Two Chicks On Books: Blog Tour- THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM by Mary Gray and a Giveaway!

Hey y’all I’m really excited for this stop because I think Mary Gray is amazeballs! And I have a super cool post between her and her editor Danielle whom I also adore and I happen to be her publicist lol. Also it’s kind of cool seeing the conversation between an editor and her author. There’s also a giveaway for a signed copy of THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM so make sure to enter!

Haven’t heard about the book? Check it out!

Goodreads/Amazon/Barnes & Noble

A virus that had once been contained has returned, and soon no place will be left untouched by its destruction. But when Cheyenne wakes up in Elysian Fields--a subdivision cut off from the world and its monster-creating virus--she is thrilled to have a chance at survival.

At first, Elysian Fields,with its beautiful houses and manicured lawns, is perfect. Teo Richardson, the older man who stole Cheyenne's heart, built it so they could be together. But when Teo tells Cheyenne there are tests that she and seven other couples must pass to be worthy of salvation, Cheyenne begins to question the perfection of his world.

The people they were before are gone. Cheyenne is now "Persephone," and each couple has been re-named to reflect the most tragic romances ever told. Everyone is fighting to pass the test, to remain in Elysian Fields. Teo dresses them up, tells them when to move and how to act, and in order to pass the test, they must play along.

If they play it right, then they'll be safe.

But if they play it wrong, they'll die.

On to the post!

Mary: *writes TDA in five freakin' years* *lands an agent* *Agent submits*

Danielle: This story is cool! It can be SO much better! Revise and resubmit!

Mary: *cheers* weeps* *cheers* *edits* *resubmits*

Danielle: Hmmm. I don't know.... to hell with it! Yes!

Mary: *Is in denial (for maybe half a minute) Okay!

Danielle: This title is gross. You need a new one. Let's brainstorm!

Mary: idk I like the title...

Danielle: You need something that produces an image! Or a feeling. And means something for the book. Good titles matter.

Mary: *thinks*

Danielle: I like the word ASYLUM,

Mary & Danielle: *think*

Danielle: *tells roommate about book*

Everyone: *thinks*

Roommate: THE DOLLHOUSE ASYLUM!

Everyone: *flails*

Mary: *debates the "The" for days*

Grayman: *convinces Mary the "the" needs to stay*

Mary & Danielle: *cheers*

Danielle: These characters suck! Do these character exercises!

Mary: Okay! *loves every minute of it (ends up using flashback scenes from these exercises in the book*

Danielle: More exercises! Also: the audio you recorded for your book trailer is really cool.

Mary: *bounces* *writes writes writes*

Danielle: All of these are exactly what we were looking for. Now we have a clearer idea of character motivations, what they want, their greatest fears.

Mary: *beams*

Danielle: Now, write up a chapter by chapter outline.

Mary: *groans* *drags out computer* *writes writes writes*

Danielle: This is most excellent. Now these are the chapters that suck. And this needs to change, and this is ridiculous, and uh, yeah, we should talk on the phone.

Mary and Danielle on phone: You need to keep your promises about the body bags. You’re not making sense. She needs to get into a house sooner. Where? Teo’s expectations need to be clearer. The virus should exist before to make it believable that it could happen again. How do you know all this? I need my mommy. I’m always here!

Mary: *processes things for a few days before digging in and writing for a few weeks and turning in the book*

Danielle: Yes, things make much more sense now. *writes up edit letter* DON’T PANIC.

Mary: *reads edit letter while breathing into paper bag* Dude, how many pages is this???

Danielle: Good effort, though! (By the way, I am a rock star because I wrote up this edit letter with a fever.)

Mary: *Panics for twenty-four hours before digging in*

Danielle: You have one month to basically rewrite your novel! Have fun! Don’t drive off a cliff!

Mary: *Against all odds, cracks open and fixes each and every issue while tending and breastfeeding her baby who isn’t even close to sleeping through the night plus the older two kids* *gains like a kazillion kilos while pounding away on the computer and eating snacks* *knows the universe will crumble if she doesn’t get this right* *Nearly dead, turns manuscript in*

Danielle: YOU DID IT!

Mary: *looks around*

Danielle: High fives, fist bumps! Give me a couple weeks then we’ll do our second round of edits.

Mary: SECOND ROUND? But isn’t this really the third, because you had me rewrite it before you even wrote that first stinkin’ edit letter? *sobs*

Danielle via edit letter: You dominated the relationship between Cheyenne and Teo, her voice is different than I expected, but it’s good! You did an excellent job of “showing not telling.” Now: the manuscript *here* and *here* is much too long.

Mary: You hate me, don’t you?

Danielle: *pats back* You can do this!!

Mary: *begins editing* *panicking, calls Danielle* You know, the universe has just spoken to me. Did you know there will be people who hate my book?

Danielle: No one’s going to hate it.

Mary: They are. Seriously. She’s in love with the bad guy for Pete’s sake. What have I done?

Danielle: Are you loving your book?

Mary: Yeah. You’re helping me make it better. And I do feel the conflict she’s feeling. It’s the way it has to be.

Danielle: Doesn’t have to say a word.

Mary: *bows* Thank you, sensei.

Danielle: *bows*

Mary: How many words do I need to cut again?

Danielle: Oh, I don’t know. Just like 25,000. Should be simple.

Mary: *stares* *goes into hiding* *doesn’t even know how she takes care of her children* *becomes estranged from her husband* But I’m doing this! *never leaves the house; when she does, looks homeless* *turns it in*

Danielle: *reads* *silence* Yes! We can do line edits now.

Mary: Line edits.

Danielle: Yeah, instead of looking at big picture items, now we can tear your story apart sentence by sentence!

Mary: *covers face* Sounds awesome.

Danielle: *joins forces with another editor, and by the power of Spencer Hill, they highlight seemingly every other word*

Mary: Thanks guys! I’ll never die of thinking I’m too awesome!

Danielle: You do realize you sound an awful like Dean Winchester right now.

Mary: *blushes*

Mary: *fixes each and every other damn sentence and turns it in a couple weeks later*

Danielle: Great! Copy edits! (That’s not really my thing, because I’m really just an evil genius who knows how to fix things like character motivations, plotting, showing not telling, big picture issues, you know, the stuff they pay me the big bucks for.)

Mary: Yeah, if you were paid by the hour, you’d be a millionaire.

Danielle: *groans*

Other Spencer Hill interns: *pretties up manuscript with comma, period, and phrasing issues*

Mary: *hugs them for helping her not look like an idiot*

More copy editors: *look for issues*

Danielle: Now we do page passes.

Mary: That’s where I look at the page? Like that’s something I’ve never done before?

Danielle and Mary: *read through again, by now completely exhausted*

Danielle: I think we did it.

Mary: *collapses*

Wasn’t that awesome??????

Author Bio

Mary Gray has a fascination with all things creepy. That’s why all her favorite stories usually involve panic attacks and hyperventilating. In real life, she prefers to type away on her computer, ogle over her favorite TV shows, and savor fiction. When she’s not immersed in other worlds, she and her husband get their exercise by chasing after their three children. The Dollhouse Asylum is her first novel.

Website/Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads

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Check out the rest of the tour!

October 8 – Interview- Fantasy Book Addict

October 9 - Book Review- Books Live Forever

October 10 - Interview Kiki's Bookshelf

October 11 - Guest Post- The Bookshelf Sophisticate

October 12 – Interview- Falling for YA

October 13 - Book Review- YA Sisterhood

October 14 – Interview- Fragments of life

October 15 - Guest Post- Two Chicks On Books

October 16 - Book Review- Harley Bear Book Blog