When We Collide By: A.L. Jackson *Interview & Review*

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**Hi everyone! I'm so glad to be hosting A.L. Jackson's Novel, When We Collide today; thanks to Reading Addiction Blog Tours for letting me participate :) Below, you will see an Interview I had with this Incredible Author; a Great Excerpt, and My Review. You will also see an E-Book Giveaway, so here you go!

My Interview With Author A.L. Jackson

- First, tell us a little about you : )

A.L.: Hi Everyone! I’m A. L. Jackson, author of Pulled, Take This Regret, and When We Collide.  I’m also the co-owner of a small publishing house, so most all of my time is spent either writing or working with our author family. I’m married to the most incredible man I could ever have asked for.  We have three awesome, crazy kids and live in Southern Arizona.

- I must say, I have read both of your books (Take This Regret & Pulled) and Wow, they are both just lovely and beautifully written. Now, what inspired you to write When We Collide and is it similar to your past novels, or is it just a bit different? Because I saw there’s some paranormal twist on Goodreads.

A.L.: It is a bit different than the first two in that it’s a bit heavier, but the supernatural element is very minor. I always like for my characters to have that higher connection, and that connection is fairly intense in When We Collide. But you’re definitely not going to see any vampires or werewolves popping up in this story ;)

- How long did it take to write this story?

A.L.: It took me almost one year to the date.

- Which character(s) or scenes were the most fun writing?

A.L.: I loved writing William and Blake’s relationship. They’re brothers who’ve always been close, but William causes a huge chasm in their relationship when he runs from the small town they grew up in. Blake is just a no-nonsense kind of guy, a little rough around the edges, but truly kindhearted. I loved writing someone that felt so much like someone’s actual brother. 

- Do any of the characters remind you of anyone you might know?

A.L.: Somewhere between my subconscious and conscious, I knew I was writing elements of When We Collide for different people in my life who mean so much to me. So while Maggie isn’t based on any one specific person, she’s a combined product of my love for these people. 

- What do you want your readers to get from/be aware of, when reading When We Collide?

A.L.: When We Collide tackles some heavy subject matter, and I just pray that if someone sees themself in that situation, that they would seek help.

- Which actors do you see playing the main characters?

A.L.: Paul Walker and Jenna Stone.

- Is there a place you especially like to write?

A.L.: I typically do my actual writing in my office, but most of my ideas start when I’m just on the cusp of falling asleep, in the shower, or when I’m driving (always when I can’t write it down, of course!)

- What are you currently working on now?

A.L.: Right now I’m working on a prequel to Take This Regret. It’s a short novella that takes place during the time Christian and Elizabeth first met at Columbia.  It’s just a little something fun to break up all the heavy.

- I love your Contemporary Romance stories, but if there were another genre you would like to write about, what would it be?

A.L.: I have a partially written paranormal romance that I would love to publish someday. It’s a series, which I’ve never done before, so I haven’t decided if I want to move ahead with it or not.

- What is one piece of advice you find ultimately important for aspiring writers?

A.L.: Well, this may be the ultimate cliché, but it would have to be keep going. Being an author can be incredibly difficult, but also incredibly rewarding. If you love it, you have to make the decision that you’re never going to quit even on the days when it feels like that’s the only thing you want to do.

- Which Authors have inspired your love of reading and writing?

A.L.: Gone with the Wind was the first romance I ever read when I was in elementary school.  I have to credit it for my love of the romance genre, and just my love of reading in general.

- Are you reading anything now?

A.L.: At the moment I’m reading Devoured by Emily Snow.

Other Qs

- Is there a favorite film you can watch all the time and it just seriously doesn’t get old?

A.L.: Oh man, so many. Talladega Nights, Zoolander, Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre. Should I be embarrassed that I love this kind of comedy? ;) I also love me a sweet romance, but it has to have an HEA!

- What are your favorite TV shows that you just have to see on a weekly basis?

A.L.: I’m a major lover of antiques and old things, so whenever I get to watch TV, I’m usually watching Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, or American Pickers. My husband and I also just started to watch the first season of Breaking Bad. Good stuff.

- What’s the location of your dream vacation and why?

A.L.: I’ve always wanted to go on a Mediterranean cruise. Growing up in Southern Arizona, a building that is 100 years old seems ancient to me, and I think it would be absolutely amazing to walk the streets of these old Bible towns.

