Dare You To Blog Tour: Guest Post from Katie McGarry on Beth and Isaiah's Relationship

I'm today's stop on the UK Dare You To blog tour! And it gives me great pleasure to welcome a lady who I've wanted to get on the blog for a while now - the lovely Katie McGarry author of two of my favourite books Pushing the Limits and its companion novel Dare You To. Today I have a wonderfully insightful guest post from Katie all about Beth and Isaiah's relationship to celebrate the release of the amazing Dare You To. If you've yet to read Pushing the Limits or Dare You To you might want to stop by my reviews which I'll link to underneath for more information and to hear my thoughts on these incredible books!

Pushing the Limits Review  

Dare You To Review 

Just Try and Make Them Fall in Love 

A Guest Post by Katie McGarry 

When I sold my Young Adult novel, Pushing the Limits, to Harlequin Teen, they initially asked me to continue to write in the world of PTL and I happily agreed. I loved all my characters and couldn’t wait to jump back in. Plus, I knew exactly whose book I wanted to write next: Beth and Isaiah, the best friends and surrogate family of Noah in Pushing the Limits.

I suggested this to my publisher, and they said it was up to me, but they’d also be okay if Beth and Isaiah each fell for someone else rather than ending up together. I heard what they said, also heard the words that it was up to me, and happily set out to plot Beth and Isaiah’s story.

I thought I knew everything—how they’d slowly figure each other out and how they’d fall in love and I excitedly began to plot it all out in my mind. But then something strange happened. The character arcs that are so desperately important for a story weren’t happening.

Isaiah continually enabled Beth’s bad behaviour and continually put his heart on the line and Beth…well, Beth really cared for Isaiah.

Cared? I was writing a love story—I needed more than caring. And Isaiah. What was I going to do with this boy? Couldn’t he see that if he truly loved Beth, he’d tell her when she was making a wrong choice? Like, hey, see that train coming down the track? You might want to step off the rails.

It wasn’t working. The freaking story wasn’t fleshing out the way I wanted. Isaiah and Beth were not falling in love.

Gah. The nerve of these two.

I mean, I created them, right? I saw them falling for each other when I wrote Pushing the Limits. Why weren’t they cooperating?

So I did what I normally do when I’m stuck: I free wrote. I was going to prove Beth and Isaiah wrong. I was going to write a few scenes and they’d get their sorry butts back in line and fall in love even if it killed all three of us in the process.

And I wrote some very amazing scenes. Some of the best I’ve ever written and I learned some very emotional, riveting, heart-twisting pieces of information about Beth and Isaiah. And those deeply personal tidbits—they told me things I had been trying to ignore. Something very foretelling about them and their relationship and I finally had to pull the cotton out of my ears and listen.

Beth and Isaiah are extremely complicated characters and their relationship is even more complex. Their hopes and dreams and emotions are intertwined like strands of hair in a braid and I craved for them to be happy.

Do they find happiness? Is it with each other? This is where I tell you that Dare You To is out now, and that I’m excited for you to find out.

About Katie McGarry

Katie was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. Writing has given Katie an excuse to pursue her passions. Research for her books has provided her with the amazing opportunity to train with baseball players, ride along in a drag car at ninety-six miles per hour and experience boxing and mixed martial arts.

Katie is the author of the full-length Young Adult novels PUSHING THE LIMITS and DARE YOU TO, and the e-novella CROSSING THE LINE. Her debut novel, PUSHING THE LIMITS, is a 2012 Goodreads Choice Finalist for YA Fiction. Katie’s next novel CRASH INTO YOU will published by Mira Ink in December 2013.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today Katie! I found this post hugely insightful - I fell in love with Beth and Isaiah in Pushing the Limits! This provides a great inside scoop for readers curious about their relationship. Trust Beth and Isaiah to have minds of their own! I actually think them not co-operating really suits their characters! 

Katie would love to hear from her readers - contact her via Twitter @KatieMcGarry
Get your copy of Dare You To here http://amzn.to/13zlsx6 
Watch the book trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIFjHaLmt0 

Don’t miss the rest of the stops on the Dare You To blog tour, check out my banner in the sidebar for more information. Tomorrow the blog tour is stopping at Never Judge a Book by its Cover!