J. Hughey is here today to
share her New Adult contemporary romance, Eruption:
Yellowblown™ Book One, hot off the presses on September 13! She picked this
release date because that’s the date the fictional eruption of the Yellowstone
volcano begins in her book.
BLURB
How about if the Yellowstone
volcano erupts for the first time in 630,000 years, spewing a continuous load
of ash (crap) all over North America? Think that’ll put a kink in my bicycle
chain?
Make that kinks, plural, because here’s a scientific fact I’ll bet you didn’t
know. Nothing ruins the perfect semester like a super caldera. Now that I’ve
made you smarter today, maybe you can tell me how to keep my life cruising in
the right direction—no to Mom, yes to roomie, double yes to Hotness!—during a
global disaster?
My lame name is Violet and, in
the interest of full disclosure, I’m not hanging from the side of a cinder cone
on the last page of this trauma, but there’s definitely more to come. Unless,
of course, humans become extinct and then there’s not. Duh.
Eruption is book one in
the Yellowblown™ Series.
Behind the scenes with the
author:
Seems like a book about a
volcanic eruption would be about dodging lava bombs, but this story takes a
different path. What would happen in North America to the people who aren’t
close enough to Yellowstone to be in immediate danger? Historically,
Yellowstone eruptions are not small events. Make large portions of Idaho,
Wyoming, and Montana uninhabitable, then add a continuous load of the ash—ash
carried east by weather and the jet stream, and also up into the higher layers
of the atmosphere, and it isn’t too hard to imagine national upheaval followed
by global impacts. Figuring this much out was fairly straightforward,
especially since J. Hughey has a geology degree.
The hardest research challenges
were in determining the impacts of the ash and creating a realistic timeline of
how quickly these impacts would be felt.
The impacts weren’t what
she expected. For example, she thought the ash would cause power grid problems
because of its physical presence on lines and at power stations. That would
happen, to some extent. The biggest power problem—the information that made her
say wow!—is that a significant
percentage of coal and other fossil fuels used in power production come out of
Wyoming. If you haven’t looked at a map recently, Yellowstone lies at the
northwest corner of that state. The parts not leveled by the eruption of the
super caldera would probably be uninhabitable, or at the least, very difficult
to work in with mechanical equipment because of continuous or intermittent
heavy showers of ash, depending on weather patterns.
A domino effect widens the
impact of power problems, including fuel supply (many natural gas compression
stations depend on electricity, not to mention the gas stations we depend on
for our cars), food storage and delivery, water systems, heating and cooling.
These problems would be temporary, but probably represent months of difficulty
for much of the U.S. population.
So, power outages are just
one of the challenges the characters in Eruption
have to face when Yellowstone becomes Yellowblown™. Though they live well east
of the volcano, but the ash just keeps coming, and so will the books in this
series.
EXCERPT (first day of
class, before the eruption starts)
I saw him holding Hoag
Hall’s front door open for some girls who’d dressed for success the first day
of class. My armpits got really sweaty, like they did every time I’d thought
about him this summer, which had been pretty often.
Pathetic, since I’d
intended to forget him after realizing his words in February had been kindness,
not truth.
Six months of rejection
didn’t stop me from smoothing my hands down the legs of my shorts when Boone,
irresistible as always in a dark green T-shirt with a little V at the neck and
faded plaid shorts, walked in the classroom carrying a stack of stapled papers.
My first syllabus of the year, no doubt. Why geology, why, why, why, with him
as TA and Mom’s college degree in it? And why did I sit in the second row like
a geek? No one sat in the front row so I was a total, total geek.
With his papers delivered
to the lecturer’s table up front, he walked directly to me, as if he’d known I
was there. Like, maybe, he’d been watching for me like I’d been for him. My
face felt hot as I sat up in my seat.
“Hi Violet,” he said with
the awesome smile that showed off his blunt jaw.
“Hey,” I managed.
“How was your summer?”
“It sucked,” I blurted.
He laughed, and I thought
I heard some chick behind me sigh at the throaty sound.
“Whoa,” he said. “There
must be a story there.”
“Not much of one. My mom.
Remind me to never spend another summer at home,” I said, quickly rediscovering
the easy banter that always made me want to spend more time with him.
“Maybe I’ll do that.” His
eyes flicked down the front of my sleeveless floral blouse, feminine and flowy
over the form-fitting tank top beneath it. His glance wasn’t sex-predator
freaky, but appreciative, like a guy checking out a girl he wants to know
better.
Dr. Potter cleared his
throat. “Duty calls,” Boone said, turning away.
“Doesn’t it always?”
He stopped mid-stride to
look over his shoulder at me, mouth lifted in a half smile. I’d struck the mark
with my little barb, and I lifted my eyebrows to acknowledge the hit.
When Boone handed out the
syllabuses or syllabi—or whatever the plural form was—he made a point to give
me the bottom one.
A Western Case Copperheads
football sticky note fluttered on it. Blocky handwriting, from a pen about to
run out of ink said, “Pregame party on Saturday? Text me.” And his cell number.
I tried to act like senior
guys I’d been crushing on asked me out every day, while inside, July 4th
fireworks zinged through me until my fingers went numb. With my best “whatever”
expression, I fumbled to move the sticky from the first page to the fourth page
of the syllabus (four pages!).
I hardly heard a word the prof
said.
About The Author:
J. Hughey knows what a
girl wants. Independence. One or two no-matter-what-happens friends. A smokin’
hot romance. A basic understanding of geological concepts. Huh? Okay, maybe not
every girl is into geology, but J.
Hughey is, and in the Yellowblown™ series she combines her passion for a
timeless love story with her interest in geeky stuff to help Violet Perch get a
life, despite an ongoing global catastrophe.
J. Hughey also writes
historical romance as Jill Hughey. She lives in Pennsylvania with her
technologically inclined husband and two teenaged sons, and works as a business
administrator. The most interesting fact about her, other than the geology
thing, is that she can sing really, really high. Like opera soprano high. And
she likes iced coffee and wine. Favorite way to spend an afternoon is on the
front porch moving the characters from her head into a story on her laptop.
Eruption is available on Amazon for 99 cents until September 27,
when the price will go up to $2.99. Grab it now...HERE
To find out more about J.
Hughey visit
Twitter: @jillhughey
Newsletter Subscribe: http://www.jillhughey.com/contact
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