It's All About the Book with Lisa McManus and THAT NIGHT @LisaMcManusLang @evernightteen

Super excited to have the fantastic new author, Lisa McManus here with us today answering questions for our readers !!!   Today ...

It’s All About the Book…

Please tell us about your current or upcoming release. 

That Night is a contemporary young adult novella published by Evernight Teen.  

 Blurb: 31,000 words -Teen/Contemporary/Romance/Suicide/Bullying

It can take a whole day to figure out what happened…that night.

On what was to be just another Monday morning at school, Luke’s girlfriend Jessica is nowhere to be found.  Names like ‘psycho lover’ follow Luke to his locker - even his best friend is acting weird around him. Luke soon learns Jessica tried to kill herself at a party from the previous Saturday night, and she’s blaming him. With posts on FaceBook feeding the rumors of what happened that night, the school has to investigate. 

Torn between worry, guilt, loyalty, priorities, and an urgency to clear his name and protect hers, he has to find her—he loves her no matter what. The teacher in the middle of the investigation is also the same one to provide academic and character references for Luke’s college applications due by the end of the week. Luke knows he’s not to blame, but with no contact from Jessica and everyone blaming him for what happened, he’s at risk of losing everything—Jessica and his dreams of being a mechanic—all because of what happened that night.

What is this book’s genre?  Is this the genre you usually write in?  Are there any genre’s you haven’t written that you’d like to try?  

 ‘That Night’ is a teen contemporary romance that deals with bullying and suicide – but from the loved one’s perspective.  I tend to usually write upbeat, humorous stories, so writing a dramatic story touching on serious issues was something different for me. In the spirit of always branching out and trying new things, I am currently writing a contemporary young adult full length novel which is a mix of fantasy and magical realism.

What inspired you to write this book? 

 

I knew I wanted to deal with how a suicide attempt affects loved ones – blame, ridicule and alienation - and the story grew from there. The teen years are turbulent and confusing, gossip and social expectations amplified, and when something like what happened to Luke and Jessica occurs, all those accompanying feelings along with teenage angst, surface. I hope Luke’s story and what he learned in the aftermath of his girlfriend’s suicide attempt helps someone through a similar situation.

How did you pick its title?  Did it come first or did you have to write the story first? 

The story and the title came at the same time, and as the story grew, the title only proved to be more and more appropriate.

 

How did you create your characters?  Did you use any real life people in their making?

 My characters grew as the story grew, and often I had to go back and strengthen aspects of them as I got to know them more through the story. The main characters are not based off anyone I know, only a culmination of people I have known, or known of. The school counselor is a mix of three school counselors I knew in high school.

Who is your favorite character of this book and why? 

I really like the school counselor, Mr. Yamagata. As I said above he is a mix of three school counselors I knew and really liked in high school – my admiration for them has never been forgotten (even after having been out of high school for, ahem, 20-something years)

What is your favorite part of this book?  Can you share an excerpt from that part?   

My favorite part of the book is the confrontation between Luke and Jessica in the library. Although not a particularly happy time between the two – nothing has been resolved between the two – I enjoyed trying to write as dramatic of a scene as I could, all while heightening Luke’s love for his girlfriend – even if he is unsure of their relationship status and the extreme situation he is in.

         Excerpt:     I stared at her wide-eyed. “What are you doing here?”

With a furtive glance towards Mrs. Ross’ office, where we could both hear the crusty librarian sorting books, or whatever––Jessica motioned for me to follow her.

Seeing Jessica again, no matter what the reason, made everything else simply disappear. It was corny to think like that, but just knowing she was here, safe and sound, made everything else, for that moment at least, insignificant. I had always cared about her – I still did. I do. And yes, we might have been having some sort of problems recently, and even if we didn’t get back together, or stay together, or be... whatever it was we were supposed to be, I knew right then, deep down, that her happiness, her safety, was all that mattered. Even if we weren’t ‘we.’

Keeping my eyes trained on the librarian’s office, I followed Jessica through the library. A heavy, thick silence pressed down on us as we wove our way between the shelves of barely read books. As I followed, I took in her stringy hair pulled back in a ponytail and her sweats with ‘DRAMA’ stenciled across the butt, the pair with a rip in the leg. I remembered the day she tore those sweats. I had dragged her out for a hike in the woods, a hike she didn’t want to go on, but she went anyways––for me. She ended up having a fun time, she would later tell me, but was pissed she had ripped her sweats. Seeing her again, right then, no matter what the reason, had me missing those days with her; the Jessica I knew.

But wearing grungy-looking, torn clothes to school was not her style. She was definitely not herself.

She stopped in her tracks and whipped around to face me. Her face was pale and her eyes were red-rimmed. She looked up at me with a mixture of contempt, sorrow and fear.

