Blog Tour + #Giveaway: The Diary of a Late Bloomer by L.M.L Gil @XpressoTours

The Diary of a Late Bloomer; A quirky coming of age novel
L.M.L Gil
Publication date: June 29th 2020
Genres: Coming of Age, New Adult, Romance, Sports

Every wallflower blooms at their own perfect time, but some like quirky Lo, take longer than others. 

Lo is a sheltered 20-year-old who loves baking, manga/anime, and octopi. When she spots her college swim team’s tryout flyer sporting her favorite sea creature, an octopus she knows it’s a sign that she must join the Flying Octopi. The only things standing her way are her social awkward nature and the fact that she just learned to swim. 

Will Lo find her place to shine or will her social anxiety DQ her dreams?

Late Bloomer is a new adult novel that is a cross between Bridget Jones’s Diary, Baywatch and Kuragehime.

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Interview with L.M.L Gil:

For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book, where should they start?

There are several themes in The Diary of a Late Bloomer, but the core is self-acceptance.

I’m an avid reader (hehe) of self-help books. For learning to know and love yourself, I would recommend The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron and You are a Bada$$ by Jen Sincero.

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?

I have always struggled with self-acceptance. In many ways I was lost like Lo, although she had the advantage of knowing what she wanted to do. Over the course of my life I have had many dreams, some of which I pursued, but they never satisfied me, mostly because I had to be someone I was not.

Just like Lo grew from all the mistakes she made, I did too. I’m grateful for all the lessons I learned while taking all those different routes because I gained more clarity. I now know I’m an introvert who loves writing stories that I hope bring joy to the world.

What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them? 

My intentions for this book, and my stories in general, are to entertain my readers and inspire them. It would also make me very happy if they grow to like my characters as much as I do. None of them are perfect but I love that about them.

I want to believe that I did a good job, but like all writers I worry that I could have done more. While writing The Diary of a Late Bloomer I learned that at one point we must let go of our idea of perfection and allow the world to see us as we really are.

Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?

Thank you so very much for taking the time out to read The Diary of a Late Bloomer. I am humbled that you read it, because I am still growing as writer (not that you ever really stop). I welcome all feedback.

My wish is that The Diary of a Late Bloomer brings a smile to your face and inspires you.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

I enjoyed getting to know the characters and watching them grow. I know it may sound funny, but they exceeded my expectations. When I started to write The Diary of a Late Bloomer, I only had vague ideas of what they would be like.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have planned for the future?

Currently I am working on The Faerie Key, which is a millennial urban fantasy that blends romance and adventure. It mostly takes place in Scotland, a very magical place. One I hope to visit soon (it’s all part of the research ).

I am also co-writing Witness Purrtection, a cozy mystery about a snobby cat named Duke Ellington and a kindhearted private investigator, Vince Bartone.

And I am starting work on Letters from a Late Rocker, a sequel to The Diary of a Late Bloomer.

How long have you been writing?

I have been writing for a long time off and on, I want to say as soon as I learned how to write. During college I took lots of creative writing classes, but my favorite one was playwrighting. I was going through an existentialist phase, so all my plays were about the meaning of life. The dialogue was unintendedly funny. I look at my scripts occasionally and see that I have grown as a writer.

In terms of writing professionally, it took almost succumbing to pneumonia to make me take my writing seriously. In the last two years I have started to learn what it means to be a professional writer, and I’m not even close yet.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in The Diary of a Late Bloomer?

The Diary of a Late Bloomer has an interesting set of characters.

Lo is the main character and narrator. She is shy and has low self-confidence, but she works hard at all she does. She wants to make people happy, sometimes even if it causes her pain. She is a nurturer.

Nick is a curmudgeon who is very smart and has a lot of drive to succeed. Lo looks up to him, but he is often frustrated with her because she doesn’t stand up for herself.

Britney is one of Lo’s friends. She is beautiful, dresses well and wears perfect makeup, but like Lo she suffers from self-doubt.

Alina is both Britney’s and Lo’s friend, and aside from her competitive nature she has a very balanced personality.

Joan, also known as The Oracle, because she reads tarot cards, is normally quiet but she can curse like a sailor and dance like a pro.

Martin is one of Lo’s love interests. He introduces Lo to punk music and concerts, but he has a sad past that makes Lo want to take care of him. He is the main character in Letters from a Late Rocker.

If you could spend the day with one of the characters from The Diary of a Late Bloomer who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular character, where you would go and what you would do.

I would love to spend a day with Joan because I think I can learn a lot from her. She knows how to dance and swim well. Those are two things I want to get better at.

We would meet up at the Tea Spot near Lo’s and Joan’s college and grab some tea while we are there. Then we would head down to the swimming pool where Joan would help me improve my swimming.

After our swimming session, we would grab some food at Teriyaki Boy. I would order a potato croquette curry dish and Joan would have a Katsu dish. Once we were settled upstairs in the table area, Joan would do a tarot card reading for me. I would ask her about my writing career and any advice the cards would have for me.

We would walk off the food and go to a lounge where we would meet up with the rest of the swim team. Hopefully Joan will teach me some of her signature dance moves before the night is done.

Author Bio:
L.M.L. Gil is a writer, a reader, and a dreamer.

 When she is not writing, editing, or thinking about her next story, she is either in the kitchen testing out a new recipe or snuggling with her fur munchkins reading.

As a glutton, she equates a good novel to a scrumptious dessert, which leaves your heart a little lighter and a smile on your face.

 She hopes her novels provide a sweet treat without the calories

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