[Author Spotlight] Gregory Allen

Today I would like to introduce the author Gregory Allen. He found my blog and saw that I live in Maine and contacted me, asking me to feature him since he is coming to Maine this month. I was happy to help support an author who has been in Maine and even uses Maine in his book, Patchwork of ME. I noticed that ME is capitalized for the title and I wonder if it is also because ME is the abbreviation for the state of Maine. I just thought I would throw that out there, for a title with possible double meaning, very creative.

If you live in Maine be sure to check Gregory Allen out this months. The dates can be found near the end of this post.

I would like to give a big welcome to Gregory Allen! Thank you for being on my blog today.

About Gregory Allen:

Many authors turn to Maine when choosing the setting for their books, but for Gregory Allen it was about returning to a place he held fond memories as a young performer. In 1989, Gregory Allen was a New York actor who spent a summer at the Carousel Music Theater in Boothbay Harbor. Twenty three years later, he is an award-winning author whose new novel PATCHWORK OF ME returns to that same town with a fictionalized mystery as an important part of his story.

“They say to write what you know, but I don’t always play by the rules,” Gregory says. “My novel is told in the first person narrative of a woman who grew up in the foster care system and through therapy uncovers some memories of her early childhood. So she travels across country from Arizona to Maine to patch her life back together.” Gregory’s book was published by ASD Publishing in April and has already won the 2012 International Book Award for Fiction in the Women’s Lit category & the 2012 NY Book Festival Award for General Fiction. Like the character in his novel, he is taking a road trip back to Maine to bring the book to the area for June 23- 25 where he will be signing copies and talking about his career.

“I loved Maine the first time I came here all those years ago,” he says. “I’ve returned on vacations and when I started writing this book two years ago – something felt right about leading my protagonist back to this wonderful state.” After his summer in Maine, he went on to work on television shows, regional theaters an even toured the country as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. He wrote several musicals over the years and then five years ago began to concentrate on writing books. He has been featured in national magazines, NY/NJ PBS stations, and several radio shows.

Gregory stays very busy as an author writing in multiple genres and has a strong background in children’s theater. This spring, his children’s book on autism awareness also won an award. “My godson has autism and I wrote a book from his perspective that I entered in a contest along with 400 other authors this past fall,” Gregory shares. “The public across the country was able to vote online and the book won the People’s Choice Grand Prize Award by the MeeGenius Publishing Company.” MeeGenius published the book on their digital platform in March and Gregory took his prize money and turned the book into a print book so families would have a choice when purchasing the book. He has since been touring schools in New Jersey where he lives, talking about CHICKEN BOY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF A SUPER HERO WITH AUTISM and autism awareness to children of all ages.

“I love to bring awareness to diverse situations through my storytelling and I’m so glad to be able to share both books with the people of Maine on my road-trip weekend,” he says.

Find Gregory:

| Website | Facebook | Goodreads | ASD Publishing |

He will be at the following locations in Maine with copies of both books.

Sat, June 23 Bath Book Shop 11 am-1 pm Bath, ME

Sun, June 24 Tugboat Inn 12-1:30 pm Boothbay Harbor, ME

Mon, June 25 Freeport Community Library 7-8:30 pm Freeport, ME

About the two books:

PATCHWORK OF ME 

A product of the foster care system, Sara Butler spends her early thirties hiding from her past while striving for a normal life with her small group of quirky friends in Arizona. Seeking treatment for an invisible rash and abnormal dreams, her therapist helps her unlock a heinous past that she is unsure she wants to open. To patch her life back together, she realizes she must travel across country to Maine to confront that past in order to plan for a future.

CHICKEN BOY: THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF A SUPER HERO WITH AUTISM 

"I have a superhero inside my head. I call him Chicken Boy" proclaims our hero. What others may see as odd "quirks", a child living with autism explains as all a part of his being a superhero. Told in the first person perspective, Chicken Boy offers a small glimpse into the mind of one child who wants others to understand they shouldn't fear someone simply because that person is a little different.