Boy Band

Well, it’s here!  April 21 and Boy Band is officially available on Kindle, Nook, and on Amazon.com!  It will be available on BarnesAndNoble.com and probably iBooks shortly.  I say “probably” with the iBooks because I swear, I have never gone through more aggravation trying to get something done than uploading Cemetery Tours to iBooks.  It is a pain in the butt.

But I didn’t come here to gripe about my lack of iBooks skillz.  I’m here to celebrate!

It’s pretty cool.  This is a book I never planned to write.  It wasn’t even in my head when I began writing it.  It all began with my friend, Savannah (http://savannahrohleder.blogspot.com) telling me that she was participating in National Novel Writing Month and that I should sign up also.  At first I thought, “No way. I hate being timed. Besides, I should write because I want to write, not because I feel pressured.”  But the more I thought about it, the more I began to realize I was looking at it all wrong.  NaNoWriMo wasn’t just a stupid trend.  It was an actual opportunity that encouraged people all over the world to write.  How could I possibly think that was a bad thing in any way?  Besides, it might be nice to take a break and write something new, something that I probably wouldn’t have written otherwise.

May I just tell you I am so glad she talked me into signing up?

I’ve had more fun with this book than I could possibly have imagined when I first signed up for NaNoWriMo.  I went in thinking, “I probably won’t publish this… I might not even finish it…” which might sound bad, but really, it freed me up to write the story the way I wanted to write it, as though I was the only one who was going to read it.  And I ended up loving it.  There was no pressure, no expectations.  Just freedom, and as you know, freedom is the one thing I covet most (Except for maybe a date with Richard Armitage).

Now, here it is, April 21, and the NaNoWriMo project that never should have been is a book.  The third book on my resume.  And I couldn’t be prouder of it.

Thank you to all who encouraged me, Savannah, Hannah, Kit Kat, and especially my sister, KJ!  I couldn’t have done it without you!

The Kind of September is here to stay, y’all!

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Band-Jacqueline-E-Smith/dp/0989673448/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1429591957&sr=8-3&keywords=boy+band

Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Band-Jacqueline-Smith-ebook/dp/B00WFSE0Z6/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429645222&sr=8-2&keywords=boy+band

Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boy-band-jacqueline-e-smith/1121640705?ean=2940151556132&itm=1&usri=jacqueline+e.+smith

BOY BAND Fun Facts and Chapter 1!

Hello, all!

It is officially April 1.  I hope everyone has avoided being pranked and fooled and whatnot.  I’m not really even trying this year, because I feel like everyone is expecting it.  However, as it is the beginning of the month that my new Young Adult novel, Boy Band will be released, I figured I should celebrate with some useless trivia and a Chapter 1 download!

So, in no particular order, here we go!

BOY BAND TRIVIA:

* Boy Band started out as a NaNoWriMo project.  I’d never participated in NaNo before and I really had no intention to.  I didn’t like the idea of being timed or of writing a novel just because it was a certain month.  But a friend of mine, Savannah (http://savannahrohleder.blogspot.com), persuaded me.  I had no idea if I would publish the story, or if I would even finish it.  But I ended up loving it.  It just goes to show that you never know until you take a chance on something.

* My sister and I both LOVE boy bands, all boy bands, and countless hours spent watching music videos on YouTube inspired me to write about them.

*You can find the music that inspired Boy Band here: https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2015/03/19/boy-band-soundtrack/

* Sam Morneau is named after Sam Claflin.

* Jesse Scott is named after Jesse McCartney (Yes, I really love Jesse McCartney).

* My sister and I wrote all the “songs” in the book.  I’m not sure if they’re good or not.  The one she wrote is, but the rest… Well, I guess you’ll just have to let me know.

* This is the first book for which I’ve designed the cover, and I loved it!

* My sister took the picture of New York that I used for the cover image.

* Oliver Berkley is based on our cute tour guide from Scotland.  That might be a little creepy.  Oh well.

* The cute Irish singer that Mel refers to throughout the book was inspired by Niall Horan.

* I mention Zac Hanson in the book because he was my very first musician crush.  I was 9 years old and I was obsessed with Hanson.

* I mention Meg Cabot because she is my ultimate writing inspiration.  I kind of want to be her.

* Both of my editors got really mad at me for the way the book ended.  Yes, okay, it ends on a bit of a cliff-hanger.  THERE WILL BE A SECOND BOOK!  In fact, there’s going to be a third book too.

* Mel’s middle name, Kearney, is a family name.

* The group is from the Bay Area because I think San Francisco is really cool.

* I wrote Mel to look like my sister.  Really, this book is for her.  She’s my best friend in the world and without her, the book wouldn’t exist.

* Here’s Chapter 1.  Enjoy!

CHAPTER 1 Boy Band

Boy Band will be available April 21, 2015!

Please remember to enter my GoodReads Giveaway: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/129034-boy-band

Boy Band Soundtrack.

I’ve had a few people ask if I’m going to be compiling a list of songs that helped to inspire Boy Band.  I did this with both Cemetery Tours (https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2013/07/16/soundtrack/) and Between Worlds (https://jackiesmith114.wordpress.com/2014/06/25/between-worlds-soundtrack/).  Music is such a huge part of this book and, let’s be honest, it’s primary influence, so I pretty much had to have a soundtrack!

Yes, most of these are boy band songs. What did you expect?

Note: I do not own any of these songs, nor am I profiting from them in any way.  They’re just the songs I listened to while I was writing.

1. “Steal My Girl” by One Direction

2. “Empire State of Mind” by Jay Z and Alicia Keys

3. “Because You Live” by Jesse McCartney

4. “Pop” by *NSYNC

5. “What Makes You Different” by the Backstreet Boys

6. “Beautiful Soul” by Jesse McCartney

7. “A Minute Without You” by Hanson

8. “Don’t Let Me Go” by Harry Styles

9. “Tee Shirt” by Birdy

10. “18” by One Direction

11. “Right Where You Want Me” by Jesse McCartney

12. “Umbrella” by Train

13. “Larger Than Life” by the Backstreet Boys

Boy Band will be available April 21, 2015!  Please enter to win one of five signed copies on GoodReads!

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/129034-boy-band

Thanks, y’all!