The Jolly Wordsmith: Jolly Guest Post And Giveaway: Scarred by Elizabeth Montgomery

Title: Scarred

Author: Elizabeth Montgomery

Published: June 26th, 2015

Publisher: Crushing Hearts and Black Butterfly Publishing

Genre: YA Coming of Age, Antibullying

Recommended Age: 13+

Synopsis: For those of us who come into the world different, we see it for what it really is.

Harsh.

Avery Chamberlin is special, unique. Beautiful words to gloss over the fact that she is different. She has never felt like she fit in. Why should she?

She was reminded on a daily basis that she was not like her peers.

Flawed. Damaged. A freak.

Avery will have to come out of her shell to prove that even the bullies have their own insecurities.

LIFE ISN’T ABOUT LABELS

20% of proceeds go to an antibullying foundation.

Links To The Book
Amazon | GoodReads

Read FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

A giveaway is further down this post.

Excerpt from Scarred by Elizabeth Montgomery:

The halls were crowded with kids trying to get to class, but one person stood out in the crowd as she always did. Harper Clarke. The bane of my existence. I learned early on in middle school that she came from the upper crust, but her love was bought by her alcoholic mother and absent father. She was beautiful, popular, and I’m pretty sure she could wipe her butt with hundred dollar bills if there was no toilet paper.

Walking into class, I saw the one person I wished would just move out of the state, Harper. She was draped over my desk. Our English teacher thought it was a good idea to assign seats in tenth grade. It had not been conducive to my fading-into-the-crowd plan since my desk was toward the front of the room.

“Can you remove your butt from my desk please?” I asked as sweetly as I could.

“Aww, what’s wrong, Scarface? Didn’t bring your guns?” she asked with a bogus frown and then doubled over laughing. She had called me Scarface ever since I could remember. One of the downfalls to growing up in a small town: everyone knows everyone. Forever.

“What are you talking about, Harper?” I asked, dropping my backpack to the ground beside the desk.

“Don’t you get it? Scarface…guns…Al Pacino.” Her head tilted to the side like a confused puppy. “Whatever,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “I heard you’re coming to Blake’s party?” she asked, crossing her legs across the desk.

“Who told you that?” I was starting to get annoyed, but I didn’t want to push her; she was ruthless and would tear me to shreds in a public humiliation scene.

“Well, Blake himself, silly. I think he likes you.” She had a southern twang in her voice and a pageant smile plastered across her face.

“That’s nice. Can I have my desk back please? Class is about to start and you wouldn’t want a smudge on that perfect image you have, would you?” I winked at her as she wrinkled up her face at me before grabbing my backpack and dumping its contents on the floor. Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she walked away like nothing happened.

The Jolly Wordsmith's Quick Interview with Elizabeth Montgomery:

- What inspired you to write this book?

I really wanted this book to be a helpful reminder to people of all ages that you don’t have to respond to bully’s by either becoming one yourself or cowering down and just taking it. You can stand up for yourself while maintain self-respect. I see so much bullying in this world from my kids schools to my co-workers at my nursing job. I wanted to do something to help bring awareness to the situation at hand.

- And what authors inspire you?

This is such a hard question because there are so many! Basically anyone who has taken a chance on themselves and published their book is an inspiration to me. It takes guts to put your art out for the world to critique. A few of the authors that have helped me the most would be Cambria Hebert, Sarah J. Pepper and Cameo Renae. These ladies have been a Godsend!

- Is the story semi-autobiographical / based on real experiences?

I think everyone in a sense has been bullied in one way or another, unfortunately. There was not much bullying in the schools that I went too, but it's very prevalent in my kids' schools.

- Do you hope that this book will encourage victims of bullying to come forward?

My hope is that they not only come forward but also gain a sense of self-worth and realize that their happiness matters enough to fight for.

- How would you describe a bully?

Anyone that is abusive towards others whether it be verbally, physically, socially, or the million other ways people have found to bully another living thing.

- What advice would you give to bullying victims?

Let someone know what is going on, do NOT lose hope, and stand up for yourself. You are more powerful than the bully, they feed off of your fear, if you're not scared of them they have nothing to go on.

- Do you plan on writing similar books?

Actually yes! Dylan will be getting his very own book titled OUT! I am super excited to write this one, Dylan is one of my favorite characters! His story is a little tough on the heart strings though...fair warning lol

- Are you currently working on any other books?

At the moment I am finishing up my short story for the Fairy Tale Confessions anthology, I am doing a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, OUT will be written next and then I have a brand new book that will be titled Black Wings (Paranormal Romance). Super excited for all the upcoming books! Thank you so much for having me today!

About the Author:

Author Elizabeth Montgomery was born in Williamsburg, Virginia and raised a hop, skip, and a jump away in Yorktown, Virginia. Paranormal inspiration was easily obtained during her childhood in the Historic Triangle. This helped to spur her love of Paranormal romance stories, but she also enjoys reading YA and NA.

She is currently raising four children and a husband while elbow-deep in the depths of the writing cave. You can often find her searching on Google for an appropriate, or sometimes inappropriate, photo to insert in any random conversation. If not on Google, or Facebook chat, she can be found drinking coffee (like any normal writer), eating Gummy Bears, baking fanciful cakes, reading, or writing.

“I always wondered what authors meant when they said that their characters tell them what to write – I get it now!”

Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

Find Elizabeth on the Periscope mobile app: @EMontgomeryAuth