Author Interview - Nicole Williams

Sadly my Nicole Williams month didn't go to plan as I still had a few posts left to schedule and my little boy arrived 10 days early.

One of the posts I still had left to schedule was my interview with Nicole Williams. Sorry it has taken so long to get up. 

When writing a series like Crash do you have their journey throughout the whole series planned or do you tend to see where things go?
I do a little bit of both. I definitely have the story arch planned out and how my characters are going to change throughout the book, but I like to keep my individual scenes open. I find some of the best stuff comes when I'm letting the words flow unplanned. I like to let my characters do something crazy and take the story off course for a while . . . just so long as they make their way back eventually.

When it comes to creating a bad boy what personality traits do you think are important and how do you go about creating a bad boy which your readers can't help but fall in love with?
Bad boy characters go against the social norm flow. They flip their proverbial finger at what's socially acceptable and blaze their own trail. They're mysterious, brooding, and often times explosive. I think the key to making a bad boy character redeemable just enough so the reader can't help but fall in love with him is giving the reader peeks into his soul every now and again. What are his weaknesses? Why is he the way he is? What memories is he repressing? What are his virtues? I'm a sucker for a reluctant hero, and I love a bad boy who fits into this category.

Do you have a favorite over all character from any of your books?
Trying to pick a favorite character is like a parent trying to pick a favorite child—next to impossible. I love them all for different reasons, but here are a few of my "favs": Jude from the CRASH series, Jesse and Rowen from the LOST & FOUND series, and William from the EDEN TRILOGY.

You have written a few different genre books, what genre books are your favorite to write?
Again, this is a hard one to say because my favorite is whatever frame of mind I'm in at the moment. I tend to go back and forth between sweeter, softer stories, to then more angsty, steamy stories. For example, I just finished a sweeter series of books, and my next project is a sexy adult read. I love the ability to write whatever I'm feeling like at the time. Best. Job. Ever.

What part of a book do you find the hardest to write? Beginning, Middle or End?
The beginning. I know there's three hundred pages to follow and the first few pages seem like such a hurdle sometimes. My first book I ever wrote, I think I scrapped and redid the beginning five times. The beginning sets the tone of the story and it needs to be solid enough to pull the reader in because it doesn't matter if the middle and ending are earth-shattering, no one's going to read it if I can't nail the beginning.

Describe the Crash series in 3 words?
Dramatic, sexy, sweet.

Thank you very much Nicole for answering my questions. 

Find Nicole

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Cover Crazy #103 - Nicole Williams Month

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

Great Exploitation's - Nicole Williams

I think you either love or hate these covers and for me I love them!

Love how they go so well together, and the red with the black. 

Also love how the title is presented. Great covers! 

Nicole Williams Book Quotes #4

Nicole Williams Month

I love Nicole's writing and one of the reasons I love her writing is because the amount of awesome quotes which you can get from her books.

I have actually only read the Crash series but know even from those three (and Up In Flames) that so many awesome quotes can be pulled from her books. 

My Favourite Quote :

“We live our lives afraid of change and if we were to just embrace it instead, it wouldn’t seem like such a big deal when it hits us.”

Here are some quotes from Up In Flames :

“Don’t be scared of making mistakes,” she said, waiting for me to look at her before continuing. “Be scared of making none. Because if you’re not making a healthy number of mistakes along the way, you’re not really living life to its fullest.”

“I might kinda, sorta, really, truly love you” 

“You'd better start rocking that boat right now or else your live is going to pass you by before you even start living it.”

“We live our lives afraid of change and if we were to just embrace it instead, it wouldn't seem like such a big deal when it hits us”

Cover Crazy #102 - Nicole Williams Month

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

Up In Flames - Nicole Williams

The first cover is my far my favourite out of these two.

I think the second is way too plain and kind of reminds me of almost a vampire type book with how her neck is extended. 

The first cover is much better in real life as the red stands out much more and I love red with black! 

Cover Crazy #101 - Nicole Williams Month

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

Lost and Found by Nicole Williams

I love these covers!

Love the different colours used in the titles and the fonts. Also love how the titles bit are kept the same so you can tell they are part of a series but are all still quite different. 

The images are all very steamy ones, doesn't take much to work out what the books are about. 

Nicole Williams Book Quotes #2

Nicole Williams Month

I love Nicole's writing and one of the reasons I love her writing is because the amount of awesome quotes which you can get from her books.

I have actually only read the Crash series but know even from those three (and Up In Flames) that so many awesome quotes can be pulled from her books. 

Here are some quotes from her Lost and Found Series.

My Favourite Quotes :

“We will all, at some point in our lives, fall. Every single one of us. We shouldn't spend our time trying to avoid falling. We should spend it finding someone who will help us up!”

“Sometimes we just have to cut off the dead branches in our life. Sometimes that's the only way we can keep the tree alive. It's hard and it hurts, but it's what's best.”

Lost and Found :

“We shouldn't get hung up on the questions we can't answer because life, by definition, is confusing. We're never going to have all the answers. Never. We should focus on the questions we can answer and make peace with the ones we can't.” 

