Jennifer Laurens: Celebrate

Jennifer Laurens, Author of Heavenly series

Celebrate! You're leaving behind the catty, cliquey, trendy, insignificant things in life forever more. Right?

I hope this moment is as freeing for you as it was for me: standing on the precipice of all of your dreams.

It's an exciting, synergistic time. The sooner you solidify the direction you want to go in, the better. No more comparing your goals and dreams with anyone else's. This is your time to do what you want.

At this juncture in my life I knew exactly what I wanted and, all these years later, I am standing exactly where I saw myself being. For those of you who don't know anything about me, I didn't set out to be an author. My foremost goal was to be a mother with a big family, because I was an only child.

I attended college, married and have 6 children - one has autism, and is the inspiration for my HEAVENLY series about a teenage girl who falls in love with her autistic sister's guardian angel. My point is, looking back I didn't set out to be an author, I set out to be a great mother. I have loved being there for my children, and there is nothing that compares to the countless things I've learned from them and the growth I've experienced because of this choice.

I've always loved writing and took it up again when my youngest entered school.

And, here I am - years later, writing what my heart desires.

Is it possible to have all your dreams come true? My life says YES!

We make what we want happen, if we truly want it enough. Take each dream as it comes and make it come true.

~~~

You can read my review of Heavenly here!

Contest Time

Giveaway Item(s): 1 copy of Heavenly and 1 copy of A Season of Eden

# of Winners: 2

Eligibility: International

Entries (Leave links if needed)

+1 New follower (MANDATORY)
+2 Old follower
+1 Link (5 max)
+1 Add Stop, Drop, and Read! to your blogroll

Abria Dodd from Heavenly

Heavenly is a touching story about a teenage girl who falls in love with her autistic sister’s guardian angel. I am most eager to read the sequel!

~~~

Abria, 3, has autism. Abria is Zoe Dodd’s sister, and the reason Zoe sees Abria’s guardian angel, Matthias. Though Abria can’t speak, a peek into her mind is revealing and not unlike other three-year-olds.

I like to run. Air blows around me. I like it when everybody chases me. Daddy looks funny when he chases me. I laugh.

I like to climb. I feel free when I’m high up. I can see better when I stand on things. My favorite things to climb are chairs, tables, stairs and windows. Mom screams when I climb into windows. She screams when I stand on the stairs. The noise makes me laugh.

Sometimes, Mom, Dad and Zoe and Luke yell at me when I run and climb. I don’t know why. I like to run. The wind blows around me. When I climb, I can see better.

Everyone sees me when I climb.

I want the chan in the kitchen. It’s pretty with lights. I like to stare at the lights, they sparkle. I want to touch them. I want the chan.

One day I ran and found Matthias. He sparkles like the chan. He smiles at me and never yells at me. I feel good around him.

When Matthias is here, Zoe sparkles like the chan.

I want the chan now.

