Sunday, September 12, 2010

BILL WARRINGON'S LAST CHANCE: AUTHOR INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
BILL WARRINGTON'S
LAST CHANCE

BY JAMES KING



ABOUT THE BOOK:

A magnificent debut about a man's odyssey toward family redemption- with his granddaughter along for the ride!

Bill Warrington realizes he has Alzheimer's and his lucid days are numbered. Determined to repair a lifetime of damage to his estranged adult children, Bill takes off with his fifteen-year-old granddaughter April on a cross-country drive, bound for San Francisco, where she dreams of becoming a rock star. As the unlikely pair heads west, Bill leaves clues intended to force his three children-including April's frantic mother-to overcome their mutual distrust and long-held grievances to work together to find them.

In this dazzling road trip novel, James King masterfully explores themes of aging, sibling rivalry, family dysfunction, and coming of age, against a backdrop of the American heartland. Unflinching, funny, and poignant, Bill Warrington's Last Chance speaks to that universal longing for familial reconciliation, love, and forgiveness.




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

James King has been a freelance writer for more than 20 years. A native of Lakewood, Ohio, King lives in Wilton, Connecticut with his wife, Joanne, and their two children, Katie and Daniel.
Find out more about the BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE and Author James King at:
http://www.jamespatrickking.com/

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:

1. Welcome, Jim, and thank you for agreeing to this interview. Before we get started talking about your book and writing, can you tell us a little about your personal background? Also, is there a website where readers can find out more about you and your work?
As far as personal info for intro, I’m a freelance writer living in Connecticut with my wife and two children. This is my first published novel. I say “published” because I wrote three others that never sold. After many years of trying, I finally hit the jackpot!

My web address is
www.jamesking-writer.com
2. Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this wonderful book?
The inspiration for the story came from a neighbor I met when my wife and I moved into our home 25 years ago. He was a bit of an eccentric, and he had lost his wife just two weeks before we moved in. Over the years, the home that he had built with his own hands and had kept up so meticulously started falling down around him. He was a proud man, and spurned almost all offers of help right up to the day he died. His feisty personality served as the inspiration for the novel.

3. How did the title of your book come about?

I struggled with the title right up to the moment I submitted it. I wanted one that spoke to what the book was about. Most of the titles I initially came up with sounded a bit strained—“Finding Home,” for example. Some were a little too bland, like, “The Warringtons.” Bill Warrington’s Last Chance was the one that remained uncrossed-out on my list of potential titles, so I went with it.
4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?
In BWLC, there are five main characters, and there’s probably a little of me in each one—from the fifteen-year-old girl to the seventy-ish old man. I think there may be more of me in one of the characters than the other, but I’m not going to reveal which one for fear it would—depending on your opinion of the character—either deservedly damage my reputation or undeservedly enhance it. I think all characters are difficult to write. The challenge is to present them realistically: warts for the more likeable characters; empathetic touches for the less likeable.

5. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?

I’ve been an avid reader all my life, and my brain freezes at this question. So many incredible books! As a young reader—fourth or fifth grade--I remember being absolutely blown away by a book called Yankee Traitor, Rebel Spy. A few years later, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye confirmed my desire to write. I’ve recently re-read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien—a book that stands out in my mind for its beautiful writing and its incredible emotional wallop. Currently, like most of the reading world, I’m reading Franzen’s Freedom. So far, so good. Very good, in fact.
6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?
I’m working on another family-centered novel set in San Francisco. I lived in San Francisco for a number of years and loved it. It’s nice to re-visit via writing.
7. What is something about you that yBou would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?
I got nuthin’ for this one. I fear that, thanks to blogging and social networking, people know more about me than they particularly care to.
8. What is your best advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Write. Submit. Hope for acceptance; accept rejection. But keep submitting. Above all else, keep writing.
Thanks to Jim for his interview and for his WONDERFUL book. Watch for my review on Wednesday of this week for BONUS ENTRIES and lots more info on this great book and author!

GIVEAWAY

THANK YOU TO YEN AND THE GOOD
FOLKS AT PENGUIN PUBLISHING, I HAVE
ONE COPY OF THIS AMAZING BOOK
TO GIVE AWAY! READ BELOW HOW
YOU CAN BE THE WINNER!



--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!



HOW TO ENTER


+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT THE INFORMATION AND VIDEO FOR BILL WARRINGTON'S LAST CHANCE ABOVE THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY:
BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND THEN COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT AUTHOR JAMES KING FROM HIS INTERVIEW ABOVE OR BY GOING TO HIS WEBSITE BIO HERE
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, SEPTEMBER 28
GOOD LUCK!