Mastodon The Writing Desk: Special Guest Post: Life on the Edge of Crazy, by Katie O’Sullivan @OkatieO

21 June 2016

Special Guest Post: Life on the Edge of Crazy, by Katie O’Sullivan @OkatieO


Climate scientist Chase Anderson races from one project to the next, unwilling to slow down in his quest to save the world’s oceans. He has no time for family or relationships until he crashes into an impetuous blonde with a quirky sense of humor. One sizzling kiss makes him seriously reevaluate his priorities. And his sanity. Emma Maguire left her small Cape Cod hometown years ago, seeking the fast pace and anonymity of New York City. She’s not sure what she’s searching for, but when a family crisis brings her home to Provincetown she’s caught in a crazy tangle of half-truths and mistaken identity… and falls for the handsome stranger who broke her cell phone. Will untangling the web of lies drive them crazy, or lead to something even crazier – like love?

Available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

My novel CRAZY ABOUT YOU is about small towns and second chances, learning to trust others and also believing in yourself. I live year-round on Cape Cod, and when I started writing fiction I decided to use the beautiful settings of the Cape as backdrops to my stories. They say “Write what you know,” right? And while Cape Cod has been a prime tourist destination for a few hundred years, there aren’t an overabundance of books set here…and some that do take place here just get it wrong. I try hard to infuse my novels with a sense of place, and lots of real details about what makes Cape Cod such a unique setting.

Summertime in Provincetown is every bit as flamboyant and colorful as portrayed in my story. The other nine months of the year it’s a quiet live-and-let-live community of families, fishermen, ocean researchers and artists. My kids attend a regional high school and have best friends who live in P-town year round. The place has a small-town, hometown feel to it where everyone knows and cares about each other.

But for the three months of summer, the population swells from under 3,000 to over 60,000 and the party never ends. Especially during Carnival Week in August, which is kind of like Mardi Gras with a rainbow-striped feather boa wrapped tightly around its neck.

Since the main character of CRAZY ABOUT YOU, Emma Maguire, grew up in P-town, she’s unfazed by much of the circus swirling around her. Like my kids, she went to high school with these shop owners and waitresses, and has learned to ignore most of the craziness that accompanies life in a tourist town and go with the flow. The other main character, Chase Anderson, is a climate scientist who studies the world’s oceans, too focused on saving the planet to slow down and enjoy life of any kind, let alone one as crazy as you find on the streets of P-town.

There really is a Center for Coastal Studies located in Provincetown. The Atlantic garbage gyre Chase is studying? That’s real, too. The “Plastisphere” of plastic debris so thick that it’s forming its own biosphere in the middle of the Atlantic, complete with yet-undiscovered bacteria? Also real. I read a fascinating article in Scientific American about the discovery of the “plastisphere” and the scientists collecting the varieties of new bacterial strains, and that part of my novel grew from there. Funny where we find inspiration!

Should we be scared of looming environmental disaster? Probably. Climate change is a serious threat to our world, and people need to be aware that these dangers are real. Slipping a bit of eco-knowledge into a romance novel isn’t going to solve the world’s problems, but might help introduce terms and concepts to readers who don’t know what’s going on in the oceans.

Like my character Chase, I want to make sure Cape Cod remains a beautiful place to live and to visit for generations to come. I’m not going to stop anyone from throwing plastic beads off the Carnival parade floats driving down the main streets in August, but I’m hoping in some small way to make people a little more aware of the problems facing our oceans and coastlines. And appreciate the unique beauty that is Cape Cod.

Katie O’Sullivan
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About the Author

Katie O’Sullivan lives with her family and big dogs on Cape Cod, drinking way too much coffee and inventing new excuses not to dust. Living next to the Atlantic influences everything she writes, from her YA mermaid series to her crazy contemporary romances set along the Cape’s sandy shores. A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and writes romance and adventure for young adults and something steamier for the young at heart. Find out more at Katie's Website and Blog, and find her on Facebook and Twitter @OkatieO.

49 comments:

  1. Loved this book!! The added benefit of reading it: I got to learn a few things about climate change I had no idea about. Thanks, Katie!

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    1. Thanks for visiting, Peggy, and so glad to hear you enjoyed the book!

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  2. I always enjoy reading fiction that gives me an insight into a situation or context I know little about, and look forward to reading your book. I knew about plastic waste in the Pacific, but not that we have contaminated the Atlantic too.

