Friday, February 13, 2015

Blitz : Death By Social Suicide

 Stranger Than Fiction: 

When art (unexpectedly) imitates life.

In my novel, Death by Social Suicide, the main character Brit has a passion for music. She plays electric guitar like a rock star, the music swimming through her veins making her feel at peacebut only when shes alone. The fear of others hearing her is numbing. I get that. Although I dont have a tenth of the amount of talent that Brit has, I do have a phobia of playing guitar or piano in public. Its not something that people can easily understand. They cant comprehend why I would own these instruments if I never play them. I do play them, I just play when Im alone. Maybe one day, with enough confidence, Ill gather up the courage to allow others to listen, but for now Im perfectly content with playing for my catsand boy are they critical! ;)

Brit also has a deep love for the band, Green Day, and who can blame her? The band has played consistently great music for twenty years. I remember getting Dookie on my sixteenth birthday and playing it so often I nearly wore the CD out. Like Brit, Ive gone to concerts to see the band perform. And like Brit, I sat in the orchestra section of the St. James theatre to watch Billie Joe Armstrong, the lead singer of the band star in American Idiot on Broadway as the character of St. Jimmy. In my book, Brit gets to meet Billie after the show and obtains his autograph. I wasnt as lucky, and although I got close to him that night, there were just too many fans. So I let Brit have the moment that I never got.. until recently.

While working on revisions of Death by Social Suicide, I discovered that Billie Joe was filming in my old neighborhood. I called my best friend, Elaine who has shared every Green Day moment with me, and we drove down there, expecting to find crowds and screaming fans. What we found was a silent movie set in the middle of production. A kind assistant let us stay, and watch Billie work. We were about fifteen feet away from him and I swear he could hear our hearts thumping against our chest. It was freezing cold outside and starting to rain (It was an outdoor scene) but we were frozen not by the weather but by our luck. With our eyes glued to the musician who had taken us from high school through college and into our thirties, we were beyond nostalgic.

The director called it quits for the night, and the assistant who had been so kind to us, went and whispered something to Billie. We were told to stay in a certain spot, and after about five more minutes, Billie walked over to us and just said, Hi guys.

Then he hugged me. Like a real huglike out-of-body-experience sort of thing. Then he turned to Elaine and hugged her.

And just like that, he left.

We stood there in shockIts been three months since that night and I still get chills whenever I think about it. Now when I look back on that scene with Brit, standing next to Billie getting his autograph, I get this butterfly in my stomach reminding me, Brit got the autograph, and thats beyond cool. But I got the hug.

So it just goes to show you, each day is filled with possibility. One minute youre at your laptop working on revisions about a girl who has a crush on a rock star. The nextyoure face-to-face with that rock star.


Death by Social Suicide by Karen Anne

Publication date: February 13th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance
Purchase (only .99cents during the blitz!)Amazon | B&N

The night Brittany Wakefield kissed her best friend, Jaime, she lost everything. Who knew one amazing moment could send him running— spinning a web of deceit and avoidance for two years. Stepping onto campus, she’s ready to win him back, even if it involves pledging a sorority she has no interest in.

Erik Draxton fell hard for Brit the moment she walked into the art room. With vibrant purple hair, music in her veins and a rebellious flair, she’s all he’s ever wanted.

While Jaime shrouds himself in secrets, Brit finds herself longing even more to be a part of his world. Unable to watch the girl of his dreams get tossed to the side, Erik decides to take matters into his own hands. But when Erik crosses a line, Brit feels backed into a corner, and discovering Jaime’s secret leaves her devastated.

With a shattered heart from Jaime, and the risk of losing Erik on the horizon, she knows one thing: navigating the social circles can be a suicide mission.
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Our model was beautiful, and if anyone was wondering if she was a natural red head, she soon put their curiosity to rest when she disrobed, revealing creamy skin, and a neat rug that matched the curtains. I glanced around the room, and watched the other guys who tried hard not to smile as she took her position in the middle of the floor, back arched, nipples to the ceiling. We usually had male models, or strictly older women. This was a rare treat for them.
I glanced at Erik, who didnt seem phased by the goddess of seduction that twisted before him. He sketched her form, his head down, mouth in a stiff straight line. Usually, he did this thing where he stuck the tip of his tongue out of the corner of his mouth. That was the Erik I was accustomed to. This guy was an impostor. I put my head down and started sketching Aphrodite.
When the professor signaled for the model to take a break and everyone broke apart, I followed Erik into the hallway and watched him disappear into the mens room. All right, Ill wait. When the door opened a minute later, I jumped in front of Erikbut it wasnt Erik. It was my professor, who grabbed at his chest in alarm.
Sorry, Professor Martin, I uhthought you were someone else.
Not funny, Miss Wakefield,he grumbled and continued down the hallway. I flattened against the wall and waited. The door opened again, and this time Erik walked out.
You cant ignore me forever, we still have like ten more weeks of the semester. Thats twenty classes. Youre really gonna ignore me for twenty classes? And besides, were both art majors, chances are well have another class together in the future.I folded my arms and stepped in front of him so he couldnt walk past. Thats right, five-foot-five Brit was highly intimidating to six foot Erik.
The corner of his mouth lifted up into a slow smile. Missed me that much huh?
What? No, I—”
You couldnt even handle one hour of me ignoring you. I thought you were tougher than that. Looks like playing hard to get is paying off.
I worried he was serious, but then he cracked a real smile and laughed.
You need to lighten up, Monster High. Im over you.
Huh. Over me. Im not sure why, but his words stung. Maybe because no one had ever been into me before.
Erik kept talking, In fact, I decided to join a religious order. Perhaps Hare Krishna. Think Id look good in orange?
I laughed and stepped to the side so we could walk back to class together.
So were cool?I asked, just to be sure.
Im cool. Youre cool now, I cant say how cool youll look in those letters.He flicked at my pledge pin.
Yeah, but I think I can make them cool.
No, youre not that cool.
Youre right, Im not.I sighed in relief, happy that we were talking again.
What about her? Could she talk you out of a religious orderI gestured to our live playboy centerfold.
Her?he said, twisting his face. Not my type.
So youre not into perfect?I eyed him with suspicion.
Nah.He pulled gently on the end of my hair. Im into purple.

I felt my face burn pink in response. Professor Martin clapped his hands, calling for our attention. Everyone obediently returned to their easels, and the model took a new position, her arms draped over her head, her hair falling delicately over one of her perfect size C breasts. I stole a peek at Erik to see his expression at this striking pose, but he wasnt looking at her. His eyes were fixed on me.
KAREN ANNE is a New Adult Contemporary Romance author who lives in New York. She loves cats, coffee and deeply misses 90’s grunge. 

Karen is also known as Kat Daemon, Paranormal Romance writer and lover of all things dark and twisty.
You can find out more about her at This Website

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