Blog Tour: Joy Preble

Joy Preble is the debut author of Dreaming Anastasia, which was released on the first of September. She was kind enough to include me in her blog tour.

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One of my personal favorite parts of writing Dreaming Anastasia was developing the romance between Anne and Ethan. Understandably, there are many factors keeping these two apart, and I do hope to be able to continue to develop the ups and downs of their relationship in a sequel or two. (Let’s just say that I’ve got some surprises in store for them…) But since people are always asking me about the revision process and about scenes that end up on the cutting room floor, so to speak, I present for your reading pleasure, a kiss that – for a variety of reasons- ISN’T in the novel, but used to be! Hope everyone enjoys!


The wind’s whipping our hair and Ethan’s still holding my hand, our fingers lacing together. Across the track, I watch a couple of pigeons pecking for food under a bench on the other platform.

“We’ll find her, Ethan,” I say, even though I’m not at all sure that’s ever really going to happen. “I mean, you found me, didn’t you?”

Underneath my feet I can feel a slight vibration. Far down the track, our train is coming. Ethan steps closer to me. So close, that my heart does a little thump, thump, hop in my chest.

I study his face. Those blue eyes. That shaggy chestnut hair that’s all tousled from the wind.

He’s going to kiss me. I’m pretty clear on that. And I guess it should be weird or whatever. But it’s not. It’s just me and him – and okay, the pigeons on the other platform. And all the other stuff- the box, Viktor, Baba Yaga, even Anastasia – just floats away. Because when you’re going to kiss someone – really kiss someone- it’s got to be just about that and not anything else.

Ethan bends down a little, cause he’s taller, and presses his mouth to mine. His lips are warm and sort of sweet. And I know this is more than the kiss on the forehead.

So I kiss him back.

And then it’s even sweeter. It’s a kick ass kiss, actually – far superior to getting felt up by Adam Greene in the back row of the movies while my feet stick to someone’s spilled Dr. Pepper and Milk Duds on the floor.

“I almost lost you, too,” Ethan whispers against my lips. His breath kind of tickles and little sparks tingle their way down my spine. “Here, I’ve just found you, and I almost lost you.” We kiss some more. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. I rest on hand on his shoulder – right about where I think he’s got that lion tattoo.

In novels, you always read phrases like ‘they kissed and time stood still.’ And until now, I’ve always thought what a load of crap that sounded like. Cause even when I was making out with Adam Greene, time was marching right along.

But right now, time is pretty still. And Ethan’s lips and his hands that are resting against the small of my back, are filling my head so completely there’s no room for anything else.

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Thanks for sharing, Joy!

hope.