Ginger Scott's Blog - Posts Tagged "indie"

I have had a few readers ask some great questions about what's going on inside that jock head of Reed Johnson, and tonight I had an idea. Reed actually did a great character interview over on SubClubBooks, and I thought I should probably share it here, too!

The link has been updated, so I will post the interview below (NOTE: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!):


Hi Reed, welcome to THESUBCLUBbooks. Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.


Reed, tell us what went through your mind the first day of class when you realized whom you were talking to (the girl from the gym) when Nolan told you her name?
Honestly, I felt like a real dick. I panicked a bit because I thought she might call me out on the shit we said behind her back. But when she didn’t bring it up, I relaxed a little, figured she didn’t hear us. Then she told me the story behind her name, and the entire time she was talking I was thinking about how wrong Tatum was about her and how cool she was to hang out with and talk to.

The day you and Nolan were doing your science project at your house and Sean commented that he found Nolan cute; your response was “Hmm, you think so?” Can you tell us what you really thought about that comment, and the why to your response?
Yeah, that kinda surprised me a little, too. When he said that I felt a little possessive, sorta like I saw her first. I thought about it later that night when everyone left, and the more I thought about Sean asking her out, the more it pissed me off. But then Tatum called and said she wanted to see my house…and check out my bedroom…so, yeah…I sorta forgot about Noles for a while after that. I’m not proud of it now, but I was a teenager and the shit Tatum was willing to do was redic!

It is clear that your relationship with Tatum was mostly physical but did you ever love her?
I thought I did at first. But I was 15 and getting blowjobs in the middle of desert parties. Every dude in our school was jealous of me, wanted to be me. I had it all. Everyone loved me and girls would go on and on about what a cute couple Tatum and I were. I don’t know…it sounds really lame now, but it just felt like that’s what I was supposed to do, who I was supposed to be with. When my brother was in high school, he dated college chicks—lots of them! I guess I didn’t really know any different, and the attention felt really good. I get it now, though. I know that wasn’t love. Hell, I didn’t even really know her. I couldn’t tell you what music she liked or how she treated her grandparents or what her favorite family vacation was…I didn’t care.

Was it really only when you danced with Nolan that you realized you liked her more than a friend?
Looking back, no. I knew wayyyy before then. I think I knew it the second she kissed Sean. I saw her through the bus window. I never told her that…huh, I guess she’ll know now. I was pretty pissed off that week they first started going out. I was kind of a prick to Sean, too, when he would talk about her. I always played it off like I was stressed about the football scouts or irritated with Tatum, but truth was I didn’t like hearing about him making out with Nolan.

When Nolan confronted you at the pool and spilled her heart out that she had secretly been in love with you over two years while you were dating the person that bullied her. What did you feel and think about her declaration?
Honestly, I just wanted to grab her and kiss her right then. I just wanted to fix everything, but I had no idea how. It’s sort of a shitty excuse, but I never really had good relationship role models. My parents fought just as much divorced as they did when they were married, but they weren’t big confrontational arguments. My mom would make little digs about my dad’s clothes or how he spent too much time hanging out with former football players and mechanics. She was always trying to make him into some society guy, but that’s just not who he is. And when she’d start picking at him, he’d just leave. Sometimes for a day or two. So when Nolan laid into me—totally deserved, by the way—I just sort of froze. Honestly, her courage just made me love her more.

How bad was it for you seeing Nolan and Tyler together?
Oh, man. That was the worst. I never liked that guy. He reminded me of my brother, all image and shit. He was fake nice, but I knew all he wanted to do was get into her pants. But she seemed so happy, and I had done nothing but make her miserable. Oh, her friends weren’t shy about letting me know what an asshole I was. I tried to ignore her for a while, get over her. But Tyler kept showing up at shit, and every time I saw him touch her I just wanted to punch him.

What are your feelings on your mom’s dislike towards Nolan? Will you ever defend Nolan and confront her (your mom) on how she treats Nolan?
I know I’m going to have to. I thought my mom would just get over it, warm to Noles. She’s impossible not to love, so I don’t get it. My mom just has this idea in her head, like she always wanted to marry me off to some other family name or something, like kings and queens or something. Like I said, that’s why she and my pops don’t mix well. He’s grass stains and beer and she’s white linen and expensive wine. But she’s going to have to get over Nolan eventually, because I don’t plan on ever letting her go.

