Blog Tour 1st September – 5th September
Day 1 Features Izzy Moffit
Book: Izzy Moffit’s Road to Wonderland
Author: Victoria L. James
Genre: New Adult
Synopsis:
Making it to seventeen in one piece isn’t usually a concern for your average teenager, but if there’s one thing Isabella Moffit has never been, it’s average. Dragged through life by parents who couldn’t care less and surrounded by violence on a daily basis, Izzy reaches that epic birthday milestone in her life with only one person to thank for getting her there: her best friend and soul sister, Paris Hemsworth.
Vowing to stand side by side through thick and thin since they were four years old, the two of them have made it this far and are confident that now is their time to tackle the world head on, one shaky, naive little footstep at a time.
Except they have no idea what awaits them both on the other side of adulthood, and before either one of them can strap on their hard hat, they’re taking so many knocks and bruises that Izzy’s childhood suddenly seems like a stroll in the park.
Dodging as many bullets as they can along the way, Izzy tries to hold on to Paris’ hand for as long as possible without either one of them slipping away. But no-one ever told them how rough their journey would be. No-one told them that friends and family would change or leave along the way. And no-one told them that for every good intention they have, there’s a thousand people out there with bad ones, waiting to rip them apart.
Follow Izzy’s journey in part one of the Road to Wonderland series - a coming of age novel with a difference, where you’ll face tears, tantrums, laughter and heartbreak, but above all else, hope. Hope that no matter what life throws your way, it’s all part of setting you on the right path to your very own Wonderland and that, more often than not, everything happens for a reason
Road to Wonderland Series book 5 (all books are standalone reads)
Road to Wonderland Series book 5 (all books are standalone reads)
Author Bio:
Victoria L James is a teenage girl stuck in a thirty-something year-olds body. Living somewhere 'oop north' in England, she has had a strong passion for words and stories going as far back as she can remember, which she credits to her grandmother and her love of reading anything that was on sale and cheap from the local market stall. Never once did she think she would release a novel, though. At best, she thought her love of language and her ability to create stories in her mind would provide her with a 'get out of jail free' card whenever she messed up and her parents were mad at her during her teenage years... and when even that didn't work out, she thought she was pretty much done for.
When an opportunity presented itself for her to take a back seat from paid working life for a few years, she knew straight away that she had to try and write about a few of these worlds she'd come up with along the way, and quieten all the voices in her head without racking up a heavy psychiatry bill for the pleasure.
Wearing her heart on her sleeve and trying to lighten her friends’ and family’s lives with naff, and more often than not, badly timed, nineties jokes, she has yet to learn the art of knowing when to shut up. Which is another reason writing became a passion of hers. With pen and paper, there are no limits.
A firm believer in never quitting, with a ridiculous obsession for all things Rocky, she hopes that one day she writes a story that will inspire at least one person out there to keep on going if they're struggling. Other than that, she's just a regular old converse wearing, corona sipping, English version of Chandler Bing, who loves and adores her family more than life itself. Oh, and she also has two cats. Every writer has to mention their cats, right?
Social Links:
Twitter: @Victoria_LJames
The Road to Wonderland Series
Available as ebooks and paperbacks
Available as ebooks and paperbacks
The Road to Wonderland Series:
Francesca Marlow interviews Victoria L. James
Francesca Marlow: Who’s your best friend in the whole wide world? *grins*
Victoria L. James: Oh, lordy… *rolls eyes and laughs* Wait. Do you want to post a Fran selfie here? *winks*
Francesca Marlow: What is your favourite childhood memory of us? and please, nothing too embarrassing towards moi.
Victoria L. James: We were childhood friends? *laughs* Nice to meet you. Erm. I don’t recall any one date that stands out, but I always loved the fact that we used to write letters to one another every day when we were around 12/13. Haha. Even though we saw each other and all the friends surrounding us, we used to write those notes and pass them around as though we were pen pals thousands of miles apart. That was pretty cool. And then there was the night watching Basic Instinct when we were about 14. But the less said about that, the better, huh?