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    1. I think the Pacific garbage gyre is much larger, but there is probably similar pollution in every large body of water. So much work to be done!

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  3. I always enjoy reading fiction that gives me an insight into a situation or context I know little about, and look forward to reading your book. I knew about plastic waste in the Pacific, but not that we have contaminated the Atlantic too.

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  4. Nice to read a book on the Cape. Visited Provincetown once years ago and loved it. It's every bit as you described.

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    1. P-town is a great town, full of fascinating contradictions but everyone seems to live and let live. Thanks for stopping by!

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  5. An interestingly different heroine--climate change scientist. I bet this is a good read

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    1. Actually, the hero is the environmental scientist in my story, but you raise an interesting point that there are a lot of women in the environmental movement - maybe a future story!

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  6. I'd love to visit Cape Cod. Your story sounds wonderful.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Beth. Cape Cod is a great vacation destination! So many different things to see and do.

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  7. An entertaining story wrapped around a worthy cause! I think fiction is more influential in driving social change than it gets credit for. Good on you for using your writing mojo for good.
    Sorchia's Universe

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    1. Thanks, Sorchia. I agree that fiction can help influence opinions. So glad you stopped by!

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  8. Katie, Great subject to take on. The environment needs as much attention as we can focus on it. I feel including the Earth's problems in fiction makes them more accessible to people. And a great story to boot! Best of luck with the book!

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    1. Thanks, Laura. Obviously I agree about the environment. Thanks for visiting!

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  9. Enjoyed this book with its slightly frazzled heroine and hunky marine scientist. The ending was just as crazy as August in P-town.

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  10. Really interesting post. Loved learning the background of your book.

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  11. Your book sounds great. I enjoyed learning how you infused your fun love story with real elements of the the Cape and of environmental concerns.

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    1. Thanks, Allison. Most of my books are set on Cape Cod - and I also write YA mermaids, who summer in Nantucket Sound. Yep, everyone loves a Cape vacation.

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  12. Katy, as you know, loved your book! And as an added bonus, I've read several of Tony's books and am in the middle of reading another one of his, so a win-win!

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  13. Katie, I have you book and am partially through it as time allows. I am enjoying it. Tony is a new author to me, so I'll have to check out his books. This type of swap is a great idea.

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    1. Glad to hear you're enjoying my book so far, Tena! Thanks for stopping by!

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  14. Great post. I love the cover, and the reference to the destruction happening in our oceans and environment. Good luck with sales and promotion.

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  15. Katie, love the cover. Great sounding story. Congrats!

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    1. I love my cover so much, and love that the picture is at odds with the tagline :-) Thanks for stopping by, Kayden.

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  16. Katie, Your post, took me back to my first and only visit to Provincetown. I tried my first ever lobster! Great memories.

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    1. Glad to evoke good memories! In my story, the characters visit the very real Lobster Pot restaurant, right off MacMillan Wharf. They do great lobster, but their lobster ravioli is truly out of this world. The owner's son played soccer with my oldest and catered a few of the team dinners - my son couldn't stop talking about it!

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  17. Small towns and second chances! You've built your story on wonderful themes!

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    1. Thanks, Colleen. I love romances that give their characters a second shot at finding true love... so that's what I write.

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  18. I know CRAZY ABOUT YOU is an intelligent, well written book, and the romance definitely adds sizzle. Plus the setting is wonderful! Thanks to both Katie and Tony for featuring this must read.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by, Lida! And thanks for the compliments!

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  19. This is already on my TBR list! Can't wait to read it!

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  20. Thank you for sharing and including this issue in your book, Katie. Our oceans seem to be a dumping ground for everything. I live on the west coast and see the damage it has done to the coast. Visited a place up in Northern California--scenic and stunning views, yet, there was plastic debris floating miles off the coast. Your book is definitely on my tbr list. All the best!

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    1. We face a lot of dire environmental issues these days, and while I do understand that the idea of reading is to escape from reality, I'm glad you agree that slipping it into the storyline is a good way to raise general awareness. Thanks for stopping by, Mary!

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  21. Thanks for inviting me to this blog. Katie, you know how much I love your books. Tony's books look interesting as well. It looks like I have some reading ahead of me.

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    1. Hi Sandra, and I know, right? I'm off to download a few of Tony's books myself!

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  22. Sounds like a great read Katie! I like that you added something in there about the oceans being a plastic dumping ground. Best wishes for many sales!

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  23. I do like the sound of this book. Here's wishing you many happy sales!

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