The Extraordinary Life of Shady Gray is the classic sister gets pregnant, father kicks out sister, mother resents father, mother kills father, brother runs away from home to get away from his dysfunctional family story.

Shady really wants nothing more than to fit into the world. He questions life, God and everything in between on a number of occasions. Everything in Shady’s life is a disappointment. That is until he meets Jessica, a physically scarred girl who teaches Shady how to enjoy life. With Jessica’s help, Shady realizes that instead of fitting into the world, he is destined to stand out.

What genre is this novel?
The novel is Young Adult/Coming of Age, but the story will resonate with adults as well.

How so?
All mothers will love this story; one of the story lines is about a woman doing whatever it takes to protect her children. There is a lot of stuff going on that will appeal to men, teenagers, fathers and so forth, so the book has likeability for all readers.

Tell us more your central family. They’re rather dysfunctional, aren’t they?
The book revolves around the family of Shady Gray. His family is dysfunctional to say the least. His sister gets pregnant and their father kicks her out of the house. His mother takes her resentment into another man’s arms, which results in her killing Shady’s father.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love my book.
dysfunctional families that have happy endings

We weren’t expecting the story to have a happy ending. It’ll be interesting to see how you get us there.
Readers will go through different emotions while reading this novel. At the end, I hope readers will be at peace with each character and his/her actions.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
My two previous novels are “Hello Lesbian!” and “Anonymous.” “Hello Lesbian!” is an adult comedy and “Anonymous” is an adult literary horror novel.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Jason Tanamor is the Editor and Founder of Zoiks! Online. Zoiks! Online offers the best in stand-up comedy and music.

He has 10 plus years of experience as an entertainment writer/interviewer for Yahoo!, the Moline Dispatch/Rock Island Argus, Cinema Blend, Celebrity Cafe, Strip Las Vegas Magazine, Pulse Magazine and Zoiks! Online.

He has covered everyone from Steve Martin to Jerry Seinfeld and from Evanescence to President Obama. 

Tanamor also works full-time for the Department of Defense (Army). He is married, has a son, and lives and works in Illinois.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
www.tanamor.com

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
Twitter: @jasontanamor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jason.tanamor

What’s next?
Drafting out a social, political love story.