“When you open yourself up to people, you let the bad in with the good. I can't promise I won't ever hurt you, Rowen. But it won't be on purpose. I will never hurt you intentionally. I can promise you that.” 

“You think you deserve this. You think you deserve to be alone and suffer. You’ve convinced yourself you’re so worthless that you’ve gone to the extreme to punish yourself. You think you deserve a life of misery.” 

“Every morning we get a chance to be different. A chance to change. A chance to be better. Your past is your past. Leave it there. Get on with the future part, honey.” 

“…when I looked into those eyes of his that saw everything, those eyes that saw me, I knew the fight would be worth it. The struggle to let him in when I wanted to barricade the windows and lower the gates would be a battle I’d never regret fighting.”

Near and Far :

"Rowen Sterling had every last piece of me, and I didn’t want any of them back."

“It’s time you start thinking about what you think you can’t live without and what you actually can’t live without.

“Those people who claim it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? Yeah, they’re full of shit.” 

"Our priorities aren’t what we say they are. They’re what we show they are"

“Don’t let the things you think you need to do keep you from doing the things you actually need to.

Okay? Fight for the things that matter—don’t waste your energy on the rest.”

Finders Keepers

Due for release this month

*Review* Clash By Nicole Williams

Nicole Williams Month

Clash by Nicole Williams

Series : Yes (#2 Crash)

Released : June 2013

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher (Thank you) 

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love might be the thing that just isn't enough. The only easy thing about Jude and Lucy's relationship is their love for one another. Everything else is hard. Especially when it comes to reining in Jude's trigger touch temper and Lucy's increasing jealousy of the female attention that Jude attracts. Feeling the stress of trying to hang on to her quintessential bad boy while becoming the foremost dancer in her class, Lucy knows something's going to break. She wants both. She needs both. But if she doesn't make a choice, she risks losing everything.

 .................................... My Thoughts   ....................................

In Short
- Clash follows on perfectly from Crash.
- I love that Nicole tested Jude and Lucy's relationship in Clash and didn't give them an 'easy ride' 
- Both Jude and Lucy's characters continued to grow and develop in Clash. 
- It's an emotional and raw read that is near impossible to put down! 

In Long

I finished Crash, the first book in the series, feeling quite satisfied and was unsure whether to read Clash. I think I was a bit nervous I would feel let down by it after loving Crash so much and not knowing if Nicole could write another book on them which I would love as much as I did as Crash. I am pleased to say that Clash most definitely was not disappointing and I loved spending more time with Jude and Lucy.

I loved that Nicole tested Jude and Lucy’s relationship in Clash by putting them in quite a testing living situation. Lucy and Jude are living 5 hours away from each other as Lucy is at dance school. I was really intrigued to see how their relationship would cope with this big challenge as well as the other challenges they faced. 

Clash is quite an emotional and raw read. I really loved that Nicole went deeper into both the characters lives and I felt like I got to know them even more than I did in Crash. Their characters have definitely made both Crash and Clash amazing reads, even more so because both characters have likable personalities. The pace of the storyline changes throughout the book but there wasn't any point I got bored and I struggled to put the book down each time I had to!

Final Thoughts

I am so glad that I chose to read Clash straight after Crash, I loved getting to see where Jude and Lucy’s relationship went next and to see them face their next challenges together.

Cover Crazy #100 - Nicole Williams Month

Cover Crazy is a meme I enjoy taking part in as a book lover because for me, although they say don't judge a book by it's cover, covers have a big influence over whether I pick a book up or not! 

Crash Series by Nicole Williams 

These are my favourite three covers out of the different sets. 

I just love red against black and white images and I think the covers are very simple but still stand out. Also like the fact they actually link in with the books themselves. 

I also like these covers, again pretty simple but sweet at the same time. For me though they just aren't as striking as the previous set of covers and also are all a bit samey for me. 

These covers are very different from each other. I much prefer the Crash cover to the Clash one. The Clash is a bit too plain for me whereas I love the cover for Crash.

Nicole Williams Book Quotes #1

Nicole Williams Month

I love Nicole's writing and one of the reasons I love her writing is because the amount of awesome quotes which you can get from her books.

I have actually only read the Crash series but know even from those three (and Up In Flames) that so many awesome quotes can be pulled from her books. 

Here are just some of them I love from the Crash series. 

My favourite quote :

“Mom told me that love is like a seed. You've got to plant it to grow. But that's not all. You need to water it. The sun needs to shine enough, but not too much. The roots have to take hold," he continued, narrowing his eyes in concentration. "And from there, if it pops its head above the surface, there are about a million things that could kill it, so it takes a whole lot of luck too.”

Crash :

“It was silent, but a silent that was so loud I wanted to cover my ears.”

“And I’m sorry I ruined everything we had before I could admit it to you. Before I could admit it to myself. You didn’t make me a better person, because no one can do that. You made me want to be a better person.”

“You’ve got all my firsts,” he said. “All the ones that matter.”

“How does a guy like you promise someone forever at eighteen?” 

