Just Another Girl and her Books: #IABBAddict: Passing on Faith by A.M. Leibowitz

Thursday, December 17, 2015

#IABBAddict: Passing on Faith by A.M. Leibowitz

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About the Book

Author: A. M. Leibowitz

Title: Passing on Faith

Pages: 276

Genre: General Fiction, LGBT

Date published: November 1, 2015

Synopsis:
Following his father’s death, Micah Forbes believes he can finally put the family who rejected him and their religious bigotry behind him. In a cruel twist, his older brother calls to tell him he’s inherited their father’s abandoned vacation home.

Micah discovers the house comes complete with a long list of repairs, boxes full of family secrets, and a handful of quirky neighbors. Despite not wanting to get in too deep, he can’t help the spark of interest stirred when the sexy redhead next door offers his help. Everything about the enigmatic Cat Rowland throws Micah off-balance, from his gender-bending sense of fashion to his handy repair skills to his deep spirituality. Before long, Micah is swept up by Cat and his friends, but Cat himself keeps his heart carefully protected.

When Micah’s past and his present collide in a painful way, his self-destructive coping habits threaten to overwhelm him. To save himself, he needs to open his soul and let someone in. Cat has the key to unlock him, if he can let down his guard and trust his faith enough to catch Micah as he falls.

AMAZON // GOODREADS

Excerpt

Micah stared up at the old house. It was nicer than he’d remembered, at least on the outside—other than the overgrown lawn and garden. He wondered if there was a lawn mower in the shed. Then he wondered if there was a shed. Just one more thing to worry about. At least he had the entire summer to figure out what he did and didn’t have available to him.
His mind ran through all the possible scenarios of what could go wrong during his tenure there, from the house falling down around him to his friends having a crisis while he was unavailable. He tried not to imagine that the students renting his own home had merely been putting up a front and were actually throwing a wild party even as Micah stood on the front porch of the lake house. None of that would do; they were his way of finding excuses not to stay in Concordia.
While he was thinking about all of that, a voice behind him said, “Hey, there.”
Micah nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned around slowly and came face-to-face with a gingery-blond young man. He was average height, perhaps an inch or two shorter than Micah, and had a wiry build. There was a dusting of freckles across his pale skin, and he had a row of small hoops down one ear. In the other ear, he wore a dangling earring that looked like some kind of leaf. He had on a trendy pair of black knee-length pants and a fitted white t-shirt with a rock band logo Micah didn’t recognize. His gray-green eyes were wide and held a spark of mischief, and his mouth curled upward in a charming smirk.

Giveaway

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Interview

What inspired you to become an author?

I began beta reading for other authors and was inspired to write my own novel, though I never intended it to see the light of day. A friend encouraged me to send my manuscript to her publisher, and the rest is history.

I assume all authors also love to read, so what book inspired your love of reading?

The first books I remember reading on my own were the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

How old were you when you wrote your first story?

I was 8. It was about a space-travelling tarsier named Madeline.

Who are some of your favorite authors now?

Elizabeth Berg, Margaret Atwood, J. K. Rowling for authors outside my genre. I have a long, long list of wonderful authors within my genre, but my top three are Raine O’Tierney, Debbie McGowan, and Posy Roberts.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Some of both! I do a lot of pantsing, but I operate off a basic outline.

Are your characters based on people you know?

Sometimes. In this novel, there are three.

What are some of your writing rituals?

I usually set up camp in my living room with my coffee. I re-read the previous day’s entry to get back into the story.

How do other books influence your writing?

Mostly I look for ways other authors have developed their characters and how they’ve shown motivations.

How do you get motivated to sit down and write with all the real world interruptions?

Sometimes I just have to turn everything off and ignore everything. I try to write while my kids are at school and spouse is at work.

Which one of your books is your favorite?

The current one, Passing on Faith. It’s a very personal story for me.

If you could have a writing retreat anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be and why?

Hawaii. I’ve never been there, and the warmth and tropical location appeal to me.

If your main character were an alcoholic beverage, which beverage would they be and why?

Micah would be red wine—dark, emotional, and probably going to leave you with a headache if you have too much. Cat would be Sex on the Beach—perceived as very feminine but also very sweet and sexy.

If you could live in a fictional world, which world would you choose and why?

I definitely want to live in Harry Potter’s world. I mean…Hogwarts! And being able to wave a wand and have the dishes done? Win.

What’s the best way to hide a body?

In the closet. Interpret that however you like.

This or That

Coke or Pepsi? Neither

Paperback or e-reader? E-reader

Facebook or Twitter? Facebook

Peeta or Gale? No idea

Edward or Jacob? Jacob

Money or love? Love

Tattoos or bare? Tats