Blog Tour Stop: Yellow Socks and Blood Spots (author interview

 

Two lines means pregnant, and pregnant is the very last thing seventeen-year-old Isabelle wants to be. She’s just beginning her senior year, she’s rekindling the respectable relationship she once had with her family and she’s finally fallen in love.

Her boyfriend, Jason, wants an abortion, while Isabelle wants to give her baby a chance at life, whether that means adoption or raising her baby herself. Her situation raises a question of values, beliefs, rights, societal expectations and personal opinions, and as Isabelle’s friends and family discover the news, they seem to think that only they know what’s best for her and her baby. Within two weeks of finding out about their beautiful disaster, Isabelle and Jason have to come to a mutual agreement and make a life or death decision.

Interview with author Bailey J Thompson

Author Bailey J Thompson

When did you first know you wanted to write?

Growing up, I'd always been a "storyteller". I would tell my stories through words, pictures or a combination of both. It was all just fun and as a child, I'd always said I wanted to be a doctor. It wasn't until grade six (twelve years old) that I really started to consider it. My teacher had assigned a project: write a 2-page story about a gingerbread story due the day before the christmas break started. On the due-date, I showed up empty handed and begged my teacher for an extension. It wans't that I had forgotten about the project, it was that I was already at page thirteen and nowhere near finishing. When the holiday was over, I proudly presented a 30-page (beautifully bound with the help of my father) novella entitled Detective Bailz and the Haunted Gingerbread Mansion. That was the moment when I realized how much I enjoyed crafting stories and also that being a writer was what I was, and what I wanted to do.

How did you get the inspiration for your novel?

They say that you should write the stories that you would want to read. I found that the topic of my novel is so incredibly controversial; a political or religious debate and a fairly common experience for young people; but the literature on it is not as common. I had seen a couple of my friends go through the experience (and discovered many more individuals as I wrote the story), and I really felt compelled to write a story to explore the reality.

What is your favorite part about being an author?

That "I'm ALIVE" feeling that you get when you're sitting down writing or you've just completed a piece. I think being a writer gives me the gift of being able to observe some of the little things; the way things sound, smell, taste... and there's a really magical feeling that comes with putting those things into words.

What is your least favorite part about being an author?

Disrupted sleep.... Darn ideas popping into my head when I'm trying to fall asleep!

Could you write a bit about what your publication process was like?

When I finished my first draft, I was pretty certain that it was perfect. At least, that's what I hoped and thought. Then the editorial review came back with some pretty intense changes; I'd known it was a little naive of me to assume that the first "final" draft of my very first completed novel would be flawless, but I had hoped! I spent another six months making revisions. By the time the book was finally submitted, I had rewritten the book four times and it had been through four editors.

Are you currently working on any other projects?

Yep, I am working on a couple of children's books at the moment. I own a small publishing house called Gerbil Meets Mouse Publishing, that publishes kids picture books, and so that's kind of my other baby aside from the novels. I have spent the last five years working on another novel. It's nowhere near being finished as I am still waiting for the rest of it to come to me, but I think that will be my next main focus.

Describe in three or fewer sentences what makes your book unique and why a reader should buy it.

Abortion is the clashing of rights; women's rights and humans rights, and while I don't think that we, as humans, will ever come to a concrete agreement on who is right, I believe that it is a taboo topic that needs to be openly explored and discussed. Nobody can tell you what to believe, and that's not what this book is about. It's about creating perspective; telling the story of a beautiful, young, successful 17-year-old girl named Isabelle in a new relationship with a big life and death decision to make. 

Visit Bailey's Website