Tattered Innocence

Happy Thursday, everyone. I have a special treat for you this week. Two giveaways! This may never happen again, so be sure to take advantage. 🙂 Monday’s book is still eligible for the drawing, so please leave a comment under the Unconditional Post if you’d like to be entered. Now for the second opportunity.

For a couple of years I tried to write for the young adult genre. It was at that time that I met Ann Miller. She was part of a YA critique book I was in. Now her books are published in a new genre that I am unfamiliar with, but am so pleased it finally exists. It’s called New Adult or NA, which fits between YA and Adult, with characters who are finding their place in the world, falling in love, and working out childhood issues. I’m so thrilled to have her join us this week. Normally Thursdays are reserved for devotionals or what ever else I have on my mind, but today I made an exception. So, for the first time ever I have two giveaways going on at the same time!

Welcome, Ann! Please tell us about Tattered Innocence.

Thanks for the opportunity to share about my latest release. Here’s the back cover of Tattered Innocence:

         A tale of passions indulged, denied, and ultimately forgiven:
On the verge of bagging the two things he wants most—a sailing charter business and marrying old money—Jake Murray’s fiancée/sole crew member dumps him. Salvation comes in the form of dyslexic, basketball toting Rachel Martin, the only one to apply for the first mate position he slapped on craigslist.
On a dead run from an affair with a married man, Rachel’s salvation is shoving ocean between her and temptation.
Rapid fire dialogue and romantic tension sail Jake’s biker-chick of a boat through hurricanes, real and figurative. A cast of wannabe sailors, Rachel’s ex, Jake’s, a baby—go along for the ride.
The many-layered story weaves together disparate strands into a seamless cord. Mother and daughter look eerily alike—down to their lusts. Their symbiotic bond, forged in the blood of childbirth on the kitchen floor and cemented by their secrets, must be cracked open. A son must go home. Sin must be expunged.
Tattered Innocence is for anyone who’s ever woken up sealed in a fifty-gallon drum of their guilt

What is the spiritual take away?

Most of us struggle to believe God really forgives our sin. We find it just as difficult to forgive ourselves. Tattered Innocence illustrates one person’s journey into God’s full forgiveness and into forgiving herself.

It looks like Tattered Innocence is part of a series. Does this book stand alone?

Tattered Innocence is part of the four-book New Smyrna Beach Series, but it stands alone, too. Also part of the series, Kicking Eternity, is available free in all e-formats on request at AnnLeeMiller.com

Fantastic! I had the privilege of critiquing that book several years ago. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read and I thought it was great. I noticed last week that Kicking Eternity was free for Kindle. Now back to Tattered Innocence. Was any part of it inspired by real life?

The setting on a sailboat was inspired by my adolescence living aboard a sailboat in Miami. As a twelve-year-old I fell overboard while sounding for the bottom of the bay with a long pole. This story made it into the book. Thanks to my Catholic upbringing, I have a firm grasp on the concept of guilt, the theme of the novel.

Oh wow, I didn’t know that you lived on a sailboat. How scary to fall overboard. I’m glad you were able to use that experience for something good.

Do you have any more books planned for this series? What is next for you?

Tattered Innocence concludes the New Smyrna Beach Series. My next book takes place in Arizona where I live. The main character struggles with his sexual orientation.

Ann has offered to give away and EBook of Tattered Innocence. You must answer the following question to be entered to win.

What story from your childhood would add color to a novel?

Rules: You must answer the question to be entered. The winner will be announced Monday, April 8th 2013. Void where prohibited by law.

Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t writing or muddling through some crisis—real or imagined—you’ll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids’ lives. Over 70,000 copies of her debut novel, Kicking Eternity, have been downloaded from Amazon. Her other titles are gaining top reviews.

AnnLeeMiller.com

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