Is Nolan your first and only love?
Huh? I guess so. I thought I was in love with Tatum, and I had a crush on Jaden Kessler in kindergarten, but yeah…Noles is the only girl I ever loved.

Why did you let Calley and Tatum sign your cast and visit you while you recovered at your mom’s house, if you knew how it would make Nolan feel? Did you do that on purpose?
Put that on the long list of dumb shit I did that I wish I could take back. Tatum was relentless. When I got settled at my mom’s, she showed up the first day. I made excuses to get her to leave the first few times, but my mom really liked her, so she always let her in. I think she was hoping we’d rekindle some sort of romance. When she came with Calley once, Calley was actually the first one to sign my cast. You haven’t met Calley, but she’s sort of one of those chicks that just does whatever she wants. She grabbed a pen and started doodling crap on my cast before I could say anything. Then Tatum got all whiney about how she wanted to sign it, so I let her. I didn’t really think it was a big deal, but I can see how it would be to Nolan…or at least now I can. I was pretty depressed for a while after the accident. I did a lot of dumb stuff.

After the accident you totally shut down, but you especially made Nolan’s life a hell by your cold attitude towards her. Did you avoid her so she would end things with you? Why?
I was scared. I had this perfect life planned out and when I thought I might not ever get to play football again, it scared the shit out of me. That’s all I was, all I knew. I felt worthless. And here Nolan was, just loving me anyway. I felt guilty, like I was letting her down. And then she started talking about trading her dreams in for mine. I didn’t want to be the reason she didn’t go to ASU, like she always wanted, or why she didn’t work with kids, which she was so totally meant to do. I think somewhere in my screwed up head I wanted to try to get her to break up with me, because I knew I couldn’t do it. I was too selfish.

Did you then, and do you now regret the way you treated Nolan after the accident?
Yes. Seeing her cry is the single most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. I said some things that I don’t think I’ll ever make right. But I’m never going to stop trying.

Do you think you have redeemed yourself on how bad you treated Nolan? And do you think you have taken her love for you for granted more times than once?
I was a stupid teenager, and if I could go back and smack myself a few times, I would. But that’s not how life works. I got lucky. I took Nolan for granted plenty of times. And somehow, she still showed up when I needed her, gave me her heart and trusted me not to break it. I can’t fix the past, but I sure as hell can earn the future.

Between the accident and all those months the two of you had been apart (because of you poor attitude) Did you ever stop loving Nolan?
No. Never. Not once.

SUDDEN DEATH QUESTIONS:

What song that describes your feelings for Nolan?
It’s funny, but it’s actually one of Nolan’s favorites—it’s called “Stars” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. It just feels like us, like I can’t breathe without knowing she’s ok.

Favorite feeling?
Anticipation

What would you change from the past? (if you could)
The time I said something that made Nolan feel like she wasn’t good enough.

Nolan is…..?
Everything

Kissing or cuddling?
Kissing. Definitely kissing.

Favorite image?
Nole’s smile, the one she gets when she’s busting my balls. No, wait! The one she gets when she first realizes I’m there.

Nolan or football?
Nolan. Every time.

I shared this over the weekend on my author Facebook page. It's a little tidbit from "Waiting on the Sidelines" that happens to be one of my personal favorites. You see, I'm a big fan of anticipation. I love those moments right before, and I am a sucker for the almost. While writing "Waiting on the Sidelines," there were a few chapters that I would think about all day and just get giddy with excitement over knowing that I would get to dive in at night and move my characters through something special.

A moment.

Well, for me, this is one of those moments. The kind you wish you could write for your own life, how you wished it happened...and if it did for you? Hell, I'm jealous. I plan on sharing a few other 'favorite parts' over the next few days in my countdown to my cover release for "Going Long." And soon, I'll be sharing something big from "Going Long" -- before it's big launch in October.

So, for those of you who've read "Waiting" I'd love to know if this was one of your favorite parts, too. And if not, please let me know one that is. I'd love to dig it up and share it with others on Facebook. Thank you all for reading! You're dream-makers, just so you know :-)

Excerpt from "Waiting on the Sidelines"

Reed just stared down at me, shifting back and forth from eye to eye because we were so close. The music and screaming from other swimmers in the background started to fade out. It was the same sort of feeling I got when I was about to pass out, but I knew my head felt fine. Reed leaned his head forward, pressing his forehead to mine, closing his eyes for a bit. He just sort of spun us, ever-so slowly in a circle, with our lips breaths apart. My lips were tingling, almost numb, but not from the cold water. I bit my bottom lip to try to stop the twitching and keep myself from shaking. I felt Reed shift, getting an even stronger grip on me, somehow holding me closer, which didn’t seem possible.

