Rogues Angels Present The Hearts Journey Home by Nikki Jackson

Please welcome Nikki Jackson author of The Hearts Journey Home.

Nikki Jackson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.

The Heart's Journey Home

by Nikki Jackson

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GENRE: Young Adult

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INTERVIEW:

What or who inspired you to start writing?

Books inspired me to write.  We had a library in our grade school and one day a week we went to the library as a class and checked out a book.  We’d have to read the book then write a short report and read it in front of the class.  During summer vacation my mom expected my sisters and I to walk to the public library that was just a few short blocks away.  The three of us did that once a week during the entire summer.  My goal was to read every book in the kid’s section.  I loved libraries.  I thought they were the most magical places.  A place full of books imagine that!  And you could read them whenever you wanted, imagine that!  Books that took you away from the routine of your little school kid life and took you on the most awesome adventures – other lands, other times, with a group of other kids that came to life off the pages of a book and invited you to come follow them.  I was hooked at the age of about  eight.

 What elements are necessary components for this genre?

The most necessary elements for the young adult genre is engaging young characters and a really good story.  Period.   I knew I wanted to write for young adults – for teens, so I read the genre to get the feel – The Hunger Games, Enders Game, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars and other teen books.  All the books I read had wonderful characters and a really good story.  I knew if I was going to break into this genre my novel was going to have to be able to stand shoulder to shoulder with these works so I set out from day one to write good three dimensional teen characters.  I wanted them to each have their own personalities, background stories, quirks, drama, handicaps, dreams, problems, visions for the future.  I wanted any teen reading my novel to see themselves or their friends in my characters.  I wanted my characters to be real enough for the reader to like and care about them.        

 What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

I think a really interesting thing about me that’s not in my bio is that I regularly go on Mission trips with my church.  As a matter of fact I’m still suffering jet lag from our recent trip to Pakistan.  Last year I went to Peru, I’ve been to Thailand twice and  China.  The fun thing about the China trip was that we spent a week smuggling Bibles into the country.  I think people look at me and don’t see the ‘edge’.  I’m not going to jump out of a plane or bungee off a cliff but there’s a few crazy things I’d still like to check off my ‘to do at least once’ list.    

As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

Write till the wheels fall off.  The Heart’s Journey Home is book one of a series and as I work on book two of the series I’m already thinking of a science fiction series I’d like to do.  My goal is to seriously make my mark as a writer.  I’d like to write movies, plays, and a sitcom.  I’d love to co-write a book or two with Stephen King (something not scary).  I’d love to be recognized for my work – an Emmy, Oscar, Tony, and Nobel Prize in literature.  If I get to write my future plans this is what I’m making up.

Can you give us a sneak peek into this book?

I have to laugh.  In that the book is in excess of 700 pages it would have to be a heck of a sneak peek!  My family is still teasing me about the book’s length.  I didn’t realize it was so big until I pulled it out of the box.  I ‘talk long’ (so my family tells me) so I guess I write long too.  The story is about the relationship between three best friends; Tori, AJ and Kalea.  Tori is part Lakota and is fiercely proud of her heritage.  AJ is adopted and lost his leg to juvenile cancer and Kalea has a genius IQ and that’s made it challenging for her to make friends.  All three kids have wealthy parents yet they are incredibly grounded.  It’s summer vacation and they are excited about the various things they have planned – the things they will be doing together and then the various camps they will be attending on their own.  The story focuses on and follows Tori.  She lost her mother when she was seven and her dad, who’s an Archeologist, is gone a lot leaving Tori at home with the live-in girlfriend, who she resents.  There are a few twists and turns that keep the story moving fairly well so don’t be scared off by its length.     

When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I always knew I would self publish so I worked toward that end.  I had a self publishing plan laid out – write the book, find a designer to do the cover, find an editor, decide on a publisher.  I didn’t want to be that person who spend their whole life talking about writing and never doing it.  I’ve got a bit of age on me so I was getting pretty close to ending this earthly sojourn without having penned a published word.  That really started to bug me.  I kept putting it off and putting it off and one day I woke up and said to myself – write the blasted book or shut up about it forever!

Do you outline your books or just start writing?

