Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from Éric Desmarais:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
book
Our Tropes (2023 Books)
The tropes we use in Crushing It and The Mystery of the Dancing Lights:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
New Flavours and Comiccon 2023
Hello Coffee and Crochet lovers,
JenEric Designs, JenEric Coffee, The Travelling TARDIS, Jen Desmarais, and Eric Desmarais will be at this year’s (September the 8th to the 10th) Ottawa Comiccon. at the EY Centre.
We’ll be at booths 2604-2606!
New Coffee Flavours
We will be debuing 2 new flavours: Pineapple, and Cookies & Cream. Come try our samples.
New Books
Jen’s new book Crushing It and my new book The Mystery of the Dancing Lights, will be available as well. Come get a signed copy and maybe some awesome bonus things.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The Mystery of the Dancing Lights by Éric Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Hope to see you there!
Éric
“Crushing It” Review 3
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from bookstagrammer @JourneytoBiscovery:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
The science behind Crushing It
Probably one of the biggest hurdles I had in writing this book was the science. Writing it clearly enough that readers could follow along, but not get bogged down by the science, was hard.
I think my favourite science part was the obstacle course ice breaker in the March Break camp. I had a lot of fun planning that out, and I even made the modified version of it that we recorded for the cover reveal video. My eldest and her friend completed it together.
The STEM competition was more difficult, mostly because I had to make it more advanced. I discussed the five different sections with Éric beforehand, finally deciding on optics, electronics, programming (part 1 & 2), construction, and mystery.
A bit of background on me: I have a Bachelor of Science, so I took many many post-secondary science classes. Do I remember them? Not in the slightest.
However, I do remember how to research for them. Mostly.
Éric (a huge science nerd) was a huge help with all of it, but especially the optics and mystery.
My mom (has her masters in computer science) and sister (has her bachelors in a information technology) were invaluable for the programming section. I was able to suggest solutions and they would explain why they would or wouldn’t work. Most of that discussion went into the book.
Overall, I had a lot of fun writing the science of the book, and I hope you have fun and learn a little while reading it. This is not a science book, but I tried to make it as accurate as possible.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Mini MSN Chats 4-5
Here follows the accounts of 2003-version MSN chats between Tommy and Carter, set in the middle of “Crushing It” as they navigate their long-distance relationship.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Crushing It Style Comps
Crushing It is a queer YA cosy romance with low stakes. There are several other books that have a similar style, in one way or another, to my book. Here is the image I made with all the covers of the style comparisons.
Summary
After an epic grounding for some bad decisions with even worse friends, Tommy is lucky to even go to the Door Tech March Break camp. There, he crosses paths with Carter Batudev, and chemistry isn’t just for the classroom. With love and a renewed interest in STEM, Tommy returns home to Parry Sound, where, to the relief of his parents, he makes better friends, and joins the STEM club.
When the club goes to the province-wide competition in Toronto, he’s reunited with Carter, whose team is also competing. Thus ensues a wild long weekend full of romance, hijinks, STEM, and singing.
Includes a novelette from Carter’s POV at the dinner theatre show Knights of Everdome.
The first book in the Lucky in Love series.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Spotify Music Playlist for Crushing It
Crushing It has some pretty great music in it, so I made a spotify playlist of all the songs, in the order they appear within the book.
Do you think you can figure out what happens during each song?
Songs in order of appearance
- “I Want You” by Savage Garden
- “Get To Know You” by Tommy Fairfield*
- “Clocks” by Coldplay
- “Survivor” by Destiny’s Child
- “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” by Jane Taylor (nursery rhyme)
- “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” by Thomas d’Urfey (nursery rhyme)
- “Puff, The Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, and Mary
- “Cartoon Heroes (Speedy Mix)” by Barbie Young
- “In The Navy ‘99 (XXL Disaster Remix)” by CAPTAIN JACK
- “Sexy Planet” by Crystal Aliens
- “Circle of Life” by Elton John and Tim Rice
- “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” by Elton John and Tim Rice
- “Hakuna Matata” by Elton John and Tim Rice
- “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” by Elton John and Tim Rice
- “Be Prepared” by Elton John and Tim Rice
*Artist is fictional
Read about my thoughts on music in this book here!
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
“Crushing It” Review 2
Crushing It was sent out for reviews in May, and I’ve received some in return. Here’s one from best-selling author Jamieson Wolf:
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version
Mini MSN Chats 1-3
Here follows the accounts of 2003-version MSN chats between Tommy and Carter, set in the middle of “Crushing It” as they navigate their long-distance relationship.
Crushing It by Jen Desmarais is available now!
Physical from Canadian indie bookstores, physical from Indigo, electronic version