I am behind in posting this. I have been so swamped that it totally slipped my mind. Here I thought Lea was hard to catch up with, but it seems I am the one more difficult to play catchup with. I hosted Lea recently on her personal blog tour and now I am hosting her again for the Virtual Book Tour Yahoo forum.
I recently caught up with Lea Schizas, author of "Bubba and Giganto: Odds Against Us" and asked if the Squad could interview Bubba and Giganto. Following are their answers to some pretty interesting questions:
QUESTIONS FOR BUBBA AND GIGANTO:
JGD Squad: Can you tell us your name and the title of the book?
Bubba: I’m Bubba Jacobson but you can call me B, please.
Giganto: David Montana and I’m the only one Bubba allows to call him by his first name without clubbering me. GRIN
JGDS: Describe to our readers what your role in the book is.
B: Some might call me a tough guy but I’m actually there to show folks that Giganto is really a nice guy and doesn’t deserve to be picked on. Guess you can say I’m the role model on how to back up your best bud.
G: Wow, thanks, Bubba. I really want to play soccer and because of my weight, well, I’m picked on. Also, there was some trouble in school last year and one of the bullies has it in for me.
JGDS: How did you convince your author to put you in this book? For example, did you visit a dream or make yourself known some other way?
B: Nope. In my case, Lea, our author, said I was the type of student she hoped her kids would have had when they were in elementary school. She says her kids now are exactly like me so I feel real proud to be modeled after them.
G: The same goes for me. I represent the author’s children when young and how bullying affected them.
JGDS: Is your author easy to work with or controlling?
B: Naw, she let’s us do what we want, right, Giganto?
G: That’s right, Bubba. She needs us to tell her where to go in our stories.
JGDS: Would you tell us about one of your favorite friends from this book?
B: That’s easy, David aka Giganto to me.
G: Bubba, all the way but also Johnny. He helped Bubba during our soccer scrimmages so that made him my automatic friend.
JGDS: What would you like our readers to know about you?
B: I hate my name but learned to live with it. Still no clue why parents would name their baby Bubba. Anyway…I act tough but really I’m a softie inside. I riled up when I saw all the bullying aimed at Giganto and that just fired me up to stand up and defend the dude.
G: I hate fighting. Find there’s no purpose in them. That’s why many call me a chicken but it’s just I don’t see the logic behind a fight. One purpose gets hurt and the other one gets to gloat. Where’s the logic? I also hide my feelings a lot. I take the name calling because there’s nothing else for me to do. That is not until Bubba came to school and helped me see a few things that saved my life.
JGDS: Did you learn anything during your adventure in this book?
B: Yes, not to include friends in a challenge without first consulting them. I felt bad seeing Giganto’s reaction about the after school soccer scrimmage I involved him in.
G: I realized that keeping secrets ends up to no good at the end. If it wasn’t for several people on the field contacted 911 I’m not sure if I’d be around for Book 2
JGDS: Can you tell us what you think is the most exciting thing that happened to you in your book?
B: I realized that my name is a part of who I am and not to let it bother me. There were worse things that I came across during my first initial days at school that helped me see this.
G: I made the soccer team!
JGDS: Is there anything in your story you wish you had not done? Why?
B: I would say not to have involved Giganto in the after school scrimmage but I’m not sure anymore. If it wasn’t for that event Giganto’s secret would never have been revealed to me and who knows what may have happened further down the road.
G: I wish I would have stood up to the bullies and not been so “Here, take a shot at me” type of a guy.
JGDS: What was your main motivation?
B: I hate to see other students picked on. I know it’s none of my business cos I don’t know what’s happened between those two but when you see a bunch of guys ganging up on one person, that’s just not right. I call them cowards.
G: I really wanted to play soccer and when Bubba befriended me there was a surge of “I can do it” that took over my body. Nothing was going to stop me from playing…only my secret which almost caused me my life.
JGDS: Introduce us to your main adversary?
B: For me it was Jason, the bully picking on Giganto.
G: Honestly? It was me. Looking back now I realize there were many things I could have done differently.
JGDS: Here’s your chance to speak your mind. What do you want to tell everybody?
B: I want to tell bullies around the world to stop harassing people. Get a life! You’re hurting them more than you realize and might end up killing one of them without even laying a finger on them. Is that what you want, huh?
G: Don’t hold secrets that mean risking your life. I held something back because I was afraid to admit it to anyone in case it added more fuel for their name calling. I see now that was stupid but at the time when you’re bullied, you can’t see straight. I wish I would have confided in my parents, or teachers, or even Bubba.
Please tell everyone where to find out more about the story and where it can be purchased.
Lea: You can go to my publisher’s page set up for me to read the blurb, reviews, and the purchase link:
http://4rvpublishingllc.com/Lea_Schizas.html
Thank you for having my boys over today, Elysabeth. And sure glad they behaved.
Thanks for stopping by guys and glad you behaved for us too. I appreciate you taking the time to have some fun with us.
