Starting next week I'll take a break from the girls in Turn It Off but this week I want to introduce you to a sort of important girl from the book. She appears in the last book of the series as well. Her name is Jenna Hudson and she's a girl Peyton done wrong...I mean just plain old wrong! Later on he grows up and realizes/takes responsibility for his actions regarding Jenna but it doesn't change what he did to her. She's a sweet girl who has great innocence about her. In the book, Peyton stated, "Jenna was always a sweet girl. I didn’t have one bad memory of her. She
was always so compassionate and caring which is why she didn’t deserve what I
was planning to do but I wanted revenge. Her dad was the officer that arrested
me and pinned all of those charges against me when he could have just taken me
home and given me a warning." Here's Jenna!
Relatives: Peter Hudson (Father), Emily Hudson (Mother)
Relationship Status: Single
Interests/Hobbies: Hanging out with friends while having clean fun, Reading, Anything that makes her laugh
Positive Character Traits: Jenna is a straight up good girl! She does everything she's supposed to do and is still innocent in so many ways. She's a complete optimist and doesn't stay down for too long. She's also a great friend and company.
Negative Character Traits: She can be naive at times because she's so optimistic and innocent. That's how Peyton got to her.
Choice Quote From Turn It Off: "I’m usually the designated one out of my friends."
I'll be back next week with a new character profile!
BTW, if Jenna was a song she'd be "American Girl" (the Taylor Swift cover).
The prompt was "Color Me Good" and to write about a color that sparks a memory or a feeling. I've always been black which is associated with mystery and sophistication. By the way, I do remember the 90's group Color Me Bad (as was referenced in the prompt). http://www.octpowrimo.com/
Screaming and fighting isn't enough to keep me away from you
Crying and hard feelings aren't strong enough to stop this feeling
Because it's always you I run to, no matter what you do
As much as I hate you, there's always a feeling of love I'm concealing
Heartbreak and discomfort doesn't stop our world from going round
Painful words and blows won't kill our moments
Because I hear so much even when you don't make a sound
When you're too angry to speak, you're never my opponent
Because this is what true love looks like
Even during the worst times
We fight
For us, for who we want to be, for who we are together...
The prompt was based off of a line from Taylor's Swift's song "You Are In Love". It's actually my favorite part of the song and I would always play it over and over which is why I found it funny to be the prompt for day 5.
"You understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars
And why I've spent my whole life trying to put it into words"-Taylor Swift
It's been a while since I wrote a short story based on the characters from my book series (RED Tragedies aka A Tragic Heart series) but tonight I'm giving you another short story. This one is from the POV of Peyton Hayley (Peyton and Taylor's daughter). If it were to fit into a book it would be part ofRED (Book 2). It's a short scene between her, Alex and Jackson.
Listen to "Throwing Punches" by Paramore on repeat while reading:
Peyton
Hayley: No Need to Catch Me (I’m Not Falling)
I lie
across Alex’s bed stuffing strawberries into my mouth as we talked about
nothing important. I was in one of his t-shirts that met just at my thighs and
his hand rested just above my knee. It’s hard to pay attention to anything he’s
saying because I can only think about how much I’ve missed him. We were forced
to stay away from each other by almost everyone. My uncle, Jackson, forbid us
to be together mostly because I was 17 and he was 25 and he claims he knows
Alex better than I ever would; but I know that’s not true. They may have been
close friends but Alex has shown me parts of him that no one else was ever able
to see. Now that I’m 18, there’s nothing stopping us from being together.
I
stop him in the middle of his sentence with a kiss. He responds just as I want
him to and before I know it the strawberries I was eating were scattered on the
floor while he was on top of me. It didn’t get too out of hand, mostly because
it never got the chance to. We were interrupted by the doorbell.
“Ignore
it,” I urge pulling him into another kiss. He obeys and we’re both acting as if
we’re afraid to part.
