Swimming to Tokyo is going to be among my favorite reads this year… I absolutely fell in love with both Zosia and Finn while reading this wonderful story! I think my favorite part about it were the different relationships we get to see develop… and Finn. Definitely Finn. I can’t recommend this one enough for fans of New Adult, and I’m incredibly excited to see what Brenda comes up with next for us readers!
The rules for swimming are simple:
Rule #1: There is no lifeguard on duty.
Since her mom died three years ago, nineteen-year-old Zosia Easton’s been treading water. Living at home. Community college. Same old Saturday nights. So when her father breaks the news he’s taken a job transfer—and by the way, it means renting out the house that’s been her refuge—a summer in Tokyo feels like it just might be a chance to start swimming again.
Rule #2: Beware of unexpected currents.
Finn O’Leary has spent God knows how many years trying to drown out his past. Juvenile detention. Bad decisions. Worse choices. He’s managed to turn it around – MIT, Dean’s List, a sexier-than-thou body with a smile to match – at least on the surface. When his mom asks him to spend the summer with her, Tokyo seems as good a place as any to float through the summer.
Rule #3: Swim at your own risk.
ABOUT BRENDA
Hi. I’m Brenda. I’m a displaced New Yorker living in the UK. Until recently I lived in London, but now I’m living in The North, in a tiny English village. We even have sheep in our backyard! Sheep!! (This is so strange to me I always have to say it twice. With multiple exclamation points.)My novels are about teens and twenty-somethings. Occasionally I blog, but not often. When I’m not reading or writing, I’m hanging out with The Boy, talking about really random things and being overly strict about television.
I like running and Doritos, not necessarily in that order. I also like libraries, old churches and Paris. One day I’m going to write a novel set in Paris, which will necessitate lots of trips for “research.”
Let’s talk characters!
What would Finn have on his Christmas list?
Zosia in something black and lacey would be at the top of the list! Black and lacey isn’t really her style, so it would be unexpected and hot.
Books – Haruki Murakami’s WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING would be perfect for him. Also, Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Wolfe and probably a biography or two.
If Santa were real, Finn would ask for a car so he wouldn’t always have to take the bus to Rhode Island to see Zosia on the weekends.
If Finn and Zosia are spending Christmas Eve together what would they be doing?
With their respective parents still in Tokyo, Zo and Finn spend Christmas Eve in New York with Babci. Christmas isn’t a big deal in Japan and Zo doesn’t want Babci to have to spend the holiday on her own, so they’re at her apartment in Queens on Christmas Eve for a traditional Polish meal (kielbasa, pierogies, sauerkraut, latkes). Dinner is filled with lots of laughs as they talk and eat, with Finn trying out various words in Polish and Babci explaining the custom of the breaking of the oplatek before the meal. (The oplatekis a thin rectangular wafer usually distributed by the church. Everyone at the table receives a wafer and takes turns “breaking bread” with all seated. It is customary to wish each other a Wesołych Świąt, which is Polish for Merry Christmas – and very hard to say! Finn would struggle – and totally laugh about it!)
Babci expects them all to attend midnight mass. Neither Zo or Finn are religious, but when Babci says you’re all going to church for Christmas Eve, you go.
After mass, Babci warns them not to stay up too late and heads off to bed, leaving Finn and Zo alone. At last. They leave only the lights on the Christmas tree on and pile blankets and pillows on the floor. Babci’s a light sleeper and, damn, she’s left her door ajar just enough to keep both Zo and Finn fully clothed. (They had two nights in Finn’s apartment in Boston before coming to Babci’s, so that’s not as hard as it could be.) They talk in whispers about Christmases when they were kids, their favorite presents and funny things they used to do to try to stay awake for Santa. When Zo falls asleep mid-sentence, Finn wraps an arm around her waist, pulls her closer and lets himself drift off to sleep too.
What would Zosia put in Finn’s stocking?
Obsession for Men cologne.
A leather-bound notebook for writing down those song lyrics.
A framed picture of her and Finn in Tokyo, with ticket stubs, train tickets, and entry passes to places they visited together glued to the matte.
Now how about some questions for you!
When do you hang up your decorations?
We usually decorate the first weekend in December. I LOVE having a real Christmas tree and any earlier than that means pine needles EVERYWHERE. We have a yellow lab and her tail is always wagging, which also means no breakable ornaments on the low branches!
What’s your favorite holiday memory?
When I was a kid, we used to wake up at home on Christmas morning, open presents and then all pile in the car to drive 2 hours to my Babci’s house (my mom’s mother). We had more presents with her and Christmas lunch, then we piled in the car again to go to see my dad’s parents’, who lived about 10 minutes away. My dad was one of five kids and all the cousins would be there and it was loud and chaotic, but so fun.
What’s on your holiday wishlist this year?
My husband and I have decided to put the money we’d normally spend on gifts for each other to take a family trip for a few days up to the Lake District of England. It’s a really gorgeous part of the country and we’re splurging on accommodation and staying in a castle!
What’s your favorite holiday tradition?
My son, who’s 9, is always SO excited about Christmas. Decorating the tree is our job (my husband gets the tree to stay straight in the stand and helps with the lights, and then he’s done) and I’m not sure which of us love it more. We always get a Christmas ornament when we travel, so we get to revisit some of our favorite times while decorating the tree.
What’s your favorite Christmas song?
I’ve always loved O HOLY NIGHT. If sung well, I inevitably tear up when I hear it.
What’s your favorite holiday movie?
My favorite adult movie is LOVE ACTUALLY. I adore that movie! And we’ve gotten into a new tradition the past few years of watching PREP AND LANDING with my son on Christmas Eve to get him to go to bed! It’s getting later every year and so we tell him the elves can’t start their prep until he’s asleep. It sort of works.
It’s midnight on New Year’s Eve – you can kiss any celebrity, living or dead. Who do you pick?
Hmmm. I’d have to go with Viggo Mortensen. There’s something about him that makes me think he’d be a VERY good kisser.
Now tell us a little about what’s on the horizon for you? Are you working on something new? Do you have something coming out soon?
I’m going to release TREADING WATER, the prequel novella to SWIMMING TO TOKYO, in January 2015 and I’m also planning to self-publish TWO LIES AND A TRUTH, the first of a new series I’m writing now. I’d hoped to get that out in early 2015, but it’s looking more like mid-year.
I should hopefully have some news on the YA front soon, too, but I’m not allowed to say anything yet so biting my tongue. Watch Twitter and FB though b/c when it’s official, I’ll be shouting about it!
We have a wonderful giveaway for all of you! One of you will win a copy of the paperback of Swimming to Tokyo.
International okay (please make sure The Book Depository delivers to you before entering!)
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