The Heart's Journey Home
by Nikki Jackson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Young Adult
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
It’s
summer vacation, and all seventeen-year-old Tori Logan wants to do is hang out
with her two best friends, practice her mixed martial arts and go to FBI spy
camp. Summer means freedom (mostly from adults) and Tori plans to fill every
spare moment of her last summer before graduating from High School with all the
fun things she and her best pals can come up with.
Tori, whose mom died of
breast cancer when she was young, has always relied on her own strength to get
by - especially because her Archeologist father tends to leave her behind with
his live-in girlfriend while he gallivants around the world on digs. Thankfully, Tori can take care of herself.
She knows exactly who she is and what she wants to do with her life. Her Lakota
Sioux grandfather, a former Navy SEAL, trained Tori in self-defense from a
young age. Now, as a teenager, Tori excels at mixed martial arts and the use of
various weapons. During the summer she
will be attending an FBI sponsored Summer Camp which she hopes will lead to her
dream job – becoming an FBI serial killer profiler.
With her two best friends
at her side, Tori believes she can handle anything. And with summer vacation
stretching before them, the trio plans to find plenty of adventure.
But while Tori is
determined to be independent, life has other plans for this fierce young woman,
and they include coming to grips with some hard - and surprising - truths about
both her past and her future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
I could really use a belt. Fin thought as he jumped from the porch,
bounding over the five steps. Running
down the graveled drive at break-neck speed he cursed the fact he was wearing
tennis shoes - that along with the baggy, beltless pants was hemming up his
stride.
The sound of
shrieks and a male voice yelling at him in a foreign language didn’t help the
matter. Fin tripped over his own size 12
feet, rolled and got up running. After
gathering his wits about him he heard a muffled roar zoom past him followed by
a streak of green. He was unsure of what
it was but he was too scared to try to figure it out – he was running now –
minus the jeans and a tennis shoe.
Fin all but dove
into his Camaro thankful he’d left the keys in the ignition and not in his
pants pocket. He turned the key and sped
down the drive, kicking dirt and gravel in his wake. In his rear-view mirror he could see the
crazy man chasing him with the longest, sharpest sword he’d ever seen.
Making it to the
end of the drive, Fin did a complete donut, spun the vehicle around in the
right direction and then tore off down the street. Tori had grabbed his errant shoe and AJ leaned
down to scoop up the jeans, then the two of them tore down the drive after Fin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ever since she
was young, Nikki Jackson has loved reading and the way that books allow you to
journey on wonderful adventures without ever leaving the comfort of home. She
decided at a young age that she wanted to become a writer to enable others to
experience the magic of books—and The Heart’s Journey Home is the result.
In addition to
writing, Nikki Jackson is a contract worker for General Motors. She and her
husband currently live in the Detroit metropolitan area.
A little interview
A little interview
Where are you from?
Helen and Art
(parents), Ophelia and Albert (grandparents).
In part I’m from what these core people in my life were about. As a child we lived four houses down from my
grandparents. My four uncles and aunts
lived with them in ‘the big house’. It
was always bustling and noisy, smelled of home-cooked food and full of grownups
and kids. I loved it. I grew up as much there as in my own
home. My grandfather was a tall, thick
man and he smoked a pipe. The coolest
thing about him smoking a pipe was he’d let me light it when my grandmother
wasn’t around. Literally. I’d put the pipe between my teeth the way he
held it between his and take the match and light it. I’d cough and cough at the smoke that went up
my nose and down my throat and he’d laugh that booming laugh of his and take
the pipe from me. When my grandfather
died that pipe was all I wanted.
Outside of my
roots I’m from the metro-Detroit area.
Who Are Your Favorite Authors?
Harper Lee and
Stephen King. Harper Lee wrote my
favorite book of all time (and the only work of hers I’ve ever read), To Kill A
Mockingbird. It was made into a movie
starring Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch.
I’ve watched that move a hundred times and will likely watch it a
hundred more before I leave planet earth.
Known as a classic of modern American literature and required reading in
most high schools, the story is told for the most part through the narrative
voice of a child, Finch’s daughter – Scout.
I think that’s ingenious. In
addition to being made into a move, To Kill A Mockingbird won Lee the Pulitzer
Prize. Both of which are a writer’s
dream.
