Title: Fearless
Author: Devon Hartford
Release Date: August 1, 2013
Blurb ~ After moving from stuffy
Washington D.C. to laid back San Diego, Samantha Smith hopes to shed
her troubled past and reinvent herself as a freshman at San Diego
University.
Her parents are pressuring her to major in
Accounting, because it’s the safe thing to do. But Samantha really wants
to try something more adventurous.
When she crosses paths with a
handsome tattoo-clad bad boy, her life is turned upside down, and
Samantha finds herself juggling more adventure than she ever dreamed
possible.
Get FEARLESS on Amazon for .99 Cents!!!
Author Bio
Devon Hartford spent most of his life in Southern California,
frequenting many of the locations in Fearless. Devon also paints. His
background in the arts was the inspiration for this book.
Interview with Devon
What made you start writing? Were you an English major or just a fellow reading junkie?
I
was not a big reader as a kid. It wasn’t until I discovered A Spell for
Chameleon by Piers Anthony that I actually enjoyed reading for the
first time. I instantly wanted to devour as many Xanth books as I could
swallow. His stories had romance, fantasy, and magic. They took me to
faraway, exotic locations that I dreamed of visiting. Not long after
that, I began dabbling with writing stories of my own. Clunky at first
and uncertain, my writing came in fits and starts. Much of what I wrote
early on was never finished. I was not an English major, but I did take a
few creative writing classes along the way. The assignments for these
classes led to my first completed short stories. When a filmmaker friend
turned me onto Syd Field’s well-known screenwriting book Screenplay, it
showed me how to think about longer stories. Syd Field did a wonderful
job of breaking film structure down into a visual form, highlighting the
basic fact that every story should have rising action with a beginning,
middle, and end. Later, I came across Plot & Structure by James
Scott Bell, which I highly recommend to aspiring writers. It takes the
visual approach in Screenplay and tailors the thought process to
novelists. If you are a visual person like me, both books are
invaluable. Your writing readers can also search online for articles
describing the W plot, a newer version of the same general ideas. Author
Mary Carroll Moore has a great video about W plotting on Youtube.
What made you write a romance, I'm sure many people are wondering, seeing as you’re a guy and all?
When
I started reading some of the New Adult novels that have come out in
the past year, I recognized in many of them a story that I was already
telling in some of my early work. Namely, damaged characters who are
avoiding the pain from their pasts and are forced by circumstance to
confront it; in so doing, the characters find redemption and heal
themselves. I think this is a universal theme in many films, books, and
TV shows. The other factor was recognizing that I could play around with
the college setting. I wanted to explore the fantasy that I’m sure many
of us have had, that college would be the place where we meet our one
true love. So I went about crafting the most thrilling college romance
story I could imagine.
I
noticed Fearless is part of a series, I need to know, are there any
cliffhangers? And how many books will there be in the series?
Fearless
ends with a soft cliffhanger. I wrapped up some of the main issues that
coursed through the pages of the book, but left some things
unaddressed. Nobody is hanging in life-or-death jeopardy, but there is a
lot of uncertainty. For Samantha, the young heroine in Fearless, there
are a number of brewing conflicts that are hinted at, but won’t erupt in
full volcanic force until book 2, Reckless. In Book 3, Painless, I will
wrap everything up with a neat bow.
Would you consider Fearless part of the New Adult genre?
Definitely.
It’s intended for young people at that age (or older readers who want
to relive that age) when they are officially in control of their own
lives for the first time, but struggle with the immensity of holding the
reins. It’s a time of infinite possibility, and for some, seemingly
infinite self-doubt and uncertainty. Will Samantha buckle down and
pursue the Accounting major like her parents want? Or will she rebel and
chase after an Art degree instead? I also delve into the blossoming
sexuality that most people experience at this time in their lives. As
many of us know, it doesn’t always unfold smoothly or even romantically
the first time. I wanted my novel to take the reader through the most
exciting, fulfilling, and comfortable initiation into the world of
physical love with another human being that I could depict.
How
do you feel Fearless compares to popular novels like Beautiful Disaster
by Jamie McGuire and other authors work like Abbi Glines and Colleen
Hoover whom are all missing that Y chromosome you possess?
I
chose to write Fearless from the heroine Samantha’s point of view. I
worked very hard to make sure that I had what I considered an authentic
nineteen-year-old girl’s internal voice, and that her behavior was
believably female and realistic for her age. In that respect, I hope my Y
chromosome will not be noticed at all! :-) Except, of course, when it
comes to the actions and dialogue of the hero and other male characters.
:-D
Last but not least, tell readers why they NEED to read Fearless...
If
you have ever felt like you were living the wrong life, and dreamed of
trying something more risky, adventurous, and fulfilling, but were
afraid to try, and thought partaking in such a journey with the perfect
guy would make it even better, then you NEED to read Fearless.
Especially if you ever dreamed of being an artist. My love of drawing,
painting, and the world of art is woven throughout Fearless.
Author Links
GIVEAWAY
Win an e-book copy of Fearless
HAPPY READING!!!
