Book Blitz: Hell's Hollow by Summer Stone

Hell's Hollow by Summer Stone
Publication date: March 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal

Synopsis:
When Seraphina was younger, she healed her best friend's injured hand. Terrified by the inexplicable cure, the girl shunned her. From that day on, Seraphina found herself without friends, a freak and an oddity. And so she obeyed her mother’s rule to refrain from using her innate ability, heeded her mother's warning that its use could land her in the local mental health facility alongside her aunt and grandmother.

But when sixteen-year-old Seraphina finds a mysterious, wounded boy hiding in the hollow in the woods behind her house, she can't hold out against the overpowering urge to help him. She is drawn to him each night, and as they come to know one another, their irresistible attraction blooms.

She longs to uncover his secrets — where he comes from and why he's hiding and how he came to be so wounded — and to share her own, though she knows it's forbidden. And while her healing touch seems to be helping him, it's hurting her. When the symptoms of psychosis — experienced by the women in her bloodline who used their powers — begin to plague Seraphina, she is faced with the unbearable choice of saving her sanity or the boy she’s come to love.

About the Author:

Summer Stone loves immersing herself in the worlds that live inside her mind. When she's in the real world, she likes kicking back on the beach, exploring new places, reading (of course) and eating rich, gooey chocolate. She loves spending time with her husband and kids, which she does as much as she can. Summer writes young adult and women's fiction, both supernatural and contemporary, realistic and looks forward to sharing her novels with you! 

Author Links:

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Hell's Holliow Guest Posts:

Interview questions:

What inspired you to write Hell's Hollow?

It was really the name of the town that inspired me. For years, my family and I have gone up to the Sierra Foothills and there's a big street sign in a rural area, much bigger than most street signs, that says Hell's Hollow. Every time we would pass that sign, I would think, Someday I'm going to write a book about a town called Hell's Hollow. I didn't know what it would be about until I started writing it. I started with the name of the town and then with the protagonist and just let them lead me into the story.

What is your writing process like?

I need quiet to really be able to get to the sweet spot where the writing flows. So I don't listen to music and I prefer not to be at a noisy café. My best writing comes when I let the character tell me the story. With Hell's Hollow I was surprised by many elements of the storyline, none of which would have happened if I'd really tried to guess at what would come next. So listening for the voice of the characters and the voice of the story are key for me.

What were your favorite elements of Hell's Hollow to write?

I really enjoyed writing the growing relationship between Seraphina and Zach. I loved the build up from strangers to friends to something more. And because she isn't sure if he's real or a figment of her potential loss of sanity, there's an element of mystery that was fun to play with.

Also, the crazy parts! I loved writing her psychotic grandmother and also the scenes where Seraphina's own sanity begins to waver. I actually did quite a bit of research on different types of psychosis and based much of her aunt and grandmother's behavior on videos I watched of schizophrenic patients.

Were there parts of the story you didn't enjoy writing?

I always struggle a bit with writing the parts when everything is going wrong. I'm impatient to get to the places where things are working out. So I really have to push myself to hold out and let things be bad for a while. It makes the payoff of the happy parts so much richer.

Did you do much research for Hell's Hollow?

I did! I actually really enjoyed my research for this book. First, I spent time in the area of the Sierra Nevada foothills where the story takes place and even went to Big Trees State Park to get a feel for the giant trees that live in the Hollow. I spent quite a bit of time online researching psychosis and schizophrenia. I also did a lot of research on the history of the area — both of the Native American tribes that lived there and on the Gold Rush history. Other areas of research included the serpent-handling religion of West Virginia, alternative forms of healing, mythology about Hell, diseases caused by wild animals, baking and a few others I won't mention so as not to give anything away.

In Hell's Hollow, Seraphina has the ability to heal. Her grandmother hears people's thoughts. And her aunt sees the future. If you could have any super power, what would it be? 

Ooh. That is a tough question! I have secretly always wanted Seraphina's power. But there are others that would be super cool too. I'd say flying, but I'd probably get motion sickness :)

Why does Seraphina, who has always obeyed her mom's rule about not using her special ability, decide to start trying?

