Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Finding Jackson by Anne Holster

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Finding Jackson by Anne Holster. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt as well as a guest post for you. There's also a tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to check out the other stops on the tour for more excerpts, guest posts, interviews, reviews, and more. Enjoy!

--

Title: Finding Jackson
Author: Anne Holster
Publisher: AMH Transcription
Publication Date: October 30th 2019
Print Length: 451 pages
Genre: New Adult Romance

~

It's 1977 - Star Wars is breaking records at the box office, Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run tour is taking the country by storm, and born-and-bred Jersey girl Annalise Keller has fallen in love for the first and last time. Hot and charismatic with dreams of making it as a rock star, Keith "Ace" Foxx is everything a teenage girl dreams of. He falls as hard for Anna as she does for him and the two decide to run off to California in search of his big break. Fate has other plans though, and several years and three kids later, Ace has traded in his guitar for a job at the local post office and Anna has become a symbol of all he has given up. Ace spends most nights at the local bar, trying to drink away his anger and resentment.

Flash forward a decade, and their youngest child, Jackson, is headed nowhere fast. In a life filled with meaningless jobs and too much partying, music is his only true escape from the pain of a childhood that abruptly ended one rainy night. The accident had destroyed his family and left him with a slew of unanswered questions.

Everything changes the night Jackson meets Leah. Shy and reserved, she doesn't smoke and barely drinks; she certainly doesn't put out. Not exactly the girl from the Bon Jovi videos he watched as a kid. Yet, before he knows it, she has become his world.

Then, just when it looks like his dreams might come true, betrayal and loss once again threaten everything he holds dear. As Jackson struggles to keep his world from spinning out of control, he knows one thing for sure, the choices he makes now will either be the start of a whole new life, or it just might be the end of him.

Goodreads * Amazon

---

EXCERPT:

It was Halloween the first time I laid eyes on him. I’ll never forget it because Halloween had always been my favorite holiday, maybe because for some reason I was allowed to run wild. Things I’d never get away with were suddenly okay to do on Halloween. For instance, staying out after dark or eating candy before dinner, dressing inappropriately, and by inappropriately, I mean going out without a coat when the weather dipped below fifty degrees. Things you think are cool when you’re ten years old, which was how old I was that year. Most people may not clearly remember their tenth Halloween, but I do and with very good reason, because it was the day I fell in love. You might think it crazy for a fifth grader to arrive home after a night of trick-or-treating and announce that she’s in love and you probably wouldn’t be the only one, but that’s exactly what I did – and I was totally serious.

It was dusk, and the air was electric with excitement. It had been a lucrative afternoon and my three friends and I had split up just long enough to empty our bags of candy, grab something to eat, then regroup in an hour to hit the other side of town. Not wanting to waste any time I decided to cut through the woods by my house, something I didn’t usually do with darkness approaching. It was a fateful decision that would end up altering the course of my life.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Anne Holster resides in Northern New Jersey with her husband and two children. When she's not writing she enjoys spending time with her family, playing tennis and reading angsty romance novels. She is currently working on her fourth book.

Amazon * Facebook * Goodreads

---

GUEST POST:

Advice for Writers
by Anne Holster

As a fairly new writer, I understand better than anyone the emotional roller coaster of writing not just that first book, but each subsequent book. While writing ‘Finding Jackson’ there were many wonderful moments when the story just seemed to flow out of me. The characters rose, fully formed, to the challenge and lead me where they would. It was truly magical. Then there were those other, much less pleasant moments when the writing process was slow and torturous, when coming up with every word felt like trying to wring a drop of water from a dry rag. Through it all, I was plagued by the feeling that I had no idea what I was doing or where the story was going. It was like walking through a long, dark tunnel with only a dim flashlight to guide me.

And that was just the actual writing! There were also the seemingly endless details that had to be managed before the book could make it to market. First, I had to decide whether to self-publish or seek representation from a literary agent. Exploring the pros and cons of each option only lead to a litany of other issues – for example, if I self-published I would have to find a cover designer that understood the book; was reputable; and wouldn’t break the bank. If on the other hand a traditional publisher picked up my manuscript, these decisions would be taken out of my hands, along, of course, with control over the book’s appearance. I also knew that if I self-published the marketing would fall completely on my shoulders.

By now you might be wondering whether I am offering encouragement to new writers or simply advising them to throw in the towel. I can assure you, it is the former. Why? Because of those magical moments I mentioned earlier – when it felt as though the story had already been written and I was just the medium it flowed through on its way to the page. This feeling was worth all the agonizing, all the indecision, and then some. There were many times when I assumed ‘Finding Jackson’ would never sell to anyone but family and friends, and I believe this freed me and my characters to create and fully inhabit the world of the book. I urge you to do the same!

---

GIVEAWAY:

One randomly chosen winner, via Rafflecopter, will win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway