tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42932828102604631692024-03-18T04:20:57.357-07:00JeanBookNerdBook Reviews, Author Interviews, Giveaways, Book Signing, Book Tours, and many more.
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Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.comBlogger347118tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-3084362805753552692023-11-09T05:00:00.053-08:002023-11-09T05:00:00.151-08:00Patricia Leavy Interviews - The Location Shoot<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Content from </span><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Patricia Leavy</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Patricia Leavy</span></b><span style="color: #999999;">, PhD, is an award-winning, best-selling author. She was formerly Associate Professor of Sociology, Chairperson of Sociology & Criminology, and Founding Director of Gender Studies at Stonehill College. She has published more than forty books; her work has been translated into many languages, and she has received more than forty book honors. She has also received career awards from the New England Sociological Association, the American Creativity Association, the American Educational Research Association, the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, and the National Art Education Association. In 2018, she was honored by the National Women’s Hall of Fame and SUNY-New Paltz established the “Patricia Leavy Award for Art and Social Justice.” Leavy currently resides in Kennebunk, Maine.</span>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WomenWhoWrite/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kUJ5QrQvWZ9eFOHFPVuhnba_pkJeiNQ1bX7rEgeZ9-G2clrz61Z7IinIiMfflE0dYbVvejpBnkwj11YTU4CcUHCYayKvDdfVlVz4QSR3HF1wf02ZjzSQoIG5_lT7-uSrT52nwX4CSh8/s1600/Facebook.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/patricialeavy" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PatriciaLeavy" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://patricialeavy.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/558738.Patricia_Leavy" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" style="text-align: left;" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh75f0njVJllexUufG4cnOsF_1BXSNCNl0o1MWb0BZGWxy8QZYL-7ws3YsiS5PlxBpmdPGecFpiMW3PeJdoigzKhAf_tSdh-fCBqp3a1UoQavovkcSrvZiSqadBURcdzUqRIbBL6yG5R7hN9wlTR8aQaKaGPVe8XLWk_GkGnwpOFStNtLEtEG3IqLDLn4WY/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I’ve known this since I was a little girl. My mother recently found some of my earliest “books.” Not only did I write and illustrate my stories, I also bound them with old wallpaper to make them look like proper books. The oldest one my mother found is from when I was six years old. Creativity, and writing specifically, have always been my passion and I believe my calling. But I wasn’t brave when I was young. Being a creative requires exposing yourself to endless rejection and critique. Moreso, the criticism is over the thing you love most, that you’ve poured your soul into. I didn’t think I could handle it, so despite it being my passion, I chose a different career path. Over time, I found myself knocking at the back door of the fiction publishing world. Eventually I realized that life is short, and I needed to follow my dream. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Why is storytelling so important for all of us?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Stories connect us. We feel less alone. We see ourselves reflected in the pages. We also see the possibilities of who we might become. Storytelling is a way of documenting the real world and our experiences of it. Storytelling is also a way of reimaging how things might be. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Can you tell us when you started THE LOCATION SHOOT, how that came about?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I wrote it during the lockdown. Like many of us, I was feeling isolated, lonely, anxious, depressed. Life felt scary. We couldn’t even hug a loved one without existential fear. I wanted to escape to someplace joyful, romantic, and creative. I was watching a movie and Elton John’s song “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” came on and all of a sudden, I was watching a scene play out in my mind—a group of actors and a filmmaker in an inn, having a drink, and a beautiful woman walks in, and dances with the filmmaker to that song. I could see it clear as day. I didn’t see anything in the movie on the screen after that, only the story playing out in my mind. The next morning, I began writing the novel. I started with that scene. I realized that the novel was about a group of actors making a film over a summer and living together in seclusion. Romance is my favorite genre to write, so I knew it would be a love story between one of the actors and the filmmaker’s friend, who he invited to join them for the shoot. Due to the pandemic, I was thinking about the big questions of life, and so my heroine, Ella Sinclair, became a philosopher and the film became about the meaning of life. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">There are two. There’s a scene where Ella and Finn have a romantic night in her room at the inn. He has a special meal sent to her room and they end up taking a candlelit bubble bath and talking about their dreams for the future. I love this scene so much—the sweetness of it—and it turned out, unbeknownst to me at the time, it paved the way for more books about these characters. Another favorite was when the actors, filmmaker, and Ella all talk about her book manuscript, a provocative philosophical treatise on sex. The conversation between Ella and Jean, the filmmaker, is hysterical. It was so much fun to write. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> Develop a relationship with your writing that isn’t dependent on anything external, positive or negative. And allow readers to develop their own relationship with your work, which really isn’t any of your business. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Getting to write every single day. There have been countless other amazing experiences, from profoundly moving emails, letters, and in-person messages from readers that have touched me deeply, to the opportunity to travel the world speaking about my books, writing, and the arts. I’m grateful for all of it, but at the end of the day being published transforms you from a writer to an author. As an author, I have the privilege of doing the thing I love the most in this world every day: writing. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from THE LOCATION SHOOT<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The following is an excerpt from a scene when Finn and Ella are taking a stroll around the inn, after dinner. They are smitten with each other but have yet to act on their feelings. They’re discussing the filmmaker, Jean Mercier, known for his avant-garde, cinematic films, and his many affairs. I like this scene because it reveals a lot about who Ella is—she’s smart and marches to her own beat. I also love discussions about art and how it relates to life. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">They walked quietly for a few minutes, their hands so close they were millimeters from touching. Finn finally broke the silence and said, “That was funny how you called Jean out for sleeping with his cleaning woman.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“I doubt it’s much of a secret. Everyone knows what he’s like.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“He has a bit of a reputation for how he treats women. You’re such a strong person and you two are friends. I was wondering what you thought as a woman.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“People want simple answers, but life is complex. He’s created some of the greatest, most interesting, sensitive, and provocative roles for women in the history of cinema. There’s a reason so many actresses are dying to work with him. And yet, he can be quite a piece of shit to women in his own life. Tell me, which is better: the male director who never casts women or does so only in clichéd, trivial ways but may be a hell of a good guy in private, or the man who creates professional opportunities for women that wouldn’t otherwise exist and gives the collective imaginary new, powerful representations of women, but uses up women in his personal life as if they were pieces of gum he was chewing until the flavor runs out?” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“Wow,” Finn muttered. “I don’t know how to respond.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“That’s my point. When these are the choices, what’s the answer? How do we define morality? Who’s a good guy? Who’s a bad guy? What matters, life or art? How are they related? What’s public and what’s private? Despite what many claim, it’s rarely as simple as we might wish. Life is textured.” She paused and said, “As for me, I adore Jean as a friend and as an artist, but you’d never catch me in bed with him.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Here's another excerpt. The group has dinner at the inn each night. I loved writing the conversations thar ensued. You get a glimpse into each character, and you see how their friendships develop. They also talk about ideas—big topics—and it was through these scenes that many “big” ideas were woven into the novel. The following short excerpt is from right after Albie, British veteran of stage and screen in his 70s, tells the group about meeting his wife of forty years, the love of his life. These are his words about love. I’ve chosen this excerpt because the novel is very much about love, and I think this captures it. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“True love is the greatest gift in the world; one mustn’t squander it or be foolish enough to think it will simply wait until it obliges our schedules.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“So, it really was love at first sight,” Charlotte said wistfully. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“Indeed. Anyone who tells you that love at first sight isn’t real, well, those unlucky bastards have just never experienced it. Take it from an old fucker like me: when you get hit by lightning, you surrender to it. All the details, the little things you don’t know about each other, you’ll learn those over time, and if you really love each other, most of it won’t matter. There’s no replacing that inexplicable, inconvenient, all-encompassing feeling of love. Standing there in that moment, holding that slice of pie, I knew I couldn’t live without her. These days, people court each other like they’re applying for a job or running through a checklist. But this is where the artists—the poets, the novelists, the filmmakers—have always known better: true love has no reason.” </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Babysitting. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">English because I loved creative writing. When I was in the 5th grade, my teacher exempt me from some assignments to allow me to write fiction. I tried to write a novel, but since I was only 10 years old, it didn’t pan out.</span><br /> <br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I am an artist. It’s a part of my daily gratitude practice. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">True love. Always choose love. Disappointment is better than regret. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I would have been braver when I was younger and pursued being a novelist earlier in my career. </span><br /> <br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is one unique thing are you afraid of?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Boredom. Luckily, I’m a novelist. When the real world isn’t doing it for me, I create my own story worlds to crawl into. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is the weirdest thing you have seen in someone else’s home?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Framed poster size photographs of themselves. In leu of art, this woman lined her living room with massive photos of herself. For real. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> When was the last time you told someone you loved them?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Today. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Writing a scene in one of my novels. Honestly, most days you can find me at my computer either laughing hysterically or bawling my eyes out, muttering to myself, “That’s so good.”</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Controversial filmmaker Jean Mercier is shooting a film on location in Sweden. While spending the summer creating his latest work of cinematic art, he lives in a nearby inn with his lead Albie Hughes, British veteran of stage and screen; Charlotte Reed, British indie film queen; Michael Hennesey, American TV heartthrob; Willow Barnes, fallen former teen star looking to make a comeback; and Finn Forrester, legendary Hollywood movie star. Mercier invites his friend Ella Sinclair—a beautiful, bohemian-spirited American philosopher known for her provocative writing—to stay with them for the summer. When Ella arrives, Finn is instantly enchanted by her, and soon they fall madly in love. Finn wants to plan a life together, but Ella harbors fears and convinces him to wait until the film wraps to decide their future. In a case of life imitating art, the film they are creating explores “the big questions” and prompts the stars to reflect on the crossroads they face in their own lives. How will their experiences on location affect them when they return home? The answers won’t come until months later, when the cast and crew reconvene on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival—but their revelation will make for one unforgettable night.</span><br /><div><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>The Location Shoot </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>PATRICIA LEAVY </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>The Location Shoot </i>by Patricia Leavy.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-12857586739530243402023-11-08T05:00:00.063-08:002023-11-08T05:00:00.158-08:00Matt Mendez Interview - The Broke Hearts<br />
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<div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">Photo Credit: Chris Summitt</span></div>
<br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Matt Mendez </span></b><span style="color: #999999;">is the author of <i>Barely Missing Everything</i>, his debut novel, and the short story collection <i>Twitching Heart. Barely Missing Everything </i>has been called a “searing portrait of two Mexican-American families” by <i>Publishers Weekly</i> and “accessible and artful” in a starred review from <i>Kirkus Reviews.</i></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;"><i>Barely Missing Everything</i> was named a 2019 Best YA Book by Kirkus, Seventeen Magazine, NBC Latino, and Texas Monthly. It was a Georgia Peach Book Award for Teen Readers Nominee, awarded second place in the International Latino Book Awards, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a Land of Enchantment Black Bear Book Award winner. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Like many of his characters Matt grew up in El Paso, Texas and continues to love and live in the Southwest, now in Tucson, Arizona. He is a military veteran and earned his MFA from the University of Arizona where has taught creative writing. Matt is the father of two daughters that he loves fiercely.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mattgmendez/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/mattgmendez" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.mattmendez.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6591671.Matt_Mendez" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" style="text-align: left;" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Z-k7mIbsk5GO-gxfzBHL6SJjFGpQkJaQX6sq6ijdOm43fTaSlP050GQ-eoBUJ1oD2L5VCgkRNmhxiq4VnZyKIEbcU2C4rtxQ4NjiMo_t8bcPeDGWybrcjVDqoFaVLjDP-iY9eFVxehhEEfWYFxpLnHPoi061K7XoY8uZyDxtQ-FjxHI3oq5yzWZo5S1E/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Greatest thing you learned at school.<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I wasn’t the greatest student. I didn’t focus on lessons or teachers or anything like that. Instead I spent my time watching what else was happening inside the classroom, in the cafeteria and on the playground. How people acted depending on where they were and who they were around. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I observed that everyone had multiple versions of themselves, and these different versions moved through school, a place that from the outside could seem like one singular place but could actually be many wildly different places all at once. I remember having this thought while in middle school. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">This could be why I end up writing books with multiple points-of-view, to show the different sides of a character, of a place. To write as wild a story as I can. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Too often it was writing that felt like the distraction. I wrote a majority of The Broke Hearts in my car, while my daughters were in folklórico practice. I am in the military, and have been for 27 years, so writing pulls me away from work and family, which often leaves me feeling guilty. Am I being a good enough dad? I am putting in enough effort at work? But writing stories is such an important part of who I am that I feel (hope) that readers find the same kind of magic in them that I do. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The most memorable to write was the final chapter. I certainly don’t want to give away the ending (s0 I won’t), but after writing it the first time I felt the urge to immediately go back and start revising, feeling like the story wasn’t big enough for it yet. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">But as I continued revise The Broke Hearts, the ending kept getting stronger, even though I didn’t change it much. And that felt like a sort of magic. The entire story eventually grew into, and became as forceful, as the original ending, which has never happened to me before. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Why is storytelling so important for all of us?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Storytelling is how we let each other know what matters to us. What we’re thinking about. What scares us. What thrills us. What and who we love. It’s central to how we connect. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Can you tell us when you started THE BROKE HEARTS, how that came about?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The Broke Hearts is a companion book to my first novel, Barely Missing Everything. There were multiple false starts with this one. I started a draft before BME came out in 2019, but it wasn’t working until and fell apart. Then 2020 happened. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">That year, during the panic and turmoil of the pandemic—as well as upheaval in my own life—a new story began to take shape. The Broke Hearts became a book about the different ways we all live with broken hearts. How we love imperfectly. Heal imperfectly. Living through 2020 and the years that followed allowed me the grace to write an inventive, funny book about grief and heartbreak. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from THE BROKE HEARTS<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The following scene is a lot of fun for a few reasons. There is chemistry between the characters—who’ve only recently met, a funny exchange, and we get to see a different version of JD, a side none of the other characters get to. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">JD is meeting Isabel (Isa) at a bookstore, and the two are flirting their hearts out. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“Well, look who’s a smitten kitten,” Isa said without taking her eyes off her book. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“Meow?” JD immediately regretted playing along. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“You are so weird!” Isa exclaimed correctly. She slipped a bookmark into her paperback and shut the cover. JD studied her expression, wanting to figure out if she thought he was the good or bad kind of weird. She had a sly smile going, a mix of amused and flirtatious. The truth was, JD was a smitten kitten. Sure, Isa was fine as hell, with long, impossibly black hair and perfect teeth, her bottom row crooked in the cutest way. Her nose was thin and her cheeks sharp, her eyes a honey brown. But it was her bold and sure-of-herself way that had JD right where she wanted him—at least he was hoping that she wanted him. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“You don’t speak cat?” JD said. “Speaking multiple languages is a sign of badassness.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“I took a year of it in high school,” Isa deadpanned. “But my teacher was a dog. I think he was the football coach, and they just made him do it. He also seemed kinda racist.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“Was he always telling you how cats were lazy?” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Isa shifted in her seat. She was reading Dominicana by Angie Cruz. JD didn’t read, not that he was against it. He quickly scanned the stacks and stacks of books, realizing that if he wanted to start, he would have no idea where to begin. “It was more subtle. Like he once told us he only bit Mexicans.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I really enjoy writing these types of scenes. Where characters are being mostly earnest with only a thin layer of humor to protect them. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Name one thing you miss about being a kid.<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Riding bikes! I used to love jumping on my bike and pedaling around the neighborhood with nowhere to go—for hours. If I ride a bike now, it’s for exercise or to get somewhere. I don’t have a group of friends to ride back and forth on the street doing wheelies with me either. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">There is never undoing the past. But I do think we should try our best to repair the damage we have caused. To apologize. To make amends. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Both. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is your greatest adventure?