Book Blogger Fair: Hosting Emily Tippetts

Synopsis

If there’s one thing Madison Lukas understands, it’s pain. The pain she feels when her mother ignores her completely. The pain her best friend endures as her parents starve her as punishment. The pain of a dangerous boy whose mother has to be carried away by law enforcement on a regular basis.

She gets it. She feels the pain of others as if it were her own.

But when a mysterious man claiming to be her long lost brother appears with promises of relieving her suffering, trusting him could reveal more truths than Madison is ready for. Because the truth can hurt, too.

"A fast-paced blend of high-stakes drama and average teenage concerns (sex, appearance, friends), capped with a welcome message of hope." ~Kirkus Reviews

Author Q&A

Tell us 3 fun facts about yourself.

1. I'm half Chinese; my father's family immigrated from Shanghai in the 1940's

2. My father's a glider pilot, so when I was a kid I spent a lot of weekends hanging around the airport and flying planes.

3. I've got more names than you can shake a stick at. I was born Emily Mary Mah and my Chinese family gave me the name Shi Yue. Then when I married my husband I got the last name, Tippetts, so I can do a lot of different pen names and still have them be my real name.

What book are you currently reading, and in what format?

Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams, as an ebook. I'm going to serialize it for him so I'm reading to find the best places to break each episode.

Do you have a book that you read over and over?

The Bible and the Book of Mormon, but I assume you mean a novel. When I was a kid it was King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry. Nowadays I never find time to re-read a book, though!

Is there a book you know you’ll never read?

The rest of the Twilight series. It just isn't my kind of thing.

You’re deserted on an island. A genie appears and gives you six wishes. You can’t wish for more wishes, and you can’t wish to be home. You can only wish for three specific items and three people to have with you. What are your wishes?

A computer with magical internet access so I can keep writing. A study home to live in that won't require a whole lot of maintenance. A boat and fishing equipment.

The people are easy. My husband and two boys!

If you could time travel, where would you go first and why?

To the future, past when I can expect to live naturally, simply because there'd be no other way for me to find out about it.

What are you currently working on, and when can we expect to see it for sale? (title if you have it and a synopsis)

The title is Break It Up and it's a new adult romance. Kyra Armijo (whom some readers will know from my Someone Else's Fairytale series) gets the chance to work on a documentary about the chart topping boy band, Triple Cross. As part of the job, she goes on tour with them in Europe where she strikes up a romance with one of the band members. Since she assumes it's all an act on his part, she doesn't bother to tell him about her racy past, which would destroy him if the tabloids found out. Things get awkward when she realizes he's being sincere, and even more awkward when one of the other band members tries to compete for her attention.

Excerpt from Castles on the Sand

As I walk home from work on Saturday, I see Alex filling up his sedan at Jacksons. He doesn't even look up at first, until I slow down and stop. When he does look up, he gives me his usual, neutral, unblinking stare. “Psycho can be short for psychopath or psychotic,” I say. Then I shut my mouth. Random, I think. Be quiet, Madison. One blink, and no expression change. “So is your mom...” “She's psychotic.” “Oh.” “She's a schizophrenic.” “So, does she, like, hallucinate?” “Yeah.” I nod. Well, all right, I think. What a lovely conversation. “How is she doing?” He looks me up and down and then in the eye, then shrugs. “Have you seen her lately?” Wrong thing to say. He yanks the fuel nozzle out with more force than necessary and slams it down on the pump. Watch this, I can hear my brother saying. He does that with the gas pump, imagine what he might do to your face. Assuming my face was ever within arm's reach. I push that thought away. Alex takes a few deep breaths and flips his hair back from his face. “I can't.” “You're not allowed?” “No, I can't. I just can't.” “Where is she?” “A ways. Ninety minute drive.” “You ever been-” “I can't do it, okay?” He whirls around and glares at me. “No, hey, relax. I'm not trying to push you. I'm just asking.” He looks down at his feet. “I don't even know what medications she's on, or what else they might be doing to treat her.” “Can't you find out?” “I don't have guardianship of her, so I'm not privy to her records without her permission, but she's kind of mentally ill, so you know, that doesn't work.” “Have you talked to her, even? On the phone?” “Yeah. She just cries.” He sets his jaw and folds his arms. I glance at my phone. It's four in the afternoon. “How late do visiting hours at the hospital go today?” “'Till seven.” I look at him, with his military jacket and hostile stance, at the way he looks at the ground as if embarrassed to admit to me that there's something he can't do. “Want me to come with you?” He looks at me and lifts an eyebrow at that. I take a moment to think about what I just said. My brother, if he were here, would be screaming, “Madison, this is not your problem. Run away!” An image of Grace, Alex's mother, pops into my mind. I think of how disoriented she seemed, wandering around town. Now the thought of her in a place with dozens of other people like her and no contact with her son makes my heart ache for her. And then there's Alex, clearly distraught, and clearly feeling helpless. I wait. “Would you?” he says. Before I can digest the thought fully, I march myself over to the passenger side door of his car and open it. “Let's go.”

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About E.M. Tippetts

Emily Mah Tippetts writes romance as E.M. Tippetts and science fiction and fantasy as Emily Mah. She is a former attorney with degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Oxford University and business law from UCLA. These days she lives in New Mexico - the place where she grew up - with her family.

She also designs book covers and formats paperbacks and ebooks for her company E.M. Tippetts Book Designs.

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