Exclusive Excerpts: Just a Girl in the Whirl by Annie Wood

“A well-crafted and resonant novel about an overburdened teenage girl’s journey toward self-realization.”— Kirkus Reviews

Welcome to the December 9th stop on the blog tour for Just a Girl in the Whirl by Annie Wood with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more exclusive content, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

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About the Book

Just a Girl in the Whirl
by Annie Wood

Published 11 May 2021
Speaking Volumes

Genre: YA Contemporary (Featuring Poetry)
Page Count: 247
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

A 17 year old girl is overwhelmed with responsibilities trying to keep her messy family together. Everything spins out of control when her addict actor dad who bailed on the family three years ago leaving her with her lovable but bi-polar mom and her two little sisters, comes back into town and wants to reconnect.

Writing poems is her only escape. Just a girl in the is about family, forgiveness, and having enough courage to live your own life, your own way.

Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK

Exclusive: First 5 Poems!

Lauren from Just a Girl in the Whirl works through her feelings by writing poetry.

She could feel it build up inside her,

an inner quake that threatens to set off a tsunami that will destroy
everything in its path.
a rise in the belly,

coming in tidal waves. A tickle in the nose,
that’s not an oncoming sneeze.

She trained herself to ignore this pattern within and respond quickly.

She puts up sandbags to keep it away. her smile – her glass wall.
She is the solid ground beneath their feet.

She can’t afford a crack to surface. She’s gotten so good at pretending.
She can feign indifference with the best of them.

My mind plays the memory of that look in your eyes when you disappeared.

An orchestra of gone,
gone,

gone.

I listen to these pained cords on a loop. Ringing in my ears, jogging my memory.
Remember when it was good?

What if it still is?

Only we forgot.

Let’s make a deal to remember.

And then it, and I, and we,
can be good again.

I’m only scared when I’m breathing.

I’m alive and that’s a good thing, even when it isn’t.
Maybe I’ll like it more in the future.

Today…my daily actions are, at war,
with my daily thoughts.

I avoid. I ignore. I accommodate. In an attempt to remain even keel, with my own wants.
with my own needs.

I fear that,

I won’t get what I desire.

I fear that, I will.
But it’s okay, Because,
I’m only scared when I’m breathing.

(i bury your memory in me (i bury it deeply)

i am always without a clue(everything i feel i ignore, my father and whatever stings
it stings because of you, my father)

i hear

i hear no song (for you are my silencer) i create no stories (for you occupy my mind)
and it’s you I blame whenever the moon is hidden and whenever the sun stops singing

here is the deepest lie everyone knows

(here is the hurt of the hurt and the sigh of the sigh and the star of the star of a flower called joy which grows
faster than heart can wish or soul can ignore) and this is the hope that keep me from falling apart

(i burry your memory in me (i bury it deeply)

Your mind is a room,

decorated with care.
Childhood posters tacked on the walls.

Canopy bed now rusted and ruined from the rain that let in
when you weren’t paying attention. “Clean your room!” I demand.
But you don’t listen.

You can’t. or you won’t. I don’t know.
But the room is too sloppy to ignore.

Important papers lost under piles of dirty clothes.

Music blares from your antique record player. It hurts your ears but you turn it up louder. “It drowns out the rest of the mess,” you tell me as you dance,
and you dance,

and you dance, as
fast
as
you
can.

About the Author

Annie Wood is an Israeli-American, Hollywood native, and a lifelong actress and writer. The web series she created, wrote and stars in, Karma’s a Bitch, was Best of the Web on Virgin America (anniewood.com/Karma)

Wood was part of the NBC DIVERSITY SHOWCASE with her comedic scene, That’s How They Get You.  She’s written 100s of scenes for actors that have been used by Emmy Award-winning TV director, Mary Lou Belli in her UCLA course and casting director, Jeremey Gordon in workshops all around town.

As an author, she has three books out:  Dandy Day, Just a Theory: a quantum love adventure and her first YA novel, Just a Girl in the Whirl (Speaking Volumes Publishing)

Annie’s also an Internationally exhibited mixed-media artist, a produced playwright, and was the third female solo dating game show host in the history of television with the nationally syndicated show, BZZZ! that she also co-produced. (Which just re-ran in 2020 on BUZZRTV!)

Annie writes and creates art daily.

Author Website | Art Website | Twitter | Instagram | Medium | Etsy | Amazon

Giveaway Alert!

Annie Wood will be awarding a $40 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nov 22	Read Your Writes Book Reviews	Nov 23	Long and Short Reviews
Nov 24	Andi’s Young Adult Books	Nov 24	Books in the Hall
Nov 26	Rogue’s Angels	Nov 29	Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews
Nov 30	All the Ups and Downs	Dec 1	Hope. Dreams. Life… Love
Dec 2	Fabulous and Brunette	Dec 3	Author C.A.Milson
Dec 6	Novels Alive	Dec 7	Don’t Judge, Read
Dec 8	Jazzy Book Reviews	Dec 9	Westveil Publishing
Dec 10	The Avid Reader	Dec 13	Joanne Guidoccio
Dec 14	The Obsessed Reader	Dec 15	The Pen and Muse Book Reviews
Dec 16	Our Town Book Reviews	Dec 17	Straight From the Library

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