I’m Quinn Anderson, author of Fourteen Summers and the Murmur Inc. series. Welcome to my blog tour for The Long Way Around! Stay tuned to get fun facts about this release, learn about our leading men, and hear about the many road trips I took in my antique car, Lou. Leave comments for a chance to win a $10 Riptide gift card. I look forward to chatting with you all!

My first Road Trip, or the Story of How I saw a Ghost

When I was a freshman at UF, just after I’d turned nineteen, I went on my very first road trip over spring break. One of the new friends I’d made, Tovah, was going home to West Palm Beach for the break, and I was going back to Tampa, my city of birth. We decided to travel together and divvy up our ten-day break between the two cities.

Many fun things happened on that trip. I got an industrial piercing in my ear, which is now long gone (holy crap, did that thing hurt), I introduced Tovah to Ybor City and an infamous goth club called the Castle. And, most notably, I saw a ghost.

Now, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a believer. Everyone I know has a ghost story that they swear is true, but for the most part, it all sounds a little implausible to me. A cup falling off a counter in an empty room or strange noises at night does not a ghost make, in my book. But in my case, seeing is believing.

Tovah and I were in West Palm Beach, sleeping on two sofas in their mother’s living room. I’m a notoriously deep sleeper. I’ve slept through fire alarms before. You basically have to slap my face to wake me up. But that night, all of a sudden, I snapped awake. It was after midnight, and the house was both dead silent and eerily still. I thought I’d woken up for no reason.

I was wrong.

I had to blink a few times before the room came into focus, but when it did, the first thing I saw was a woman sitting on the ottoman by the sofa. She was blonde, wearing a white dress, and she was staring at me. Before I could process, she reached over and raked a single fingernail down my bare leg. It only lasted for a second, not enough time for me to speak or move or do anything besides stare blankly at her. Then I blinked, and she was gone. I thought it was a trick my brain was playing on me, but then I looked down at my leg. I had a faint red line trailing down it where her fingernail had dug in.

Needless to say, I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. When Tovah woke up, they asked me what I was doing up, and I said, “I saw a ghost last night.”

You know what Tovah said back to me?

“Was it a blonde woman in a white dress?”

So, that’s the story of how on my first road trip ever, I slept in my friend’s totally haunted house. I saw the same ghost her family had been seeing for years, confirming for them once and for all that yeah, their house is DEFINITELY haunted. When people ask me if I believe in ghosts, I say I believe in that particular one for sure!

About The Long Way Around

Sam Cooper is the definition of an introvert: shy, bookish, and the sort to think a wild Friday night involves ordering takeout. He enjoys his quiet life, but after a bad breakup, he’s been yearning for a change of scenery. Luckily, his best friend and former college roommate has the solution.

Wesley Reed—a jokester and expert Sam-handler—proposes an epic road trip to a wedding across the country. They’re both between jobs and boyfriends. Why not hit the open road and make some memories?

Stuck in close quarters for the first time since their dorm days, they’re both surprised at the heat that springs up between them. As best friends, they’ve shared so much over the years, so why does sharing a hotel room—and occasionally a bed—make them want more? Chemistry this smoldering is hard to ignore, but there are road blocks to their romance. Wesley’s keeping a secret, and Sam can’t rely on Wesley to drag him out of his comfort zone forever. If they’re not careful, their relationship may take the ultimate wrong turn.

Buy Links:

Riptide Publishing

Amazon

About Quinn Anderson

Quinn Anderson is an alumna of the University of Dublin in Ireland and has a master’s degree in psychology. She wrote her dissertation on sexuality in popular literature and continues to explore evolving themes in erotica in her professional life.

A nerd extraordinaire, she was raised on an unhealthy diet of video games, anime, pop culture, and comics from infancy. Her girlfriend swears her sense of humor is just one big Joss Whedon reference. She stays true to her nerd roots in writing and in life, and frequently draws inspiration from her many fandoms, which include Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy, and more. Growing up, while most of her friends were fighting evil by moonlight, Anderson was kamehameha-ing her way through all the shounen anime she could get her hands on. You will often find her interacting with fellow fans online and offline via conventions and Tumblr, and she is happy to talk about anything from nerd life to writing tips. She has attended conventions on three separate continents and now considers herself a career geek. She advises anyone who attends pop culture events in the UK to watch out for Weeping Angels, as they are everywhere. If you’re at an event, and you see a 6’2” redhead wandering around with a vague look on her face, that’s probably her.

Her favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, Libba Bray, and Tamora Pierce. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending too much time on the internet, playing fetch with her cat, screwing the rules, watching Markiplier play games she’s too scared to play herself, and catching ’em all.

Connect with Quinn:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/AuthorQuinnAnderson/
• Tumblr: quinnandersonwrites

To celebrate the release of The Long Way Around, Quinn is giving away a $10 Riptide credit! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on August 11, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!