Quick to point out that the publication of his first YA novel “was not entirely an ‘inside job’,” Edward Bloor, who edits educational texts for Harcourt Brace (the same company that published his book), is “ecstatic” about the positive response he has received as an author. Paperback rights as well as film rights for Tangerine (Harcourt) have already been auctioned off to Scholastic, a noteworthy feat for a first-time author.
Set in Tangerine County, Fla., Bloor’s novel combines sports action with psychological suspense. Its narrator is middle-schooler Paul, a visually handicapped soccer player, who proves to be sure-sighted than his parents in recognizing the violent streak in his football-star brother. The book’s surreal atmosphere is accentuated by a series of bizarre natural disasters, some of which seem “too improbable” to editor Michael Stearns, who was forwarded the manuscript that Bloor sent to Rubin Pfeffer, president of Harcourt’s trade division.
“I had a hard time convincing him [Stearns] that such things [houses repeatedly getting struck by lightning, underground fires rising through muck, and portable classrooms submerging in sinkholes] really do happen in Florida,” recalls Bloor, adding that Stearns was attracted to the oddness of the story but asked for a number of revisions. The author won battles to keep the “sinking classroom” scene and the book’s original title, but had to rework other aspects of the story. Part of his revision included the challenging task of fleshing out minor characters introduced by a legally blind protagonist.
“I’ve always been a writer,” says Bloor, who narrates into a Dictaphone on his way to work and while mowing his lawn. “My most successful period [until now] occurred from seventh grade to 12th grade.” Growing up in Trenton, N.J., Bloor was influenced by literary/theatrical circles in New York. He wrote plays that were produced in his high school and was editor of the school literary magazine.
After receiving an English degree from Fordham University, Bloor’s dream of becoming a published author continued. “But I was clueless about what to do about it,” he admits. His sister, to whom Tangerine is dedicated, spent “many hours” typing up a still unpublished first novel and Bloor sank a $500 inheritance from his grandfather into hiring a literary agent. Repayment came in the way of “piles” of rejection slips.
During this “low” period, Bloor’s family relocated to Florida, where Bloor gave up writing to teach English to middle-school and high-school students. “Making up educational materials for my classes brought me into publishing, and published brought me back to writing,” he states. “Reading hundreds of YA novels while working at Harcourt Brace led me to believe I could find a niche for myself in the field.”
Now living in a Florida “target-for-disaster” subdivision similar to Paul’s neighborhood in Tangerine, Bloor is experiencing the frenzy of activity that goes along with success. During the hours he’s not working at Harcourt, he is attending book signings and speaking at schools. He is also trying to balance writing a second “Florida Gothic” with the responsibilities of fatherhood (Bloor and his wife, Pam, have two young children, Spenser and Amanda). Revealing his gentle but slightly dark sense of humor, Bloor reflects, “Here I am writing another book about neglectful parents during the time I could be spending with my children.”
