Patch Up by Stephanie Witter
Genre:
Contemporary New Adult novel with a slow building romance.
Editor: Melissa Ringsted
Due to some shocking scenes, this novel
is not intended for readers under 18.
Blurb
Skye followed her long time boyfriend to
Seattle for their first year of college, but he dumped her after only a week.
The relationship brought only pain and destruction in Skye's life, and yet, she
can't bring herself to open up and live her life.
"What if I am already broken into
pieces?"
She hates to be touched, hiding under her
oversized shirts and behind her wild frizzy hair. Even her bubbly roommate
can't reach her. And yet ...
"I'm the guy who knows how you can hurt
so much that your insides feel like they're cut and bleeding."
The tall, handsome, and tattooed TA in her
psychology class changes everything when he literally collides with her and
confronts her. For the first time in a long time, she wants to try and open up
to this guy whose dark, intense eyes can't hide his own pain despite his
dazzling smile getting to her.
However, just when she's starting to live
again, her ex-boyfriend comes back, breaking her time and time again, making it
all the more complicated.
She wants to fight for herself and for this
building thing with the TA, even when he pushes her away, but can two broken
people patch each other up?
"I never thought colliding with someone
could change lives, but it is possible."
Excerpt
Without paying attention to my surroundings,
I turn to my left to walk toward the row closer to the door where a seat is
available. I take a step and collide with a hard body, almost toppling me over
on the ground for the second time in less than an hour. A strong hand grips me
firmly by the forearm. My body stiffens and my breath catches in my throat.
It’s as if I can’t move besides yanking my arm free without looking up to see
who I collided with.
“Are you all right?” he asks me in a deep and
calm voice.
My eyes wander from my red Converse to his
dark boots. I have to calm down. I’m being ridiculous. Calm down. I take a deep
breath and look up slowly. Long, muscled legs in beat up dark blue jeans, an
old black leather jacket open over a dark grey V-neck sweater that showcases an
impressive tall body with broad shoulders and finally, longish and messy black
hair, perfect straight nose, full lips, high cheekbones and expressive soft
dark eyes that lock with my bluish-greyish ones. He looks older with his goatee
perfectly trimmed. A perfect hot mess many girls would say. I’m just
intimidated by this stranger, though.
“I’m fine,” I reply, my voice even. I push
away some of my untamed locks and curse my auburn frizzy hair that is always
all over the place.
About the Author
I had the very greatest pleasure of
Beta reading this book for Stephanie.
From the very beginning when she sent me Chapter 1 I was completely hooked on Skye's story and I needed to know her secret and why she was so broken.
From the very beginning when she sent me Chapter 1 I was completely hooked on Skye's story and I needed to know her secret and why she was so broken.
It was clear that Skye had not been treated
well by Sean her first boyfriend whom she moves away to college with only to be
dumped fairly rapidly. However that’s not
the end of it, and it would seem although he doesn’t want her he doesn’t want
anyone else to have her either.
Then there is Duke. *sighs* He and Skye bump in to each other quite literally and he could see Skye's inner pain and wanted to help her. But he most certainly had some issues of his own to deal with.
Then there is Duke. *sighs* He and Skye bump in to each other quite literally and he could see Skye's inner pain and wanted to help her. But he most certainly had some issues of his own to deal with.
There were times when he seriously irritated
me to the point of wanting to kick his ass ever so slightly, however over time
as the story progresses things become clearer and you almost forgive him for
his earlier behavior.
Stephanie also brought an injection of
humour with Skye’s best friend Kate, she was sassy and fiery with a mouth to
match. She gave me some laugh out loud
moments.
Now this book has some shocking scenes in it as it tackles a sensitive subject matter, but Stephanie handled it well, with a realism that made my heart race and my skin crawl.
There were happy tears and sad tears but most of all and what I want to be totally clear about is I adored this book, and so will you.
Skye and Duke’s story is not an easy,
romantic story but it is their story and I can’t wait for you to read it safe
in the knowledge there is more to come.
I also want to thank Stephanie for
letting me take this journey with her, she is a talented young lady, who is
Fabulous.
1.
What inspired you to
write your first book?
It's difficult to say... As you know, what I love the most is to
share emotions with readers. Writing emotional stories is something I deeply
love, just as much as I love to read emotional stories.
When I wrote my first book, I wanted to write a story about a
girl who has her family falling apart. I guess, what inspired me, and what
inspires me still, is my own past. After all, when you write, you put a little
of yourself, even as little a thing as a character's quirk.
2. Are
the experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Patch Up is a little based on
people I know and little things from my own past. The characters are different
from the people I know, don't get me wrong, but I talked with several women who
were in an abusive relationship for years or months at one point in their life.
Talking with them was eye-opening and I was so deeply touched by this very subject
that I needed to write about it. From then on, I was obsessed with this story
and still am.
3.
What books have most influenced your life?
You've got some tough question, Wendy!
When I was in high school, my teacher asked us to read Une Vie, by Guy de Maupassant. It hooked me and the end let an imprint
on me. I remember that I was lost in thoughts for days afterward.
When I was a middle grader, one of my teacher made us read Le Dernier Jour d'un Condamné by Victor Hugo. Sorry,
I'm very influenced by French literature, but these are the books I read
growing up and it influenced me because of the emotions awakened with just
words. It's real magic.
I have many, many other books I could talk about, but these two
are probably the first ones that made me truly feel and think on a deeper level
for some reason.
4.
What book are you reading now?
Right this moment as I'm answering your questions, I'm about to
start Fallen Crest High by Tijan. It was a
difficult choice as I have so many books waiting for me on my kindle app and
iBook app. I don't even want to know how many I bought!
5. Who is your favorite author and why?
Damn! Exactly the kind of questions I don't know how to answer
to... You're torturing me, Wendy.
I read many books, so much that depending of my mood, my
favorite author changes.
If I have to name one right now, I'd say Colleen Hoover. Her Slammed series got to me in the best way possible and Hopeless ended doing the job of making me the perfect fangirl.
But to be honest, it's painful to not talk about all these other
amazing authors, past or present. That's when I know I probably read too much.
6. How
much time do you spend writing?
Writing is complicated. In my opinion, you need to write
regularly as soon as you're writing your first draft. At least, that's what I
need. :)
I'm not a full time writer so time is always my enemy. I'm sure
you often read on twitter, Facebook, blogs authors saying that they need more
hours in a day and not just 24. I'm in the same boat.
That being said, I try to write whenever I have some free time
as long as it is more than half an hour. If I have to guess how many hours a
day I write I'd say two to three at least. It's not much and that's why I often
end up not sleeping much whenever I'm way into my first draft because I need
more writing time. Let me tell you, makeup is my best friend!
7. Do
you have any advice for other writers?
I'm a newbie, so giving any advice doesn't sound right. I'm
still learning, I'm a work in progress,
but there are a few things very important and these are things you can find on
many established authors' websites.
- Read. Reading is one hell of a way to learn how to build a
story, where to put the twists, how to write the POVs, how to simply create a
story that works. When you read books, without even knowing it, you will stock
in your head these little things that are the very base on which stories are
created.
- Write regularly even if it's just a dozen words. It'll help
you. If you write every day or so, you will keep the momentum, the passion will
stay and you won't have the time to "forget" your characters' voices.
- Never stop writing. No matter what, your stories will improve,
you will evolve. Keep that passion, the fire burning inside you when you start
writing a new story that you love.
- Beta readers. You need beta readers. Without beta readers, you
can't improve your stories as best as possible. Their opinions, their ideas,
and the way they cheer you along the way, is one of the most important things.
Believe me, I'd never trade my beta readers. I'd be lost without them. You'll
meet fabulous people. (Yep, Wendy, I'm talking about you here)
8. Do
you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I have so many things I want to say to them! Thank you, thank
you so much for giving me a chance with my story Patch Up, thank you for your amazing messages, for helping me when
spreading the word about this books was not easy - I suck at marketing - and
thank you for making my dream real. Writing is more than just a passion and
because of every one of you, even if you didn't enjoy reading my novel, I want
to share many more stories and I hope that you won't be disappointed and that
you'll be there. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
9. Who is your current/favorite book boyfriend?
I'm so not original. I have two book boyfriends and they're my
all-time favorite. Travis from Beautiful Disaster and Kellan from Thoughtless. I'm pretty sure I don't have to explain myself there.
10. Do
you listen to music while you write?
I love everything as long as it is some rock or pop rock music.
By the way, if you have a band to recommend me, I'd be glad to hear it.
11. What can we expect to see from you in the future?
I have too many ideas for me only and I will be very busy for
several years!
12. If you could take one book with you on vacation, what would it
be and why?
If it's to go on vacation, I'd pick a lighter read than what I
might usualy read. Maybe Tangled by Emma Chase. This book
made me laugh so hard! I can't wait for the next one.
13. Tell us one unique fact about yourself.
I'm
weird, I'm telling you.
Thank
you for this fun interview, Wendy, and thank you for reading my ramblings.
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Thank you so much, Wendy! YOU are fabulous. :)
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