A Spark Before the Fire 🎸 (Updated)

The character Jimmy Groome first showed up in my first book Fire, in 2010 and later became the protagonist in A Spark Before the Fire a few years later. Although the two books are connected, they overlap more than one being the continuation of the other. For example, in A Spark before the Fire Jimmy's story starts at age 10, when something traumatic happens to his character. However, the book follows him through his teenage years and into his early twenties, when he meets Tarah, the protagonist from Fire.

The cool thing is that you view things through his eyes, including a few incidents mentioned in Fire, where the protagonist is a woman. As you can imagine, these two characters often view the same situation through very different lenses. 

Here's a summary of the book:

Jimmy Groome never really believed that his life was worth anything. An overweight and unpopular teen, it takes a suicide attempt to bring a traumatic childhood experience into sharp focus. With some encouragement from family and a counselor, Jimmy picks up a guitar and it quickly becomes obvious that he has a natural talent. After losing weight and joining a band, Jimmy goes from being a shy and insecure child to an outgoing and self-destructive young adult. In a world where sex, drugs and rock n' roll goes hand in hand Jimmy’s future is uncertain.

In this prequel to Fire, we follow Jimmy Groome on his dark path, where he decides if he'll ignite the fire inside - or if he’ll let it burn out and fade away.