Aspen by Rebekah Crane ~ Blog Tour & Giveaway

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ASPEN by Rebekah Crane

One quiet night in Boulder, Colorado, Aspen Yellow-Sunrise Taylor made a mistake.

In the next instant, her life changed forever.

Aspen doesn't want to remember the devastating car accident that killed Katelyn Ryan, a sleek-haired popular soccer player. But forgetting is hard-- because Katelyn may have died -- but she didn't leave. Her ghost is following Aspen around, and heading into senior year, it's kind of a problem. Especially when Katelyn's gorgeous former boyfriend Ben appears to be the only person at school with a clue as to how Aspen feels.

Popularity, college, Homecoming Court, hot guys - none of these things ever mattered to Aspen. She's been busy trying to rein in her giant mass of blonde curls, keep her stoner mother Ninny away from Toaster, her mom's awful bongo drumming boyfriend, and prevent her best friends Kim and Cass from killing - or kissing - one another. But with Ben sitting next to her in Physics looking all too gorgeous, Katelyn's spirit dogging her steps, and her obsessive snow-globe collecting therapist begging her to remember all the things she wants to forget, Aspen is thrust into a vivid, challenging world she can't control … and doesn't want to.

A darkly funny, emotionally gripping story of opening up, letting go, and moving on, ASPEN is about the best-worst accident of your life ... and what comes next.

ASPEN: Goodreads | Amazon

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Guest Post...

by Rebekah Crane

Check your ego at the door

I’m a yogi. If you ever meet me in person, I’ll probably tell you about energy and enlightenment and how anyone can do a handstand with diligent practice, even my mom. I wasn’t always a yogi. In fact, I didn’t get into yoga until I started writing.

Thinking about it, I’ve realized writing and yoga go hand in hand.

A familiar phrase you’ll hear if you ever frequent a yoga studio is “check your ego at the door.” As yogis we try to come to our mats without expectation. We practice poses knowing that some days we will be well-balanced and others we might fall on our faces.

It’s a practice—one that some days can be difficult. Just like writing.

Let’s say for instance, you’re in a class and the person next to you rocks out the most beautiful headstand you’ve ever seen. It’s controlled. It’s fluid. She looks like she was born to be upside-down. You now need to do a headstand. If she can do it, you can do it. You get set up in the pose. Your blood is pumping. But you remind yourself, if she can do it, you can do it. You throw your legs up into the air ready to rock your headstand and… splat! You end up flat on your back with a bruised ass.

Check your ego at the door.

You only have to fall victim to an overactive ego once to know what that phrase really means.

The same goes for writing.

Four years ago, I wrote my first book and sent it to my friend. She read it and told me it was the best book she’d read in years. That book was rejected over 100 times. It sits on my computer to this day. 

Check your ego at the door.

How many of us have uttered something similar to, “That book is a best seller?! Anyone could write that crap.”

Check your ego at the door.

Or how about, “To be a real author you need to be traditionally published?”

Check your ego at the door.

I’ve found that the most endearing, most energetic, the most successful writers I’ve met have somewhere along the way checked their ego at the door. They’ve realized that all people come to success differently, that people define success differently, that people process success differently.

A.S. King has eight manuscripts sitting in her attic—books that never got picked up. Kathryn Stockett’s novel The Help (I think we all know that book) was rejected over 60 times. My novel, Aspen, took seven drafts to become the book it is today.

Check your ego at the door.

So after falling on your face, you’re back in your yoga class. You didn’t let humiliation get you down. Instead, you decided to practice. You watched the teacher closely, listened to her, breathed into difficult moments and took a step back when you were about to go too far. And in return, you felt your body get stronger, your mind expand, your balance improve, your heart radiate. Because you’ve practiced, without ego, without ridiculous expectation.

John Green said the best way to market a book is to put it into as many hands as possible and hope they like it. Hope.

I wrote a book called Aspen. I am thankful for every single reader, for every single person who joins my journey.

I hope they like my story.   

Namaste.

Giveaway...

One winner will receive a signed copy of ASPEN, an ebook of PLAYING NICE, and $10 Amazon gift card (US only). Five winners will receive an ebook copy of ASPEN (international).

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About Rebekah Crane

Rebekah Crane fell in love with YA literature while studying Secondary English Education at Ohio University. After having two kids, living in six different cities, and finally settling down in the foothills of her beloved Rocky Mountains, her first novel, PLAYING NICE, was published. ASPEN, her second YA novel, set in Boulder, CO, is due to release in summer 2014 from In This Together Media. She now spends her day carpooling kids or tucked behind a laptop at 7,500 ft high in the Rockies, where the altitude only enhances the experience.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Tumblr | Goodreads