PRESENTS. . .
A Cover Reveal
for
Eight Days a Week
by Amber L. Johnson
Release Date: November 6 , 2014
Published by The Writers Coffee Shop
Andrew Lyons has been running from responsibility his entire life. Returning home after a couple of years abroad, he finds himself jobless and living in close quarters with a sister he can barely tolerate. At her request, he searches for a job on Craigslist, but finds a room for rent instead. Or so he thinks. Gwen Stone is in a lurch. With a new promotion at work and two young children at home, she’s in dire need of a caretaker. When Andrew shows up on her doorstep, she thinks he may be exactly what she’s looking for. When she offers him the job, he’s more than interested and she’s confident she’s made the right choice. It shouldn’t be awkward at all.
But Andrew isn’t exactly forthcoming about his intentions, and Gwen has some secrets she’s unwilling to share.
When the mom and the “manny” don’t have a clue what they’re doing, things are bound to get messy. What do you get with two kids who don’t know how to be kids, a man who never grew up, Beatles Rock Band, and hundreds of hours of kids’ TV? A very interesting job, indeed. But when emotions get in the way, there's more at stake than just an occupation. Because life doesn't have clock-out button. And neither does love.
Amber is a full-time mom and a full-time wife who is employed full time and writes when she can. She believes in Happily Ever Afters that occur every day—despite the obstacles real life serves up on a regular basis. Or perhaps they’re sweeter simply because of them. She always has two rubber bands on her wrist, a song in her head, and too much creamer in her coffee cup that reads ‘Cocoa,’ because she’s a rebel.
If she’s not at her desk, with her boys, or behind the computer, she’s supporting live music with her arms raised above her head and her eyes closed, waiting for the drop.
Tell us about what you are working on.
I’m working on a lot of stuff. Like, too much at once (but you know this, yes?) I am about to publish Eight Days a Week, I’m editing both For Authentication Purposes and Maybe, and I’m in pre-edit for Saving Myself… then I have about 4 other stories I’m outlining. Apparently, I hate myself.
What is the basic concept of Eight Days a Week?
Basic concept. Lord, that’s a loaded question. If I had to condense it I’d say:
Andrew Lyons needs a job for selfish reasons. He also needs a place to live because squatting in his sister’s apartment annoys them both. He finds an ad on Craigslist for a room but when he shows up he finds out he only gets the room if he becomes the man-nanny to two little kids. He figures it can’t be all that hard so he lies and takes the job.
His employer, Gwen, isn’t too forthcoming with the kids’ history and she seems like she is keeping a few important facts from him. But living in such close quarters makes sexual tension grow so they’re in a weird place because of their situation and the kids’ happiness.
The biggest thing I can say is that, at it’s heart, Eight Days is a comedy about finding your place in the world- even if it means being the most immature person on the planet to get there.
What was your inspiration for your characters? Someone you know? Someone you wish you knew?
I wouldn’t say it was so much someone I knew. It was more of a situation. My son was pretty much born with colic and that meant late nights and endless days of trying to find things that worked. Sometimes it was simply the sound of a television or vacuum cleaner that gave him rest. We actually had a hand held vacuum that we would run to make him sleep because he needed the intense white noise to soothe him. Obviously this was not a bright idea and eventually we found our way around it by making a recording and putting it on repeat all night.
With kids’ television comes a lot of WHY IS THIS HAPPENING and WHAT IS THIS ON MY TV?? My husband and I would crack jokes about the shows but eventually we found ourselves watching them and becoming invested. Eight Days started with hatred of Sprout and was tacked together with the many mistakes we made as new parents.
When is it expected?
November 6, 2014
Who was most influential in your writing career?
That’s hard to say. I was writing stories when I was six or seven and I started a few books but never finished them. I just read a lot, and I started with RL Stine then moved onto John Saul. I love true crime and reading about serial killers - it’s one of the reasons I went to school for psychology, but that never panned out. Given that my entire pre-teen years were filled with ghosts and gore, it was surprising to find myself writing humor. And smut.
If you could have a night out with one of your characters, which one would you choose and why?
All my characters are pieces of people I know. Whether it’s their physical likeness, their interactions over the years, or their names - I know them. So if I had to choose one, it would be Finn from Saving Myself because I miss the person he’s created after.
What is your favorite line from your Eight Days A Week?
She walked off with the other girls, and I continued to rack up drinks, getting my head in the game.
“What are you humming?” Xander asked.
“The theme song to Doc McStuffins. Why?”
What is the strangest or most embarrassing thing you have ever typed into your Google search bar?
I googled alternative names for a certain sexual activity, once and came up with a band name. But the weirdest thing I ever googled was a hu-cow. Or clenis. Don’t google clenis.
Please respond to the following using only gifs, pics, or song titles.
How do you respond when people say:
“Oh, you wrote a book? Huh. I should write a book. That sounds easy enough.”
“I read a book like yours once. That was really good. Have you read that book (that’s better than yours)?”
“Oh, I’ve never actually read one of your books. I only read the classics.”
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