Giveaway
Do you like second chance stories? Single parents? The girl in luuurve with her brother’s best friend? A bunch of incredible best friends? Irreverent old ladies?
This is your chance!
I’ll pick THREE WINNERS for an e-copy of Josie Wright’s first book: That One Night. All you have to do is like this post and leave a comment. Sharing just for fun! Open till 01/12/2017.
The winners will be notified and I’ll need their email address.
Good luck everyone!
Author’s bio
Josie Wright has always been a bookworm, spending every free moment with her nose buried in a book. While others were out partying, she spent her evenings with Heathcliff, Sydney Carton or Snape. Romance, fantasy, thrillers – you name it, she read it.
Thanks to the Kindle, she finally arrived in the 21St century and discovered the Indie literature world. Josie has been lost to it ever since. With her love for the written word and her promiscuous feelings for countless book boyfriends, the next logical step was to start writing. The voices in her head and her imaginary friends wanted out to play and so she wrote her debut novel “That One Night”, that’s to be released early summer 2015. And the good news is, there are more voices and imaginary friend where Ben and Frankie came from.
Josie is a financial expert by day and a writing junkie by night. The rest of the time she’s a bit of a hippie, a bit of a goth and many things in between. She loves video games, movies, good food and even better music. She’s addicted to chips, long baths and shoes. Oh, and books of course. Definitely books.
Josie Wright
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The blurb:
All it takes is just one moment to change the course of your life. For me, it was one perfect night.
I have always had a thing for my brother’s best friend, Ben. When I found him on my parents’ couch, drowning his sorrows in a whiskey bottle, my attempts to comfort him quickly turned into a night of raw and intense passion.
My foolish heart hoped he might feel the same way I do.
But Ben wasn’t there to stay and I woke up the next morning alone with a broken heart.
I attempted to forget the guy with a smile to die for and a touch that sets me on fire.
I thought I was over him.
I thought he was gone forever.
Until, eighteen months later Ben returns and learns my secret. Now, he is hell-bent on winning me back.
He plays dirty.
And he won’t stop until he gets what he wants—me.
But he has secrets of his own.
Secrets that could destroy everything we might have and everything we are.
My review:
That One Night is the first book published by Josie Wright.
I won’t lie I needed some time to get my bearings in the story. In the beginning, Frankie had so much anger and frustration bottled up she was hard to love or connect with.
Eighteen months ago, she had a wonderful and steamy night with her lifelong crush, her brother’s best friend and then, he left the morning after never to be seen again. His “sorry” was such a poor excuse, certainly when Frankie realized she was pregnant.
To say her parents reacted badly is a euphemism as they called her a wh@re, suspecting she did not know the father’s child as she was “known” to sleep around. As I don’t like girls selling their charms or jumping from guy to guy (I know, if it’s a man he is a womanizer and is seen with envy and admiration. Unfair? Yes.) my feelings were conflicted for what was the female lead character of the story. Not a good sign, right? But that was before I saw what a good mother she was to her son, Archer. Frankie was very courageous, not relying on her parents and still studying to get her degree and make a future for her son.
Frankie was helped by her chosen family of friends. I loved that family: her best friend Dean with his mate Alex and a tattooed wise woman all living together in a big house. They also got their neighbor’s help. She was an older woman they “abruptly” met for the first time.
”We nearly ran her a** over when she shot out of nowhere on her inline skates in front of the moving truck, forcing us to hit the brakes and hold our breath, hoping we hadn’t killed an old granny. Turned out, it was her second time on inline skates, and she wasn’t quite there yet.”
That’s my kind of old lady!
Now Frankie is back for Thanksgiving as she wants Archer to know his grandparents. Surprise, surprise, Ben the prodigal son and Archer’s father is also back and is sleeping in her house for the holiday.
The last time they interacted was that famous night. He was drinking whiskey, alone in the dark, telling he’s been lied to his whole life. He was shaken and broken. As he left ” after the deed” abandoning Frankie, I did not like him either.
Frankie never told who the father was but the cat is soon out of the bag and Ben is shocked to learn he has a son. Now, he did not turn tail but decided to “man up” and follow Frankie to live in her house and learn to know Archer. He wants to win Frankie back and prove he can be a good father.
” You don’t trust me and that’s okay. Because I’ll fight for you, and I will win back your trust. I will win you back.”
If Frankie got my respect quite quickly once she stopped being angry all the time and showed her nurturing and caring side, Ben was difficult to “grasp” and so,to connect with. He was very helpful as he had “magic hands” and could work on renovating the house. He also took his fair share of Archer’s “duty”, playing with the little boy, watching over him, giving bath, etc. But as he remained closed off, hiding the reason he left eighteen months ago and kept so many secrets, he did not only kept Frankie out, but me too. I did not trust him and never knew what to think of him. Don’t worry, he redeemed himself and ended being a really good guy and a great dad.
If I needed some time adjusting in the beginning, maybe because the author had not yet found her “mojo”, it flowed effortlessly soon enough and I ended immersed in the story.
What will you find in this book?
-a second chance at love story with a single mom (I love that kind of story);
-a wonderful bunch of friends and chosen family members, helping each other and bantering all the time;
-lots of feelings, be it anger, sadness (Anna’s story had me in tears), frustration (why did he leave for God’s sake?), joy (thanks for the banter and sarcastic remarks) and even fear (expect drama at 80-85% of the book).
So, for a first work, it’s a job well done and it shows Josie Wright can tell a story.
Irreverent interview of Josie Wright
–What was your writing process? Did you have it all figured out from A to Z or did you change your plot as the characters were fleshed out?
