The Key to Circus-Mom Highway.

 

The Key to Circus-Mom Highway

by Allyson Rice

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GENRE: Contemporary fiction (family dramedy)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

BLURB:

 

In an attempt to secure an unexpected inheritance—and hopefully find a few answers—two estranged sisters and their newly discovered brother embark on a comically surreal trip through the Deep South to retrace the life of the mother who abandoned them as infants.

 

On a Tuesday afternoon, sisters Jesse Chasen and Jennifer McMahon receive a phone call notifying them that their birth mother has died, leaving behind a significant inheritance. But in order to obtain it, they must follow a detailed road trip she designed for them to get to know her—and that includes finding a brother they never knew existed.

 

For the next week, this ill-assorted trio treks across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia to meet their mother’s old friends, from circus performers to a juke joint owner, each of whom delivers a shocking vignette into the life of a young mother traumatized by loss and abuse. Along the way, these three siblings—Jesse, whose fiery exterior disguises a wounded, drifting musician stuck in a rut; Jennifer, whose carefully curated family life is threatened by her husband’s infidelity; and Jack, whose enigmatic Jackie, Oh! persona in the New Orleans drag queen scene helps him escape the nightmares of Afghanistan that haunt him at night—must confront their own demons (and at least one alligator). But in chasing the truth about their real mother, they may all just find their second chance.

 

This uproarious debut novel is a reminder that sometimes, the family you’d never have chosen may turn out to be exactly what you need.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

EXCERPT

Westley re-entered with five boxes of food that said Zunzi’s on the side. “Best sandwiches in Savannah! We’re going on a traveling picnic. There’s a young couple, just got married, staying here tonight too, so they’re going to join us. I hope you don’t mind.” 

 

Duke and Ivy Parker had met at the Monster Truck Destruction Tour in Lubbock, Texas a mere two weeks ago. Christian Rock radio station KZOL was having their annual Monster Truck ticket giveaway to the first two callers who could answer these two questions correctly: 

 

1) What former WrestleMania star has driven a Monster Truck in a movie and has also founded a church? (answer: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson); and, 

2) According to Wikipedia, what Christian Grindcore band has said that their band name was inspired by Revelations 3:15-16? (answer: Vomitorial Corpulence) 

 

Complete strangers, Duke and Ivy had been the first two correct callers, at number fourteen and number thirty-one, respectively. When they both showed up at the Monster Truck event wearing the same vintage edition Bigfoot Monster Truck t-shirt, they were convinced that it was The Lord that had guided them to each other in Section 104 Row 25 Seats 16 and 17. They knew it was literally “a match made in Heaven,” and so they eloped.

 

Right on cue, Ivy and Duke, an excruciatingly gung-ho couple in their early twenties dressed in color-coordinated NASCAR gear, entered, holding hands.

A Word With the Author

 Did you always want to be an author?

No. That desire came much later in life. When I was very young (3^rd or 4^th grade -ish), I remember thinking that I wanted to be either an archaeologist (fascinated by ancient Egypt), a horse trainer, or Secretary of State. Don’t ask me how I latched onto the idea of Secretary of State! I have absolutely no idea. I must’ve heard about it on the news, or heard adults mention it, or heard that the job takes you on travels around the world. I suppose that sounded fun to me. (It definitely cracks me up thinking about that now!)

By the time I was 12, I had changed my mind about all of those. I had a friend in elementary school who performed in dinner theatre musicals. I went to see her in The Sound of Music and I was enthralled. I decided then and there that I wanted to be a dancer/singer/actress. I started taking classes in all 3 of those disciplines, and that’s the path I stayed on until I was in my 30s. I was fortunate to work consistently in the theatre, in commercials, and after college, when I lived in LA and NYC, on television.

I didn’t start writing until my late 40s. I had a TV show idea and wrote a pilot for it, then wrote a pilot and several episodes of another sitcom idea with my son’s stepmom who had become a good friend of mine. It wasn’t until after that that I decided to try my hand at writing a novel, and I loved it. There’s so much more freedom in writing novels because you’re not locked into a very strict format/length/etc. like you are writing scripts.

 

 

Tell us about the publication of your first book.

After two years–and over a hundred query letters–of not being able to entice a literary agent into reading my manuscript for The Key to Circus-Mom Highway (and through a lit agent is the only way to get your manuscript in front of publishers), one day at the beginning of 2021 I decided I was done trying to go the traditional publishing route. I needed to get my book out there in the world so that I could focus my attention on other projects that had been on hold. I decided to publish it through The Total Human Press. That’s my own publishing arm that I created years ago to publish my women’s coloring books (with inspirational writing). This was a few years before adult coloring became all the rage and I hadn’t been able to find any publishers who saw the viability of adult coloring books. So I did it myself.

Since its release a few weeks ago, I’ve been focused on Virtual Book Tours and in-person book signings. I’m also beginning to do Zoom Q&As with Book Clubs that have chosen The Key to Circus-Mom Highway as one of their selections. (I’m offering that to any Book Club, btw.)

 

 

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

I tend to love individual books by many authors. I don’t know that I have one favorite “women’s fiction” author. (Sorry, I know that’s a boring and generic answer!) Though I do love the humor and gentle wisdom of Anne Lamott. My mom gave me Anne’s book Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year when I was pregnant with my son. It was perfect. I’ve been a fan ever since. I’m actually re-reading Bird By Bird right now. 

