1) Tell us the story behind the story. What was the inspiration behind TAKING CHANCES & STEALING HARPER?

    It was actually a dream! Almost all my books come from my dreams, and I start expanding on them. There’s a lot of my life in those stories, but it all began with a dream  

2) What was the most challenging aspect of writing TAKING CHANCES and then STEALING HARPER?

Um, for sure getting through the “scene that shall not be named” I was very much so in love with all my characters, so moving on from the heartache was extremely difficult.

3) What is the message you hope readers take away from your stories?

That life is short and unpredictable, so we need to enjoy them while we can and live them to the fullest. Always look for the beauty in what’s happening in your life. 

4) Describe your background. What moved you towards pursuing a writing career?

My background definitely didn’t hint at becoming an author! I didn’t like reading until about four years ago, and didn’t start writing until a year or so after that. It wasn’t until a year and a half ago that I started seriously writing and couldn’t stop, and before I knew it, TAKING CHANCES and FROM ASHES were completed. Even then I had no idea that it was going to turn into a career, it was all just a whirlwind of events that led to me doing this full time. But I’m loving it!

5) Describe your writing process. Do you outline? Any unique writing habits?

I’ve only outlined once, and it was because I had the first half completed and then bits and pieces and couldn’t figure out where they fit and what I needed to finish. So I outlined the last half of one of my books. But for the most part, I just write what comes to me as it comes. I’m not sure if this is unique, but I have to have the lights off, and I have to have music playing. Every now and then I’ll go to Starbucks and write, but they usually aren’t some of my best days I think I just like being around people haha. But put me in a dark room with music on and I can’t help but fall into my character’s worlds.

6) What books are on your nightstand?

I’m actually reading Date Me by Jillian Dodd! 

7) Which authors inspire you?

Nicholas Sparks and A.L. Jackson. They don’t shy away from anything and they always bring out the most amazing emotions in their readers. 

8) What have you learned from your publishing experience?

That self-publishing and traditional publishing are INCREDIBLY different. There are pros and cons to both, and both are amazing. I feel very blessed to have experienced both, and hope that I’m able to continue with traditional publishing.  **********

9) What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Always write for yourself, don’t write for anyone else. And don’t write something just because that’s whats “in” right now. Write what is interesting to you.

10) What are you working on now?

I’m writing Deceiving Lies, its the sequel to Forgiving Lies, which is coming out Oct. 29th  

AND NOW…

AN EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT OF STEALING HARPER BY MOLLY MCADAMS (in case you missed the excerpt that ran just before this, check it out at Reading Lark)

She looked shocked and hurt. Good. Maybe now she’d stay the hell away.

“If the way we are disgusts you so much, feel free to stay at school next time.” I stood and hated that I couldn’t help but look at her once more before walking away.

“Chase,”

My eyes shut and I took a deep breath in. Would it be weird to ask her to say my name again?

“I’m really sorry, I was out of line.”

Wait – she was apologizing? I turned and looked at her, confused. Oh God it was a bad idea to turn around, if her sweet as hell voice hadn’t been bad enough, the way her eyes had gone back to completely wide and innocent was about to do me in.

“I was raised not to back down to people, but what I said was too much. So, I’m sorry. I don’t know you, I shouldn’t judge you.”

I huffed and the corners of my mouth twitched. Snarky and sweet. Bad combination. Sexy combo – so damn sexy. But bad. I shook my head and my brow rose when I realized I wanted to get to know this girl. Now that was a bad idea. I turned and took the long way around the house, giving my hard-on time to go down.

 If this is your first taste of Molly McAdams and Stealing Harper, check out the below links for some of her earlier stops and to see where she will end up next. 

STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Schedule

USA TODAY: 05/06/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
FRESH FICTION: 05/07/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
BOOKALICIOUS: 05/08/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post

READING BETWEEN THE WINES: 05/09/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
ONCE UPON A TWILIGHT: 05/09/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
ROMANTIC TIMES: 05/10/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post & Spotify Playlist curated by Molly McAdams

CHICK LOVES LIT: 05/11/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
BOOK READING GALS: 05/12/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
FLIRTY AND DIRTY BOOK BLOG: 05/13/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview

SUPERNATURAL SNARK: 05/14/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview
CONFESSIONS OF A BOOKAHOLIC: 05/14/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview
LIVE TO READ: 05/15/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
READING LARK: 05/16/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
BOOKFINDS: 05/17/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview

LAURA’S REVIEW BOOKSHELF: 05/17/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview
GIRLS IN THE STACKS: 05/18/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
SHORT AND SWEET REVIEWS: 05/19/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
SHH MOM’S READING: 05/20/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview
MUNDIE MOMS: 05/21/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview
MARIA’S SPACE: 05/22/2013 – STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Guest Post
LOVE ROMANCES AND MORE.COM: 05/23/2013- STEALING HARPER Blog Tour Interview

One of my favorite aspects of the internet is discovering new writers with creative passions and dedication to their work. Amy Sue Nathan personifies this passion. She is the debut author of THE GLASS WIVES (St. Martins Press) and has created an inspiring website, Women’s Fiction Writers that focuses on the “authors, books and craft of women’s fiction” and champions the works of others. We are delighted to welcome Amy to Bookfinds.

Tell us the story behind the story. How did THE GLASS WIVES come to be? 

Well, it’s complicated.  I’d been writing most of my life, but took a creative hiatus to be a stay-at-home mom. Then, I divorced. A few years later my ex-husband passed away. And after the dust kind of settled, I started writing again. First blog posts and essays, then short stories. Finally I decided to tackle something longer. I knew that to do this I needed to have a big story to tell, one that would keep a reader turning the pages until The End.  I contemplated writing a memoir, but realized that I’d lived through some pretty awful times and did not want to relive them. So instead, I took a nugget of truth—a suburban divorced mom whose ex-husband passes away—and I wound it up tight and then let it spin out into a fictional tale of motherhood, friendship, betrayal and forgiveness.  And while all of those things have been part of my life, the way they’re written in The Glass Wives is purely fictional. Except for the fact that my protagonist Evie has a dog. I have two.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing THE GLASS WIVES?

Patience. Patience is the hardest part of writing and publishing. You wait for time to write, time to edit, time to get feedback from readers and critique partners. Then you wait for an agent and editor. And then you wait for reviews. And readers. And for time to write another book.  The solution? Keep busy! I have to remind myself of this quite often.

What is the message you want readers to take away from your book?

That there are many ways to be a family, and that normal is subjective. I think in today’s society, people say they believe families come in all shapes and sizes, but when presented with a different-looking family, some people just don’t know what to think or say or do. I don’t believe we need any labels other than “family.”

Describe your writing schedule. Do you outline? Any habits?

On a good day I write in the morning, starting at around 6 am. I stop to do the morning mom things, like make lunch and hang out with my daughter before she goes to school. My schedule will change in the summer, it always does. But I always start writing early, and if I’m lucky, I don’t stop.  I also tuck social media, blogging and all things book related into my day as well. Not to mention dogs and laundry.

I didn’t outline The Glass Wives except as I went along. When I’d write a chapter or even a scene, I’d write out what was going to happen next. But, I have outlined my next novel.  And I’ve started outlining my next two novels as well!

As for habits, my bad habit is checking the Internet too often. My good habit would be talking aloud to myself as I write sometimes.  I think it helps me to both see and hear what I’m trying to convey.

What books are on your nightstand? What are you currently reading?

I’m reading an advance copy of The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton and The Third Son by Julie Wu. On my nightstand? The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and a pile of writing books and other books I’ve read recently that remind me what I’ve enjoyed.  I also love audio books and I’m listening to Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson.

Which authors inspire you?

That changes depending on the time in my life and career. Right now I admire authors who not only write and publish wonderful novels, but who are active on social media and engaged with not only their readers but also with aspiring authors and other published authors—you know, the ones who seem to be doing it all and doing it well! A few who come to mind are Meg Waite Clayton, Eleanor Brown, Therese Walsh, Caroline Leavitt, Kimberly Brock, Randy Susan Meyers…okay, that’s more than a few. And there are definitely more.

What have you learned from this experience?

Not to give up. Ever. I know that it’s not easy to get a debut novel published today. I don’t know that it was ever easy, though. Now, there’s a noisy book culture and it’s harder to be heard. I think the key is perseverance.

