Book Title: Life After Juliet
Author: Shannon Lee Alexander
Release Date: July 5, 2016
Genre: Contemporary YA
Becca Hanson was never able to make sense of the real world.
When her best friend Charlotte died, she gave up on it altogether. Fortunately,
Becca can count on her books to escape—to other times, other places, other
people...
Until she meets Max Herrera. He’s experienced loss, too, and
his gorgeous, dark eyes see Becca the way no one else in school can.
As it turns out, kissing is a lot better in real life than
on a page. But love and life are a lot more complicated in the real world...and
happy endings aren't always guaranteed.
The companion novel to Love and Other Unknown Variables is
an exploration of loss and regret, of kissing and love, and most importantly, a
celebration of hope and discovering a life worth living again.
What the Readers are Saying
"Readers
will fall in love with Becca, Max, Darby, and other characters as their soft,
awkward moments of adolescence resonate throughout the prose. A
successful story of a young woman’s journey through grief." –Kirkus
Reviews
5
stars: "This book is more than a love story, and the love story
is more than epic!" –Liza Tabita
5 stars: "I absolutely loved this... The
story, the characters, the message... Just perfection! And I dare anyone reading to try not to fall for Max!!"
–Jamie
Arkin, Fiction Fare
5
stars: "Great
read for a book lover... Epic love at it's best!!!" –Socially Awkward Book Nerd
5 stars: "What
a great read! I devoured it in a couple of hours, and I dare you not to do the
same. Becca's voice is so real and easy to connect with, especially for
those of us with introverted, nose-in-book tendencies. I haven't suffered a
loss like Becca's, but I certainly fight every day to make myself put the book
down and do some living of my own, and that is really what this story is about.
She conquers fears, but in a way that is still true to herself in the end, and
I adored her for it." –Nicole
Bledsoe, Educator at Mena High School
"I
hated putting this book down. It was a journey I thoroughly enjoyed taking, and
I'm now looking forward to picking up Love and Other Unknown Variables.
Contemporary might not be my usual "thing," but I think I just
found a new author I'm for sure going to be looking out for in the future."
–Jacquie Atamanuk, Rattle the Stars
When creating interactions
between your charaters, do you sit the think the lines over or do you let the
charaters do the talking? In saying that, have you ever said or heard a great
line and think, I could us that in my book?
I’ve always had voices in my
head. What I didn’t realize, growing up, was that not everyone did. I thought
listening to conversations and watching stories unfold in your mind was a very
normal thing. My husband assures me that he has never heard any voices. But he
counts numbers constantly, so I think that’s weird.
Writing characters then, has
always been a matter of listening.
I love characters. I read books
for the characters, not the plots. So it makes sense to me to start stories
with characters. I’ll listen for a while and eventually someone in my mind will
start talking more loudly or incessantly than the others. Eventually, that
character will start to tell me his/her story. And then they’ll introduce me to
friends and enemies, and away we go.
I’m a pantser, too. Planning
and outlining takes the creativity and joy out of the writing process for me. I
tried it when I first began LIFE AFTER JULIET. I’d convinced myself that since
I was a real writer now, I needed to
act like a professional and outline stuff and have flow charts and whatnot.
Ugh. I’m so not a grown-up writer yet.
My creativity stems from chaos,
which is funny because when you meet me (and see my giant planner), you’ll see
that I’m a super organized person, except when it comes to writing.
My first drafts are always
messy. There will be page after page after page of dialogue, most of which will
need to be cut because it doesn’t move the plot forward. Oh, it’s fun and witty
and wonderful stuff, but it doesn’t tell a story. What it does is help me get
to know my characters better.
Eventually, I have to pick out
the parts that work best within the story I’m trying to tell, and cut the rest.
But the story, the characters themselves, wouldn’t have as much life if I’d
tried to censor the characters to begin with.
As for hearing lines that I
want to steal, YES! I hear funny stuff all the time, and each time I swear I’m
going to put it in my next story. But by the time I’m writing again, I’ve
usually completely forgotten the funny one-liner. I guess that’s okay though,
since whatever I was trying to steal probably wouldn’t be authentic to my
characters.
But, man! People say the
weirdest stuff sometimes! I do like to follow #overheard on Twitter sometimes.
And I suggest, too, as a brain booster when you’re feeling stuck in writing, to
pick a line from #overheard and make it be your first line in a flash fiction
piece. It’s fun to shake your brain up that way!
Giveaway Information: Contest ends May 27, 2016
Open
internationally, but prize packs ship only to US. International winners will
receive Amazon gift cards (listed below).
- Grand prize: Hyperboles are the best EVER! tote bag, a 4oz. Novelly Yours Antique Books candle, Toe-meo and Juliet Shakespearean socks, Life after Juliet poison and dagger necklace, Velveteen Rabbit note card, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate*
- 1st Runner Up: Hyperboles are the best EVER! tote bag, a 4 oz. Novelly Yours Antique Books candle, Toe-meo and Juliet Shakespearean socks, Life after Juliet dagger earrings, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate*
- 2nd Runner Up: 2oz. Novelly Yours Antique Books candle, Life after Juliet dagger earrings, Velveteen Rabbit note card, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate*
- 3rd Runner Up: 2oz. Novelly Yours Antique Books candle, Life after Juliet dagger earrings, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate*
*All
contests are open internationally, but international winners will receive the
following:
- Grand prize: $25 Amazon gift card, signed signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate
- 1st Runner Up: $20 Amazon gift card, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate
- 2nd runner up: $15 Amazon gift card, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate
- 3rd runner up: $10 Amazon gift card, signed Life after Juliet bookmark and bookplate
Shannon Lee Alexander is a wife and mother (of two kids and
one yellow terrier named Harriet Potter). She is passionate about coffee,
books, and cancer research. She spent most of her time in high school hiding
out in the theater with the drammies and techies. Math still makes her break
out in a sweat. She currently lives in Indianapolis with her family.
Follow the Tour
Thank you for hosting me today! Good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway!
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