Interview with Gail Pallotta & spotlight of Stopped Cold...

We're happy to have Gail Pallotta with us today talking about her novel Stopped Cold. To learn more about her and her book, read on!

Back cover blurb:

Things aren't what they seem in peaceful Mistville, North Carolina.

Margaret McWhorter enjoys a laid-back Freshman year in high school swimming and hanging out with friends—until the day her brother, Sean, suffers a stroke from taking steroids. Now he's lying unconscious in a hospital.

Anger sets a fire for retribution inside her, and Margaret vows to make the criminals pay. Even the cop on the case can't stop her from investigating. Looking for justice, she convinces two friends, Jimmy and Emily to join her in a quest that takes them through a twisted, drug-filled sub-culture they discover deep in the woods behind the school. Time and again they walk a treacherous path, and come face-to-face with danger.

All the while Margaret really wants to cure Sean, heal the hate inside, and open her heart to love.

Please give us the first page of the book.

My first day as a Freshman at Meriwether Christian High School in Mistville, North Carolina, the sun shone on a small plant with pink blossoms on the window sill and gave Mrs. Hornsby’s English class a cheerful look. She stood in front of pine straight back chairs scrunched together in the middle of the room, the tables shoved up against the wall at the end of it.

“Today we’ll form a circle and get acquainted.”

Her voice sounded bubbly and kind, but I wanted to escape to the pool or a beach. She directed us with her hands as we scraped chairs across the laminated floor and took our seats. That’s when I noticed Jimmy Willmore staring at me. As self-conscious as a possum in a dog show, I peered at my lap. Was he checking me out? I raised my head and glanced at him.

He shifted his gaze to the blackboard.

Mrs. Hornsby ran her hand through her short, salt-and-pepper-colored hair then twirled around. “Let’s start with you.” She gestured toward a pretty girl with dainty features and long, blonde hair.

“I’m Sally Dumont, a transfer student from North Wilkes.”

The other kids gave their names, but I let them fade into the background while I thought about Jimmy Willmore. Then it was my turn. “I’m Margaret McWhorter, and I entered Meriwether in middle school.”

What do you do for fun when not writing? Get together with friends and family, go to lunch with hubby, swim and go to the beach every chance I get.

What are you working on now?  I’m excited about a new adult romantic suspense novel I’m working on.

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

I’m a fan of Elvis Presley. I listen to his CD, “An Evening Prayer,” three days a week on the way to the pool.

I love fresh fish, especially eating it on the Back Porch in Destin, Florida.

It’s hard to find my shoe size, so I rarely throw away a pair of shoes no matter how old and ragged looking they get.

I have Lyme disease, but thanks to Jesus and a wonderful alternative doctor, I’m up and kicking.

I cook Southern recipes handed down from three generations.

Why did you choose to write this book?

As a college student then later as a young Mom, I knew of children, teens and young adults affected in a devastating way because they didn’t always excel. The results ranged from heartache in children over not winning a race or making all As to suicide attempts and suicide in young adults. I’m not sure if these sad situations crossed my path more than they did that of others or not, but the more pain I witnessed, the more I wished these children, teens and young adults had believed they did not have to be the best, but do their best. Even though the drive seemed to originate from different sources - parents, siblings, peer pressure or within - I wanted to tell them that God had given each of them a gift or gifts to use for Him, and they didn’t need to be #1. The theme rattled around in my head for years until finally I put it in Stopped Cold.

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

It takes a lot of hard work.

What is the toughest test you've faced as a writer?

Marketing, especially balancing it with time to write.

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

Standards set by others pale when we use our talent to glorify God. We’re all created in His image, but each of us has a particular gift or gifts to use for Him.

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

My wonderful, Christian daughter.

Bio:

Award-winning author Gail Pallotta’s a wife, mom, swimmer and bargain shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and family. She’s a former regional writer of the year for American Christian Writers Association, a 2013 Grace Awards finalist and a 2017 Reader’s Favorite Book Award winner. She’s published six books, poems, short stories and two-hundred articles. Some of her articles appear in anthologies while two are in museums.

Where else can readers find you online?

I have a special twitter site for the high school in Stopped Cold and would love to have people follow it. It’s Meriwether Christian @MeriwetherCS. (https://twitter.com/MeriwetherCS)

Website - https://gailpallotta.com

Blog - https://www.gailpallotta.blogspot.com

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorsandMore

Twitter - Gail Pallotta @Hopefulwords