Welcome to the Blog Tour and Giveaway for The Secret Sisters Club by Monique Bucheger, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: The Secret Sisters ClubSeries: Ginnie West Adventure #1
Author: Monique Bucheger
Publisher: True West Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2020
Genre: Middle-Grade Contemporary Fiction
Twelve-year-old BFF's Ginnie and Tillie, want to be sisters. Tillie's divorced mom plus Ginnie's widowed dad could equal a lifetime of round-the-clock girl talk and slumber parties. Too bad Dad vowed to never marry again. Ginnie and Tillie form a secret club. They come up with the perfect mission to change his mind: 'Operation Secret Sisters'.
Before long, Tillie seems happier about gaining a dad than a sister. Ginnie suspects that Tillie has turned 'Operation Secret Sisters' into a scam called 'Operation Steal My Dad.' Things get more complicated when Ginnie stumbles across her real mom's hidden journals. Ginnie can finally get to know the mother she doesn't remember and Dad doesn't talk about.
When Dad discovers she has the journals, he takes them away. Ginnie needs to figure out what the big mystery is before her relationship with her father and her best friend are ruined forever.
PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CONNECT WITH MONIQUE: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
AUTHOR INTERVIEW WITH MONIQUE BUCHEGER
What
was the inspiration behind The Secret Sisters Club?
Monique: I wanted to tell the
story of two BFF’s and the power of making deliberate decisions of asking for
what you want. They want to be sisters--and realize that since Tillie’s mom is
divorced and Ginnie’s mom passed away--that their dream to become sisters
could actually happen--IF Ginnie’s dad could be open to loving again.
On a deeper level, Tillie wants a whole family--as a child who was abandoned by her birth dad, she wants to belong. Ginnie wants to get to know her birth mom. When she finds her mom’s journals--she gets to know the mom she doesn’t remember and realizes that her mom really understood her. She doesn’t doubt her dad’s love for her--but she knows he doesn’t understand her the way her mom did.
Ginnie loves Miss Amanda—Tillie’s mom. She struggles to love both her mom and future stepmom—a real struggle for kids in similar situations. It may or may not work out--but if they don’t try to get their folks together--then it definitely won’t.
I think it is a powerful lesson to know what you want and try to achieve it. But if you let fear get in your way--you definitely won’t get what you want--and if you get out of your own way--quite often, you can make your dreams come true. Even if the end result doesn’t look like you thought it would--when you try, you may be pleasantly surprised by something better than what you dreamed of.
On a deeper level, Tillie wants a whole family--as a child who was abandoned by her birth dad, she wants to belong. Ginnie wants to get to know her birth mom. When she finds her mom’s journals--she gets to know the mom she doesn’t remember and realizes that her mom really understood her. She doesn’t doubt her dad’s love for her--but she knows he doesn’t understand her the way her mom did.
Ginnie loves Miss Amanda—Tillie’s mom. She struggles to love both her mom and future stepmom—a real struggle for kids in similar situations. It may or may not work out--but if they don’t try to get their folks together--then it definitely won’t.
I think it is a powerful lesson to know what you want and try to achieve it. But if you let fear get in your way--you definitely won’t get what you want--and if you get out of your own way--quite often, you can make your dreams come true. Even if the end result doesn’t look like you thought it would--when you try, you may be pleasantly surprised by something better than what you dreamed of.
How
long did it take you to write this book?
Monique: This book took 2 months start to
finish--the fastest time I have ever spent writing one book.
Do
you have a favorite quote from The Secret Sisters Club?
Monique:I don’t. I do
have a favorite quote from my second book “Trouble Blows West”: Wests’ don’t do
friendship halfway.
What
do you hope readers take away from this book?
Monique: That if you ask for what you want
and make deliberate decisions to make it happen, you can achieve most
anything.
If
the book was made into a movie, who would like you to see play the main
characters?
Monique:
Ginnie--if I could cast a girl as Ginnie in a movie today--it would be Gracie on the cover. Gracie has a fun personality and an impish grin.
Tillie--if I could cast a girl as Tillie--it would be Jessie on the cover. The 2 of them just did a beautiful picture shoot that embraced the essence of Ginnie and Tillie.
Uncle Ben--I always picture Bruce Boxleitner I enjoyed him a s a kid on a show called "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "Babylon 5"--recently he has been featured on Supergirl and he was the actor who played the main character on the original movie, Tron.
I would love to see Bruce's ex-wife, Melissa Gilbert as Aunt Sadie --I loved her as a kid as Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie
Ginnie's dad Todd--my first inspiration for Todd was John Schneider--Bo Duke from Dukes of Hazzard. John would be too old to play Ginnie's dad if it was filmed today--but he was the original dad image, when I dreamed Ginnie up years ago.
Uncle Jake--I could see Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo) from NCIS playing a contemporary Uncle Jake--minus the 3 piece suits.
Miss Amanda-- I could see her portrayed by Emma Watson (real life Belle and Little Women)
Ginnie--if I could cast a girl as Ginnie in a movie today--it would be Gracie on the cover. Gracie has a fun personality and an impish grin.
Tillie--if I could cast a girl as Tillie--it would be Jessie on the cover. The 2 of them just did a beautiful picture shoot that embraced the essence of Ginnie and Tillie.
Uncle Ben--I always picture Bruce Boxleitner I enjoyed him a s a kid on a show called "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "Babylon 5"--recently he has been featured on Supergirl and he was the actor who played the main character on the original movie, Tron.
I would love to see Bruce's ex-wife, Melissa Gilbert as Aunt Sadie --I loved her as a kid as Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie
Ginnie's dad Todd--my first inspiration for Todd was John Schneider--Bo Duke from Dukes of Hazzard. John would be too old to play Ginnie's dad if it was filmed today--but he was the original dad image, when I dreamed Ginnie up years ago.
Uncle Jake--I could see Michael Weatherly (Tony DiNozzo) from NCIS playing a contemporary Uncle Jake--minus the 3 piece suits.
Miss Amanda-- I could see her portrayed by Emma Watson (real life Belle and Little Women)
Would
you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn’t know?
Monique: I was a
foster mom to over 100 kids. The Secret Sisters Club was actually written as
the second book in the Ginnie West Adventure series.
What
are you reading now?
Monique: I have listened to my friend, James Owen’s “Drawing Out
The Dragon” book on audiobook 4 times in the last 2 weeks--it has some powerful
messages that he shares with middle grade students to adults. I hear something
amazing and different each time I listen to it.
How
many bookcases are in your home?
Monique: 5--one of which is filled with books signed by
the authors.
Is
there anything else you would like to share about The Secret Sisters Club?
Monique: I
hope my readers will go on the full journey with Ginnie and Tillie—that they
will laugh and cry and root for them. And I would love to hear from readers of
all ages.
Please
feel free to email me at: monique.bucheger@gmail.com and tell me
what you loved, what you didn’t, if the story resonated with them personally
and how.
I
love it when my characters touch my readers. And most especially, when my
readers share their stories with me.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
(1) winner will receive a $50 Amazon gift card OR winner's choice of Google Play, Apple, or Kobo!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight August 25, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on September 1, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
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This seems like a wonderful book. Thanks for the introduction as this is how I find books now.
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