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Monday, June 17, 2013

Welcome, Author Gail Pallotta and her new release, STOPPED COLD!



Today I am thrilled to welcome the wonderful author Gail Pallotta to Gina's World of Good. Gail will be discussing her newest release, STOPPED COLD, which is already stopping traffic on the sales charts! Welcome, wonderful author, blogger and friend - Gail! Let's start with chatting about your thoughts on writing.



As an author, what makes a book great in your eyes?

I love to read, so it’s difficult for me to find a book I don’t like, but there are a few I’ve read that stand out. Those touched my heart on a personal level and had meaning for mankind as well.

Tell us a little about what you are working on.

I recently finished an adult romantic comedy with suspense. It’s a fun book with surprises. Also, I’m writing a romance about a young girl with a mysterious illness.
Let’s talk about the book you’d like to promote today.  How did you come up with the title and where can we find it?

Stopped Cold is a sports mystery. In it the heroine looks for drug dealers who sold her brother the steroid that caused him to have a stroke. As I worked on Stopped Cold, I thought of titles that had something to do with sports and came up with the word “game.” Pondering further, it dawned on me that some might think of taking drugs as a game, so I titled the book A Dangerous Game. Another day while writing about the young man who took the steroid, I thought, “Man, he was stopped cold.” I changed the title.

Here are buy links for Stopped Cold:


What was your first reaction when you got a glimpse of your cover art?

Excitement. It validated that I really had a book coming out soon.

Please give us a blurb and excerpt!

The Book Blurb:

Margaret McWhorter enjoys a laid-back Freshman year in high school flirting with Jimmy Willmore, swimming and hanging out with friends—until that day. Her brother, Sean, suffers a stroke from taking a steroid. Now he’s lying unconscious in a hospital. Margaret’s angry at her dad for pushing Sean to be a great quarterback, but a fire of hatred burns inside her to make the criminals pay.
Looking for justice, she takes Jimmy and her best friend, Emily, through a twisted, drug-filled sub-culture. A clue sends them deep into the woods behind the school where they overhear drug dealers discuss Sean.
Time and time again they walk a treacherous path and come face to face with danger. Even the cop on the case can’t stop them from investigating. All the while Margaret really wants to cure Sean, heal the hate inside, and open her heart to love.
An Excerpt:
My heart flip-flopped, my feelings in a boxing match. Sean
was so sick. I couldn’t understand why he took the steroid.
Trying to figure it out haunted me day and night like a ghost
inside my head that wouldn’t shut up howling. Then Jimmy
gave me attention, and I was all flowers and sunshine.
How ironic that Sean’s illness brought Jimmy and me
together. Maybe we would have gotten to know each other
better anyway. I’d never know for sure, but Sean would be
glad for me. The need to find the people who hurt him burned
in my stomach like a raging fire. “Wednesday sounds good.
Can we go after my swim practice?”
Suzie put her palms on the table. “That’s good for me. I have
to go to French Club Wednesday after classes.”
“Let’s meet in front of the gym at four-thirty.” Jimmy stood.
“I’ll see you then.”
He left, and Emily leaned across the table. “Sometimes I
wonder if Candy’s as out-of-it as she acts. I can’t see Sean
dating her.”
“If I didn’t know Sean, I’d think he did it to aggravate Dad.
But Sean’s not spiteful. He tries to please people.” Tears
forcing their way to my eyes caused me to blink. “You know
what? He probably did it because Candy hangs out with the
football players. You can see how they all flip out over her.”
Emily peered at me with sad dark eyes. “Sean deserved
better.”
“I know. I wish I’d talked to him about her and steroids.”
“You can’t blame yourself for what happened.”
How could I not blame myself? He got no help from me
when he needed it most.
Joe Garrett walked past us then meandered through the
students toward the doorway.
“Do you think he heard us make plans?” Emily tilted her
head toward Joe.
“No, we weren’t talking loud. There’s so much noise in here
I doubt he could hear anything.”
A glint danced in Emily’s eyes. “You’re probably sorry
Jimmy left. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s totally into
you.”
I couldn’t have stopped my grin if I’d wanted to. “You think
so?”
“Oh, yeah.” Emily nodded. “I’m glad he’s going with us
Wednesday.”
“So am I. Thanks for asking him.”
“You’re welcome.” Emily shifted her gaze to my plate. “You
have to keep up your strength. We’re not leaving until you
eat.”
Seeing Candy, the talk about the temple, and the shame of
telling Jimmy about Sean had squashed my appetite. “Emily,
I can’t. My stomach’s churning.”
Emily’s dark eyes turned stern. “You have to.”
I rubbed my stomach.
“Think of something soothing and eat.”
My thoughts turned to the warmth I’d seen in Jimmy’s eyes
the day he told me he was keeping Sean in his prayers. The
first nibble of my french fry tasted better than I thought it
would. Now, the chicken sandwich. Yum.
Emily grinned. “After you eat it all, I’ll take you home.”
Since Sean had been in the hospital, Emily looked after me.
Guess she realized there was no one else to do it. “You
sound like my mom, but for a ride, I’ll do it. I’m too tired to
wait on the bus.”
Emily laughed. “I’m more like a big sister.”
I cleaned my plate. “There.”
Emily and I strolled out of The Grill to her car. The
conversation Candy had with the football players replayed in
my mind and fueled my hatred of the drug dealers. Seemed
like Candy thought steroids were a big joke. Did she really
know something about the temple?
Emily turned on the radio and kept her eyes on the road. “I
love this song.”
It was a soft, love tune. Tears pooled in my eyes. With all of
the hurt and anger in my heart there wasn’t room in my life
for such songs. “It’s pretty.”

 Thank you for visiting, Gail! Leave a comment and you'll be entered to win an e-book copy of  STOPPED COLD. Good luck!

18 comments:

  1. Thanks for visiting, Gail! I'm looking forward to our week together. Your subject matter is amazing!

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  2. Hi Gina,

    Thank you for having me on your wonderful blog!

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  3. GAIL-your new book looks very interesting,about a story called a sports mystery.Never knew much about that subject,well you learn something new everyday. I look forward to reading very soon. REGARDS BEN SMITH

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  4. Hi Ben,

    I hope you'll enjoy the scenes with swim meets and the intereactions with friends and family in the book as well as the search for the drug dealers. The amateur sleuths do get themselves into some scary situations. Thank you so much for stopping by to read about Stopped Cold.

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    1. Hello Ben, and thanks for stopping by and commenting today. There's no doubt you'll love STOPPED COLD, I hear there are quite a lot of suspenseful moments. Looking forward to reading it!

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  5. I'm like you, Gail, and loved the Nancy Drew mysteries. I always wanted to be a teenage "amateur sleuth". :) This is fabulous that you're writing a story of some! :) I love to read of adventure and mystery!

    Congrats on this book, the cover art, and of how your muse is still working strong!

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  6. Hi Miss Mae,

    Thank you for coming by and for your support of Stopped Cold.

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    1. Hi Miss Mae :-) Thank you so much for visiting today! I'm with you, I loved the Nancy Drew books, too. Gail has addressed some very topical issues in STOPPED COLD and readers will easily relate. Thanks again for your comments.

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  7. I would love to win a copy of STOPPED COLD. Thank you for the opportunity.

    Janice H.
    NC

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  8. GAIL-how long have you been writing in this blog for Regina??
    Seems like writing is your passion.How does somebody break into this rather crowded industry ?? REGARDS, BEN SMITH

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  9. Hi Janice,
    Thank you for coming by. It looks as though you're in North Carolina. The book's set in a fictitious town in the Western North Carolina Mountains--a beautiful place.

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    1. Nice to hear from you, Janice! Thanks for stopping in today - hope you'll come back again soon :-)

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  10. Hi Ben,
    I'm fortunate enough to have known Regina for several years, and have visited her blog a couple times before.

    As for breaking into the industry, keep writing, keep reading books about writing and going to conferences. Believe in what you're doing and NEVER give up!

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  11. I'd love to read Gail's new book. Thank you for the chance!

    Wanda Barefoot
    flghtlss1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  12. Hi Wanda,

    Thank you for stopping by to read about Stopped Cold!

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    1. Nice to hear from you, Wanda, and thank you for commenting on Gail's book today!

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  13. Gail, thank you so much for visiting this week! It was wonderful chatting with you and I wish you mega-sales on your new release, STOPPED COLD.
    Blessings always!

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  14. GAIL-this book looks great!!!Cannot wait to read!!!REGARDS BEN SMITH

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