Today I have the pleasure of having Danielle Weiler, the author of Friendship on Fire, stop by the blog today. I had asked Danielle to do a guest post about some of the wrong decisions she made as a teen and how, if any, influence that had on her creating Daisy, the main character of her story. Danielle has generously offered to do a giveaway. Please check the bottom of this post for more information on how to enter. Take it away, Danielle!
Daisy as a character is the closest ‘person’ I’ve ever written about that was like me and my experiences as a teen. I drew on my memories of living in a coastal city where high school beach parties/bon-fires were weekly and we had a rival private school across the road from us – but the difference was, we weren’t private, we were public.
I never had a best guy friend like Roman so he was a mixture of people that I’ve come across over the years and I just loved his nature. Without divulging too much personal information, of course, I had a few friends who backstabbed me and/or changed as we got into our senior year of school. Similarly, girls who I thought were enemies became friends or we at least agreed not to have issues anymore.
Like Daisy, I worked at McDonalds with my brothers, which was really fun. I have 5 older brothers so Daisy’s brothers were a mixture of all of them without any one being too distinguishable. I especially wanted to bring out the theme of irrational protectiveness because that’s how my brothers treated me over every little thing! My parents were always supportive and we were close knit. In many YA books (and even ones that I’ve written) the parents are not present or are messed up and project it onto the kids so I wanted my first novel to have a stable family to help Daisy when she makes her mistakes.
Nate – well, he was a mixture of every charming, gorgeous, well-spoken, insistent boy I dated/knew/wished would notice me/was attracted to/was scared of as a 17-year-old. I do feel sorry for him in many ways but I can understand why readers hate him. You’ll have to read for yourself to find out the specs!
All teenagers with any working hormones have struggled with distractions from the opposite sex while trying to juggle study and work. Most teenagers have experimented with drinking and feeling pressured to do things they aren’t necessarily comfortable with or ready for. I wanted Daisy to be realistic and not have all the answers at first. How could she? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As adults, we are who we are today because of being shaped by our experiences as teens. I hope people who read this book forgive themselves in their time of learning, and also laugh at some of the things they said/did/fell for.
Thanks for stopping by today, Danielle! I'm sure we can all agree that hindsight is 20/20.
Danielle has generously offered to giveaway two (2) ebooks in PDF format to two (2) lucky winners. To enter this giveaway, simply leave your name/alias along with your email address so I can contact you if you win. This giveaway is open to ALL email addresses. The giveaway will end on Friday, APRIL 20th at 11 PM EST. The winner will be selected by Random.org and announced on the blog on Saturday, APRIL 21st. Good Luck!
I never had a best guy friend like Roman so he was a mixture of people that I’ve come across over the years and I just loved his nature. Without divulging too much personal information, of course, I had a few friends who backstabbed me and/or changed as we got into our senior year of school. Similarly, girls who I thought were enemies became friends or we at least agreed not to have issues anymore.
Like Daisy, I worked at McDonalds with my brothers, which was really fun. I have 5 older brothers so Daisy’s brothers were a mixture of all of them without any one being too distinguishable. I especially wanted to bring out the theme of irrational protectiveness because that’s how my brothers treated me over every little thing! My parents were always supportive and we were close knit. In many YA books (and even ones that I’ve written) the parents are not present or are messed up and project it onto the kids so I wanted my first novel to have a stable family to help Daisy when she makes her mistakes.
Nate – well, he was a mixture of every charming, gorgeous, well-spoken, insistent boy I dated/knew/wished would notice me/was attracted to/was scared of as a 17-year-old. I do feel sorry for him in many ways but I can understand why readers hate him. You’ll have to read for yourself to find out the specs!
All teenagers with any working hormones have struggled with distractions from the opposite sex while trying to juggle study and work. Most teenagers have experimented with drinking and feeling pressured to do things they aren’t necessarily comfortable with or ready for. I wanted Daisy to be realistic and not have all the answers at first. How could she? Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As adults, we are who we are today because of being shaped by our experiences as teens. I hope people who read this book forgive themselves in their time of learning, and also laugh at some of the things they said/did/fell for.
Thanks for stopping by today, Danielle! I'm sure we can all agree that hindsight is 20/20.
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I love when authors include little things about themselves in the story - like she worked at McDonald's with her brothers, it makes the reading experience more intimate maybe? Not sure if that makes sense:) I already had the pleasure of reading this one so don't enter me, I just wanted to stop in and comment!
If I can't get to this book, I know someone else who probably should read it. Best of luck!
Out where I'm from, we don't have beaches, but we have the desert. Out here, back in high school times, there were parties out there every week and I went through all the same things. Plus, I also have 5 brothers, then again, I also have 5 sisters. LOL! This sounds like something I'd love to read. Thanks for the opportunity to win! :D
jtheunknown@gmail.com
Oh, man, a coastal school sounds so great! I would love to have gone to the beach/have bonfires weekly in high school. I like that even though Danielle's life influenced her story, it isn't autobiographical. I think it's better that some things stay private. :)
Wow, growing up with five older brothers must have been very hard, but also very fun. I love it when authors include their personal experience into their characters, it always giveas additional depth to the story. This really sounds interesting.
Thanks for the wonderful post and the giveaway, ladies.
I adore Daisy's brothers! I don't have brothers myself, but I'm the oldest sister of six. So, it's fun to take a look into a realistic portrayal of having male siblings and what that entails.
YaY! A stable family in a YA book. So rare anymore.
I think we have all had people who have back-stabbed and conversely made a truce with those we didn't "like". You rarely see that in YA as well. It's usually one or the other but not both.
Im working on reading this right now and have really enjoyed it so far...:) Are you going to read it?? Danielle will be featured on the Indie spotlight this month, cant wait for people to read her book.....:D
(Not an Entry)
"Hindsight is a wonderful thing. As adults, we are who we are today because of being shaped by our experiences as teens." So true!
Wow, fantastic...count me in!
Bex Smith, rebeccajlsk@gmail.com
xo