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Lauren , Posted in Blog, At July 26, 2018,

5 Book-to-Movie Adaptations to Look Forward To

5 Book-to-Movie Adaptations Still to Come



by Lauren Bridges

2018 has been full of book-to-movie adaptations, and although the year is half way over, there’s still a LOT to come. Book-to-movie adaptations are always scary because they’re either hit or miss, and for us book lovers, they’re usually a miss, but yes, we always go back for more.

There’s been some big hits so far, like: Red Sparrow, Ready Player One and A Wrinkle In Time…none of which I actually read but I enjoyed the movies, and maybe I’ll get around to it one day so I can make the comparisons. Others, such as the final installment of The Maze Runner series, featuring Dylan O’Brien, have not been so successful. That’s just my personal opinion, and anyone who has ever talked to me knows how passionate I am about those books and movies (I will never understand who allowed this adaptation.) Nevertheless, there’s a few I’m still looking forward to seeing in the months to come.

1.       Crazy Rich Asians

Crazy Rich Asians

Kevin Kwan’s bestselling novel, told through the perspective of five narrators, already has a lot of buzz around it. Crazy Rich Asians has been described as “A Pride and Prejudice like send up.” The story follows Rachel, an American-born Chinese professor, to her boyfriend Nick’s hometown of Singapore for a wedding. It doesn’t take long for Rachel to learn Nick is the most eligible bachelor in Asia and comes from an extremely wealthy family.

Release Date: August 15, 2018
Starring: The adaptation has a well-known cast including Constance Wu, Michelle Yeoh and Henry Golding. Directed by Jon M. Chu.

2.       The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar

This classic has been talked about becoming a book-to-movie adaptation for years now, and we still don’t have a release date, although it’s supposed to be 2018. What we do know is it will be Kirsten Dunst’s directorial debut and feature Dakota Fanning as the protagonist Esther Greenwood.

3.       Boy Erased

Boy Erased

While I haven’t read Garrard Conley’s Boy Erased yet, fans are thrilled about this one, and after watching the trailer, they should be. Based on a true story, Boy Erased is about the son of a Baptist preacher who is forced to participate in a gay conversion program put on by his church.

Release Date: November 2, 2018
Starring: Boy Erased is starring Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Russel Crowe and Joel Edgerton.

4.       The Girl In The Spider’s Web

The Girl In The Spiders Web

In this novel by David Lagercrantz, Lisbeth is a young computer hacker, who along with journalist Mikael Blomkvist, finds herself caught in a web of spies, cybercriminals and corrupt government officials.

Release Date: November 9,2018
Starring: Claire Foy as Lisbeth Salander, Lakeith Stanfield and Sylvia Hoeks.  

5.       The Darkest Minds

The Darkest Minds

In this futuristic YA novel by Alexandra Bracken, the government tries to imprison everyone under the age of 18 that now possesses special abilities. A group of teens form a resistance group to fight back and take control.

Release Date: August 3, 2018
Starring: Another great cast, The Darkest Minds stars Amandla Stenberg, Bradley Whitford and Many Moore.

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At June 20, 2018,

New Release: After Midnight by Brandy Greeley

After Midnight by Brandy Greeley

After Midnight by Brandy Greeley

 

City Lights Press is thrilled to announce the release of Brandy Greeley’s debut novel, After Midnight!

 

About The Book:

When she refuses a marriage proposal from Prometheus, Persephone—goddess of spring—is cursed to forget who she is and where she comes from. Prometheus sends her to Portland, Oregon and Hades follows, convinced that he can somehow jog her memory and restore their love before it’s too late. But when the Fates realize that Hades’ absence from the Underworld means that unsorted souls are becoming furies, they must take drastic action before the Underworld is torn apart by chaos. Now known as Amy, Persephone doesn’t know who this mysterious stranger is, and why he’s butting into her life. And even though she doesn’t want to believe the stories he tells her, because it would mean giving up the life she’s built for herself in Portland, she’s drawn to him. Caught up in his world, Persephone is torn between breaking the curse, and returning to her family, or remaining in Portland forever as Amy.

