem Music" on the back. They agreed and bought me one for my next birthday. It was a beautiful fleece jacket that had my name embroidered on the pocket. It was comfy and warm -- and expensive. I couldn't wait to wear it to school and show it off.

As soon as I stepped into the school, the mocking started. I could hear the laughter all around me, "Sachem Music -- what a dork!" "You're only supposed to wear a jacket if you're on a sports team, not if you're a band nerd!" and so on. I wanted to curl up and die. I wished I could just burn the jacket, but it was freezing out so I had to wear it once again when I went home. I then hung it in the back of my closet and never looked at it again.

One of the things that I like about Melinda is that she eventually learns how to stand up for herself. I wish I'd done that back in high school. I really loved being in the band and was proud of my accomplishments. I just wish I'd had the guts to let my classmates know that.

I can't change the past without the help of a time machine, but I do have control over my characters' actions. Still, as an adult, I PROUDLY wear my band geek badge of honor!

Please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

High School Reunion

This year marked my 20th high school reunion... which means, among other things, that I'm old. But while I didn't actually attend my reunion in person, I have reconnected with many high school friends on Facebook.

They've been very, very supportive of my writing and several have purchased my novel. However, their response so far has been pretty funny because everyone is asking, "Will I recognize any characters? Am I a character in it?" One friend, Greg -- who was in almost all of my classes and was a fellow band geek -- is currently reading it and had a lot of questions about my characters' origins. I sent him a long list of "Easter eggs," a.k.a., little funny in-joke type things that are hidden throughout the book.

It's a little surreal having this book read by people whom I grew up with. Greg knew me very well in high school and I'm sure is comparing Melinda to me as he goes through the story. The books means something to me because many parts are very personal and I'm sure he recognizes this more than the average reader would, just because he was there at the time. It's nerve-wracking, too, because the opinions of people I know mean more to me than a stranger's. I worry about my writing all the time, and whether it's actually good. I put a lot of sweat and tears into the book and just hope that people like it -- especially those who in some way inspired me.

Meanwhile, the husband of my childhood friend, Dina, is also reading it right now. I find it amusing that the two people I know who are actively reading my work are married men with kids. Not exactly my target demographic! But hey, if they enjoy it, great! Maybe I'll find a new audience.

Most of the time I feel like my age -- 38 -- but when I'm chatting with high school pals, it takes me back and I'm suddenly 18 again. Facebook is a lot of fun, but it's weird, too, because you get instant nostalgia. In the past, people would see their high school classmates maybe once every 5 or 10 years for a reunion, but now you can have a virtual reunion almost every day. Still, I guess it's good to be young at heart ... and perhaps being in a teenage mindset will help me with my writing!

Please check out my young adult book REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Becoming A Jazz Flutist

One of my favorite scenes in my book, BAND GEEK, is when Melinda plays a jazz flute solo for the first time. Josh surprises her by calling her up on stage during one of his performances with a jazz group and she (reluctantly) decides to take him up on his challenge. Later on, however, she realizes that she enjoyed improvising to music and liked the freedom that jazz has to offer. It's kind of a metaphor for how Josh and Mel live their lives: he likes to do what he wants and she prefer to follow the rules. But by introducing her to music that isn't so "in the lines" like classical, he's opening up her world.

I was never goaded into doing a surprise jazz solo, but I did need some help in making the switch to jazz musician. I've already written about how competitive the flute section was in my high school's wind ensemble, but my experience in jazz band was the complete opposite. I played tenor sax and though I was decent, I wasn't nearly as good at it as I was with flute. Nor did I care. I played in jazz band strictly for fun. Not being a great player was actually kind of a relief.

I joined the jazz band as a saxophonist in my sophomore year after a stupid teacher told me that you can't have flutes in the ensemble. Never mind that some of greatest jazz musicians include flutists Herbie Mann and David Valentin -- in my school, I had to play sax. So I did! It was fun, though, and I liked learning another instrument.

Our section leader was a freshman boy named Scott. He was really talented, but extremely annoying. I liked to keep to myself, but he'd constantly bug me, "Why are you so quiet, Naomi? Stop being so quiet." FYI, as adults, he's currently one of my best friends. And he hasn't changed. Just a few weeks ago, Jon and I were at a party at his house and was sitting quietly by myself. He, of course, came over to me, "Why are you being so quiet, Naomi?" Boys never do grow up, do they?

