{Guest Post} Climbing Ropes of Ink (The Writing Process) by ADRENALINE CRUSH Author Laurie Boyle Crompton

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 Check out today's review of ADRENALINE CRUSH by Laurie Boyle Crompton!
 
Laurie previously visited A Backwards Story with a guest post regarding her previous novel,
BLAZE (Or Love in the Time of Supervillains.)

I've also previously reviewed BLAZE!

Laurie Boyle Crompton is the YA author of BLAZE (or Love in the Time of Supervillains) and THE REAL PROM QUEENS OF WESTFIELD HIGH (Sourcebooks, 2013 & 2014) as well as the upcoming ADRENALINE CRUSH from Farrar Straus Giroux. Laurie graduated first in her class from St. John’s University with a major in English and minor in Journalism. She’s written for national magazines like ALLURE as well as numerous trade publications and has appeared on Good Day New York several times as a Toy Expert. Yes, that is an actual thing that people sometimes get to be.When she’s not writing Laurie enjoys hiking, cycling, reading, cross-country skiing, running, going to the movies and drinking tea by the gallon. She lives near NYC, but loves to escape to the mountains in New Paltz, NY where she and her family can often be found climbing over rocks or tromping through the forest.  She is represented by Ammi-Joan Paquette of the Erin Murphy Agency.

Laurie can be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter!

Climbing Ropes of Ink (The Writing Process)
by Laurie Boyle Crompton

Dyna, the main character in ADRENALINE CRUSH, enjoys the thrill of rock climbing and she’s confident in her abilities. Writing from her point-of-view as an extreme risk-taker was a big stretch for me. I do love spending time outdoors, hiking and biking and swimming, but to be honest, the smallest stumble or skid freaks me out. The one time I actually went rock climbing it was with my family and we were top roped to a very good instructor. And we didn’t climb very high. And I was still scared. But while I’m not an adrenaline junkie like Dyna, I do have one area where I’m always willing to take risks. Every time I sit down to write, I’m taking a risk. When I’m creating stories I throw caution to the wind and don’t even think about a safety line. I trust that if I show up with intention and willingly bare my soul and if I can maybe ignore all the shiny things on the internet for a few hours, I will manage to get someplace good. 

     I might not be a death-defying daredevil, but I can say that writing and especially publishing are not for the weak. For each victory there are many setbacks. For every sentence in my published books there are dozens left flapping on the cutting room floor. For each time I’ve been told, “yes,” there have been hundreds of versions of the word “no” preceding it. Rejections inflict bruises and cuts like climbing injuries that have left me feeling battered and broken at times. That wild hope that motivates me to continue writing against all odds of success is powerful stuff. All authors have it. None of us achieve publication without a few good climbing scars.

     When Dyna reaches the top of a cliff after a difficult climb in the beginning of the book she lies back on the grass, stares at the sky and revels in the wonderful sense of accomplishment. I can relate to that feeling while writing. That sense of having successfully strung together words that are not entirely horrible is indescribable. And then there are those mountaintop experiences when encouragement comes in the form of some “yes.” That first phone call with the news that you’re going to be agented, or brought to an acquisitions meeting, or published! What a rush. 

     Getting to be an author carries it’s own set of struggles. The climbing never gets easier, but I promise it’s worthwhile. A reader who reaches out to say one of my books helped her in some way, or a reviewer who really got what I was going for, these thrills are my rewards. How lucky I am that I get to climb mountains and hang from cliffs, all while never leaving my office or changing out of my pajama pants.

~*~

O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

 

Title: ADRENALINE CRUSH
Author: Laurie Boyle Crompton

Release Date: Sept. 23, 2014

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux // Macmillan

SUMMARY:

When a daredevil teen pushes herself too far, she must choose between two boys: the one who wants to keep her safe, and the one who dares her to return to her old self.

Seventeen-year-old Dyna comes from a family of risk takers and is an avid thrill-seeker herself, until the day she splinters her ankle in a terrible fall. Her whole life goes from mountain biking and rock climbing to sitting at home and attending group sessions at the bizarre alternative healing center that her hippie mother found. The boy who witnessed Dyna’s accident believes her injury is a wakeup call and he encourages her mild new lifestyle, but a young Afghanistan War veteran she meets at the healing center pushes her to start taking chances again. Forced to face the consequences of her daredevil impulses, Dyna finds herself in danger of risking the one thing she’s always treated with caution—her heart.