Readers, please help me welcome Alan Oakes, author of Between Micah and Amos. Alan is on a blog tour and is giving away gift cards to three random commenters.
The characters are always going to Sonic – so he is giving away gift cards in the names of the main characters: Grand Prize: Billy-sized $25.00 2nd Prize: Manuel-sized: $15.00 3rd Prize: Ashleigh-sized: $10.00 If the winner prefers, they can get either an Amazon or BN.com gift card instead of the Sonic card. You can find his schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/01/virtual-book-tour-between-micah-and.html
Alan, thank you so much for including me in your blog tour. How did you know you wanted to be a writer?
You know, I have an undergraduate degree in journalism but
my life path took me away from writing for a really long time. It just started bubbling up again, though.
Funny how that happens for writers – you just can’t but help writing – it’s an
instinct. I think my life experiences
seasoned me more to be able to write in a way I never could when I was
younger.
That's probably true for a lot of writers. How long did you write before you got published?
Several years ago, when my renewed writing bug hit me, I
submitted a completed article to Green
Building and Design magazine. They
liked the piece so much, they asked for more.
So for that type of writing, I was up and running right out of the gate.
For fiction, I wrote a novel just before I set out working
on Between Micah and Amos. I self-published under a pseudonym. For Between
Micah and Amos, I wanted to have a genuine publisher. I was fortunate enough to be accepted by
Whiskey Creek Press and didn’t have to do a lot of shopping.
I did send out letters to agents and all that traditional
stuff, but I didn’t get squat back. Now
authors have more control over their work and they can self-publish or seek
other options. It’s the Wild West for
sure, but some great work is coming out now from smaller publishers and
self-publishing.
I totally agree. Whiskey Creek published one of my books Return Engagement, and they're publishing Blue 52 in December. What is your favorite scene from your book?
I like when Manuel takes Ashleigh to the carnival one
night. Ashleigh’s mom and her scuzzy
boyfriend Casey tag along. There is an innocence
of teen love when Ashleigh and Manuel share a kiss on the Ferris wheel – for
once, the burden of Ashleigh’s life is lifted -- but the sweet moment is
shattered when Casey gets into a fist fight on the other side of the
fairgrounds.
What are you working on now?
I just submitted Crossfire,
a novella about Billy, from Between Micah and Amos to Whiskey Creek Press. The story picks up about four months after Between Micah and Amos
ends.
The characters from Between
Micah and Amos keep telling me they aren’t done yet and so I have more
books planned for the series. I’m also
working on a couple of other things, but they’re SECRET. Shhh!
That's mean, isn't it readers? Now our curiousity will nag at us to know what the secret Do you have any advice for new authors?
Write every day. It
keeps you in writing shape. And push
your work out there. You have absolutely
nothing to lose. Joan Rivers used to
like to say that in the entertainment world, your odds were about a hundred to
one of having a success. Her point was
that she expects to be rejected 99 times before she gets that one hit. It kind of puts things in perspective.
That's great advice, Alan. Thank you. Now let's take a look at a blurb and an excerpt.
BLURB:
Like a flash, the
discharge from the gun lit up the inside of the dimly lit, filthy trailer
Ashleigh called home. Ashleigh sat curled up on the stained pink carpet next to
the pull-out bed in the living area where she slept. The victim lay dead,
slumped against the wall of the trailer. Ashleigh looked at the
motionless body. She was petrified.
Meet Ashleigh Mae, a seventeen year old high school senior living in the small
town of Micah, Texas. Her boyfriend Billy calls her a wild child.
Her momma is always telling her she makes bad choices. No matter what, no
one really understands her.
Ashleigh dreams of a life with Billy. Their love is true, she thinks.
When her mother forces them to leave Micah in the middle of the night and move
in with her momma’s old boyfriend Casey, on the outskirts of a town called
Amos, Ashleigh’s life is torn apart.
This is her fight to get it back….
Excerpt:
“So you’re rich?” Ashleigh asked.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Manuel
answered.
“I would!” Ashleigh laughed.
“Lean forward,” she said to him
impulsively.
“What?” Manuel asked, surprised.
“Just do it,” Ashleigh said.
Manuel leaned forward and Ashleigh
came behind him and began to massage his neck and back.
“That feels good...” he said
soothingly with his eyes closed.
“You are such a hottie!” Ashleigh
remarked as she kneaded the muscles of his Manuel turned toward Ashleigh,
looked into her eyes, and kissed her softly. She felt tingly as he caressed her
body. She could feel his excitement as he continued to kiss her. But just as
soon as they started, Manuel turned and stood up. He then dove into the cold
water. He swam up next to the rock where they both were lying. Ashleigh looked
at him, surprised.
“I’m sorry,” Manuel said, trying to
catch his breath. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t make love until I was
married.”
Ashleigh stared at Manuel with her
eyebrows raised.
“Holy crap! You’re serious?”
Ashleigh asked.
“Yeah,” Manuel said and laughed.
“So you’re still a virgin?”
“Yeah…” Manuel said. He looked at
Ashleigh’s astonished face. “It’s not like I’m a vampire or something.”
“It would be hot if you were!”
Ashleigh joked. She stood up herself and then dove into the water. She swam up
to where he was standing up to his chest in the pool. Ashleigh wrapped her legs
and arms around Manuel and started passionately kissing him.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Alan Oakes is a Graduation Coach and Counselor at a Texas
High School. He is a featured writer for Green Building and
Design magazine and a contributor to other magazines including Texas
Architect and New American Luxury. In the past, he
served as Associate Pastor of Saint Austin Catholic Church and Director of
Catholic Campus Ministry at UCLA.
Alan holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the William Allen White School of
Journalism at the University of Kansas and a Master of Arts degree from the
Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C.
To learn more about the author, feel free to go to his website: http://www.alanoakes.net/
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