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Being a dad! Watching my daughters grow and learn, watching them write their own stories and having them reading them to me—they are both going to be much better writers than me one day. Watching them dance folklórico and learn to bake. Seeing their paintings and sketches. Listening to their jokes. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">It’s amazing.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your most memorable travel experience?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Like JD in The Broke Hearts, I deployed when I was still a teenager. I was sent to the Middle East when I was nineteen years old. Flying on a military transport jet, sleeping on a cot, living in tent city with my unit was surreal. At the time I remembered thinking how only a few months ago I was in high school and that many of my friends still were. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Every single kind of relationship ends, so why not choose love? I would choose to love and then get crushed by heartbreak every single time.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">If you had to go back in time and change one thing, if you HAD to, even if you had “no regrets” what would it be?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I have plenty of regrets! And most of those come from times when I failed to be brave, when I didn’t have the courage to either stand up for myself or someone else. When I didn’t do the right thing. But I WOULDN’T go back and change any of those times because that isn’t the brave thing to do.</span><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span> <br /><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wvIPIPXHfGbEDt04PADGfEKGbrkf0plgZbmYOmqp1ZPkdMYeJLmyd0fPUyMLJ4af0A5k0wCv9ouQFvBTw6nvy2wYnwruCBL7Ngwkmy_aTU_SvSf6lFtVyj6G8v5Ymfh0u2oinExm-cnSUnwqidWtdUEw1pocIyPEhVLVB0xUP93kDuxqt41G09XSsan_/s620/620.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="410" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wvIPIPXHfGbEDt04PADGfEKGbrkf0plgZbmYOmqp1ZPkdMYeJLmyd0fPUyMLJ4af0A5k0wCv9ouQFvBTw6nvy2wYnwruCBL7Ngwkmy_aTU_SvSf6lFtVyj6G8v5Ymfh0u2oinExm-cnSUnwqidWtdUEw1pocIyPEhVLVB0xUP93kDuxqt41G09XSsan_/s16000/620.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span style="color: #999999;">In this piercing follow up to Barely Missing Everything , JD and Danny, still reeling from the gutting death of their best friend by police gunfire, grapple with life-changing decisions and the kind of people they want to be, for Juan.<br /><br />A year after losing their best friend, JD and Danny are still brokenhearted. JD’s impetuous decision to join the Air Force only makes him yearn for “before” more than ever. Danny, who’d rather paint murals than open a book and certainly never thought of himself as college material, makes the equally impulsive choice to do what Juan will never be able to and enrolls in a community college.<br /><br />Danny’s father, The Sarge, is proud of him for the first time ever for living out Sarge’s own dream of being a first-generation college student, but Danny can’t shake the thought that it should be Juan, not him. And studying hasn’t gotten any easier for him despite his new academic goals. When Danny is on the verge of flunking out and JD gets notified of imminent deployment, the two are forced to confront their shared grief that led them to these paths. Can they learn to live lives that are their own in honor of Juan, rather than for him?</span><br /><div><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>The Broke Hearts </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>MATT MENDEZ </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>The Broke Hearts</i> by Matt Mendez.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-41719074395552786942023-11-07T06:00:00.084-08:002023-11-07T06:00:00.145-08:00Kim DeRose Interview - For Girls Who Walk Through Fire<br />
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<div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">Photo Credit: </span><span style="color: #999999;">Sylvie Rosokoff</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Kim DeRose</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> grew up in Santa B arbara, California, where she spent childhood summers holed up in her bedroom, reading and writing stories (which she was convinced her local bookstore would publish). She now lives in New York City, where she still holes up in her bedroom reading, and writing stories. DeRose earned her MFA in film directing from UCLA, and she currently works in digital media. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can be found geeking out over her favorite obsessions (Twin Peaks, Harry Potter, and anything Halloween-related, to name a few), drinking way too much coffee, listening to way too many podcasts, and spending time with her family. </span><i style="color: #999999;">For Girls Who Walk Through Fire</i><span style="color: #999999;"> is her debut novel.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kimderosewrites/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kimderose" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://kimderose.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/37016669.Kim_DeRose" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" style="text-align: left;" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2wjoBwjMdwFE9rl0m7-NDHP_nXXg8AZWCs5Rm_-mgjBLMzARZrioRHKy3UzT79Mx22uuJHFebjgyyPMdqhOPfz0PrIYbJSYzMq0jyHLJA9ogeigatEpesdGrUXpXE2v8Mjoqiox_72Dn1XVA9cEjJ8GJUuY8w9MYwF9_x7HQp25D-D1AwndGL8qxoGK2/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><br /><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be a writer. I started dictating stories to my mom when I was three and started writing my own stories as soon as I was able. And by writing my own stories what I really mean is retelling famous fairytales—though, honestly, I still love a good fairytale retell. My best friend and I would spend summer afternoons holed up in my bedroom, writing and illustrating stories, which I was convinced we could just march over to our local bookstore to have published. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Then, when I was in third grade, my mom signed me up for an after-school writer’s workshop, and that’s when I really started thinking about my own stories and how to shape a reader’s experience. The class was taught by our teacher’s husband, who was a writer, and he introduced a lot of great concepts, including how to hook a reader early, and how to build cliffhangers into chapter endings. I still have the story I wrote, which involves death, grief, and ghosts (and, thematically, is actually pretty similar to the kind of thing I’d write today). </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">But all that said, as I got older, I let go of my writing and publishing dreams because I was convinced they weren’t practical. It took me a long time to circle back around and remember what I’d always known as a kid: that I am a writer. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What advice would you give to someone who wanted to have a life in writing? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I would say if you want a life in writing (which isn’t the same thing as having a life in publishing, totally different) the key is to write. Yes, that’s obnoxious, but it’s also 100% true. Finding the time to sit down and write is often the hardest part. Before having kids, it was easier to spend my evenings and weekends writing. Now, as a parent, I’ve learned to take my writing time where I can get it. It might be an hour before the kids get up, or 30 minutes after they’re in bed, or 20 minutes on my lunch break. I’m not precious about how and when I write—in coffee shops is lovely, but I’ve also written in doctor’s offices, corporate lobbies, the backseat of the car during road trips. I do make a big effort to write every day, though. Sarah Ruhl’s book “100 essays I don’t have time to write” really captured the idea of stealing writing time whenever and wherever you can, which deeply resonated. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">If you could have written one book in history, what book would that be? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Oh, hands down “The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. But, alas, the universe is not a wish granting factory. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Yes, there are a lot of books that have really changed me, but I’ll mention three that are specifically writing related.</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #999999;">The first is Anne Lamott’s brilliant “Bird by Bird.” I highly recommend this for all writers. I love all of her writing, but I return to this one again and again. I particularly love her suggestion to write “shitty first drafts,” which is great advice for anyone who is a recovering perfectionist. </span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">The second is Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic.” I especially loved her discussion of not relying on your art for your income. Yes, your art might make you money, but that’s not the reason to create it. And having a day job/alternate source of income can be quite freeing in that it puts less pressure on your art. I’d never thought about it that way. But I found that idea liberating, and I found her examples of all the writers who had day jobs to be quite validating. </span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">The last one is Beth Pickens’ “Make Your Art No Matter What.” Like the above books, this is one I revisit. This book explained me to myself. Artists are people who have to create in order to feel connected to themselves and the world around them. They are happier when they are creating. Understanding this helped me further value the writing process and how it feeds me—and it helped me separate the value of that from the end result. </span></li></ul><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">When I first saw the email from my agent with the subject line “OFFER” it was absolutely the moment I’d always dreamed of. I was elated. And then when I called my agent and she read me the offering letter from my editor I cried. My editor was so enthusiastic and made clear from the start how deeply she understood this book. My path to publication was long and winding, so finally learning that one of my books would be out in the world was profoundly emotional. </span><br /><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Seeing the cover for the first time was also amazing. I had the chance to first see it when my editor and I met for coffee. I knew how talented the artist, Katt Phatt, was, and was thrilled that they and the design team really captured a vibe that matched the book. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT FOR GIRLS WHO WALK THROUGH FIRE<br /></span></b><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #999999;">1. This is my first published YA novel but the 3rd YA novel I’ve written. I started brainstorming the book on and off in 2016, started outlining it in 2019 in between other projects, but didn’t sit down to write it until the spring of 2021. Once I did, the first draft came pouring out in 7 weeks.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">2. Like Elliott, I grew up in Santa Barbara and attended Santa Barbara High.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">3. Adams Elementary, where Elliott attends her weekly support group, is where I almost went to school (we lived nearby), but I ended up attending Roosevelt Elementary instead.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">4. The coffee shop Elliott and Madeline go to in chapter 2 doesn’t exist in real life, but it was loosely modeled after one that I used to go to in LA, which was, in fact, called Anastasia’s Asylum.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">5. The names Elliott and Madeline were both on my short list when we were naming our daughter.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">6. Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time at Franceschi Park, where the coven gathers. We had family picnics there when I was a kid, and as a teenager people from my high school used to go there to drink. I can neither confirm nor deny if I was one of those people!</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">7. There is now a park ranger on-site at Franceschi Park who actively kicks you out at sunset, so sadly, it’s not actually an ideal place for coven gatherings in real life. But a girl can dream.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">8. I was part of a Girl Scout troupe from private school Laguna Blanca (Chloe’s school) because my cousin, who is my age and whom I was close with, went there. I was the only public-school kid in the troupe and I always felt like a complete outsider—especially when we met at troupe members’ fancy Montecito or Hope Ranch homes.</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">9. I based Mary’s house on my childhood home (though her décor is quite different).</span></li><li><span style="color: #999999;">10. The final moment in the book always makes me teary.</span></li></ul><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I started babysitting for families when I was in 7th grade. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">English; unsurprisingly, I loved reading and talking about books. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Name one thing you miss about being a kid. <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Trick or treating. I still dress up for Halloween every year (always and forever!) but the thrill of Halloween and trick or treating as a kid just can’t be beat. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Coffee. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What's your most missed memory? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Visiting my grandparents’ home. My grandfather had a huge collection of antique clocks in the basement that he liked to tell me about, and my grandmother, who loved to crack jokes, always made me a rhubarb pie, and after dinner we would sit around their kitchen table and play card games like Spite and Malice. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Which incident in your life totally changed the way you think today? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">When I was 15 years old, I witnessed the death of a close family member and it profoundly transformed me. I felt awakened by that experience, with a newfound awareness that we all die, and that we will all lose everyone we love—so we had better use our time well. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Have you ever stood up for someone you hardly knew? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Yes, and I would do it again. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or to have never loved before? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">True love with a guarantee of heart break. All love eventually ends in heart break because inevitably we all die. But that’s all the more reason to love while we have the privilege of being alive. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">If you could be born into history as any famous person who would it be and why? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">David Bowie! To be a rock star who constantly reinvents themselves and always walks to the beat of their own drum? Yes please. </span><br /><b><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Most horrifying dream you have ever had? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I’ve had a recurring dream most of my life where I see a mountain and then realize it’s not a mountain, it’s a tsunami headed my way. Terrifying. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a kid? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I actually think the late 80’s through the 90’s were a pretty great time to be a kid, so I don’t think I’d choose differently than what I experienced. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> First Heartbreak? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Oof. It hurt. I also should have seen it coming when my then boyfriend gave me a mixed tape that had a Charlie Brown quote on the front that read, “Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter like unrequited love.” When I asked him why he included that quote he claimed to not know what unrequited meant, but I mean… </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> When was the last time you told someone you loved them? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">This morning.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your most memorable travel experience?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I went to Kenya to visit my cousin, who was doing research on hyenas in the Masai Mara. I stayed in her research camp for nearly 2 weeks and went on rounds with her every morning and evening. It was amazing and also, at times, terrifying. On my first night, one of the cars in our caravan got stuck and as we tried to get it unstuck a pack of lions showed up and we had to jump back into the car. I’m 100% certain we shouldn’t have even been out of the car! But as the city-dwelling visitor I didn’t want to sit around and not help. I’ll never forget seeing the glint of eyes in the headlights as the lions passed us by.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is one unique thing are you afraid of?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I don’t know how unique it is, but I can’t handle crawling through tiny spaces. I was once traveling in Vietnam and visited the Cu Chi tunnels—a network of tunnels that were the Viet Cong’s base of operation during the Vietnam War. Tourists were invited to crawl through part of the tunnel, and I decided to participate. I ended up having a full-blown panic attack. I started sweating and shaking, and my heart was racing. There were three exits along the tunnel, and I had to take the first one. I will absolutely never do something like that again.</span><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span><br /><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7vnGYLTag0FUqDD7ZQWwNZiBq9QV-fMPi39deLL9-1ndgLtyOnS3ABN7Jlg3i2cVz9ogN2j3WwHxoMsZ2ng7ZjGYl1OEMapgdyNyYLIwC5BEw-7x3W6MgJPVIragUT3qYtXat7DUSLmzOa7bkkLOrXUkVKkHuPDco077A5jdztYsR9rbaSsu0aNlfhP8/s632/620.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii7vnGYLTag0FUqDD7ZQWwNZiBq9QV-fMPi39deLL9-1ndgLtyOnS3ABN7Jlg3i2cVz9ogN2j3WwHxoMsZ2ng7ZjGYl1OEMapgdyNyYLIwC5BEw-7x3W6MgJPVIragUT3qYtXat7DUSLmzOa7bkkLOrXUkVKkHuPDco077A5jdztYsR9rbaSsu0aNlfhP8/s16000/620.JPG" /></a></div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /><b> Those who would suppress and destroy you stand not a chance when confronted with the power that lies within these pages . . .<br /></b><br />Elliott D’Angelo-Brandt is sick and tired of putting up with it all. Every week, she attends a support group for teen victims of sexual assault, but all they do is talk. Elliott’s done with talking. What she wants is justice.<br /><br />And she has a plan for getting it: a spell book that she found in her late mom’s belongings that actually works. Elliott recruits a coven of fellow survivors from the group. She, Madeline, Chloe, and Bea don’t have much in common, but they are united in their rage at a system that heaps judgments on victims and never seems to punish those who deserve it.<br /><br />As they each take a turn casting a hex against their unrepentant assailants, the girls find themselves leaning on each other in ways they never expected—and realizing that revenge has heavy implications. Each member of the coven will have to make a choice: continue down the path of magical vigilantism or discover what it truly means to claim their power.<br /><br /><i>For Girls Who Walk Through Fire</i> is a fierce, deeply moving novel about perseverance in the face of injustice and the transformational power of friendship.</span><div><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>For Girls Who Walk Through Fire </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>KIM DEROSE </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>For Girls Who Walk Through Fire</i> by Kim DeRose.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-19189494550257041632023-11-06T07:00:00.001-08:002023-11-07T01:02:00.193-08:00Guest Post with Kerry Winfrey - Faking Christmas<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Content from </span><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Kerry Winfrey</span><br />
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<b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Kerry Winfrey</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> is the author of the romantic comedies WAITING FOR TOM HANKS ,</span> <span style="color: #999999;">NOT LIKE THE MOVIES, VERY SINCERELY YOURS, and JUST ANOTHER LOVE SONG, all published by Berkley. She’s also the author of two YA novels. She lives with her family in the middle of Ohio.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidw46HLkgFoJ1xsotCJ00pB-ru1vxB6LJYvRjjOUGVsKCFdCHIlcRoE2nyvnKaP2xLOaScS-SieY6CVg1ahuEPHAVzwOMZaisMSHe8F3TSlb2mHmTnfpmOsCd7fcZjrrOa3UicUcIF3LBhcNPzL3hZpe5MJ1HTC2EacjlIkytQScYZzLit_kTI9fqyi9T6/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">TEN RANDOM FACTS ABOUT FAKING CHRISTMAS<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">1. I wrote most of Faking Christmas in the middle of summer, which is a challenging time to get into the Christmas spirit! I listened to Christmas music whenever I was writing and kept a Christmas candle on my desk to get the right vibes even when it was 95 degrees outside. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">2. Faking Christmas is inspired by one of my favorite Christmas movies, Christmas in Connecticut. A couple of years ago when I was watching it, I asked my husband, “Why has no one remade this?” And then I remembered that I’m a writer, so I could rewrite it! My version is very different from the original, but I kept the basic premise of a farmhouse and a woman who’s lying to her boss. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">3. Okay, so there’s technically a remake of Christmas in Connecticut from 1992. It was made for TV and directed by Arnold Schwarzenegger (!), but I’ve never seen it. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">4. “Last Christmas” by Wham! is my favorite song of all time, so I had to make the Laurel love it, too. And since many people (with horrible taste!) don’t love it, it was easy to make that the source of another argument between her and Max. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">5. One thing I love about Hallmark or other TV Christmas movies is their dedication to a theme, so I wanted to be as over-the-top about Christmas as possible. Hence the name of the main character and her twin sister: Laurel and Holly. And yes, they WERE born on Christmas.