What did you want to
be when you grew up?
Strangely I always wanted to be a lollipop lady - one
of those ladies who stands at the side of the road and helps kids cross the
street?! I think I thought they had a constant supply of lollipops! After that
I fancied being a famous singer or member of a girl band, but obviously that
wasn't to be. I made do with a lot of singing into my hairbrush instead!
Coffee, tea or hot
chocolate?
Is this a trick question? I don't think any writers can
write without coffee!!
What genre do you
typically read? Why?
I love all kinds of books, really! I do love a good
heart stopping romance though, or a thriller. I'm reading The Bone Clocks at
the moment and it's amazing.
Share a favourite
childhood memory.
My uncle, who's not actually an uncle, more of a
family friend used to design treasure hunts that would have four of us kids
running round the garden looking for clues and prizes. It was so much fun. I
used to love those afternoons of adventure, feeling like pirates looking for
treasure!
Do you have any
shameless addictions? ie. Tea, Books, Shoes, Clothes?
I'm kind of addicted to Instagram - boring but true! I
also really love playing my guitar, even though I'm not really all that good!
What do you think is
the biggest challenge of writing a new book?
Getting past the 30k mark, for sure. I think that's
the hardest part as it always feels like it takes the longest. I also love the
research, although it's a challenge. I spent a lot of time before starting on
The Day Of The Wave making sure I got all my facts straight about the Boxing
Day tsunami.
Do you aim for a set
amount of words/pages a day?
Not really, I try to write when I'm inspired,
otherwise it feels like a chore. Mind you though, when I tried to write Before
He Was Gone in 5 weeks it was tough to keep going. I stuck to 4000 words a day
with that one!
What are your
thoughts on writing a book series?
I enjoyed writing my Before He Was... series, and I
love how the characters are interwoven with each other across three books, but
it's somehow not as exciting anymore as writing a damn good standalone (well,
that's what I hope I've done here anyway!!)
The Day of the Wave
by Becky Wicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Torn apart by the tragedy. Thrown back together ten
years later by destiny... Isla and Ben were just sixteen when the Boxing Day
tsunami ripped through their beach resort in Thailand. Just days after forming
a life-changing bond, both were missing and presumed dead.
Based
on real life events, The Day of the Wave is a story of healing, learning to let
go, and figuring out when to hold on with everything you have left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
It's a clear night by the time we
get back to Shady Palms. Izzy promised to go see Lawan again soon and after
seeing the way they hugged when we left, I know she sees her as some kind
mother figure now. My heart bleeds for what she lost, what happened to her,
going through hell in all those hospitals. She didn't want to live for a while.
She said it. She actually said it. I felt the same way after losing Toby.
'I can't stop thinking about how
your real name is Isla,' I tell her as we walk onto the beach in front of our
huts, drop to the sand and gaze out at the glistening ocean. Her head rests on
my shoulder and the hair that's come loose from her braids tickles my face.
'You're an island, Izzy,' I say.
I say it out loud because I was thinking it, just now at Lawan's when I was
watching her mouth move, the scars glistening on her arms in the lamplight.
'You rose above the waves to survive.'
'I never thought about that
before.' She drags a finger through the sand. 'Everyone always says I'm one of
the lucky ones, but I always wondered why I was left out. Why did I survive
when so many other people died?'
'Tell me about it.' I rest my
head on hers. 'We both kind of died in it and lived at the same time, I think.'
'You've lived more than me,' she
snaps back, almost angrily. 'Being alive is everything, Ben. It's all that
matters - the now. I feel like I've been wasting my life so far! I don't want
to go back that job, or London.'
'Then don't.'
Her head springs up and her eyes
shoot up to mine. Something in her gaze draws me in again, right down those
damn corridors into a place I always get lost. I know what she's thinking
though, and my stomach knots till my breath shortens and I have to tear my eyes
away. She's thinking this is the start of something and it's my fault. The
thought is like a fork in a toaster, shooting out warning sparks now, not the
good kind. What am I doing, with Izzy of all people?
Don't think about it.
She puts her hand to my cheek,
turning me back to her. 'You OK?'
'I'm OK,' I tell her quickly,
'just having a hard time believing this is all happening.'
'Maybe it was supposed to,' she
says, shuffling around to sit in front of me, cross-legged, covered in sand.
'Isn't that what you said, at the waterfall?'
'I don't know, Izzy.' I say it
under my breath. Her eyebrows knit together but in a second I'm kissing the
doubt away, willing the thoughts to stop colliding in my brain; the ones that
scream how right she is, and this is, and the ones that scream this has to
stop. I pull her back with me. She's in my head and my heart and my soul but
I'll hurt her, like I hurt everyone. How could I not, in the end?
Don't think about it.
I kiss her harder and her arms
wrap around me till she's on top of me on the sand and I'm swimming in the
ocean of her, and not the thoughts that try to drown me every time I get my
head above the water
She's good for you.
But Ben. She doesn't know the
half of what you know.
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Becky Wicks is
mostly powered by coffee. She had three travel memoirs published by
HarperCollins before going the indie route. Her first book in the Starstruck
Series, 'Before He Was Famous' recently reached #1 in Amazon's Coming of Age
and New Adult & College categories. The second in the series, 'Before He
Was Gone', and the third, 'Before He Was A Secret' are both out now along with
'The Day Of The Wave' - a romance based around the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.
Becky blogs
most days at beckywicks.com and always welcomes distractions on Twitter:
@bex_wicks (especially if you have cat photos)
Blog: www.beckywicks.com
Twitter:
@bex_wicks
Buy link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WT6SBZY
YouTube- Book
Video:
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and
RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Becky will be awarding a
$50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the
tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.
Please use this
rafflecopter code on your post:
Enjoyed reading your interview, thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFun interview!
ReplyDelete--Trix
I loved the interview~my daughters used to sing into their hairbrushes, too! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the excerpt! Love the interview :) What a great childhood memory. That sounds like it'd be really fun.
ReplyDeleteI liked the interview.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing - I enjoyed reading your post!
ReplyDelete