And now, for the moment you've all been waiting for...
The beginning...
Of the blog tour...
For the launch...
Of...
Daylight
9/11 short story. Coming September 11th, 2021.
It was too late. The whole world knew it, the nations shaking their heads at the fallen United States, our beautiful country of hope and freedom covered in blood and ashes. Only the devil could’ve planned something so disastrous. Only God could save us now. Only God could save August. It was all my fault that he nearly lost his life, dashing back into the hailstorm of debris to save a man who was already dead. I can only hope that he’ll recover—that we will recover. Because some things will never be forgotten. Coming to Kindle on Sept. 11th, 2021, Daylight is a heart-rending short story of grief and rejoicing in the aftermath of 9/11 by bestselling author, Grace A. Johnson.
Welcome to the launch tour, my friends and fellow bloggers - and are those some new faces I see? *points finger* You. Yes, you, there in the back...in the trench coat... That's it! Smile! You're on camera!
No, not really, but it is nice to see all of y'all here, joining me for what is not only my first official launch but the launch of my EIGHTH book! I mean, technically, one three of those are in print...and the other five are all super short stories, but still. I wrote 'em, I published 'em. They count.
Now, enough fiddling-fartin' around. Y'all are here for a party, aren't ya? Well then, let's party!!!
The Tour
You heard that right! I am having my first ever blog tour! Squeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, the schedule is below, so PLEASE, I urge you to check out these AMAZERIFIC posts from my even MORE amazing friends!!! There are interviews with moi, interviews with mah main man August, and reviews of the book! The tour officially starts TODAY and ends Sept. 11th...but I'll be announcing the winner to the giveaway on the 12th!
Sept. 1st:
Blog Tour/Giveaway Kickoff - www.graceajohnson.com
Character Q&A - www.thepeninspired.wordpress.com
Sept. 2nd:
Review - www.Kristinahallauthor.wordpress.com
Sept. 3rd:
Review + Interview - www.egbella.com
Sept. 4th:
Review - www.teenwritersnook.com
Sept. 5th:
Book Club Kit - www.graceajohnson.com
Sept. 6th:
Spotlight + Review - www.whimsicalwanderings.home.blog
Author Interview - www.gloryforgodalone.blogspot.com
Sept. 7th:
Author Interview - www.intomywritingjourney.wordpress.com
Sept. 8th:
Character Q&A - www.eccoltonauthor.wixsite.com/quillofhope
Sept. 9th:
What Readers Are Saying About Daylight - www.graceajohnson.com
Sept. 10th:
Review - www.vanessahallauthor.wordpress.com
Sept. 11th:
Review - www.abigailkayharris.wordpress.com
Review - www.thebookcubicle.wordpress.com
Never Forget - www.graceajohnson.com
Sept. 12th:
Giveaway Wrap-up - www.graceajohnson.com
THE GIVEAWAY!!!
You heard that right, my lovelies! There is indeed a GIVEAWAY!!!!!! You, mon ami, have the chance to win an e-copy of Daylight + some extra goodies like desktop wallpapers and printable bookmarks!!
Enter the giveaway by subscribing to my newsletter. Collect more entries by commenting on tour posts and answering the trivia question. One winner will be selected and notified through email. The winner will be announced on Sept. 12th on my blog!
The Sale
I know, I know. The book hasn't even come out yet and it's already on sale. But seriously, guys, if you preorder Daylight from NOW to September 10th, you'll get the special launch tour price of $0.99! Dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Once it releases, the price will go up to $1.99!
It's available pretty much everywhere, which is like INSANELY AWESOME because all my other book are only available on Amazon. Anyway, click HERE to view all the sites it's available on and HERE to preorder it on Amazon!
The Story Behind the Story
Y'all, this story...it's different. I probably said the same thing about Six O'clock and The River and everything else I've ever written, but it's true for Daylight too. And so my post today is not only to celebrate the upcoming release of this lovely little story, it's also to share with y'all the story behind the story.
We begin with a song, actually. "Sky Is Falling" was written after the events of 9/11, by Lifehouse lead singer Jason Wade. He said: "I wrote this after September 11th. I didn't write it specifically about that, but it's my observation on how quickly people can fall back into their everyday lives even after something unbelievably terrible has happened."
I love the emotion in all of his earlier songs, but "Sky Is Falling" is definitely one of my favorites - particularly the acoustic version.
(By the way...I own the graphics below but not the words on them...those belong to Jason.)
Their songs have inspired a lot of story ideas for me, but when I heard about Jason's inspiration for this one, I knew I just had to write something about it.
So Daylight was born.
The setting of New York during and after the events of 9/11 was definitely new to me. Foreign, even. Since I was born four years later, I've felt disconnected from the terrorist attacks that occurred that day.
So when I started writing, I turned to YouTube and some footage of the actual towers falling. I found this video from National Geographic with Rudy Giuliani:
I don't know, just watching it...hearing people scream...made it all so real. That's what I wanted to capture in Daylight - the gravity of what happened, how the world was affected, what it was like to be there. To be right in the middle of that and lose loved ones, be injured, or walk away entirely unscathed.
I honestly think everyone says their story is about "love and loss." I know I have, but to say it about Daylight would be an understatement. It's just a short little thing - a few thousand words, a couple of scenes - but it's about an entire lifetime's worth of pain, grief, mourning, and rejoicing.
I am beyond excited to share this story with y'all. I hope it has the same affect on you as it did on me, and that you enjoy it while connecting with the millions of people who experienced the same things my characters do.
Thank y'all for joining me for the launch tour of Daylight! Don't forget to follow the rest of the tour posts, enter the giveaway, and snag your discounted preorder copy today!!!
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WHOO-HOO!!!! The tour is HERE!!! (Well, technically it's been here the past six days and I'm just now getting to this post...*coughs*) 😅 BUT, I'm SO EXCITED for it's release this Saturday and I ABSOLUTELY CAN'T WAIT TO GET MY HANDS ON IT!!!!! Congratulations, girl!
I first heard about this tour/the giveaway through Kristianne's "Whimsical Wanderings" blog...and it caught my attention right away. I was 9 years old when 9/11 happened, and I watched it unfold on TV. I was watching when the second plane flew into the second tower, and I'll never forget my screams when the first tower fell. It was horrible, it was life-changing...and yet to see writers taking that all darkness and evil and shaping beautiful stories out of it 20 years later...that lessens the ache I still feel whenever I see pictures or video of 9/11. I wish you all the best with your launch!
YAY THE TOUR IS HERE!!
(And wow, that video... wow. :()
Yay, the tour is here and I'm so EXCITED!!!!!!!😀 I loved hearing your "story behind the story"!! "Daylight" excellently captures the emotion and grief of everything that happened on 9/11. I'm so glad you were inspired to write it and I got to read it!!! ❤
Congrats, Grace! So so excited for you! I only read this and I'm already teary eyed, lol... blessings to you!!