Get your copy now!

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At May 9, 2018,

12 Jane Austen Quotes that will Always Ring True

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I’m sure you have all the Jane Austen feels now, so be sure to check out the Jane Austen inspired novels by Samantha Adkins!

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At May 9, 2018,

Books That Mom Will Love This Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is just a few days away and we know what that means…. you’ve procrastinated on what to get all the moms in your life! Don’t worry, we’re not judging, it happens. What better gift to get a mom than some free time and a good book? We’ve put together a little bit of everything so you’re sure to find something that mom will love!

 

Lost Girl Lake by C.K. Crigger Lost Girl Lake by C.K. Crigger

Lost Girl Lake is a cozy mystery that is perfect to take anywhere for a quick escape. As one reader said, this book has mystery, suspense and a bit of romance. “I was craving a good mystery, and this was it. It drew me in with a crispy hand and kept me enthralled with the characters and their stories. There is always just a little something going on beneath the surface. it was charming, exciting, and a nice way to relax at the lake. Great read, highly recommended.” – Amazon Reader

Gift Lost Girl Lake for just $0.99!

 

Expectations by Samantha Adkins

Expectations by Samantha AdkinsExpectations is a sequel inspired by Pride and Prejudice, and all Jane Austen fans are sure to love it, including mom! About the book: Expectations begins six months after Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice ends. As a newly married woman, Elizabeth Darcy agrees to throw her first ball as mistress of Pemberley, a large and prosperous household. Meanwhile, her father writes a strange letter encouraging her to produce an heir for her husband, she welcomes several visitors to her home, and tries to mend broken family relationships. Georgiana Darcy remains unmarried, but feels the pressure to find a suitable mate. She nearly ruined her family’s reputation with her first choice, can she be trusted to find a proper husband?

Get the perfect gift for only $0.99!

 

Yesterday Rules by John Kestner Yesterday Rules by John Kestner

Yesterday Rules is the humorous romance no one knew they needed. Follow Jeff Bailey as he dives into his old journals and relives the discovery and pain as he retraces his first feelings for Shelley, his lost love. From the author, John Kestner: “It started a long, long time ago as a First Romance story, but my own insecurities, stumblings, and losses turned those years into a comedy.  I wanted to be honest enough about my own feelings of inferiorities and ridiculousness that perhaps anyone reading it might identify and come to terms with their own feelings of utter absurdity.  I might look stupid, but at least I’m honest.”

Gift mom a laugh for $0.99! 

 

Tin Angel by Kat & L.J. Martin

Tin Angel by Kat & L.J. MartinTin Angel is a western romance that’s currently on sale for just $0.99 in honor of Mother’s Day! About the book: In this rollicking western romance, written by New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin, with husband L. J. Martin, Jessica Taggart, fresh out of a Boston finishing school, comes West…to discover the “restaurant” she’s inherited from her late father is actually a saloon and bawdy house! And to add to the insult, it’s run by a handsome rogue, Jake Weston, who owns 49% of Taggart Enterprises.

Get Tin Angel for $0.99 for a limited time!

   

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At April 20, 2018,

Get to Know Author Brandy Greeley

Brandy’s love of reading and writing started from a young age. Brandy Greeley entered her short stories and poems into several writing competitions and county fairs, and though she knew her dream was to be an author, she didn’t seriously consider it until she graduated university. After Midnight is her first published novel. Brandy Greeley

City Lights Press: You started writing with short stories and poems, are these things you still write?

