Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jamie Beck to HJ!
Hi Jamie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Wonder of Now!
Author Jamie Beck Plays “Ask Me Anything”
Thank you so much for inviting me to discuss THE WONDER OF NOW with your readers.
Like the other heroines in the Sanctuary Sound series, Peyton is a survivor. In her case, the challenge is breast cancer. Prior to her diagnosis, she grew up in extreme privilege, yet her distant parents were more intent on maintaining the family’s famous legacy than tending to their two children. As a result, she gallivanted around the world as a travel blogger and ultimately betrayed a childhood friend for a man. But her life’s big adventures ended when her diagnosis changed everything. The man dumped her as fast as he’d previously dumped her friend, and facing her mortality forced her to take stock of her life and her choices. Needless to say, she didn’t like who she saw in the mirror—literally or figuratively.
Determined to make amends for her mistakes and accomplish something of value before she dies, she agrees to collaborate with her famed-photographer brother on a memoir about her experience from diagnosis through treatment and surgery. This story opens as her memoir is about to hit the shelves. Peyton’s made strides to repair her friendships and has committed to donating half of the memoir’s proceeds to cancer research, but now the last thing she wants to do is relive the suffering she endured (much less share it with strangers at public readings). This puts her in direct conflict with her publicist, Mitch, who—as they board a plane for Europe to promote her book—is counting on her becoming his fledgling PR firm’s star client.
While on tour, Peyton laments that many of the bloggers ask her the same rote questions. Our host today asked me whether this parallels my experience as an author, and whether there are questions I wish to be asked about my work or life. I thought about this for a while because, unlike Peyton, I don’t write memoirs, so readers are not coming to my books to learn about me and my experiences. However, whenever a book is released, bloggers do tend to focus on the plot (as they should because they are trying to give their readers a taste of the story), while sometimes it might be interesting to learn about details tangential to the story. In this case, readers might be interested to know that many of the places Peyton and Mitch visit on their European tour are places I’ve visited (for example, when attending a reader event in Rome, I ate at the restaurant where Peyton and Mitch dine and ordered the pasta dish that she loves). Also, although I have not had breast cancer, I relied on the help of friends and family members who have, in addition to reading numerous blogs by cancer survivors and a beautiful memoir by a patient that did not survive. I did my best to assimilate everything I learned from those brave womens’ outlooks and experiences to create an authentic perspective for Peyton.
My hope is that I’ve produced a story about a flawed woman grappling with the big life questions and fears we all share, who earns her redemption and hopeful outlook for the future. I suppose you will tell me whether I’ve succeeded!
Thanks for blogging at HJ!
Giveaway: A digital book copy of THE WONDER OF NOW by Jamie Beck – (Gifted via Amazon)
To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Leave a comment with your thoughts on the book…
Book Info:
Moving on has never been harder—or so perfectly unpredictable…
Peyton Prescott would give anything for the carefree life she knew before breast cancer changed everything. But instead of using her second chance to move forward, she’s stuck promoting the memoir her brother convinced her to write, thus reliving the very battle she wants to forget. If she hopes her European book tour will allow her to enjoy revisiting her favorite travel-writing destinations, she’s wrong: her PR whiz is too consumed with his own goals to consider her needs.
Mitch Mathis has relied on discipline to achieve his goals, and with his new firm’s success riding on Peyton’s book launch, he must keep her on task. They’re here for business, not pleasure. And Mitch won’t let unbridled desire harm his professional reputation—not again.
When frustrated expectations and attraction throw the tour into chaos, it challenges everything Mitch and Peyton believe about themselves, life, and love, forcing these opposites to consider whether they can embrace the change they need to grow.
Buy Link: https://amzn.to/2HLBa3N
Meet the Author:
National bestselling author Jamie Beck’s realistic and heartwarming stories have sold more than two million copies. She’s a Booksellers’ Best Award and National Readers’ Choice Award finalist, and critics at Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist have respectively called her work “smart,” “uplifting,” and “entertaining.” In addition to writing, the author of the Cabot novels, the Sterling Canyon novels, and the St. James series enjoys dancing around the kitchen while cooking and hitting the slopes in Vermont and Utah. Above all, she is a grateful wife and mother to a very patient, supportive family.
Fans can learn more about her on her
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lynnpallaske
Jaime Beck has a way with writing romance that is about so much more than the romance
Jillian Too
I’m excited to learn about Peyton’s journey.
[email protected]
Sounds great.
Debra Guyette
This book sounds wonderful.
janinecatmom
This book sounds really good. Thanks for the chance to win it.
Lori R
This sounds like an interesting book.
Latifa Morrisette
I am very intrigued in this book
Kathleen O
This goin to be a terrific and I am sure an emotional read. Can’t wait to read it.
Amy R
Sounds good
Daniel M
sounds like a fun one
Mary C.
Loved the first two books in the series – can’t wait to read Peyton’s story.
dholcomb1
I loved what she said about the book and the way the book is described.
diannekc
Sounds like a inspiring book. Looking forward to reading.
diannekc
Sounds like an inspiring book. Looking forward to reading.
Nicole (Nicky) Ortiz
Sounds good
Thanks for the chance!
bn100
okay
eawells
This book sounds amazing.
suzannah0466061145
Can’t wait to read about Peyton
erahime
Not everyone has the same experience with such a diagnosis. Some can move forward while others cannot. I hope that the book shows a truly relatable heroine with supportive hero in this journey.
BookLady
This sounds like a very interesting and inspiring book
Tammy Y
Sounds good
Kim
I can’t wait to read about Peyton’s journey.
Patricia B.
This should be an interesting read. Facing your mortality is always difficult. My husband was unexpectedly diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer when he was 45. Survival for 3 years was about 20%. Our oldest had just left for college, our other daughter was a junior in high school, and our son was in third grade. It makes you look at your life and how you lived it. Regrets, lost opportunities, the possibility of not being able to live the future you had planned all go through your mind. We were lucky. It was caught unusually early and his recovery was much better than expected. That was in 1991. We obviously beat the odds. Unlike your heroine, he wasn’t alone to deal with it all. Revisiting it hasn’t been hard and the doctors have called him in to talk to patients who are facing the same type of surgery. Facial bone cancer is a frightening thing to confront. What you look like id so much a part of who you are and how people judge you.
I look forward to reading how she confronts the universal issues and travels her path to the future.
Terrill R.
A great series. I’ve been looking forward to the next book.