Tour Date:
October 26-November 6, 2015
Link to Goodreads:
Purchase Links:
Link to Tour
Schedule:
Giveaway Information: Contest ends November 20, 2015
·
One (1) winner will receive a digital copy of Holly Hearts Headlines and
a $10 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Holly Hearts Headlines
(Holly Hearts Hollywood Book 2)
by Kenley Conrad
Publication Date: Oct 27, 2015
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Genre: YA, Romance
Holly Hart has it all: designer clothes, affluent friends, a
recording contract, and she’s dating the biggest pop star in America.
It’s too bad he can’t be seen with her in public. It’s even
worse that he seems so very cozy with Lacey, the girl who seems to enjoy
stealing Holly’s dream and taking all the credit for their platinum-selling
album.
And Lacey? Well she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but
that hasn’t stopped her from basking in the glow of the fame and fortune that
comes with pretending to be Holly.
Yet, Holly signed a contract vowing to never reveal her true
identity as the girl behind the hit songs. Her record label doesn’t want anyone
to know their teen dream is really a chubby, insecure girl from Iowa.
Holly needs to focus on finals. She can’t let herself be
distracted by the extremely hot and talented Grayson Frost or his prevailing
attachment to Lacey. This is the deal Holly made, and she has to honor it no
matter how much she hates it.
As if that’s not enough pressure, her grandparents have come
to stay, her mom is dating a guy who makes his own deodorant, Shell Shocked
Records want Holly to distance herself from Grayson, and she’ll probably end up
failing Driver’s Ed.
In a town full of gossip and secrets, Holly wonders just how
much longer she can continue to live a double life.
When the media gets a little too close for comfort, both
Holly and Lacey are at risk. Soon Holly realizes her dream isn’t only about her
and if she is to ever be truly happy, she’ll need to find a way past her insecurities.
Filled with laugh out loud and hold your breath moments,
Holly Hearts Headlines is the follow-up to Holly Hearts Hollywood by Kenley
Conrad.
Holly Hearts Hollywood
(Holly Hearts Hollywood #1)
by Kenley Conrad
Publication Date:
September 2014
Publisher: Swoon
Romance
Holly Hearts Hollywood is the first book in a series.
Seventeen-year-old Holly Hart wants to be a star. She moves
to Los Angeles from the small town of Cedar Junction, only to hear she’s too
fat and ugly to be a famous singer.
But when Shell Shocked Records looks past Holly’s plus-size
and less-than-graceful-personality to offer her a recording contract, Holly
cannot believe her good fortune. On closer inspection, however, the the record
execs want Holly to do all the singing, and a thinner and more beautiful girl,
Lacey, would lip-sync and get all the credit. Holly goes for it because after
all, she wanted to sing.
Contractually bound to secrecy, Holly is more than happy to
sit backstage and write in her journal while Lacey shimmies in the limelight
and basks in the fame. Before she knows it, Holly is friends with Serena, the
pop-star daughter of a music-mogul, flirting with an intern, and developing a
strange half-friendship with Lacey.
When Grayson Frost, the biggest country star in America, and
coincidentally, a former school bully begins dating Lacey, Holly hopes that he
won’t recognize or torment her.
Through a series of embarrassing and weird events, Holly
gets to know Grayson and learns that he is much nicer and more mature than he
was four years ago. Holly is horrified when she starts falling for him. When
Grayson admits he fell for Lacey’s voice, what is a girl to do when she can’t
legally tell the truth at the moment when the truth matters the most?
Kenley is a twenty-something cat lady who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. When she’s not working her office day job or writing books, you can find her either singing and dancing or binge-watching TV shows on Netflix.
1.
When did you first
realize you wanted to be a writer?
I started writing
stories at a really young age. My first story was written on a yellow legal pad
and it was about a magical land of unicorns that you could visit if you touched
a magical horseshoe. I think I wrote it when I was in third grade. I was always
writing stories, but it wasn’t until I was eighteen that I finally said to
myself, “I want to do this for a living”. And the rest was history.
2.
How long does it take
you to write a book?
If we are starting from
concept, outline, first draft, and second draft I would say it’ll probably be a
year or so. If I could be a full-time writer it would be a lot faster, but
unfortunately I have to balance writing and my day job.
3.
What is your work
schedule like when you're writing?
