Book Tour with Loads of Extras & Giveaway: High Sierra by Adrienne Quintana

When Jasmine Fuentes finds herself thousands of miles from home, forced to hike around in the wilderness of California with a bunch of juvenile delinquents, she’s convinced she doesn’t belong. 

Forage for food, build shelter, make fire—Jasmine sets out to learn what she needs to do to ace the program so she can go home and salvage her summer vacation. But the more she tries to prove she doesn’t need wilderness therapy, the more desperate her situation becomes. Confronted with life and death, she comes face to face with her past and her imperfections. Will Jasmine ask for help before it’s too late? 

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Adrienne Quintana is the author of Eruption as well as several children's books. When she isn't writing, Adrienne enjoys running, hiking, and matchmaking (Are you single? She probably knows someone perfect for you.) 

She lives in Arizona with her husband and four children, who give her love, support, and plenty of good material for Instagram.   

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Interview with author Adrienne Quintana

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I grew up in a geodesic dome house in Burley, Idaho.  I'm the second of nine kids, and my dad is a professional artist.  We didn't have much growing up, but my parents provided us plenty of love, and an environment that sparked my active imagination.

What do you do besides writing?

First and foremost, I'm a mom to four amazing kids. So that also makes me a cook, a maid, and an Uber driver.  In my spare time, I love to run and hike.

Do you have images you can share that come close to how you picture your characters? Do you like to find visual inspiration for your characters before or during your writing process?

Yes. Visualizing my characters and fleshing out their personalities is one of the first things I do before beginning to draft. I don't outline when I write. I like to start with a concept, imagine my characters, and see where they take me.

 Jasmine Fuentes

 Bryce Talmage (Abercrombie) & Monica Clark (Backwoods Barbie)

 Stormi Summers (Emphysema) & Dave (Good Soaring Raven)

 
What are some songs that you listened to or inspired you while writing your book?

I played  "Somewhere Only We Know," by Keane and "Collide," by Howie Day on repeat all during the creative process on this.  The inspiration for this book came during a two-week long hike with my husband and our two oldest children. There's nothing like being unplugged and out in nature to help focus your mind on what's really important. I still get misty eyed when I hear either of these songs.

What message would you like readers to ultimately take away from the book?

You aren't your mistakes.  You are a child of God.

What can we look forward to coming from you in the future? 

I'm currently working on a YA techno-thriller about a teenager who has to hunt down her missing brother when he doesn't come home from a gaming conference.  It's Nerve meets the Da Vinci Code, but with dyslexia.

Top Ten List

10.  I’m the 2nd of 9 kids.

9. I served as missionary for my church in Montreal.

8. I can whistle underwater.

7. My big toes are HUGE. Like, ridiculously big. At least two shoe sizes larger than the others.

6. Doris Day is my homegirl.

5. As a teenager I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, but I’ve completed two marathons as an adult.

4. Doritos are my kryptonite (nacho cheese flavor).

3. I know how to say “I’m going to bloody your nose” in Samoan.

2. I believe that drinking water can cure any ailment, including broken limbs.

1. I fall asleep in the movie theater unless I’m eating popcorn.

Excerpt

When we stopped in front of the Curry Village Pizza Patio, I didn’t want to get off with everyone else. How much community service would I be sentenced to if I hijacked the bus?

“C’mon, guys,” Pizza Face called, “real food.”

It was no use. I had to go. The court had already given me my freebee. A hijacking would definitely go on my permanent record. But standing up wasn’t as easy as you’d think. My legs were shaky, and my pack felt like it was full of boulders.

Because it was, actually.

The chain gang had almost reached a set of stairs on the side of the building when I was just barely stepping off the bus. A sign pointed customers of the Pizza Patio up the stairs. I didn’t think I could eat due to my depressing life, but the smell of fresh bread and Italian seasoning changed my mind.

“The restrooms are down here,” Backwoods Barbie said, looking directly at me. “Why don’t we go wash up? Whoever gets done first can order. What do you guys like? A combo?”

“No mushrooms,” Emphysema said.

“Or olives,” Michaela added.

