Guest post + Giveaway: Last Call by Jennifer Schmidt

Hi guys! I'm super excited to welcome today's special guest, author of Last Call, Jennifer Schmidt!! Jennifer was kind enough to stop by and guest post on my blog today, so without further ado - ladies and gentlemen.... *drumroll*

Cheating a Cheater - Jennifer Schmidt

I’m a cheater. There. I’ve admitted. My name is Jennifer Schmidt and I am a cheater. I read the last few pages in a book, I skim the middle and then I start at the beginning.  Wow. I feel so much better now getting that out there!

Knowing that about me, it probably won’t come as a shock that I knew the ending to Last Call before I even started writing the book. When the idea came to me I was in the middle of working on something else. I stopped to take a few notes so I wouldn’t forget, suddenly got the idea for the end, quickly wrote out the last chapter and then I went back to my original work.

But this untold story with the finished ending nagged at me. How did these characters get to where they were? What secrets had been revealed that made them so angry with each other? Why couldn’t they work it out?

I had to find out. So I scratched the piece I was working on and started the new one. I thought with all the ideas flying around in my head, and especially with having the last chapter done, I would get this story down in no time. Ha! That was just the first of many things I was wrong about.

I couldn’t even imagine the baggage Novalee and Dean came with. When I started writing Novalee I knew she would have a horrible past, but Dean was a lot darker than I first imagined him to be. He was introduced in the second chapter, and I knew as soon as my fingers hit the keys he was going to take me places I didn’t expect. I envisioned him saving Novalee from the big bad terrifying ex. But the ex never showed. Hmm second thing I was wrong about.

When I started writing Abby I definitely pictured some hot scenes with her and Dean. I waited for them to fall into bed. And I waited. And I waited some more. It never happened. This one left me scratching my head. Strike three. I stopped counting after that.

And then suddenly, although it shouldn’t have been surprising at that point, my story took a totally different direction than I originally thought. Remember that last chapter I wrote before I even started the book? They tore through that baby so fast I was left sitting back staring at my computer screening thinking, WTF have you guys done? Novalee, you weren’t supposed to do that! Dean. Oh my god, Dean, no!

But yes, they did and the characters created an entirely different ending than the one I had in mind. An ending most readers would probably prefer over the original, I’m sure.

Even with all their baggage and the twists they threw at me, I love where Dean and Novalee took Last Call. I love everything about these characters and the drama of their lives and the way they need and heal each other. I even love the way they destroyed all my clever ideas and made a plot all of their own.

This cheater was definitely taught a lesson by her characters.

For further information about Jennifer's book, Last Call, you can contact her via
her blog
her Facebook page
Twitter

********

Thank you so much to Jennifer for this guest post, now I can't wait to read Last Call!  I'll hopefully have a review up in the next couple of weeks so keep an eye on my blog. :-)

Win a PDF copy of Last Call - 5 winners will be randomly selected!

Rules: - contest is open internationally
- Leave a comment for Jennifer about her guest post or her book, Last Call, below with your email address.
- 5 winners will be randomly selected by Random.org and contacted via email
Good luck! :-)
(Contest ends on 28 Oct)