Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!
Today we are welcoming Melissa Groeling to the blog. She’s here to share a guest post and also share about her latest book Traffic Jam, from Black Opal Publishing.
Hi Barb!
Thanks for having me! This is the last stop for me on my blog tour and what better way to go out with a bang than with Sugarbeats?
Sugarbeats, as you know, dear readers, is a romance-related blog so I will try my best to be romantic. Well, not me, per say…but…okay, I’m going to stop now while I’m ahead. But the whole idea of romance is that I think, personally, that we all need more of it in our lives. The world is full of dark ideas, dark thoughts, dark everything and romance is a light that’s getting harder and harder to find, especially when the divorce rate in this country is at fifty percent.
Now, I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d write anything that was even remotely romantic. Anyone who knows me is like,
“Melissa? Really? She doesn’t have a romantic bone in her body.”
Well, turns out that I do! I have several romantic bones in fact! With my first young adult novel, Traffic Jam, on the verge of completion—its release date is May 26th—I found that it was rather impossible not to have some kind of romance or crush in the story. I mean, when you’re a teenager, that’s all there is. The drama that surrounds every young girl or boy is rooted in some way, shape or form, to that one beautiful person who seems to be the only reason to get out of bed in the morning.
And that beautiful person is always so unattainable.
My main character, Val, is well aware of this. Her crush, John, is one of her older sister’s best friends. That’s a huge strike against her right there. If Traffic Jam were a regular young adult story, I’m sure I would’ve found some obscure way to throw John and Val together; like with a school project or something. But this story is no regular young adult story. It touches upon a topic that I think a lot of people don’t want to talk about: human trafficking.
Like most of the romance in people’s lives, it’s kept on the back burner.
Burning but there.
About the Author
Melissa Groeling graduated from Bloomsburg University with a degree in English. She lives, reads and writes in the Philadelphia region and wherever else life happens to send her. She is a hardcore New York Giants fan and loves chocolate. Traffic Jam is her first young adult novel.
Blog: http://melissagroeling.
Twitter: @stringbean10
Come find me on Facebook!!!
Val’s chest gave a hard lurch and she glanced away, leafing through the book in her hands. “Look, John, I honestly don’t know. I don’t know why you would think I have the answers. You might be better off just—”
“You know something.”
The words were whispered directly into her ear, hot and knowing. She jerked around. John stood inches away, staring down at her. She licked her lips, squeezing the books in her hands. “What?”
“You know something. I know you do.”
The bluntness and certainty of those words hit her like a well-aimed punch. Shaking her head, she moved back when he moved forward. “I don’t know anything.”
“Yes, you do. I saw you with Brandon.”
“So? So what?”
He took another step towards her. “What’s going on, Val?”
“Nothing! God, nothing is going on. What’s your problem?”
Her voice had risen and it wouldn’t be long before a salesclerk interrupted them. She tried to rein her emotions in but she could feel her control flagging under the steadily increasing pressure of his gaze, of his sheer force of will as he kept coming towards her.
Great post, Melissa. I, too, didn’t think I could write anything remotely romantic. But it seems I can! Love the excerpt and I can’t wait for the book to come out! Congratulations!
Hi Melissa. Awesome post. Even if we think we aren’t romantic, I believe there is a small part inside of us all, that is.
Love the excerpt. You have the teenage dialogue down perfect. I should know, I live with a 17 yr old daughter 🙂
Good luck with your release. It will be here before you know it.
“God, nothing is going on. What’s your problem?”
Didn’t that just come from the mouth of a teenager? Nice work, Melissa! All the best with your release.
😉
Awesome post, Melissa! I hear you on the romance end of things, but it’s oh so true that relationships (romantic and otherwise) play huge roles in our lives so there’s no getting away from them! *MWAAAHHHAAA* evil laugh.
Love the excerpts and congrats on your pending release!
Great post Melissa! Love the excerpt!!
If only everything in school could be presented through romance, I think I’d score all As. That is why I chose to do history through romance, because history is more than just bunch of names, dates and places. Hopefully, someone will find it fascinating.
Thanks for commenting everyone! And thanks Barb for the guest spot! Cheers!
Great book, Melissa. And you did a great job on showing a teens first romantic attraction.
Great post and excerpt. You really capture a true teenager. Can’t wait until it comes out.
Lynda