The
way Alex and I started wasn’t exactly applauded. I was underage and he was a
major rockstar. I had a faithful and charming boyfriend and he was a good
friend of my very famous uncle. We were a recipe for disaster. So many things
were sacrificed for us to be together but the only thing that matters is that
we are together. Age was never an issue for either of us. Since that kiss in
his car when I was 16, I knew somewhere deep down we would be together along
the road. It was only a matter of time and growing up. We vowed to wait until I
was 18 to go any further but that didn’t happen…we couldn’t keep our hands off
of each other and I’m glad we didn’t. Everything had to fall apart so they can
fall together.
“I’m
so glad I have you,” he whispered in my ear before lightly tugging on my
earlobes. I giggled before kissing him on his neck. I was just about to kiss
his lips again until the doorbell rang once more.
He
looked me in the eyes and told me not to lose the feeling because he’d be right
back. I roll my eyes as he gets up and walks out of the room.
“Might
as well clean up these strawberries,” I say to myself as I begin picking them
up one by one. No one’s ever “right back” once they answer the door.
After
I clean up the mess we made I realize that things were taking a little longer
than they should have. I gave it a few more minutes before I decided to walk
down the stairs to see who it was. It was 10pm and unusual for it to be one of
Alex’s bandmates. They always call before they just show up.
“Hey,
Al! Who is it?” I ask before I fully make it down the stairs. I stop in my
tracks when I see Jackson standing there. He hates Alex, why would he be here?
“Jack?!”
“Peyton…of
course you’re here with him.” Jackson turns away and laughs to himself for a
second before speaking up again. “You know what, this was a mistake. I
shouldn’t have come by.”
“Why
did you?” I ask folding my arms across my chest. Jackson has always been one of
my favorite people. We were so close it was hard to believe we were niece and
uncle. He’s the coolest uncle anyone could ever have. He was more like a big
brother or best friend. We fell apart once Alex and I got together.
“I
wanted to make amends with Alex. We’ve been friends for some time and I don’t
want us to be enemies anymore but I just got a reminder on why we are. You
could’ve at least put on clothes before coming down to see who it is.”
“I
didn’t know it was anyone worth putting on clothes for,” I shot back.
“Woah!
Guys come on. Let’s not,” Alex interrupts. “I would like for all of us to get
along. Jack and Peyton you guys are family…act like it…and Jack I’m sorry. Look,
I know she’s your niece and you helped raise her but I’m in love with her.” He
looks at me and I have no expression. I never heard him admit it out loud.
“Alex,
you love yourself,” Jackson replies as if he was correcting him.
“You
may not believe me yet but it’s different with her. She’s young, I know that
but…what we have is good and you’re going to have to accept that sooner or
later.”
“Don’t
fucking tell me what I have to accept,” Jack raises his voice and steps a
little too close to Alex. The last time they were this close, Jackson left Alex
with a bloody nose.
I
rushed between the both of them just to insure Jackson wouldn’t throw any
punches. I don’t want a repeat of last time.
“Jack,
you should go. There’s no need for you to be here,” I say staring him in his
eyes. It’s a cold stare. Never would I have thought Jackson would be my enemy.
“Peyton,
you’re making a huge mistake. Just come back with me and things can be a lot
different,” he pleaded.
“I
don’t want things to be different. I want Alex and if you can’t accept that
then you have no reason to be here…or in my life.” I could tell it broke his
heart, hearing me say such harsh words but if he truly wanted to make amends,
he would know he’d have to accept this.
“Okay.
I got it. I hope you two are happy,” he says before walking away towards the
door. Before he left he turned around and said, “Peyton, I may not be there for
you when you need me because trust me, you’re going to need me.”
For
some reason his words struck me hard…almost hard enough to knock me over. Alex
gently touched my shoulders and kissed my neck. I wanted it to relax me but all
it did was send a chill down my spine. Alex and I will be okay…Jack will see
just like everyone else will…
I acted like it didn't hurt, wiped the blood with my shirt
But this is foreplay for me because I always like to flirt
Before I get into it
Before I enjoy it
I just need you to hit me...
The inspiration came from watching a scene from one of my favorite movies, Fight Club (it's a tie between that and The Dark Knight for the #1 slot). I watched it on mute and came up with this.
New week, new character profile! This time it's for Jessica, the girl the first chapter is named after. She's the one who started it all and placed Peyton on his rocky road. In Turn It Off, he states, " Jessica was the perfect distraction from all of the chaos in my life
even if she did cause most of it." Jessica is the girl Peyton lost his virginity to at 14 years old while she was 16. She was older and wilder and that's what attracted Peyton to her. She was new to town and very experienced for her age. Before you get into Jessica's profile, check out the two previous ones: Sophia and Peyton.
Now, here's Jessica!
Full Name: Jessica Lynn Raye
Birth Date: October 9, 1990
Gender: Female
Age During Turn It Off: 16 years old
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5'2
Weight: 115 lbs
Relatives: Jennifer Raye (Mother), Jonathan Raye (Father), Delta Raye (Sister)
Relationship Status: In a relationship (Peyton-in the beginning)(Nate-later on)
Interests/Hobbies: Drinking on Friday and Saturday nights with friends, Socializing, Poetry, Music
Positive Character Traits: Jessica's a fun girl and she's pretty welcoming. She's not judgmental and she loves people.
Negative Character Traits: She can get too caught up in having a good time and forget about morals. She can be a bit wild at times but it's all in the name of fun for Jessica.
Choice Quote from Turn It Off: "Hmmm, I guess there’s a lot you have to learn about me."
It's another week which means I got another character profile from Turn It Off. I decided to do one on Sophia because she's pretty important in Turn It Off even though she's only in it for a short amount of time. Back in July, I also wrote a short story based on her past life called Runaway. You can view that here: /sellecameron/2015/07/sophia-runaway-short-story.html .
In the book, Sophia is one of Peyton's many girls and she's the one who gets him deep into his troubled ways. In A Tragic Heart, Peyton ran off a list of girls he's been with before Taylor and she was one of the girls he mentioned. Specifically he said, "Sophia was the girl I liked a lot. The feeling was mutual, so it didn't take long for me and her to-you know." (Page 201 of A Tragic Heart).
Turn It Off is the back story of A Tragic Heart and how it came to be in the first place. I like to think of it as a prequel to the very first novel of the series. Introducing Sophia Lawson!
Full Name: Sophia Kae Lawson
Birth Date: August 5, 1992
Gender: Female
Age During Turn It Off: 15-16 years old
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 5'1
Weight: 110 lbs
Relatives: Bethany Holmes (Mother), Roger Lawson (Father), Paul Holmes (Step-father), Sean Lawson (Brother)
Relationship Status: It's complicated
Interests/Hobbies: Hanging with friends, partying, acting, listening to music
Positive Character Traits: Sophia is an extremely fun person and is always very upbeat. It's hard to keep her down because of her positive attitude and her bubbly personality. You can easily get lost in her world because she's so addicting to be around.
Negative Character Traits: Although she is a bubbly person, she also has a dark side. Sophia was molested and raped by her step father before she became a runaway. This caused her to lead a life of drug addiction and promiscuity (leading Peyton into a similar life). Some of the things she calls fun aren't the best things to do.
Choice Quote From Turn It Off: "...Everything was fine until that happened."
And that's Sophia! She's wild and fun but she also has a soft side (specifically for Peyton). Maybe someday in the future I'll get to write a book only on her. She has a lot to talk about and she went through a lot in her life at such an early age. You can check out the teaser to Turn It Off here: http://www.amazon.com/S.-Elle-Cameron/e/B00FNI34X4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
I'll be back with another character profile shortly... By the way, if Sophia was a song she would be Runaway by Pink:
Today I will give you the first character profile for Turn It Off. Since it's the first of many from this book, it only makes sense to start with the main character. Now this character is someone you all came to know from the first book, A Tragic Heart, and he's mine and most others' favorite from the series. He has a daughter of the same name (later on in the series)...let's look at the character profile for the one and only Peyton Giordano!
Full Name: Peyton Hale Giordano
Birth Date: December 27, 1992
Gender: Male
Age During Turn It Off: 15-17 years old
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Red
Height: 6'2
Weight: 215 lbs
Relatives: Cathleen Taylor-Davis (once Cathleen Taylor-Giordano) (Mother-Deceased), Richard Giordano (Father), Brian Taylor (Uncle), Jean Taylor (Aunt), Mason Taylor (Cousin), Hayley Giordano (Half-Sister), Preston Giordano (Half-Brother), Kathryn Giordano (Step-mother), Karson Davis (Step-father)
Relationship Status: Always taken (even if for a night)...
Interests/Hobbies: Playing with his band, guitar, piano/keyboard, drums, singing, songwriting, partying, recreational drug use, girls, cooking, boxing
Positive Character Traits: Once getting to know him Peyton is a very caring person and he's loyal to the ones he love. When in a committed relationship he puts his partner first and no matter how angry he gets, he remains faithful. He's a great cook and is awesome at planning surprises.
Negative Character Traits: He doesn't know how to control his emotions causing him to be and do impulsive things. During Turn It Off, he's almost completely reliant on drugs to get him through the day and despite being an extremely smart boy, he makes less than desirable decisions. He also has a horrible temper.
Choice Quote From Turn It Off: "Life is funny. One minute you're trying to find something to live for, and the next, it comes walking through your door in the middle of the night."
Well, that's it for Peyton's character profile! You can find out more about Peyton by reading the first two books to the series, A Tragic Heart & RED. Turn It Off acts as a prequel to A Tragic Heart and is based solely on Peyton's life and struggles. You can find out more about the series and catch up by using this link: http://www.amazon.com/S.-Elle-Cameron/e/B00FNI34X4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
Below is the official book cover for Turn It Off:
By the way, if Peyton was a song he would be two, Turn It Off by Paramore and Cherry by Moose Blood:
To be honest, I feel like I've bee neglecting the promotion and marketing for Turn It Off which is a shame because it's my favorite book of the series. My work schedule has been so crazy and random things aren't going as I planned but I won't let that stop me from releasing the novel and going on anyway.
Turn It Off is slated to be released by the end of November so basically, it's crunch time. As I did with RED, I want Turn It Off to have character profiles featured on this blog. Some of the profiles will be the same as RED but there are plenty of new and relevant characters in this book.
Recently I conducted a giveaway for the teaser to Turn It Off available on Amazon but the giveaway was over almost as soon as it started and the winners were selected. So starting this week (hopefully tomorrow) I'll post the first character profile for the novel and we can get this train moving towards release day.
Until then, check out the teaser to Turn It Off and the official book cover below:
Hey everyone! I know I've been away for a while but I haven't stopped my author duties. I've been editing and rewriting my books all summer long. Turn It Off went through it's first round of editing, A Tragic Heart has been re-edited and even rewritten (no major changes just details to make it more complete with more explanation), and What Could've Been is almost through with it's first round as well.
I sent off Turn It Off to my publishing company, Line by Lion and I plan to have it released by the end of fall. The cover is already done and now I'm waiting for it to be edited professionally along with all the other steps it take to release a book.
Well, remember when I said I wanted to head on a blog tour and have a giveaway for the teaser to Turn It Off? I still want those things and in fact, one of them is actually about to happen within the next few hours. I've set up a giveaway for Turn It Off via Amazon and every lucky 13th entrant will receive a free copy of the teaser to the novel coming out this fall! I will post the link when it goes live and keep you all updated. Please remember to leave a review on Amazon if you are a winner. Here's the link to the teaser and the official cover is available below for your viewing: http://www.amazon.com/Turn-Off-Intro-Chapter-Tragic/dp/1508591970/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
