Blogger Birthday Bash-Guest Post: Jennifer Bosworth on Struck + Giveaway

What's up everyone!

Today is another day of The Blogger Birthday! And Today we are celebrating Struck by Jennifer Bosworth! Struck had it's birthday on May 8th. So if you have not grabbed a copy of Struck yet you must get one as soon as possible! You won't regret it! So check out this awesome and fun guest post with the author, Jennifer Bosworth. Remember to comment so you get an entry in the giveaway!

   

Ah, May. I couldn’t ask for a better month for Struck’s birthday. To me, May has always been the month that holds the most promise. You can taste summertime right around the corner, but you haven’t lost (or wasted) any of it yet. And that’s how my book birthday feels, too. It’s a time that’s full of promise and potential, but there’s worry mixed in there, too. I worry that I’m going to get too caught up in the business side of writing and promotion, and forget what really matters . . . that the story I wanted so badly to tell is finally going out into the world. It feels more like this book is grown up and going off to college than that it’s just being born.



Struck was actually born four years ago, right about the time I was starting to feel like I was never going to figure out how to write a book that would actually sell. But when the idea for Struck hit me––a story about a girl addicted to lightning––I knew it was the one. It felt like falling in love. You just know when you’ve got the idea that’s going to stick.

But coming up with an idea is just the beginning. In a way, it can be the easiest part of creating a book, because (in my experience) it doesn’t require any real work. Ideas often come out of nowhere. If I try to come up with an idea, that’s when my creativity dries up. But the writing of a book . . . now that’s the hard part.

I knew I wanted to put my title, Struck, to good use in the book. I planned for a protagonist who was a human lightning rod, a girl who had been struck hundreds of times throughout her life; I knew I wanted to set the story in Los Angeles, after the city had been struck by an earthquake; I knew I wanted my antagonist, Prophet, to claim that God was going to strike down upon the wicked people of the city; and I knew I wanted my protagonist to be love struck by a boy she couldn’t trust. But how to put those elements together and make them into a cohesive story . . .

That was hard. It was infuriating. There were moments––countless moments––when I didn’t think I could do it. But I always came back to that original inspiration. A girl who didn’t just attract lightning, but who was addicted to it. Even though the lightning hurt her and sometimes hurt those around her, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting it. I related to this character, because that’s what it’s like to need to write your story. It’s a strange sort of addiction, wonderful and terrible at the same time.

But once a book is written and rewritten and copy edited and polished, it’s not about the author anymore. It’s about all those potential readers out there. It’s about you guys. Now let’s get to the celebrating! Happy birthday, Struck!

Giveaway

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~Fishy >O