The Nerd Daily recently had the chance to catch up with Tobias Madden, author of the upcoming YA romance Take a bow, Noah Mitchell. We need to ask Tobias all our burning questions about fears of sophomore novels, favorite musicals, and more!
Hello Tobias! Thanks for chatting with us! Why not tell our readers a little about yourself?
Secure! I grew up in a country town called Ballarat (where both my books happen to be set) and I now live in Sydney with my husband Dan (who I met on an Australian tour of cats, back in my acting days) and our beautiful dog/son, Ollie. I worked in publishing for a few years and now I write gay books for young adults and work part time in theater marketing! My biggest achievement in 2022 is completing a full rewatch of Grey’s Anatomy— yes, all eighteen seasons. (And Lexi Gray is my favorite character, in case you’re wondering.)
Lightning Round: What was the first game you can remember playing, a musical soundtrack you could listen to the rest of the time, and a lie you told that didn’t end well?
The first game I remember was a Simpsons platform game on an old MS DOS PC, a very old kind of computer that didn’t even have a desktop. A musical soundtrack that I could (and do) listen to repeatedly is beetle juice. There are several that I have permanently, but it never gets old. And I can’t really think of a single time I’ve lied (like, quite a lie, not just a little white lie). Unless I’m lying now… we’ll never know…
Now let’s talk about Take a bow, Noah Mitchell! What can readers expect?
Readers can expect a bright, funny, sultry gay rom-com, packed with drama. It’s the game/theater mashup book of my dreams, and I can’t wait for people to read it!
Take a bow, Noah Mitchell is your second novel. How was your experience writing this story? Were there things you didn’t expect to be a problem (or a highlight!) after writing and publishing a novel before?
Everyone always says it’s hard to write your sophomore novel, and they’re certainly not wrong! I think there’s a lot of pressure on book two, most of which is probably self-imposed. You try to write something other than your debut, but not at different, because you want people who liked your first book to like it too. I definitely didn’t expect it to feel as terrifying as the first time, but it did. And from what I’ve heard, that feeling never goes away no matter how many books you write.
Since Noah is both a gamer and eventual musical star, tell us your favorite game(s) and musical(s) you would recommend to our readers!
I’m an old school gamer so my favorites are early 2000s PC games like Diablo II, Baldur’s Gate II (both inspired Spire of Dusk II in the book, if you hadn’t guessed already) earthquake, half-lifeand the OG Sims. My list of favorite musicals is LONG, but some of the highlights (that I’ve seen live) are The color purple, Hamilton, beetle juice, Hadestown, cats, Bad, The Book of Mormon, RENT, Six, legal blondeand Mary Poppins.
Let’s talk about online friendships for a moment! What do you think is the best and worst part of finding friends online through gaming or social media?
I think the best part is that you can connect with people from all over the world! I made friends online that I then met in person while traveling, and those friendships are just so special. We are so lucky to be able to expand our circles to a global level! I think the worst thing about making friends online is that you never really know who you’re actually making friends with! I’ve been lucky (so far) with my experiences, but not everyone on the internet is who they say they are…
Noah faces many problems in this story, one of them not knowing when to tell the truth after an incident that marks him as an outsider at school. What do you want readers to take away from Noah’s story?
I like to explore the concept of ‘truth’. There’s a gray area between our black-and-white idea of ”truth versus lies” that I find incredibly interesting. Should everyone always be completely honest, regardless of the consequences? And if not, when is it okay to lie? Where’s the line? And who decides where that line is? I would like readers to distance themselves from Noah’s story and ask themselves these kinds of questions.
Despite the tricky topics, this story also pushes Noah out of his comfort zone and finds trust in unexpected places (and friendships). What’s something you’ve always wanted to try?
Also see
I’ve always wanted to skydive! I’m not afraid of heights, but the thought of jumping out of a plane certainly scares me. It’s definitely on my bucket list!
Noah and Eli’s quick friendship (IRL) and eventual romance is nothing short of breathtaking – although it has its obstacles, of course. Without giving too much away, did you have a favorite scene while writing their story?
I had many! Their journey together was really too much fun to write! If I had to pick a favorite it would probably be the scene set in a Melbourne hotel room on Eli’s birthday (IYKYK). It’s incredibly cringey and awkward and cute.
Of Take a bow, Noah Mitchell coming out soon, are you already working on another project? If so, can you share something about it with us?
I am for sure! I’m almost ready to submit Book Three to my editor, which is super exciting. I can’t say too much about it just yet, but I can tell you that it’s set in the main character’s first year of high school, and there’s a bit of a travel element to it. I’m really excited to be able to share more about the project soon!
Last but not least, do you have any book tips for our readers?
One of my recent lectures was: The Guncle by Steven Rowley, which I absolutely loved! It’s an adult novel, but I know YA readers will absolutely fall in love with it. It is beautifully written and laughably funny, with beautifully realized characters!
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