- Lastly, since it’s getting close to Thanksgiving, what has been one of your favorite memories concerning this Holiday?

That would have to be the memories I have of helping my grandmother prepare Thanksgiving dinner when I was a little girl. I was incredibly close to my grandparents (which is where my pen name Jackson comes from), and I miss those days when I’d get up on my knees on a chair at the counter next to her and she’d let me help. 

Thank you so much for your time in answering my Qs! : )

You’re welcome! Thanks so much for having me on!

Author Bio & Social/Book Links

A.L. Jackson first found a love for writing during her days as a young mother and college student.  She filled the journals she carried with short stories and poems used as an emotional outlet for the difficulties and joys she found in day-to-day life. 

Years later, she shared a short story she’d been working on with her two closest friends and, with their encouragement, this story became her first full length novel. A.L. now spends her days writing in Southern Arizona where she lives with her husband and three beautiful children. Her favorite pastime is spending time with the ones she loves. 

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Book Description for When We Collide

Romantic Thriller with Supernatural Twist

Title: When We Collide

Author: A. L. Jackson

Date to be Published: 11/2/12

Publisher: Sapphire Star Publishing

From Goodreads:

From the bestselling author of Pulled and Take This Regret comes a gripping new tale of loss and love.

William has spent six years running from his past and the last eight months trying to rid his mind of the dreams that increasingly haunt his nights. Trapped in a world of false ambitions and feigned affections, William knows he’s reached a breaking point and something’s going to give.

Maggie had lived her entire life without hope until one man showed her what it meant to be loved. He’d been her light in a lifetime of darkness. Six years ago, that darkness stole him away. Without him, she’s surrendered herself to an existence she doesn’t know how to escape.

When the family William left behind is struck by tragedy, he is called back to the one place he’s sworn to never return to again.

In a moment that will change his life forever, William comes face to face with the girl who, with one look, captured his heart. He is unable to ignore the buried desires and the hope for the future they’d once believed they’d have.

Now William is ready to fight to take back what had been stolen from him six years before.
But he never imagined what that fight might cost him.

A.L. Jackson gives you an intimate look into the lives of a family bound by an unseen connection in this new contemporary romance. 

A Wonderful Excerpt (William's POV)

Just before ten, I slipped out the back door. Impatience quickened my steps—quickened my pulse. I couldn’t wait to see her.

Mom and Lara had cornered me a couple of hours before, ambushed me with questions about my eye, demanding answers there was no way in hell I was going to give. I’d made up some convoluted story that was barely believable about some guys I’d never seen before at the next town jumping me when Blake and I had stopped for gas. Only after I’d convinced my mom and Lara that I was fine and I’d spent the next two hours listening to them chat over hot tea was I able to escape. I imagined the late hour was my only salvation.

Besides, I figured this town had enough gossips that either of them could have just asked and they’d find the answers to their questions. As it was, I was wondering why they hadn’t already heard. I guessed since the only ones who had been there last night were Blake and his small group of friends and that fucking coward Troy, no one had uttered a word. A part of me wanted the whole damned town to know what Troy had done, even if it meant I would bear the consequences of it, while the other part of me wanted to protect Maggie from any more shame.

I tried to push those thoughts aside, told myself, it’s over…it doesn’t matter. Maggie was mine. Now I just had to figure out how to get her out of that house so she’d be completely safe.

Maggie was already there when I emerged at the outskirts of our refuge. Her head snapped up when she heard me approach, that smile lighting her face when our eyes met. There was no hesitation as I rushed to her. I sank to the ground and pulled her into my arms.

“Hi,” I mumbled between our frantic kisses.

Maggie gasped then giggled against my mouth when I spun her and pressed her into the cool grasses.

“Hi,” she said, grinning when I finally pulled away to let her up for air. The moonlight seeped through the ceiling of leaves and illuminated the joy on her face. That joy faded when she focused on the mark above my eye. She reached out and ran her fingers over it.

I grabbed her hand and brought her fingers to my lips before she could say anything.

“It was worth it, Maggie…you’re worth it. I need you to believe that.” I’d do it a million times over if what happened last night had set her free.

I watched as disbelief and uncertainty twisted her face, and she closed her eyes and seemed to struggle against her past before she nodded her head as if maybe she understood.

Her eyes fluttered open. “I love you, William.”

