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I am pleased to welcome author Alissa Grosso to Alison's Book Marks, her fourth stop on her Blog Tour Road Trip to promote
her new book FEROCITY SUMMER, which is
now out in the world. Don't forget to read to the end of this post to find out
how you can enter yourself in a drawing for your very own summer survival pack
which includes a signed copy of FEROCITY SUMMER.
Take it away, Alissa!
"The Other New Jersey"
Ferocity Summer is set in New Jersey. Let's face it, just
reading that sentence brings up certain images. New Jersey has something a
reputation. Whether it's Jersey Shore,
The Sopranos, those crazy housewives
or perhaps your own trips on the dreaded Jersey Turnpike you probably have a
pretty clear idea of what the Garden State looks like.
Ferocity Summer's not set there. What few outside of New
Jersey know is that large parts of the state are free of tract homes, oil
refineries and that notorious Jersey accent. Ferocity Summer is set in the very real Byram Township, in Sussex
County. To be honest, Byram does have a few tract homes, but mostly what it has
are trees and lakes.
According to the US Census, New Jersey is the most densely
populated state in the union, a fact which is hard to believe when you visit
some of the more remote parts of the state , the parts where cows outnumber
people or the parts of the state where you can drive for miles and miles
without ever coming across a gas station, though when you do eventually coast
into gas station on fumes an attendant will be there to pump your gas for you.
There is no self service in New Jersey.
Of course, probably New Jersey's best feature is its
diversity. I'm not talking about all the different cultures represented in the
state (when I was in college our campus, Rutgers Newark, was ranked as the most
ethnically diverse campus in the nation) though, admittedly, that's cool too.
I'm talking about all the different environments you can find in such a
relatively small area. Whether it's all the lakes referenced in Ferocity Summer, traditional suburbia,
urban areas, farm land, horse country or the shore, the state has a little bit
of everything. You can get a glimpse of that in Ferocity Summer or you can get a first hand look at it on your next
road trip - provided you're willing to take a back roads detour or two.
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| Taken from my driveway on 5/6/12 |
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| View from a high point in town. No oil refineries! No highway! No shopping mall! |
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| Alas, not my pond, but so peaceful! |
So, even though there are great parts of the state that share some land with the Garden State Parkway, and the best Italian bread you'll ever find, there are also very rural parts of New Jersey...the "Other New Jersey" that Alissa and I are so proud of. If this is the part of NJ that FEROCITY SUMMER readers will experience, we're all in for a treat!
Don't forget to visit the Giveaway Link below, author Alissa Grosso's website, and check out the FEROCITY SUMMER trailer!
Many thanks to Alissa Grosso for coming to Alison's Book Marks today. My apologies for the technical difficulties - but I just had to make that hot air balloon shot work!
Alissa Grosso website: http://alissagrosso.com
Ferocity Summer Trailer: http://youtu.be/kDH2FS7g05Y
About the Book:
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1 comment:
Great post! I'm a Jersey Girl too (as you already know Alison) and it always upsets me to think about the not-very-nice reputation our very beautiful state gets from the media. New Jersey is a great place to live and beautiful!
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