Because The Heart’s Journey Home is a series I definitely had to do an outline.  Book one was a tough outline because I have so much going on in the book.  I’ve got my characters in the present but then their lives are pointing towards something just around the corner so all that had to be laid out.  My characters also have a past so that had to be revealed in bits and spurts along the way.  There was no way for me to keep all of this straight without an outline of sorts.    

How do you maintain your creativity?

I hang around people - young, old, Black, White, people like me, different from me, the whole spectrum.  I share my life with my circle of family and close friends and they share their lives with me. Everyone has a trail they’re on, everyone has a past and a history, everyone has dreams and desires.  Everyone has a story. There are stories all around us if we simply pay attention.   And I go to movies.  I love movies.  They keep the creative juices flowing.  I saw The Martian last week.  I simply loved the idea that this guy had to use the ingenuity of his total self to survive long enough for people to figure out how to get to him.  That was the whole story for me.  Him surviving.

Who is your favorite character in the book. Can you tell us why?

Tori is my favorite character in the book.  She’s tough, a fighter and as stubborn as a billy goat.  She could be as wrong as two left shoes but she won’t back down.  She’s proud and honest and true, yet she’s vulnerable.  She’s unsure about things.  She has her flaws.  Of all the characters she needs the most growth.  I think that’s why she’s my favorite – she’s so human.    

 

Anything else you might want to add?

Sure, buy the book!  Don’t let its size dissuade you.  I assure you, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.  For you writers out there – keep writing, fuel the dream.  Believe in yourself and your craft.  To you readers, keep supporting us writers.  We need the encouragement.

Thank you for the interview and giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts. 

BLURB:

It’s summer vacation, and all seventeen-year-old Tori Logan wants to do is hang out with her two best friends, practice her mixed martial arts and go to FBI spy camp. Summer means freedom (mostly from adults) and Tori plans to fill every spare moment of her last summer before graduating from High School with all the fun things she and her best pals can come up with.

Tori, whose mom died of breast cancer when she was young, has always relied on her own strength to get by - especially because her Archeologist father tends to leave her behind with his live-in girlfriend while he gallivants around the world on digs.  Thankfully, Tori can take care of herself. She knows exactly who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Her Lakota Sioux grandfather, a former Navy SEAL, trained Tori in self-defense from a young age. Now, as a teenager, Tori excels at mixed martial arts and the use of various weapons.  During the summer she will be attending an FBI sponsored Summer Camp which she hopes will lead to her dream job – becoming an FBI serial killer profiler.

With her two best friends at her side, Tori believes she can handle anything. And with summer vacation stretching before them, the trio plans to find plenty of adventure.

But while Tori is determined to be independent, life has other plans for this fierce young woman, and they include coming to grips with some hard - and surprising - truths about both her past and her future.

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EXCERPT:

I could really use a belt. Fin thought as he jumped from the porch, bounding over the five steps.  Running down the graveled drive at break-neck speed he cursed the fact he was wearing tennis shoes - that along with the baggy, beltless pants was hemming up his stride.

The sound of shrieks and a male voice yelling at him in a foreign language didn’t help the matter.  Fin tripped over his own size 12 feet, rolled and got up running.  After gathering his wits about him he heard a muffled roar zoom past him followed by a streak of green.  He was unsure of what it was but he was too scared to try to figure it out – he was running now – minus the jeans and a tennis shoe. 

Fin all but dove into his Camaro thankful he’d left the keys in the ignition and not in his pants pocket.  He turned the key and sped down the drive, kicking dirt and gravel in his wake.  In his rear-view mirror he could see the crazy man chasing him with the longest, sharpest sword he’d ever seen.

Making it to the end of the drive, Fin did a complete donut, spun the vehicle around in the right direction and then tore off down the street.  Tori had grabbed his errant shoe and AJ leaned down to scoop up the jeans, then the two of them tore down the drive after Fin.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ever since she was young, Nikki Jackson has loved reading and the way that books allow you to journey on wonderful adventures without ever leaving the comfort of home. She decided at a young age that she wanted to become a writer to enable others to experience the magic of books—and The Heart’s Journey Home is the result.

In addition to writing, Nikki Jackson is a contract worker for General Motors. She and her husband currently live in the Detroit metropolitan area.

Links

The Heart’s Journey Home Blog is currently under construction and will be online soon.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Hearts-Journey-Home-California-ebook/dp/B01551MLZA    

Twitter - https://twitter.com/journey4home

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Nikki Jackson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn host.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1331