“What the hell is going on? Why did you say all that stuff? How could you?” She spat at me.

“What do you mean? I should be asking you the same question!” I countered in a harsh whisper, my voice rising with every word.

“Shut up!” she hissed, glancing around me in the direction of Mrs. Ross’ desk. I followed her panicked gaze. We couldn’t see the librarian but we could still hear her in her office. At least she was on the phone. We turned back to each other.

I put my hand on a nearby shelf to steady myself. The irony that we were standing beside self-help books for teens was not lost on me.

“Do you know what everyone is saying about me?” Her bottom lip quivered with every word – the same lip I used to love kissing and that I, despite the circumstances, wanted to kiss right then. But I didn’t know whether I wanted to kiss her out of relief at seeing her alive, or instead yell at her for putting me through this hell. But I would never have, nor had I ever, yelled at her.

What was the hardest part of this book to write? Can you share an excerpt from that part? 

 The hardest Luke being led away by the principal and the school counselor for a ‘meeting’ in the counselor’s office. I could remember those feelings of angst as a kid if I was called out by a teacher – that feeling of dread and knowing everyone’s eyes on you. It was hard drawing on those feelings, going back in time - who does enjoy being led away by a few teachers in front of half the school?

Mr. Yamagata saw me eyeing my locker then patted me on the arm again and gave me one of those a me one of those ‘this won’t hurt a bit’ warm smiles … the kind of smile you know is crap and means the worst is yet to come. “Don’t worry about your books for now, Luke. You’ll be able to come back for them later.” He obviously misinterpreted why I was really looking at my locker. Books were the last thing on my mind right then – I just wanted to escape, or hide, or... something. Anything.

Mr. Yamagata turned leaving me no choice but to follow. Mr. Todd stepped aside to let me pass, waiting to bring up the rear. It was as if he was ‘security’ ready to grab me should I bolt––and trust me, I almost did. With Mr. Yamagata in the lead, me in the middle, and Mr. Todd behind me, it felt like I was being led to my cellblock.

I might as well have been going to enjoy my last meal. In the space of fifteen minutes, if time even mattered at that point, my gut told me my life, as I knew it, had been turned upside down. All I knew was Jessica tried to kill herself and from the looks of it, everyone hated me. Were they blaming me? Why?

The whole school stared as we passed, our solemn parade only reinforcing everyone’s already crappy impression of me.

I kept my gaze on the back of Mr. Yamagata’s head, his tiny ponytail still damp from his morning shower. I tried to ignore everyone’s stares as we passed, but it was hard. At least there was one good thing about my ‘security’ detail: it kept everyone silent and off my ass. For the moment, at least.

Did you have any special rhythm or quirks while writing this?   

The story takes place over the course of a school day, so I had constantly keep myself in Luke’s shoes, remembering what a typical school day can be like – with a whole bunch of teenage angst and drama thrown in, making the day seemed longer than it really was. 

Is this a stand-alone book or is it part of a series?  If so, we want to hear about it and what’s next in the series.  If not a series, what comes next to be released?   

This is a stand-alone, although it was suggested to me that I write another book based on Jessica, the main character’s girlfriend, and what happens to her after Luke’s story. I’m currently working on a contemporary young adult magical realism/fantasy novel and eager to get that finished, so I’d have to wait and see what happens next in Luke and Jessica’s story.

Thank you so much for having me, and thank you to your readers and visitors to stopping by.  Happy reading!

Lisa we are more than thrilled to have you hear with us today and we hope you'll come back again soon !!!

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THAT NIGHT

Lisa McManus

Evernight Teen Publishing,  31,000 words

Teen/Contemporary/Romance/Suicide/Bullying

It can take a whole day to figure out what happened…that night.

 On what was to be just another Monday morning at school, Luke’s girlfriend Jessica is nowhere to be found.  Names like ‘psycho lover’ follow Luke to his locker, even from his best friend. Luke soon learns Jessica tried to kill herself at a party from the previous Saturday night, and she’s blaming him. With posts on FaceBook feeding the rumors of what happened that night, the school has to investigate. 

 Torn between worry, guilt, loyalty, priorities, and an urgency to clear his name and protect hers, he has to find her—he loves her no matter what. The teacher in the middle of the investigation is also the same one to provide academic and character references for Luke’s college applications due by the end of the week. Luke knows he’s not to blame, but with no contact from Jessica and everyone blaming him for what happened, he’s at risk of losing everything—Jessica and his dreams of being a mechanic—all because of what happened that night.

Buy Links:    ARe     Amazon     Evernight Teen

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Excerpt:

 “Hey, man.” I nodded to Jeremy Waters as I started the long trek up the front lawn of the school. He nodded back but gave me a questioning stare as I walked past. Again, weird. What is with everyone today? I wondered.

