Happy longest day of the year, readers! In honor of all things summer, it’s my pleasure to announce next year’s spring/summer release, It Started with Goodbye, a sweet and quirky contemporary novel with a Cinderella twist.
Here to celebrate the announcement of this book with me is author Christina June. She is a debut author and high school counselor, who loves spending her summers eating ice cream, strolling farmers’ markets, playing tourist in her own city, and binge-watching Felicity, Gilmore Girls, and Lost for the millionth times.
JM: Hi, Christina! So excited to introduce the world to It Started with Goodbye. Tell us about how you came up with the story and how it feels to be publishing your first novel!
CJ: I’m excited to be here! I’ll save my inspiration for the next question. As for how it feels to be a debut author? So many things at once. I am elated, terrified, and humbled in equal parts. It is a great honor to be able to share my words with readers. The young adult book community really knocks my socks off with their passion for great stories.
JM: It Started with Goodbye is a bit like a modern fairytale retelling. What was your inspiration for including a Cinderella theme?
CJ: It was literally an abandoned shoe. I was walking into work the Monday after the Homecoming dance and there was a dress shoe lying on the side of the road. There are a lot of Cinderella-inspired stories, and for good reason, since all of us can relate to feeling treated unfairly in some way. I wanted to make my heroine someone who questions the rules she’s living with.
JM: Your main character, Tatum, is certainly not the type of girl who sits around and waits for her happy ending—she creates her own. What do you love most about Tatum?
CJ: I love that she thinks she’s right all the time, sometimes to a fault. I’m sure my parents will agree when I say she’s a little like me at that age (and maybe also now). I admire that she always does Tatum the best way she knows how and she doesn’t apologize for it.
JM: Tatum is a graphic designer. Do you have any artistic talents, or are you living vicariously through her?
CJ: Writing is my biggest creative outlet these days, but once upon a time in high school I was a theatre and choir nerd. The first big show I saw was Cats when I was 5 and I tried to hide under the seat when the actors danced in the aisles. I still love watching musicals though, especially on Broadway—who wants to take me to see Hamilton?!
JM: Sneak peek. What is your favorite line from the whole story? (Yes, I know it’s hard to choose!)
CJ: This is like making me choose between chocolate and peanut butter! Okay, if I have to choose, this is probably my favorite—mostly because of what happens because of it. This is an email Tatum sends after listening to a particularly emotional piece of music:
That completely wrecked me. Bravo.
T
And if you want to know who she sent it to and what comes next…..well, you’ll just have to read the book!
Thanks so much, Christina! Readers, stay tuned for more posts on It Started with Goodbye and from Christina, and be sure to preorder the book at the links below. Also visit www.ChristinaJune.com/ for more info on preorder perks and special events such as:
- Exclusive content and bonus chapters
- Playlist featuring Tatum’s favorite songs
- Graphic design contest
- Local events and launch party info
About It Started with Goodbye
Sixteen-year-old Tatum Elsea is bracing for the worst summer of her life. After being falsely accused of a crime, she’s stuck under stepmother-imposed house arrest and her BFF’s gone ghost. Tatum fills her newfound free time with community service by day and working at her covert graphic design business at night (which includes trading emails with a cute cello-playing client). When Tatum discovers she’s not the only one in the house keeping secrets, she finds she has the chance to make amends with her family and friends. Equipped with a new perspective, and assisted by her feisty abuela-slash-fairy-godmother, Tatum is ready to start fresh…and maybe even get her happy ending along the way. A modern play on the Cinderella story arc, Christina June’s It Started with Goodbye shows us that sometimes going after what you want means breaking all the rules.
About the Author
Christina June writes young adult contemporary fiction when she’s not writing college recommendation letters during her day job as a school counselor. She loves the little moments in life that help someone discover who they’re meant to become—whether it’s her students or her characters. Christina is a voracious reader, loves to travel, eats too many cupcakes, and hopes to one day be bicoastal—the east coast of the U.S. and the east coast of Scotland. She lives just outside Washington, D.C. with her husband and daughter. See more at www.ChristinaJune.com.
About the Cover
Love the cover as much as we do? Check out the exclusive cover reveal story with YA Highway here.
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