Interview with Gracie and her best friend Cameron

Today we have a sneak peek at two of the main characters in For the Love of Gracie:

Interviewer:  So, tell us a little about yourselves.

Gracie:  I'll go first, I guess. I'm Gracie Walker.  I'm in college and working part time for a bookstore café.  I have two roommates, Angel and Mary Jane.  We live in Nashville, TN.

Cameron:  < fakes a snore >   Boring! Gracie, first you know I like to be the center of attention.  I guess, since this is about you, I'll allow it this time.  I'm Cameron McIntosh and I am the best thing that ever happened to Gracie Walker. From the young age of five I glided into her life and made it the fabulousness that it is today.  I take credit for the beautiful girl in front of us.

Gracie: < laughs then rolls her eyes >  Excuse Cameron, he's a bit dramatic.  Everything he said is true though. He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

Cameron:  Aww, so sweet! So more about me now? I have my own apartment, though I spend most of my time at Gracie's.  The girls and I have been inseparable since high school.  They've had my back more than once.  They wouldn’t have made it without my fashion sense or awesomeness either, of course.

Interviewer: The title is For the Love of Gracie, what is your story about Gracie?

Gracie: < twiddles her thumbs nervously > It's about making assumptions. It's about ignoring what's right in front of you.  It's about stereotypes.  It's about wrong choices.  It's also about friendship, love, loyalty, forgiveness, and second chances.

Cameron: < clears throat loudly >

Gracie:  Oh and of course a lot of it is about Cameron

Cameron: < feigns shock > Seriously? Moi?  Please, Gracie I don't like a lot of fuss.

Gracie: < laughs uncontrollably >  Right!

Interviewer:  Tell us a little about some of your other friends, Hudson James and Ashton Collins?

Cameron: Ugh, let's skip over Hudson James. That guy is as far from fab as they come

Gracie:  Give him a break, Cam.  Hudson isn't a bad guy.  He gets stressed at times, that's all.  He isn't great around crowds so he has given my friends the wrong impression.  Hudson and I spend a lot of time together…

Cameron: Yeah, horizontally! < Cameron interjects >

Gracie: < Nudges Cameron with elbow >  We'll stay off the Hudson subject for now.  Ashton is a good friend of mine.  We have a lot of fun together.  We like to laugh, hang out, he's like a protective big brother I guess.

Cameron: < Laughs >  Big brother? Right!  You're totally hot for him!

Gracie:  < desperate for a subject change > Do you have any more questions for us? 

Interviewer:  Just one. What would you say is the best thing about your story?

Gracie: That's easy, the friendships.  I'm truly lucky to have the amazing friends that I do.  Especially this guy.  < leans over and kisses Cameron >  Cameron and I joke around a lot, but he is my rock.

Cameron:  < sniffs >  In all sincerity, I love this girl. Without her, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I wouldn’t have been able to be myself.  When I 'came out' Gracie never acted any different with me.  In fact, she's been my biggest supporter and even my wing man at times.  Enough of the smush talk, let's talk about the man meat that is Ashton again!

Gracie: < laughs > and that is our cue to leave.   

For the Love of Gracie

Prologue

From the outside looking in, it can seem a person has everything they need for happiness.  The age old cliché of 'don't judge a book by its cover' is unconsciously ignored by many.  We don’t all go through life meaning to judge people by looks or stereotypes, though inevitably we all do at some point, whether we realize it or not.   

Someone may have several friends surrounding them at all times, yet can feel utterly alone.  Life isn’t always perfect. Regrets are inevitable for most, some are greater than others.  We go through life hoping that it will be easy and that we'll be happy and never have anything bad happen to us.  For some, that is reality and they are the lucky few. For others, they have to fight for every ounce of happiness they gain. 

