Hope. Dreams. Life... Love: Just a Girl in a Whirl

Just a Girl in the Whirl

by Annie Wood

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GENRE: Young Adult

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BLURB:

A 17 year old girl is overwhelmed with responsibilities trying to keep her messy family together. Everything spins out of control when her addict actor dad who bailed on the family three years ago leaving her with her lovable but bi-polar mom and her two little sisters, comes back into town and wants to reconnect.

Writing poems is her only escape. Just a girl in the is about family, forgiveness, and having enough courage to live your own life, your own way.

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EXCERPT:

In the past 747 days I’ve made 747th breakfasts for my family. I barely have to think about what I’m doing anymore, the eggs just poach themselves. Doing the same thing, day in and day out, gives my life the feeling of being stuck in slo-mo. In fact, I’m moving so freakin’ slowly I may as well be standing still. It’s like I managed to step into a vat of cement while everyone around me is coasting along on one of those people movers they have at the airports. Also, my particular vat of cement happens to be on a carousel, going around and around and around. So, sure, there’s movement, only I’m not getting anywhere.

“Damn it.” I bend down to pick up yet another broken glass. My bad. As usual. When my mind wanders, it takes my coordination with it.

“Lauren. Don’t say damn.” my kid sis reprimands.

“You’re right, Sara. Sorry. Finish your scrambled eggs, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Ouch.” I cut my pinkie on a sliver of broken glass.

“We’re out of Band-Aids,” Matty informs. “You should get more.”

“Gee, thanks, sis. Don’t bother getting up.”

“I won’t,” she tells me as she continues scarfing down the food I made her.

Yep, this is my brood. Not on purpose, though. I mean, I didn’t plan this brood or birth this brood, it just sort of turned out that they’re now, mostly mine.

My eighteenth birthday is in 99.3105497 days away and then I’ll be free.

A Word With the Author

1.Did you always want to be an author?

Acting was the one thing I always focused on as a kid and teen but at the same time, I always wrote. I wrote short stories, short plays and poems. I remember when I watched TV shows and movies where the main character was an author, I felt a kinship with that character, like I’d think, “that feels like me.” So, I think I somehow always knew I’d eventually write books.

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

Many years ago a fan of my writing self published a book for me of my short stories called, Where Would I Be Without Me. It was an incredible feeling to be able to hold that book in my hands for the first time. Last I checked someone was trying to sell an old copy (it’s out of print) for 200 bucks on Amazon! I published every story from that book on Medium in a publication called P.S. I Love You. So you can read them all here —> https://medium.com/@anniewoodinhollywood

If anyone wants to sign up for a membership on Medium you can read tons of stories for free every month by me and a bunch of other writers. https://anniewoodinhollywood.medium.com/membership

My first two books after that one were rom-coms, Dandy Day and A Quantum Love Adventure. When Speaking Volumes publishing decided to publish Just a Girl in the Whirl they also wanted to do a republishing of Dandy Day and A Quantum Love Adventure. So all three of those books can be found on Amazon and Barnes and Noble and published by Speaking Volumes.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

When I was a kid I love Judy Blume so much. I mean, we all did back then. Recently I read The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. It’s fantastic!

4.What's the best part of being an author? The worst?

Making my own rules, spending time with characters and building worlds inside my mind, those are the best parts. The worst? For me, having to hit a word count is the worst! I tend to prefer short stories and short novels, as a reader. And as a writer, I just like to keep things short. I know that’s my ADHD talking, but still, I think novels shouldn’t have to be a certain length. They can be whatever they naturally are. So, yeah, I struggle with writing more when I feel that I’m already done.

5.What are you working on now?

I’m working on an illustrated novel called Memory Ghosts. It’s about a girl who’s an artist and she deals with the death of her mom through her art and a new friendship with an elderly Jewish/Buddhist woman. I’m a visual artists as well so I will use my own drawings and paintings in the book.

Other than that, I’m painting and posting on my new IG art account - @artistanniewood and on my online gallery, artistanniewood.com and as an actor I play a voice in the video game, Mafia: Definitive Edition.

Please keep in touch and sign up for my newsletter at

anniewood.com and follow my new IG account! Let me know if you read my book and what you think!

Love and Good Vibes, Annie

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Annie Wood is an Israeli-American, Hollywood native, and a lifelong actress and writer. The web series she created, wrote and stars in, Karma’s a Bitch, was Best of the Web on Virgin America (anniewood.com/Karma)

Wood was part of the NBC DIVERSITY SHOWCASE with her comedic scene, That’s How They Get You. She’s written 100s of scenes for actors that have been used by Emmy Award-winning TV director, Mary Lou Belli in her UCLA course and casting director, Jeremey Gordon in workshops all around town.

As an author, she has three books out: Dandy Day, Just a Theory: a quantum love adventure and her first YA novel, Just a Girl in the Whirl (Speaking Volumes Publishing)

Annie’s also an Internationally exhibited mixed-media artist, a produced playwright, and was the third female solo dating game show host in the history of television with the nationally syndicated show, BZZZ! that she also co-produced. (Which just re-ran in 2020 on BUZZRTV!)

Annie writes and creates art daily.

anniewood.com

Writing: medium.com/@anniewoodinhollywood

Twitter: https://twitter.com/anniewood

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anniewoodworld/

Art: ArtistAnnieWood.com

Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodVibesByAnnieWood

She also runs the Twitter account for the Women of the Writers Guild West Follow us here —> @WoWGAW

She is part of the Middle Eastern Committee at WGA

and a Dramatist Guild Member and an Authors Guild Member