Showing results by author "C. Payne" in All Categories

Youth in Revolt brings us the journals of Nick Twisp, California's most precocious diarist, whose ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity result in his transformation from an unassuming 14-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt. As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, and the gulag of the public schools.

As his family splinters, worlds collide, and the police block all routes out of town, Nick Twisp must cope with economic deprivation, homelessness, the gulag of the public schools, a competitive Type-A father, murderous canines (in triplicate), and an inconvenient hair trigger on his erectile response, all while vying ardently for the affections of the beauteous Sheeni Saunders, teenage goddess and ultimate intellectual goad. He's smart, he's horny, he's resourceful, and he's on the loose.

Jay is a foster kid and dyslexic, which leaves him at odds with his foster parents' extended families and feeling more alone than ever at the holidays. He's not good with crowds and tends to shy away from people, which makes summer school not much better than his home life. While avoiding his problems, he meets poplar transfer student Seiji, who frequently feels alone even in the midst of an adoring crowd. The two grow close over the summer, but come the school year, Jay starts to think their friendship was really just a momentary distraction to Seiji… Now part of a collection.

Meet these hard-drinking laboratory refugees, who as the infamous "Killer Pigeons" create havoc in San Francisco. They dance into bars, they stick up liquor stores, they spy on socialites, dodge murder raps, and pull a miracle our of their hats. Will they find their way back home to Berkeley? Will they survive the next 15 minutes without a cigarette? Call them "America's Most Wanted," but don't call them pigeons. These swashbuckling outlaws think they're human! Read this hilarious new novel from the author of Youth in Revolt. “Hilarious fable” “The . . . seamless blend of high comedy ...

Wildfires engulfing cities in acrid brown smoke. Riots and shootings. And a deadly virus upending life in countless ways. In a world suddenly gone mad, the Twisp family struggles to carry on. Babies arrive, work evaporates, college goes online, and ex-girlfriends turn very cold (and rather warm). Can love happen while masked and six feet apart? Can a marriage survive endless hours of “Maggot Brain?” Join the Twisps for another cataclysmic yet laughter-filled summer in L.A., where nothing goes as planned and nerves are jolted daily. This riotous Book 12 can be enjoyed as part of the ...

One more year has passed since we last checked in with the tumultuous, ever-burgeoning Twisp clan. Join them again as they face the bumps and pitfalls of life in contemporary Los Angeles. Romance blooms inappropriately, gifts arrive unexpectedly, and babies happen regularly. Plots twist explosively as the Twisps prove again that life–and love–can be a hilarious challenge. This witty and rollicking Book 10 can be enjoyed as part of the acclaimed series or read on its own. As always, familiarity with the previous novels is not required.

Laughs and tears abound in this 13th installment of the Twisp family saga. Geniuses bloom, marriages totter, narcissism runs rampant, and Christmas arrives early. Join the Twisps for another riotous summer in Los Angeles, where nothing goes as planned and the cops arrive regularly with sirens blaring. This latest Twispian adventure can be enjoyed as part of the acclaimed “Youth in Revolt” series or read on its own. As always, familiarity with the previous novels is not required.

Nick Twisp is “sort of” famous and is–by his own accounts–the greatest in his profession for the past 500 years. So why are his neighbors wondering who’s that “grouchy white man” in apartment 22B? Our hero faces career setbacks, life challenges, and much more in this latest installment of the acclaimed Twisp family saga. Even more Twisps are on hand for romantic adventures, Twispian intrigue, and their clan’s always-frenetic approach to love and sex. Join the fun as marriages crumble, homicides are plotted, and dark secrets revealed as the laughs and surprises come fast and ...

Can a man be too handsome? In the summer of 1959 “outlandishly handsome” San Francisco resident Ray Corber makes his living moving pianos—all by himself. Put off by women's “ulterior motives,” this 25-year-old Adonis is inclined to avoid emotional entanglements. Then he's recruited to star in a new play: “The Handsomest Man in the World.” Suddenly Ray finds himself the center of attention by the press, his clamoring fans, and even more enraptured females. Can Ray cope with his new celebrity and the complications of an actor's life? Take a wild ride with this “blue-eyed ...

In Youth in Bondage, the second volume of Nick's journals, we find him stuck in Sheeni's hometown of Ukiah, living like an indentured servant with his penny-pinching father while his paramour and her boyfriend are away at school in Santa Cruz. But trouble finds Nick again when the F.B.I. picks up his trail and he must rely on the cahones of his tough alter ego, Francois Dillinger.

