Pushing Send
by Ally Derby & Jacqueline Ross
Publication date: August 8th 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Fitting in has never been something fifteen-year-old Hadley Asher ever aspired to. Three schools in one year brings unwanted and unwelcome attention to a girl like Hadley who only wants to blend in.
After her family moves from Buffalo, NY to the small, upper-class town of Blue Valley in Central New York, Hadley’s next door neighbor Lana quickly befriends her, the two becoming nearly inseparable. However, Paxton Jamison, Lana’s stepbrother and the boy with the brilliant blue eyes, has to step in to help Hadley deal with Lana, who is hard to handle on a good day.
AUTHOR BIO:
Ally Derby lives in upstate New York in a small town. She is a middle school student,who loves field hockey, music, books, family and God.
She has no problem sticking up for what she feels is right, regardless of the social ramifications and that doesn't always go over well.
She is also a fierce fangirl, and loves to role play on Instagram as @firefandoms.
Her favorite book genre is young adult dystopian. Her favorite book series include, The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Divergent series, The Maze Runner, and The Selection series.
Other books she devours are anything John Green, and Gayle Foreman.
Her books are her life and when Ally gets in trouble at home, her mother grounds her from books, *gasp*
Jacqueline Ross is an author, and mother to Ally. She reads almost everything Ally does and enjoys the romance genre.
She is 'one of those moms'. Meaning she is overprotective and pushes Ally to do her best at everything she does.
Author links:
Inspiration for Pushing Send
Pushing Send’s inspiration came about from the many discussions on social media and how even if a post is deleted it is still out there somewhere.
As a parent Jacqueline knows she has raised a very good and thoughtful child who by the grace of God is also very responsible. Ally begged for an Instagram account and was finally allowed to have one. With restrictions of course and very careful monitoring Jacqueline thought all would be fine.
One day Ally told her mother that she was role-playing with a couple groups through DM and Jacqueline nearly lost her mind. She demanded the phone and immediately read every DM that was on it.
Much to her surprise it was legit and totally appropriate. Ally had met some friends who also loved books as much as she does. Her first role-play was with a group that loved Percy Jackson. In this group they create characters and write out scenes as if they were there, in Camp Half Blood, kind of an extension of the story.
Jacqueline, was amazed by her daughters writing and story telling capacity when they wrote a dystopian book that has yet to be released back in 2013 and this further confirmed that Ally had a talent that she needed to allow to shine.
Jacqueline worked in an OCFS facility before she became a mother. Many of Ally and her mother daughter discussions about bullying in school and how others sometimes treat people in a way they do not agree with came back to empathy and the ability to not just explain but try to allow yourself to feel why someone may treat you in a ‘not so nice’ way. Did something happen that caused them to be angry? Did they get yelled at for spilling milk that morning? Did they even get breakfast that morning?
They have constant discussions on judgment and why it’s not all right to judge people based on what others say or gossip about. It’s not acceptable and we should always give a person the benefit of the doubt and base our opinion of them on our own personal interaction with them not what someone may say.
As a middle school student, Ally has faced her fair share of judgment and bullying, yet still she allows herself to smile and stands up for what she believes and as she gains more confidence in herself she sticks up for those she sees being bullied.
I could not be more proud of my daughter for what she has accomplished already at the age of eleven, for her genuine kind heart, and her ability to push past the negative that surrounds her and keep reaching for the stars.
Writing as a Mother / Daughter team
The writing process itself was amazing. One of us would write what we knew the other would fill in what they did. We laughed, and even cried together.
It made us closer. Writing with Ally was like working with an adult, then enter edits and the marketing off the book. She doesn’t know that side so she really wasn’t into it, lol. She’s eleven and that is totally understandable.
It’s been one crazy summer for sure, but the day the proofs came in the mail of the paperback copies and seeing the joy in tear form, well that is a memory I will never ever forget.
When we read reviews together she smiles as if this is unbelievable to her because it sort of is, I mean hello she’s eleven and she truly poured her heart and soul into this book.
She is excited to move onto the next part of our Socially Screwed project but needs a break and she certainly deserves one.
Her break starts release week, where she will be out on the field with a stick in her hand playing field hockey.
...just to name a few.
One signed copy of Pushing Send
Ends August 20th:
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