Interview with Amber Smith for Something Like Gravity

Something Like Gravity

by Amber Smith
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: June 18th 2019

Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, Young Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

For fans of Love, Simon and Eleanor and Park, a romantic and sweet novel about a transgender boy who falls in love for the first time—and how first love changes us all—from New York Times bestselling author Amber Smith.

Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start.

A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her.

But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds.

But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?

Can you briefly describe SOMETHING LIKE GRAVITY and their main characters?

Something Like Gravity is a story about falling in love for the first time and finding yourself in the process. It’s told across one summer, through the alternating points of view of Chris and Maia. Chris has recently come out as transgender and is grappling with his changing relationships with family and friends, while processing a trauma from his past. When Chris decides to leave home to visit an aunt for the summer, to get out from under the scrutiny of his parents, he meets Maia. Maia is still reeling from the recent death of her older sister and is trying to find her place in the world without her. Chris and Maia’s worlds look very different, but they are drawn to one another, as each are trying to figure out who they are going to become in the face of equally life-changing events. 

Who would you say is your favourite character from the story and why?

This is such a hard question – I don’t think I can choose a favorite between Chris and Maia! So instead of “favorite” I think I’ll say the character I most aspire to be more like is Chris. Don’t get me wrong, Chris definitely has flaws, like sometimes he has unrealistic expectations of other people, can be quick to judge, and tends to push himself too hard. But he has also been through some real tough sh*t, and no matter what happens he never loses himself or gives up hope. That is something that I relate to…in that I’m always striving to stay positive even when things are hard.

How did the story occur to you? Did you find inspiration anywhere?

There were a lot of different pieces of inspiration behind Something Like Gravity. Writing is always very therapeutic for me, and I found over the course of the last several years I’ve increasingly needed a place to address and process the recent backlash against the LGBTQ community (in the wake of tremendous progress, with marriage equality in the U.S.) As a queer person myself, it’s been so heart-wrenching to see the transphobia ramping up over the last several years. I also wanted to continue exploring grief and trauma in ways that are different from my previous books. But the thing that inspired me to turn Something Like Gravity into a love story is that my soul really needed to write about something that was equally as powerful as all of the difficult, painful topics I feel drawn to write about, and in this case, that something became a story about falling in love and finding hope, against all odds.

If you could choose one song to describe your book, which one would it be?

Just one? Okay, the pressure is on… Here goes: “At the Stars” by Better Than Ezra

If your book was going to be made into a movie, who would play your characters?

I have been pondering this question WAY too often for my own good over these past several months as Something Like Gravity has been becoming more of a reality every day, so I can say with total certainty that my ultimate dream team would be Elliot Fletcher as Chris and Katherine Langford as Maia.

Summer is here and we love to go out and enjoy the sun. What drink and place do you think will go with your book to have a perfect book date? 

Strawberry milkshakes at an old-fashioned ice cream shop (I didn’t even have to pause to think about that answer!)

Can you recommend your readers any other books in case they are left hungry for more once they finish SOMETHING LIKE GRAVITY?

Absolutely! All of these books share some common threads with Something Like Gravity in one way or another, and are excellent reads:

I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver

The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

What’s next for you?

I don’t think I’m allowed to reveal too much about what’s next, but I think it’s okay to say that I’m experimenting with some different formats like epistolary and verse. Challenging, but also really fun too!

Amber Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of the young adult novels The Way I Used to Be, The Last to Let Go, and Something Like Gravity. An advocate for increased awareness of gendered violence, as well as LGBTQ equality, she writes in the hope that her books can help to foster change and spark dialogue surrounding these issues. She grew up in Buffalo, New York, and now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina with her partner and their ever-growing family of rescued dogs and cats. You can find her online at AmberSmithAuthor.com.

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The Unofficial Book Blitz: The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer

Book Addicts!

We have the pleasure to be part of The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer Book Blitz organized by Xpresso Book Tours.

The Gravity Between Us 

Kristen Zimmer 

Publication date: October 17th 2013

Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

Where does friendship stop and love begin?