Francesca Marlow: As much as we all like to profess to try live without regrets in our life, I think we all have them. So, if you had chance for a “do-over” in life, what would you do differently?
Victoria L. James: I read a quote on the internet not so long ago that said something along the lines of “I’d like to go back in time, not to change anything, just to feel a couple of things twice.” I think I’d like to do the same, too. I remember growing up and just wishing my life away. “I can’t wait until I’m 16. I can’t wait until I’m 18. I can’t wait for my first love. I can’t wait to get married. I can’t wait to have kids. I can’t wait, I can’t wait, I can’t wait.” You spend so much time looking forward when you’re young, you forget to live in the moment. I’d love to go on my first girly holiday again and really take it all in. I’d love to have been as confident back then in who I was as I feel today, but again, I think that’s something that comes with age and living life. You learn that you can’t please everyone and you can only live life for yourself. I honestly don’t think there’s much I’d do differently. I’d just like to be greedy and do most of it again. Most of it. There’s a few giant turnip folk I’d avoid along the way, mind.
Francesca Marlow: It’s no secret you’re a huge fan of music and it’s one of things that inspires you when writing. What is your favourite genre of music to listen to?
Victoria L. James: I really don’t have one. I’m a mood listener, so no one thing sticks with me. Sometimes when I’m writing I listen to classical, other times I’m up there with AC/DC going mental in my living room. Anyone who knows me knows that when I love something, I’m insanely passionate about it. My love for Elvis Presley is something that just grows stronger and thicker with time, yet my heart also lives with the Foo Fighters, too. Some days I like to get lost in classics just as Motown, The Rat Pack, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, etc… then other days I just like to stick Spotify on and let some new music I’ve never heard before take control. I can’t pick a single genre. I really can’t. Not for everyday music, anyway. If we’re talking concerts, I love rock. Haha.
Francesca Marlow: We both went to school together and shared some of the same classes, but which teacher had the biggest impact on you and why?
Victoria L. James: This is pretty easy for me. It was my maths teacher, Mrs. Yates. Not a lot of people know what she did for me, but she and I had a very turbulent relationship when I first stepped into her class. Basic maths was something I was decent at, but all the algebra crap just messed with my head and I was way too proud to ask for help when I really needed it. So, being the thirteen-year-old girl with an attitude that I was back then, instead of dealing with my problems, I decided to try and be cocky in class to distract everyone from the fact that I couldn’t do the work. I started creating a scene in lesson. I stopped completing homework. I stopped putting my hand up. Every time she asked me what the issue was, I just ignored her or gave her some snarky answer. Most people disliked Mrs. Yates because she was an old school, take no crap teacher, and people loved to wind her up, so it was easy for me to join in with that kind of mentality. But she saw right through me…
One day she held me back after class… and I mean she physically held me back. She shut the door on the rest of the class and literally gave it to me straight. Nothing held back. She was the first person to tell me that she believed in my abilities and no amount of bad humour or distracting her was going to stop her pushing me to do better. She contacted my mum, doubled my workload, she pushed me even when I told her I couldn’t do it. She spent an hour a week with me after school to try and help me wrap my head around it and within a couple of weeks she’d become someone I looked forward to seeing. My attitude changed because she’d taken the time to try and make me believe in myself. She didn’t just write me off as a lost cause.
She died not long after. I remember going home from school and crying to my mum. I was heartbroken because I’d never had a chance to thank her and I don’t truly believe she understood just how much she’d helped me. So if you’re reading this from up above, Mrs. Yates… Thank you x
Francesca Marlow: I know it’s a morbid thing to discuss but I think it is a way of showing how we want to be remembered to the world - What would you want your tombstone to stay?