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">6. I included many of my favorite Christmas movies as Laurel’s favorites. I cry during It’s a Wonderful Life and Elf!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">7. “Snowed in” is my absolute favorite romance trope (closely followed by similar tropes “forced proximity” and “just one bed”) so it was a thrill to write a book that’s based around a group of people getting snowed in.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">8. Max is a Lego fanatic, which was very easy for me to write because my husband is VERY into Lego. If you aren’t part of the Lego world, you’d be surprised by how many acronyms are involved, many of which found their way into the book. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">9. I spent so much time reading about Beef Wellington for the scene where Laurel tries to make it, although I’ve never attempted it myself…maybe this is my year. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">10. Christmas in Connecticut is a screwball comedy, and I tried my best to translate that screwball spirit into book form. It was fun to write something that’s supposed to be zany, wacky, and over the top, but also it’s very hard to bring that energy to the written word! It reminded me of why I love classic screwball comedies so much (my favorites are the ones with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne, specifically <i>The Awful Truth</i>). </span><br /><br /><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja9Nh10-nUl1I5yRCnnEwZfzbmDoC28Qa2WeVEUGDSfK6M7qDlM6wzJnxOIqmI45HIn2Tq7sSuabb_F94R0AX23lVEEgwP4tRixl1aMO01m1fbCXL7dT_LMrzAAoN50C4a_7goP1xuLZ23SuJC8JuElPAi7ZQNOwky3osjSctRCouWO2_AHe9BzYTXIDt/s660/620.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="660" data-original-width="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgja9Nh10-nUl1I5yRCnnEwZfzbmDoC28Qa2WeVEUGDSfK6M7qDlM6wzJnxOIqmI45HIn2Tq7sSuabb_F94R0AX23lVEEgwP4tRixl1aMO01m1fbCXL7dT_LMrzAAoN50C4a_7goP1xuLZ23SuJC8JuElPAi7ZQNOwky3osjSctRCouWO2_AHe9BzYTXIDt/s16000/620.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<span style="color: #999999;"><b>Laurel Grant is playing house for the holidays--complete with a fake husband and kids--in this delightful, cozy rom-com by Kerry Winfrey.</b><br /><br />Laurel Grant works as the social media manager for Buckeye State of Mind, an Ohio tourism magazine and website. She is most definitely not an owner of a farm...but one tiny misunderstanding leads her boss, Gilbert, to think she owns her twin sister Holly's farm just outside of Columbus. Laurel only handles the social media for the farm, but she's happy to keep her little white lie going if it means not getting fired.<br /><br />And keep it going she must when Gilbert, recently dumped by his wife, invites himself over for the farm's big holiday dinner (as advertised on Meadow Rise Farm's Instagram, thanks to Laurel herself). Laurel immediately goes into panic mode to figure out how she can trick Gilbert into thinking she's basically the Martha Stewart of rural Ohio and keep her job in the process.<br /><br />Laurel and Holly come up with a plan--all Laurel has to do is pretend to own the farm for one dinner. But when Laurel shows up at the farm, an unwelcome guest is there: Max Beckett, her nemesis since Holly's wedding. The annoyingly attractive man she hates will be posing as Laurel's husband just for the evening, but when a snowstorm traps them all for the entire weekend, Laurel is going to have to figure out how to survive with her job and dignity intact. Whatever the case, this promises to be the most eventful Christmas in ages...</span><div><br /></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>Faking Christmas </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>KERRY WINFREY </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of Faking Christmas Kerry Winfrey.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-33152100270799022512023-10-02T07:00:00.072-07:002023-10-02T23:41:40.821-07:00Rachel Harrison Interview - Black Sheep<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiny-ckyTn4RwPzS1fRo9InpB6V6RU5Zscz4uLtDiDwFtQ6BFj75WUMmlMZWuRwv9GZ1v9Eu1dheItgFXsP-zUM17sYFonVq5z1BgXaivx5yTkJ5izDIz41uH-C64mKXMhYeLiySuXXOOfcCMiaBcRQjvORfCjDDID4-EPm-tSv9gf_XLe2VXBq2QouPW4L/s500/00.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiny-ckyTn4RwPzS1fRo9InpB6V6RU5Zscz4uLtDiDwFtQ6BFj75WUMmlMZWuRwv9GZ1v9Eu1dheItgFXsP-zUM17sYFonVq5z1BgXaivx5yTkJ5izDIz41uH-C64mKXMhYeLiySuXXOOfcCMiaBcRQjvORfCjDDID4-EPm-tSv9gf_XLe2VXBq2QouPW4L/w300-h400/00.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Credit: Nic Harris</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Rachel Harrison</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> is the National Bestselling author of CACKLE, SUCH SHARP TEETH, and THE RETURN, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection BAD DOLLS. She lives in Western New York with her husband and their cat/overlord. </span><br /> <br /><div style="color: #999999; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/rachelharrisonsghost/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/rachfacelogic" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.rachel-harrison.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19494009.Rachel_Harrison" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXI1EpLT37ceF1Zydns1nQ5xf3Rkr-B03MhT2kXfUgDlmsTO5gcf3Bz27J3UMMTLr06QMPolPs21NjBSeNQ2dz8mkqnAhEenjMu4hEiGImeljp-uQlM6VVpbhba1_rXE-ryzTzsflO27gxC6nAbxv2KhuSA1qJhdSPTNvV9fHoGp85yHkaaLc8EGBx41R/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">It’s too hard to pick all-time favorites, but my favorite book in recent history is The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay. It’s punk rock and heartfelt and scary all at the same time. I really connected to it; I think it’s a love letter to misfits. Recent favorite outside of my genre would have to be Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Twitter, for sure! It’s necessary to log out when writing. All social media, actually. It can be delightful but it’s also just a vicious time suck. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. It was the first book that made me feel less alone in the world, which was very profound at fifteen. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Can you tell us when you started BLACK SHEEP, how that came about? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">I got the idea for BLACK SHEEP over the summer of 2021. Isolating during the pandemic gave me a lot of time to reflect and think existentially, and so I was pondering nature vs. nurture. Part of getting older is looking back on your childhood and your parents—seeing your parents as people rather than just mom and dad. Those Progressive Insurance commercials about becoming your parents always make me laugh, but they somehow also provoked a more in-depth analysis. Is it inevitable we become our parents? How much of us is them? These questions all inspired BLACK SHEEP. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">My characters always surprise me. I start them off and they take me the rest of the way. The protagonist for BLACK SHEEP, Vesper, was the most fun to write because she’s braver than I am. I appreciated my time with her. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from BLACK SHEEP<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">One of my favorite scenes from BLACK SHEEP is the opening scene at the restaurant. It’s the reader’s introduction to Vesper, but it was mine, too! Her character clicked into place, and I had so much fun writing it. It was my agent Lucy’s idea for Vesper to work at a chain restaurant, and Shortee’s is just the best setting for hijinks. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">One of my favorite quotes from BLACK SHEEP is “It’s a cruelty of life that we can never protect our own innocence. We can only watch ourselves lose it in retrospect. Scream at memories.” I think one of the most difficult parts of adulthood is reflecting on our youth with new perspective. It can bring up a lot of complex emotions. It was an important thing for me to explore in this book.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">I was a babysitter. I also worked as a waitress at an English restaurant/tea shop, and at a chocolate factory with one of those I Love Lucy conveyor belts. I ate a lot of the chocolate. I should have been fired. </span><br /><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Name one thing you miss about being a kid. </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">So much! I miss not knowing about taxes. What bliss! </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Coffee! </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> If you could be born into history as any famous person who would it be and why? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Maybe Mae West? She had herself a good time. Or Dorothy Parker, for the wit. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is one unique thing you are afraid of? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Gnomes. I have a serious phobia of garden gnomes. Which is objectively hilarious but very real to me.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a kid? </span></b></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">I loved growing up in the 90’s with Nickelodeon and Disney movies and TRL and American Girl Dolls and Bagel Bites…but maybe the late 70’s or early 80’s just so I wouldn’t have to grow up to these millennial problems. I’d trade Bagel Bites for the ability to retire someday. Or maybe not. It’s a tough choice.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">A cynical twentysomething must confront her unconventional family’s dark secrets in this fiery, irreverent horror novel from the author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle.<br /><br />Nobody has a “normal” family, but Vesper Wright’s is truly...something else. Vesper left home at eighteen and never looked back—mostly because she was told that leaving the staunchly religious community she grew up in meant she couldn’t return. But then an envelope arrives on her doorstep.<br /><br />Inside is an invitation to the wedding of Vesper’s beloved cousin Rosie. It’s to be hosted at the family farm. Have they made an exception to the rule? It wouldn’t be the first time Vesper’s been given special treatment. Is the invite a sweet gesture? An olive branch? A trap? Doesn’t matter. Something inside her insists she go to the wedding. Even if it means returning to the toxic environment she escaped. Even if it means reuniting with her mother, Constance, a former horror film star and forever ice queen.<br /><br />When Vesper’s homecoming exhumes a terrifying secret, she’s forced to reckon with her family’s beliefs and her own crisis of faith in this deliciously sinister novel that explores the way family ties can bind us as we struggle to find our place in the world.</span><div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>Black Sheep </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>RACHEL HARRISON </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>Black Sheep </i>by Rachel Harrison.