Guest Post with Author Ingrid Paulson and Giveaway

Ingrid Paulson does not, in fact, loathe anyone. Although the snarky sense of humor and verbal barbs in Why I Loathe Sterling Lane might suggest otherwise (and shock those who think they know her best).

Ingrid lives in San Francisco with her husband and children and enjoys long-distance running, eavesdropping, and watching science documentaries. She has always loved books and writing short stories, but was surprised one day to discover the story she was working on wasn’t so short any more. Valkyrie Rising, a paranormal girl power story was Ingrid’s first novel. Expect another humorous contemporary romance to join the list soon.

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What was your inspiration for the book/characters?

First, thank you so much for having me on your blog. I’ve had so much fun writing posts for this blog tour—all of the topics and questions have been fabulous.

The inspiration for STERLING LANE is a little unconventional. Most of the time, I get inspiration from stories in the news or my own life experiences. But STERLING LANE started off as more of a writing exercise than a clear idea of what I wanted to write about.

At the time, I’d read several books in a row with unlikeable or untrustworthy narrators, and I started picking the stories apart, trying to figure out why I kept reading if the narrator was such a challenge. This led me to wonder if I could write something like that—a book told from an off-kilter point of view that still managed to suck readers in.

I started tinkering with a few scenes, trying to strike the right balance, and realized I wanted the narrator to be incredibly volatile yet uptight. And voila, Harper was born. Pretty much as soon as I’d mapped out Harper’s rigid set of rules, I knew I needed a character who would joyfully trounce all over every last one of them and bring out Harper’s volatility. I wrote two chapters of the book and showed them to my critique group. At this point, I wasn’t sure where I was going with the story or if I was writing a novel or just experimenting with a totally different type of voice. I was terrified waiting for their feedback because the book felt different to me than anything I’d written before—the characters were much more audacious. But my critique group was very encouraging, so once I had a handle on the characters and their crazy, reckless collision, the rest of the plot and characters fell into place around them.

Per her 537 rules, Harper Campbell keeps her life tidy—academically and socially. But the moment Sterling Lane transfers into her tiny boarding school, her twin brother gets swept up in Sterling’s pranks and schemes and nearly gets expelled. Harper knows it’s Sterling’s fault, and to protect her brother, she vows to take him down. As she exposes his endless school violations, he keeps striking back, framing her for his own infractions. Worst of all, he’s charmed the administration into thinking he’s harmless, and only Harper sees him for the troublemaker he absolutely is.

As she breaks rule after precious rule in her battle of wits against Sterling and tension between them hits a boiling point, she’s horrified to discover that perhaps the two of them aren’t so different. And maybe she doesn't entirely hate him after all. Teaming up with Sterling to save her brother might be the only way to keep from breaking the most important rule—protecting Cole.

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Up For Grabs:

• 1 Why I Loathe Sterling Lane Prize Pack, including:
  • A tote bag
  • A mug
  • Some stickers

To Enter:

• Please fill out the Rafflecopter form.

Good Luck!

Special thanks to Ingrid Paulson & Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours for sponsoring this tour-wide giveaway.

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