Welcome to the Blog Tour for Aftermath by Terri Blackstock, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Title: Aftermath
Author: Terri Blackstock
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: May 11, 2021
Genre: Christian Romantic Suspense/Thriller
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | IndieBound | Christianbook | Bookbub
Welcome Terri! Thank you for
taking the time to answer my questions and allow my readers a chance to get to
know you and your newest book Aftermath.
I always like to start these interviews the same way with something fun to
break the ice: can you share 5 random facts about yourself that we will NOT
find in your bio?
1) My husband and I are raising our eight year old grandson.
You started writing at a very young age. Can you share when you first realized that this was something you were meant to do?
When I was in seventh grade,
I wrote a poem that my mother sent in to the local newspaper, and they
published it. After that, I knew that I was going to be a writer.
You spent your first 12 years traveling as an Air Force kid. As a military
spouse, I have found that our experience as a military family has allowed us to
meet quite a lot of interesting people and introduced us to a lot of new
experiences…all of which can be great inspiration for a writer! Do you find that
your experience in a military family has helped to make you a better writer?
Absolutely. I have to say
that military life is really hard for children, because in my case, we moved
every couple of years (except for four years in the Netherlands). I was almost
always the new kid, and I learned how to bond with people quickly. I think to
some extent that has helped me in my writing, because it increased my empathy,
and I think empathy is important when writing novels. I learned to quickly
imagine what others were thinking and feeling. I did have younger siblings, but
they were five and seven years younger, so they weren’t really my playmates. So
I spent a lot of time writing and reading and living in my imagination.
You finished writing your first book back in the 80s and have continued to
create fantastic stories since, where do you continue to find inspiration for
new stories?
I seem to find inspiration
everywhere. My husband can tell when I’m getting a new idea just by the look on
my face. He’ll say, “Did you just get struck by lightning?” I get ideas from
eavesdropping on conversations, seeing something on TV that strikes a chord,
reading articles, watching other people interact, etc. Ideas just come from
everywhere.
What is the most challenging part of creating romantic suspense?
In suspense, there’s a lot
you have to keep up with. A lot of clues have to be planted, and you have to
keep up with all of them, along with the red herrings. It’s really important to
have outcomes that the readers don’t expect, but at the same time, you want
them to get to the end and say, “Yes, I should have seen that!”
On your website, you mention that the best writing advice you ever received was
‘Don’t get it right, get it written.’ The perfectionist in me LOVES this
sentiment! Can you share more about what that means?
When I started writing
novels, I wrote the first three chapters over and over, editing as I went,
trying to get it perfect. By the time I got to chapter three, I would burn out
and lose interest, and I’d abandon that book and start another one. I never
could finish anything. Then one day I heard someone say, “Don’t get it right,
get it written.” That was like a light bulb coming on for me. I realized that I
needed to write the first draft all the way through without judgment or
perfection, not letting anything interrupt my momentum. Once I finished the
book, I could go back through multiple drafts, editing and rewriting and
polishing. But by then the book has been finished once, so it’s not as big of a
mountain to climb.
Can you tell us a little bit more about Aftermath?
A few years ago, I started writing this book in response to some of the mass shootings that were happening in various places across the country. But it was too soon after some of them had happened, and before I got very far into it, I decided to move on to something else that wasn’t quite as sensitive. Now, years later, it felt like the right time, so I pulled it out and made enough changes that it didn’t resemble any of the attacks that we’ve seen in recent years. And the main point of the story is not only how my character Taylor handles the event that kills two of her closest friends, but also how the wrong man, Dustin, is accused of the attack, and the fallout that comes from that. The lawyer who represents him is Jamie, an important woman from his painful past, and their estrangement for years is overcome by the love that has always been there since they were kids.
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
I really explore the
virtue of integrity during the darkest times of life. For my character Dustin
Webb, that time comes when the whole world thinks he just committed a terrorist
attack that killed hundreds of people. Someone set him up, and he can’t imagine
who or why.
It changes everything about his life overnight, and the future looks
terrifying. Jamie, his closest friend from his childhood, is the only one who
can help him now, but this may even be too big for her. The situation brings
back dark times from his childhood, when he was in and out of foster care, and
everyone always expected the worst from him. But even during the turmoil, he
struggles to maintain his integrity and put others first, even when no one is
around to see it.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go, are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
I’m starting a new series that’s a spin-off of my IF I RUN series, featuring the same characters, Casey and Dylan. I plan to do three books in the new series.
Thank you for the interview!
(3) winners will receive a print copy of Aftermath by Terri Blackstock!
Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight May 11, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on May 18, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
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Thank you so much for sharing! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteRandi, Thank you for sharing. Terri is one of my favorite authors!
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