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-87808870542309903632023-09-22T05:00:00.001-07:002023-09-22T05:00:00.145-07:00Jarie Bolander Interview - Ride or Die<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Content from </span><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Jarie Bolander</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Jarie Bolander</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> caught the startup bug right after graduating from San Jose State University in 1995 with a degree in electrical engineering. With 6 startups, 7.75 books, and 10 patents under his belt, his experience runs the gamut from semiconductors to life sciences to nonprofits. He also hosts a podcast called The Entrepreneur Ethos, which is based on his last book by the same name. When he’s not helping clients convert a concept to a viable strategy, he can be found on the Jiu-Jitsu mat (he’s a blue belt), interviewing entrepreneurs on his podcast, or researching the latest in earthship construction techniques. He’s engaged to a wonderful woman named Minerva, her daughter, and their Bernedoodle, Sage. Currently, Jarie lives and works in San Francisco, where he works as head of market strategy for Decision Counsel, a B2B growth consulting firm. </span><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jarie" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kUJ5QrQvWZ9eFOHFPVuhnba_pkJeiNQ1bX7rEgeZ9-G2clrz61Z7IinIiMfflE0dYbVvejpBnkwj11YTU4CcUHCYayKvDdfVlVz4QSR3HF1wf02ZjzSQoIG5_lT7-uSrT52nwX4CSh8/s1600/Facebook.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jariebolander/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/thedailymba" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.jariebolander.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4062762.Jarie_Bolander" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmlrkTlu--AaklN24NqoEYk28NIKEeEgI8Vn918OCu-c2_DDln9lsEhH4_OxzmKXUC7mJF5deqeo5oR1NjIahiBAqQKsugPD59dCRY6uW0OCnTeFETnceDlvZWDOBYYU-kHnC7SBnvo2RcHJM46vaVAUGMd4VPSokOzSCQcdw216RSXxu0eAOpoCQb776f/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Greatest thing you learned at school. <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">That the world is random and chaotic. You need to be ready for the zigs and zags of life since you really can’t control what happens – only how you react to it.</span></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Beyond your own work (of course), what is your all-time favorite book and why? And what is your favorite book outside of your genre? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. It opened my eyes to the resistance that you have to overcome as a creative. It also gave me a good perspective that the creative act is something that needs to be manifested daily. </span><br /><br /></div><div><span style="color: #999999;">Favorite book outside my genre would have to be anything by Robert B. Parker. The Spenser for Hire Series. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">For sure. The War of Art changed the way I approach writing and creativity. Knowing that there is a thing called resistance that needs to be overcome and is natural to run into. It also made me appreciate how hard it is to complete a creative project. I have a ton of respect for anyone that follows through on any kind of project since they had to overcome their own resistance. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Why is storytelling so important for all of us? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Storytelling is how us humans survive and thrive. Without story, we would not be able to make sense of the world. I’m typing this and you’re reading this because our ancestors told the best stories. Full stop. In a sense, the best story wins, and that’s important to appreciate. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Can you tell us when you started RIDE OR DIE, how that came about? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I started writing Ride or Die the day Jane died. I felt that I had to capture the raw emotions of the moment. It also allowed me to do something that I felt I could control since I never felt I had much control during her illness. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">From that day forward, I pieced together the experience so that I could heal and hopefully help others who are dealing with the challenges and struggles of a loved one going through a terminal disease. </span><br /> <br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Your Journey to Publication<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I have self-published several business books, so I’m biased towards controlling the process. For Ride or Die, I started out with the intent to get an agent and find a traditional publisher. My radiational was that a book with such a powerful message needed to be published with a mainstream press. It turns out that I was wrong since the mainstream publishing model was not something that would give me both the results and the control I needed. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">That’s why I selected the hybrid publishing route with a fantastic publisher, SparkPress. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Before I even got to selecting a publisher, the journey to getting Ride or Die out in the world was emotional. The subject matter, especially for a man, is challenging and not many men talk about their feelings of grief, sorrow, and frustration with being a caregiver and losing a spouse. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">The courage and encouragement to make it all happen came from the realization that Jane would want me to share our story so that others might not feel so along. Couple that with the fact that our friends and family were supportive made it a lot easier to do the hard work to make it come to life. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Paper route. Nothing makes you appreciate the value of hard work when you must wake up at 6am to deliver 125 copies of the Sunday paper, on your BMX bike, up hills, in the rain. I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that must do similar things.</span></div><div><br /><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b> What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why? </b><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: #999999;">I really enjoyed probability and random processes in college since it opened my eyes to the fact that the world is random and chaotic. If you understand that, then you can then focus on how to mitigate anything that might get in your way. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Chug a 16 oz class of water. Nothing wakes up the body and starts the day off right like hydration. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Which incident in your life that totally changed the way you think today? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">The day my wife Jane died. After that moment, I started to realize that every day is a gift. You must use every day you have wisely since there are only a finite amount of them left. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I’d choose true love for sure. Nothing like it in the world. Heart break, while painful, is also a great teacher and it helps put the world in perspective in that nothing lasts forever. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What were you doing the last time you really had a good laugh? <br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I was visiting a friend and their son made an ironic yet witty observation about eating cookies for breakfast. I’m not sure why it was so funny but for some reason, seeing him with a mouthful of sugar cookies, deadpan saying “what better way to wake up in the morning than a sugar high!” I laughed so hard I cried snot.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Modern society has a warped sense of the partner-caregiver role, especially for men. Too often, men are ill equipped to handle switching from provider to caregiver, and the “just suck it up” advice so many offer up falls as flat as the Kansas prairie in the face of the reality of life and death.<br /><br />Ride or Die takes its audience through the intimate conversations and thoughts of a Gen-X latchkey-generation husband—a man who has always had to fend for himself and believed that it’s up to him to solve his own problems—as and after his wife, Jane, succumbs to a terminal disease.<br /><br />Jarie Bolander wrote this raw, heartfelt tribute to Jane and her handling of her illness to help men and the people who love them through the experience of loss and grief. A frank chronicle of how an intimate relationship can change and grow—even when the people involved feel there is nothing left to give— Ride or Die offers a detailed exploration of the male experience of grief, in the hopes that others suffering through it will not feel so alone.<br /></span>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>Ride or Die </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>JARIE BOLANDER </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>Ride or Die</i> by Jarie Bolander.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-79561453741849960712023-09-11T08:00:00.086-07:002023-09-12T00:00:09.589-07:00Kim Imas Interview - Beast Mom<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Content from </span><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Kim Imas</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Kim Imas</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> received degrees in engineering and urban planning, from Duke and Harvard respectively, before pursuing a career as a writer. Her work appeared in <i>Boston Magazine</i> and <i>The Boston Globe Magazine </i>before she turned to longform fiction. Her first novel, a romance, was initially published under a pen name and earned praise from <i>Publishers Weekly </i>for its “smooth prose and witty dialogue.” A former Oregonian, Kim now lives with her family outside New York and tries to do in novels what Dolly Parton does in song: deliver stories of women’s struggles in a way that’s too damn delightful to ignore. She loves a good crossword. </span><br /> <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/kimimasauthor" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5kUJ5QrQvWZ9eFOHFPVuhnba_pkJeiNQ1bX7rEgeZ9-G2clrz61Z7IinIiMfflE0dYbVvejpBnkwj11YTU4CcUHCYayKvDdfVlVz4QSR3HF1wf02ZjzSQoIG5_lT7-uSrT52nwX4CSh8/s1600/Facebook.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kim_imas_author/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://twitter.com/kjimas" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg22t9azGhZvYga9sEk-F5tyzT_kgPkVeXWBjQe2qKbAojvpusK_h80es3_lGJOKOuzjLLjawwsaB_EcXrMIASzLW-8ffzJh0_KK0a4t1vljmhs8iDLjamToyKB8uxm6wp5uecKX2rw1mc/s1600/Twitter.png" /></a> <a href="https://kimimasauthor.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/37223251.Kim_Imas" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPf863TfXnTW2lBC6Rw3i-CN8Wpx8YAsz5ENT0ZLd41K7Sy96qteyJoBp152qr-HRqTIdjpN2G46NijuCt7bWriG5ZKgVp7QFBBdQ7C205p8YwTF2I9wois_7AbIXGvzMLnlJ8TdvY7B6nyPnA8K3w8DBskPHP1f3uQOjBtUM8-tA-zK_X0wFeyXE0aSR7/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">When/how did you realize you had a creative dream or calling to fulfill?