Spotlight & Giveaway: No More Words by Kerry Lonsdale

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Kerry Lonsdale to HJ!

Hi Kerry and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, No More Words!

 
Thanks for having me. I’m pleased to be here.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

No More Words is the first book in a new trilogy featuring three siblings torn apart by a tragic event that occurred about fourteen years before the story opens. No More Words is Olivia’s story who suddenly finds herself responsible for a 13-year-old nephew she’s never met. Josh can’t read or write, he struggles with speech, but he tells horrific tales through his artwork. His mom, Olivia’s younger sister Lily, is nowhere to be found. Olivia doesn’t know if she’s dead, missing, or if she abandoned her son. So she uses Josh’s drawings as a roadmap, and racing against time, she tries to locate the sister she hasn’t seen since she ran away sixteen and pregnant.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

My favorite lines are usually the first lines of my books because it sets the tone and I like to create a striking and memorable image that immediately draws in the reader. No More Words opens with…

“Charlotte and Dwight Carson unloaded their three children at the Whitmans’ lakeside cabin like a courier with a cardboard package.”

The scene plays out until Charlotte and Dwight leave. As Olivia watches her parents go, the car kicking up pebbles and dust on the three pieces of luggage left in the gravel, Olivia’s first thought is how their parents left her and her brother and sister in the driveway where UPS at least has the courtesy to leave the packages on the porch and ring the doorbell. That first line pretty much sums up the family’s dynamics.
 

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

There was a family that lived across the street from me while growing up, a single mom who worked night shifts while raising three teenage daughters. They rarely had supervision, as you can imagine, because their mom slept during the day. Next door to them was a family with three teenage boys (whose parents shied away from disciplining and instilling rules), and next door to us was a single mom with a teenage son. One summer, through a quirk of fate, the parents of those three households left town. Not together, but whether they were on vacation or business trips or shacking up at their partner’s house, they were gone. Now picture three households with unsupervised teenagers: you see parties, alcohol, drag racing, jumping off roofs, regular police drive-bys, pot smoking before it was legal, firecrackers, and plenty of tennis ball mortars…you know the kind. Soda cans duct taped together, lighter fluid, and tennis balls. There might have been a broken roof tile or two. Or three. (I plead the fifth on my involvement in any of this.) It was the 80s. And for several weeks, our street was literally a scene from one of those 1980s gone wild party movies… Every. Single. Night. We had it all. My parents (and most of the other neighbors) remember it as the summer of no sleep. I remember it as the summer that *might* have sparked a few story ideas about dysfunctional families, including No More Words.
 

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Surprisingly (or not), I rarely cry while writing or reading back my scenes. I’m too close to the mechanics of the scene: pacing, plot, character development. If I do cry, it’s because I’m frustrated a scene isn’t working. I usually don’t get a sense of how emotional my books are until I hear from my beta readers, or I read about it in the book’s early reviews. My previous book, Side Trip, was a very emotional read. A LOT of readers cried near the end of the story, and yet again, I didn’t cry once while writing. No More Words is an emotional read on a different level than Side Trip. A few readers have noted in their reviews they teared up toward the end of the book, but most indicate they tore through the story, finding it difficult to put down. I’ll take both as a huge compliment.
 

Readers should read this book….

…because No More Words, like my other books, has it all: drama, suspense, romance, family dysfunction, twists and turns, and plenty of other surprises. If the reviews are any indication, it’s a fast-paced, unputdownable read that’s perfect for summer.
 

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I just wrapped up the first draft of No More Lies, book two in the No More series that’s scheduled to publish May 10, 2022. The manuscript is with my editor now, and shortly, I’ll start book three, No More Secrets.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Digital copy of the book NO MORE LIES.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: What is it about a story that draws you in? Some of my friends insist a book must have elements of romance. Others read for the mystery, or big story question. And others still need a thrill. They love the suspense and twists. For me, I love a good mix of suspense and romance.

 
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Book Info:

Forced to choose between abortion or adoption, Olivia Carson’s younger sister, Lily, runs away from home. Sixteen and pregnant, she never returns. But she writes. Once a year, Lily mails a picture of her son, Josh, to Olivia until his thirteenth year. Then it’s Josh himself who arrives at Olivia’s house, alone, terrified, and in possession of a notarized declaration from Lily. It begins, “In the event I go missing…”

Josh has difficulty talking. He can’t read or write, but he’s a prolific artist, exhibiting skill beyond his age. His drawings are as detailed as they are horrific. Olivia soon realizes Josh’s artwork tells a story. There’s more to his arrival and to Lily’s untimely disappearance than it seems. Using the drawings as a road map, Olivia traces Josh’s path back to his mom. Each drawing sheds light on Lily’s past and reveals a darkness that forces Olivia to question everything she thought she knew about her family.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N |
 
 

Meet the Author:

Kerry Lonsdale is the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Amazon Charts bestselling author of Side Trip, Last Summer, All the Breaking Waves, and the Everything Series (Everything We Keep, Everything We Left Behind, and Everything We Give). Her work has been translated into more than twenty-seven languages. She resides in Northern California with her husband and two children. You can visit Kerry at www.kerrylonsdale.com.
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