Goodbye.

~~~

It took me awhile to realize that Abria is referring to a chandelier! She is the sweetest little thing! I definitely recommend Heavenly (especially to those Twilight fans)! It will be released on the 15th! Or you can win your own copy here!

Prize(s): 2 copies of Heavenly, one with the old cover and the other with the new cover
# of Winners: 2
Eligibility: US/UK

How to get entries: (please put keep it in the format below when you comment!)
+1 Comment
+1 New follower
+2 Old follower
+1 Linking this contest once somewhere else around the web

HEAVENLY – by Jennifer Laurens. Release date: August 15, 2009 Grove Creek Publishing

Author Interview: Jennifer Laurens

This Monday I reviewed a great novel that evolves around autism and cute angel guys called Heavenly. Today I give you an interview with its creator, Jennifer Laurens!

If you would like to learn more about Jennifer and Heavenly, visit: www.heavenlythebook.com.

Firstly, what inspired you to write Heavenly?

I've always been fascinated with the idea of angels and life after death. I think life after death is something mankind ponders at some point in life, especially as we age and experience challenges and trials that test us. We are left to ask: Why? When my third daughter was diagnosed with autism at three years of age, I went through a myriad of emotions namely: anger, hurt and disappointment not to mention the huge list of questions her condition left me with. All you have to do is read any book about autism ( including Heavenly ) to see that autism is extremely challenging and hard to live with. I watched each of my children deal differently with her handicap, hence Zoe and Luke's characters were born.

I recently found out that Heavenly is the first in a trilogy. Did you plan on having it as three volumes from the start?

No. As the story developed and I fell more deeply in love with the characters and their complex lives, I wanted to explore what was already in my head ( by way of background ) on paper.

What can readers expect in the second instalment, Penitence?

Have you watched the trailer? ( some suggested spoilers in there, look it up on my facebook or youtube ) Zoe continues life. She sees both evil and good and her friends and loved ones make life changing choices that affect everyone. And, she has to come to terms with loving TWO guys.

In general, what is the hardest part in a writing a story for you? And the easiest?

The hardest part is having enough time. I could write and do nothing else. Literally! I love it that much. The easiest part is coming up with ideas.

Do you roughly plan your stories from start to finish ahead of time or do you let it come to you naturally as you write?

I let the characters drive the story, that keeps me as well as the characters happy and I steer free of cliches. When you said in your review you 'expected' a bigger climax, I smiled. I purposely avoid cliched expectations.

Do you have any current projects you are working on at the moment?

Book three: Absolution. I really need to go far away from home to write it. Summer, with kids at home, is not conducive to creativity.

What kind of genres/topics do you hope to explore in the near future and use for your stories?

I have a pipeline of stories already filled. I'm adapting one of my adult stories to YA, and releasing one of my other YA stories under the Jennifer Laurens name: A Season of Eden - the story of a teenage girl who falls in love with her music teacher.

Lastly, give us an interesting fact about yourself that not a lot of people know of!

I used to work in the entertainment business. I was on TV shows like Dynasty, Dallas and Love Boat and got to meet lots of celebrities.

Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Title: Heavenly
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Age Group: Teens
# of Pages: 280
My Rating: 4/5

Zoe's life is a mess. Her sister, Abria, has autism and never lets anyone in the family have some peace and quiet. Her brother, Luke, is an addict who is always high. With no attention from her loved ones, Zoe forgets all of her worries through drinking and partying.

But her life changes on one faithful day when she encounters Matthias. She first thinks he is a weirdo that might be after her baby sister. But then she discovers that he is an angelic guardian, sent to watch over Abria. It is hard to believe at first, but eventually she realizes that he is the real thing.

The more time Zoe spends with Matthias, the more she is drawn to him. It is not long before she falls head over heels for him. He is too perfect and wonderful for words. He is a heaven-sent gift. Except, they can never truly be together.

Written with great care, Laurens composed a bitter sweet story of forbidden love between a normal, troubled teen and a beautiful immortal.

Zoe is a strong girl but has feelings and problems that she is unable to face. Like most teenagers, she prefers the easy way out of things. People call her names because she parties and hooks up a lot. But if they get to know her, she is not just a pretty face. She is quite admirable and does a lot of growing up as she learns from her mistakes along with Matthias's guidance throughout the book.

I have to admit, I am getting tired of "the perfect male". But somehow, Matthias pulls it off without it being cliche. He once was a human and had flaws. And because of those flaws, he took from experience to be who he is now. If he existed, many girls, including myself, would be flocking him non-stop. Both him and Zoe have such great presence in the novel. And I love how he talks. It's just so cute when he uses old slang. (By the way, don't you love his name? It has such elegance to it.)

Heavenly is very well put-together. It has great consistency and realistic characters that the reader can relate to. It touches sad topics, like autism and drug addiction. This book can definitely help someone out there, I can tell.

So why is it not a 5/5 for me? I think it lacks the great build-up to the climax. I am disappointed that the turning point of the story did not last as long as I hoped for. Therefore it made the whole novel itself a little too normal, despite Matthias's existence. I am all about the action. With a non-human character, I expected more excitement and danger. Especially since there is the forbidden factor thrown in. The ending however is a surprising twist. I thought it wrapped up very nicely until I realized there was a sequel. Now I am most curious and can not wait to know what could possibly happen next. I hope that it will be even better with some great thrills.

Heavenly will definitely be a read for the total romantics. And I know I shouldn't compare, but this book is everything Twilight ever lacks. So if you are an Anti-Twilighter, wondering what Twilight would be like edited as a completely new story with actual explanations on the impossible, Heavenly is it. But it will also appeal a lot of Twilight fans too.

Go get yourself a copy of this inspirational story when it comes out on August 15, 2009.

Review ARC copy provided by Jennifer Laurens.

Trailer Tuesday: Heavenly by Jennifer Laurens

Title: Heavenly
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Description: I met someone who changed everything. Matthias. My autistic sister's guardian angel. Honest. Inspiring. Funny. Hot. And immortal. That was the problem. What could I do? I did what any other girl would do-I fell in love with him. Zoë's sister darts in front of cars. Her brother's a pothead. Her parents are so overwhelmed; they don't see Zoë lost in her broken life. Zoë escapes the only way she knows how: partying. Matthias, a guardian sent from Heaven, watches over Zoë's autistic sister. After Zoë is convinced he's legit, angel and lost girl come together in a love that changes destiny. But Heaven on Earth can't last forever.

Who thinks the model for the guy in this is cute? I think he definitely is and the first I've seen in a book trailer, haha!