Brandy Greeley: I try to as much as I can. I’ve always loved the freedom creating poems gives me; the breadth of emotion and abundance of life experiences available for me to shape into something uniquely mine is a wonderful feeling, so I attempt to push myself daily to get a poem or two down on paper, even if they’re short. It’s flexing the poetry muscle, so to speak. Same applies with short stories. My parents love to tell me that I’m a wonderful story starter, but I sometimes have issues with the endings and because of this, I’ve written quite a few short stories over the past couple of years, all centered around things happening in my life, with friends of mine and even a couple related to my pet sitting business! I don’t see myself slowing down with either genre anytime soon.

CLP: Have you always loved Fantasy?

BG: Yes, I have! I’m not ashamed to admit that when I was younger, I had a couple of imaginary friends that I’d go on fantastic adventures with. My cats became my sidekicks, and I’d build blanket forts and pretend that I’m hiding from monsters or dragons. As an adult I still do that only now, it’s called ‘research’ for characters and worlds in future novels. There’s something liberating about fantasy because it allows you to escape everyday life to something more magical, youthful and hopeful, and I think that’s crucial, especially considering what’s happening in the world right now. A single fantasy novel lifts my spirits tremendously.

CLP: What’s your favorite book?

BG: I have a couple in mind, but the one that sticks out the most is A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas. I probably read it once or twice a week at least.

CLP: What are you currently reading?

BG: I bounce around between A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas, Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead and Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce. Which one I choose really depends on my mood at the end of the day.

CLP: Does anyone in your family read what you write? How do they feel about it?

BG: I’ve given my parents snippets of my work over the years, but I’m picky and selective because I know that what I produce typically isn’t in their genre of choice. Having said that, they always have both positive and constructive feedback to give me, which helps me grow as an author. After Midnight was the first finished book I’ve ever let them read, and the results were both happy and surprising, because I didn’t think they’d care for it, but they did! I thought they’d read it and then be like ‘that’s nice’ because I’m their daughter, but they both devoured it. My husband, Todd, is one of my at-home editors, but even he doesn’t see much of what I write. I’m a private person when it comes to my stories because they’re a part of me, so if someone in my family is reading it, it means I’ve done all I can to it, and are happy with the result.

CLP: What inspired After Midnight and the character Persephone?

BG: My inspiration for After Midnight actually came from another novel I was writing at the time about a demon named Gabriel who kidnaps a woman, convinced that she’s his long-lost love. I honestly didn’t have enough material to keep the story going in a way that would make sense to readers until I realized that my story closely matched that of the Greek myth of Hades & Persephone. I immediately went to the nearest bookstore and picked up Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods guide, which I read front to back and back again. I’d always been fascinated by that particular myth, and it’s possible that’s what my mind was trying to direct me towards all along, but once I fit together the pieces of what I already had written with the myth itself, something truly magical emerged. I jumped into Persephone’s shoes as I was planning the outline and tried to create a more fleshed-out version of the goddess herself. How did she feel about marrying her uncle? Did she have a backstory with him before they were married, and if so, what would that look like? How could I interpret her story in modern times? Over the course of answering these questions, I found Persephone’s voice, which closely matched my own thoughts and feelings. My husband says ‘well, she’s YOU’ and I don’t think that’s very far off the mark.

CLP: Did you have a “moment” where you realized you HAD to write After Midnight?

BG: When I couldn’t get the story of Hades & Persephone out of my head, that was the first sign that I needed to write it, but my own version of it, one that didn’t yet exist. I started to have dreams about the characters with full dialogue and scenes, so after the most vivid one, I woke up that morning and began work on the novel.

CLP: Do you think as a writer you see the world differently because you’re always thinking about how situations could play out in stories?

BG: There’s a great quote I read recently: “Never piss off an author. They’ll write you into their stories and then kill you off.” Truth is, I’m constantly talking to my characters, even when I’m in public spaces, and continually listening in to other people’s conversations for dialogue inspiration so, for those reasons, I do think I tend to see the world through a different lens than most people around me. Every conversation, situation and experience is inspiration and potential plot for me.

CLP: Most importantly, I know you have two small dogs, what breeds are they?

