What’s on my iPod: “Marry Me” by Train
What I’m reading: The Song Remains the Same by Allison Winn Scotch
The last person I followed on Twitter: @aswinn

 

We at BookSparksPR wish a very happy publication week to Allison Winn Scotch and her new novel THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME – the coverage is literally unstoppable and we can’t keep up.

More about THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

From the New York Times-bestselling author comes a novel that asks the question, who are we without our memories?  And how much of our future is defined by our past?

One of only two survivors of a plane crash, Nell Slattery wakes in the hospital with no memory of the crash – or who she is, or was. Now she must piece together both body and mind — with the help of family and friends who have their own agendas.  She filters through photos, art, music and stories, hoping something will jog her memory, and soon – in tiny bits and pieces –Nell starts remembering…It isn’t long before she learns to question the stories presented by her mother, her sister and business partner, and her husband.  In the end she will learn that forgiving betrayals small and large will be the only true path to healing herself — and to finding happiness.

 

Here are some highlights from a very successful week – congratulations, Allison!

1. WRITERS CORNER

“I was excited for this opportunity to review Ms. Scotch’s work.  I   found the novel hard to maintain my focus.   Ms. Scotch conveyed Nell’s conflict within the novel very well.   I as the reader was able to understand Nell’s character, and gained sympathy for her with the reactions of the family to her amnesia.    The subject of amnesia is presented well in the novel.  The clash of characters with the family and their expectations of Nell  is interesting.  I would definitely read more from Ms. Scotch in the future.

One aspect of the novel I liked was the song list that played through each chapter.  Rory gives her sister Nell a gift in the form of an ipod.    This ipod includes songs from Nell’s history.   The songs are supposed to help Nell recover her memory.  The chapters that include each song also include a flashback that relates to a memory from her past.   What would be on your playlist?”

Read the rest here

2. BLESS THEIR HEARTS MOM 

“This book held by attention from the very first page! tHE musical references were great- I hadn’t thought about some of the included sons in years! They truly helped to frame the story and move ti along. The story is intense and poignant, but very endearing. The author does a great job in keeping you guessing about what is next in the story. You feel compassion for the “Eleanor Rogby”, plus hoping her former world, and current world, will come together gently and not fall abpart into a million pieces. If they dont make this into a movie, something is wrong with the move industry! This story has too good of a plot to pass up! Put it on your must read list today!”

Read the rest here

3. READING WITH MARTINIS

“I am quite a fan of Allison Winn Scotch. When I cracked open her first book, The Department of Lost and Found, I was instantly hooked. Not just on the story, but of Winn Scotch as a writer. When I saw that her latest novel, The Song Remains the Same, was going to be touring through TLC Book Tours, I jumped at the chance to review the book.

When I read the Goodreads synopsis of this book, I was very intrigued by the plot. I personally find amnesia to be rather fascinating and heartbreaking. As I began to read this book, I really felt Nell’s confusion and distress for the situation she was in. If she had retained her memory after surviving the plane crash, perhaps survivor’s guilt would have plagued her. But Nell’s primary issue was not knowing something that is so intrinsic to who we are as people: our past. Who we are as individuals is rooted in our past experiences, our memories (both good and bad), and our ability to know who is worthy of our trust. Trust was a secondary issue that Nell had. Certainly, she could understand that these people were her family, but the trust that comes with those relationships wasn’t there for her, especially after she begins to discover she has been told half truths and full out lies. Nell’s struggle completely yanked at my sympathy strings and made me wonder how I would handle being in her situation.”

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4. 5 MINUTES FOR BOOKS

“Opening a novel with the protagonist just coming to after a terrible accident certainly puts the reader right in the middle of the action from the first paragraph. This is the case with Allison Winn Scotch’s new novelThe Song Remains the Same, and the stage is set for a story of unanswered questions as amnesia is the fate of the survivor, Nell Slattery.

Though she doesn’t remember who she is, or what her life was like before she became one of only two plane crash survivors, Nell soon has a feeling that things just aren’tright with the picture that is being painted for her. Her mother, her sister, and her husband are by her side, but the person they all describe isn’t necessarily who Nell wants to be anymore. She sees a life that could be described just like the wardrobe she finds in her closet at home: gray and more gray. She finds herself wanting more vibrant colors, and she becomes determined to add more zest in her second chance at life.

But the work that she must do to redefine herself also hinges on her ability to know the full picture of her life before, and it seems as if everyone around her is holding back. There are clearly secrets that need to be unearthed, and she’ll take some unconventional actions in an attempt to uncover them. What will be left for Nell when she finds out everything there is to know about her previous life?”

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5. And now a little more about our author! Allison Winn Scotch stops by CHICK LIT IS NOT DEAD and tells 5 things to her teen self


“1. You’re On The Right Track: Keep being independent, keep sticking to your guns. Sure, this means that sometimes you have crazy arguments with your father over the state of the world and political affairs, but it also means that you’ll know when to stand up for yourself a decade later, when it comes to work, to love, to friendship. You’re growing more comfortable with personal responsibility, with emotional responsibility, and both of these will serve you well.

2. Say Thank You to Your Boyfriend: You guys won’t last. You probably already know that. That by the second day of college, you’ll have outgrown each other. But for now, he is wonderful – a loving, kind relationship that will lay the foundation for what you should expect from future relationships. You won’t, always. To be sure, you will date some really lousy guys who will ruin you for a few months every now and then when you break up. But your boyfriend…he’s a good guy, and he’ll teach you what you have a right to expect from a relationship. This will be your Point North as you navigate the sticky dating scene of your 20s.”

Read the rest here

More about ALLISON WINN SCOTCH 
Allison Winn Scotch is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels The One That I Want, Time of My Life and The Department of Lost and Found. She is also a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in dozens of national consumer magazines. She lives in New York with her husband, son, and daughter, and their dog.