The time it was about Cold Summer

Posted April 27, 2017 by Stacee in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Interviews | 7 Comments

Gwen Cole contacted me a while back and offered an arc of her debut YA book, Cold Summer.  Not only did I love the premise and devour it, it’s probably going to make my top 5 books of the year list. So, of course when I got the email about the blog tour, I couldn’t sign up fast enough.

Before we get to Gwen’s interview, let’s check out the book!

Title: Cold Summer
Author: Gwen Cole
Pub. Date: May 2, 2017
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Pages: 256
Find it: Sky Pony Press | Indiebound | B&N | Amazon | Goodreads

Today, he’s a high school dropout with no future.

Tomorrow, he’s a soldier in World War II.

Kale Jackson has spent years trying to control his time-traveling ability but hasn’t had much luck. One day he lives in 1945, fighting in the war as a sharpshooter and helplessly watching soldiers—friends—die. Then the next day, he’s back in the present, where WWII has bled into his modern life in the form of PTSD, straining his relationship with his father and the few friends he has left. Every day it becomes harder to hide his battle wounds, both physical and mental, from the past.

When the ex-girl-next-door, Harper, moves back to town, thoughts of what could be if only he had a normal life begin to haunt him. Harper reminds him of the person he was before the PTSD, which helps anchor him to the present. With practice, maybe Kale could remain in the present permanently and never step foot on a battlefield again. Maybe he can have the normal life he craves.

But then Harper finds Kale’s name in a historical article—and he’s listed as a casualty of the war. Kale knows now that he must learn to control his time-traveling ability to save himself and his chance at a life with Harper. Otherwise, he’ll be killed in a time where he doesn’t belong by a bullet that was never meant for him.

Sounds good, right?

1. Please give the elevator pitch for Cold Summer.

Cold Summer is about a boy with a time-traveling ability that he can’t control, so he spends his time flip-flopping from the past and present.

2. Where did the idea come from?

About five years ago I was binge-watching the HBO show Band of Brothers and some of those episodes stuck with me for a long time. Some of the WWII scenes in Cold Summer were the first ones to come, but I didn’t want to write a historical fiction—I wanted to have something normal and something not normal mixed together.

3. Why do you love Harper and Kale and why should we root for them?

First of all, Kale is boy who doesn’t know what ‘normal’ is but he wants it very badly. Like most kids, he’s always had dreams and aspirations of his future, but when his time-traveling gets in the way of doing any of that, he feels lost and unsure of where his life is going. Kale was always one of my favorite characters to write because he’s so raw and has a lot of complications going on—someone who is in constant need of a hug. Then there’s Harper, who has a complicated past of her own but has made decisions about what to do about it. She loves playing video games and desperately needs a friend when she moves in with her Uncle. But when they start spending time together, it becomes something more than that.

4. What was the weirdest thing you googled while researching?

The range of an M1 Garand.

5. Without spoilers, what was your favorite scene to write?

There’s a scene when Harper is woken in the middle of the night to a whole bunch of noise downstairs. And when she walks into the kitchen, she sees something very unexpected. I loved writing that scene because not only is it a revealing moment, but we also see the bond between Kale and Harper’s Uncle, who had been around for Kale when nobody was.

Speed [ish] round:

1. You get the call/email/letter that says you’re being published for the first time. Describe the next 5 minutes.

Telling my family and then wanting to celebrate with chocolate cake.

2.What three things would you take to a desert island?

Boat, helicopter, and Oreos (original). Nothing wrong there, right?

3. You can only read one book for the rest of your life. What is it?

Probably Watership Down since I couldn’t chose just one Harry Potter book.

4. What book character would you want to date and who would you want to be your BFF?

Date: Sean from The Scorpio Races. BFF: Isabel from the Shiver series.

5. What is the one thing about publishing you wish someone would have told you?

Even though publishing is slow, just keep writing. I wasted too much time last year worrying about things that didn’t matter rather than spending time making more books.

6. You wake up and discover you are Bella in Twilight. You know how it plays out. What do you do differently? {Huge thanks to Bookish Broads for letting me use this question!}

Have Edward bite me from the start instead of wasting time with books 2 and 3. (love that series btw)

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Gwen Cole grew up in upstate New York, moved to Virginia where she did not graduate college, and worked a various number of jobs including pharmacy technician, meat clerk, ranch hand, and a receiving specialist at Target. She may or may not have written a number of books while working at certain jobs.

At the age of eighteen, Gwen played bass in a hardcore band and later married the lead guitarist. She can also play piano, guitar, and wishes she could play the cello. Her favorite place to vacation is Wyoming, where she gets to wear a cowboy hat and pretend she actually is one.

Gwen now lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband, daughter, and very large dog, where she longs to live in the country again.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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Huge thanks to Rockstar Book Tours for the invite and to Gwen for taking the time! Definitely check out the rest of the blog tour for extra goodies and keep scrolling for a giveaway!

**Good Luck!!**

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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