Author Jadie Jones On Tour: Talks About Georgia

**HAPPY NOTE: MOONLIT is FREE on Amazon through Wednesday. Be sure to take this opportunity to get this intriguing story to read.**

It is was great pleasure that I welcome ‘new-to-me’ author Jadie Jones here today as part of her WOW (Women on Writing) Virtual Book Tour for her release, MOONLIT. 

I discovered that Jadie is not only a horse enthusiast, but also a Georgia author residing not too far from me as the crow flies (as we southerns say).

MOONLIT is a YA fantasy published this month by WiDo Publishing. Here’s a brief synopsis of it:

    Eighteen-year-old Tanzy Hightower knows horses, has grown up with them on Wildwood Farm. She also knows not to venture beyond the trees that line the pasture.
    Things happen out there that can't be explained. Or undone. Worse, no one but she and the horses can see what lurks in the shadows of the woods.
    When a moonlit ride turns into a terrifying chase, Tanzy is left to question everything, from the freak accident that killed her father to the very blood in her veins. Broken and confused, she turns to Lucas, a scarred, beautiful stranger, and to Vanessa, a charming new friend who has everything Tanzy doesn't.
    But why do they seem to know more about her than she knows herself? Is she really Tanzy? Or someone new? Was she ever Tanzy? And how will she choose between the many realities she’s coming to know?

Jadie joins us to tell y’all ‘Something About Georgia.’

I have to admit that this topic: tell me something about Georgia, threw me for a loop. I have plenty to say about Georgia. Don’t I? And I do. I’m just not sure how to break Georgia down into a category - favorite places or sayings or memories. So instead, I’ll tell you my Georgia story. 

I was born and raised here. And as soon as I could, I made a dash for the state line and didn’t return much for five years. 

I traveled to North Carolina, Oregon, and Virginia. Went to school. Graduated. Worked as a farm manager, an intern speech writer for a state office, and a waitress. The scenes would change, the faces, the weather. But one thing was constant and growing: an aching loneliness that I denied with every bone in my body.  I tried my best to fill with chocolate and late nights and a boyfriend who said he loved me more when we were apart (yes, seriously.)But all they made me was nauseous and tired.

Then one day it hit me: I needed to go home. Because there is something about Georgia. Sweet tea and red clay and epic traffic. Atlanta’s diversity and north Georgia’s humbling vastness. The charming, quiet coastline. Phrases like “y’all come back now. ”Catching fireflies. The unnerving chatter of coyotes moving through the woods. The spring-time thunderstorms that seek out Georgia’s quartz-filled floor like a moth to a light. Backyard gardens, front porches, and family.

And, most importantly, that fighting spirit that once hummed in my veins and made me dare to push a little harder. I’d lost it somewhere along the way. I’d lost myself. Who I was. What I wanted. Apathy and complacency had made a home in its absence. And Georgia is about as far from apathetic and complacent as you can get. Georgia is hot-blooded, and stubborn. It’s our fatal flaw, but it’s also what dreams are made of: passion and an unwillingness to quit. I knew those traits had lived in me once, driven me and made me believe. And I knew I had to come home to find them again.

So I returned to Georgia. This time, when I sunk my fingers into the red clay, they turned into roots. Slowly, old goals resurfaced. A need to create grew in my heart, my mind, and my hands. Things I wanted to do turned into things I WOULD do, come hell or high-water. And publishing a book claimed the number one spot on that list.

Will I ever leave Georgia again? Probably. I’ve got a gypsy’s soul, and I’m convinced there’s a little beach bungalow somewhere along the gulf shore with my name on it. I’d like to see more of the world. Greece and Australia. Vermont and Kentucky. But no matter where I take my mail, Georgia will always be home. I know that should I lose my way again, she will always remind me who I am and how to fight for what I want.

Jadie, thanks so much for joining us today. I think you covered Georgia nicely. There is so much about it that it’s hard to summarize. I do like the backyard gardens, front porches and family. Georgia is definitely home.

Now, let me share a bit more about Jadie. She has been dreaming about being an author since she wrote her first book in the seventh grade – in a black and white composition tablet, of course. But life happens…jobs, husband, baby. 

Jadie has that magical time known as nap-time to thank for MOONLIT. Because, when all was quiet in the house (with the exception of the washer humming in the background) Jadie could hear Tanzy, who she thought she had long ago relegated to past dreams, calling to her. And one day Jadie pulled out a pen and answered. The result was MOONLIT.

For more on Jadie and her writing, visit her website and her blog, and find her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. 

Also visit her WOW Virtual Book Tour Page for more on her tour. In addition, stop by both of the following tour sites for a chance to win a copy of MOONLIT:
Bookworm Lisa on Wednesday, May 1
CMash Reads on Saturday, May 4

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Is there a place that draws you back no matter how many times you leave?