~ BLOG TOUR STOP ~
-- 'GLORY ROAD' --
AUTHOR LAUREN K. DENTON
~Post Includes: Book Spotlight,
Author Bio, Unique Guest Post Shared
by the Author & Giveaway~
Welcome to the Blog Tour for Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton with JustRead Publicity Tours! We continue the Glory Road celebration on social media starting March 26.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: Glory Road
Author: Lauren K. Denton
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Women's Fiction/Southern Fiction
Release Date: March 19, 2019
At thirty-eight, garden shop owner Jessie McBride thinks her chances for romance are years behind her and, after her failed marriage, she's fine with that. She lives contentedly with her fiery mother and her quiet, headstrong daughter. But the unexpected arrival of two men on Glory Road make her question if she's really happy with the status quo. Handsome, wealthy Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughter's wedding, and Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. And Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school days who's known her better than anyone and whom she hasn't seen in years, moves back to the red dirt road. Jessie finds her heart being pulled in directions she never expected.
Meanwhile, Jessie's fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and trying to navigate a new world of identity and emotions--particularly as they relate to the cute new guy who's moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessie's mother, Gus, increasingly finds herself forgetful and faces a potentially frightening future. As all three women navigate the uncertain paths of their hearts and futures, one summer promises to bring change--whether they're ready for it or not.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | Christian Book |B&N
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, Lauren now lives with her husband and two young daughters in Homewood, just outside Birmingham. In addition to her fiction, she writes a monthly newspaper column about life, faith, and how funny (and hard) it is to be a parent. On any given day, she’d rather be at the beach with her family and a stack of books. Her debut novel, The Hideaway, is USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Amazon Charts bestseller. Her second novel, Hurricane Season, released in April, 2018, and was listed on BookPage's 2018 list of Most Anticipated Fiction.
GUEST POST:
Eight 'behind-the-scenes facts' about the book shared by the author ~
1. The quotes at the beginning of each chapter were written by me, not gardening experts. I wanted the quotes to give readers a little glimpse into what would be happening in each chapter. It was fun researching various plants and plant ailments and figuring out how to apply them to my characters.
2. Along those lines, I wrote the quotes to be as accurate as possible. For example, at the beginning of chapter two, I wrote about tomatoes. It is true that tomatoes need consistent moisture, and problems can occur if you don’t water enough then overcorrect and water too much. If I gave gardening advice in the quotes, I wanted to make sure I didn’t steer anyone wrong if he or she actually follows the advice!
3. Most of the names I used in the quote attributions are mash-ups of friends’ and family members’ names! For example, the quote in Chapter 14 is attributed to Virginia Pearce—Virginia is my niece’s name and Pearce is the name of my nephew. And I used Katherine Grace of Your Daily Daisy as an attribution—Katherine Grace is my oldest daughter’s name.
4. The idea of setting the story on a red dirt road came from the actual red dirt road where my maternal grandparents lived for my entire childhood. As a child, I loved how the dirt road made the place feel separated from the real world, and I knew I wanted these three women to enjoy that same peace and quiet.
5. For readers of my first novel, The Hideaway, I included in Glory Road a brief glimpse of Major Greggs, who was one of Mags’s best friends. I won’t spoil it for you and tell you where he is, but I’d love to know if readers pick up on it when they read Glory Road!
6. In one scene in the book, Jessie leans her hand against a tree and finds the trunk is crawling with worms. She didn’t realize it, but many of the tree’s branches were encased in webbing created by caterpillars. It’s kind of gross, but it’s a memory that’s so ingrained in my mind, I wanted to include it in this particular chapter. I was out at my grandparents’ house out in the country (on the red dirt road I mentioned above) and it was late in the evening and already getting dark. I’d been playing outside and stopped to rest, propping my hand up against a tree trunk. Immediately I felt things writhing under my hand and I pulled my hand away only to see caterpillars all over the trunk. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies decades later!
7. One of my favorite things about writing novels is including things I love in the hopes that readers will enjoy those same things. In Glory Road, I loved including some of my favorite music from over the years. Music plays a big part in this story, from Gus loving old country music, especially Johnny Cash; to Nick sharing new musicians with Evan (including one of my very favorites, Josh Ritter); to Jessie and Ben listening to CDs from his high school music collection, which just so happens to include many of my favorites from high school.
8. I like to find images that look like my characters look in my mind. Sometimes it’s an actor or actress, sometimes it’s a mixture of people I know. Occasionally it’s in a clothing catalog, as was the case with Sumner Tate. I knew he was a handsome older man—wealthy, wears nice clothes, has a house on the water so he spends time outside. Over Christmas one year while I was working on the story, I happened to flip through a Lands End catalog and saw this man who practically yelled at me, “I am Sumner Tate!” I tore the page out, wrote his name at the top, and stuck it to my bulletin board. That man, whoever he was, is forever branded in my mind as Sumner.
CONNECT WITH THE AUTHOR: website | facebook | twitter | instagram | pinterest
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(2) winners will each win a print copy of Glory Road.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of blog stops!
AND
Be sure to stop at the takeover tour, starting on March 26, for more chances to win!
*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.
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Thanks for the book facts today--it's always fun to get to know the ideas behind the books I read.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read this story! Thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDelete