Behind The Pages #4 - How My Summer Went Up In Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Welcome to my new Behind The Pages post! You can find last month's post of this feature, with Rebecca Serle and her second novel The Edge of Falling, here.

What is Behind The Pages all about? I asked some of my favourite authors and a bunch of promising 2014 debut authors to annotate a scene, page or more of one of their books. I see the feature as a chance to show readers what's behind a page. Authors can share their favourite writing memories, the music that influenced a certain scene or anything else that comes to their mind. We might get hints to what the characters were thinking and feeling that exact moment or other fun details about their story. Hope you enjoy Behind The Pages as much as I do. I'm intending this feature to be a monthly post here on the blog.

Last year I read HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES and I fell in love with it after only a few pages. Jennifer's debut is such a fabulous summer read and if you didn't read it last year, now's the time to read it. Summer's just around the corner!

Thanks to all the incredible authors who took the time to annotate a page or scene for us, your comments are always so insightful and fun to read. When readers can't get enough of a book and its characters it only shows how much the author's work means to them, to us. Thank you! 

_____________________________________________________

First she lost her heart. Then she lost her mind. And now she’s on a road trip to win back her ex. This debut novel’s packed with drama and romance!

Rosie’s always been impulsive. She didn’t intend to set her cheating ex-boyfriend’s car on fire. And she never thought her attempts to make amends could be considered stalking. So when she’s served with a temporary restraining order on the first day of summer vacation, she’s heartbroken—and furious.

To put distance between Rosie and her ex, Rosie’s parents send her on a cross-country road trip with responsible, reliable neighbor Matty and his two friends. Forget freedom of the road, Rosie wants to hitchhike home and win back her ex. But her determination starts to dwindle with each passing mile. Because Rosie’s spark of anger? It may have just ignited a romance with someone new…

Source

About Jennifer Salvato Doktorski: "In addition to writing for teens, I’m a freelance writer who has written articles and essays for national publications including, Cosmopolitan. I think I’ve always wanted to be a writer even though I often referred to my college major in English as “PreLaw” because it held the promise that I might actually find work someday.

As it turns out, I did find work. My first paid writing gig was as an editorial assistant for the North Jersey Herald & News, where, in addition to developing a life-long passion for coffee and news, I wrote obituaries for eight months. I’ve also worked as a speech writer, bank teller, ghostwriter, bookkeeper in a lampshade factory, pet shop clerk, and music zine editor."(Author bio found on www.jendoktorski.com.)

 _____________________________________________________

 How My Summer Went Up In Flames by Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

_________________________________________
 
 Snap Shots

Here's a picture Jennifer took of the Grand Canyon when she was there for the first time. I can't wait to see it live in September for the first time, too!

Photo Credit Jennifer Salvato Doktorski

Grand Canyon ♥

And pictures of the Flintstone's campground, mentioned on Jennifer's annoated pages. Doesn't it look fun?

Source

Source

_________________________________________

Soundtrack

I asked Jen if she listened to a special song while she wrote this scene. Here's what she said: "I didn’t listen to any particular song when writing this scene – I imagined it very quiet. But Taylor Swift’s “Fifteen” was in constant rotation while I wrote this book – she helps me tap my inner teenager and angst."

I bet you can't wait to read HOW MY SUMMER WENT UP IN FLAMES now, or start a re-read! :)