Title: Stim
Publication date: October 16th 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Synopsis
Robert is different. He has Asperger’s Syndrome. He experiences the world differently to 99% of the population. Follow his entertaining and highly empathetic story as he struggles to realise and accept who he really is, try to understand other people—which he cannot—and find a girlfriend. Especially find a girlfriend—he’s decided it’s his special project for the year. Accompanied on this transformative journey by his quirky flatmates, Chloe (who also has Asperger’s, amongst other things), Stef (who hasn’t, but doesn’t mind) and their oddly-named kitten, Robert endures a myriad of awkward moments in his quest to meet a nice, normal girl…and not even a major earthquake will stop him.
This absorbing and humorous story is starkly told from Robert’s point of view, through the kaleidoscope of autistic experience.
Purchase Stim on
Excerpt
The temperature seemed even hotter than before as we pushed the trolleys back the same way to collect my belongings. My feet dragged as if I were wading through golden syrup with a ball and chain attached to each of my legs. I tried to imagine that we were trudging through some endless desert somewhere, but it obviously was not a desert, it was a main road lined with P30 parking signs, and the shopping trolleys were probably marginally easier to push along the footpath than through the sand. They did seem to have a life of their own, though.
The concert outside the Student Union still
proceeded noisily and apparently quite chaotically, and if we were heckled
again, I did not notice. This was because I felt too exhausted to look. My
shirt and Chloe’s top were wet with sweat and sticking to our skin.
We loaded my things into the trolleys—one
box of clothes, my laptop and two boxes of books. I collect books like a dragon
reputedly hoards riches. They are my little treasures, though I cannot afford
to buy them often, and I usually acquire them second-hand. I love it that a
book can be relied upon to provide the identical information, or tell the same
tale, time after time—unlike people, who can be fickle. Rereading something I
already know is grounding for me, and it is pleasing to know that information
in a book is always the same each time I look at it.
It was now late afternoon. The trolleys
were not easy to handle, not having been designed for long-distance pavement journeys,
and squeaked continuously, making me grind my teeth in annoyance. Chloe stimmed
by tapping out a beat on the handle of her trolley as we walked, the regularity
of which was reasonably calming.
Sometimes, one of the trolley wheels would
stick and drag along the footpath with a high-pitched shrieking until it freed
itself. Other times a wheel would turn randomly, causing one of the trolleys to
lurch sideways abruptly, like a pouncing metallic cat. However, we managed the
almost 3km back to our new home without serious incident.
After the constant noise and bustle of the
halls of residence, it seemed positively tranquil in the new house. I got my
first look at my new room. It was a comfortable size, 4.7m by 3.9m, and well
laid out, almost a clone of Chloe’s room in size and shape. Chloe had the room
next to mine, then there was Stef’s room, and one bathroom, which we would all
have to share. Chloe announced that she would draw up a colour-coded timetable
for the bathroom for the three of us each morning and evening. I appreciated
that careful planning on her behalf. That was one more detail arranged (and one
fewer thing about which to be anxious).
We unloaded my possessions and took them
into the house. Chloe bent over and carefully placed a box of books on top of
the one that I had put down next to the bookcase. As she stood up, she wiped
the perspiration from her forehead with her left hand. She wore a white
sleeveless top (because this was a Friday), and sweat gleamed on her arms and
shoulders. Her blue hair was tousled, and I wondered if she felt as worn out by
the heat as I did. One strap of her top had fallen down her right shoulder, but
she ignored it, or perhaps was unaware of it. She took three steps to my bed
and lay down, letting out a heavy sigh. She twirled her hair with her left
hand, and patted the bed with her right hand.
“Robert, why don’t you sit down here? You
must be tired. You could rest a while too, lie down, maybe. We could talk
or…you know, something.”
I thought I knew how she felt, though, of
course, I could not know for sure without Chloe telling me. This was a
significant move for us both, bringing a lot of change and, inescapably,
anxiety. As she rested, I looked eagerly at the empty bookcase, already
mentally arranging my books in order by category and (within that)
alphabetically by author. I felt a surge of excitement as I anticipated
removing them from the cardboard prisons of their boxes, feeling the smooth
dust covers in my hands, and placing their regular rectangular shapes neatly
onto the white shelves in front of me in a perfectly ordered, systematic
manner.
Chloe sighed again. Perhaps it was because
she realised she would have to unpack also, and felt too tired to do so.
Suddenly, I realised that we had missed our break together at the university
café because we had been too busy moving into the house. I felt thirsty. A cold
drink would be good, but a hot drink ought to be better. Apparently, hot drinks
cool your body down faster than cold ones.
“Do you want to go out for a coffee?” I
asked her.
“I don’t drink coffee,” she said abruptly,
then sat up, stood and left the room. A few seconds later, I heard the door of
her room close.
That is right, I admonished myself. Chloe
drinks green tea. No wonder she did not want to go out for a coffee.
Kevin Berry is an indie author. His particular niche is writing Aspie New Adult contemporary novels set in an earthquake zone. The first of these is STIM, published in October 2013.
His first novels, co-written with Diane Berry, are Dragons Away!, Growing Disenchantments and Fountain of Forever (humorous fantasy). These are available as paperbacks and ebooks at Amazon and elsewhere.
Website/Goodreads/Twitter
Thanks for posting this, Anastasia. Have a great week.
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