Gail Pallotta's new book
STOPPED COLD
Things aren’t what they seem in peaceful Mistville,
North Carolina. Margaret McWhorter enjoys a laid-back Freshman year in high
school flirting with Jimmy Willmore, swimming and hanging out with
friends—until that day. Her brother, Sean, suffers a stroke from taking a
steroid. Now he’s lying unconscious in a hospital. Margaret’s angry at her dad
for pushing Sean to be a great quarterback, but a fire of hatred burns inside
her to make the criminals pay.
Looking for justice, she
takes Jimmy and her best friend, Emily, through a twisted, drug-filled
sub-culture. A clue sends them deep into the woods behind the school where they
overhear drug dealers discuss Sean.
Time and time again they
walk a treacherous path and come face to face with danger. Even the cop on the
case can’t stop them from investigating. All the while Margaret really wants to
cure Sean, heal the hate inside, and open her heart to love.
Buy Links:
Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stopped-cold-gail-pallotta/1117352035?ean=9780985621582
Be the Best, or Do Your Best
By Gail Pallotta
Sometimes those who believe being number one defines
them fail. Then what? There’s a huge difference in doing our best and being our
best. These facts led to the theme for my teen novel, Stopped Cold.
Too many times I watched someone drop to the depths of
despair over not excelling. Everything from grades, athletics, simply not
looking as good as one wanted to, or not accomplishing a particular goal
triggered the agony.
Each time I witnessed the pain a person experienced
because he or she wasn’t number one, a lesson I heard often as a youngster in
Sunday school floated around in my head. I recalled my teacher reading The Parable of the Talents in Chapter
twenty-five in Matthew, and telling us God wanted us to use the gifts he’d
given us.
As an adult I saw the win-at-any-cost phenomenon lead to
destructive behavior. I wasn’t sure why my path had crossed that of people so desperate
to be the best they were willing to hurt themselves when they weren’t. Nonetheless,
it motivated me to write about it.
When I thought of competition, sports came to mind. As a
young person I loved Nancy Drew and
the Hardy Boys, and I’m still a fan
of mysteries, so I wanted to write one. I pondered how to connect a sports
story and a mystery. Steroids came to mind. When I researched steroid use, I
found one of the main reasons given for taking them was a desire to excel in
athletics. This met the requirements for my theme, you don’t have to be number
one for God to love you, and rounded out the book.
MEET GAIL PALLOTTA
Award-winning author Gail Pallotta is a wife, Mom, swimmer and bargain
shopper who loves God, beach sunsets and getting together with friends and
family. She’s been a Sunday school teacher, a swim-team coordinator and an
after-school literary instructor. A former regional writer of the year for
American Christian Writers Association, she won Clash of the Titles in 2010.
Her teen novel, Stopped Cold is a 2013 Grace Awards finalist. Gail's
novella, Mountain of Love and Danger , has been a best-seller in
amazon's paid kindle store. She's published two hundred articles, several poems
and two short stories. Her flash fiction story, “Lifeline,” will appear in the
upcoming Splickety Anthology. Some of her articles are in
anthologies while two are in museums. Coming soon, Barely above Water with Prism Book Group. Visit Gail’s web site at
http://www.gailpallotta.com
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