Guest post, Review & Giveaway. Other Side of Forever by Shannon Eckrich.

Seventeen-year-old Allie Anderson's telekinetic powers are anything but useful--she can't bring her father back, can't stop her mother's downward spiral into alcohol, and can't keep her from falling in love with Ethan Bradley. Loving Ethan is easy, but it comes with a hefty price: Ethan is prohibited by his people from interacting with mortals--because he isn't mortal himself. When Allie and Ethan's love is discovered, there's someone who will do anything to keep them apart. If Allie can't learn to control her powers and fight to save Ethan, this dark entity will make every attempt to stop her beating heart. And if that happens, not even the energy of an immortal can bring her back.

 

This is the debut novel for Eckrich and it did not disappoint. With an engaging storyline and relatable characters this one is a page turner. Equal parts action, intrigue, mystery and romance to keep you reading and leave you wanting more in the end.

Allie Anderson is telekinetic; abandoned by her father when she was young and her mother is an alcoholic that has abandoned her as well. Ethan Bradley is gorgeous and totally into Allie, just his touch seems to have a calming affect on her. He also happens to be immortal, and a relationship with Allie who is human is forbidden. As the bullying Allie has endured for years escalates, Ethan is there to protect her, but then he pushes her away every chance he gets.

Unable to stay away Ethan finally succumbs to his love for Allie, and just as these two are coming together a darker entity will try to tear them apart. Allie will have to learn to control her ability if she's going to not only save Ethan, but her on life as well.

There isn't really an ending to this book, with so many unanswered questions I'm anxious for a sequel. I give this one 4/5, but that's just my two cents. 

 

 

Born and raised in Delaware, Shannon Eckrich lives with her husband, two children, and chocolate lab, Chewy. She has always had an interest in the paranormal. Ghosts, angels, vampires, aliens, it doesn't matter, she loves it all. When she's not writing, you can find her consuming young adult novels. When she discovers an awesome book, one that has a huge impact on her, she has a hard time letting it go, even to lend it to a friend.

Along with reading and writing, she enjoys planting flowers with her daughter, going to the beach, or just hanging out with her family.

Guest Post with Author Shannon Eckrich...

 

Hey, everyone! 

I’m Shannon Eckrich, YA paranormal author, and I secretly hacked into Tammy’s blog today. 

Okay, so I didn’t really hack into her blog. She actually invited me here, but it did sound pretty cool,

right? 

Today I’m going to give you a behind-the-scenes look at my publishing experience with Other Side of

Forever, a powerful and passionate, forbidden love story about a mortal teen who falls in love with an

immortal.

 

I know, most of you are probably rolling your eyes and mumbling, “Not another novel about immortals.”

And with all the vampire and immortal novels out there (which most are very good), I don’t blame you

one bit. But Other Side of Forever is different, unique. Not only do my immortals possess some really

awesome powers, but they also have the ability to open portals. I mean, how cool would that be?

 

So, let’s get started!

 

I’m not going to lie, when I first decided to sit down with the laptop and create Allie and Ethan’s story,

I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t have any college degrees, and I didn’t take any creative writing

courses. In fact, I was pushed out of high school and into night school at the age of 15, where I ended up

receiving my GED. The only great thing I had going for me was my love for books.

 

Like so many other first time writers, the first draft of Other Side of Forever was a disaster. I took every

single idea I had in my head and tossed it into the manuscript. The story wasn’t even called Other Side of

Forever in the beginning. My original name for the story was Eternal Sunrise, which sounds kind of lame

to me now that I think about it.

 

Without realizing how awful my manuscript was, I queried about twenty agents. All of them rejected

me.

 

It took me a few months after joining writing and critique groups to realize what a mess my manuscript

really was. So, I set out to correct it. I rewrote my novel a couple of times and sent it out to some really

good friends I met through the writing websites and queried a few more agents. My friends liked it,

but they also let me know where my weakness was when writing the novel. Obviously, grammar and

punctuation wasn’t one of my strengths since I only had a GED, and I had to work on structure. The

agents, on the other hand, rejected me again.

 

Since I didn’t have the money to take any classes, I picked up some of my favorite fiction books and a

few grammar books. By the way, the grammar books did nothing but confuse me. But, the fiction books,

helped more than I imagined. By reading, I learned about character development, plot, and structure. It

really is amazing what reading can do.

 

I rewrote my novel a couple more times, added in some history so Ethan would have a believable

background, and then sent it out to a few more beta readers and queried another handful of agents. The 

agents that did respond, rejected me, but I received more feedback from my beta readers, which was

getting better and better each time, but my novel was still missing something. A voice. 

Okay, so I’m not the smartest apple in the bunch, but what the heck was a voice in a novel, I wondered.

Of course, this was something I had to Google.

 

In the meantime, one of the most wonderful men in my life, my grandfather, had fallen ill. His illness

caused me to drop everything. I went to visit him in the hospital, and we talked for a little while about

general stuff and a little about my book. And even though he didn’t look well, his spirits were high. He

told me that he had lived his life, and he was ready to move on. I, on the other hand, wasn’t ready. 

A week after my visit, my husband came home from work and told me my mother had called him (I

didn’t have a phone at the time) and told him my grandfather had passed. I was devastated.

 

About a few weeks after the funeral, I picked up my manuscript and read it. Since I hadn’t looked at it

in a while, I discovered I wasn’t as attached to the characters, which made it really easy to make the

corrections I needed. And, somewhere along the lines, I discovered my true voice. Allie and Ethan’s story

had finally come alive. The only thing left was the title. Eternal Sunrise just didn’t fit. After tossing some

ideas around, I realized that poor Allie, who is a mortal, is actually standing on the other side of forever

when Ethan is taken away from her. I felt that Other Side of Forever would be the perfect title for my

novel. And, in a way, it describes where I stand with my grandfather. I believe the spirit and the soul of a

person lives forever, and I’m now standing on the other side of my forever. 

After I finished the final edits, I sent out only two query letters (yes, rejections were really starting to

frustrate me), one to an agent and one to Crescent Moon Press. Crescent Moon Press contacted me

within 24 hours requesting the full manuscript. I guess I would say the rest is history.

 

The only wish I have, is that my grandfather was here to see the novel he always asked about become a

reality. 

So, for all of you aspiring novelists out there, if you really want to get published, my advice to you is to

never give up. You don’t need any special degrees or courses to write a good novel, you just need a lot

of patience and determination. 

Now, let’s get to the fun stuff!

 

Since it’s the holiday season, I’m going to give away two, yes two, Ebook copies of Other Side of Forever.

 

Thank you, Tammy, for inviting me to your blog today! You are such a super sweet person. And I also

want to thank all of you as well. I love meeting and talking to fans and other writers, so please don’t

hesitate to contact me at the following links:

 

Facebook

Facebook 2nd page

Goodreads

Twitter

Website

 

 

A huge thankyou to Shannon Ekrich for visiting with us today and offering up copies of her book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





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