Dark Before Dawn - When teen psychic Dawn
Christian gets involved with a fortuneteller mentor and two girls who share her
mysterious talents, she finally belongs after years of being a misfit. When she
learns her new friends may be tied to freak "accidents" in town, Dawn
has an important choice to make—continue developing the talent that makes her
special or challenge the only people who have ever accepted her. The book has
been praised by reviewers such as Fresh Fiction and the Midwest Book Review.http://stacyjuba.com/blog/
Face-Off - Brad’s twin brother T.J. has gotten
himself out of the fancy prep school his father picked for him and into the
public high school Brad attends. Now T.J. is a shining new star on the hockey
team where Brad once held the spotlight. And he’s testing his popularity with
Brad’s friends, eyeing Brad’s girl and competing to be captain of the team. The
whole school is rooting for a big double-strength win…not knowing that their
twin hockey stars are heating up the ice for a winner takes all face-off. This
book was originally published when I was a teenager and I have brought it back
for a new generation of readers. It was originally recommended by the Hockey
Hall of Fame Junior Education Program and Booklist and listed in Best Books for
Young Teen Readers: Grades 7-10.http://stacyjuba.com/blog/
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Stacy Juba - One Stop Reading: Books for Adults, Teens & Children
* Web Site: http://stacyjuba.com/blog/
* Amazon page: http://ow.ly/99G2J
* Twitter: http://ow.ly/99G6J * Facebook: http://ow.ly/99G8i
Q. What inspires your writing?
A. I love to write about subjects that interest me
or that I'd like to know more about. For example, I've always been interested
in psychics and chakras, so it was fun for me to research those topics even further
in my young adult book Dark Before Dawn. Once in awhile, I'm inspired by a
setting. My current work-in-progress was inspired by a trip to a theme park and
it triggered an idea for a fun and sparkly romantic comedy.
Q. What is your favorite thing about being an
author?
A. My favorite thing is having the opportunity to
work from home and set my own hours while doing something that I love - making
up stories and playing pretend.
Q. What is the toughest part of being an author?
A. The toughest part when I was starting out was
the rejection. It was really hard to maintain a thick skin in the face of
rejection and criticism. Now the toughest parts are balancing writing with book
promotion tasks, and wincing at the occasional one or two star review.
Q. If you could not be author, what would you
do/be?
A. I'm a former
journalist and I also do some marketing writing for a few clients on the side,
writing and editing newsletters. Even if I wasn't an author, I'd still be
writing or editing in some capacity. My college major was exercise science, and
I thought I wanted to go into physical therapy or cardiac rehabilitation, but I
found that science wasn't my strength and it didn't seem, the right path for me.
Q. What would the story of your life be entitled?
A. I'm a big believer in positive thinking, so
Happily Ever After!
Q. What is your favorite book of all time?
A. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Love, love, love
that book! I must have read it twenty times in high school.
Q. Which character from ANY book are you most like?
A. Strangely enough, I always identified with
Ponyboy from The Outsiders even though he was a greaser from the wrong side of
the tracks. I was on the quiet side like him, and I much prefer being with a
small group of close friends than being in a more crowded environment like a
party. He was viewed as an outcast by the rich kids in town, and I felt that I
didn't fit in at school as I was so quiet. Ponyboy was also a writer like me
and he observed the world around him through a writer's eyes. I haven't read
the book in quite a while, but he was the first character that jumped to mind.
Q. What character from all of your book are you
most like?
A. I'm probably
most like Jaine, the character in the romantic comedy that I'm finishing up right
now. She's a publicist, she's a go-getter, and she's determined, yet she also has
a vulnerable introverted side. I once had the same job as Kris from Twenty-Five
Years Ago Today (newspaper editorial assistant) and as Cassidy from Sink or
Swim (health club trainer), however we don't have much in common beyond
that.
Q. What is your favorite season?
A. Summer! I hate cold weather!
Q. What inspired your book cover(s)? Or what
is your favorite book cover and why?
A. My favorite cover is Face-Off. I like the artwork of
the hockey players facing off, as well as the icy title font with a hockey puck
serving as the letter O in Off. The cover sells books as parents see it and
know their kids will read it because of the sports premise. One time my aunt
was carrying a copy of the book at a local fair that I was selling books at,
and a woman followed her down three aisles to ask her where she had gotten the
book.
Q. Tell me something funny that happened while on a
book tour or while promoting your book.
A. One time I was a conference panelist and was
assigned to do critiques with writers attending the conference. I noticed that
my appointment was a few minutes late. A woman had popped in and out of the
room a few times before finally approaching me. She hadn't recognized me from
my website picture as I'd recently had blonde highlights done and I was blonder
than usual!
Q. Are you working on something new?
A. I'm finishing up a romantic comedy inspired by
the Cinderella theme, and I plan to follow that up with some spin-off short
stories that I'll release as e-book singles and eventually follow up with a
collection. I also have the sequel to Face-Off on my desk, awaiting rewrites.
Q. Anything you want to say to followers of this
blog or those that are just stopping by?
A. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this
interview and learn more about my books. I hope you'll visit me at www.stacyjuba.com to find out more about
my paperbacks, e-books, and audiobooks for adults, teens and children. You can
visit my Contact page to sign up for my newsletter. http://stacyjuba.com/blog/contact/
Get her FREE books HERE
Hi Stacy! I loved Face-Off. It's a great story about the competitive nature of brothers and you did an excellent job with the voice and attitude of teen boys.
ReplyDeleteYou and I have several things in common...the physical therapy/exercise physiology back ground, fascination with psychic abilities and chakras, our love of hockey, and of course...writing:-)
What a wonderful showcase, Emily, thank you for hosting me! Thanks for visiting, PJ! Wow, I knew we had the love of hockey in common, but I didn't realize there were so many other things. And thanks so much for the nice words on Face-Off.
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