Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Sarah Dessen Promo + Giveaway: The Truth About Forever

You've all heard of her. Some of you have even read many if not all of her books. But what if you haven't? Or what if you're looking for something to tide you over until her 2011 release What Happened to Goodbye? Lucky for you... Sarah Dessen has her own social networking site to connect her to readers!

Sarah Land is a meeting place for anyone who loves Sarah Dessen's books. Information about the Summer of Challenges is on the site which gives you chances to win signed books, Lock & Key necklaces, and other prizes. You can even find a video Sarah made about the town she based Colby on.

During the Summer of Sarah, a nine week focus, one of her great books will be featured each week. This week, The Truth About Forever is thrust in the spotlight! In Sarah's own words, taken from her site:

When I began The Truth About Forever, I knew that I wanted to write about the idea of being “perfect,” and what that does and doesn’t mean. I was also interested in seeing a character go through a loss, and how that affected the way she viewed the world. When the story begins, Macy is scared, and she deals with her fear by trying to control as much as she can: her appearance, her behavior, how others perceive her. She narrows her life, shutting out everything that could possibly be a risk to her. It isn’t until she meets a group of people who have a total opposite approach---courting, enjoying, and surviving chaos---that she realizes that in reacting to her dad dying, she’s stopped living herself.

During the time I was writing this book, there was a lot happening. The movie based on my first two novels was getting ready to come out, I was under a deadline…the list goes on and on. While at first I felt a certain amount of pressure, Macy and her story soon became a sort of solace for me. I’ve never been so immersed in the writing of a book before, and I had a hard time pulling myself away from it, even when I most wanted to. I think that’s a good sign, although it sometimes meant that my house got dirty and the laundry piled up. But to really disappear into a story is never a bad thing, for writers or for readers.

There’s a lot happening in The Truth About Forever. In fact, I think it’s the most complicated book I’ve written, and it was definitely the hardest. Part of this may be because I suffer from a terrible case of perfectionism myself, which led to this awful irony of realizing that I was writing a book about embracing imperfection, and yet I wanted it to be perfect. So, as often happens in my books, I was learning right along with my narrator, struggling with the same issues. I think we both came out okay at the end, though.

Whenever I hear from readers about this book, I’m always interested in what struck them the most. With some people, it’s how Macy deals with the death of her father, how it makes her angry. Others like Kristy’s humor and outfits. But overwhelmingly, I’ve heard the most so far about Wes. I think that in a lot of ways, he was the kind of guy I was always looking for: one who wasn’t so interested in the "perfect," girl, whoever she might be. A boy who likes flaws, who sees potential in everything. While Delia’s company may represent chaos, Wes to me is hope. To him, nothing is ever finished, or broken. It’s just waiting to be incarnated, to begin as something new, again. And that, to me, is what Macy’s story is all about. How life is a continuing series of beginnings and endings, losses and gains, all folding into one long stretch, one lifetime, and one forever.

To celebrate the Summer of Sarah, I have a signed copy of The Truth About Forever to giveaway to one lucky US resident/mailing address! To enter, fill out this form! Contest ends August 3 at 6 pm CST!

For another chance to win, check out the giveaway on Sarah's network here!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks for the links! I love SD!

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  2. Great giveaway! I love her books so it would be fantastic to have a signed copy!

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  3. I love Sarah Dessen books. There always so real.

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  4. This is one of my favorite books by Sarah Dessen. I completely loved the relationship that blossomed between Wes and Macy. It felt so real. Sarah does a fabulous job writing about relationships. Whether it's the mother/daughter relationship or boy/girl relationship, it never fails to suck me right into one of her stories.

    I'm really enjoying these 9 weeks of Dessen. They rock. It was wonderful to read Sarah's thought process on The Truth about Forever.

    No need to enter me in this contest, I own a copy of this wonderful book myself but good luck to everyone entered! It's a fantastic book!

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