What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Ha! See above? Really there are two bits of advice. The first is to know what you want. Not what others want for you, not what you think you want or think you should want.  Figure out the best route for you and your book. Then, the second part is, don’t give up.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Undoubtedly the best advice was from author Therese Walsh and it was—to separate business from craft. I found myself trying to wrangle popular fiction elements into my work-in-progress because I knew those things were selling.  What I had to do was step away and just remember the bare bones of the story I wanted to write. And no, there was no place in there for magic or vampires.

What are you working on now?

I’m working on a novel about a blogger.  And no, it’s not about me, even though I’ve been blogging since 2006. What makes this main character different from me is that I’m at a point where everything I write online is almost TMTI (too much truthful information). I’ve learned that comes with the author-territory and I’ve come to embrace it. In my new novel, however, everything my protagonist blogs about—well most of what she blogs about—is a lie.  The novel explores what might make someone do that, and what might make someone finally tell the truth.

Can you tell us a little bit about your website Women’s Fiction Writers? What inspired you to start it? What has the site taught you about the women’s fiction genre?

I knew I wasn’t writing romance or chick-lit, and I had a hard time finding like-minded writers online. Everyone “women-centric” writing group seemed to have a heroes and a happily-ever-afters. And while I have no problem with either of those, it’s not what I write. After years of searching, and joining some groups that didn’t meet my needs, I figured that like my characters—and like a lot of women I know in real life—if I wanted something specific and special I was going to have to make it happen myself. So I did. WFW took on a life of it’s own pretty quickly. Now if I could only get it to do the dishes.

The best thing about WFW is knowing I’m not alone. Equally awesome are the in-real-life friendships I’ve developed other authors.

What is your definition of Women’s Fiction?

To me, women’s fiction is a story where the main character saves herself.

Cecelia Ahern chats with the Book Finds team about her latest book, THE TIME OF MY LIFE which released last week. She also talks about where she finds inspiration, how motherhood changed her for the better and her busy, busy life!

Tell us the story behind the story. How did THE TIME OF MY LIFE come to be?

I hadn’t heard from a friend of mine in a while and I told myself, that’s okay, her life needs her right now, as she was going through a difficult time. It occurred to me in that moment that life was something that we need to give attention to and I separated it from the person. If we were to treat friends or family as we often treat our lives then they wouldn’t be our friends for very long. We have a tendency to put ourselves last, we concentrate on everything else; work, friends, family, home issues, but we ignore the deeper stuff until it becomes so compressed that it can explode. I liked the idea of life manifesting itself in the form of a person, if that was the case it would be hard to ignore, it would be more difficult to be rude to, to block your ears to its complaints of your treatment of it. The question I kept asking was, ‘If you had the opportunity to meet your life, what would it say to you?’

I had just had a baby, had taken a year off work and in that year felt like I met my life. Before, I worked a huge amount and really didn’t have any hobbies and I didn’t feel like I took part in life. After having my baby I felt like I’d been introduced to my life, I slowed down, I paid more attention to simple things, I addressed a few issues in my own life, I even got married, I looked at what was important and what wasn’t, and so I used that experience for inspiration.

What was the most challenging aspect of writing THE TIME OF MY LIFE?

The most challenging aspect was not actually anything to do with writing the story. That flowed beautifully. What was difficult for me was going back to work after having my daughter and trying to find a way to write which could feel natural and creative to me but which wouldn’t take me away from my daughter. My natural writing time before children was often spontaneous, and mostly at night time. I loved to steal myself away to write when the world was sleeping, it felt like my secret private time, and I also liked to write on Sundays. As soon as I felt compelled to write I would sit down and scribble and might not leave for hours and hours, I could get lost in my imagination whenever I wanted. This is not possible when you have children, babies in particular. Suddenly I had to change my lifestyle to be a nine-to-five writer, who worked in an office outside of my home. That was the adjustment but one which, thankfully, was a fruitful process.

What is the message you want readers to take away from your book?

