Review # 3 Fly Away

Fly Away

I read the final book in the Firefly Lane series. Fly Away was in my opinion a really great book. It was so heart-warming and touched me in the right spot. The writing was excellent and I fell in love with the characters.

THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS!!

So the journey continues with Tully and Kate but after Kate passes away. Tully is destroyed by the loss of her best friend and she doesn’t know how to cope. Kate’s husband Johnny is beyond upset by his wife’s death and he doesn’t know how to handle their 3 kids. Marah who is the elder daughter of Johnny and Kate, spirals out of control with the passing of her mom’s death.

The story focuses on Tully and Marah. Tully is her godmother and promises to be there for her but Tully becomes a total recluse. She starts taking Xanax and drinking excessively. Marah wants to leave her family and move in with Tully. Tully agrees but Johnny is beside himself. He doesn’t want his family apart but he reluctantly agrees to it. They move to Seattle and Marah notices that Tully is out of control. She takes Marah to therapy because she feels it would be good for her to talk about her mother.

When she goes to therapy she meets a boy who ends up destroying Marah’s life. She moves out of Tully’s apartment and in with her new boyfriend.  They start drinking a lot and doing drugs. She stops talking to Tully and to her family. She starts to spiral out of control.

The story takes a turn when Tully crashes into a wall and ends up in a coma. She sees herself in the hospital room with her lifeless body surrounded by doctors and sometimes by family. Kate comes to her and Tully is so happy to see her. They relive their experiences of their childhood and Tully’s mother. The relationship of Tully and her mother, if you read the first book, you know is strained. In this book, they talk about Tully’s mother and how she ended up the way she did. In the end of the story Tully is being taken care of by her mother and is living in the house she grew up on Firefly Lane. Tully comes out of her coma when she hears the sound of Marah reading the journal of Kate.

To me I thought this story was amazing. They brought everyone together. I enjoyed reading about each character and how each one had a purpose. From Kate’s parents to Kate’s family and even to Tully’s mother. It made me laugh, it made me cry. It was definitely a feel good book. If you read Firefly Lane then you should read Fly Away. Although the journey of Kate and Tully are over, I’ll always have a special spot in my heart for them. Well done Hannah!

M.

As it Goes

I love to write, I can’t think of anything else I would rather do. I know most of you know that I have a full time job as a receptionist and it’s boring tedious work. This morning I woke up and I rolled out of bed dreading I had to be here. I know people say, “Hey, if you don’t like something then change it.” I wish I could do that, but unfortunately until I sign a contract for my books I can’t do anything. I have to do what I have to do to make money.

It’s been so long since I even blogged. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me because it’s my life. I chose the path I’m walking down. I’m just tired. I want to do what makes me happy, but money is the root of all evil.

So anyway, I started writing a new novel and it’s completely different then what I usually write. I tend to stay with the Young Adult books, but this time I decided to stray. Who knows though, it could turn into something else. That always seems to happen to me. I’m excited to see how it will turn out. I am however, going to take my time with this one. I have to be honest, the first novel I wrote Braver Than Yesterday, I coasted through it. I did get a good response from the book, but honestly it’s a mess. It’s all over the place and it didn’t get really good reviews. Hey I get it, it’s my first novel. It was my first try. Someone destroyed me with a brutally honest review on Goodreads. They gave me one star, if they could give me no stars they probably would have. I was upset at first but then I thought, hey it’s someones opinion and everyone is entitled to their own. I took it in stride and wrote a response back that was nothing but professional. I could’ve flipped out, but what’s the point? That’s not what I’m about. I just take it and learn from it and put my heart into the next novel.

My second novel From Within, I feel is a much better novel. Not many people read that one, but the people that did really enjoyed it. I was excited when I saw a review on Goodreads for that book. It was four stars and I was like yes! I’m hoping more people will check out my second book, because I have the sequel Forward to the Past out. Well it’s not technically out yet because I’m trying to get it out there with publishers/agents. It’s not an easy process. You have to get the query and the synopsis perfectly. The pitch is the most important. From Within is just really different because it has to do with spirits and I know how people feel about that. Maybe that’s why they don’t want to read it, but it’s geared towards young adults and teens. It’s a fantasy, magical story. I just want people to understand that.

…if dreams come true it will happen 🙂

The Perfect Ad

Writing the perfect ad for your book is hard. I’ve been trying to come up with something for both of my novels for an ad and to be honest I’m having a hard time because you want your book to sell. What sells your book? A very well thought out ad. Something that catches the eye and draws you in. I must’ve changed the ad a gazillion times to try and get it right in my ear. I would run it over and over with my husband and he’s like yea try this or yea that sounds good. It’s really hard but it needs to be done. It’s my lively hood so I want to do right by it.

My first novel has a lot of sex, rape, love, & lesbianism in it. I know some of that is controversial but hey it’s what’s on my mind. People like to read that shit!

My second novel is about a girl that dies and comes back to life seeing spirits. Nothing like the first one but I like different! Wait until the sequel comes out.

Hopefully the ads work for both on Goodreads. Look me up if you haven’t already.

M. Rose Bushéy