Interview with Keary Taylor and Giveaway of What I Didn't Say

Today I have the pleasure of having Keary Taylor on the blog with an interview and a giveaway of What I Didn't Say.  I loved this book so was very excited when she agreed to be on.  This is a two-for deal.  The interview starts here, and there's a giveaway here, but to finish up the interview you need to head over to Novels, News and Notes From Your Northwest Neighbors, a NW collaborative blog, and there will be a second giveaway there!  You can have TWO chances to win!

Thanks so much for being on today!

You have several books under your belt now and you've published them all yourself. What made you decide to do this? Did you go through trying to traditionally publish, or did you know right away that this was what you wanted?

I did try going the traditional route first. I sent out hundreds of query letters trying to get an agent and in the end got over 140 rejection letters. So I decided “why not?” with self-publishing and it has been so amazing! The publish world has changed so in the past 5 years and it has been a wonderful ride.

What I Didn't Say is contemporary and your other books are more paranormal & dystopian, what made you decide to write a contemporary story?

I really just go wherever the muse takes me. I had some experiences in my own life that I wanted to base a story on and there was the idea of having a mute character in my head. It was a challenge.

Do you think you'll write more contemporary?

I’ve learned to never say never with my writing, lol! Never thought I’d write a science fiction/dystopian and then Eden happened! I don’t have another contemporary planned, but we shall see!

You recently had a cover change for the Fall of Angels Trilogy. Why did you decide to do this? Do you think it has made an impact on sales? (BTW, they are gorgeous!)

It certainly has made an impact. I decided to change them because the old ones felt so plain to me. But I still loved the images of the models so I decided to integrate them into the new covers.

In What I Didn't Say Jake loses his ability to speak. Have you ever experienced anything like that? Is there a reason you wrote about that instead of some other tragedy like losing his sight or hearing.

Like I said, it was a challenge to me to write about a mute character. It was something that I’d never seen done before. It seemed so hard to me! I was scared to death so start this book, but in the end it was a very rewarding experience, one that made me grow as a writer.

Make sure you head over to Novels, News and Notes From Your Northwest Neighbors for the second half of the interview!  Find it HERE.

The Giveaway:

The fabulous Keary Taylor is giving away a copy of What I Didn't Say to one lucky person.

Open to US only.

Must be 13 or older to enter.

Fill out the rafflecopter to enter. 
Ends 9/13/12

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review: What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor

What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor

ebook, 326 pages

Published April 30th, 2012 by the author

Source: Purchased

Getting drunk homecoming night your senior year is never a good idea, but Jake Hayes never expected it all to end with a car crash and a t-post embedded in his throat.

His biggest regret about it all? What he never said to Samantha Shay. He's been in love with her for years and never had the guts to tell her. Now it's too late. Because after that night, Jake will never be able to talk again.

When Jake returns to his small island home, population 5,000, he'll have to learn how to deal with being mute. He also finds that his family isn't limited to his six brothers and sisters, that sometimes an entire island is watching out for you. And when he gets the chance to spend more time with Samantha, she'll help him learn that not being able to talk isn’t the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Maybe, if she'll let him, Jake will finally tell her what he didn't say before, even if he can't actually say it.

I first posted this review at Novels, News & Notes From Your Northwest Neighbors.

There's so much awesome and beauty in this book it's hard to know where to start.  First of all, Jake was a fantastic main character.  Jake felt real to me.  He had fears about telling Samantha how he felt, he was afraid of everyone judging him after the accident, he was embarrassed about standing out because of his scar and being unable to speak.  He was also a nice guy.  He wasn't the bad boy, but he wasn't a goody two shoes either.  He was the perfect medium and I liked that.

Family was an important part of the story.  His parents and brothers and sisters were very much a part of the story.  They were there for him and were the kind of family anyone would want.  I just loved how integral they were to the story because that's hard to find in YA.

Besides Jake getting in the accident and losing his vocal cords and then regretting not telling Samantha his feelings, there is more going on in the book.  Samantha has some secrets of her own and it was heartbreaking standing by and watching all she went through.  But it added another element to the story and I thought it was fabulous.

The romance in this one was sweet.  There's no insta-love and it develops slowly.  It was great watching them discover so much together and how important they were to each other.  Every moment they spent together I felt the vibe between them.

This is a self published title and the editing was done well.  It wasn't perfect, I did see a few errors, but nothing took away from the story.  The flow was pretty good, there were just a few spots that felt a bit slow to me but I still managed to read the book in a day so it wasn't real slow.  And it may have just been me.

Overall this was a fantastic young adult contemporary read that I most certainly do recommend you check out!

Disclosure:  I purchased a copy of this book.  All opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

This book fits the YA Contemporary Challenge 2012.  Click the button for more information.