On Tour with Prism Book Tours
Book Tour Launch for
Love's Remains
By Jacqueline Simon Gunn
Author Interview
What is your motivation behind LOVE REMAINS? Why did you want to write it?
I created the Where You’ll Land series (Love’s Remains is book 2 and can be read as a stand-alone) to explore and share with readers the various reasons people do what they do in regards to relationships, particularly romantic/intimate relationships. Instead of writing a case study book where I used patient vignettes to show life and love through non-fiction stories, I decided to write a fictional series where the characters were studying psychology, so that I could merge narratives and dialogue that revealed the characters’ psychological makeup and motivation, with a story full of drama, entanglements and romance. Written this way, I hoped it would be assessible and interesting and offer insight to people outside of the field of clinical psychology who were curious about the “why” behind what we do. How does who we are affect our choices and how do our choices affect who we are? Why do we love who we do? Instead of telling readers the answers, I wanted to show them through stories, hopefully opening windows for them to think about their own relationships.
What do you hope readers take with them after they’ve read it?
I hope that readers will find something of themselves, something relatable within each character that will offer insight into their own relationships and choices and/or the possibility to think about their relationships differently. So many people find themselves in difficult relationships, holding on when it’s painful, staying when they want to go, being pulled toward the wrong people, not loving those who love them. The answers to these questions are complicated and not the same for everyone. That’s why I chose a fictional format as opposed to non-fiction. Instead of telling readers what they should do or advising, I wanted to give them the opportunity to see various relationship situations in action and then show “why,” show the motivation for the characters’ actions. I hoped by revealing the psychology through the characters, readers would find their own answers upon reflection. But the book is filled with drama and tension and like any other fiction writer, I hope my readers will enjoy the story.
Do you have a favorite scene that you can share with us?
It’s tough to choose just one as the story is written from five different points of view, but here’s one of them:
God, I wanted to kiss him. I felt our faces drawing closer, but we pulled back simultaneously. I suppose we both knew that a kiss would have undone all the reparation from our conversation. Maybe we love people forever. Maybe some relationships were derailed by time and circumstance, but somewhere in the background there was a place where that love still existed, where you were still those two people in that time.
After years of trying to seal something that had been broken, I finally got the conversation I needed to heal something deep inside of me. I saw that look he used to get in his eyes, how hauntingly familiar, tragic and endearing and beautiful. It was the expression that made me believe we shared something special, something he didn’t have with any of the other girls. Whenever I felt him slipping away, he’d show up with that look, and for a night, for a few weeks, for a few months, I could pretend everything was the way I wanted. I needed.
But I always anticipated the moment he would leave again, deciding I was too much, or he wasn’t ready, or he needed to be free. Now I knew he understood the pain — the exquisite, excruciating pain — of loving someone just out of reach. Now I knew he really had loved me.
Love enveloped me as we stood facing each other on the beach. I thought of his arms, his chest, his lips. I squeezed my eyes closed and wrapped my arms around myself to quell the chill of memories, all the beautiful nights spent resting against him.
“Are you cold?” he asked, pulling me next to him and rubbing my arm.
I knew he loved her more and better than he ever loved me. I leaned against him, remembering the old us, and part of me wanted it. But I knew I had to let him go. Let him go be with the person he was meant to be with. “Let’s go. I’ll walk you home.”
“You don’t have to walk me home.”
“How many nights did you walk me home when I was drunk? It’s the least I could do.”
When we got to the front of his building, I asked, “Are you going to be alright?”
“Have to be.”
“It’s OK to have a breakdown. It’s OK to let someone close enough to break your heart.”
He nodded, then kissed me on the cheek. “I’m not so good at the heartbroken thing.”
“No one is. But I think for the first time you know what it’s like to feel vulnerable. And I think that vulnerability looks good on you.” I took his hand and squeezed it. “Don’t fuck it up because it’s hard.”
If you could sum the book up in one sentence, what would you say?
Drama, romance and psychology woven into a knot as tight as the characters’ deepening entanglements.
Share something about you that is unique - maybe about how/where you write... or favorite snack foods?
I talk to my cat while I’m writing. And he passed away over five years ago.
Love's Remains
(Where You'll Land #2)
By Jacqueline Simon Gunn
Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 250 Pages
June 4th 2019
The second year of graduate school started out as a new beginning. I felt stronger. My heart had stitched itself up. I had finally healed enough on the inside to let love flourish once again. But an ever-present ex-boyfriend made the unresolved emotions between us impossible to ignore.
Then new complications emerged: Said ex-boyfriend began dating Cecilia, who just happened to be the ex-girlfriend of my new love interest. I should have hated her. I wanted to hate her. But, I have to admit, I liked her.
As the semester progressed, the tangled web between us deepened in ways I never could have anticipated, and it spread to those closest to us. We had the same classes, the same friends, the same interests. Then, of course, there were all the secrets, some of which could ruin the love I believed I wanted, I deserved.
Once again, I got pulled into the dizzying vortex of all that remained unfinished. And doubt crept in. Had I really healed enough to make myself vulnerable again? Had I made the right choices?
But the big question is: Can we ever really leave past relationships behind?
This is the second book in the Where You'll Land series, but can be read as a stand-alone.
Tour Schedule
July 22nd:
Launch
underneath the covers
July 23rd:
E-Romance News
Colorimetry
July 24th:
From Me to You ... Video, Photography, & Book Reviews
Wishful Endings
July 25th:
Paulette's Papers
I'm All About Books
July 26th:
Reading On The Edge
July 27th:
Grand Finale
Other Books in the Series
(Where You'll Land #1)
By Jacqueline Simon Gunn
Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Paperback & ebook, 408 Pages
January 8th 2019
When you try to escape your past without confronting your emotions, you repeat those same past patterns over and over. And that’s just what happened to Will and me, along with a few others who got swept up into the storm that was our relationship. Then came the awful secret. The one that changed everything.
Sometimes the most painful relationships are the ones that help us grow into who we are and to find the love we had been searching for all along.
Which begs the question: Can we choose who we love?
About the Author
Jacqueline Simon Gunn is a Manhattan-based clinical psychologist and writer. She has authored two non-fiction books, and co-authored two others. She has published many articles, both scholarly and mainstream, and currently works as a freelance writer. With her academic and clinical experience in psychology, Gunn is now writing psychological fiction. Her Close Enough to Kill series, explores the delicate line between passion and obsession, love and hate, and offers readers an elaborate look into the mind of a murderer.
In addition to her clinical work and writing, Gunn is an avid runner and reader. She is currently working on multiple writing projects, including three romance novels.
Tour Giveaway
One winner will receive:
- A Kindle Copy of Where You'll Land
- A Kindle Copy of Love's Remains
- A $10 Amazon Gift Card
Open to Kindle users
Ends July 31, 2019
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