Author Interview and Giveaway with Jolene B. Perry

Welcome to our first official Author Interview/Giveaway! Giveaway will start November 12th and run until November 26th.

Our Interview will be with debut author, Jolene B. Perry and we will be talking about her book, "The Next Door Boys". We were fortunate enough to get to ask her a few questions.

A little bit about Jolene:

Jolene B. Perry, a native of Alaska and graduate of Southern Utah University. She has a love of writing, sewing, playing guitar and the outdoors. She now resides in Alaska with her husband and  two children.

Q: What made you decide "Ok, I want to take this leap and become a writer?"

I was in the car with my husband, and he asked me what I was thinking about. You know how your mind wanders in silence? We always play this game

of showing our train of thought to get to where our brain is, so I led him through my train of thought. Mike said, "You have a great imagination. You should write some of that down." It started earlier than that, back in college, but the thought of writing a whole novel felt so daunting. AND I think I needed my age to find my voice. I started my first book without any notion of it being a whole novel until I passed page 100 and knew there was a lot more story to tell.

The Next Door Boys was my second book, and took me a lot less time to write than my first because I knew right away that I was going to write a whole book.

Q: What inspired you to write this piece about cancer?

It didn't start out about cancer. I wanted a girl who was just dying for independence, and the more I thought about why, this idea kept coming up. A good friend of mine got cancer in her early twenties, and I remember watching her go through treatments, and I wanted to know what happened AFTER that year. I wanted Leigh's new start. And she has this new start at the beginning of the book, and she has another new start at the end of the book.

Q: What kind of research did you do to write about this subject?

I did a LOT of research. I didn't use most of it, which is fine. I learned all about the kind of cancer Leigh had, what her treatments would have been like. I read stuff that friends and family members should do to help both physically and emotionally. I visited a lot of blogs and read a lot of material from cancer survivors to make sure that Leigh's experience, while all LEIGH'S experience, still felt authentic. I have to admit that I cried several times while researching.

Q: Are you working on anything right now? 

That question is hysterical because I'd have to give you a list. I have several projects with editors at publishing houses awaiting final verdict. I just finished a twist on a genie/three wishes YA story, and I'm working on a sci-fi/dystopian, but love-story-trumps-all right now. The project I JUST finished is what I call Stand By Me for girls, where three girls take off on a road trip in search of their missing friend.

I don't have descriptions of my projects, but I do have a page on my blog dedicated to snippets of books I hope are coming soon.

I've written two more novels with Leigh. The next is all Leigh, the third has a different main character, but Leigh plays a big role in that one as well. I'm waiting to hear from my publisher on those.

LONG before I finished The Next Door Boys, I knew that Leigh's story continued, and I couldn't let her go . Or . . . well . . . her love interest ;D

THANKS SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME!!!!!!!

You can also find Jolene at her blog: Been Writing? or her her webpage, Jolene Perry. You can also find her on Goodreads.

Prize: 

• 1 winner will receive a paperback copy of The Next Door Boys.

Rules:

• You must be at least 15 to enter. 
• Contest is US/International and ends November 26th.
• Once contacted, the winner will have 48 hours to respond.