In the Penalty Box

Posted: January 27, 2021 in Announcements, Author Interviews, Blog Tour Hosting, Recommended Reading, YA Bound Book Tour

1. Tell me about your writing process? Do you have the story mapped out in your mind or on paper before writing? Or are you a “pantser,” making it up as you move along?

LYNN: Before I met Kelly, I was a Seat of the Pants writer. I absolutely LOVE the rush of sitting before a blank word document with only my ideas and thoughts. But that only works when it’s only you writing. When you bring in a partner, things change. So…I learned how to plot! And don’t tell my fellow pantsers…It’s actually NOT that bad. I always thought I would be “confined” to what I’d outlined, but I’m learning that’s not true. We’ve deviated from our outline before and it’s been just fine. Kelly and I use Google Docs, and we try to alternate chapters, me taking the male point of view and her the female point of view. Sometimes, if one of us gets busy or can’t quite write as much as the other, we’ll jump into the other point of view, but we come back through it and make sure it’s our voice. It’s a great system.

KELLY: What Lynn said! Ha ha ha! But seriously, we usually start by chatting on the phone and making notes in a shared Google Doc. We focus on coming up with a basic synopsis and the main characters. After we have a solid idea, we start plotting out each of the important story “beats” (i.e., inciting incident, midpoint a.k.a. when everything changes, climax, etc.). We also add a few sentences with basic information pertaining to each chapter (i.e.,What happens, how it moves the story/plot forward, etc.). Knowing what happens next is also very beneficial when writing with another author or solo. It also prevents us from writing ourselves into a dead-end or in circles. Starting our co-writing process this way is beyond helpful! It also helps to have the world’s best co-author! Love ya, Lynn! xoxo

2. About how long did it take you to write the book?

IN THE PENALTY BOX took us about four months to write. We started it in late August/early September and finished at about 98,000 words in late December. But then the editing phase started. Our super agents worked with us to make IN THE PENALTY BOX shine! Once it was ready, they started shopping the manuscript. We were over the moon when editor extraordinaire, Stacy Abrams of Entangled Teen, bought it in the Fall of 2019.

3. What was your inspiration for this book? What gave you the idea to write it?

We love sports and both played them in high school and college. There’s so much adventure and excitement in competitive athletics, so it felt pretty natural for us to tackle that. It was a blast writing the highs and lows related to training for sports along with the complexities of having a secret relationship and family issues during it as well. We hope you enjoy reading IN THE PENALTY BOX as much as we enjoyed writing it!

4. Do you have any other books in the works?

We do! Yay! We signed a twelve book deal with Entangled Teen for a series titled, TWIN RIVER HIGH. It’s a reimagining of Sweet Valley High meets Gossip Girl. The first one is called GUTTER GIRL, and we are so excited to share Jace and McKenna’s story with you! We’ve already written the next three books in the series as well. We think you’ll absolutely love the characters we’ve created and the world of Twin River! Oh, and the drama, there will be lots of drama! The series is scheduled to start releasing in Spring of 2021. Keep an eye on our social media for the exact release dates, cover reveals, and future titles!

5. Will this be a stand-alone, or do you have a series in mind for this book? (This question is only for books that are not currently shown as part of a series).

We have already written and turned in the stand alone sequel to IN THE PENALTY BOX. It’s tentatively titled, CROSSING THE LINE. It features one of our favorite secondary characters from IN THE PENALTY BOX and it will star a new face as well! Can you guess who will be the star of CROSSING THE LINE?

6. If you had to compare this to any book out there, what would you say this like? Or is it a combination of a few books? Or is it like nothing we may have read before?

Hmmm… That’s a good question! We’ve never read a YA book quite like IN THE PENALTY BOX. That being said, we definitely were inspired by works of authors who write YA romance novels, such as Kasie West, Stephanie Perkins, Sandhya Menon, Ali Novak, Beth Reekles, Jenny Han, and Miranda Kenneally.

