Easy by Tammara Webber
Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: November
6, 2012
Rating: I liked it!
In EASY, 19-year-old Jacqueline
Wallace grapples with both the aftermath of a sexual assault and the excitement
of a new love interest. Set on a college campus in the Midwest, her experiences
mirror those of many young women. After a mysterious stranger comes to her
rescue, Jacqueline is both intrigued and distracted by his baffling behavior.
As Jacqueline and her friends struggle with the serious repercussions of an
attack, a budding romance may save her life.
More than 150,000 copies
of the self-published e-book
sold in the U.S. 9 weeks
on the New York Times bestseller list. Over 35,000 ratings on
GoodReads and climbing.
Have you read EASY by
Tammara Webber? It is a great story, and I definitely recommend it. One of the
best parts of the book is the rawness of the emotions that are described. With
such an interesting storyline, Tammara really knows how to draw in readers and
make them experience emotions right alongside her characters. Many of you may
have heard of an emerging trend called “New Adult,” which documents the stories
of characters on the cusp of adulthood. Easy
is a story that takes this trend and turns it on its head. By including sexual
assault, Tammara added a layer of complexity that readers will enjoy. It is
certainly one of the most interesting stories that I have read this year, and I
encourage you to read it!
Berkley has graciously offered to give 1 US
reader a copy of EASY!
Please fill out the Rafflecopter to enter.
Good luck! I really hope you win!
Tammara was kind enough to answer a few questions.
If you could take over the life of
any literary character and live in that book, who would you select and why?
See, here’s where you
almost trick me into saying, “Elizabeth Bennet! Elizabeth Beeeennnnnnetttt!!!”
But then I remember how extremely nearsighted I am. Ohthankgod I wasn’t born in
the early nineteenth century, as much as I might lust for Mr. Fitzwilliam
Darcy. He would have to stand very, very close for me to see him clearly at all.
(On second thought…) The thing is, books are based on conflict. If I were to
choose a character to hijack—like Elizabeth Bennet—I’d want to step into her shoes at the end of the book, when she became Mrs.
Darcy and moved to Pemberly. (Is it hot in here?? Somebody pass me a fan.)
What is the best experience you have
had since becoming a writer?
The emails from readers
telling me that what I wrote touched them. I’ve cried over so many emails since
Easy. It was such a difficult book to
write, but the responses I’ve gotten from girls and women who’ve gone through
the hell of sexual assault and emerged as survivors on the other side made it
so worth it. I love the “OMG (Lucas,
Graham or Reid) is so hot!” emails
and posts, too, of course. I write romantic stories, and it’s so fantastic to
have people connect with my characters like that. But there’s something
just…humbling and overwhelming about having written something that helped
someone along the path to healing, or let her know that what happened to her
wasn’t her fault.
What books have most influenced your
work and your life?
I was a little oddball in
high school. Nearly everyone in my freshman class bemoaned the tediousness of
having to read Great Expectations
(Charles Dickens), complete with lots of pretend snoring from the football
players sitting in back. I mumbled the expected heh-heh, but I couldn’t have disagreed more. Mrs. Powell’s assigned
schedule for reading the book over the six weeks was impossible for me. I
finished in days, and then went back and read along with the class. I took that
as confirmation that literature meant something to me that it didn’t mean to
other people, and also, that I was weird.
I fell in love with
classics again after reading Pride and
Prejudice (Jane Austen) in my later twenties. I think every romance novel
written since has been influenced by it, whether the author is aware of that or
not. The book that made me begin writing again was You Can’t Go Home Again (Thomas Wolfe). For me, it was one of those
books you read and feel as though it was written for you. The Truth About Forever (Sarah Dessen) is a seamless love story,
and is the book that made me want to write Young Adult romance. Leaving Paradise (Simone Elkeles) is my
most-read book. The storyline is perfect YA, unputdownable, and every time I’ve
read it, I’ve found something new.
How much does research play a role in
your writing process?
It depends. I did less
research for Easy than I have before, but I was on familiar ground with this
one, in too many ways. I worked on a university campus from nineteen to
twenty-three, and went back to college part-time in my later twenties and again
in my thirties to complete a degree in English. I began working at the
university shortly thereafter, and worked as an academic advisor until earlier
this year. There’s research in everything fictional, of course, but it’s easier
to miss minor details when you don’t write what/where you know.
What is your next project?
I’m working on a fourth
installment to my Between the Lines series, which will be published by
Razorbill in the UK/Commonwealth, and indie-published in the US/Canada.