Blurb

Gracie Walker doesn't have much luck with finding Prince Charming. Hudson James enters her life, the bad boy who gives her a reason to hope that he is Mr. Right. Gracie's problem is, she doesn’t fall for the right guys. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee where the nightlife is always hopping. She spends her days in college and her nights hanging out with her closest friends at local bars. Her best friend Cameron is her rock. Cameron introduces his friend Ashton into Gracie's life and it changes everything. Ashton manages to make her fall head over heels for him, without even knowing it. He's the perfect guy. He's sweet, charming, funny, and unbelievably gorgeous. They have so much in common, including the fact that they are both attracted to men. Gracie is determined to make things work with Hudson and forget her feelings for Ashton. That's easier said than done. An event happens and it changes her life forever. Cameron struggles with his inability to protect Gracie from her own choices in life. Ashton blames himself for not noticing the signs. Who will be the one to pick her up when she falls? Will Gracie be able to have a normal life? What lengths will someone go to…For the Love of Gracie?

Coming August 2013

Add to your Goodreads TBR list: 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17884219-for-the-love-of-gracie

Risen: Christine James

blurb: Witness the Beginning...

               

                A fun night in a small town carnival will change Erin’s life forever with a simple visit to a bizarre and mysterious fortune teller. Scared to death by what the haggard woman reveals, Erin quickly

flees and quite literally collides with Angelo, a mysterious and captivating carnival worker. Later

that night, he appears in her dreams but he’s not the only one visiting her slumber. Evil is

lurking on the edge of the shadows and it's coming for her. Angelo is not what he

seems, but then again no one ever is. Not even Erin.

                Loyalties are tested and the lines of friendship begin to blur as long hidden truths

come to light and fate bears down upon them all. Everyone has secrets but when

some turn out to be more than heart wrenching, Erin has decide who she can

trust.

                Can Erin deal with the harsh past that Angelo has been harboring or will it prevent her from doing what she's been chosen to do? 

Author Bio:

Coming from rural Southern Missouri, Christine James is a true country girl, right down to her pink Justin cowboy boots and love for big, loud and muddy trucks. Christine and her husband coach a little league baseball team. She loves camping, fishing, swimming, and too many other things to list. Also she is somewhat of a movie nerd. While she writes a lot of romance in her books, romance movies aren't really her thing. She likes to watch the action thrillers, scary movies, and anything suspense. She loves a good historical romance! Also she is completely fascinated by all things pirate. Her love of writing began when she was in the fifth grade, when her first story was a 'scary' story. She’s always been fascinated with books, and rarely without one.

Christine’s family is the most important thing to her. Her parents and their marriage have had the largest influence in her life. They taught her values that Christine still believes in and firmly rooted in, and if she achieves to be half of the parent they were to her, that would be amazing. She has three younger brothers that she considers her best friends as well as two fantastic sister-in-laws, and one soon to be sisters-in-law she adores. She has the most INCREDIBLE in-laws any person could ever hope to have. They are truly amazing and inspiring people. There are no dreaded or horrible in-law stories here, nor will there be, because she loves them.

Christine and her husband also have two sons that are the center of their world. She is blessed and fortunate to say she gets to stay at home with them. She has been married to her husband for almost eleven years and is proud to call him her biggest fan. He's been the wall that held her up when she felt she couldn't go on. He's picked her up and dusted her off when she was discouraged. With each rejection letter she received he pushed her on. He's laughed with her and many times laughed at her! He's not only her husband, but her best friend.

The thing Christine loves the most, outside of writing and her family, is making people laugh. People come and go from our lives, touching and changing us in all kinds of ways. She wants to be the type of person that touches someone’s life in a positive way, even if it is by writing a book. She believes that if only a quarter of the people in the world would loosen up and smile, it would be a better place.

Never in her dreams did she believe her dreams would come true having always been a hopeless dreamer and this goes to show everyone that no dream is impossible.

Author links:
http://www.christinejames28.blogspot.com/

Christine James-Author

https://www.facebook.com/ChristineJameswrites

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2951405.Christine_James