I am pleased to participate in the Book Blitz hosted by Xpresso Book Tours for Coleen Patrick's Come Back to Me.
About C0leen:
About C0leen:
When she’s not writing, reading (or avoiding flan), she enjoys TV, arts and crafts, quoting movies, and trying to take cool photos.
She lives in Virginia with her husband and two kids.
CONNECT ONLINE WITH COLEEN:
When and how did you get the idea for COME BACK TO ME?
The idea first came to me around three years ago. I was driving (this seems to be an idea generator for me), and Pink’s song, Sober, was on the radio. I pictured a guy and a girl in a car. All I knew in that moment was that she was confused, but projecting a tough exterior—and this guy, who seemed to be a stranger, calls her out, gets her to think about things she’d been avoiding. The story evolved over the next couple of years, but there is an important scene between Whitney and Evan that takes place while he’s driving. That scene is a nod to that first glitter speck of idea.
Is there another book in the works? If so, what can we expect?
Yes! My next book should be out this fall—and it’s the first in a series. The main character’s name is Grace. She’s almost sixteen, and the great thing about writing her story is that she’s funny. The book is about friendship, family, and how she deals with falling in love with her best friend.
Where do you like to write?
I have an office. I don’t sit at my desk, though. Instead, I have a comfy chair in the corner that faces a window. Sometimes I have to close the window shade so I don’t start staring outside, but I put a big dandelion decal on the inside of the shade to remind me what I’m doing. Underneath the dandelion, it says, “Wishes.”
Do you have a special routine you like to do before you write?
Drink coffee, and then turn off the internet. The coffee is the easy part.
Ten Random Things about Me
I am the oldest of four siblings and there were times I let that power go to my head.
Sometimes I run errands only to notice later that I have toothpaste spatter on my shirt.
I think TV is awesome. Gilmore Girls is a favorite—I could live in Stars Hollow.
I love the smell of books. When I pull up to the drive thru at my library I inhale deeply when they slide back the window.
I broke my finger (and wore a cast for six weeks) after a battle with a spider. Obviously, the spider won.
I think mushrooms are way too chewy to eat.
I am gluten intolerant, so sometimes cupcakes and pizza seem like sparkly, shiny things. I just can’t look away.
When I was a kid, I thought it would be cool to marry Godzilla.
I’ve lived in the same house for the last 18 years, but before that, I moved 16 times.
After college, I turned down an interview with the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives), and instead got a job working at a library.
Quick-fire Questions
Last book you read? Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Last movie you watched? Remember Sunday
First TV character to come to mind? Damon Salvatore
Song that’s stuck in your head? When I was Your Man, by Bruno Mars
Last thing you Googled? Hair styles—because I was going to get my hair done.
Farthest place you’ve traveled? Israel
Favorite snack? Anything peanut butter and chocolate—and if you add in baked potato chips, I will love you forever.
Coffee or tea? I drink both during the day, but if I’m at Starbucks, soy lattes are a favorite.
Last thing you pinned on Pinterest? A beach pic, with a guy holding a surf board.
Thanks so much for joining us today, Coleen! It was a lot of fun getting to know you better!
One lucky winner will win a digital copy of Coleen's YA Contemporary novel, Come Back to Me.
AUTHOR: Coleen Patrick
PUBLICATION DATE: March 4, 2013
FORMAT: E-book, 239 pages
GENRE: YA Contemporary
ASIN: B00BPK0H4S
ASIN: B00BPK0H4S
Whitney Denison can’t wait to start over.
She thought she had everything under control, that her future would always include her best friend Katie… Until everything changed.
Now her life in Bloom is one big morning after hangover, filled with regret, grief, and tiny pinpricks of reminders that she was once happy. A happy she ruined. A happy she can’t fix.
So, she is counting down the days until she leaves home for Colson University, cramming her summer with busywork she didn’t finish her senior year, and taking on new hobbies that involve glue and glitter, and dodging anyone who reminds her of her old life.
When she runs into the stranger who drove her home on graduation night, after she’d passed out next to a ditch, she feels herself sinking again. The key to surviving the summer in Bloom is unraveling whatever good memories she can from that night.
But in searching for answers, she’ll have to ask for help and that means turning to Evan, the stranger, and Kyle, Katie’s ex-boyfriend. Suddenly, life flips again, and Whitney finds herself on not only the precipice of happy but love, too, causing her to question whether she can trust her feelings, or if she is falling into her old patterns of extremes.
As she uncovers the truth about her memories, Whitney sees that life isn’t all or nothing, and that happy isn’t something to wait for, that instead, happy might just be a choice.
Buy Links:
Book Excerpt - from Chapter 6:
55 days.
What if Colson isn’t the answer?
I ignored the thought and continued to face the liquor cabinet, the bottles shifting into pairs as my vision glazed over.
A tiny frisson of cold moved from my heel and up my spine to prickle at my scalp. I pictured my newly short hair standing on end, like hundreds of tiny spikes framing a carrot-orange cartoon sun.
I froze, avoiding my reflection in the mirror-backed wall of the cabinet. The tingling returned. Was someone behind me?
I dropped my head. My heart pounded under my chin. My bangs curtained my face, but I took in my shoes, the floor, the craft store bag, fur . . . wait, fur?
I turned around and sighed. “Bug.”
She stared at me, still, as if she too saw a ghost. Her fur stood up in tufts and shocks around her head, but that was just Bug. Imperfect breed, imperfect hair. Not that Bug knew that. According to her, she was a purebred. She didn’t seem to know that the pretty auburn and dark brown coat around her head faded to an almost dirty white on her back and legs, or that her slim build didn’t match her squashed up face, or that she had a funny name, or that she was the result of a full pedigree/mutt hook up. She’d never believe any of it.
I shook my head, pushing my fingertips into my eyebrows.
“What are you doing, Bug?” My mom wasn’t home. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her without my mom.
Bug walked to the craft bag and sniffed. She sat down in front of it.
“There’s nothing for you in there.” I picked up the bag and headed for the stairs. Bug’s tiny but imperious steps followed.
I turned around. “Do you need to go outside?”
If a dog could roll her eyes, she would’ve. I swore she looked insulted, as if she didn’t have a paper-lined crate in the laundry room.
“Are you hungry?”
Bug ignored me, pushing her nose into my bag. She wouldn’t come to me for food anyway. My mom’s culinary skills were what turned her from my shelter rescue into my mom’s sidekick. Whatever. Glitter was the only thing on my agenda right now.
The air conditioning turned on, and I jumped, catching my reflection in the mirror again. I frowned and moved to close the liquor cabinet doors.
A crazy but funny idea popped into my head—me covering all the bottles with glue and glitter. I looked at Bug. As if she could read my mind, she cocked her head. “I’m just saying it would be hilarious to see their reaction.”
I imagined my dad pouring himself a drink out of a sparkly, fuchsia Jameson bottle—right into a matching bejeweled highball glass. Except the enjoyment would only last for a split second, just like the first hit of alcohol. Yes, I wanted that initial sense of relief, the momentary lapse in emptiness.
Until tomorrow, when I’d have to start all over again.
I swallowed. Glitter. I shifted all my focus to glitter.
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This giveaway is open worldwide until 12:00 AM CST
on May 14, 2013.
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Your routine made me giggle, the coffee is a must but the internet can suck up half a day in a blink of an eye! Great interview and Whitney and Evan sound interesting!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Kimberly!
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