BG: Winnie (8 years old) is a Yorkie Maltese mix and Bailey (6 years old) is a…ready for it? Yorkie-Poodle-Chihuahua-Cocker-Spaniel-Weiner!

CLP: What can we expect from you next?

BG: I’m currently working on a sequel to After Midnight, a book of poems, a Dracula re-telling and a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, to name a few, so there’s a lot of nifty stuff coming in the future, and I’m so excited to be working on all of it! My first kid is due late August, so I have this sort of self-imposed time crunch to get as much under my belt and headed towards potential publication as I can before my world becomes all about diapers and half-awake writing sessions between cat naps.

Look for After Midnight coming soon!

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At March 20, 2018,

Samantha Adkins New Author Interview

Author Samantha AdkinsSamantha Adkins is a new author out of the West Coast of Canada. She brings to City Lights Press Jane Austen inspired novels that we’re positive you’re going to love, because we sure do. Samantha enjoys imagining well-known stories in different settings. Expectations, Suspiciously Reserved and Banff Springs Abbey are inspired by Jane Austen’s novels.

City Lights Press: Did you always know you wanted to write?

Samantha Adkins: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I don’t think I considered it a career until grade 5 when we wrote an autobiography as a school assignment. That’s when I decided to be a writer.

CLP: Between having two children and being a teacher when do you find the time to write?

SA: I started writing more seriously after my daughter was born. I needed some adult time, so when she would nap, I would write. Now that my kids are older, our days are less predictable, so I fit it in whenever I can. Even fifteen minutes is better than nothing.

CLP: Do your friends and family ever read your books? What do they think?

SA: My parents and sister are usually my first readers. They are always supportive, but also offer good suggestions. My parents have a much better understanding of grammar than I do! I also have some good writer friends who read parts or all of my books and give me great feedback.

CLP: What’s your favorite book?

SA: I have a lot of favorite books! As a teenager, Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume was my favorite. Jane Austen’s books became a passion as an adult. I also love murder mysteries – Louise Penny’s series is my current favorite.

CLP: What do you spend more time on, plotting or the actual writing?

SA: Definitely writing. Plotting comes to me when I go for a walk, do dishes or vacuum the floor. It’s not usually a conscious effort.

CLP: You’re clearly a Jane Austen fan, personally, what’s your favorite Jane Austen novel?

SA: That is a tough one! Originally, it was Pride and Prejudice, but as I reread her novels and retell them, I am more and more impressed with Emma and Persuasion. I don’t think I can choose!

CLP: Besides the obvious, what inspired you to write the Jane Austen inspired novels?

SA: I wrote Expectations as a birthday present for my sister, who loves Pride and Prejudice. PBS was showing all of the Austen TV versions as well as some interviews and it seemed like most Austen fans wished she had written more. I thought I’d write a short sequel for my sister. It was too enjoyable to stop and it turned into a novel.

CLP: Since these novels are based on such classics are you nervous about the feedback you might receive?

SA: I was certainly nervous about the Austen books. There are people who study her work their whole lives. At some point I had to say, “I know I’ll make mistakes, but hopefully people will be gracious.” I read as much as I could and later joined the Jane Austen Society chapter closest to where I lived at the time. It’s amazing how much information there is about Austen and the regency times. I’ll never learn it all.

CLP: Which of your books has been your biggest labor of love thus far?

SA: All of my books come out of love. Expectations gave me the most joy to write. Other books have been more difficult, though still very enjoyable. I find, as I get older, it is more difficult to keep details in mind. I write myself more notes to remember names, places, and other details.

CLP: Are you working on anything right now?

SA: Yes, I am working on a novel inspired by my Grandmother teaching in a one-room school house during the Depression. I am letting it rest for a bit and am working on another Jane Austen-inspired piece as a bit of a “break”. It was also supposed to be a short story, but is getting longer. . .

Look for Expectations by Samantha Adkins in April!

