Welcome to Shannon Delany's Start Your Day with Serial Tour! Shannon's debut novel (and first in her YA paranormal series) 13 to Life started as a winning cell phone novel written in serial segments. During the tour you can read bits of the book in order. Miss a day? Go on to Shannon's blog and check the link to the blog tour calendar in her sidebar.She's so nice and sweet and her book just sounds amazing! Look at this summary!
Everything about Jessie Gillmansen’s life changed when her mother died. Now even her hometown of Junction is changing. Mysterious dark things are happening. All Jessie wants is to avoid more change. But showing a hot new guy around Junction High, she’s about to discover a whole new type of change. Pietr Rusakova is more than good looks and a fascinating accent—he’s a guy with a dangerous secret. And his very existence is sure to bring big trouble to Jessie’s small town. It seems change is the one thing Jessie can’t avoid…
Hey Shannon, and love having you here on Harmony's Radiant Reads! Have you always wanted to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be?
I always wanted to do something where I could express myself. Writing was one of my top choices but it (and art) didn't seem like steady enough employment , so they encouraged me into teaching. I loved teaching, but not all the headaches that go with the profession (once you've had to sit in a parent-teacher conference with a deputy present for your safety you kind of start wondering about your career choice--and that's only the tip of that iceberg). Eventually my husband and I moved north again and realized I was pregnant. I fell back into art and did a little writing on the side. My hubby went back into teaching. We moved farther north, got a farm and I did serious freelancing then--poof!--book deal!
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Sounds amazing! If you had to live with three fictional YA characters, who would they be?
I'll absolutely cheat and use my own characters because I know what makes them tick (and what could potentially tick them off). I'd gladly be stuck with Pietr, Max and Amy. Jess and I are just similar enough in attitude we'd annoy the heck out of each other. But with Pietr I could have generally intelligent conversations. Max would just be fun to hang out with and Amy would keep me in line.
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I'll allow that cheating, just this once! Besides your own character, who's your favorite? And why?
I adore Heather Brewer's Vladimir Tod (Eighth Grade Bites, etc.). I didn't think I would like him at first. He seriously irked me at first but then quickly grew on me. He's sensitive, has some major issues he's dealing with (that prophecy's no walk in the park!) and connections to Russian culture. Heather's stuff is an auto-buy for me now. If you haven't checked out that series, I definitely suggest you give it a look.
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I certainly will! Ok, cell phone contest? How did that work and how did you feel winning something crazy like that?
It was crazy! I submitted two short chapters each day to Textnovel.com, had no clue where the story was headed (and letting the Rusakovas take the lead equals trouble) and was shocked when I won. I walked around in a bit of a daze when I was told. Everything happened really fast with interest from movie producers and publishers. I was seriously in a whirlwind for about two months.
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That sounds crazy and so hectic! How's your writing schedule? Hectic?
I have a small farm and a small child, more than my writing schedule's hectic--life's hectic! ;-) But everyone can pretty much say the same thing. I write whenever I can. Notes are jotted down everywhere (which perturbs my hubby). When I'm on a deadline I buckle down and get serious. The moment my son's on the bus headed to kindergarten I throw it into high gear.
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As a teen, did you go through a lot of what Jess goes though? (Besides the whole werewolf thing of course....of course right?)
LOL! I have weird stories from my teen years, but not werewolf-weird (not quite). Jess and I do share some similarities. I was an editor for my school paper and I did write the editorial Jess references in Chapter One (and nope, my fellow editors never ratted me out even when we were all grilled in the principal's office). I was a high level competitor in marksmanship starting at an early age. I got decent grades and was probably too self-absorbed (ah, my teen years ;-). I loved horses and rode when I could but am (unfortunately) allergic to them. The big, life-altering event Jess goes through (man, this is tough without spoilers...) was similar in many ways to something I went through just a couple years ago. And the nightmares Jess has--the reliving the fact you can't do anything to stop it or fix it? Been there. Done that. Just not exactly the same way Jess does it. But there are Jess and I are different (and many ways she's built off the teen experiences of others and just random stuff floating around my head).
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Finally, what's your most recent YA read?
I'm finishing up fellow Class of 2k10 classmate Kitty Keswick's novel Freaksville. It's a cute book with a clever heroine, werewolf issues and a hot English boy who seems quite happy to spend time kissing. Oh, and there's some ghost action and peer issues and... Anyhow. I'm *nearly* done. :-)
Ah, thanks so much, Shannon! Now you can visit her blog at http://www.shannondelany.com/ and you can also pre-order her book which comes out JUNE 22!
Shannon's hosting several contests during the Start Your Day with Serial Tour. The big contest will award one lucky winner with a royal amber pendant, pietersite jeweled bookmark, stuffed wolf, 13 to Life mousepad, pen, tote, signed poster, personalized copy of 13 to Life and both of the 13 to Life pins. All you need to do is comment at 13 of the blogs hosting Shannon during her 30 day tour. Everyone who does so will be entered into a random drawing. Winner may be international.
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For information on the previous section, visit Pirate Penguin’s Reads! (http://piratepenguinreads.blogspot.com/)
13 to Life: Chapter 3, part L (used with the author’s permission)
My hand shook, holding the fork. I could tell without looking that Amy's fingers had gone white in her effort to restrain me. It was the most Pietr had spoken to me, and every word sliced like a knife.
Because he was right. Derek definitely wanted something
Happy Reading!
-Harmony B.