I was frozen, the tip of my nose touching Reed’s, as we swayed slowly in the water to some sappy pop song about standing in the rain. I knew the song, it was one of my favorites. But ask me the words right now, and I’d only be able to spit out gibberish. I bit my lip again, licking it a little from this unbelievable, beautiful suspense. And then Reed’s lips were touching mine. Not hard, but so incredibly softly. It was barely a kiss, but it was still the best one I’d ever have. He tilted his head up, just barely, taking my top lip between both of his and leaving them there for a few seconds, sucking me in faintly so I felt the tips of his teeth.

When he pulled back, he leaned his face to look at me, still cradling me in his arms. I opened my eyes slowly and couldn’t hide my smile. I wanted to cry, the type of cry from a release when you’ve waited so long for something. He just reached up and brushed water from my face with his thumb and stared at me until finally breaking our silence. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” he smiled gently.

“You have no idea…” I paused. “Well, there’s just so much you have no idea about, Reed.”

I'll keep this short, sweet and to-the-point: Going Long is live and well...everywhere!!! I'm so excited to share it with you all, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the journey for Nolan and Reed.

I love these two with all my heart, and I'm deeply touched that so many of you do, too. A special 'thank you' to my beta readers, early bloggers and reviewers for helping spread the word. I can't thank you all enough. I promise to get back to my newest project soon, once the excitement settles a little. I also promise to share more about it later. A tease or two may be in order ;-)

Happy reading!

xxoo ~ Ginger

I've been wanting to write this blog post for a while. I've started it and stopped it in fits, completely deleted it a few times, started again and, well…here we are.

I love telling stories. It's what drew me to journalism in the first place--and I've told some pretty unbelievable stories of some real people who have lived some fantastical lives. I've told of their survival, their demise and their love. And when I was in the thick of my journalism career, notebooks full of quotes for the next magazine deadline, I thought to myself, "Wow…this is amazing. I've done this! But…I still want to do more."

You see where I'm going with this. Matthew McConaughey. I waited up on Oscar night knowing he was probably going to win just to watch his speech. I didn't really expect to have it stick with me for weeks. Honestly, I just wanted to see him say "Alright, alright, alright." (Which he did, and yes, we can all agree it was totally bad-ass!)

But damn him. He had to go and get all kinds of poetic. Yes, he may have been a little more quixotic than some care for, but the point of what he said was pretty potent: Be your best self, and then move the bar and be better.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be Judy Blume. When I was a journalist, I wanted to be Curtis Sittenfeld. Most recently, I want to be Colleen Hoover. All amazingly talented women authors who I admire, respect and aspire to. And it's good to have inspiration. It's good to consume art made by those you look up to and to let it guide you and educate you, maybe even influence you. But then…then there's Matthew McConaughey.

In case you missed his amazing speech, he basically said he always chases himself, 10 years in the future. Chase myself, 10 years in the future. Hmmmmm…. that seems….hard. That seems scary, with all sorts of possibilities for disappointment. And failure, as I've shared before, scares the daylights out of me.

I've thought about this for days--alright, weeks, hence the start-and-stop of this blog post. I'm always chasing someone else, because I feel like they are so amazing--better, cooler, more talented, on top...pick the positive adjective and insert it here. But, oh you wise Matthew McConaughey, you--in the world according to Matthew, I don't have to be anything other than whomever I end up being down the road. And I'm bound to have learned a thing or two, accomplished something, and become a better writer than I am now.

I've written three books, and I'm enormously proud of them. I've learned from feedback--both the positive and the tough-to-take. I'm in the thick of finishing my forth novel, my most personal and emotional story yet. And this year, I took a leap, finally making good on that promise to myself to see what it's like to be a writer full-time. I bet me 10 years ago would be in awe of the me I am right now.

So what the hell…I'm going to start chasing myself...10 years later. I'll probably chase Colleen Hoover for a little while, too. You can't make the shift to full-on Matthew overnight. But maybe, just maybe, one day I'll feel worthy of running alongside her.

THIS IS FALLING is almost here! I think this is a story that those of you who read Waiting on the Sidelines are really going to enjoy. It falls somewhere in between. It's that first year of college, where everything is new and different and scary and wonderful all at the same time. THIS IS FALLING captures that; at least, I hope it does. And then it takes another step, adding the layers of life, love, fear and heartbreak into the mix. I'm tremendously excited for everyone to read it, and hope you will enjoy this first little taste.

