Bio:
I am the author of the YA title, Stupid Fast (June 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire). I also wrote The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, a Novel from Three Rivers Press. When I'm not writing books, I'm writing for Radio Happy Hour or developing ridiculous musical bits.
When I'm not writing, I'm teaching writing at Minnesota State, Mankato, which means I write a lot of comments about writing on student writing.
Writing a lot of writing and reading about writing and writing on reading.
GUEST POST: When I'm Not Writting:
Hi, I’m Geoff, and I have a hard time remembering what I do when I’m not writing.
Oh, yeah… Right now, I am totally shivering (cannot get warm), because I spent the morning watching my 13-year-old son play baseball, which wouldn’t be a cold activity, except we live in Minnesota where it can be like forty-five degrees and rainy in the middle of May. It was that badassed cold this morning. I thought I might die. I am very cold, still. I have a blanket wrapped around my head. But, the game was also awesome. My son played catcher for most of it. Lots of action.
Yes, this is one big way I spend my time when I’m not writing: hanging out with my two kids, Leo and Mira. Probably these are my best times. We are big movie fans (we watch at least one every weekend). We play sports, a bit (football, baseball a lot). The kids play a crap-load of music (drums, piano, accordion, etc.). A few minutes ago I was counting like a metronome while my daughter played a new piano piece (she was actually very mad at the piano and at me because the piece is hard – that’s called transference, when someone is mad at one thing, but takes it out on another – me, in this case). We make lots of dumb videos that crack us all up. Yes, these are good times.
What else?
I’m training for a marathon. I’m running twenty-thirty miles a week right now. This is important, because I have a huge passion for over-eating pizza and also cake. Running keeps me from exploding out of my pants and shirts. I used to want to run really fast, now I just want to keep running for a long time. It’s sort of boring, I guess.
How about this?
My partner, Steph, and I are moving into a log cabin in Mankato, Minnesota. If you know Laura Ingalls Wilder, you might know Mankato, and then you might know why we’re so psyched about this cabin business. Mankato is in the Little House books a bit, but gets mentioned a ton on the TV show. On Little House on the Prairie, the Ingalls family would go to Mankato, because it was the big city, to pick up their supplies and stuff. Mary went to the school for the blind in Mankato. (Mankato holds an Ingalls festival: Laurapalooza).
So, in this cabin, Steph and I will be living a Little House super-charged super fantasy (the cabin is in the woods on a steep hill, not on the prairie – Little House in the Big Woods). It’s authentic, too. The cabin was built in 1867, originally. There are signatures of original owners on some of the logs. But, it’s been re-put together and has central air and radiant heat floors – pretty awesome.
I am most pumped about this: when I was a kid, I had the hots for Nellie Olsen (the mean one) on the TV show. When we move into the cabin, I’ll ask Steph to be snotty to me and I’ll be really happy.
So, things are pretty great on that front.
Speaking of Steph, we write songs together. We act in local indie films on occasion. We work with a group of people to make live radio shows and we are in the middle of writing a musical (crap! That’s writing).
Oh yeah, I teach writing at the University (Minnesota State) in Mankato, so I guess I do that when I’m not writing, but that seems like it doesn’t qualify.
You know what I really like? Writing and reading. I’m kind of a dork.
Fifteen-year-old Felton Reinstein has always been on the smallish side, but in his sophomore year he starts growing...and growing.During gym one day he smokes the football jocks in a 600-yard race. Felton has never been interested in sports, but there's no doubt-he is "stupid fast." As he juggles his newfound athletic prowess, his mom's sudden depression, an annoying little brother, and his first love, he discovers a shocking secret about his past which explains why he's turning out the way he is.