I always like to entertain, first of all, and if the readers take anything away from it that helps them with their own lives well then that is a bonus. The idea of the book is that we need to take care of ourselves. We all ignore ourselves from time to time, and that’s fine, but we can’t let our problems build up, even though we’re not dealing with them, they’re bubbling away beneath the surface and will become so large they will take over. In this novel Lucy is forced to face the issues in her life that she has ignored, she is forced to look at herself and who she is, why she has made the decisions she has made, why she is behaving as she is and she’s forced to make some changes. Of course it’s difficult to do that but it’s always better on the other side. I suppose the message is to take care of yourselves as well as others. I also wanted to write a love story. Lucy has fallen out of love with her life and she needs to fall back in love with it again. I think we go through stages in our own lives when we love where we are and then there are times when we really just aren’t happy. You have to pay attention to your life and work with it. In a funny way it’s a partnership and it’s the only certain one to stay with you until the end of your days.

Describe your writing schedule. Do you outline? Any habits?

Before The Time of My Life, I wrote during the night and slept late into the day. After babies I now have an office outside of my home where I work from 9:30 – 5:30pm. I begin writing a book in January, it’s due for June, I edit during the summer and then it’s published in October and I travel the world promoting it until December and start all over again in January! I write one book a year so my schedule is very intense but it suits me because I’m a fast writer and very focused.

I write my novels longhand. I love the feeling of writing, I love to see pen on paper. It feels more creative than typing, and it’s a more visual process for me – I can picture the entire scene in my head and am merely writing what I see. I write a chapter, then I type a chapter which I edit as I go along so already that’s my second draft.

What books are on your nightstand? What are you currently reading?

The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson.  I adored the title.

Which authors inspire you?

Particular authors for specific books: Andrew Kauffman (The Tiny Wife and Born Weird) Mitch Albom (The Five People You Meet in Heaven), Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveller’s Wife), Aimee Bender (The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake). And my favourite authors are Lee Child and Karin Slaughter as I’m a massive crime thriller fan.

What is your advice for aspiring writers?

Often writers don’t know what to write about so they try to research hot topics, things that people are interested in currently – I say write what moves you. Write what you feel compelled to write about. Unless they come naturally to you, ignore trends such as vampires and erotica just because they’re popular and focus on what you feel your heart has to say. It’s important to write for yourself, move yourself and then the reader will hopefully feel your passion and identify with those emotions.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

My mother read the first three chapters of PS I Love You and encouraged me to send them to an agent. I was hoping for some advice about my writing – I was really just writing the story for myself – and within two months I had my first publishing deal and a film deal. It’s the stuff of fairy tales…

What are you working on now?

I’m putting the finishing touches to my tenth novel titled ‘How To Fall In Love’ which is also going into production as a television show in a few weeks. I also have my second novel ‘Love, Rosie’ going into production in May starring Lily Collins and Sam Claflin and my novel ‘The Gift’ is going into production later in the year so it’s a busy and incredibly exciting year!

]]> http://bookfinds.com/blog/2013/05/06/cecelia-ahern-interview/feed/ 0 http://bookfinds.com/blog/2013/05/06/cecelia-ahern-interview/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Bookfinds/~3/5Izn9KBD418/ http://bookfinds.com/blog/2013/04/29/morning-glory-cover-change/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:36:57 +0000 Bookfinds http://bookfinds.com/blog/?p=5332  

Sarah Jio’s upcoming release, MORNING GLORY, has undergone a bit of a facelift. This is the original cover image and below is the new, revised cover. What are your thoughts? Do you pick up a book based on its’ cover? Which cover do you like better and why?

Summary:

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Jio imagines life on Boat Street, a floating community on Seattle’s Lake Union—home to people of artistic spirit who for decades protect the dark secret of one startling night in 1959.

Since her debut, Sarah Jio has enchanted readers with her signature brand of romantic suspense. Her previous novel, Blackberry Winter, was an immediate New York Times bestseller—perfectly positioning Morning Glory to reach even greater heights.

Fleeing an East Coast life marred by tragedy, Ada Santorini takes up residence on houseboat number seven on Boat Street. She discovers a trunk left behind by Penny Wentworth, a young newlywed who lived on the boat half a century earlier. Ada longs to know her predecessor’s fate, but little suspects that Penny’s mysterious past and her own clouded future are destined to converge.