He didn't intend to burn half of Berkeley to the ground or create a media frenzy by faking his best friend's suicide or enroll in high school dressed as an elderly Italian woman. However, he did. Nick Twisp started out an honor student and ended up a fugitive. His ongoing struggles to make sense out of high school, deal with his divorced parents, and lose his virginity have resulted in his transformation from an unassuming, precocious 14-year-old to a modern youth in open revolt.

The Covens are demanding she choose a mate to continue her magical line, but there has never been anyone for White Witch Sherry Morgan except him. She spent years mourning the past and the only man she's ever loved. Seff McAllister is a Werewolf and the local Pack Beta. Years ago, he allowed prejudice to stop him from claiming the only woman who made his beast howl. His cruel rejection has plagued him ever since. Now, Seff is in trouble and the only person who can save him is the last person he'd ever ask for help.

While Lula Bell Bonner tries desperately to fit in by not standing out, her wise and irrepressible Grandma Bernice says: Let your light shine! It's Grandma Bernice who provides the joy that balances Lula Bell’s difficult school life, but when this balance is upended, when Kali Keele turns up the heat on her cruel teasing, and when the talent show - that she should NEVER have signed up for - is about to happen, how in the world can Lula Bell cope?

Get ready for another summer in Los Angeles with the tumultuous, ever-burgeoning Twisp clan. Join them again as they face new challenges and crises. Marriages proliferate, moving trucks come and go, visitors descend, and babies say the darndest things. Old friends return from the distant past as the Twisps prove again that life–and love–can be a joy as well as a nightmare. This hilarious Book 11 can be enjoyed as part of the acclaimed Youth in Revolt series or read on its own. As always, familiarity with the previous novels is not required. And please don’t give away the ending!

So what exactly happened to Nick and Sheeni after that fateful last day in Paris? A new generation of Twisps and Saunders explore these mysteries and more in this rollicking next chapter (Book 6) of the Nick Twisp saga. Like Nick, young Noel Wescott strives for love and liberty, but soon finds his life veering off into improbable and hilarious tangents. Also available now: Book 7 in the Nick Twisp series: "Son of Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Scott Twisp." More Twispian mayhem from Nick's own teenage son.

Nearly a year has passed since we last checked in with the tumultuous, ever-burgeoning Twisp clan. Join them again as they face the bumps and pitfalls of life in contemporary Los Angeles. Romance blooms, enemies plot revenge, elephants rampage, and blazes ignite as the Twisps prove again that lifeBand loveBcan be a hilarious challenge. Yes, expect even more dark Twispian secrets to be revealed. This witty and rollicking Book 9 can be enjoyed as part of the acclaimed series or read on its own. As always, familiarity with the previous novels is not required.

This long-awaited continuation (Book 5) of the Nick Twisp saga finds Nick and Sheeni on the lam and living in France. Try as he might to blend in and lie low, Nick soon finds himself the elusive target of a storm of European media attention. Qui, America’s most dangerous teenager may be too outrageous for the French. Friends of Nick will also want to read Revoltingly Young, Book 6 in the Twispian series, which is also available. And coming soon! Book 7: Son of Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Scott Twisp.

At age 15 Nick Davidson is yanked from his sedate Indiana home. And abruptly deposited with an all-new family. Even more unnerving, he is parachuted into the notorious Twisp family of “Youth in Revolt” fame. Soon he will be hanging at the beach, acquiring a tan, and going into films and TV. Follow along for the next seven summers as Nick copes with the challenges of coming of age in contemporary Los Angeles. This latest Twispian adventure (14th in the series and 7th with Nick Twisp II) packs many more laughs, tears, and surprises. As always, familiarity with the previous novels is not ...

After 24-year-old Boyd Lomax gets hired to drive the bus of an all-girl band his life takes many comical turns—some for the better and some not. It’s the latest lively and witty C.D. Payne novel set in the 1950s. Fame and fortune may await Boyd in the entertainment world. Or should he stick it out in a remote small town that’s hungry for television? Turn back the clock to summer of 1955 and let the fun begin!

Suburban Cleveland housewife Helen Spall has three difficult kids and a tax-attorney husband who’s inclined to be brutally frank about her shortcomings. Then she inherits a rundown house in a blue-collar town on the shores of Lake Erie, and her life begins to blossom. She investigates a once-popular, now forgotten novelist and her mysterious connections to Helen’s family. With her marriage dissolving and a possible new love in her life, Helen encounters surprise after surprise as she uncovers the many secrets that lay buried in those seductive novels.