“Easy,” he said, pressing a soft kiss into the corner of my mouth. “He finds a girl like you.”

“The name’s Jude Ryder, since I know you’re all but salivating like a rabid dog to know, and I don’t do girlfriends, relationships, flowers or regular phone calls. If that works for you, I think we could work out something special.” 

If you haven't yet read this series please note some quotes will be spoilers! 

Clash : 

“You're all I've got, Luce. I'll do anything not to lose you," he said, his scar pinching into his cheek. "Just tell me what I'm doing wrong and I'll fix it.”“See? That’s it,” he said, waving his hand. “That’s part of what makes us so great, Luce. I’m crazy. You’re crazy. Together, we make our own brand of crazy.”

“When are you going to stop looking at all the reasons you shouldn’t be together and start focusing on the reasons you should be?”

“It's because you're letting the fairy tales you grew up hearing in storybooks and the baseless ideas of love cloud your mind. Love isn't easy. Especially the really good kind. It's difficult, and you'll want to rip your hair out just as many days you'll feel the wind at your back." She paused smiling to herself. "But it's worth it. It's worth fighting for”

“Love is just as much suffering as it is sweetness. If it was perfect, that's what they'd all it. They wouldn't call it bittersweet.”

“Jude wasn’t just my first love. He was my forever love.”

Crush :

“This was my life.  And you know what? Life was pretty damn good. Even despite the fact that I had no clue where I was.” 

“I'm sick of hearing people tell us how not right we are for each other. Just because you don't see it doesn't mean we're not true.” 

“I'd discovered another of life's cliches by being with Jude: the happier you are in life, the faster it passes you by.”

“I can forgive a man’s past faults, his present shortcomings, and his future failures if every minute of every day he loves me like it’s his religion.”

Thanks to everyone on Goodreads and Amazon who shared the quotes 

*Review* Crash by Nicole Williams

Nicole Williams Month

Crash by Nicole Williams

Series : Yes (#1 Crash)

Released : June 2013

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Format : Paperback

Source : Publisher (Thank you) 

Buy : Amazon (UK/USA)/Book Depository

Overall rating

 .................................... The Blurb  ....................................

Southpointe High is the last place Lucy wanted to wind up her senior year of school. Right up until she stumbles into Jude Ryder, a guy whose name has become its own verb, and synonymous with trouble. He's got a rap sheet that runs longer than a senior thesis, has had his name sighed, shouted, and cursed by more women than Lucy dares to ask, and lives at the local boys home where disturbed seems to be the status quo for the residents. Lucy had a stable at best, quirky at worst, upbringing. She lives for wearing the satin down on her ballet shoes, has her sights set on Juilliard, and has been careful to keep trouble out of her life. Up until now.
Jude's everything she needs to stay away from if she wants to separate her past from her future. Staying away, she's about to find out, is the only thing she's incapable of.
For Lucy Larson and Jude Ryder, love's about to become the thing that tears them apart.

 .................................... My Thoughts   ....................................

In Short
- I loved getting to know about Lucy and her life.
- I found the relationships in this book all really interesting and loved watching them develop. 
- The storyline stayed interesting throughout the book with a few twists.

In Long

Nicole Williams is an author who I have wanted to read a book by for ages. When I received the Crash series for review I can’t tell you how excited I was to start reading them. After being told how awesome the series was by Jess from Jess Hearts Books I couldn’t resist Crash any more.

Within the first chapter I was drawn into Lucy’s world. I was really intrigued by her, although her life was difficult it hadn’t always been and I really admired her for adapting to her new life and the new struggles she was going through.

Jude’s character is one which I fell in love with straight away. I don’t know what it is about a bad boy with attitude but they always seem to win me over very quickly. Even more so when they show a side soft to themselves to prove they aren’t all bad.

As well as Jude’s and Lucy’s characters there are plenty of other characters in this book which are all developed really well and added to the story. I really found Lucy’s relationship with her mother interesting to read as well as her and her dad’s relationship.

Sometimes with books like Crash the author creates these amazing characters but fails when it comes to the storyline. Crash was definitely not a victim of lacking storyline, there are a few twists throughout the book which really add entertainment value to the book.

Final Thoughts

Crash was just the sort of book which I was in the mood for; I couldn’t have been more pleased that I picked this out from my massive TBR pile(s). If you’re looking for a YA romantic read which involves a bad boy then this book is for you!

Nicole Williams Month!

So I know I am one day behind, let's just pretend that today is 1st September!

I am excited to announce Books for Company is making September a Nicole Williams month!

Coming Up 

Cover Crazy on Nicole Williams Books

Reviews 

Interview with Nicole Williams

Giveaway (INT!)

Book Quotes 

Readers Quotes

Make sure to keep stopping by throughout September to make sure you don't miss out on the posts! 

I will be editing this post to include direct links to all posts. 

Books by Nicole Williams 

Please note I haven't included all of Nicole's books in this list.

To see her full list click here 

Crash Series

Up In Flames

Lost and Found Series

The Patrick Chronicles Series

Eden Series

Great Exploitations Series