Partly, it's because the tugs from the Hollow have begun to keep her awake at night and bother her all day. And partly, it's because of Zach. She wants to help him. There's also one more piece, which is that she's sixteen and her mom's rule feels wrong to her, and she's getting brave enough to make up her own mind.

Excerpt:

As I tried to hug Gran, she jumped to the ground and twirled around. “Did anybody follow you in here?” She closed the door and pushed her chair up behind it. “They’ll be coming for me,” she whispered, sounding scared and certain.

“Mother,” my mom cooed. “No one is coming for you. Come sit down and tell me why MK is passed out like this in the middle of the day.” I didn’t know how she stayed calm with Gran acting so crazy. The room felt hot and too small. Besides the two beds and Gran’s chair, there was only room for the dresser with the TV and radio on top and a decaying brown recliner.

“This,” Gran explained, “is what happens when you follow along. Pills go in, MK goes down. They’re trying to control us. Are you sure there wasn’t anyone behind you? They’ll be after me again. It’s that Johnny Rocket fella. He’s a bruiser. Did you see him in the hall?” She peeked behind the curtain. “I don’t know if I can take him down on my own. Why do you leave me with him when you know he wants to axe me?”

“Mother, try to focus. What about your pills?” Mom asked her.

Gran pointed at MK with a look that said something along the lines of she took them and I had nothing to do with it.

“Oh, Mother!” Mom stood up and turned to me. “I’m going to talk to the nurses. Looks like MK has been getting both of their doses again.” She glared at Gran. “Keep an eye on her, Seraphina.”

“An eye? An eye?” Gran called out, backing up against the wall as if I was about to peg her with an eyeball. “You keep your eyes to yourself, young lady. I’ve got two of my own and I don’t need any more thank you very much. I once knew a man in San Francisco who could take his eyeball out at will. Made a horrible sucking noise when he smushed it back in, like the sound of the bathtub emptying. Dangerous places bathtubs. I don’t fancy them myself. Fancy is as fancy does, so don’t go getting up on your high horse. Your horse, your horse, of course, of course.”

“It’s okay, Gran,” I promised, trying to unknot my stomach muscles and calm her at the same time. “My eyes are staying in my head.”

“Damn straight they are,” she mumbled, squinting her own at me like she didn’t trust me. “Straight as an arrow on a hot tin roof.” She pushed the chair under the doorknob.

I sat on her bed. “Can I ask you something?” It seemed hopeless given how out of it she was, but I had to at least try, besides maybe it would bring her around.

“Depends. Who told you to ask?”

“Just me. I was wondering about your sensitivity.”

“We don’t talk about that,” Gran parroted. “No siree, your mom says we don’t talk about that. Bad things could happen. We could bring down the apocalypse like the horsemen in colors of finery of the finest fine. Just like pine. Do you smell peppermint? Is it Christmastime?”

“No, Gran. There’s no peppermint. Listen, Mom’s out with the nurses,” I said. “She won’t talk about it with me, the sensitivity stuff. Come on, Gran, please?” Hope was trickling away. Some days she seemed so with it, so almost normal, and then some days were like this, where she couldn’t string together a complete thought.

“All right, quick then, what do you need to know?” She sat down practically on top of me, her head swiveling toward the door and back to the window.

“Is there a way to … you know, keep it from making you… I mean, is there some way to control it, to protect myself? Like, is it possible to… give in to it and still stay sane?” I couldn’t believe I’d actually thought it, much less said it out loud.

“Lordy be, if I’d figured that out I wouldn’t be in this joint. But there’s gotta be a way. They’re keeping it from us so we all end up in here with the crazies. It’s mind control. That’s why I won’t let them cut my hair. It’s a terrible waste. My locks protect me from those radio waves Johnny Rocket keeps sending. He thinks he can make me do whatever he damn well pleases. But I’m on to him. Don’t you end up in this trap, you hear me? It’s beastly. Of mice and men. Scattered on the shores like so much garbage. You figure out how to block those radio signals, then come back and spring us. All right?”

I could almost feel the wildness of her thoughts, like a storm wind, reckless and raging.

~Giveaways~

One (1) ebook copy of Hell's Hollow. Open internationally.

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            Grand Prize: 50$ Gift Card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

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