CAN'T LOOK AWAY - by Donna



My Thanksgiving view

 

Right before I left for a mountain Thanksgiving holiday, I received an exciting email with the cover concept for my new book, CAN'T LOOK AWAY.  This is the time when a book starts to feel real and a lot of the fun starts to happen - photo shoots, covers, ARCs, blurbs, etc.  It's still awhile until I can show the final cover, but I finally feel like I can share about the new book.

 

 

The inspiration for CAN'T LOOK AWAY came from two main sources.  The first bits of writing and journaling were about grief.  I was (am) still working through the death of my mother after a long battle with cancer.  In researching this new story, I became fascinated with El Dia de los Muertos and the idea of remembering the dead with celebration.  Sugar skulls were especially intriguing because they represented the horrible, scary reality of losing a love one, but they were decorated with beautiful flowers and symbols to represent the life loss. 

 

 

I selected this sugar skull in memory of my mother and it sits on my bookshelf.  She loved flowers and her faith was the center of her life.  I wrote more about her here.

 

The second major theme of the story came from my experiences after the publication of my first novel, SKINNY.  I had no idea how immediate, and incredibly personal, emails and social networking could become.  Struggles with body image, and particularly obesity, was a lighting rod topic for many.  While most of the things shared by readers were moving and extremely positive connections to the book, some were personally directed toward me and my own appearance.  It was unexpected and sometimes very disturbing.  Eventually I wrote about it.

 

I'm still working on my elevator speech (very hard, btw) for that moment when someone asks (and they will), "So what's your book about?" 

 

Here's just a snippet...

 

 

CAN'T LOOK AWAY

Torrey Grey is an internet beauty vlogging sensation.  Thousands of girls watch and copy her every hairstyle and outfit choice.  But when Torrey's younger sister is killed in a tragic accident, her personal life becomes every stranger's favorite topic.

 





Stu is patiently waiting for his chance at stardom

More to come soon!