Friday, November 8, 2013

2014 Most Anticipated Event -- Second Star



This choice is another retelling of a classic tale. One that's been reimagined many times before - Peter Pan. This one fuses a contemporary, a more realistic setting, surfing, and the themes the classic story is known for.


A soft, dreamy cover is the pretty packaging on an awesome sounding synopsis
A twisty story about love, loss, and lies, this contemporary oceanside adventure is tinged with a touch of dark magic as it follows seventeen-year-old Wendy Darling on a search for her missing surfer brothers. Wendy’s journey leads her to a mysterious hidden cove inhabited by a tribe of young renegade surfers, most of them runaways like her brothers. Wendy is instantly drawn to the cove’s charismatic leader, Pete, but her search also points her toward Pete's nemesis, the drug-dealing Jas. Enigmatic, dangerous, and handsome, Jas pulls Wendy in even as she's falling hard for Pete. A radical reinvention of a classic, Second Star is an irresistible summer romance about two young men who have yet to grow up--and the troubled beauty trapped between them.
A love triangle between Hook, Wendy and Peter?! How soon exactly can I read this?! If you haven't already left to add it your Goodreads, check out the teases Alyssa offers up in our interview.

1 Describe Second Star in three words

Saltwater, Romance, Waves

2 Peter Pan is one of my favorite tales. What part of this iconic story inspired you?

Peter Pan has always held a special place in my imagination; I even wrote one of my college admissions essays about what it would be like to live in Neverland.  I think the story beautifully captures the tension between wanting things to stay the same and longing for change and adventure; between longing to get lost and wanting to be found.

3 You've take a modern approach to the classic tale. Would you say that the feel is the same? Or is it more of a loose inspiration?

A little of both, I think.  In the original tale, Neverland is dreamy and magical, but there’s also a sense that Neverland isn’t all beauty and fun – there’s a side to it that’s dangerous and terribly sad.  I tried to include both elements in Second Star’s Neverland, which is called Kensington Beach.  When Wendy discovers a perfect beach with perfect waves, she thinks she’s found paradise.  But there’s a darker side to Kensington; some people aren’t there just to find the perfect wave.  Many of the kids who live there are runaways, and some of them are hooked on a dangerous drug called dust.

4 Are you able to share a secret about one of the characters, the world, something that inspired something about the world/characters?

Other than Peter Pan, a huge inspiration when writing this novel was reading about (and watching videos of, and gazing for hours at photographs of…) big wave surfing.  My interest began as research, but I quickly became obsessed!  And the more I fell in love with big wave surfing, the more I wanted my characters to be in love with it, too.

5 What 2014 release are you most looking forward to?

Oh my goodness, there’s so much!  I literally mark new releases in my calendar the way that other people keep track of birthdays.  If I had to pick just one, it would probably be the new Alice Hoffman novel, The Museum of Extraordinary Things, which comes out in February.  She is one of my all-time favorite authors, and the lyrical magical realism in her novels definitely inspired me as I wrote Second Star.

Peter Pan is one of my all time favourite tales, and this unique take on it has me very excited to get my hands on a copy! Second Star will be available May 13, 2014 so be sure to mark your calendars! If you can't wait and want to pre-order, here are some links that have it available


If you want to learn more you can visit the author's website, and the publisher website

If you want a chance to win a copy of one of the books on my 2014 Most Anticipated list, keep checking back. There will be a giveaway at the very end, and these interviews may help you win! 

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