Though I’m not
into scary movies I really like the author Stephen King. I love his non-scary works: The Green Mile,
The Dead Zone and The Shawshank Redemption. I’ve sat through a couple of his
scarier works – The Storm of the Century and Misery. The reason King is a favorite is because of
the versatile writing career he’s had over the years. He’s written books, movies, and TV (Under the
Dome), and he’s still going strong! I’d
love to have his career. I’d be the most
satisfied writer around.
How/When did you realize you wanted to become a
writer?
I can’t remember
wanting to do anything else with my life.
From the very instant the awareness struck me that one’s profession/job
is the result of a choice a person made I decided I wanted to be a writer. I remember being eight years old and reading
through the book series – The Boxcar Children.
The books were all lined along the shelf at the little public library my
two sisters and I visited once a week during the summer. I told myself I was going to read the whole
series before school started in the fall and I did. I fell in love with those Boxcar kids. So much so that when they took off for their
next adventure I went with them. I
jumped onto the boxcar and left my little home in my little neighborhood and
hitched a ride onto their exciting quest. That’s when I said out loud I wanted
to be a writer. I wanted to take kids on
adventures and introduce them to things they’d never seen or thought or
imagined. I wanted them to see what I saw with those boxcar kids – that there
was a whole world full of excitement and exploits, fun and wonder out there and
if they couldn’t go see it for themselves I’d show it to them, through
words.
What gave you the inspiration to write this book?
Hanging around
young people. I love how transparent and
open and free they are. They hug one
another and care so deeply about each other.
They feel friendships and relationships so deeply. They don’t hide their emotions and they put
themselves out there 100%. They invest
in what they believe in and show up for what’s in their hearts. They’re
resilient and nearly invincible. If I
had to come up with a word for young people I would say they’re – pure.
What else do you enjoy doing, when you’re not writing?
Going to
movies! I love movies. To me they’re books played out in living
color, sound and motion, right in front of my eyes. They’re the greatest escape.
What are your dreams and plans for your future as a
writer?
I plan to keep
writing until the day I die.
Period. I hope to be found
slumped over my desk, pen in hand having scribbled the last recorded words I would every write.
I hope that final prose would be something awesome and mysterious, something
people would muse over for a century.
Until then I want to write books.
I want to write screenplays for movies and TV. I want to fill the earth with my writings.
Links
The Heart’s
Journey Home Blog is currently under construction and will be online soon.
Twitter - https://twitter.com/journey4home
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
Nikki
Jackson will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via
rafflecopter during the tour.
Thanks for the excerpt and interview :) If you could go any place in the world, where would it be?
RispondiEliminaAmber that's super easy, it's at the top of my 'to do' list - see Mt. Everest up close and in person. I've always loved watching movies or documentaries of people climbing Everest. To me it's just a beautiful place and I said to myself I should go check it out. And no I don’t plan on doing any long hikes or climbing to get to or up Everest, I’ve got too many years on me now for that, but if I go to the China side of Everest I can take a tour where I’ll ride to the mountain’s North Base Camp. There’s a couple places to stay there (including at the North Camp in tents during the summer). I’d love to see the sun rise over that grand mountain, have a few pics taken standing in front of it then come home. In the next couple/three years I’d like to get that done.
EliminaThanks for hosting!
RispondiEliminaGrazie LibriAmoriMiei per l'hosting del mio tour interrompere oggi
RispondiEliminaEnjoyed reading the interview, thank you!
RispondiEliminaThank you Nikolina, I'm a writer so I like talking and sharing.
EliminaEnjoyed the interview, sounds like a wonderful book, thanks for sharing!
RispondiEliminaGlad to hear you enjoyed Eva, thank you
EliminaI liked the interview.
RispondiEliminaThanks Rita, have a good day!
EliminaSounds great, thank you!
RispondiEliminaThank you Betty for stopping by!
EliminaGreat post - I enjoyed reading it :)
RispondiEliminaThanks Victoria, I loved sharing it with you all
EliminaGrazie LibriAmoriMiei per ospitare una tappa del mio libro tour
RispondiEliminaExcellent post! I really enjoyed reading the excerpt and the interview. This book sounds like a very interesting read!
RispondiEliminaI enjoyed the post today! Thank you.
RispondiElimina