A Part to Play by Jennifer L. Fry Blog Tour Guest Post

Blurb: 
When fifteen-year-old actress Lucy Carter loses her older sister in a car accident, her mother shuts down and her father can’t hold the family together. Their only choice is to ship Lucy off to the Edmond School for Performing Arts. But boarding school is no cure for Lucy’s grief. With failing grades, wooden stage performances, and curfew violations, Lucy is threatened with expulsion. For the once talented Lucy, it feels as though she has nowhere to turn.

One night, Lucy hears mysterious music drifting through the school’s old heating system. The music leads her to a troubled but passionate songwriter whose brilliance gives her the strength to perform like never before. Yet their intense relationship puts Lucy in a precarious position: if she follows her muse, will she lose herself? And if she breaks it off, can she stand on her own again?

Guest Post: 

Coming up with the story idea for 

A PART TO PLAY

In planning A PART TO PLAY, I started with the emotional journey I wanted my main character to experience. I knew immediately I wanted to write a young adult story, and I wanted my story to have a strong message – that is, the importance of believing in oneself. Then, to develop my plot, I thought of my most favorite stories of all time from movies, plays, and books. One of these happens to be The Phantom of the Opera. I didn't want my book to be a retelling of that classic story, but rather I wanted it to draw inspiration from what I considered the most captivating parts. I loved the mystery and the powerful role that music played in the story; I also found the dark side of the Phantom intriguing.

Once I had that basic premise, I needed something at the beginning of the story to make my character lose all self belief, which in this case happens with the death of her beloved sister and the subsequent breakdown of her family. As a writer, I explore big questions that I personally have about life. In A PART TO PLAY, I explore the death of a child in a tight-knit family. As I consider becoming a parent myself, I wonder how I could survive losing my child – it seems like one of the worst possible things that could happen in life. Lucy, the main character of my story, watches as her parents are consumed by grief, and she naturally begins to doubt her worth.

By the time she arrives at the Edmond School for Performing Arts, where our story begins, Lucy doesn't know what to think anymore. She hears music coming from underground, and eventually meets the musician who has helped her find something to focus on besides her grief. I explored the idea of both main characters in my story, Lucy and the musician, having the same flaw – how that brings them together, and how it drives them apart. It was important to me to show Lucy's gradual shift. I wanted the reader to come along on Lucy's journey, to feel what it is to be at the bottom and to experience with her the joy of first love and finally finding a way to cope with the loss of her family.

In later revisions, I felt that Lucy must confront her parents. It was part of the process for her to recover her sense of self. Then my story became something new. It wasn't just about loss, romance, and finding your own way; it was also about recognizing parents as fallible people who we can no more rely on for our self-worth than anyone else in life. Ultimately, no matter the parallels between my novel and the Phantom of the Opera, it is truly about the strength of a young girl who manages to carry on even though everyone around her seems to have given up. 

About Jennifer L. Fry:
Jennifer L. Fry is a writer, artist, and teacher in Marin County, California, where she lives with her wonderful husband, two adorable dogs, and orange tabby cat. Though she has been writing since she was young, A Part to Play is her first novel.

Links: 
Author website: http://www.jenniferlfry.com/home/ 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-L-Fry/394827827250769

Twitter: https://twitter.com/frygurl

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15835670-a-part-to-play

YABC: http://www.yabookscentral.com/component/content/article/28-young-adult-indie/13056-a-part-to-play

YouTube: http://youtu.be/f2_3Ha1hoyQ/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/A-Part-to-Play-ebook/dp/B008VSW614/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1344998757&sr=8-7&keywords=a+part+to+play

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-part-to-play-jennifer-l-fry/1112451468

Audible: http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B009MH10FG&qid=1349917179&sr=1-1

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/a-part-to-play-unabridged/id569381147


Title: A Part To Play
Author: Jennifer L. Fry
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Pages: 261


Check out the rest of the tour :)
11/1/2012 The Cover (and Everything in Between) 

11/2/2012 Writers and Authors 

11/3/2012 The Dark Heroine
11/4/2012 Reader Girls Blog
11/5/2012 Crossroads Reviews
11/6/2012 Reading Away the Days
11/7/2012 Fiction Addiction
11/8/2012 Sweet Southern Home
11/9/2012 Behind A Million And One Pages 
11/10/2012 Michelle Shouts Random
11/11/2012 Howling Books And Designs 
11/12/2012 Mom With A Kindle
11/13/2012 Night Owl Reads
11/14/2012 A Readers Devotion
11/15/2012 To Procrastinate
11/16/2012 Infinite House of Books
11/17/2012 Book Lovin' Mamas 
11/18/2012 From The Bootheel Cotton Patch
11/19/2012 One Day YA 
11/20/2012 Bookish Whimsy 
11/21/2012 Jen's Review Corner
11/22/2012 Bookishly Devoted 
11/23/2012 Young Adult Book Addict
11/24/2012 Girls Heart Books
11/25/2012 Magic Immortals and Being A Good Monster 
11/26/2012 Becky's Barmy Book Blog 
11/27/2012 A Soul Unsung
11/28/2012 Book Nerds United
11/29/2012 A Bibliophile's Thoughts On Books 
11/30/2012 My Miscellaneous BookShelf