It depends on where I am
in the process. If everything’s outlined and ready to go then I just sit and I
write until I can’t write anymore. Sometimes I’ll get on a writing streak
that’ll last for hours. Sometimes I can only get a few pages out. It really
depends. I’m hoping I get to the point soon where I have more freedom in my
day-to-day life to spend my days writing.
4.
What would you say is
your interesting writing quirk?
I’m probably the only
writer I know who doesn’t like to write with music playing. It actually
distracts me. I prefer to have my TV on. I’ll watch a TV show or a movie in the
background. It needs to be something I’ve seen before so I don’t get
distracted.
5.
How do books get
published?
Pixie dust, I think. No,
I’m kidding of course. Actually, Twitter helped my book get published. I was
part of an event called PitMad where I had to pitch my book on twitter in 140
characters or less. My current agent and editor saw the Tweet and they reached
out to me. It was the start of a beautiful thing.
6.
Where do you get your
information or ideas for your books?
Well, the internet is a
valuable resource. I don’t know how authors managed to do any research before
the internet was invented. I get my ideas from all kinds of places. It could be
from things that happened to me personally or from something I saw happen on
the side of the road. It depends.
7.
When did you write your
first book and how old were you?
My first book (I wrote
many short stories when I was younger but not full length books) was called Amethyst and I wrote it when I was
sixteen or so. It was a terrible Alanna:
The First Adventure and Eragon
combination. My main character had purple eyes and I had never heard of a Mary
Sue before.
8.
What do you like to do
when you're not writing?
I love to spend time
with my boyfriend and our cats. I love Netflix and audiobooks. I also like to
spend time with my best friend Emily and watching period dramas like Jane Eyre. And when I have the time, I
love to perform in local musical theatre productions!
9.
What does your family
think of your writing?
They’re my family! Of
course they love it. They’ve always known I was too creative for my own good,
so they aren’t surprised by anything I do anymore.
10.
What was one of the most
surprising things you learned in creating your books?
Today I did a Google
search of “what is the difference between overalls and dungarees” and I was
surprised to learn there is practically no difference.
Once I was working on a book about Jack the Ripper (it was a horrible mistake) and I learned A LOT about the Ripper. The creepiest fact being that he was never found.
Once I was working on a book about Jack the Ripper (it was a horrible mistake) and I learned A LOT about the Ripper. The creepiest fact being that he was never found.
11.
How many books have you
written? Which is your favorite?
If we count books that I
finished from beginning to end, including ones that weren’t published, nine. My
favorite is actually the soon-to-be-released third and final installment of
Holly Hart! It should be out in early 2016.
12.
Do you have any
suggestions to help me become a better writer? If so, what are they?
Listen to others, but
listen with a grain of salt. Know when to take criticism, but know when to
trust yourself instead of the opinions of others. Write about what you know,
but also write about what you wish to
know. Kill your darlings, know when to let things go. And above all else,
remember that your characters should exist outside of a computer document or a
piece of paper. Remember that everyone does something for a reason, so don’t
forget to give your characters depth and make them real people with real hopes
and fears.
13.
Do you hear from your
readers much? What kinds of things do they say?
The best thing a reader
ever told me happened shortly after Netflix put Gilmore Girls on instant viewing. Someone tweeted me and told me
that they loved my book so much that they completely ignored their favorite TV
show and read my book in one sitting. That was a really great compliment. I do
hear from them pretty often! I always wish to hear what my readers think!
14.
Do you like to create
books for adults?
I would like to, but I
find that adults are bigger critics and they don’t tend to have as much fun as
teenagers. They tend to want realism more and that’s not something I want to
deliver.
15.
What do you think makes
a good story?
A good story should make
you forget where you are and what problems you’re facing. You should laugh and
you should cry in equal measures.
16.
As a child, what did you
want to do when you grew up?
I wanted to be a teacher
for a long time! After that I wanted to be an actress, a mother, and a writer.
Maybe I can be a combo of all four one day.
17.
What Would you like my
readers to know?
If you choose to read my
book (and please do! Although I’d recommend you start with the first one) be
prepared to have fun! Don’t take yourself too seriously. Expect to laugh and
groan at Holly’s ridiculous antics. But like I said, most of all have fun!
Thank you for the chance to win :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for informing me about this awesome book.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great read!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I really enjoyed reading the interview and learning more about this book series. These books sound wonderful! I totally can't wait to read them!
ReplyDeletethanks for the chance
ReplyDelete