At just 19, Kendall Bettencourt is Hollywood’s hottest young starlet with the world at her feet – but behind the glamour and designer dresses is a girl who longs for normal.

Payton Taylor is Kendall’s best friend since childhood, and the one person who reminds her of who she really is – her refuge from the craziness of celebrity life.

With her career taking off, Kendall moves Payton to LA to help keep her sane. But Payton is hiding a secret that could make everything ten times worse. Because to her, Kendall is more than a best friend – she is the only girl that she has ever loved.

Just as they need each other more than ever, they’ll have to answer the question of where friendship stops and love begins? And find out whether the feelings they have can survive the mounting pressure of fame…

The Gravity Between Us is a daring, romantic, emotional story about friendship, love, and finding the courage to be yourself in a crazy world.

New Adult novel: recommended for 17+ due to mature themes and sexual content

CHAPTER ONE

Payton

Kendall is sitting on my bed playing with my laptop. I’m hovering in front of my closet, looking for my favorite Montclair State University sweatshirt. “I hate your hair,” I call to her over my shoulder. “Sorry, I couldn’t keep that in any longer.” I did notice right away that the reddish-purple tint of her new hair color made her blue eyes pop. Nonetheless, I don’t like it. I mean, what natural blonde ever wants to go auburn? Women drop hundreds of dollars at hair salons trying to attain the golden perfection she was born with. It’s ludicrous.

“It’s for my next role.” She laughs. “You could at least pretend to like it.”

“No, I can’t. And you shouldn’t either. Lawrence made you do it. I know you didn’t want to.”

“Of course I didn’t want to. You should have been there when he came to me with the idea. He was all like, ‘You absolutely have to do this. Don’t worry, it’ll be great.’ God, he sounded just like my mother. It took everything I had not to punch him in the throat.”

I chuckle at that. There’s a lot to be said about Kendall Bettencourt. She’s one of those people who were put on this earth so that the average human can give the word ‘beauty’ a definition. Between having the body of a Victoria’s Secret model and a face that should be immortalized in a Da Vinci painting, she never stood a chance at living her life in the shadows. It didn’t really come as much of a surprise that this girl—whose genetic makeup is, by no fault of her own, startlingly akin to that of a Greek goddess—would become one of Hollywood’s most sought-after up-and-comers. But my favorite thing about her is not her physical beauty or even the fact that she has genuine talent. It’s that she doesn’t take shit from anyone, including her legendary publicist, Lawrence Mackin.

“How did the Today Show go yesterday?” I wonder. “I didn’t catch it.”

“I didn’t even want to do it. I honestly felt like saying, ‘Well, Matt, I don’t think anyone should bother wasting their money on In Heaven’s Arms. It’s a total gagfest.’” She sticks her finger in her mouth and makes this half-retching, half-gurgling sound. “‘It’s all Ghost Girl meets Living Boy. Ghost Girl falls in love with Living Boy, Ghost Girl tries to figure out how she can be with Living Boy without inhabiting a rotting corpse, which is sure to be a major turn-off to Living Boy. Blah Blah Blah.’”

I take a seat next to her on the bed. “Funny. If it’s so horrible, what the hell possessed you to star in it?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I figured I couldn’t sit around waiting for an awesome script to come my way. By the time someone writes a strong, intelligent, independent, twenty something female lead, I’d be too damn old to play her. Besides, everyone and their mother read the book it’s based on. James thought it would really put me on the map. I know he’s one of the best agents around, but I still can’t believe he was right! It was such a piece of crap book, you can imagine how much shittier the movie adaptation is.”

“So, we won’t be going to see it tonight then?”

“Not unless you want me to upchuck violently in a public place. That would be a perfect headline for The Inquirer! ‘Movie Star Visits Home Town, Vomits All Over Friends and Former Classmates.’”

I’m laughing so hard now, I’m afraid I might pee myself. Oh man, I’ve missed her so much. “We don’t have to go to the movies, but we should do something fun. Otherwise, I’m just going to sit here obsessing over the sixty-four bars I have to write by Tuesday for my Piano Theory class.”

“I don’t care what we do. You know I’m leaving for a shoot next week. I have no idea when I’ll be able to make it home again. The only reason I came home this weekend is because I was afraid I was forgetting what my best friend looks like.”