Anyway, back then it didn't take me too long to figure out that Scott was really a good guy and wasn't trying to bug me. He was just being friendly. And he was always very encouraging to me when it came to my music.

During my senior year (his junior), the jazz band was set to perform one of my favorite pieces: "Take Five" by Dave Brubeck. It's a classic piece with a very funky, off-beat (literally) rythym. Since this was going to be my last concert, I decided that I'd like to go out with a jazz flute solo. I'd always been impressed with the jazz band members who could improvise and I wanted to try my hand at it. My conductor gave me the OK and I played my solo during our next rehearsal. He liked it and gave me the go-ahead to do an improv at our upcoming concert.

I got a lot of compliments from my fellow jazz band members, but Scott went crazy! For the next couple of weeks, he'd rave about my solo whenever we saw each other. One time, I went to an orchestra rehearsal and a few of the violinists congratulated me on it. They were not in jazz band, but had heard about it from Scott.

Finally, the night of the concert came ... and I was freaking out. My mouth was dry, I thought I'd pee my pants ... I was ready to back out and just play my sax in the background. Scott wouldn't hear of it. Right before we went on stage, he gave me this little pep talk about why I had to play my solo. He finished it up by assuring me, "You're going to smoke out there." I remember thinking to myself, "Why is he talking like a gangster?"

When it came time for my solo, I was going to play sitting down, but Scott nudged me and said, "No, you have to do it standing up and take credit." So I did. And it went well. I was still very nervous, but really loved playing jazz. The audience seemed to like my perfomance, too.

The next year, I joined the jazz band in college with a newfound confidence. There were about a million sax players trying out for the group which was very hard to get into, but since I played jazz sax AND flute, I was accepted. I played with that ensemble for all four years and it was a wonderful experience. I learned so much during that time.

While I take credit for my playing, I do have to thank Scott for encouraging me to get up on stage, even when I was uncomfortable. I think you need to go outside of your comfort zone sometimes in order to move ahead, and that push definitely influenced my musical career. This is why it was so important for me to have Melinda take some chances in my story -- so that she, too, could grow and come out of her shell. Sadly, Scott no longer plays the sax, but he still encourages me with my music.

Please check out and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Writing A Novel: Where The Boys Are

While my inspiration for my main character, Melinda, is pretty obvious (myself, duh), many friends have wondered where I came up with the idea for the male lead, Josh. That's a bit hard to answer because he was inspired by many different men in my life.

When I was first writing Josh, he was based solely on my husband, Jon. When he was in high school, Jon was a bad, bad boy, who did things like lock teachers out of classrooms. Yet he's practically a genius (and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband) and got almost a perfect score on his SATs. Still, Jon didn't much care for school or grades, or anything academic. He hated authority and prefered to learn on his own. Now he's the boss of his law firm, go figure.

Taking Jon's history into account, I created a smart, but mischevious character in Josh. He's talented and brilliant, but hates authority and is really kind of bored in school. So as Jon did, he acts up. In the first chapter, Melinda cites a long list of Josh's past misdeeds. Yep, those were all things that Jon did in real life!

As the story went on, though, Josh took on a life of his own and turned into a complex and unique character. He's an amazing trumpet player and is absolutely passionate about music (Jon is NOT a musician, though he did play violin in the 4th grade. Badly.). He's obsessed with classic rock (Jon IS a big classic rock fan and always puts it on the radio when we're driving). Josh does some things that are very good for Mel, but he also gets her into some situations which are, well, questionable. He's blunt and rude and naughty, but is also sweet and tender at times. In other words, he's human and makes a lot -- and I mean, A LOT, of mistakes.

That said, he was influenced by a few different people. I didn't date much in high school, but had many guy friends and I see traits of several in the character. I had one friend who was a great guy, but was extremely competitive and pushed me to my limits. We once got into a big fight at the bowling alley and I yelled at him, "You'll be sorry one day when I'm rich and famous, you a--hole!" Ahem. Not my finest hour. I had another friend who was always "concerned" about me because I tended to be very emotional. And I had another friend from band who encouraged me a great deal in my music.