“Do you know how long I have been dying to hear you say that?” I almost teased as I settled myself between her legs and hugged her closer. I felt the heavy breath ease itself from her lungs and her spirit sink into mine as she relaxed beneath me. She smiled at me, her eyes wide and awakened. I loved the way she looked right then, like the girl I’d fallen in love with over the last three months, although now exposed and without the barriers she’d erected between us.

“I think I’ve known it for a long time,” she finally said, her fingers playing with the hair at the nape of my neck. “I don’t really know why I felt like I couldn’t admit it.” Maggie wet her lips, glanced into the distance before bringing her attention back to me. “I’m scared of this, of finally having something I’ve wanted so badly, but I’m more scared of losing it.”

I squeezed her, a gentle encouragement. She was never going to lose me.

“I’m not a normal girl, William.” When she said it, her eyes burned into mine, as if warning me, giving me an out.

I brushed the bangs from her face. “You think I don’t know you, Maggie?”

Yeah, I knew she was broken, knew no matter where she ended up in life, her past would always be there to haunt her, knew she had so much to overcome. But I also knew, underneath it all, she was strong. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in her spirit. I knew she was kind and good, knew she was beautiful. And I knew I was never going to stop loving her.

“I fell in love with you.”

A tremor of a smile tugged at one side of her mouth. “I guess that’s the part I really don’t understand.”

“Maggie,” I said as a whisper as I leaned down to kiss her. I pulled back. “You deserve to be happy.” And I’d do whatever it took to be sure she was.

Cupping my cheek, she ran her thumb beneath my eye. “You make me happy.”

I didn’t even try to contain the smile that spread over my face.

My Review

Oh my Goodness. This was an Excellent Story! It was just beautifully written. A.L. Jackson is definitely one of my favorite Authors now. She has a great writing style and stories that tug at melt your heart. When We Collide is a tugging and melting kind of read. It includes characters, William and Maggie. William comes from a good family, loving parents and a big brother, Blake, that could be annoying at times, but has definite heart. William comes back home to Mississippi from College in Southern California and is not sure what to expect for the summer... until his eyes land on Maggie's and they are both done for, as they have a mutual connection that is curious and electrifying. Maggie doesn't come from a family like William's. Her father is an abuser of all kinds, and is she's unfortunately a victim, and has been, since she was a little girl. What is important to Maggie, is watching over her Mom and younger sister. She's a shy girl, and gets sucked in a horrible relationship with a guy older than she, and that's the guy William tries to protect her from, the night they meet...Six years later they have collided in to each other again. They are a bit older, but the love they had shared has not left both of their hearts. Now, in the present time, its time to decide if William can protect Maggie and a little someone he never know about, from her abusive husband. Its time for Maggie to take the plunge and to finally do something that she has not done before...run and don't look back...

As I said above, I really loved this story. It's definitely an Emotional one, but it's one that I'm glad to have read as there is Love, the kind that seeps through the pages and just grabs at you; the kind that just makes you feel good, so this is one Worth Reading! Now,the characters were so well written. In ways I related to William and Maggie, so those relatable connections were just so helpful, to make me connect to the story even more. I also connected to another character, a younger one, as some of the emotions of what this character (you gotta to read to find out the name) faces is again relatable and I felt for that little one, my heart was with the character, as it was with Maggie. She's shy, kind, but is in a relationship that's just so abusive at times, it was just shocking at what this guy had done to her, and in ways I found her story just really believable as she's basically with someone that is just like her Father and I think I really saw Maggie grow to be a stronger character, and I was just happy about that, and once you read on your own, you'll read what move she finally makes. William is a really great character, with heart, something that was broken, but as he comes back to the town he left six years prior, he realizes that what he left for, was a waste, and he reconnects with family and with the one that literally broke him internally. I enjoyed reading from his POV, as I did Maggie's POV. Reading their sides was helpful, as were the flashbacks. 

There's a beautiful written connection between William and Maggie. You'll so know what I mean when you read this story on your own. The love shared between these two, again felt believable, and I loved that. There are some tear jerking scenes, some that made my heart literally thump and towards the end, there is suspense that will make you read faster, because you just want to know what happens next! When We Collide is absolutely Wonderful and I Recommend It! 

My Rating: 4.7/5

I say R-Rated (Some Violent Content & Language)

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