I cannot argue that. The last time I saw her was around the Fourth of July. A few years ago it would have been unthinkable to go three months without seeing each other.

“Let’s go to the Grind House,” she says. “For some reason I’ve been craving their terrible coffee.”

         “Sure, as long as you make sure to put those hideous things on your face.” I point to the metal-framed sunglasses sitting atop her head. “Otherwise, it’ll be a mob scene. Everyone will be tripping all over themselves to meet you.”

“Yeah right,” she says. “Everyone around here knows me, Payton. It’s not like I’m Angelina Jolie or someone cool like that.” She throws me the keys to the sleek, silver Beamer she rented. “You’re driving. I can’t stand the potholes around here.”

The Gravity Between Us from Kristen_Zimmer on 8tracks Radio.

Q: The Gravity Between Us is a great title – where did that come from? 

A: Thank you! I went through three titles before deciding on this one. Kendall actually says it in chapter six, “It’s like there’s gravity between us, like she’s the only thing anchoring me to the world, keeping me from floating off into the upper stratosphere and being lost in space.” I knew I had my title the second I wrote that line. 

Q: What was the hardest part of writing The Gravity Between Us? 

A: I often write late at night, so I’m usually beyond tired when I have to get up early the next morning. I’d say that’s the hardest part of writing in general. 

Q: Despite half of the book being set in Hollywood, and one of the protagonists being an A-list movie star, your characters are very much normal girls – what came first for you, the setting or the characters? 

A: The setting came first. I knew from the get go that this story was going to be about fame and the challenges that come with celebrity life. 

Q: Your descriptions of celebrity life and designer dresses seem so real… do you have any real-life Hollywood connections that you’re not telling us about? 

A: Ah! I think I’ll just continue to not tell you about it, keep everyone guessing. 

Q: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work? 

A: Oh god, I have an ever-growing list of favorite authors; it’s so impossible to choose only one. I really love Margaret Atwood. Malinda Lo and John Marsden are also on the top of the list. They all have such beautiful, descriptive prose, even though they’re quite different stylistically. 

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors? 

A: The Gravity Between Us is my first novel, and it took me a very long while to get myself to sit down and start writing it; my life always seemed too hectic to fit it in. It’s easy to say, “I really don’t have the time, between work/ my children/ school/ etc…” So, if I had one piece of advice to give to other writers, it would be this: Just do it. Make the time, even if you can only afford to give yourself an hour a day before you pass out from exhaustion. The end result will be so worth it.

Missy Peregrym as Payton

Juno Temple as Kendall

Kristen is a New Jersey-based freelance writer and editor. A member of the International Women’s Writing Guild, she holds a B.A. in English with a Concentration in Creative Writing from Montclair State University. She also studied Music Performance with a focus on percussion instruments at Five Towns College. When not busy writing or burying her nose in books of the YA/New Adult fiction persuasion, Kristen enjoys spending time with her family, which includes two adorable Black Lab mixes and a very patient Better Half, and making electronic music. The Gravity Between Us, a contemporary New Adult Romance, is her first novel.

Win (1) ebook copy of The Gravity Between Us by Kristen Zimmer (INT)

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Hover (The Taking #2) by Melissa West

Hover (The Taking #2) 

Melissa West

352 pages

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Release Day: August 13th, 2013

Ari Alexander is now in a new world. Loge is nothing like Earth. With a heartless and brutal leader who seems to be everywhere, Ari is more in danger than she was in Earth. And knowing that the person she loved betrayed her, is unbearable.

Living with Jackson, not knowing If she can trust him, and trying to survive Zeus' tortures, Ari finds herself in the middle of another mission. And this time is not only to save humans, but logers as well. Because in Loge, not everything is what Ari thought it would be or what at first sight seems.

When all they need is a spark to start a rebellion, Ari's willing to provide a bonfire to safe the people she loves and the ones that are in Zeus' power.

Before starting our review, we have to thank Entangled Publishing for offering this wonderful opportunity. Because we not only could read more about Ari before the release of the book, but we got a sneak peak in Melissa West's world.