That One Night started off with a single scene, two characters that came to my mind. The scene didn’t let me go and I wanted to know what their story was. How it started, how it would continue. Step-by-step, more of the story came to me, and I was waking up in the middle of the night, taking notes. Even when I had already started writing, I wasn’t always sure how the story would go on. Interestingly, with other novels I have planned, the plot is all figured out. Let’s see if my characters let me write it the way I want or if I’ll have to make changes.
-Did your characters hijacked your writing (they had a mind of their own)?
Oh yes. There was a lot of swearing on my part. I wanted a scene or story to go a certain way, but it just wasn’t what the characters wanted or what was right for their story. That drove me insane as sometimes it had a domino effect.
-What inspired you?
Actually, it was the song “I Need You” by Mass Undergoe. I listened to this song, and out of nowhere, had the scene of Ben walking into Frankie’s room to talk to her while at her parent’s for Thanksgiving. The song doesn’t necessarily fit the scene, but the desperate longing in the song really translated into Frankie and Ben’s relationship. Obviously, I used the song later as a setting for their love scene. I couldn’t have found a better song for that if I tried.
–What did you need to write the story? Some kind of music (you have a playlist)? Some mood: you write better when you’re frustrated, angry, (hungry?), happy or tipsy (after your third mojito it flow effortlessly)? Other?
Music is always playing while I was writing. I like the room to be dark…no outside light, no lamps on. It helps me to focus. A big cup of tea and a snack is a must for me while writing. And a hot water bottle for my feet.
–Who inspired your characters? If you have a villain or a @hole in a story do you get inspired by real characters (ex: your evil boss or your mother in law from Hell) or by fictional characters (Darth Vader? Hannibal Lecter?Other?)?
It’s funny you would ask that as the “villains” of the story actually have no specific person who inspired them. They are mostly born out of my imagination. The good guys were inspired by a number of people I know – taking some of their traits to mold the characters that can now be found in the story.
-Who inspired Viv as she is quite a colorful and interesting character? Who inspired their neighbor? Because I’d like to meet this person as she is “my kind” of old lady (cheeky)
If I only knew who or what inspired Viv. I don’t know where she came from. She was just there and quite fleshed out from the start. It was clear for me who she is and what her deal is. Sadly, she’s not inspired by anyone I know but I’d love to be friends with her. Maybe that’s actually what it is – she’s the kind of friend I’d love to have and so my mind conjured her up for Frankie. As to the neighbor, Mrs. Walsh, she’s inspired by a real person. Actually a former neighbor of mine who was the most amazing old lady. Even in her old age, she was so full of life and had a taste for adventure. She put most people fifty years her junior to shame.
-Do you find yourself in some of Frankie’s traits?
Undoubtedly, yes. I think most authors will tell you that there is a little bit of themselves in every character they write. Frankie’s story is the first one I’ve written, she’s basically my literary first-born. So I’d say she probably has more of my traits than other characters will have. Her love for food, for aromatherapy, her obsession with BLTs, but also her stubbornness – just to name a few.
–What kind of scenes were the most difficult to write? Sex scenes (don’t be vulgar, but stay steamy and no I’m not becoming all hot and bothered)? Emotional ones (Don’t ovedro, avoid pathos). Did you sported the panda look with mascara running on your cheeks as you cried while writing)?
Definitely the sex scenes. It took me a while to stop thinking about who is going to read it and know I wrote it. Also, it was important to me to make it hot and steamy, but also classy and not vulgar. It’s a very fine line and I hope I managed not to cross it.
-Did you want us to like the heroine right away? I’m sorry to say she had to grow on me.
Honestly, I never thought about it. She just was who she was. I never contemplated changing her. But I also didn’t expect for people to not like her right away. It was easy for me to do so I suppose, because I just knew more about her and knew what made her act the way she did. Readers had to get to know her and find out as her story unfolded.
-Did you have bad parents because Frankie had no support from them (poor girl)? Or was it a friend of yours? Or just for the sake of the book?
Quite the opposite. My parents are awesome. Always have been. I’m the kid everyone was jealous of while I was growing up. To this day I’m really close to my parents. Frankie’s parents were a figment of my imagination. Somehow it was clear from the start that she’d have parents who suck big time.
-Was it on purpose that Ben was so closed off? I could not “feel” him for a very long time.
He was closed off to me as well. So I guess, yes. But then, it was Frankie’s book. She didn’t know the things going on inside of him, she didn’t know his story. Neither did the reader. That’s what made Ben’s book so important – to show his side to everything that happened.
-What would you do “better” now that you’re older and wiser?
Among many little things, I might’ve written the book in dual POV to let people know more about Ben from the start, though that still wouldn’t have allowed him to tell his whole story the way he did. Writing is a learning curve and I’m just starting out, so I believe the more time passes the more often I will think about how I would write certain scenes or characters differently now.
-What are your project? Any new book we should know about?
As last year held quite a bit of upheaval and chaos in my personal life, I haven’t been writing since the release of Ben’s book That One Day. But I’m now getting back on the horse, so to say. However, I do have six books planned. There will be two more books in the series – one about Dave and one about Drake. The other four books are completely different projects, not connected to the series or to each other.
-Any advice for people dreaming of writing their first book? Some common mistakes to avoid? Ins and tips for newbies?
I’m by no means a pro and still happy to get any advice from authors who are more experienced. So it feels weird to me to be giving advice, but there are a few things that are crucial. Editing is one of those things. My editors have helped me so much. Not just typos, spelling, etc., but helping me to understand my characters better. Beta readers are a great thing. Finding the right ones might take time, but once you do, they help so much. Invest in the process! And the most important thing is, write the story you want to tell. Not the story you think will sell or the story that is currently trending, but what’s in your heart. Readers can tell if something is written for the sole purpose of making money or because it’s a passion.