Victoria L. James: *blows a heavy breath out* I really don’t know. I answered this on another interview a few weeks back and said “Here lays the wife of Taylor Kitsch,” haha, but if we’re talking seriously… It’s a hard question to answer. I don’t want to think about the tombstone so much, but I would like to think that I’d made some kind of impact on at least a few people. I’d want people to think of me and smile, or laugh or… you know… have some funny stories to share about our times together. We’re not here long and I think it’s so important to make the right kind of impact on the people around you. The problem is that people don’t always see what’s around them until it’s gone. We all take this trip for granted, so if you want people to remember you, if you want to have the kind of life that matters, you’ve got to put the effort in. I would like to think that people thought I put the effort in. Yeah. I would hope everyone knew they were in my life for a reason and that I loved them and I loved them hard. *nods* So let’s go for. “Here lies Vic. This chick tried.”
And you fuckers better take care of my kids if anything happens to me or I will haunt the crap out of all of you. And make sure my husband’s wife after me isn’t *too* pretty. Give her a crooked nose or something. Maybe some hairy nipples? *laughs*
Francesca Marlow: Who do you most admire in life aside from me?
Victoria L. James: Obviously. LOL. It actually takes a lot for me to admire people. Isn’t that strange? I like to see the best in everyone, but if I admire someone that means you’ve knocked it out of the park. Obviously, I admire my husband. That goes without saying. He’s like no one I’ve ever known in so many ways. He does what he does and genuinely doesn’t give a rat’s tushy what anyone thinks of him besides me and his children. And that’s genuine. He doesn’t do what he doesn’t want to do just to fit in or gain favour from circles of friends. He’s his own person and in this day and age, that’s a rare thing to come across.
Victoria L. James: Obviously. LOL. It actually takes a lot for me to admire people. Isn’t that strange? I like to see the best in everyone, but if I admire someone that means you’ve knocked it out of the park. Obviously, I admire my husband. That goes without saying. He’s like no one I’ve ever known in so many ways. He does what he does and genuinely doesn’t give a rat’s tushy what anyone thinks of him besides me and his children. And that’s genuine. He doesn’t do what he doesn’t want to do just to fit in or gain favour from circles of friends. He’s his own person and in this day and age, that’s a rare thing to come across.
I admired my grandparents, Bess and James. The love they had for each other was novel worthy.
And… I’m going to get the pee taken out of me for this if he ever reads it, but I’ve always admired my older (MUCH older ;)) cousin, Dave. He’s always done his own thing and been who he wants to be, too... Even when he had hair that looked like it had been sprayed with Soul Glo. He’s an insanely good drummer, and he took me under his wing when I was annoying little kid who used to bug him relentlessly. I still bug him now. Haha. He’s pretty cool.
Also, anyone who is real. There’s so many smiling assassins these days, it’s hard to judge, but those people that are true to their word and true to themselves… I admire those bad boys.
Francesca Marlow: Being an author and a huge fan of literature, I guess an obvious question to ask is - What are you top three most favourite books?
Victoria L. James: I really don’t know how to answer this question, although I should mention Twilight. That’s where it all kicked in for me.
Francesca Marlow: I know the answer to this already but I think some may be interested to know what are you most afraid of?
Victoria L. James: Apart from the well publicised spiders, clowns and little girl ghosts… there’s a few more. Heights have become an issue for me over the years. Not watching my kids grow to be old and happy is a massive fear. As is failure due to not trying. If I give it my all and I still fail, I know I’ve done all I can. If I half arse it and fail, that’s the stuff I can’t live with. Oh, and seeing my family get ill and feeling helpless. Quite a few things there… Wait. Girls eyebrows these days, too. *shudder* People are smuggling ironed caterpillars on their foreheads. It’s just wrong.
Francesca Marlow: Just for fun - How do you think I would describe you if asked? *chuckles*
Victoria L. James: I think your descriptions would vary depending on who you were talking to. Haha. If you were telling me, I think you’d say I was a knobhead, a know it all, a nag, too old for my age, and someone who quite possibly needs to lay off the beer a day or two a week. If you were talking about me to someone else, I would hope you’d be a little more generous. I guess only you can answer that one. ;) I would hope there would be some redeeming qualities in there otherwise I dread to think what my tombstone is actually going to fucking say. *laughs*
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