WALKING ON TRAMPOLINES: A PREVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW, AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED

WALKING ON TRAMPOLINES

BY FRANCES WHITING
  

ABOUT THE BOOK:
“Tallulah de Longland,” she said slowly, letting all the L’s in my name loll about lazily in her mouth before passing judgment. “That,” she announced, “is a serious glamorgeous name.”

From the day Annabelle Andrews sashays into her classroom, Tallulah ‘Lulu’ de Longland is bewitched: by Annabelle, by her family, and by their sprawling, crumbling house tumbling down to the river. Their unlikely friendship intensifies through a secret language where they share confidences about their unusual mothers, first loves, and growing up in the small coastal town of Juniper Bay. But the euphoria of youth rarely lasts, and the implosion that destroys their friendship leaves lasting scars and a legacy of self-doubt that haunts Lulu into adulthood.

Years later, Lulu is presented with a choice: remain the perpetual good girl who misses out, or finally step out from the shadows and do something extraordinary. And possibly unforgivable… It’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Frances Whiting is one of Australia’s best known and most popular writers. A senior feature writer for Queensland’s premier weekend magazine, Q Weekend in the Courier Mail, Frances is also a much loved columnist for the Sunday Mail, and other Sunday newspapers around Australia, with her weekly column now in its nineteenth year. Two bestselling collections of her columns have been published in Australia: Oh to Be a Marching Girl (2003), and That’s a Home Run, Tiger! (2006). Frances lives in Brisbane, Queensland with her husband and two children.

PRAISE FOR FRANCES WHITING AND WALKING ON TRAMPOLINES:
"Tender, madcap, and ultimately bittersweet, Walking on Trampolines chronicles the delightfully zigzag journey of a late bloomer who discovers her truest self in the most surprising ways."
-BETH HOFFMAN, New York Times bestselling author of Looking for Me and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

“A tender exploration of friendship, families, and first love.”
- LIANE MORIARTY, New York Times bestselling author of The Husband’s Secret

Praised as “a tender exploration of friendship, families, and first love” by Liane Moriarty, New York Times bestselling author of The Husband’s Secret, this coming-of-age novel from bestselling author Frances Whiting is equal parts heartwarming, accessible, and thought provoking.

AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANCES WHITING:
Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book? 
I think it was brewing for a long time! I guess I have had some really strong friendships in my life, and I have always been interested/fascinated about just how strong the binds between women can be, especially in those early teenage years where your best friend becomes the most important person in your life. That friendship can leave an indelible mark on you, and I wanted to explore what would happen if that mark was a negative one.

Also, my own childhood was a magical time for me, very innocent in many ways and I wanted to write a bit of a bouquet to that, and the simple pleasures of a time and place that has stayed with me always.

How did the title of your book come about?
When I was a kid, we used to try sometimes to do this sort of loping walk along a trampoline, and it felt fun but also a bit unstable, so the title hopefully reflects that feeling of wanting to step out but feeling a bit unsure!

Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?
I probably relate most to Tallulah, not in her story or what happens to her but in her character. The easiest character to write was Duncan! He wrote himself! I had no plans for a Duncan at all in the book, and then suddenly there he was, larger than life, demanding to be written! I loved writing him because he was so easy!

What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?
As a kid I was DEVOURED books, all the usual suspects Enid Blyton, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, The Secret Garden...in my teen years the usual suspects again, A Patch of Blue, Flowers in the Attic (which I think was my generation's Twilight!), and as I've grown older
I love Clive James, P.G Wodehouse, Liane Moriarty, and many, many others! Just started on The Goldfinch.

What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know? 
That I am pinching myself to be published in the United States! I have never been there, have always wanted to go and now will travel there and maybe see my book in a bookstore there.

What is your advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Write. Write. Write. And then write some more! The only way to learn this craft is do keep doing it. I'm still learning, every day.

GIVEAWAY

 
 THANKS TO THERESA AND THE FOLKS AT
GALLERY BOOKS AND SIMON & SCHUSTER

 I HAVE ONE COPY OF  

WALKING ON TRAMPLINES TO 

GIVE AWAY TO ONE LUCKY WINNER!

  

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