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Heading into my senior year of college, I was an unhappy (and regretful) engineering major. On a whim, I decided to fulfill one of my few and final electives with an Advanced Creative Non-fiction seminar. I happened to have an amazing subject to write about: I’d just spent the prior spring in a remote part of Chilean Patagonia, sea kayaking, backpacking, and mountaineering. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I felt like I’d been hit by a truck—in a good way!—in that seminar. In contrast to the assignments I had as part of my major, I absolutely loved this work and stayed up extra late in the public computer cluster polishing my essays. My instructor and classmates were encouraging and kind and the work was very well-received. I knew, then, that I was a writer at heart. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Soon after my first novel came out, I went to an event that had nothing to do with publishing or with my book. But when the organizer—a friend of mine—introduced me to everyone, a hand shot up in the crowd and the person said, “We just read your book in our book club!” It was such a great feeling to see first-hand that something I’d put so much into really did have a life out in the wider world, and that people were enjoying it. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I have ADHD, so for me, distractions are numerous, intense, and ever-present. What’s more, my family moved houses not once but TWICE during the years (yes, years) I spent writing Beast Mom, and one of those moves was entirely across the country. Also, a little thing named COVID-19 happened. My kids had to do some remote learning. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Throughout this time, I stressed about my slow and halting progress and felt like I “should” be doing more, faster. But looking back, I’m inclined to be much kinder toward myself. It was an unprecedented period of time, and we were all doing the best we could! </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Yes—Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, by Richard D. Putnam, which first came out in 2000. It’s a robust sociological survey that looks at why Americans spend less time together than they did in previous generations. It carefully examines all of the extensive research that pertains even a little bit to how we spend our time. And in the process, the book debunks several of the hypotheses that are often put forward for why we all socialize less on the whole. It also affirms why that’s a problem, and why we should each try to increase the time we spend engaging with others in our communities, whether through dinner parties, church, the titular bowing leagues, or any number of other gathering opportunities. </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">I’m glad you asked this question, because Beast Mom is very concerned with the relatively low support that moms in the United States experience. And I think one of the many repercussions of Americans’ diminished community time is that new moms—who are already subject to certain isolating forces—are less connected to their communities than their predecessors were. This makes an inherently difficult period that much harder, and it serves to hide what these parents are going through and, crucially, the ways in which we could offer them more support. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Can you tell us when you started BEAST MOM, how that came about?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I started conceptualizing Beast Mom near the end of 2017. Women had already shown how pissed they were during the women’s marches earlier that year, on the heels of a bruising defeat of a female presidential candidate the prior fall. And now, horrific allegations were coming out about powerful men like Harvey Weinstein, related to their behavior toward women. I decided to write a story about an angry woman, and I did. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Your Favorite Quotes/Scenes from BEAST MOM<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I enjoy these excerpts on account of the way they describe Harry’s experience first of turning into, and then being, a monster: </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“[T]he thing that happened to me on the street that night? That I watched. That I heard and felt as it happened, limb by limb, in a state that approached rapture. Every part of me moved in a way that it shouldn’t. It was fascinating to me, and it was beautiful. I watched as my tendons, ligaments, and muscles slithered like snakes under my skin. I listened to the satisfying crackle of my bones, as they grew to new lengths and poked and prodded at the skin that bubbled and stretched to accommodate them. It reminded me of my emergency C-section for Jo and Frankie, when the doctors yanked my intestines this way and that before rearranging and re-stapling my organs together again—except this didn’t hurt, and I wasn’t scared.” </span><br /><br /><span style="color: #999999;">“If…the monster wanted to roll and revel in her monsterness, like a dog in some foul carcass in the woods, who was I to tell her no? Harriet was—I was—part-monster now, and I can only assume nature intended monsters to love differently.”</span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Lifeguard (like Harry!) </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is your happiest childhood memory?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Laughing with my family around the dinner table. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Name one thing you miss about being a kid.<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">My grandmother. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Why is it so freaking early??? </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;"> What is your most memorable travel experience?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">My husband and I went to a family wedding in Venice, Italy, soon after we began dating. The entire trip was magical.</span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is one unique thing are you afraid of?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Quicksand, eek. </span><br /><br /><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">When was the last time you told someone you loved them?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Today</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your greatest adventure?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">I spent three months off-the-grid in remote Chilean Patagonia. I was taking National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) course in which we sea kayaked, backpacked, and mountaineered. We went to places that hadn’t been fully mapped. It was amazing.</span></div><div><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?<br /></span></b><span style="color: #999999;">It’s a tie between social studies and English. Social studies because I loved learning about the world and its history and English because it came more naturally to me than any other subject.</span><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span><br /><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV9SKkkmkYSde8ZWBvpMXJxtk2dp4Id4qj8WxqlE0e4J9AkS0jhK5zGab6bJgTzY6vk41e6w72W6xLA02e5p8n0gK35lSHMHCMQZ5NIsjxkPkLSEhiCGKcJVUuuRiEZ51foE02-QU5D0lFsQLg6Q89jvv61vt0mDA_bEtSQ3eWYFUq6lF19L8FaT40St9/s620/620.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyV9SKkkmkYSde8ZWBvpMXJxtk2dp4Id4qj8WxqlE0e4J9AkS0jhK5zGab6bJgTzY6vk41e6w72W6xLA02e5p8n0gK35lSHMHCMQZ5NIsjxkPkLSEhiCGKcJVUuuRiEZ51foE02-QU5D0lFsQLg6Q89jvv61vt0mDA_bEtSQ3eWYFUq6lF19L8FaT40St9/s16000/620.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #999999;">An Oregon mom is about to lose her $#!t.<br /><br />It might be what the government’s been waiting for.<br /><br />On the outside, Harriet “Harry” Lime is a typical American mom. But after years of packing all the lunches and picking up all the socks, she’s become a bit…off on the inside. And after stumbling upon the offensive new statue at her daughter’s school, she gets unusually angry and turns into a gigantic monster.<br /><br />Now she’ll have to figure out why that keeps happening—and why some mysterious uniformed men have begun lurking around town—all while keeping up with the grocery shopping, the carpool, and all those %@#!-€*&ing socks.<br /><br />As soon as Harriet discovers that other local women are undergoing their own amazing transformations, she faces the sudden danger of being ripped away from everyone and everything she loves. Still, she’s begun to wonder: How much of her old life—with its surplus of cleaning, cooking, and monthly cramping—does she want to hold on to, anyway?<br /></span>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>KIM IMAS </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of <i>Beast Mom</i> by Kim Imas.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4293282810260463169.post-54207145387260690642023-09-11T07:00:00.000-07:002023-09-11T23:18:50.335-07:00Jennifer Hamm Interview - One Friday in Napa<br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">Photo Content from </span><span style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Jennifer Hamm</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #999999;">Born and raised in Los Angeles, </span><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Jennifer Hamm</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> graduated with a BA in English at UCLA and began her writing career developing screenplays for movies and television. As a travel writer, she has covered the globe on assignment for various magazines and brands. She also writes It’s Only for A Year, a long-running blog chronicling her adventures raising </span><span style="color: #999999;">her four boys in two countries. Hamm currently splits her time between London and Los Angeles. One Friday in Napa is her first novel.</span>
