Tour Stop and Giveaway: Accidental Paradise by Eric Grandy

 

Today check out Eric Grandy's Accidental Paradise tour stop and make sure to enter the tour wide giveaway as Eric Grandy will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner. The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and you can find all the tour stops HERE.

Chatting with Eric Grandy

Tell us about your latest book. Who are the main characters and what can we expect when we pick it up?

My book is called “Accidental Paradise”, and my main character is LaVern Whitaker. My book is about her journey from East Baltimore to super stardom in Hollywood to finally finding a true paradise in a very special place.  A danger arrives and threatens her peaceful, adopted paradise.

Taking the story from concept to published book is a long and involved process. How does that usually work for you?

Accidental Paradise is my first published novel, so this is my first time going through the process. I am enjoying it but I’m finding that writing is the fun part. The rest is necessary but not as fun.

Which of your books would you recommend for readers to choose first if they are new to you and your books?

That’s easy, this being my first book. But I hope reading Accidental Paradise will inspire them to look for my next effort, which I am currently working on.

We are very curious about your writing process. What is a typical writing day for you?

I usually wake up around 6AM. It’s quiet and nobody interrupts with phone calls. I write for

three or four hours, then I eat breakfast. I resume later in the afternoon. In total, I write for five to six hours daily.

What trope have you not written yet but want to?

I really like to stick with fiction. It allows me to be creative and real at the same time. Maybe down the road another writing discipline will interest me.

How do you approach character development in your stories? Do you have any specific techniques or methods that you find particularly effective?

Real life. I’ve become a people watcher and eavesdropper. My characters are a compilation of people I’ve met in real life. The situations they find themselves in are taken from my, or friends, real life experiences. Mannerisms, speech patterns, tendencies, environments are elements I steal from just living and observing life and I plug them into my stories where they fit.

What do you believe sets your writing apart from others in your genre and why should readers choose to read your books?

Even though my genre is fiction, my writing is reality based, and the plot is not complicated.  I like to use dialogue more than a lot of writers I’ve read, and I hope readers will relate to my stories and characters because of that verbal back and forth.

Can you discuss any upcoming projects or books that you are currently working on? What can readers expect from your future works?

I am three chapters into my next book. It’s grittier than “Accidental Paradise”. It’s about the head of a prestigious private detective firm who reluctantly decides to mentor a young, small-time drug dealer. As you can imagine, the relationship, unwanted by both, is confrontational and hostile.     

ACCIDENTAL PARADISE

by Eric Grandy

GENRE: Coming of Age

Buy at Amazon

Natural talent, hard work, and a childhood friend help LaVern Whitaker find her calling as an actress.  When her life becomes overwhelming, they discover a small town where her true identity can remain unknown and she can stay out of the spotlight.  The more she visits her secret getaway, the more deeply she feels connected to the history, the lifestyle, and the people.  Could this place be her home away from home, or become the home she has dreamed of?  Or will sinister forces rip it all away?

Excerpt One: 

“Make me a promise, Shaundra. Promise me we will always be best friends.”

 

“I promise, Peaches.”

 

LaVern stood up and said she had better head back. “Are you coming over tomorrow?”

 

“Hell yeah.”

 

Both girls had a hardy laugh at that one.

 

As Freeman and Jackie watched their daughter recross the street, they noticed a more delighted and relieved child than the one who left a few minutes earlier.

 

The girls resumed their old routine of talking and gossiping in LaVern’s bedroom. Shaundra asked more questions about her new school; how did she like going to school with White kids? Did she hang out with the other Black students? How was she treated? LaVern did her best to answer; No, she wasn’t completely accepted by everyone, she wasn’t friends with all the Black kids, she still felt very self-conscious being one of a few Black students in an all-White school, sometimes she felt very alone but she had made a few friends.

 

“My daddy said it would take a little while, that I would get used to it. He said I would get a better education.”

 

“Well, you’re already smart Peaches. You’ll be smart no matter what school you go to.”

 

“Well, it is harder than 139, but I’m doing OK.

 

“I know you, Peaches. If you say you doing OK, I know you killin’ it.”

 

LaVern looked down at her feet. “Well, I’m doing alright.”

 

But the Big Dog was right. She was killing it.

 

 

Enter to win a $25 Amazon/BN gift card.

AUTHOR Bio and Links: 

Eric Grandy was born and raised in Baltimore City and graduated from City College. After he graduated from Essex Community College, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs and played six years for that team. He went on to a variety of jobs: photographer, lab manager, driver for DHL and warehouse manager. After retirement, he decided to devote himself to writing, producing several short stories and Accidental Paradise, his debut novel. 

Grandy still lives in Baltimore with his wife Rhonda and his daughter Marti.