Author Guest Post & Giveaway: Nancy Scrofano

Today, I have author Nancy Scrofano here with us talking about how it all started with Sweet Valley High. Welcome Nancy!

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It All Started with Sweet Valley High Senior Year

I remember browsing through a bookstore when I was a teenager and noticing the Sweet Valley High Senior Year series on the shelf. I wasn’t really in the store to buy books, though. My friends and I were hanging out there while we were waiting to see a movie that was playing at the theater next door. I picked up the first book in the series and decided to buy it, anyway, to see what all the Sweet Valley hype was about. 

I knew my sister liked the original series when she was growing up. When I got home, I devoured that book. Absolutely loved it. I was hooked. I immediately bought every book in the series when each one was released. All forty-eight of them. In between books, I would imagine what the characters were up to and where the next installment would take them. When I wasn’t imagining my own scenarios for the characters, I was reading the books over and over. Something was happening. I was becoming a writer. Of course, I didn’t realize it at the time. I had no idea that ten years later my own novel would be released. But that series had an important effect on me because it introduced me to women’s fiction. Yes, they are young adult novels, but they are women’s fiction nonetheless. A teenage version of romantic women’s fiction. 

My favorite couples were Jessica and Jeremy and Liz and Conner, even though Conner was kind of a jerk sometimes. I loved how the will-they-won’t-they was continued throughout the series. It kept me interested, and I was so invested in these characters’ lives. Since I was about the same age as the characters at the time, they meant a lot to me. I could relate to them, which made me realize how awesome it is to truly understand a character and feel like, in some way, you are understood, too. For better or worse, I was along for the ride. That’s the power of a story. It takes you on a journey and keeps you guessing until the very end. 

Once I got to college, I knew I wanted to write. But what? I tried screenwriting, playwriting, and journalism. I enjoyed all of it, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I still thought about Sweet Valley High Senior Year. The series made such an impact on me that it stayed with me for years. The true catalyst, though, that really compelled me to write chick lit, was in 2007 when I was perusing the New York Times bestseller list and discovered The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne. I bought it and read it, and said, “I want to do that.” And a few years later, I did. I’ll continue to write in this genre because the way I feel when I write is similar to when I turned the first page of Sweet Valley High Senior Year. I’m hooked.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nancy Scrofano is the author of True Love Way and writes book reviews for a prestigious book review magazine. Additionally, she is the founder and managing editor of The Chick Lit Bee, a book blog that promotes and celebrates women’s fiction. Nancy is at work on her next novel. For more information, please visit her website.

Find the author online: website | twitter | facebook

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Marlo Spencer relishes all things retro. Old TV shows, classic movies, and even the collectible lunch boxes to go with them. In fact, she’s quite cozy in her Malibu apartment, surrounded by her treasured knick-knacks and vintage memorabilia. It’s her best friend, Nik, who doesn’t get her fascination with all that “old junk,” as he calls it. He especially doesn’t understand why she’s so keen to get back to their hometown of Napa when her high school sweetheart, Josh, suddenly returns after twelve years in Paris and nary a single phone call, eager to reunite with her. So, when Marlo heads up north to wine country to rekindle her relationship with Josh, Nik tags along, claiming he was already planning to visit his sister, Savannah, Marlo’s gal pal. Once they reach Napa, however, dreams of a blissful reunion are shattered as old secrets and past betrayals are revealed, leaving an unsuspecting Marlo to pick up the pieces. Can she forgive and forget, or will true love find a different path to her heart?

Buy the book: Amazon | BN

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**GIVEAWAY**

Thanks to Simon & Fig, two lucky winners will receive an ebook copy of True Love Way by Nancy Scrofano!!

• Giveaway open Internationally.
• Comments are appreciated, however, you must fill out the Rafflecopter form in order to enter this giveaway.
• Please read the updated Giveaway Policy before entering.
• Giveaway ends 12:01 am (EST) on 5/9/2012.

Good luck to all who enter!

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