7. Do you have any interesting facts or anything about your book (or the writing process) that you want us to know about?

LYNN: It’s pretty interesting that Kelly and I have never met in person. I was scheduled to fly out to North Carolina during release week so we could meet, hang out and do all the fun book release week festivities together, but with COVID-19…well, you know how it’s kind of pooped on a lot of planned activities. I’m really hoping we can meet up in person for the release festivities of GUTTER GIRL (Twin River High Book #1)

KELLY: Lynn likes to joke that I have a memory like an elephant. For example, when I was three-years-old and in preschool, I was patiently waiting my turn for the water table, as one does, and then before I could begin my turn, center time ended. I was a little salty that I didn’t get to play at my favorite center, especially after waiting so patiently. So, unable to stop myself, I stepped up to the water table and plunged my hands into the lightly bleach-scented water. Needless to say, I got in trouble. I remember the entire incident vividly and my brain is packed with many more! When it comes to co-writing multiple books in multiple series, all at the same time, my memory comes in pretty handy! For anything that Lynn and I can’t recall, we refer to our Google Excel spreadsheet, that has every series, story, character, and worldbuilding detail that we could ever need! The spreadsheet was totally Lynn’s idea and it is fabulous! It’s a must have resource for us! P.S. I like exclamation points and I cannot lie! Ha ha ha! Don’t worry, we always go through our manuscripts and delete all of the “unnecessary” exclamation points before turning them to our editors.

The Cutting Edge meets Friday Night Lights in a sizzling new hockey romance from bestselling authors Kelly Anne Blount and Lynn Rush!

In the Penalty Box

by Lynn Rush and Kelly Anne Blount

Genre: YA Contemporary

Release Date: January 5, 2021

Entangled Teen!

Summary:

Willow: Figure skating was supposed to be my whole world. But one unlucky injury and now I’m down…but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team? Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.

Brodie: Hockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie? Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0879HJ7MV/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_Mkq9Fb7ZZPVHW

B & N:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-the-penalty-box-lynn rush/1136846457?ean=9781682815762

About the Authors:

Lynn Rush: New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author, Lynn Rush, is a full-time writer, wife, and trail runner living in the Sonoran Desert, despite her fear of rattle snakes. Known as #TheRunningWriter, Lynn can’t resist posting epic sunrise pictures while running in the desert with her trail sisters, even if she has to occasionally hop a scorpion.

When she’s not running or writing, she’s watching movies that fuel her everlasting love of superheroes, vampires, and all things Supernatural. The books she reads usually carry the same theme, but this former college athlete loves reading sweet sports romances as well.

She’s madly in love with her Ironman husband of 20+ years who is the inspiration for what true love is. You can find her on social media as @LynnRushWrites and her website is: www.lynnrush.com

Website: www.lynnrush.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynnRushWrites

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/lynnrush

Kelly Anne Blount: USA Today Bestselling author and Wattpad Star Kelly Anne Blount has more than seventy-three-thousand followers on social media. Her Wattpad stories have been read more than twenty-million times. She’s contributed to Tap, Wattpad’s new app for chat-style stories, where her work has been “tapped” more than fifty-million times. She is a writer and reviewer for SpoilerTV, which has allowed her to develop an incredible network of film and TV stars.

Two of her Wattpad works, including Captured (seventeen-million reads), have been optioned for film by Komixx Entertainment, and she is regularly invited to present seminars about social media at author events.

Stop by any of Kelly’s social-media platforms (@KellyAnneBlount) and stay tuned to this website for announcements and information about upcoming releases and events.

Kelly Anne Blount is represented by Jennifer Wills (jennifer@theseymouragency.com) and Nicole Resciniti (nicole@theseymouragency.com) of The Seymour Agency.

Website: http://www.KellyAnneBlount.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KellyAnneBlount

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/kellyanneblount

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