GCC TOURS JENNIFER ECHOLS

GCC TOURS JENNIFER ECHOLS

Coming May 25: ENDLESS SUMMER by Jennifer Echols

The Boys Next Door and the sequel, Endless Summer, in one volume!

Two irresistible boys. One unforgettable summer.

Lori can't wait for her summer at the lake. She loves wakeboarding and hanging with her friends--including the two hotties next door. With the Vader brothers, she's always been just one of the guys. Now that she's turning sixteen, she wants to be seen as one of the girls, especially in the eyes of Sean, the older brother. But that's not going to happen--not if the younger brother, Adam, can help it.

Lori plans to make Sean jealous by spending time with Adam. Adam has plans of his own for Lori. As the air heats up, so does this love triangle. Will Lori's romantic summer melt into one hot mess?

Published by Simon Pulse, a division of Simon & Schuster. ISBN-10: 1442406593; ISBN-13: 978-1442406599.

About the Author:

Jennifer Echols grew up in a small town on a beautiful lake in Alabama--a setting that has inspired many of her books. Always interested in creative writing, she finished her first (and still unpublished) novel soon after graduating with a degree in English from Auburn University at age 20. She worked as an editor for newspapers, a writer for business publications, and a writing instructor for three major universities, completed a master's degree in English, and finished the coursework for a PhD in genre studies before selling a book. Since then, she has written many young adult novels for Simon & Schuster, including Major Crush, which won the National Reader's Choice Award, and Going Too Far, which is a finalist in the 2010 RITA, the National Reader's Choice Award, and the Book Buyer's Best. Her next novel, Forget You, will be released on July 20. Currently she works as a copyeditor and lives in Birmingham with her husband and son. Please visit her online at jennifer-echols.com.

My second novel, THE LOST SISTER, deals with revenge and the repercussions of what happens when a hazing incident goes too far.
1. First topic: Revenge. What is your experience with it? Have you ever sought revenge? As the old adage goes, do you think that living well is the best revenge?

I do think this. I am a non-confrontational, peace-loving person, and when people treat me badly, I tell them so and then seek better people. But I love to live vicariously through a great revenge story—who doesn’t?

2. Cliques and mean girls are everywhere. At book signings I've had everyone from 12 year old girls to 45 year old women tell me they still encounter them. Do you? How has it changed since you were a teen?

I have said it before and I will say it again: my experience with mean girls when I was 12 was so incredibly mean that I don’t think I will ever be able to write a story like that. I don’t think anything has changed with time, either. But I do think that it’s easier and easier to deal with those people as you get older—so if you’re a reader in this boat, just hang on!

3. I have a "Writing Music" playlist on my iPod. What would be on yours? What one song or artist captures the essence of your book?

I do this too—I make a new playlist for each book I write. The playlist for Endless Summer contains “Lights Out” by Santogold and “Light Up the Sky” by Yellowcard (this book includes a lot of fireworks and other explosions). The playlist concludes with a beautiful and dreamy love song, “Endlessly” by Green River Ordinance. Think this song in your head when you’re reading the end!

4. What do you tell people is your favorite book/author? Now what is your "real" favorite book/author. (i.e. I tell people Pale Fire by Nabokov is my fave, but right now I'm really into Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea.)

Are you kidding??? I LOVE Pale Fire and I’ve never run into anyone else who’s read it. (MKH NOTE: I KNEW I LIKED YOU FOR A REASON!!!) A lot of other classics are on my favorites list, like The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner and The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, but my go-to fave is Jane Austen.

5. If you could swap lives with anyone for a day, who would it be and why?

I’d want to walk in President Obama’s shoes for a day. I wouldn’t want the responsibility, but I’m fascinated by the goings-on in the Oval Office. Robert Schlesinger wrote a great (and loooooong) book called White House Ghosts, an in-depth look at the huge influence of Presidential speech writers through the years, and how their words have changed the course of the country. I would love a crack at that job.

6. Who would be in your dream cast if your book was made into a movie or television series? (And multimillion dollar salaries were no issue--they'd all do it for free!)

I have said that Jonas Black from the movie version of Friday Night Lights should play Adam, and Ashley Tisdale should play Lori. But a reader tells me they’ve gotten too old! So now I’m not sure.

7. As a publicist, I know that it's important for every novel to have a journalistic hook. For The Lost Sister, it's mean girls, bullies and hazing. What's yours?

A love triangle, a beautiful disaster of a boy who is his own worst enemy, and a long hot summer on the lake.

8. Just because it hasn't been asked yet, favorite 1980's movie?

The Empire Strikes Back. In general I’m not a sci-fi fan, but the chemistry between Han and Leia in this movie—wow.

9. Why should I choose your book for my book club?

It is a feel-good book. It will cheer you up, I promise! I start laughing just thinking about it.

10. I'm a huge and fabulously powerful movie producer and you have 30 seconds (an elevator pitch) to sell me on why your book is great and should be made into a movie. Go!

Adam is adorable. He is a mess. He is love with Lori and he can’t express his emotions except by setting things on fire. You have got to make this book into a movie so we can watch Adam crash his wakeboard. Did I mention Adam?

Megan, thank you so much for hosting me on your blog!

Thank YOU, Jennifer for swinging by to chat. Now everyone, go out and buy her book ASAP!!