Cindy, how did you come up with the title?
Andrea
& the Five Day Challenge originally started
as a short story I’d titled Homecoming Madness. It didn't take long for
me to realize that this was going to be longer than a short story. In fact,
before I knew it I had a novel on my hands. And then a series. So when I went
to write up a final title for the book, I came up with Andrea and the Five Day
Challenge because this challenge from church is what’s really the driving force
of the story as she writes in her prayer journal to God each day. And that is a
plotline that will continue in all the books. The girls will all be given a
prayer journal and they too will write prayers to God. I like to think of the
prayer journals like the pants in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book
series except in this case it is a prayer journal. I also knew this was going
to be a series so I wanted the names to be similar. So for example, book two is
titled: Amy & the Trouble With Fathers.
Cool! I like how you tied the series together with similar titles. But what about the hero and heroine? What makes them likeable?
Andrea considers herself to be the least interesting of her group of friends.
She isn’t smart like Amy or artistic like Angie or beautiful and popular like
Alisha. She sees herself as that girl with the plain brown hair, size nine
feet, and who doesn’t participate much in school activities. She’s a lot like
most kids. I think the average teen can relate to her. Except she does have
this exceptional talent she likes to downplay. She’s actually a wonderful
pianist and her parents have all these designs to get her into a performing
arts school so she can one day end up at a place like Julliard. In addition to
that, Andrea has a sweet, caring spirit and this is something that Luke, our
hero, notices right away. It sets her apart from every other girl at school in
his eyes.
Then we have Luke, cute transfer student from California. Luke might be an
all-star varsity baseball player, but he’s not like the rest of the A-list
kids. He’s very down to earth and not looking for what’s popular and cool. He’s
had to mature quickly. His family life is not the greatest. They’ve experienced
a personal tragedy, and that’s part of the reason why he latches on to Andrea
early on. He sees something in her that every one else seems to miss. She has
value and when they get together they just kind of have that spark.
Nice! How much about this book is realistic?
I tried very hard to make this a realistic teen book. Because this is written
in first person from Andrea’s perspective, I was able to let her go a little
melodramatic in her thoughts. And there were times I wondered after the first
draft, if she was a little over the top in her emotions. And then I went back
to work teaching teenagers. And then I was like—Nope. Nailed it! In fact, the
part of the book at the very beginning is actually somewhat based on one of my
personal experiences in high school when my friends wanted me to ask out a certain
guy to homecoming. I latched on to those embarrassed feelings and used them in
those first few chapters as a similar event unfolds for my heroine.
Hey, we raised two teenagers. I don't think there's such a thing as too much drama. lol. What makes this book special to you?
The characters make this book so special to me. I wrote the original draft of
this book about 5-6 years ago and I let it just sit for years. So these
characters have been ruminating inside my head for a long time. I feel like I
know these girls personally. All four of them came to me very distinct and
fleshed out from the beginning. Their individual stories came to me in the
writing so there are little hints in this first book about each girl’s history
and the issues they have going on in the present which I don’t completely
address in the first book. I don't think it was done in a way that leaves open
plot threads but when you go on to read the other books readers will have
hopefully picked up on these things. I delve deeper into these topics as each
girl gets her own novel.
Last, but sooo important...Is there any food in this book? lol
As a matter of fact, there is. Andrea’s
mom is a superb cook. They are always eating great food. She realizes food is
way too comforting to her. From her mom’s homemade chicken parmesan to the cherry Danish, it’s all good and delish.
Definitely have some good food nearby when reading.
Sounds delicious, both the book and the food! As if we needed more to entice us, here's the back cover blurb:
Dear Lord,
I need Your help and sooner would be better than later. Wouldn't
you know it, just as soon as I decide to attempt the 5-Day Bible Study
Challenge, my parents start heaping on loads of pressure to get me into Julliard.
My friend Amy isn’t any better, urging me to ask Luke Ryan to homecoming. As if
the cute, transfer jock would actually go out with me. I mean, we’re kinda
friends, and I’ve enjoyed our Geometry study sessions, but in case Amy hasn’t
noticed, I’m the invisible one at Aubrey Christian Academy, and I like it that
way. On top of that, I have a feeling Luke’s concealing something behind those
chocolate-brown eyes of his. I know I can be self-centered and a bit
melodramatic, but I really do want to seek Your will for my life. Then maybe
I’ll even figure out which direction points up.
Sincerely, Andrea Jamison
High School Junior
Change-o-phobic & complete neurotic
About Cindy:
Cindy K. Green has worked as a middle school history &
English teacher, a frozen yogurt server and a golf magazine employee. Today
she's a multi-published, award-winning author, a mother, a wife, and a
homeschooler too. This native Californian now resides in North Carolina with
her husband, two boys, and two cats named Chloe & Kassey. Visit her
website www.cindykgreen.com & her
blog cindykgreen.blogspot.com. She's on Facebook
(Cindy K. Green) and Twitter (@cindykgreen) too. Connect with her on Pinterest:https://www.pinterest.com/cgreen0224/ and Google+:https://plus.google.com/+CindyGreenAuthor/posts as well.
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Labels: #amreading, #YA, Andrea & the Five Day Challenge, bookworm, Cindy K. Green, Dora Hiers, inspirational romance, Pelican Book Group, romance, Watershed, Young adult fiction
