Heart in a Box on Tour, plus the story behind the story

Heart in a Box is on Tour with Chapter by Chapter! Below are all of the stops. There are guest posts, playlists, interviews and other fun things, including a giant Rafflecopter full of prizes! As always, the links will go live as the blogs post. I'm proud and grateful to say that Heart in a Box has been on the Amazon top 100 in Teen and Alternative Family for four + weeks and is also an Amazon "Hot New Release." FYI, buy links are on the right side of this blog.

A bit about Heart in a Box's journey...

One main theme is that the girl, Joss has a pot-addled mom who owns a bong shop. I first took this to an editor in 2005. She swiftly rejected it, saying, "Who would want to read about a mom who smokes weed all of the time?" Well, apparently MANY teens want to read about alcoholic parents, and families in crisis, right? This is simply a new permutation. Perhaps its time has come, what with the legalization of pot in so many states. Of course, many folks do need medical marijuana and I'm not morally against it at all. I'm a believer in freedom to live how you see fit. But I worry about what this will unleash for certain vulnerable people. So, this aspect of the story is really about how one negotiates with a tormented family member and still tries to stay close.

Heart in a Box is also about identity, art, and all of the inherent beauty in New York City and Brooklyn's diverse cultural scene. It's hopeful and peppery and also has a sweet romance. If you decide to take a chance on it, I hope you love it as much as I did when I created it--and Joss Olstad.

Enter the Rafflecopter below. The prizes include: 
A $40 gift card, 2 hand-painted heart-boxes with secret treasure inside, a signed paperback of Dorianna by Catherine Stine, a signed paperback of Heart in a Box by Catherine Stine, a great YA ebook pack of novels: Tiger Lily by Wende Dikec, When Sorrows Come by Katie M John, and Time Runs Away with Her by Christine Potter.

Week One

January 18            Cover2Cover – Interview
January 18            Njkinny's Review of Books & Stuff – Review
January 18            Illuminite Caliginosus – Dream cast
January 18         Susan Heim on Writing – Spotlight/Promo
January 19            The Avid Book Collector – Ten writing lessons learned!
January 19            Painted Words Reviews – Review         
January 20            Hidden Worlds Books – mini-excerpts & feature
January 20            M Pax Dimensions in Fiction- Heart Excerpt plus M Pax's critter love
January 20            Driftless – Spotlight/Promo
January 21            Diana’s Book Reviews – Guest post on Why Readers Rule!
January 21            Cassandra M’s Place – Spotlight/Promo
January 21            5 Girls Book Reviews – Review
January 21            Reader Girls – Spotlight/Excerpt       
January 21            Ogitchida Kwe’s Book Blog – Spotlight/Promo/Excerpts
January 22            WS Momma Readers Nook – Joss Olstad character spotlight
January 22            Go Read A Book – Review

Week Two
January 25            A Dream Within A Dream – Spotlight/Excerpt
January 25           Books and Ladders – Guest Post - Why I Write
January 25            The Page Unbound – Spotlight
January 26            Book-Keeping – Review
January 26            Chapter by Chapter - Interview
January 27            Wishful Endings – Spotlight/Excerpt
January 27            Ellie Garratt – Guest Post
January 27            BooksChatter – Interview
January 28            Booklovercircumspect4 – Guest Post - 5 Influential Books
January 29            Star Crossed Reviews – New Excerpts!
January 29            Lisa T. Cresswell – Guest Post on personal themes & inspirations
January 29            Becca’s Book Affair – Review
January 29            Books Direct – Review

RAFFLECOPTER:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Heart in a Box cover, launch party & preorder link

Hi peeps,
I am super-excited to show everyone the cover of my new YA contemporary romance Heart in a Box. I have an animated version, too. Also, the official blurb, a party invite to my Facebook launch event, plus, most exciting: the 1-click PREORDER is LIVE.

Here's the cover and the blurb...

Each heartbeat leads Joss closer a shocking truth that will change everything.

Joss Olstad has finally talked her clingy, stoner mom into springing Joss from her stifling private school and into the labyrinth of a prestigious Brooklyn public high. Searching for “a way out, a way in, and something I can’t even put into words, yet” Joss longs to find missing pieces of herself she lost when the father she never met died on a faraway road in India. All she has of him is a painted box he made. Joss is also itching to escape the hippie hell of her mother’s bong shop, and the hypocrisy that is her life. With her honey skin, and long brown hair, she passes for white, even though she’s half Indian. This culturally diverse school will be her chance to find out who she really is.

Day one, and Joss is terrified by how different things are. Has she made a horrible mistake? Before long, she gets into the pace. Her sights are set on her own “Bobcat in black denim”, the tall, handsome Will Torres. She’s met Katya too, a popular glam queen, who’s a blast to hang out with. She’s even joined an Indian Culture Club, who invites her to live music clubs. Life is perfect!

Or is it? Her friend, Katya starts acting like a royal slut, her mom’s flinging insults and lies at her, and the Club girls are pressuring Joss to reveal her sketchy pedigree. Joss finds herself spinning stories about her past to fill in the holes. Even Will becomes leery of her. And the Personal Iconography class that Joss signed on for because kids claimed the teacher was “nuts in a good way” is the toughest class she’s ever taken. In it, Joss starts to make her own, heart-shaped boxes, with private messages in them. They help guide her forward. Not only is she forced to figure out who she is beyond the “nice girl” she always hid behind, her search leads her to the fringes of the outer boroughs, to a scary industrial section of Queens, and a shocking family secret that changes everything.

Preorder Heart in a Box here.

Put Heart in a Box on your Goodreads TBR list.

Come to my Heart in a Box Facebook launch party on Tuesday, December 8th (3:30 pm to 10:30 pm EST). We'll have tons of games, giveaways & guest authors, who write YA & sweet NA, both contemporary & fantasy. Join here.

Want to see the animated cover? Click here to view it.