 

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At March 12, 2018,

New Release: Shifters Alliance

Shifters Alliance by Shaun L Griifiths

Shifters Alliance (Changing Times Part 1) by Shaun L Griffiths

 

About The Book:

One moment, Kerri’s best friends are there beside her. The next, they’ve been kidnapped and taken through a Gateway to an unknown land. To be used as pawns in a raging conflict for a Crystal so precious, civilizations have fallen trying to control it.

Passing through the Gateway portal in search of them, she finds the world she knew no longer exists. In a land of danger, she must face shape-shifting Bears, Mountain Lions, even natures raging winter storms, in an epic adventure to rescue her friends.

And while Kerri desperately struggles to cross the snowbound alpine passes, deep within the primordial forest an ancient evil is watching the continuing conflict. The corrupted apes wait impatiently for the spark that will unleash all-out war. To posses the Crystal, they will inflict their revenge and destruction on everyone in their way.

Who holds the Crystal will hold the future of the known world in their hands. Can Kerri form an Alliance to save her abandoned friends? If the apes cross the border, will there be a land for her to return to?

The fate of their very souls is at stake.
 

Get Your Copy Now

Amazon Kindle | Paperback

 

What Readers Are Saying:

“It’s like The Dark Crystal meets Princess Mononoke. There’s twists and turns inside a massive world…” 

“heart-stopping danger… fast-paced yet doesn’t lack depth. It tackles thought-provoking themes like conflict and loyalty while taking you on a wild adventure…” 

“…full of unexpected twists and turns, a whole world to immerse yourself in… Lyrical and magical. Planet of the Apes meets Clan of the Cave Bear…”   

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At January 26, 2018,

8 of Our Favorite Shelfies

How did you celebrate #LibraryShelfieDay last week? We know how much everyone LOVES their selfies, but to be honest…we prefer the shelfie. Nothing makes us happier than seeing stacks among stacks of your favorite books in a shelfie!

Make sure to share all the shelfies you took with us! Here are a few of our favorites!

1.       A tree, well, because books DO help you grow.

Shelfie Tree

2.       No better place to sit back and relax.

Chair Shelfie

3.       Who needs a walk-in closet for clothes? We prefer to put our books in it!

Closet Shelfie

4.       What little kid wouldn’t LOVE this?

Batman Shelfie

5.       This is what my TBR (To Be Read) pile looks like.

Stacks of Books Shelfie

6.       It’s just…so pretty.

Color Coordinated Shelfie

7.       I would feel like Belle in Beauty & The Beast in this library!

Library Shelfie

8.       Practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Log Shelfie

What is your favorite Shelfie?

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At January 17, 2018,

An Interview With Brendan Walsh

Brendan WalshA recent college graduate, City Lights Press is excited to welcome new author, Brendan Walsh. From the age of 13 he knew he wanted to write, but finally began constructing his first novel, The Raven Gang, in college. If he can’t make a full-time career out of novel-writing, Brendan Walsh hopes to get a job at DC Comics as a writer or an editor, or at least something creative enough so he doesn’t have to turn his brain off its story-juices.

City Lights Press: When did you know you wanted to write?

Brendan Walsh: I think it was when I was 13. I would consistently make up stories in my head, but I would always keep them to myself. The funny thing is, I didn’t really become an avid reader until I was 16, but I knew I wanted to be a storyteller even before then. I think I was a late-bloomer in that way because I was still afraid of having a voice or sharing my ideas. But when I finally did, I think the story-juices just poured out the gate!

CLP: I know you just recently graduated, what are you currently doing as a day job?

BW: That’s a good question, haha. I recently finished working a seasonal position at Glendale Galleria near my house, so right now I’m not working. My degree was in English, so I hope to soon get some kind of editing job, or something that involves my creative writing abilities, if I’m lucky enough.

CLP: What inspired you to write The Raven Gang?