“Or green peppers,” said Quiet Wolf.

“So just pepperoni?” Abercrombie laughed. “Sounds good. I’ll get us a table.”

We followed Backwoods Barbie inside, dropping our packs next to hers in a narrow hallway outside the restroom. I guess she wasn’t worried someone would steal them. I shrugged. If somebody was stupid enough to want them, they deserved what they got.

I barely recognized myself in the tiny bathroom mirror. My face was pretty clean, but dirt covered my bare neck and the front of my shirt. I felt strangely sentimental about the existence of paper towels, as I did the best I could to clean myself off. And running water. How could I have taken it for granted? It was so beautiful.

Michaela and Emphysema went to join the boys upstairs before I was finished, but Backwoods Barbie stayed behind with me.

“Can you believe you’ve hiked over fourteen miles in the last three days?” she asked. “Doesn’t it feel amazing?”

I glared at her out of the corner of my eyes. Was she saying that because she thought I’d never done anything physically hard before? Okay, maybe I hadn’t hiked like this, but it wasn’t like I’d just been sitting at home on the couch.

“How are you feeling?” she asked when I didn’t respond to her first stab at conversation. “You’ve been so quiet all afternoon.”

“I don’t have anything to say,” I told her. The paper towel I’d been using to scrub fell apart, so I took another from the dispenser.

“You’ve had a tough day,” she said, “but I’m impressed. You never complain, and you really pushed through, even after you fell.”

I stopped scrubbing at the dirt on my arm.

Glad you brought that up. Just in case I’d forgotten. I blew out a breath and started scrubbing again. Couldn’t she just go away and leave me alone?

“You’re the only one who decided to carry your rocks all the way down, you know.” she continued.

So we were going to talk about the rocks. Now I understood. She wanted to know why I hadn’t given them away.

“Firewalker said we could give them to him whenever we wanted…” I shut the sink off. “I didn’t want to.”

“Fair enough,” she said, smoothing her ponytail. “I just wonder why anyone would want to carry around extra weight when it’s so easy to give it up.”

Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking I was too self-righteous to admit I had problems. Wadding up the paper towel, I threw it in the trash with a vengeance.

“Carrying extra weight is what I do.” I charged past her, through the door. “Skinny people rarely understand.” Slamming my hands against the door, I stormed out. But the door didn’t swing closed behind me as I’d expected.

“Jasmine,” Backwoods Barbie called, following me into the hallway, “wait.”

Ignoring her, I pushed open the glass door.

“You’re forgetting something,” she said.

 Forgetting what? Was she going to pass on some annoying Miwok wisdom? Or maybe she wanted to apologize for being skinny. I didn’t really care.

This day just needs to be over. I continued on up the stairs without looking back.

Customers stood in line under the green and white striped awning, waiting to order at the window. Others sat at hexagon shaped picnic tables with green umbrellas. My group took up two tables in a corner near a tall tree. Its branches pushed over the railing, encroaching on the umbrella’s space.

“Where’s Monica?” Pizza Face asked, before I even sat down.

I shrugged and sat at the other table, next to Noah.

“Look at that,” Quiet Wolf said, nodding toward a family that was just pulling apart a large Hawaiian. My mouth began to water as soon as I saw the stringy cheese. The sight and smell of it temporarily erased my disgruntled attitude toward life while the primeval desire to eat real food consumed me.

“How long until ours will be ready?” I asked.

“They said fifteen minutes, but that was about ten minutes ago,” Pizza Face answered.

I expected someone to acknowledge Backwoods Barbie when she came up the stairs. She should have been right behind me. What was taking her so long?

I was starting to get nervous about what she might be doing. Did it have something to do with me? My question was answered all too soon.

“Monica?” Michaela stood up and looked from the stairs to me and back again. Everyone else stood too, except Noah. We both turned around to look at the same time.

Backwoods Barbie trudged up the stairs sandwiched between two packs—hers slung over her shoulders and mine in front with her arms wrapped around it like a jumbo paper grocery bag. Abercrombie rushed over to meet her, taking my pack. Everyone else turned their stink eyes on me. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

 

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