Whatever It Takes by Lindsey Pogue
(Nothing But Trouble, #1)Publication date: January 22nd 2016
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult
Four years ago, I thought my life was pretty normal for a teenager. Three years ago, my world was shattered, and now I’m just trying to hold the pieces together. But regret and anger aren’t so easy to ignore.
I just need to catch my breath … for it all to go away …
I thought I might finally be ready to move on from that horrible night, but then he decided to come back.
He can’t come back … he’ll ruin me completely.
One horror-filled night changes the course of Samantha’s seemingly normal life. She’s ruined everything. Despite her determination to keep the family ranch up and running, her guilt makes it impossible to completely move on or forget.
Sam takes comfort in her quirky, endearing friends as she tries to balance between the girl she was and the woman she wants to become. Just when she thinks she’s finally making amends with her past, someone she never thought she’d see again returns, and Sam’s life is once again turned upside down. Both her head and her heart want different things, so she’s lost when, once again, she’s forced to make a decision that will inevitably change her life.
The
dismal ache inside me overshadows the disappointment I know I should
feel as I contemplate the shard’s sharp edges. Standing motionless
and muted, I take deep, grounding breaths.
In
. . . out . . .
In
. . . out . . .
In
. . . out . . .
It
does nothing to stave off the unbearable tightness in my chest. I
should put the shard down. The
months of fighting against the pain, of trying to ignore it and
accept it, to control the growing weakness that nearly cripples me,
moves so far beyond me I want to give in.
I
can’t push the urge aside. I can’t ignore it. Not any longer. I
need the burn—so raw, demanding, and overpowering—to go away. I
need my heart to stop aching, and for once, I want the grief and
shame to ease, just a little, so I can breathe again.
Finally,
I let out a shaky breath. I run the pad of my thumb over the slick
surface of the piece of glass. It’s thin, sharp, and might break in
my hand if I clutch it any harder.
A
fiendish need claws inside me, and a delirious giddiness overcomes me
at the thought of even a second’s relief.
I
lick my lips. This
is what I need . . . one fell swoop of the glass across my
skin. The burn. The sting of air and torn flesh, just enough to draw
blood. Then I’d feel something else.
I
press a jagged edge of the glass to my palm.
“Samantha,
I was calling you,” Alison says from the doorway.
What
made you first decide to become a writer?
It
has always been easier for me to write down how I feel opposed to
communicating it to someone aloud. I started writing in journals
at a very young age and inevitably my ideas, dreams, and life
experiences starting turning into more than that. Little bits
and pieces of my observations and of my life turned into storylines,
and soon fictional characters and plots began to develop until I had
so many story ideas that I had to invest in cases of floppy disks
(yes, real plastic floppy disks) to save all my stories onto.
I’ve been writing so long that as I go back now and read
through some of my stories from ten years ago, I can’t help
but laugh because they are so horrible and yet so refreshing and
awesome.
You’ve
published dystopian and new adult stories, and you have historical
adventures in the works. What is your genre?
Writing
stories is like eating Skittles, I want to taste the rainbow. After
all, writing and reading is about losing yourself in something else,
right? Someone else’s life, a place faraway… I want to write them
all—the fantastical and gritty real life—and just thinking about
the possibilities gets my gears turning and revved up for my next
writing adventure. Let me tell you, when your book doesn’t fit
nicely into a perfect genre package, you open yourself up to harsher
reviews from people who were expecting one book but got another and
your book is much more difficult to market. BUT, over the past few
years, especially working on The Ending Series, I’ve realized
something: nothing is black and white. There are tons of authors out
there who write historical fiction and paranormal romance, erotica
and thrillers. If I want to be myself, to write what I’m passionate
about, I’m going to be all over the place. For instance, I’m
infatuated with history, have lived the true life gritty stuff, love
adventure and happily ever after, so why not write about it all? Life
is all about exploration, so why should writing be any different?
Is
it difficult to switch gears after finishing up The Ending Series and
now working on a contemporary new adult series?
My
answer is yes, it is for me. When I’m writing, it takes a lot to
get into my characters and once I do, the last thing I want is to
jump back and forth. While I was working on Whatever
It Takes
in between Ending Series books, that probably won’t be the case
moving forward. I have limited writing time, and in order to make the
best of it, I need to keep myself focused, something that is
difficult for me. I’m like a squirrel with shiny objects; I have so
many different stories I want to write about, if I don’t stay
focused, I’ll start them all and finish none of them.
What
other stories do you have in the works?
Besides
the rest of the Nothing But Trouble Series (Mac and Nick’s
stories), I started a historical/adventure/romance, Wrecked.
It’s essentially Jane Austen meets Swiss Family Robinson. I wanted
to explore life and society in 19th
century England and America and what would happen if idealistic
romance met survival adventure. What would conversations sound like
and what would relationships and social class barriers look like in
an era turned upside down, when women weren’t allowed to show their
ankles and everyone was expected to say and do the “proper”
thing. What happens when you’re bred one way but thrust into a
whole new world where survival is all that really matters?
Thank you so much for hosting my new book! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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