Book Addicts, there's only one word to define this book: wow. This story is not just amazing, wonderful and brilliant, is something beyond that. If you loved the first book, Gravity, you're going to feel the pull stronger this time. Because this story is not about surviving anymore, this new story is about surviving in a new, strange and dangerous world while trying to ignite a rebellion.

Following the story that left is with an ache in our hearts, Melissa West keeps the story of Ari Alexander when she arrives at Loge. Not able to survive anymore in Earth after humans releasing a dangerous neurotoxin to all humans who had been healed by the Ancients, Ari finds herself lonely and lost for the first time.

We loved how Jackson, in the first book, described Loge, but now, we actually have a sneak peak about this new world, its culture and how the Ancients truly are. Because if one thing we have learned after reading this book is that nothing is what it seems to be at first.

In this second book, Ari is struggling between trusting Jackson or not. After not telling her he's actually Jackson Castillo, she's not willing to give her heart and trust again like nothing happened before. First, she'll learn about him. We understand her behavior. She's in a new world, with people that she knows hate her and with the boy that betray her. Or so she thinks. Is a rational behavior to not trust the boy, although we were dying every single moment that they were not together. If you thought Ari was mature and determined, in this book is even more mature and determined. She learns a lot in Loge and finds friendships among the Logers. It's really nice to get to know this new Ari, survival/determined-to-kill-Zeus type. It bring the action that we were hoping to see in this book.

As for Jackson, what can we say? We love him. We loved him in Earth even before reading about the betrayal, so what's not to like to the Loge version? Well, at first he acts a little bit distant and it's shown to have different personalities: one with Ari, another in the RES training facilities and another when he's afraid of Mami. And who's Mami? Jackson's grandmother. Sweet, right?

It's true that the boy has issues to work out, but it's obvious that Ari is the solution. She's the key to soothe his worries and they do a great team together. It'd be a shame to not let them be together, not only emotionally speaking.

We also meet new characters like Vill, Jackson's friend and housemate, Mami, Jackson's grandmother or Emmy, a healer from Loge who really helps Ari. We get a glimpse of other characters that you may know from the first book, like Gretchen, who's devastated by Ari's absence and Law, who has changed A LOT! (We officially hate him).

We have live in Earth with Ari's story and now is the turn of Jackson's world from Ari's point of view. With great descriptions, incredible characters and a breathtaking new plot, we are transported to Loge where people are afraid of their leader, who has become insatiable of power. The need of survival is intensified and the only way Ari can succeed and safe them all is by getting help from the logers. And what better option that starting a rebellion?

The end was even more breathtaking than the first book. To a heart attack level of action, I-can't-believe-this-just-happened and OMG. Yes, that's the only way of explaining the end. We didn't see it coming and were as shocked as the main character. I'm officially dying to read the third book after this shocking end. 

Overall, Hover brings the best of the survival instinct of The Hunger Games and the incredible and unpredictable world of Divergent. Why we say this? Because while you read the book you can feel and almost touch the need of staying alive to safe the innocent people, in a new, unknown world and with the repression of an evil leader. 

On the other hand, you read the anxiety of the main character of trying to safe everyone even if it means getting herself killed. We also see some kind of tortures that the Divergent fans may recognize.

If you are a fan of The Hunger Games and Divergent, this is a must read book.With a touch of extraterrestrial sci-fi, Ms. West brings the survival and the rebellion to another level, without losing the Hover nature, with the unique writing style only Melissa West could provide to this story, and remaining true to the main character's feelings: her need to save the world and Jackson.

This would be a more than five gorjuss dolls, but our ranking ends in five. So with a well deserved five gorjuss dolls, we say to you, Book Addicts, that is not a read to miss. And If you have not had the change to start this shocking and awesome series, what are you waiting for? Let the Ancients enter your home. And remember, once's they have been in your life, don't ever peek.

Crystal Reed as Ari

Chris Zylka as Jackson

What do you think, Book Addicts?

      

Melissa West

She lives in a tiny suburb of Atlanta, GA with her husband and daughter. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L'Engle. 

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and an M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.