T. L. Bainter was born in 1994 and began writing short stories not long after that. Since the age of six, he has been churning out short story after short story. After receiving an award from the renowned Writers of the Future competition for his short story Edwin, T. L. Bainter found the confidence and encouragement that he needed to write and publish his first novel: How I Ruined My Life. Currently, he resides in Kansas City with his cat, Sooba.
My Adolescence and (Probably) Yours
If I had to describe my adolescence in one word, it would be: “whoops”. I was reclusive, I was a loner, and I took too much for granted. When wisdom was given to me by those with more experience, I scoffed and dismissed it. In this way, I was very much like Kyle, the main character in How I Ruined My Life. He keeps to himself, he’s impulsive, and he doesn’t fully appreciate what he has until it’s too late.
I think that if we all take the time to look at our own adolescence, we’ll see a bit of Kyle in ourselves, as well. We thought we knew everything, we disregarded the wisdom of those who really did (by comparison) know everything, and by the time we made it out of high school, we’d virtually ruined our lives. We might think to ourselves “If only I’d studied harder”, “If only I hadn’t broken off that friendship”, or “If only I’d listened more”. You know what they say: hindsight is That’s what How I Ruined My Life is about. It’s about making mistakes, growing up, and maturing as a person. Throughout the story, Kyle and his best friend James experience a multitude of harsh realities, including heartbreak and death. Growing up is a difficult and often painful process wrought with circumstances that seem impossible to overcome.
There is so much that I would change about my young adult life. If I could go back and do things differently, my life would be on a much better track than it is now. I’d treat my friends with more kindness, I’d probably still have my “dream girl”, I’d be on a faster road to success – the list goes on. But in my mind, all of the pain, heartbreak, and perpetual failure was worth it in the end. Without all of the pain of my adolescence, I never would have written How I Ruined My Life. I hope that at least one reader is able to learn something from the lessons and experiences
How I Ruined My Life
By: T. L. Bainter
Publisher: Self-Publised
Published: Feb. 12, 2016
Genre: YA Romance
Kyle has gone unnoticed for the vast majority of his life and he’s always preferred it that way. Homeschooled, shy, and only attending church because he’s forced to, there’s not really anything outstanding or interesting about him. That changes, however, when he meets James Porter. The two are fast friends, but Kyle isn’t sure if that’s a good thing or not. While some of the experiences resulting from their friendship are grand, many other experiences leave Kyle broken, angry, and depressed. Is Kyle’s friendship with James really such a good thing, or would he have been better off if he’d simply remained the quiet, lonely boy that no one seemed to notice?
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This one sounds good. I hope you get contacted when people do learn from the lessons and experiences in the book and it impacts their own views.
I think we could be friends now, but I don’t think we’d be buddies in our adolescence. I was obnoxious! Then again, there are some “general” experiences we can all relate to and that is taking wise advice from others. I guess most of us want to learn the hard way.
This book sounds like a cool coming of age story for sure 🙂
Yeah, there is some stuff I would do differently too.