Blog Tour: A Night Twice as Long by Andrew Simonet (Interview + Giveaway!)

Happy Thursday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for A NIGHT TWICE AS LONG! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Andrew Simonet to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so so excited to for you to find out more about it, PLUS enter for a chance to win a print copy!!

A Night Twice as Long by Andrew Simonet
Published on June 1, 2021 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Genres: Contemporary, Neurodivergent, YA
Pages: 320
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Author Links: Website, Twitter, Goodreads

What do you call the difference between what you should feel and what you do feel? Life?
The blackout has been going on for three weeks. But Alex feels like she's been living in the dark for a year, ever since her brother, who has autism, was removed from the house, something Alex blames herself for. So when her best friend, Anthony, asks her to trek to another town to figure out the truth about the blackout, Alex says yes.
On a journey that ultimately takes all day and night, Alex's relationships with Anthony, her brother, and herself will transform in ways that change them all forever.
In this honest and gripping young adult novel, Andrew Simonet spins a propulsive tale about what it means to turn on the lights and look at what's real.

What would you do if you spent the day with Alex? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?

We would sit down on the ground right where we met and talk for hours. No food, no plans, no destination. Whenever I meet someone who has a cognitively different sibling, there is much Oh-my-god-yes. We would trade stories and glories of being cognitively different from our siblings, all the ridiculous moments, the quietly beautiful moments, the devastating moments. 

If Alex were to hang out with characters from other books, who would they be and why?

I think Alex would love to hang out with some non-binary folks. Her gender identity begins to move in A Night Twice as Long. I think she is emerging to herself, and her not-quite-linear relationship to gender identity is part of that. She’d love hanging out with Kerewin Holmes from The Bone People and with (real-life characters in their own writing) Maggie Nelson and Harry Dodge. 

Would you rather be a superhero or a supervillain? What would your powers and name be and why?

Honestly, I’d rather not be a superhero or supervillain. Both seem dangerously invested in the good/bad binary. I’m too interested in mess and nuance. People who (believe they) are fighting evil bore me until they frighten me. I would love to be able to breathe underwater, though.

If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?

• One of those five-foot-long CVS receipts. That captures something about being alive today.
• An intricately sculpted hunk of wood, unexplained, to give future folks something to speculate about.
• As many wild seeds as would fit, all the plants that might die out before the time capsule is opened.

What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?

I wrote—and cut—a long scene in a quarry. Teenagers who have stopped attending school during the blackout organize “New School.” On this day, they’re doing Opposites: Come as the opposite of who you are. Dress up, change your hair, and interact with everyone as not-yourself. Alex, head newly shaved and chin out, already feels like her opposite, and she gets in some good trouble. She confronts a girl who seems to be imitating Old Alex: long hair, bookish, retreating. Alex is intrigued and provoked, chatting with and eventually yelling at Old Alex. This is a dream of mine, giving my former self a pep talk and scolding. Turns out this girl is not even playing Opposites, just being her actual self. So Alex has to come to terms with her current, aggressive self as well. 

What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from A Night Twice as Long?

“You’re not like everybody else. But neither is everybody else.”

Enter here for a chance to win a print copy of A Night Twice as Long by Andrew Simonet!

(International)

What do you think about A Night Twice as Long? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!