I am not exaggerating when I say I have loved everything Sarah has written and have been a fan of hers since DAY ONE! I am so excited for her upcoming release and look forward to her long writing career.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the tragedy that occurred at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. We are truly devastated by this tragic event.

A William Morrow Paperback Original
Three former best friends must confront secrets of their teenage past in order to find happiness in their adult lives in this charming and moving novel set among the sunsets and dunes of the New Jersey shoreline

The lives of childhood best friends Kate, Vanessa, and Dani are unraveling. In Philadelphia, good girl Kate is dumped by her fiancé the very day she learns she is pregnant with his child. In New York City, beautiful, restless Vanessa, a stay-at-home mom, finds herself obsessively searching the Internet for news of an old flame. And in San Francisco, Dani, the wild child, an aspiring writer who can’t seem to put down a book-or cocktail-long enough to pick up a pen, has just been fired from her twelfth job in half as many years.

In an effort to escape and regroup, Kate, Vanessa, and Dani return to the New Jersey beach town where they used to spend their summers. Emboldened by the seductive cadences of blue-sky days and warm nights, the friends find themselves doing things they would never do in their September-to-May lives. When the dark secrets they have kept from one another regarding the death of Kate’s brother threaten to surface, the women begin to realize just how much their lives, and friendship, have been shaped by the choices they made on a fateful summer night eight years earlier. In the hope of finally moving forward, the women turn to one another for forgiveness-but how can they forgive each other when they can’t forgive themselves?

RELEASE DATE: MAY 21, 2013

WILLIAM MORROW PAPERBACKS

A witty, sharply observed debut novel about a young woman who finds unexpected salvation while working in a quirky used bookstore in Manhattan.

Impressionable and idealistic, Esme Garland is a young British woman who finds herself studying art history in New York. She loves her apartment and is passionate about the city and her boyfriend; her future couldn’t look brighter. Until she finds out that she’s pregnant.

Esme’s boyfriend, Mitchell van Leuven, is old-money rich, handsome, successful, and irretrievably damaged. When he dumps Esme—just before she tries to tell him about the baby—she resolves to manage alone. She will keep the child and her scholarship, while finding a part-time job to make ends meet. But that is easier said than done, especially on a student visa.

A rousing celebration of books, of the shops where they are sold, and of the people who work, read, and live in them, The Bookstore is also a story about emotional discovery, the complex choices we all face, and the accidental inspirations that make a life worth the reading.

RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 20, 2013

GALLERY BOOKS

Joshilyn Jackson, the beloved and highly acclaimed New York Times bestselling author makes her William Morrow debut with this fierce and funny, heartbreaking and deeply human love story-with a twist.

“What a storyteller!”-Adriana Trigiani

I fell in love with William Ashe at gunpoint, in a Circle K.

At twenty-one Shandi Pierce is juggling finishing college, raising her delightful three-year-old genius son Nathan, aka Natty Bumppo, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced Christian mother and Jewish father. She’s got enough complications without getting caught in the middle of a stick-up in a gas station mini-mart and falling in love with a great wall of a man named William Ashe, who willingly steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that her blond god Thor has his own complications. When he looked down the barrel of that gun he believed it was destiny: It’s been one year to the day since a tragic act of physics shattered his world. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do. A brilliant geneticist who believes in science and numbers, destiny to him is about choice.

Now, he and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know.

Someone Else’s Love Story is Joshilyn Jackson’s funny, charming, and poignant novel about science and miracles, secrets and truths, faith and forgiveness; about a virgin birth, a sacrifice, and a resurrection; about falling in love, and learning that things aren’t always what they seem-or what we hope they will be. It’s a novel about discovering what we want and ultimately finding what we need.

RELEASE DATE: November 2013

Giveaway is eligible to US residents only and it is for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of FAMILY PICTURES by Jane Green. 

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS ALYSSA C. FOR WINNING FAMILY PICTURES BY JANE GREEN. PLEASE EMAIL ME AT JOCELYN (AT) BOOKFINDS (DOT) COM WITH YOUR MAILING ADDRESS AND I WILL GET THE BOOK RIGHT OUT TO YOU!