I’m proud to have Julie Cross here today to discuss her new book, Letters to Nowhere.  This is a sweet romance that I hope that you will check out.

1. Tell me a little bit about your new release Letters to Nowhere.

LtN has all the usual elements readers are looking for in a contemporary teen romance—a swoon worthy boy, sexual tension, emotional connection and conflicts that make the relationship complicated at times—but there’s also this added element of the world of elite gymnastics. I’m such a fan of sports-themed YA and NA novels. I read all of them I can get my hands on and I can honestly say that LtN is very true to the sport of gymnastics and it is a huge part of the plot, not just this thing on the side that doesn’t get nearly enough page time. Gymnastics is my main character, Karen’s, life. She lives it and breathes it. She does all her schooling online and trains 7-8 hours per day, six days a week. There’s really no room for boys in her life but somehow, one boy finds his way into her life and her heart. In this case, it’s exactly what Karen needs.

2. I understand that this book has a special place in your heart. Are you able to share with us?

Yes, LtN is truly the book of my heart. Up until a few months before my first novel, Tempest, released I worked full time as a Gymnastics Program Director at the YMCA. I participated and competed in gymnastics on and off until I was 15. At 15, I started coaching at a YMCA in the Chicago area. I’ve coaching ever since and I’m 33 now. My daughters compete in gymnastics now so I volunteer coach at their gym when I’m available. My passion for the sport and learning everything I could about it is identical to my passion for writing.

Since I began writing in May of 2009, I’ve dreamt about writing a YA novel with an elite gymnast narrating. It combines my two greatest passions—gymnastics and teen fiction. I would have killed to read this book or anything like it when I was a teenager and even now. But at the time I began writing and even after having a book deal, there just wasn’t much of a market for contemporary YA and NA didn’t have a place at all until recently, so I pushed the idea aside and forced myself to think of concepts that would pay the bills and allow me to be at home with my kids. Until I had a very clear concept in January of 2012. It started with a question, as books often do. Female elite gymnasts are often still children and the support system required from families to get to that level is huge. So I had this girl in my head who had big dreams—World and Olympic level dreams—and then I thought, what if her support system was suddenly and instantly gone? Could she keep going? And if not, what would she do? She’s never been to high school, never done teenage activities, she doesn’t know how to be 17. The characters spoke to me and wouldn’t stop. The scenes played out. Then the Olympic Games happened last summer, and I had no choice but to write this book, marketable or not.   

3. Which actors do you envision playing your characters in Letters to Nowhere?

Karen, to me, has always been a red-headed McKayla Maroney. I can’t see her as anyone else. Her teammates make up the secondary characters and I have former and present day gymnasts envisioned for each of them. As far as Jordan (the main love interest in LtN) goes, Conner Jessup from the TNT hit series Falling Skies is just perfect.

4. What are you working on next?

I’m working on sequels for LtN. There’s still a lot for Karen to accomplish and many of my early beta readers threatened to stalk me constantly if I didn’t continue the story. I also have two Mature YA/NA releases coming out this fall and a co-authored NA series set in the world of NYC models that I wrote with Mark Perini titled HALFWAY PERFECT has sold recently and will probably release summer 2014. There’s also TIMESTORM, the final book in the Tempest series releasing in January 2014.  

5. What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

1)    Read a lot. And more specifically, read in the genre you’d like to be published in
2)    If you’re writing YA or NA or even MG, write the story your teen or tween self would have wanted to read.

About the Author:

I live in central Illinois with my wonderful husband and three kids currently between the ages of 7 and 12 (the kids not the husband). My writing journey began in May, 2009 with a short story in a notebook.

Within a year, I had written seven (some good some God-awful) young adult novels. Not being a college graduate and having spent the previous fifteen years teaching gymnastics and working as a YMCA Program Director for Recreational Gymnastics, professional writing wasn’t in my plans. Not even close. But ever since the day I started that short story, I haven’t been able to stop. It was love at first sight.

After about a year of writing, I had a three book deal with St. Martin’s Press, and a film option with Summit Entertainment. Crazy, right? I know. It wasn’t until August of 2011 that I quit working full time in order to be at home with my kids more and of course, write more. My young adult time travel debut novel, Tempest, released on January 17, 2012. The rest of my personal story remains unwritten.

Jennifer’s Review of Letters To Nowhere

 TITLE: Letters to Nowhere

CHARACTERS: Karen Campbell and Jordan Bentley

AUTHOR:  Julie Cross

PUBLICATION DATE:  08/06/13

BOOK SYNOPSIS: Seventeen year old Karen Campbell has just lost both her parents in a tragic car accident.  Grief stricken and alone, her gymnastics coach opens his home to Karen, providing her a place to live while she continues to train, working toward a spot on the world championship team.

 Coach Bentley’s only child, seventeen year old Jordan is good-looking and charming enough to scare away a girl like Karen–someone who has spent ten times more hours on balance beams and uneven bars than talking or even thinking about boys.  But the two teens share a special connection almost immediately.  It turns out Jordan has a tragic past of his own, grief buried for years.

As Karen’s gymnastics career soars, her nightmares and visions of the horrible accident grow in strength.  She can only avoid facing her grief for so long before it begins to surface and ultimately spin out of control in a very dangerous way.  Can discovering love and lust (simultaneously) help with the grieving process or will it only provide a temporary distraction while waiting for reality to hit full force.

REVIEW PROVIDED BY: Jennifer             NUMBER OF STARS: Four Stars

REVIEW: This book was an emotional coming of age story about a young gymnast named Karen who is still reeling from the loss of her parents after a tragic car accident.  Not sure where to go with her parents gone, her coach offers to take her in so she can finish school and still be able to train with her team.  Coach Bentley has also dealt with loss, and his young son, Jordan, becomes an ally and confidant for Karen during this troubling time.  Besides dealing with her grief, Karen also starts to experience normal teenage milestones such as dating and falling in love without the support of her family.

I loved Julie Cross’ style of writing in her previous novels and this book really captures Karen’s emotional journey of navigating through her teenage years without her mom and how that loss shapes who she is.  I loved how Karen wrote letters to the people in her life about what she was feeling that she never planned to send, which really touched my heart.  I couldn’t imagine losing my family such as Karen did and she was tremendously brave to continue with her normal routine knowing that every step of the way she would be thinking of her parents.  I connected with her almost immediately and I was glad that she had the relationship with Jordan that she did.  He was smart, funny and just what Karen needed to get through this period of her life.  Neither of them are perfect but they fit well together and I loved watching their relationship grow during the course of this story.  I really enjoyed Letters to Nowhere and Karen’s story of grief, triumph, friendship and love will stick with you long after you finish the last page.