Welcome to our stop on the Home Run Blog Tour for Miranda Kenneally's Stealing Parker. Today we share a few questions Miranda answered for us.
About this author: Growing up in Tennessee, Miranda Kenneally dreamed of becoming an Atlanta Brave, a country singer (cliché!), or a UN interpreter. Instead she writes, and works for the State Department in Washington, D.C., where George W. Bush once used her shoulder as an armrest. Miranda loves Twitter, Star Trek and her husband.
OUaT: Welcome Miranda to OUaT! Why or how did you choose or know that Parker would be a softball player?
-- I played softball for eight years as a kid. I wasn't as good as Parker (I sucked, really), but I truly loved the game. When I got to high school, the softball coach wasn't a nice person and was really hard on the team, so my parents wouldn't let me play. I ended up playing soccer instead. I always missed softball, though, and I wanted to create a character who loved softball as much as I did.
OUaT: In your books so far your main female characters all play sports, is this expect in all your future books? or it just happen by chance when you wrote Catching Jordan and Stealing Parker?
-- I expect girls in my future books to be active, but maybe not big athletes like Jordan and Parker. In my next book, THINGS I CAN'T FORGET, my main character Kate is a former soccer player who hurt her knee during a game. Kate meets a guy named Matt who loves running, so he helps her get her knee back in shape during daily runs. In my fourth book which is probably going to be called RACING SAVANNAH, my main character is training to be a horse jockey while dealing with an on-again off-again relationship with the horse farm owner's sexy son.
OUaT: Stealing Parker gets a bit steamy at times, were you afraid it might be too much for YA?
-- Honestly, yes. I knew it was a lot when my mother-in-law wondered how my parents reacted to me showing sexual scenes in my books. I was so embarrassed! BUT, in high school, everyone I knew was fooling around, or wanted to fool around, so steamy scenes are just realistic in my opinion. However, my friends and I in high school struggled a lot without how far we should/could go with guys. I don't think that's changed. I want girls who read my books to know that all decisions about sex and getting physical with guys are personal choices, and that they shouldn't let anyone dictate their actions. I have to say my next book, THINGS I CAN'T FORGET, is probably steamier than CATCHING JORDAN and STEALING PARKER combined, and I am very worried about if people will think it's too much for YA. It's probably more New Adult-ish than YA, honestly.
OUaT: What would be the top 3 books Parker would have read and love lately?
-- Well, Parker is a voracious reader of romance novels, so I would imagine she's recently read Sherry Thomas' new book RAVISHING THE HEIRESS. I imagine Parker would love Huntley Fitzpatrick's book MY LIFE NEXT DOOR and Tammara Webber's EASY.
OUaT: Can you describe twitter style in 140 characters or less your book?
Parker looks for love, answers, and acceptance in the wrong places after her mom leaves her family for another woman. + Hot Kissing Scenes!
Author: Miranda Kenneally
Reading Level: YA
Released: October 1st 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Available: Amazon
• Barnes & NobleReview: Yara's
Summary: (from goodreads) Red-hot author Miranda Kenneally hits one out of the park in this return to Catching Jordan's Hundred Oaks High.
After her family's scandal rocks their conservative small town, 17-year-old Parker Shelton goes overboard trying to prove that she won't turn out like her mother: a lesbian. The all-star third-baseman quits the softball team, drops 20 pounds and starts making out with guys--a lot. But hitting on the hot new assistant baseball coach might be taking it a step too far...especially when he starts flirting back.
Thanks to Sourcebooks we have one copy of Stealing Parker up for grabs to US/CA residents. Make sure to read the terms and conditions in the rafflecopter. Good Luck!
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Oooh, hot kissing scenes... must get this book! Thanks for the giveaway! :)
ReplyDeleteJessica @ Thoughts At One In The Morning
~The Book Love Giveaway Hop Sign Ups~
Reading Miranda's answers in every interview is so amusing. I love her witty answers. And so anticipating her next books!
ReplyDeleteParker sounds like a great girl with heavy issues--not necessarily her own. I think this book would stir a lot of memories for me of those days. I was a pretty good athlete, especially in softball, but I didn't play in high school for a reason very close to Miranda's. I miss it too.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm reading Dear Teen Me. It's amazing and so well put together. I want to thank Miranda for this book. Every teen needs to read it. I certainly could have used something like it back then.
Looking forward to checking out Stealing Parker. Thanks, Miranda and OUaT!
I still haven't read Catching Jordan, even though it's been on TBR for a longtime now.
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