We’re so excited to be on the blog tour for Cold Summer today, and we’ve got a wonderful guest post to share with you all, but before we share that, we want to tell you all about the book!
Cold Summer by Gwen Cole
(Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads)Published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. on May 9th 2017
Genres: Dating & Relationships, Depression & Mental Illness, Europe, Historical, Social Themes, Time Travel, Young Adult
Pages: 256 
Today, he’s a high school dropout with no future.
Tomorrow, he’s a soldier in World War II.
Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasn’t had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiers—friends—die. Then the next day, he’s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.
When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.
But then Harper finds Kale’s name in a historical article—and he’s listed as a casualty of the war. Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, he’ll be killed in a time where he doesn’t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.
What Inspires Me To Write
All writers need inspiration. It just depends where we get it from. I’ve made a list of the top three ways I get inspired to write.
- Movies and TV: I’ve loved movies and TV shows my whole life, and then I loved them even more when I started writing. When I write books, I visualize my scenes like I’m watching a movie and I try to capture everything in words to describe what the character is feeling and seeing. Then there’s certain movies that inspired me to write books—like the movie Jumper sparked the idea for my book Windswept and the show Band of Brothers inspired me to write Cold Summer.
- Pinterest: A lot of authors I know make boards for their books—pictures that represent a scene or people who look similar to their characters. I only started doing this a year or two ago, but now I know I’ll never stop. When I get stuck on a scene or just need to get in the mood of the book, I’ll go look at all my pins and it doesn’t take long for inspiration to hit.
- Reading: This one doesn’t need much explanation. The more I read, the more I want to write. But it’s also important to read outside of your usually genre or age group. My favorite books to read are YA sci-fi and fantasy, but once in a while I’ll get the urge to read a YA contemporary. Like last year I read My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick and I LOVED it! Then I read a non-YA called A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers and it got me in the mood to write my sci-fi WIP. You just never know where you’ll find inspiration, but if you don’t read, you find it at all.
Giveaway Details:
2 winners will receive a finished copy of COLD SUMMER, International.
5 winners will receive an ARC of COLD SUMMER, US Only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
4/24/2017- Brittany’s Book Rambles– Interview
4/25/2017- Just Commonly– Review
4/26/2017- Literary Meanderings– Guest Post
4/27/2017- Stories & Sweeties– Review
4/28/2017- Adventures of a Book Junkie– Interview
Week Two:
5/1/2017- Novel Novice – Review
5/2/2017- Fiction Fare– Guest Post
5/3/2017- Pretty Deadly Reviews– Review
5/4/2017- YA Books Central– Interview
5/5/2017- Owl Always Be Reading– Review
About Gwen Cole
Gwen Cole writes Young Adult books and her debut novel, COLD SUMMER, will be released in the spring of 2017 with Sky Pony Press, an imprint of Skyhorse Publishing.
She grew up in upstate New York, moved to Virginia where she did not graduate college, and worked a various number of jobs including pharmacy technician, meat clerk, ranch hand, and a receiving specialist at Target. She may or may not have written a number of books while working at certain jobs.
At the age of eighteen, Gwen played bass in a hardcore band and later married the lead guitarist. She can also play piano, guitar, and wishes she could play the cello. Her favorite place to vacation is Wyoming, where she gets to wear a cowboy hat and pretend she actually is one.
Gwen now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and very large dog, where she longs to live in the country again.
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