Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Amanda911 by Mark Schreiber

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Amanda911 by Mark Schreiber. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have the book trailer, an excerpt from the book, and a fascinating interview between the main character of the book and the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Amanda911

Author: Mark Schreiber

Publisher: Pleasure Boat Studio

Publication Date: September 1st 2021

Print Length: 358 pages

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction

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What's it like to be a teen influencer?

 

Sixteen-year-old Amanda Dizon is an ordinary girl in an ordinary town in Iowa. But when she falls into an abandoned well in her backyard during presidential primary campaign season, the national media post the story, the candidates visit her in the hospital, and she becomes a star on the new social media platform, PingPong.

Amanda911 is a story for our time, about an occupation that didn't exist a few years ago, but which millions now aspire to. It's a funny, fast-paced journey through the contemporary digital landscape that is the influencer phenomenon.

Goodreads * Amazon * Publisher *

More Purchase Links

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BOOK TRAILER:

Watch the book trailer below or by clicking here!

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EXCERPT:

"I can’t believe you guys!" exclaimed Nicole. "You never heard of MakeItRain? It’s crowdfunding for personal tragedy."

"But I only fractured one ankle," said Amanda. "The doctor said I can probably go home tomorrow."

"But nobody knew that when the story broke, did they?"

"What is this figure?" asked Amanda’s mom. "$305,050? Is that the goal?"

"The goal is ten thousand dollars!" Nicole shouted above the music.

"$305,050 is the amount pledged. So you can easily afford to buy me a Jaguar. I just want a basic one. And you’ll have money left over to buy a car painted rainbow colors for yourself, and probably a house with a life-size stuffed unicorn."

"A life-size stuffed unicorn?"

"This can’t be legitimate," whispered Amanda’s mother.

Amanda’s mom grabbed her daughter’s arm. "Can you please give us a minute, Nicole?"

She helped her daughter into a wheelchair and wheeled her into the corridor, where it was quiet enough to talk in normal voices, and bright enough to see each other clearly.

She knelt down so that their gaze was level. "Are you OK, darling?"

"Are you kidding? This is the best day of my life!"

"You suffered a traumatic experience."

"The well? I should have fallen down that thing a long time ago!"

"Listen, this is all nice and fun, and I’m glad all your classmates have finally taken an interest in you, even if they have ulterior motives..."

"Mom, cut to the chase."

"But none of this is real. It’s just entertainment. The RainMan account, the six million friends..."

"It’s seven million now!"

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CHARACTER INTERVIEW:

Interview With Amanda911

by Mark Schreiber

I’m at the home of Amanda Dizon, better known to her millions of global followers as Amanda911, or the Girl in the Well.

MS: Do you mind when people call you “The Girl in the Well” or by your PingPong username?

Amanda: Not really. I mean it’s better than being called “Hey you!” Or being ignored completely, which was most of my life.

MS: So you like the attention you’re getting?

Amanda: So so.

MS: You never dreamed of being an influencer?

Amanda: I never dreamed of anything.

MS: You can’t be serious. You never had dreams?

Amanda: Only stupid things like unicorns being real and going to a K-Pop concert and having a boyfriend.

MS: Having a boyfriend isn’t a stupid thing to dream.

Amanda: I kinda think it is. What’s so special about that? Most girls and a lot of guys have boyfriends. It’s not a rocket to the moon. I never had big dreams like my parents. They wanted to be top farmers and raise a superkid. Of course they failed at both. But the dreams were big.

MS: But you never dreamed of being an influencer and now you are one. And soon you’ll be going to the Influencer Festival in the Caribbean. You must be excited about that?

Amanda: I get to fly first class! I can drink all the virgin coladas I want.

MS: What do you think people see in you? Why do you have so many fans?

Amanda: Shouldn’t you ask them that?

MS: But I’m asking you.

Amanda: You’re kinda putting me on the spot.

MS: Take your time. Think about it.

Amanda: Okay. Goodbye. I’m going back to Mission Control, which used to be the dining room, and post some selfies.

MS: Wait…I meant think it over for a few seconds.

NEXT DAY

I’m back with Amanda Dizon, who looks like she’s had a very busy afternoon. I won’t keep you long.

Amanda: Being an influencer is 24/365/7 ya know.

MS: I don’t think most people realize how much effort goes into what you guys do.

Amanda: Not that I’m complaining. I mean I love the sponsors and all these packages that companies keep sending. Iowa feeds the world and now the world is feeding Iowa, hahaha.

MS: So have you given any thought to my question from last night?

Amanda: Mmmmmm.

MS: And?

Amanda: It seems most people these days live in megacities. And I live in an old farmhouse in rural Iowa.

MS: But there has to be more to it than that. A lot of people thought you would be a flash in a pan. Famous for a few days, then gone.

Amanda: I know, like Andy Warhol. The guy who was famous for fifteen minutes.

MS: Uh, yeah. But your star keeps rising. What makes you so special?

Amanda: But I’m not special. I’m ordinary. Now Nicole, she’s special. She rocks the Jag I bought her. I couldn’t rock a car like that. I even felt strange sitting in the back seat during the test drive.

MS: But millions of people think you are special.

Amanda: Maybe that’s because they’re the special ones.

MS: Can you elaborate?

Amanda: Mmmm. Look around here and all you see are corn and soybean fiends. Soybeans and corn. Nothing special. But if you go to a country like North Vietnam—

MS: It’s Vietnam. You’re probably thinking of North Korea. Vietnam is one country now.

Amanda: Oh. I have a hard time with Asia. I should learn up better, seeing I have so many followers there. Anyway, as I was saying, they grow rice in Vietnam. Not corn. So if you suddenly saw a cornfield in whatever megacity is there you would think it was special.

MS: That’s a great metaphor!

Amanda: What’s a metaphor? Is that like irony? Because I never understand these words. Which embarrasses my mom no end, she being an English major, hahaha.

MS: Here’s an example of irony: you never wanted to be an influencer, and now you are one of the most famous ones.

Amanda: Exactly. It’s like we’re in the auditorium at Harding High. And everyone is on the stage instead of a few people being on stage and the rest in the seats. Everyone has their thing. They’re fashionistas or travelers or chefs or unboxers or egamers, and they’re all on stage doing what they do.

But I’m in the audience, alone, because I don’t have a thing. I’m not even good at opening boxes, hahaha. But then everyone shines their spotlights on me and asks, “What’s it like to be in the audience?”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Mark Schreiber was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1960, graduated high school at age fifteen and began writing novels full-time. Princes in Exile, which explores a prodigy’s struggle to accept his own mortality at a summer camp for kids with cancer, was published in 1984 and made into a feature film in 1991. It has been published in ten countries, received two awards in Europe and was shortlisted for the Austria Prize. Carnelian, a fantasy, was published by Facet in Belgium. Starcrossed, a rebuttal to Romeo and Juliet, was published by Flux and translated into French and Turkish. His illustrated science book, How to Build an Elephant, was published as an Apple app by Swag Soft. He has written over forty books and received two State of Ohio Individual Writer Fellowships. For the last seven years he has been a digital nomad, living on four continents. He currently resides in Costa Rica.

Author Website * Book Website * Amazon *

Facebook * Instagram * TikTok *

Twitter * Wikipedia

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GIVEAWAY:

Win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions assumes all responsibility with this giveaway.)

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