YA/ CrossoverFiction
Through making his nieces cackle, and while teaching English to teens, C.J. Strickland formed strong ideas on the storytelling needed to engross, amuse and move this age group.
YA fiction that reaches both teens and adults holds a special place in his heart and special places on his bookshelf: it was S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders which first showed him — through misty eyes — the visceral power of prose (and if you, too, didn’t cry when Ponyboy died, you’re a monster). It was Robert C. Obrien’s Z for Zachariah that proved to him that tricky adult subjects can be broached in YA, and that there’s no psychological intensity like that of a sixteen year old’s post apocalyptic diary! It was David Mitchell’s Black Swan Green that demonstrated how comedy can be found even in teen bullying.
There are many more — but those are a few of his favourite things.
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling - Book seeks Lit Rep!
This YA/Crossover work is now complete at 59,000 words and seeking literary representation. In the tradition of YA works like Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry and Winger by Andrew Smith, it finds the heartbreak and humour of a square-peg protagonist at a round-hole new school. What’s unique about Dog Boy Freak, though, is the semi-desert, Australian wheatbelt setting — a backdrop drawn from the author's own Murray Mallee upbringing.
But this is no coming-of-age reminiscence: it's a tale with rising jeopardy and slapstick farce woven into an earnest teen friendship drama with offbeat but recognisable characters.
Praise for Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling
Lynk Manuscript Service (October 2023)
‘…entertaining, humorous, intelligent, original and creative…’
‘…a clever and funny novel…’
'...laugh-out-loud funny at times. The bullying scenes are fairly harrowing and you can feel Boyd’s dread…'
‘…many very visual action scenes – precisely and vividly described…’
‘Fans of fantasy will love the references to D&D and the protagonist’s made-up Elven language…’
‘…will enchant the huge market of mid-teen readers with its action-packed scenes...and a mooning finale that teen readers will love.’
‘…it’s not just all action and comedy; there is the juxtaposition of Wayne’s awful home life, and an insight into how a bully passes on the misery and anger in his own life.’
'The writing is informal and crisp and spare – never boring or cliched, and the internal talk always suits the characters. And it’s a strong cast who come alive on the page and are instantly relatable…'
‘…its unique setting and quirky but relatable characters will make for…enjoyable reading.'
'...an adept writer and storyteller with a good understanding of how to connect with readers. The book is well crafted – each chapter cleverly and gradually reveals the arc and the characters…the story gently escalating then accelerating to the final on-stage act.'
'It’s nicely paced and slow at times; short, sharp staccato bursts of wild action at others. The occasional change of point of view from Boyd to Wayne works very well to keep readers engaged and interested.'
‘…would make a great film...’
Marlo Garnsworthy (YA fiction editor and US based author)
'… Even though I just read it for the third time, I felt quite choked up at the end. Even though I've read the gags several times now, they still had me chortling out loud.'
'I LOVE the voice. I LOVE the style. I love the story. …this is a terrific piece of work and a great story. Really, without a doubt…it’s one of the best manuscripts I have read in my career. I don’t say that lightly. Were it submitted to me, I would acquire it… I'm so excited to see where this goes.'
'...excellent storytelling, characterization, dialogue, and humor-writing skills.'
'There is so much about this manuscript that I truly love.
I can’t imagine that you won’t find a home for it…'
Australian Writers' Guild (AWG) Assessor Robert Greenberg
(re original screenplay treatment)
(re original screenplay treatment)
'…very skilled with physical comedy...'
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling – Logline
15-year-old Dungeons and Dragons fan, Boyd, never dreamed that by saving blind pensioner, Emily, from a nursing home, he was saving himself. But his plan to fool authorities she can see — by harnessing geek powers — may just be the key to besting his bully, fixing a friendship and fitting in at his wheatbelt high school.
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling – Synopsis
Boyd Pearce knows a few things for sure: that his imaginary language is way cool; that he’s got the best fantasy library in all Kurundin, and that old-school jousting with bestie, Pinky Pathirana, is super fun. What kids at his new school know for sure is that Boyd and Pinky are mega dorks.
Boyd and Pinky are stunned when their Dungeons & Dragons club is banned from their new wheatbelt high school through a perfect storm of mean acts and misjudgments (such as supposedly summoning Satan). It’s then that Wayne Beattie — a troubled, vicious lunk — targets Boyd, convincing everyone that this newbie has an actual tail.
Outcast Boyd thinks things can’t get rottener. He's wrong.
Odd jobbing for cranky pensioner and one-time circus artiste Emily Kipfler, Boyd is gobsmacked to learn her heavy secret: she’s only playing at being sighted, believing her blindness will put her in a home. It’s Emily’s bribe — a tumbledown shack, perfect for a D & D clubhouse — that keeps Boyd quiet.
But as Boyd’s bond with Pinky is stress tested at school, a stark choice emerges: between being accepted or being their egghead selves. The clubhouse party Boyd throws for good PR turns to disaster when Wayne starts a fire, convinced Boyd is the reason he has been taken from his broken home and fostered. When the police arrive, the party dies — alongside Boyd and Pinky’s friendship.
It's then Emily flunks the first official test to see if she goes to a home, wrenching Boyd from his misery, and into a wild ride to keep the spirited oldster free. While harnessing the powers of his motley geek crew, Boyd comes to own the once wretched title of Dog Boy Freak — but will their plan to resurrect Emily’s scary vaudeville act fool Kurundin’s most officious official?
Will Boyd get away with car theft and chaos involving wigs and dead rat tea? Can enlisting a middle-aged soft rock star help their cause? And can a misfit gamer like Boyd fit in at Kurundin High, find the courage to confront Wayne and restore his wrecked friendship?
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling - Audience
Pitched at a YA/Crossover audience, this work will appeal to teens 13 and up, as well as adults in touch with their inner 15-year-old. With its teen trio of Dungeons and Dragons players, this has the potential to resonate with millions of Stranger Things fans, and the estimated 50 million teens/adults who play DnD.
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling - Chapter Sample
Dog Boy Freak and the Serious Fooling - the follow-up:
Geek/Delinquent
Set in the same wheatbelt town, Geek/Delinquent tracks the same DnD crew helmed by the only year 10 at Kurundin High with a business card:
Boyd Pearce - fantasy role player, amateur lexicographer, human youth.
The sequel finds Boyd’s mission to save his scuttled medieval reenactment festival hit more snags than a weekend at Bunnings — his quest complicated by virtuoso bully, Wayne Beattie, whose ambition to make Boyd’s life hell is now aided by older brother, Trent, just back from juvenile detention.
But just how does serious young Boyd become Kurundin High’s resident bad boy with detention for the term of his natural life? Or as a bad apple is he ‘just a tourist’ as Boyd's fellow detainee, goth cynic and unlikely crush, Amy Lan, claims? And is spying still wrong if you accidentally uncover a reptile trafficking racket?
Featuring truth, dare and torture for discerning modern youth, Geek/Delinquent pits Boyd and his crew against Medieval Fest’s biggest enemy (reprising officious councillor Coral Pettigrew — whose hobbies include watching motorists get booked). But just maybe Boyd can use Coral’s big, weird secret as some kind of weapon. And also just maybe the crew's ingenious use of their other formidable weapon (a towering trebuchet) will see Geek/Delinquent probably come with serious safety disclaimers.
Watch this space.