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<div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jenniferhamm04/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYy16BCuC5NJqEnKuTKVqLiu5B8StABwkXQGK8KAycpYjOR5svgv_DcFVwWZ7bp19i_VKvnCgFA5BCC6aav1n8JiS0hmimYQn2G7NnyZSNF_29VHbc2AWl53Kg_tQlUuGOA-5agbOsFBg/s1600/Instagram.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.jenniferhamm.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BH7qjAg9wxA-BfuTMfoG1IKg-6i0abt5vSBtLs42Jeoq6QU5AIBdzPWZGLtpikqsn9nIumtSzGdsXEiGuZukCzY4raUCe_gg_02ar7Da3EBCOKWLCTyx_lpes25gWfnq3XnzbuDNGsE/s1600/www.png" /></a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/42479765.Jennifer_Hamm" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="45" data-original-width="46" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsCeof93ArkU3kOSnjWPbVTWDytobfmU7kwp5LLJcwanGTLosD1goZL2J13T3gLJq8trzC-7T4qqZlel8J-DgPGRcpZ4HnctEX5j5BPxkGMzbbPZP3DKp07_9Jj7o7TFGX4OQVAfLW-Ao/s1600/goodreads.png" style="text-align: left;" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHU9FouF3kBKGmYpRAO9Ovy494vsno6ddI-Q1qvj6_RZHOli6MPefw-XLsvVCxqRT5gZMl8zOdJCGTmTiFzYdhlbU7eXoPLr8710cgJCPMPy9OvAfSxylvI9dgPeQG8tUJbwBBeTvjlU-RX4YY2qCGyKLGVeLplTzfM55UjnT1izLlZQXPTBm8RWFbduB/w640-h484/Banner%20Author%20Interview.JPG" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What was the single worst distraction that kept you from writing this book?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Haha. My four sons. Not their fault – I just didn’t really know how to juggle both motherhood and writing for years. A friend told me about Darren Hardy’s (life coach) 90-minute targeted time frames for any type of production. Basically, you tune out the world, email, calls, everything, and just do one thing for 90 minutes straight. And you will be amazed at your productivity. So, I tried it. Shut the door and the phone, tried not to panic that any emergency would arise, and began writing this novel. A year later I had a very workable first draft.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What chapter was the most memorable to write and why?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Probably the end. I cried. Without giving too much away, I felt so much for both of my main characters. Their journeys are life- long struggles that need resolutions for peace. And the ticking clock of Olivia dying makes their struggles heightened and intense up until the last moment.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Has reading a book ever changed your life? Which one and why, if yes?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Honestly, Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. I was 16 and that book taught me a philosophy that influenced the rest of my life.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Why is storytelling so important for all of us?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">I think people who write and tell stories give voice to everyone’s human experience. I wrote a blog for ten years telling stories about raising my boys in two countries. It wasn’t that my stories were so unique - the attention the blog received came from others who saw themselves in my stories and enjoyed ‘their’ stories being told.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Can you tell us when you started ONE FRIDAY IN NAPA, how that came about?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Six years ago. My house guest and friend, Kelly Hail, wanted to make a thank you dinner for us having her stay. She borrowed one of my cookbooks and started writing notes all over one of the recipes…in ink! When I said ‘wtf????’ she apologized as it was always something she did, her cookbooks read more like diaries than anything else. It reminded me of my grandmother’s cookbooks as well. That got us thinking …what if a daughter found her mother’s cookbook/diary and discovered a totally different version of the woman she knows? It was a great starting point for a story.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What were your feelings when your first novel was accepted/when you first saw the cover of the finished product?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Total elation that a publisher like She Writes Press saw in my book what I intended. And then the finished product is so beautiful. Absolutely perfect.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What was the most surprising thing you learned in creating your characters?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">That they started talking to me all the time, regardless if I was writing them or not.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Your Journey to Publication</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">I chose to answer this question because I was/am always curious how authors figure it out! Not having much connection to the publishing world, this process required a huge learning curve for me. I spoke to the couple author friends I had, the few people I knew who had something to do with this world, and of course, my editor. Everyone was very honest about traditional publishing and how difficult that was going to be given I’m not a celebrity and I don’t have a huge social media presence. I was just an author who spent four years writing a book! But I tried the traditional route of submitting the book to agents to then get a publisher to see how the book was being received. I must admit, even that step was confusing. Most agents didn’t seem to accept cold submissions, but I didn’t know most agents! Felt like the acting days all over again. But, I did know a few. And so did a fellow author who helped me out. Together the list was under ten – enough to get a good feel. Must admit, I got the most incredibly kind rejection letters. People really loved the novel but simply couldn’t or wouldn’t take the next step with me. I too was looking for someone passionate about my work and wanting a partnership and felt submitting to round two in this path was somehow not going to ultimately give me what I was looking for.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">All the while, I researched hybrid publishers. For months the same name came back at me, She Writes Press. I kept their tab open on my computer for eight months. This process takes ages, mostly because you need others to actually read your manuscript. So after many months, I finally submitted to SWP. Their internal selection process involves a lot of work on the author’s part up front. You have to write out chapter summaries alongside all the other typical pitches/summary/one liners you present. When they ultimately said yes, and being a selective hybrid they only say yes to about 10-15% of all submissions, I was beyond thrilled. I knew instantly that this was my home – that these incredible women who started a publishing company to support authors they believed in, regardless of numbers/followers/track records, wanted my book, well, that was the best feeling in the world.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">As for friends and family support – I’m blessed to have both. Having a ‘debut’ in my 50’s means that I am in unmarked territory in my life and it comes with huge vulnerability and yet a lot of life experience to help keep me positive and grounded.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is the first job you have had?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Mrs. Fields cookies. I got fired after putting walnuts in the chocolate almond cookie.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What was your favorite subject when you were in school and why?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">English. It always made sense.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Name one thing you miss about being a kid.</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Not having to worry about anything.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your most missed memory?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">My dad. He died in 2001 and I think about him all the time.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">Which would you choose, true love with a guarantee of a heart break or have never loved before?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Is there even a choice in that one?? Being in love is the most glorious states of mind to be in. It takes different shapes and energies over time, but it teaches you more about yourself than anything else possibly could. So yeah, I’d forsake a broken heart to feel what real love is for sure.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">At a movie theater which arm rest is yours?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">I’m the youngest of four. So, the answer has always been, both! I’ve had to fight for my turn in the front seat, my food! Brothers, right??</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your greatest adventure?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #999999;">Motherhood</span><span style="color: #999999;">😊</span></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is one unique thing are you afraid of?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Waves. After a near fatal swim in the ocean at 11 and getting chewed up and spit out by monstrous waves, I just can’t bring myself to get beyond the break without totally freaking out. Not good.</div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">When was the last time you told someone you loved them?</span></b></div><div style="color: #999999; text-align: left;">Five minutes ago.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #cccccc;">What is your happiest childhood memory?</span></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="color: #999999;">I am lucky to have loads of happy memories of my childhood. I’d say playing knuckles card game with my two brothers and sister in a hotel room when our parents were out for dinner stands out. Not sure why, as the description of the game is in the title…if you lost the winner got to take the deck and smack your knuckles! But the joy and fun in just being together, room service and a lot of laughter. My mom took us everywhere together. That philosophy was passed down to me and my boys went en masse everywhere with me. No wonder I enjoy chaos so much!</span> </o:p></p></div>
</div></div><div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzo9ILF20qDnx5AsUzLDSnd1XLrd2Bjhi5UcSkmJ_pnTfv3RD387yqDH4v9dzVlrIisQ5ocv0vfeoTIQ4rBt8g3q8oLsVJWMb_Sk7u1JtP9HVOn7aMs1vqjGonlv-Pqr4fwPAU59Oni-xOLEpioI_Ovo6wG4MYoaJQe968ITEquqszVRDfrcU1k5p42AG/s630/620.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="413" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzo9ILF20qDnx5AsUzLDSnd1XLrd2Bjhi5UcSkmJ_pnTfv3RD387yqDH4v9dzVlrIisQ5ocv0vfeoTIQ4rBt8g3q8oLsVJWMb_Sk7u1JtP9HVOn7aMs1vqjGonlv-Pqr4fwPAU59Oni-xOLEpioI_Ovo6wG4MYoaJQe968ITEquqszVRDfrcU1k5p42AG/s16000/620.JPG" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #999999;">Vene feels like she and her mother have always been at odds—since she was a child, the first word she used to describe Olivia was “cold.” When news of her mother’s imminent death comes, Vene returns to her family’s home in Napa to see if their strained relationship can be mended, only to find Olivia as harsh as ever and their reconciliation seemingly unreachable.<br /><br />But when Vene stumbles upon Olivia’s old cookbook, she discovers a passion within her mother she didn’t know existed. The clipped tone and quick judgments of her dying mother don’t match the young woman whose voice she finds between the pages—one that tells a story of romance, longing, duty, and aching heartbreak. Curiosity consumes Vene, and she embarks on an intimate journey to learn about the Olivia she never got to meet—before it’s too late.<br /><br />A captivating story told in alternating perspectives a half-century apart, One Friday in Napa explores the pains and joys of devotion as two women learn the price of loyalty, the power of secrets, and the meaning of sacrifice.<br /></span>
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<span style="color: #999999;">You can purchase </span><span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><i>One Friday in Napa </i></span><span style="color: #999999;">at the following Retailers:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: #999999;">And now, The Giveaways</span>.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">Thank you </span><span style="color: #cccccc;"><b>JENNIFER HAMM </b></span><span style="color: #999999;">for making this giveaway possible.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;">1 Winner will receive a Copy of<i> One Friday in Napa</i> by Jennifer Hamm.</span></div>
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<script src="https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js"></script><div><span style="color: #999999; font-size: xx-small;">jbnlatestinterviews</span></div>Jean Vallesteroshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12880115967251338191noreply@blogger.com2