BW: It goes back to the time when I was 13. The very first version of the story I thought of came to me in the summer of 2009 when I was an incoming high school freshman. Of course, as I got older, the story matured and got more complex. It wasn’t until my first semester of college when I started taking the story’s construction seriously, and my drive to complete the story was too strong to refuse, even if my grades took a bit of a hit (apologies, professors.)

CLP: Have you always been interested in Fantasy books?

BW: Yes and no. I’ve always loved urban fantasy over alternate world fantasy. I’m way more into Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher than Lord of the Rings. Though I have tried to get more into alternate world fantasy. I recently finished Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (which I LOVED) and am currently more than halfway through Eye of the World.

CLP: I know you’re also a big movie fan, what’s the best movie you have seen recently?

BW: Glad you asked! I recently watched Kubrick’s Spartacus for the first time and I’ve just wanted to talk about it constantly. It’s funny because you don’t think about Spartacus when you think of Kubrick. It’s his later work that has the more mainstream attention. Spartacus is definitely my second favorite he directed, because 2001: A Space Odyssey is still my all-time favorite movie, and one of my favorite novels.

CLP: Do your parents or brother ever read your work?

BW: My three biggest beta readers are my brother, Robert, my father, and one of my best friends, Scott. I’ve typically showed Robert and Scott my work after each chapter I write and get their comments. I didn’t show my dad The Raven Gang and Immortale until they were done or nearly done. They’ve all been wonderful supporters, and have always quelled my writing anxieties (thank you all!).

CLP: Do you put any details of your real life into your writing?

BW: It’s definitely there. Some descriptions of Weller College, the fictional college that the characters in The Raven Gang attend, came straight out of Wooster, the college I went to. Besides that, some quirks of the main characters and many of their observations are definitely some of my own.

CLP: As a young author, do you think it’s more difficult to be taken seriously?

BW: Maybe not inherently. I first started querying The Raven Gang to publishers/agents in April 2016, and didn’t have as much success as I wanted. Of course, I had very few credentials (I hadn’t yet published a short story either,) so I’m not surprised how hard it is for a first-timer to get through the publishing doors. With Immortale it was still hard, since The Raven Gang ended up being self-published. I hope that when someone reads my books that they don’t think “I can tell someone in their early twenties wrote this” because I don’t think you can put an age on the ideas and ethics in both stories, but who knows, there have been many successful authors who were published at a younger age than me, so I’m just going to keep writing and writing.

CLP: What is your writing process like? Do you start from page one, make an outline, etc?

BW: It is typically just me sitting down and writing, and any outline I have is only in my head. I’ve gotten some good plot devices by just building off dialogue or a conflict that I hadn’t even planned. I think I try to give the characters as much agency as I can, because when I write I can get so absorbed that I can forget that they don’t exist outside the novel, and lots of coffee or the occasional cocktail helps this as well ;).

CLP: What authors or books most influence your writing?

BW: No one has influenced me more than Neil Gaiman. If it weren’t for Neverwhere, my favorite novel of his, I wouldn’t have come up with the early draft for Immortale. Terry Pratchett and Kurt Vonnegut have been invaluable as well, and I must include Ray Bradbury. The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man have stories that have influence how I think. He had a magical way of doing prose that just worked so perfectly with the lessons each story taught. Every short story I’ve done has been me trying to create to same feeling in readers, and I hope I’ve come at least somewhat close to that goal.

Look for Brendan Walsh’s novels soon! 

Lauren , Posted in Blog, At January 9, 2018,

Coming Soon: Yesterday Rules by John Kestner

John Kestner is back again with another hit novel, Yesterday Rules! We got a chance to hear a little more about the novel, which is being coined as a “Sort-of Memoir.”

Yesterday Rules by John Kestner“Jeff Bailey is turning 40.  Settled and happily married, he spends his nights writing unsold screenplays while working security at a remote desert nuclear power plant after 9/11. Surfing the web one night, he sees the name of his first love, Shelley Dawson, pop up on a high school website.

