Crushing tour/Elena Dillon guest post

Crushing

As a pampered and adored daughter of a wealthy Southern family Rory's life was seemingly perfect until her troubled childhood crush moves back in across the street forcing her to choose between him and the life that has been chosen for her. As if that isn't enough, her quiet island town has turned dangerous. A good friend has gone missing, lending truth to the rumors of a serial kidnapper. In her quest to help she becomes a target and will have to make choices about love, friendship and the inevitable sacrifice that they both require. Elena Dillon’s blog /Twitter /Facebook /Google+ /Goodreads / Literary Addicts

Elena was kind enough to do a guest post for us today, here is what she had to say:

Bailee

I’m a dog lover. I have three dogs at home and I can’t remember a time when we didn’t have at least one. I know Crushing is only my second book but I’ve written lots of stories that I never thought about publishing. In all the time I’ve been writing I never thought about writing a dog into a story until Bailee. She just kind of arrived on the page without too much consideration for why or what she was going to do throughout the story.

I loved her immediately.  She was sweet and adorable and it made me want to go out and get a puppy although it was nice having Gage have to take care of her instead of me.  In my house I’m always the one responsible for the animals.

During the story she would just show up and insert herself when it was important.  She actually plays a pretty key part in two of the most serious scenes of the story, not to mention being in the first scene Gage and Rory have together.

I guess what I’m trying to say was she wasn’t just something I threw in the story to make it cute she really was just a natural part of it. It was never difficult to find a place for her, she just fit like any other character.  When she first showed up I worried that I might forget her or have to contrive scenes for her.  As the story went on I never had to think about it, she was so much part of the story. Just like animals are a natural part of our lives.

Bailee was actually quite a bit less work for me than my current dogs.  My bulldog especially.  I’m pretty sure Bailee smells better and has better manners too.  I hope you enjoy reading how Bailee fits into Crushing. I know I had a lot of fun writing her.  

  Elena lives and writes in a suburb
North of Los Angeles. She has never lived anywhere besides California which is probably a good thing since she hates being cold and is terrified to drive in the snow. She loves being a wife and a mother to her two kids and three dogs, although really the bulldog is the fourth child who has never matured beyond the toddler stage. A self proclaimed nerd, she has been writing since she was a child. She has only recently, however, come out of the closet about this to her family and friends. They now understand better, but not completely, why she talks about characters in stories as if they are real people. Follow the Tour Elena Dillon is giving away a beach basket and a $50 Amazon Gift card for her tour. a Rafflecopter giveaway