I've posted the first chapter on my website here: www.littlemisswrite.com/chapter/. In the first chapter, you get to meet Rowe. But Nate, he's coming. In fact, I'll let you meet him next week…when I post chapter 2!

Thank you all for being such amazing readers. I will do my damnedest to deliver stories you deserve.

All my best,
Ginger

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a boyfriend. I know, I know…that's a really bland statement, but hang with me here. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the boyfriend. Nice guy, grew up to be a great human being. Anyhow, this post isn't really about the boyfriend.

My boyfriend had a best friend, and this best friend had a girlfriend, too. She and I…we did not run in the same circles. Not that we were enemies or anything. Our paths just didn't really cross. I was the band, sports, get good grades sort. She was more in the "I get invited to the parties with the cool older kids" crowd. Quite frankly, we didn't know much of each other at all.

Anyhow, one day during lunch, my boyfriend told me that he was mad at her. I asked him why, and he said that he didn't like what she said about me.

My stomach hurt hearing this, but I kept the calm exterior on my face and asked what she said.

"She said you were boring," he said.

Boring. Huh. Truthfully, it could have been a lot worse. But boring. Boring. I ruminated on this for a while, not quite sure how I felt about it.

My boyfriend went on, saying that she said she didn't understand why he liked me, because I was "boring, and didn't really have anything special."

Yeah, okay. That next part stung. Humor, my defense mechanism, even as a young teen, kicked in. I told him I would get right on sky diving and feeling G-force in an F-16 from Luke Air Force Base. He laughed and walked me to class.

I'm fairly positive that this "boring" thing left his mind the second fifth period began. And I'm pretty sure that the idea of me being boring was gone from the mind of the girl who said those words about me moments after she uttered them. They were speed bumps for them, filler for their day, so absolutely inconsequential that I can almost guarantee if I were to bring it up at a reunion (oh god, believe me, I won't), they would look at me like I'm nuts.

But for me…for me, this little speed bump left a mark. I don't think about it often, and sometimes years go by without even recalling this little adolescent blip on my lifeline. But it's there, and I can close my eyes and hear the conversation so vividly that I could convince myself I were actually in that moment. A girl, who I didn't even really know, called me boring--and I know there are a lot worse things people can call me--but damn did this little nothing ever make me feel bad.

Why am I thinking about this? Well, there are probably a few reasons. Firstly, I have seen a lot of bullying lately--the cyber kind and beyond--and it just gives me a funny taste. I wish like hell I were bigger, braver, stronger (basically, I want to be a Kanye song), so I could insert myself and hold up a hand to make it stop. It's something I'm working on. But until then, maybe just heed my little plea that we all try to be nicer to one another, or at least demonstrate respect.

And then there's that other thing that has my head spinning. This Is Falling comes out in hours…literally hours. And like my four previous releases, I am so anxious, excited and…did I mention anxious? I think I could throw up. But release day always makes me sit on the edge of my seat because my god…you amazing readers. You have no idea how overjoyed and happy you make me, to know that my stories have a home in your hands, on your kindles, in your nooks. And there probably is a little piece of me (okay, there is definitely a piece of me) that sort of grins at the girl who once labeled me so easily, and it's because of you.

Writing stories like these, this is all I ever wanted out of life. And you will never know how grateful I am that you make it possible. And yeah, that 14-year-old is probably still buried inside of me, also wanting to be liked. But she sure as hell doesn't think she's boring. So thank you for that gift. And truly, I hope you enjoy Falling. I put my heart and soul into it and will promise you to always give nothing less.

Out of the gate, thank you from the absolute depths of my being for nominating Wild Reckless in this category. Owen Harper's story, told through Kensington's eyes, is my absolute favorite things I've ever written. It will probably always be held on my personal pedestal - because I believe in that book, and I love the way writing it made me feel. To log into Goodreads and see it nominated - I mean...seriously? I'm pinching myself.

Just seeing my book on a page with others like this, with those names, has pretty much made my year. I cannot thank you enough for giving it your love and attention. Voting is now open, and I'd sure love your support as Wild Reckless heads into this next round. Here's the link: https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-young-adult-fiction-books-2015

One final time - thank you. You've amped me up with sheer joy and pride. It feels amazing.