BLOG TOUR, GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY: “Double Up” by Vanessa North
Hi everyone! I’m Vanessa North, and I’m touring this week to talk about my new release, Double Up: how it got started, a scene that almost happened, and the sport of wakeboarding–how it influenced me, why I love it so much, and how it shaped the characters in the story.
Join me on the tour and leave a comment on this post to enter the giveaway for a $15 Riptide Gift Card! Be sure to include your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win! I’ll be drawing the winner at the end of the blog tour.
Welcome to Lake Lovelace, Florida! Incorporated 1959
Population? Bigger than some, smaller than most.
Claim to fame? The Lake Lovelace Wakeboard Tournament and Double-Up Contest.
Okay, so Lake Lovelace is a fictional place. But to me? It’s real. It’s an amalgamation of places like Tega Cay, SC and Acworth, GA, with lots of central Florida flavor thrown in. We see the town from hometown boy Ben’s perspective, because Double Up is Ben’s story, but we also see Dave acclimating to his new home—and coming from Charleston, an historic, cultured Southern city? Lake Lovelace might take some getting used to.
It all comes down to one question: Why would somebody build a man-made lake in Florida, where lakes are everywhere?
Ideally, to control the real estate and economic climate of the town. I admit, I barely scratch the surface in Double Up, but it influences the conflict, particularly in regards to secondary characters like Ben’s best friend, Edward Russell, and Davis’s stepdad, Rodney Romeo. It’s a blend of cultured permission and political reaction.
To me, the town is exactly the kind of place that can produce the characters it did: Ben, a redneck boy who happened to figure out he was gay around the time he figured out he loved riding wake. Eddie, a lake rat from birth groomed for small-town kingship. Davis, trying to find family among strangers. Tina and Amber, women coming to terms with themselves in the good ol’ boys network.
Lake Lovelace is the kind of place a person might be scared to come out. It’s the kind of place that might be far enough from Orlando to miss most of the tourist throng, but close enough to play it family-friendly just in case. It’s small, and sometimes confusing, but for Ben and Dave and their friends, it’s a place of possibility. Where man can build a lake, surely he can build family too.
BLURB:
Knowing he’s loved can make any man fly.
Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.
Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.
Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.
About the Author:
Author of over a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories, Vanessa North delights in giving happy-ever-afters to characters who don’t think they deserve them. Relentless curiosity led her to take up knitting and run a few marathons “just to see if she could.” She started writing for the same reason. Her very patient husband pretends not to notice when her hobbies take over the house. Living and writing in Northwest Georgia, she finds her attempts to keep a quiet home are frequently thwarted by twin boy-children and a very, very large dog.
Connect with Vanessa:
- Website: com
- Facebook profile page: com/AuthorVanessaNorth
- Twitter: @VanessaNWrites
- Goodreads: com/VanessaNorth
Wow, sounds like a lovely heart lifting story.
debby236 at hotmail dot com
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Look forward to reading Double Up. Sounds like some very interesting characters and maybe I will even learn a little about wakeboarding too. :) Thanks for the giveaway!
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
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The book sounds really good please count me in for the Giveaway.
ShirleyAnn(at)speakman40(dot)freeserve(dot)co(dot)uk
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I pre-ordered this because it sounded real good, just need to get time to read now!
Littlesuze at hotmail dot com
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Sounds great! Thanks for the post and the giveaway!
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Cool cover and the blurb sounds great. I’d like to read it. =)
serena91291@gmail.com
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Hi Vanessa, congrats on your latest release. I pre-ordered your book and cant wait to read it. Thanks for the giveaway ardent(dot)ereader(at)gmail(dot)com
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Sounds great and love the cover.
kimandpete at me dot com
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I’m not a big sports fan in general but this sounds so interesting. aahickmanathotmaildotcom
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Sounds good and has a cool cover. Thanks!!
jen.f {at} mac {dot} com
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Love the cover. The book sounds really good too. Thanks for the giveaway!
jczlapin(at)gmail(dot)com
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The book sounds great!
rockybatt@gmail.com
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Interesting place
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
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Sounds really good. I don’t know much about wakeboarding and I’ve never read a book that involved it so this should be fun.
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woppsie forgot my email,lol.
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
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Loved The Dark Collector – this one sounds great too. Thanks for a shot at winning a copy. lgrant1@san.rr.com
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Pingback: Tour: Double Up by Vanessa North *Review* | LeAnn's Book Reviews
Sounds like an interesting story.
debdeege (at) optonline (dot) net
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I like stories with a strong setting, and I’m not a big Florida expert…
vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
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