Author: Amy K. McClung
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: Oct 1, 2016
Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing
Marie has her twenties planned out. Her dream to see all fifty states before she turns twenty-five finally comes true. With a two-year trip ahead of her, she says good-bye to her family and her best friend Jayce. Though fearing the trip could change their friendship forever, a pact is formed. They're determined not to let distance impact on their relationship.
Amidst triumph and heartache, new relationships and friendships, Marie soon discovers her journey is so much more than an adventure. Instead, she finally realizes where she truly belongs.
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The song that epitomizes Across the Way is “Places I’ve Been” by Taylor Hicks. After he won American Idol, Season 5, I listened to
his CD many times over. No song touched me more than this one. It speaks to how I feel about my own husband, which are the feelings I use to write my romance books. One reason the song fits the book so perfectly is because the lyrics are what inspired me to write this story.
The song begins by saying:
“I think of all the places I’ve been it always comes down to one thing.
The only place I want to be is with you.”
As I listened to these words, the story of a young woman
traveling to exotic places began to unfold in my head. Originally she was set to travel around the world, but after checking into the bank budget it would take, it seemed a better idea to begin smaller with only the US and Canada. Each piece of the song gave me more insight into who Marie was and what she would get out of this journey. Her dream has
been to travel the US because growing up, she never had the opportunity to venture outside of her home state. For years it has been her only focus in life, working multiple jobs, saving money to make her dream come true.
“Everything I’ve been through Everything before you
Was just time moving on with no meaning
You’re what was missing”
The title Across the Way came about because of all the people she meets “across the way” who inspire her to take chances, encourage her to learn from mistakes, and support her with unconditional love.
“I think of all the faces I’ve seen
And though they all mean something to me
The only face I want to see
Belongs to you”
Suddenly this independent woman, who spent years working
toward a goal, realizes the one thing she’d been missing all these years is
love. At age twenty-five, she’s never been in a long-term relationship. Being alone on the road, making new friends, she finds not only one love, but two.
“And after everything that I’ve done
And after everyone that I’ve loved
The only thing I know is true
The only place I want to be is with you”
When all is said and done, this story is not only one of finding
love in unexpected places, but it’s about the friendships we make in life and how they affect our outlook on what’s important. It’s about making mistakes but learning from them. Everyone Marie meets during her trip gives her a new perspective in some way. Though she doesn’t stay in touch with many of them, they all held a special place in her heart.
In the end, there is only one place she wants to be, wherever he is. To find out who he is, you’ll have to read the book.
Amy McClung was born in Nashville, TN. She is the second oldest of four girls and occasionally suffers from middle-child syndrome. She met the love of her life online in August of 2004, on his birthday of all days, and married him in September 2005.
Currently they have no human children, only the room full of colourful robots that transform into vehicles and the large headed Pop Funkos who represent their favorite characters. Collecting movies, shot glasses, Pop Funkos, and dust bunnies are some of her favourite pastimes.
Amy began writing in September of 2011 and independently published her first YA novel, Cascades of Moonlight, Book one of the Parker Harris series the following May. Her first book was a means of therapy for her, enabling her to escape reality for a while during a difficult transition in her life.
Thanks for sharing! <3
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