Josh has elements of all of these guys -- and then has aspects of his personlity that are completely unique to him. That's the beauty of creating your own characters, though. Sometimes they turn out to be quite different from what you planned.

Please check out and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.

Band Rivalries

One of the main plot points in BAND GEEK is the narrator, Melinda's, ongoing rivlary with fellow flutist, Kathy. While the idea of musicians fighting over first chair may seem silly, let me tell you, the world of music can be pretty competitive.

I was never bullied in high school to the extent that Mel is my novel, but I did have a band rival and there was fierce competition in the flute section. It was so stressful at times that I felt as if I were playing a sport rather than playing in the wind ensemble.

The rivalry mainly took place during my freshman year. To backtrack a bit, I was the best flute player in junior high. I was first chair and scored an A in the highest level of NY's statewide competition, NYSSMA. Meanwhile, the girl who was first chair flute in our sister junior high also scored an A at that level. She was a brilliant performer and completely deserved it.

Once we entered high school, the students from the two junior highs joined together. That year, we happened to have a fantastic flute section. There were five of us who played at a professional level. Naturally that girl and I competed for first chair and she won. I got second chair. No big surprise, she was better than me. But rather than turn us into a team, say, have us play duets together, our conductor, who was a loud, brash man, turned us -- and the other four players -- against one another. He attempted to have us play some chamber music pieces, but would always tell each girl how some other flutist was better than her. I think he believed that this would motivate us, but we were a bunch of teenagers! It just made us angry with each other. I even overheard my rival say that she hated me. Ouch! I'll admit, I said some not-very-nice things about her, too. Neither of us were bad people, but we were driven to it by stress.

Things came to a head when another flute player -- who was a friend of mine -- asked if she could switch from the B group to the more advanced A group. She didn't ask for first chair. She didn't ask to move up a space. She simply wanted to play some more challenging music in sectionals. However, our conductor took her request as a call to war and made every flute re-audition for seats in a blind audition (he sat and listened from his office so he couldn't see who was playing). I got second chair. My rival got third. My friend shocked everyone by getting first! The other three talented players got seats four-six.

Our conductor still wasn't satisfied and made the six of us audition again. Only this time, he handed us a very difficult piece, gave us two weeks to learn it and made us audition with it in front of the entire band. Call it hazing for musicians.

For the next two weeks, I lived and breathed that stupid piece that had fast runs and a ridiculous section full of maddening octave jumps. When the day of the audition arrived, I volunteered to go first. This way, I could get it over with. Our conductor offered to let us play sitting down with our back turned to the band, but I refused to do that. If he wanted to publicly humiliate us, I wouldn't let him. Instead, I decided to turn this audition into a performance. I stood and faced the band as I played.

It wasn't my best performance as it was a bit rushed, but I hit every note correctly and plowed right through the octave jumps. Still, I was nervous that I'd get the lowest chair out of the bunch. I sat and waited to see how everyone else would do.

One by one, each flute player took her spot ...and fell apart. Everyone was getting tripped up by those octave jumps. These girls were all amazing players. I couldn't believe it.

My friend went last -- and was fantastic. She nailed it and I was thrilled for her. She got what she deserved: first chair, and I was second. We remained first and second, respectively, through senior year and through different conductors, but it was never a rivalry. We had the same private flute teacher so we often played duets together and even got an A in competition. She also made a point to split the flute solos in pieces so that I got to play a few. We encouraged each other and both became better players since we had each other's backs. THIS is what our conductor should have been doing with us in the first place. Competition can be very healthy, but not when it turns something wonderful like music into a battle.

Anyway, the point of this long-winded (or should that be wood-winded?) story is that I thought it would be interesting to write about a musical rivalry. In Mel's case, I took the competition to the next level with her actually plotting REVENGE against her nemesis. I had a good time imagining "What ifs?" when crafting her and Josh's schemes and was surprised myself by the extent of Melinda's bloodlust!

By college, I stopped being so competitive in music and just played for fun. But my high school band experience stuck with me -- and I hope that Melinda's experience strikes a chord with you.

Please check out and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.