Bailey offers to dig out his journals and take them both back to the summer of 1981 in Ohio. She never knew he kept a detailed journal about his time with her so, uneasy but curious, she allows him into a past she can’t remember to see what he finds.

Surprised by how much he’d forgotten, Bailey returns to the single summer that first broke his heart and made him a stranger to his own life and to the only world he’d ever known. The end of his childhood and the beginning of what his young parents always warned him about: dreaded adulthood. Transcribing his journals to a distant lost love, the adult Bailey follows his doomed teenage self, reliving the discovery and pain as he retraces his first feelings for Shelley, unearthing and unleashing emotions that hold consequences for them both all these years later.”  

City Lights Press: What Inspired Yesterday Rules?

John Kestner: What happens in Yesterday Rules inspired Yesterday Rules.

CLP: Did the conversation in your preface actually happen? Has “Loni” read the book?

JK: Yes, it did.  Nearly word for word.  “Loni” had read the initial manuscript (it started as a short document to a first love) and as it developed into this novel, we talked about it, but she hasn’t seen this final version—which now includes her!

CLP: How did your wife feel about Yesterday Rules?

JK: I think I actually portrayed her response to that situation accurately.  If she had any other reaction, she didn’t tell me.

CLP: Jeff Bailey is the same character in your other novel, Vegas Working Girl; is this the same character or just happens to be the same name?

JK: It’s the same guy.  As difficult as it might be to imagine someone more naïve and hopeless as the kid who landed in Las Vegas for Vegas Working Girl, you’ll see that he was actually worse while growing up in the Ohio cornfields of Yesterday Rules.

CLP: Did you ever consider adding in Shelley’s point of view and having two narrators?

JK: If I had any understanding of what went on in her head—at least enough to include her point of view—I’m sure our story would’ve been completely different!

CLP: You wouldn’t tell us what actually happened in Vegas Working Girl and what didn’t, what about Yesterday Rules? Can you tell us what parts were fiction or are you keeping it a secret?

JK: For now, I’d rather let the books speak for themselves. Part of the joy of studying literature in college was discovering that most of the great writers I read used their own lives as the inspiration for their greatest works.  God knows I’m not putting myself in their class, but I feel like good writing connects the author to a reader when the author is exposed and the reader believes what he or she is saying.  “This had to have happened” is one of the highest compliments I could receive from a reader.

CLP: How did you decide on the quotes you used throughout the book?

JK: Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I heard music everywhere.  Radio, records, cassette tapes, the beginning of MTV (when they played music videos).  As a teenager discovering emotions, I would hear a sentiment expressed vocally and musically in a song that helped articulate my feelings in a way I couldn’t on my own.  And all these years later, the songs still touch those nerves and express those feelings.  It’s not unusual to tear up in traffic when the right song comes out of nowhere.

CLP: Did you intend for this to be more of a humorous read or more romance?

JK: It started a long, long time ago as a First Romance story, but my own insecurities, stumblings, and losses turned those years into a comedy.  I wanted to be honest enough about my own feelings of inferiorities and ridiculousness that perhaps anyone reading it might identify and come to terms with their own feelings of utter absurdity.  I might look stupid, but at least I’m honest.

CLP: And last but not least, do you believe in soul mates?

JK: I do.  I know couples who were clearly meant for each other, and God bless ‘em.  I hope I never give up on believing in such a consuming, meant-to-be love.  It hasn’t worked out that way for me…but at least I got a couple of stories out of it.
 

Look for Yesterday Rules by John Kestner this February! 

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Recent Posts

  • 5 Book-to-Movie Adaptations to Look Forward To
  • New Release: After Midnight by Brandy Greeley
  • 12 Jane Austen Quotes that will Always Ring True
  • Books That Mom Will Love This Mother’s Day
  • Get to Know Author Brandy Greeley

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