Today I'm very excited to present ya'll with a guest post from debut author Adi Alsaid, part of the LET'S GET LOST blog tour hosted by YA Bound. Take a look!
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Why Airports are Great for Writers
One of my ultimate go-tos for inspiration is
people-watching, and there’s no greater place than an airport to people watch.
The sheer mass and diversity of people, the potential for imagined stories. I
could sit at an airport and watch for hours even if I didn’t have a flight. I have
done that, actually. When I lived in Vegas, sometimes I’d go to the airport
baggage claim with a friend and some coffee and we’d try to guess where
everyone was coming from, try to decipher airport codes we weren’t familiar
with.
Airports offer the freedom to observe. You have a few hours
before your flight boards to do nothing but see all sorts of people gathered
together, to imagine whatever you want about them, even if you are wildly wrong.
Grab some coffee and sit at your gate, take a seat at the overpriced bar or at
a restaurant that faces out at the terminal, put a book in front of you in case
traffic slows down, a notebook next to that, keep an ear perked for
eavesdropping some conversation. Watch the material come to you.
And if you’re the type of writer that gets inspiration from
other people’s lives, stealing away their details for later creative use
(aren’t we all that kind of writer?), just start talking to someone. Even with
the walking-on-eggshells feeling that airports sometimes have these days, where
your bags must be with you at all times and suspicious behavior might be
defined as not getting any cream cheese with your bagel, people are still
extremely open to each other at airports. The fact that everyone is just
passing through opens people up to conversation, I’ve found. Seatmates in
particular, but at bookstores and restaurants and anywhere else you might find
yourself sitting next to someone at an airport. If they find you annoying and
don’t want to talk, they’ll let you know by answering only in grunts and
continuing to read their magazine. But sometimes they’ll unload their stories
on you, like the flight attendant for Air Force Two whom I met and had traveled
the world (something like 87 countries?). Or the poor diplomat from Ecuador
whose flight from New York to Mexico to Ecuador turned into a five-stop
24-hour+ nightmare.
Attractive people you’ll never see again, groups of teens
dreaming of adventures, escapes, reunions, dreading the leaving of them. So
many little scenes from daily life, on display for a much larger audience.
Mothers trying to place a fast food order for a family of six, a couple already
reminiscing about their trip, siblings ignoring each other with headphones.
Businessmen on phone calls, working on their computers with a cup of coffee in
hand, unwinding at the corner seat of the bar.
Where there are people there are stories, simply put.
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Well, I think that was just wonderful, and I'm not just saying that. Airports fascinate me on a personal level, so my favorite part about traveling normally includes the god-awful early-morning/late-night trips to and from the airport.
And don't forget to check out Adri Alsaid's fabulous new book:
Let's Get Lost
Release Date: 07/29/14
Harlequin Teen
Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.
Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named LEILA. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.
There's HUDSON, a small-town mechanic who is willing to throw away his dreams for true love. And BREE, a runaway who seizes every Tuesday—and a few stolen goods along the way. ELLIOT believes in happy endings…until his own life goes off-script. And SONIA worries that when she lost her boyfriend, she also lost the ability to love.
Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth— sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way. (source:goodreads)
Pre-Order:
Meet the Author:
Adi Alsaid was born and raised in Mexico City, then studied at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. While in class, he mostly read fiction and continuously failed to fill out crossword puzzles, so it's no surprise that after graduating, he did not go into business world but rather packed up his apartment into his car and escaped to the California coastline to become a writer. He's now back in his hometown, where he writes, coaches high school and elementary basketball, and has perfected the art of making every dish he eats or cooks as spicy as possible. In addition to Mexico, he's lived in Tel Aviv, Las Vegas, and Monterey, California. A tingly feeling in his feet tells him more places will eventually be added to the list. Let's Get Lost is his YA debut.
And for everyone whose made it this far, how about a bit of a giveaway?
GIVEAWAY:
1 signed hard
cover copy of Let’s Get Lost
1 Let’s Get Lost
luggage tag
1 Harlequin TEEN
notebook
1 Let’s Get Lost
sachel
1 Harlequin TEEN
tote bag
Hope ya'll had as much fun today as I did!
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@adialsaid talks airports, people watching to prep for #letsgetlost + GIVEAWAY @harlequinteen via @Rae_Slater (Click to Tweet)
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Why Airports are Great for Writers + GIVEAWAY @adialsaid @harlequinteen #letsgetlost via @Rae_Slater (Click to Tweet)
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