Hush Giveaway

Recently my blog has received over 150 followers and I am so grateful for this, I love reading through all your comments and everyone's own blogs. I could spend hours of my day doing it. As a reward for my lovely followers I wanted to do a give-away, I want to do a another one to celebrate this. I am thinking a Christmas style one, what would you all like to see?

This is my very first give-away and I am super excited for you all, I have been planning this for a long time, and as some of you may have remembered wrote about something exciting happening to my blog - well this is it! Recently I reviewed a really awesome book called Hush, written by Stacey Campbell. If you still haven't gone out and read this, now is your chance, I urge you to do so because it is such a great book. You can find the book here.

"For small-town girl Blakely Henry, any hope of finding her biological parents died when she stopped believing in fairy tales and Disney princes. That is, until she spots her boarding school's new British exchange student, Max Ryder, staring at her.

Why would a boy who looks like he stepped out of the pages of a magazine be looking at her?

Because Max knows something Blakely doesn't."

The book follows a young eighteen year old and his fascination with reporting, it brings him on an exchange program in Canada where he meets the mesmerising, Blakely. The two are drawn to each other and not just because of a dark secret surrounding Blakely and her family.  

Because Stacey is such a fabulous author, she thought it would be a great idea to collaborate and give one lucky winner the chance to win a signed copy of Hush! Super exciting. She even agreed to answer some of my questions too.

Who is Blakely really?

The character of Blakely is loosely based on our oldest daughter. I wish there was a real Max for her, but at this point she is still looking.

Where did you get the idea for Hush?

Every night, we gather around the table for dinner. On one such evening, several years ago, we were discussing the British royal family. “Well, there’s both Tudor and Middleton on my side of the family,” my husband informed our girls.

“Does that mean I could be a princess?” a much younger Blakely asked. “Only if several hundred people died first,” I told her. “But what if that happened? What if there was some sort of big family reunion and they all died?”

And the idea was born...

Do you find it difficult making your characters so believable/ giving them depth?

First of all, THANK YOU!! What a great compliment. I try really hard to make my characters believable. I fashion them out of traits I see in real life, friends, people in coffee houses, my kids and their friends, etc.… No one is really safe around me. You never know when you might turn up on the pages of one of my books. 

How would you describe your own writing style?

Natural. I try to write simply. We all have so much going on in our lives. I really want to create books that feel like a fun mini vacation. Especially for students who have so much serious reading to do already. 

What is your own favourite book?

Wow, That is a really tough question for me. I’ll pick up around ninety books each year. If they catch me in the first 20 pages I’ll read them. If they don’t I’ll put them down and move on to something else. Life is too short for bad wine, bad chocolate and a book you just can’t get into.  Last night I finished my 72nd book of the year. I have shelves of favorite books. 

On your blog, which can be found here, you revealed that Hush is going to be made into a movie; do you have any preferences of who you would like to see playing your main characters, Blakely and Max?

No not really. The producer really wants actors and actresses who want to be part of Hush the Movie and not just in it for the paycheck. She has an amazing vision of what she wants to do. Every time I meet with her I have to pinch myself. Indieflix and Kanbar entertainment, the companies that picked up Hush, are pretty amazing companies. I have complete faith in their judgment. We are still very early in the process though.

I have definite ideas about what the characters look like, but I am always up for suggestions too. Check out my Pinterest page under Lakeview novels here. I am thinking of putting together boards for each of the main characters soon as well.

Personally being from Scotland, I loved the way the characters were linked to the country, is this something that will follow in the series?

Yes! My husband’s family is from Scotland. You guys live in the most amazing place. I swear there are plot lines behind every corner.  We just don’t have that kind of history here in the US. Every time I am in the UK I swear my brain goes into overload. I know I will mess up with phrases and descriptions but know it comes from the heart and I am doing my best. I am hoping to concentrate most of book four, Silence, in Scotland. I might have to get you and some of your readers to help me out with the first couple of drafts to make sure I get it right!

Did you imagine your novel could be so successful?

I am afraid to call myself successful. I am fairly superstitious. Everyday I face insecurities like everyone else. Will people like my stories? Will they sell? What else can I do to make my books better? I am truly thrilled that readers are enjoying what I’ve written and I hope I can continue entertaining them for years to come. I have three releases in 2014. Whisper; book two in the Lakeview series. Arrgh, a turn of the century swashbuckling pirate yarn for ages 7-10.  And Sock Monster, a picture book about what happens when you don’t pick up clothes when asked. So cross your fingers for me.

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Good luck guys, and don't forgot to tell your friends!
Blog soon little ones.