I scanned the busy school grounds. Where was Jessica? I knew our break-up was inevitable, but I dreaded it. I still cared about her very much, but things were changing: me, her, and ‘us’––and I didn’t know what to do about it. Neither did she.

At first I didn’t notice anything off, but as I passed group after group of unusually silent guys and girls from all grades, I got that weird feeling, like I was being watched, like the whole school was focused on me or something.

Some of the guys pulled their buds out of their ears as I approached, their banter from moments before silencing as I passed. One guy shook his head as if in disgust. Another guy awkwardly picked at something on the ground with the toe of his shoe, as if he were avoiding something.

I kept going, trying to walk as normally as I could. Hard to do when you know you’re being watched.

Where was Jess? I checked my phone to see if there was anything from her: nothing.

I shifted my backpack and made my way up the path to the front steps of the school. With every footstep, uncertainty and foreboding gnawed at my gut.

A group of girls from Jessica’s drama club huddled on the front steps like a bunch of hens. They all gave me the once-over. One of them was crying and another gave me the finger.

That stopped me in my tracks. “What the hell?” I stared them down. “What was that for?”

“Screw you, Luke!” The one with the ornery finger spat. “Stay away from Jessica!”

What the...? Whatever. Bunch of gossips––they seriously need to get a life.

Jessica and I had been drifting apart for a while. Where she was involved in her drama club, her social life, I preferred being under the hood of a car, alone. But it wasn’t that I chose cars over her or anything. I cared about her very, very much. At one time I even contemplated the L-word thing with her. But lately, something had changed, and I couldn’t figure out what. I mean, I knew I wanted to be with her but it was like we were drifting towards each other, then away, then back towards each other again. Only to then again drift further away.

But I would never do anything to her, to earn me the middle finger from her friends. So why were they acting like that? What the...? I shook my head and kept going. I hadn’t done anything to provoke their reaction, so they could just go back to their pointless chatter about hair or whatever.

With fifteen minutes to go until the first bell, I wanted to catch up with Jess before classes started. She lived way on the other side of town, and as much I would have loved to pick her up every morning, her mom insisted on driving her. Her mom liked me, so it wasn’t anything against me personally, but Jessica said it was a ‘mom and daughter thing.’ And besides, we always met first thing at school and I would, at least, get to drive her home.

But that day, even though I wasn’t exactly about to have ‘the talk’ with her right before class, I wanted to at least see her that morning to start the day––it was our ‘thing.’ A pang of regret fluttered in my gut. If we broke up, would we still meet in the mornings? She had become part of my day and I still wanted that.

I made my way through the doors of the school. The halls were already swarming with East Clark High’s student body. I searched for Jessica as I pushed and wove my way through the crowd. But I soon realized I wasn’t pushing past anyone, anymore. The constant buzz in the halls had all but died down, and people were stepping aside giving me a wide berth as I went.

What the hell was wrong with everyone? I frowned at everyone practically plastered up against the lockers, avoiding me like I was contagious or something. Did I smell like dog sh––

“Psycho!” A familiar voice hissed in my ear, cutting off my thoughts. Great––Mark. I stuttered to a stop but tried to keep going. I, along with everyone else, was used to his stupid ways, but I had to find Jessica. I didn’t want to waste time getting into it with him right then.

But he came at me again with, “Psycho-lover!” and that definitely had me coming to a full stop. I swear I felt spit on my cheek.

I refused to swipe it away, giving him the satisfaction of … I didn’t know what. Something. I glanced up to find his buddies chuckling while Mark, the idiot himself, contorted his face into what he assumed was the look of a crazy person.

He didn’t have to try very hard. It came naturally.

And I hoped his eyes stayed crossed like that.

I stared him down, and just when I turned away he was up against me, his face so close to mine his eyes looked crossed. “Jessica almost knocked herself off the other night. Whadidja do? Screw her over?” he hissed.

I stared at him in confusion. My face numbed. My neck heated. What was he talking about? What did he mean, ‘knock herself off’?

About the Author:

Lisa McManus has been an avid reader since her teen years, and is inspired daily by her teenage boys and the forests and beaches of Vancouver Island, British Columbia where she lives. Along with writing for kids and teens, she is also multi-published with Chicken Soup for the Soul and numerous other magazines and anthologies.  When she’s not writing, reading or refereeing her family, she is either hiking or out on the archery range.

Websites: www.lisamcmanus.com

www.lisamcmanuslange.blogspot.com

Twitter: @LisaMcManusLang

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8300457.Lisa_McManus

Amazon author page www.amazon.com/author/lisamcmanus

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Giveaway:    

$10 Evernight Teen GC and 1 ebook copy of THAT NIGHT

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