February 28, 2013

SECOND RATE CHANCES by Holly Stephens -- Interview & Giveaway!


Second Rate Chances
Sam wakes up in the hospital expecting to find his girlfriend by his bedside. Instead, he finds a bleached-blond diva, claiming to be his fiancĂ©e, hovering over him. When he learns that he's just woken up from a coma and has lost the last three years of his life, any semblance of stability he thought he had falls down around him. All he wants – all he needs – is Lil.

After countless visits with her shrink and too many sleepless nights waiting for the one man she loves to walk back through the door, Lil wants nothing more than to separate herself from the life she used to have. But the moment Sam smiles at her, Lil knows it's going to take more than self-restraint to stay away.

Second-Rate Chances is about a young man fighting to regain his memory, and the one thing in his life that felt real. A modern-day Samson and Delilah, it's a look at what it means to love and be loved, and to fight though it seems hopeless.





 Holly Stephens
People have often told me that I live in a fantasy world. Little did they know, I was building an empire of stories in my head to one day share.

I'm a mother first, a wife second, and a writer third. I'm so thankful to have been given this chance to get my stories out of my head and onto paper.

When I'm not writing, I sell plumbing (no I'm not kidding) and read romances that leave my heart a flutter. I know a ridiculous amount of pop culture information and can quote certain movies word for word. Music drives me to write and to also sing off key.


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INTERVIEW


Do you read reviews of your books? What do you do when you read a not-so-nice one?

I do read the reviews of my book. I enjoy hearing what the readers say because it can only help me grow as a writer. Now as the for the not-so-nice reviews, and there have been some, I try to remember that not everyone likes the same thing. There are popular books that I didn’t like that most everyone seems to have loved. The first couple were hard to swallow but I just tell myself that they aren’t bashing me as an individual. It’s not really bashing the story, but whether they didn’t connect, or thought it was too predictable, that’s fine. Like I said, not everyone can like the same things.

How did you come up with the idea of SECOND RATE CHANCES?

Second Rate Chances came to me from the song, For the First Time by the Script and Fall for You by Secondhand Serenade. My Pandora played those songs back to back and the idea just kind of came. Especially with Fall for You, when they say, ‘Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you, over again’, that’s where the second chance at love came from. I thought adding in the element of amnesia was a different take on it.

If you could meet anyone and spend an hour with them alive or dead who and why?

Audrey Hepburn. She’s an icon, fashion and humanitarian wise. I think it would be amazing to sit down and chat about all the work she did later in her life by helping people, and maybe even go shopping with her. Every girl needs a signature black dress.

What are you working on now?

Two days ago I would have told you that I was working on a six part (yes, you heard that right), series about a family who runs a beach resort. And I’m still working on that, but after answering questions for the blog tour, an idea for a second, Second Rate Chances, book has kind of invaded my mind. And no, it wouldn’t be Sam & Lil centered.

What scene was your favorite to write?

Wow, so many. I think in all, the scene when he comes back to apologize and they kiss for the first time, I think that was my favorite. Although any scene with Abe & Kane is a close second.

What scene was the hardest for you to write?

The end. I had so much I wanted to say yet I didn’t want it to feel drug out. Getting Sam to say just the right thing to her at the end was the hardest.

How different would you say the final version of SECOND RATE CHANCES, is from the first draft?

A lot different. Chloe actually had a bigger role in the original. You saw more conversations with her and Sam and her and Lil. In the end, we decided that her parts needed to be cut down. Sure she was a main player in the cast, but the story wasn’t hers.

If there is one genre that you have not written in yet, but would love to try writing a book in that specific genre, what would it be?

Mystery. I love a good mystery but I’m not creative enough to come up with a good plot.

How did you come up with your character’s name?

It’s funny, I’ve heard more complaints about the characters names that anything else. Samson and Delilah. I just thought it was a cute play on names. Sure it’s not the same story, or even follow the same set up as what was written about them, but to me I thought people might smile and get a kick out of it. And then the rest of the names had to biblical. For me, there is no hidden meaning behind all the names coming from the Bible. It was just a fun play on them.



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5 comments:

  1. This books sounds like a really good read! Will definitely be adding this to my wishlist :) I really want to meet Audrey Hepburn too! Thanks for sharing :)

    Laura @ What's Hot?

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  2. I finished SRV this morning and really liked it. Great interview!

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  3. Really like the idea of this book. will definately check it out. thanks for the chance to win.

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  4. the cover is absolutely beautiful!! I love it. That wolf mmm ... that wolf!
    Thanks 4 the giveaway

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