Interview with Beth Steury: Spotlight her young adult novel "Before I Knew You"

We're happy to have Beth Steury with us today talking about her young adult novel Before I Knew You. Click on the cover below for more information at Amazon.

Genre of book: YA Contemporary

Name of Publisher:  Life Matters Publishing 

Please tell us five random things we might not know about you.

1.     I was found on a doorstep.

2.     I used DNA to find my birth parents.

3.     I have an obsessive relationship with Diet Coke.

4.     I have considered launching a campaign to have chocolate declared the sixth food group.

5.     I adore vacationing in new, exciting places.

Why did you choose to write this book?

The inspiration for Preston and Maggie’s story came from a radio interview I heard many years ago. Following a presentation, a well-known youth speaker met outside in the parking lot with a young man from the audience. The young guy leaned on his truck and looked up at the speaker. “What happens when true love didn’t wait?” he asked. The speaker went on to say how that young man’s question changed how he approached the subject of teenagers and sex. For days, that scenario played through my mind accompanied by the faces of the many teenagers I knew who also had stumbled into premarital sex. For many, that one decision changed the course of their life. Too often they felt like since they had already messed up, what was the point in even trying anymore?  I believe in saving sex for marriage. If possible, I believe even more in “renewed waiting.”

What one thing about writing do you wish non-writers would understand? 

It’s harder than it looks!

What do you hope readers to take away from your novel?

            Saving sex for marriage matters. “Renewed waiting” matters, too. Because it’s never too late to make wiser, healthier choices.

What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of, writing-related or not?

       The launching of both the “Choices Matter” fiction series and the “Waiting Matters” non-fiction series.

Please give us the first page of the book.

Memorial Day weekend

Preston

I

won’t do anything illegal or immoral. Just hanging out. No big deal.” Muttering to an empty room, I grabbed an Indianapolis Colts sweatshirt and opened my bedroom door to scope out the hall. Right toward Mom’s and Dad’s room, left toward my brother Patrick’s.

The hall was empty. Good.

I found Mom in the kitchen rinsing the supper dishes. “Hangin’ with the guys tonight, Mom. Won’t be too late.” Not that an almost seventeen-year-old should have to report his every move to his mom, but considering what I’d put my parents through last year, it wouldn’t kill me.

“Okay, Preston.” She tapped my arm with wet fingers. “Have fun.”

I zipped toward the front door, hoping to avoid Patrick’s older brother advice.

“No big deal.” More muttering, to convince myself there was nothing wrong with a night of hanging out with the guys. As I jabbed the key into the ignition, I scanned the front of the Jacoby family, ranch-style house.

Patrick filled the doorway, his arms crossed, a menacing glare shooting from his narrowed eyes.

I jerked away from his obvious disapproval and backed onto the street in my hand-me-down Honda Accord that would scream middle class in Jake Nelson’s east side neighborhood.

 What do you do for fun when not writing?

            I’m a confirmed genetic genealogy junkie who loves piecing together family trees and solving genealogical mysteries via DNA matches.

What are you working on now? 

Finishing book two of the “Choices Matter” series entitled, “because I know you.”

Where else can readers find you online?   

            Amazon Author Page:  amazon.com/author/bethsteury

Website:   Beth Steury – Saving sex for marriage cheerleader, YA Author, Christ follower

Facebook:     Beth Steury, Author

Twitter:         @Beth_Steury

Pinterest:      Beth Steury, Author

Goodreads:   Beth Steury, Author

Bio

Beth immerses herself in the YA world via substitute teaching, connecting with the teenage staff at the fast-joint where she claims the back booth as her office, and reading YA fiction.

She’s a cheerleader for saving sex for marriage. Her “Waiting Matters … Because YOU Matter” blog helps people of all ages navigate the choppy waters of saving sex for marriage and “renewed waiting.”

Beth is also a genetic genealogy enthusiast who used DNA to find her birth parents. Her journey to find and connect with her biological family is chronicled in “A Doorstep Baby’s Search for Answers.” Her “Slices of Real Life” posts find GOD in the day-to-day moments of real life.

All of Beth’s writing endeavors can be found on her website. Connect with her on Facebook, Goodreads, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Check out her books  available on Amazon in both print and ebooks.

Back cover blurb:

After a series of bad choices rocked his world, seventeen-year-old Preston charts a new course as far from his ladies’ man ways as he can get. He distances himself from the dating scene and avoids his party-loving friends—the things that once dominated his life. Then he meets Maggie, the new girl in town, the first day of their junior year. She’s beautiful on the inside and out, knows nothing of his past, and he can’t get her out of his mind.

When a disastrous first date leaves her skeptical about the guys at Madison High, Maggie slows down her pursuit of a guy to trust with her white-wedding-dress future. She wants a boyfriend, sure, but he’d have to be nothing like the jerk who forced her first kiss. Someone more like Preston, who’s been nothing but sweet and helpful, not to mention, easy on the eyes. But he is so out of her league.

Can Maggie afford to let her guard down around the charming Preston? Will Preston’s past jeopardize his chances with the one girl who could anchor his future?