 

In terms of “contemporary fiction”–I sometimes put my book in that category– I love the humor of Carl Hiaasen. I’ve loved every book of his that I’ve read. I love how the worlds in his novels are populated by very funny, over-the-top characters. That’s been a huge influence on my writing because it’s my type of humor.

 

 

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

One of the best parts is that I can write wherever and whenever I feel like it. I don’t have to go into an office every day, and I can write in sweats or my PJs if I feel like it! Though I do a lot of writing at home, I often find it harder to write there because there are so many distractions and chores that need doing. So I’ll sometimes go to the public library to write, and sometimes I’ll find a good diner nearby where they bring food to me, keep my coffee cup filled, and the noise all blends together in a way that’s easy to block out. It’s a wall of indistinct chatter and the clanging of plates and silverware. That’s honestly my favorite place to write. It also makes the writing process not quite so solitary. I’m an introvert by nature and do like my own space, but it’s also nice to have human interaction, especially after all the alone time over the past few years during the pandemic. Another favorite part of being an author is that I can write about whatever I feel like! I get to make all the decisions, and that’s really fun to build the world in your book and populate it with characters that you love. 

The absolute worst part of being an indie author is the staggering amount of work you have to do in terms of marketing and promotion, especially as a debut author without a large social media following. It’s why I really hadn’t wanted to go the indie author route. It’s all up to you because you don’t have the huge traditional publishing machine behind you to spearhead getting reviews, and lining up interviews and book signings for you, etc. And the promotional stuff has been expensive. I’m really hoping that I don’t have to do all of this again with my next novel. My goal with the next one is a literary agent and a publishing deal. Hopefully, having a first novel with great editorial reviews from BookLife/Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews and Midwest Book Reviews (among many others) will help land me a lit agent next time around. (Fingers crossed…)

 

What are you working on now?

 

After all the initial book launch promotion is finished, I’ll get back to work on that next novel. It’s a comedy about a woman on the verge of turning 50, newly divorced and entering the online dating world for the first time, and she’s trying to decide the direction she wants her life to go. It includes her friendships with two women she’s known since college and a new friendship with a feisty 80-year-old she meets by accident during a panic attack in front of a retirement center. And there’s an Australian paragliding instructor she meets on one of her new adventures who gets under her skin and she’s not quite sure how she feels about that. I can’t wait to find out how it ends! 

 

I’m also working on my fourth women’s coloring book, and I’m always working on my mixed-media art. Then there’s the screenplay I recently finished a detailed outline for, a crime drama set in 1920. And I’m working on creating a home recording studio space in my closet. I had so much fun recording the audiobook for The Key to Circus-Mom Highway that I’d like to make myself available to record other authors’ audiobooks too. So many projects, so little time!

 

Btw, I’m also working on expanding my newsletter mailing list (hint, hint…) You can sign up on http://allysonrice.com I give away a free book to a subscriber in each newsletter, and a random newsletter subscriber will have a funny supporting character in my next book named after them. It could be YOU!  :-D 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

Allyson Rice is the author of the novel The Key to Circus Mom Highway. ("Fans of family drama, road trips, and non-stop laughs will love this cross-country adventure."–BookLife/Publisher's Weekly). She's an award-winning mixed media artist, and a producer with Atomic Focus Entertainment. 

 

After spending many years as an actress on stage and on television, she left acting and spent the next decade running yoga/meditation retreats, women’s retreats, and creativity retreats around the country. After that, she pivoted to focus once again on her own creative work. In addition to her writing and art, she’s also a photographer (her work was most recently seen in an exhibition at the Soho Photo Gallery in NYC).

 

Some random bits of Allyson trivia: 1) She’s been skydiving, paragliding, bungee jumping, ziplining through a rainforest, and scuba diving with stingrays; 2) she has an extensive PEZ dispenser collection; 3) she played Connor Walsh on As the World Turns for seven years; 4) she’s been in the Oval Office at the White House after hours; 5) she’s related to the Hatfields of the infamous Hatfield/McCoy feud; and 6) her comedic rap music video “Fine, I’ll Write My Own Damn Song” won numerous awards in the film festival circuit and can now be seen on YouTube (https://youtu.be/7Xe3nuVDkC4).

 

Also available from Allyson Rice is her line of women’s coloring books (The Color of Joy, Dancing with Life, and Wonderland), and The Creative Prosperity PlayDeck, an inspirational card deck about unlocking and utilizing your creative energy in the world. She’s currently at work on her second novel and her fourth women’s coloring book. But she is most proud of being mom to musical artist @_zanetaylor.

 

 

My Websites:

 

www.AllysonRice.com  (My Author Site)

www.Allyson-Wonderland.com  (My E-commerce site)

 

 

Social Media Links:

 

IG:

https://www.instagram.com/allysonriceauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/officialallysonrice

https://www.instagram.com/allysonriceart

 

FB:

https://www.facebook.com/AllysonRiceAuthor/

 

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/CircusMomHwy

 

 

Buy Links:

 

Amazon book Link

https://www.amazon.com/Key-Circus-Mom-Highway-Allyson-Rice/dp/0982185545/

 

Barnes & Noble book link

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-key-to-circus-mom-highway-allyson-rice/1142037363?ean=9780982185544

 

KOBO book link

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-key-to-circus-mom-highway

 

Target book link

https://www.target.com/p/the-key-to-circus-mom-highway-by-allyson-rice-paperback/-/A-87939489

 

Goodreads book link:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62003645-the-key-to-circus-mom-highway

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Allyson Rice will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway