Spotlight & Giveaway: THE WRITE OFF by Kara McDowell

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Kara McDowell to HJ!

Hi Kara McDowell and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, THE WRITE OFF!

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

The Write Off is a lovers-to-rivals-to-lovers story about Mars, a bestselling author recovering from scandal, and West, her ex-boyfriend, professional rival, and the man who inspired her beloved book character. As they’re forced together during a weekend book festival, they have three days to unravel their complicated history and decide if it’s too late to change the ending.
 

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

“Of all the things he’s ever done, making me fall in love with him when I was nineteen might have been the worst.”
“I’d have to tear down the very foundation of myself and rebuild, brick by brick of wishful thinking, for even the chance of ridding you from my psyche.”

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• The book is set on my old college campus! I went to the University of Arizona and returned for the Tucson Festival of Books as an author, just like the main characters.
• My biggest musical inspiration while writing was the song “Silver Springs” by Fleetwood Mac. The line “You’ll never get away from the sound of the woman that loved you” is especially meaningful to the story.
• Other songs on The Write Off playlist are “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift and “About You” by The 1975.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Right from the start, they each think the other is brilliant. Their shared love of writing and admiration for each other first sparks their attraction, and later fuels their rivalry.

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

I did all three while writing the climax of the book! Mars and West get a flat tire and drive into a ditch during a rainstorm and are finally forced to confront a decade’s worth of feelings.

“Respectfully, I’m tired of talking.” West drops my wrists and wrenches the back door open. “Get in,” he demands in a hoarse voice. It’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s a torch pressed against sensitive skin. A swallowed match. I’m smoking, melting, turning to molten lava. I put my heel up on the running board and lift myself up into the back seat. He sees something on my face that makes him smirk.
“What?”
He shakes his head and puts his hands up on the doorframe. When he leans in for a kiss, I hold a finger to his lips.
“Tell me.”
He presses his lips together, still fighting a smile. “In the past, I’ve asked you what you want. Now I know you like it better when I tell you.” He breaks into a wicked grin.

Readers should read this book….

If they like the emotional devastation of a Taylor Swift song like “loml” with a happy ending that feels earned.

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

I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say about my next book, but I’m so excited about it! It features a family curse, a wedding, a mystery, and a man in a kilt.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway:  A print copy of THE WRITE OFF by Kara McDowell 

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Would you be flattered or mad if your ex based a book character off of you? Would you read the book?

Book Info:

Two rival authors are forced to confront a decade of love and heartbreak on the campus where it all started in this captivating debut romance by Kara McDowell.

It’s been thirteen years since Mars Darling first met West Emerson on a bench outside their writing class. What started out as a friendly rivalry turned into a best friendship and then, for a brief time, a romance. Now over a decade later, as Mars stands at their college campus as a once-esteemed YA fantasy author, ready to take on a book festival, she comes face to face with West—the muse behind her infamous trilogy’s heartthrob hero, the man who betrayed her in the worst way.

Mars is determined not to let her comeback tour be ruined by the fact that West is also at the festival as an author. But the longer they are on the campus that holds so many shared memories, the more time they have to untangle their past, and Mars starts to question if maybe it’s not only her writing career that deserves a second chance.

Told in two unfolding timelines—Mars and West’s frenzied college days where they grapple with their undeniable connection, and their tension-filled present of heartache and familiar yearning—this charming romance shows that while you can’t rewrite the past, it’s never too late to chase your happily ever after and get back the one that got away.
 
 

Meet the Author:

Kara McDowell writes romantic comedies for teens and adults including The Prince & the Apocalypse, One Way or Another, This Might Get Awkward, and others. She lives with her husband and three sons in Mesa, Arizona, where she divides her time between writing, baking, and wishing for rain.