Summer in Paris Giveaway and an Interview THIS IS NO JOKING MATTER

All of you Paris lovers I am finally doing it.  I bet you have being hoping for this giveaway on my blog for a long time.  So wait no longer.   

One lucky person will get their own signed copy of Michele Ashman Bell's newly released book Summer in Paris

Here is the Teaser from Valor Publishing :

Kenzie Williams feels like she has it all; wealth, friends, popularity and talent. But when her father tells her that he has declared bankruptcy, her whole world in New York City turns upside down. Her parents' solution while they sort through their financial and marital problems is to send Kenzie to live with her relatives in Paris . . . Idaho!

Feeling like she's been sentenced to three months in Hickville Prison, Kenzie arrives in Idaho feeling like a square peg, with name brand clothes, in a round, horribly podunk, hole.

Leaving everything she loves behind, Kenzie is forced to get up at the crack of dawn, do chores, and hang out with her cousin's loser friends. She feels like she's about to die until she meets Adam White, the town outcast, whose been accused of killing his best friend and is being blamed for some trouble that's been happening around town.

Not only is Adam the best-looking guy she's ever seen, but he's also the most fascinating guy she's ever met and Kenzie is determined to get to know him and find out his secret. But, the longer she stays in Paris, the more she realizes, Adam isn't the only one keeping secrets.

 Talk about the meanest trick ever.  How could someone let you think you were going to Paris but then realize it was only Paris, Idaho?  Are you trying to say that my Blog title deceived you?

I was also able to get a short excerpt from Summer in Paris just for your reading pleasure.

"The extent of downtown Paris was the gas station; a convenience store; an antique shop that looked like it also housed a pizza parlor and deli sandwich shop; the Paris Café which served Italian food (she had to scratch her head a minute to figure that one out); the sheriff’s office; a post office; and the courthouse. 

            While Aunt Frankie stopped in the post office Simon and Kenzie stayed in the car and waited for her.   

            Simon was explaining the raingutter regatta race he was preparing for in scouts and Kenzie was trying to act interested when suddenly she sat straight up in her seat. 

            She blinked to make sure she was seeing clearly.  Some guy wearing buckskin pants, a buckskin shirt with fringe and moccasins was striding toward them.  His dark hair fell in long waves onto his neck.  He probably was only eighteen, maybe nineteen, but he carried himself like an Indian warrior, tall and proud.  A black lab followed at his heels.  The dog reminded her of Dakota. 

            "Hey look, there's Rambo," Simon said.

            "That guy's name is Rambo?"

            "That's what everyone calls him," Simon explained.  "I don't remember his real name.  He lives up in the mountains."

            The guy was tall, maybe six foot-two, had black, almond shaped eyes and a wide set mouth and angled jaw-line.  He wasn't like anyone she'd ever seen before.  She immediately felt intrigued with him, mystified even.

            "They say he killed his best friend," Simon told her.

            "What?"  Kenzie sucked in a gulp of air. 

            “That’s what everybody says.” 

            "Rambo" stopped and waited when his dog found a tree.  Kenzie got a good look at the man’s tanned skin and chiseled face.  That was the only way to describe it.  And he was chewing something.  Probably tobacco.  Every time he chomped the muscles in his face rippled and strained.  He kept chewing while he waited for his dog, then, he blew a big bubble.  It was gum.  Kenzie started to laugh.  Tough "Rambo" was chewing bubble gum.

            Aunt Frankie walked out and saw the guy and his dog.  They spoke for a few minutes then she joined them in the car. 

            "Mom, I didn’t know you knew that guy.  What were you talking to him about?"

            "That’s Adam White.  His mother was a good friend of mine in high school."

            "Do his parents still live here?"  Kenzie wanted to know more about this guy.  

            "Adam never knew his father and his mother moved to Logan a while back.  He stayed here to finish high school." 

            Adam White.  Kenzie committed the name to memory.   

            "He’s lived with different people in town, but mostly he lives up in the mountains in a small cabin."  She sighed sadly, "He got into a lot of trouble growing up and finally got out on his own when he graduated from high school last year.  He stays to himself, rarely comes into town.  Especially after the shooting."

            "What happened?  Did he really kill his best friend?" Kenzie asked.

            Aunt Frankie gave Simon a nasty look and said, "No one really knows how it happened.  Most people think he should be in prison, but they couldn't prove it."

            They watched Adam walk into the convenience store.  His dog sat panting by the entrance.

            "Simon said he lives in the mountains," Kenzie asked. 

            "I think he has a place somewhere up in the hills, I'm not sure."  Aunt Frankie got a sad look on her face.  "I don't know how he survives.  He's all alone up there."

            Her whole summer changed.  Kenzie was determined to find out more about this "killer"."

Well I'm hooked already.  I was also able to have Michele Ashman Bell answer some of questions.

What inspired you to write Summer in Paris?

The setting for this book came to me when our family visited Bear Lake one summer.  We drove around the valley and happened to drive through the town of Paris.  I was so surprised to find out that there was a town in Idaho called Paris that I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I began to think about a girl from a wealthy family being told she was spending summer in Paris, then finding out it was in Idaho and what her reaction would be and how she would handle it.  The story took on a life of it's own as my imagination went crazy with all the possibilities.  Of course, the sequel is going to finally take my main character to Paris, France.  I can't wait!

What was is the most fun part about being a writer that you've experienced so far?  

 Every facet of writing is fun.  I love research and learning about people, places and other story details.  Writing is always a pleasure, especially when the characters take control and surprise me.  Seeing the book in print and all the hard work pay off is almost like giving birth to a child.  But the best part is meeting fans and getting letters from people who tell me that one of my books touched them or helped them, or that they just really enjoyed the story and characters.  Fans make it all worth it.

Do you have any advice for other authors?  

I have way too much advice because I did everything the long, hard, wrong way.  If I had to give one piece of advice thought it would be to never, ever give up.  Anyone who wants to get published badly enough and is willing to work hard enough, will make it happen!

 How do you balance writing and life? (As if those aren't the same thing :))  

This is the BIGGEST challenge I have with my writing.  I never want to put my writing above family and church obligations, so it gets tricky to find time.  I have finally learned that the turtle really does win the race and if I just am consistent and steady, even though I don't spend hours every day writing, I can still accomplish my goals and keep everybody relatively happy.

 SO FOR THE GIVEAWAY!  

Just leave a comment on this post .  It is that simple.
All comments made before April 12th 11:59pm PST will be entered.

One lucky person will get their own signed copy.  For those who don't win I recommend heading over to Valor Publishing and buying your own.  I'm looking forward to the sequel when Kenzie makes is to France.