Blog Tour: Guest Post, Outtake from Becoming Bryn By: Angela Carling + A GIVEAWAY!!!

Title: Becoming Bryn
Author: Angela Carling
Publisher: Acacia Publishing, 310 Pages (June 15th, 2013)
Add to: Goodreads
Order online: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository, Amazon UK

Synopsis: For months, Jesse has been envious of her twin sister Bryn and even has a crush on Bryn’s gorgeous, popular boyfriend, Quinton. When Jesse awakens from a coma to learn that everyone thinks she IS Bryn, the option of actually taking over her sister’s life is beyond tempting, but there’s a downside. She’d have to give up Ethan, her best friend and the only person she trusts. Could she actually live as Bryn for the rest of her life? And if her family and friends found out, would they ever forgive her?

First, I want to thank Lisa for letting me hang out on her blog for the day. I also want to thank her for her suggestion that I write an outtake for my blog post today. It was lots of fun to revisit the story from a different angle.

The o-so-pink-o-licious Becoming Bryn was written in dual perspective with both Bryn and her twin sister Jesse’s thoughts represented. I loved writing Becoming Bryn that way. It allowed me to really delve into both characters, but I often wished I could show how the other characters felt. Today, by writing a brief outtake from the perspective of Ethan (Jesse’s best friend) I get to show how Ethan felt at one of the most critical turning points in the story.  Also, as you read the outtake, don’t worry, what might look like a tragic ending, is really just a beginning. Enjoy!

Outtake written from Ethan’s perspective

            “Hey Ethan,” I heard someone say as they pushed by us in the crowd. By the time, I figured out who it was, all I could see was the back of their head. There had to be two hundred kids from our school waiting out in front of the haunted corn maize, but there was only one person I cared about seeing and that was my best friend Jesse.  I knew it was terrible that I had actually convinced my date, Kylee, to go to the corn maize instead of the movies but I was just hoping to get another glimpse of Jesse in her medieval Halloween costume. Jesse would’ve called Kylee “my girl of the week.”  The way this date was going, we wouldn’t even make it through the night together.

            Still, that wasn’t Kylee’s fault. It was mine. I couldn’t stop thinking about Jesse and how it felt to hold her as we danced the night before at the school dance. I’d known Jesse forever, but lately things were changing between us. Lately, a meaningless date with a girl of the week wasn’t enough. All I wanted, all I thought about when I was with someone else was Jesse and how it would feel to finally kiss her.

             I turned my eyes toward the packed dirt driveway that served as the entrance to the little farmer’s market and the corn maize behind it.  Cars were turning in one after another and as they moved up in line, I spotted Jesse.  It was hard to miss her. She was standing on the passenger’s seat with half her body below the sunroof of their little four-door Honda and the other half sticking out above. Scanning the crowd, she smiled and waved while her twin sister Bryn waited her turn the car into the parking lot in front of me.  I could feel the warmth of my date’s hand lightly clasped in mine, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Jesse. It was completely out of character for her to be out of her seatbelt, let alone hanging out the sunroof acting like a drunken college student.  Still, I knew it was Jesse. She was wearing the medieval costume we’d bought together only a few days earlier and I knew she would never let her twin sister Bryn wear the costume that had meant so much to her. It was odd enough that they were even spending time together, considering how strained things had been between them in the last six months.

            I focused intently on Jesse’s Honda letting all the noise around me fade. That’s when I first noticed another car barreling in their direction from behind. That’s when time became heavy and slow and everything began to feel disjointed. In seconds, the reckless driver plowed into them without any sign of slowing or recognition that they were even there. Without even realizing it, I shook off Kylee’s hand and with both arms out like a shield in front of me, I began pushing through the crowd towards the road. The adrenaline surging through my veins made me feel superhuman somehow, leaving me believing I had some shot at saving Jesse.

            For one second, I saw her body flung forward like a ragdoll, limp and helpless, slammed against the car, yet held to it by nothing but her legs still stuck inside the car.  With deafening clarity, my blood pounded in my ears. One heartbeat, two heartbeats and then I watched as Jesse’s car was shot out into oncoming traffic, directly into the path of a massive cement truck coming at them, head on. Instinctively, desperately, I tried again to move the people that stood between me and Jesse but in the wake of the accident, chaos had broken out and I was pushed around as we all struggled to see what was happening on the road. It was at that moment, the very second before Jesse’s little car was struck by the cement truck that proudly bore the phrase “Rock Solid” on the side of its cab, that I realized I couldn’t save her. Jesse was going to die and I had to watch knowing that Jesse would never know how I felt about her.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the outtake and I really hope you enjoy Becoming Bryn!  I’d love to connect again.

-Angela Carling

Angela, thanks for reaching out about the tour AND for writing this scene from Ethan's point of view! I love seeing things from the other side and this scene was prefect! Thanks lady!

About the author:  

Raised in Palm Springs California. A desert rat that writes Young Adult novels and loves all kitties and her family. Can be bribed with chocolate. Published books, Unbreakable Love, Shackled and Becoming Bryn.

Find Angela Online:

Facebook | Youtube | Goodreads | Twitter

GIVEAWAY!!!

• Enter to win ONE of TWO paperback copies of Becoming Bryn!

Please fill out the Rafflecopter form below to enter this giveaway.

Name & Email Address must be provided. (Easy Entry, just click the form & it does it for you!)

You must be at least 13 years old to enter.

This giveaway is open: INTERNATIONAL!!!

Giveaway ends: August 20th, 2013 (12:00AM EST)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

FTC Disclaimer: I have NOT been compensated at all in any way or means for sharing this post or giveaway.