Hi, friends! Welcome back for the fourth (and final) day of Cover Reveal Week here on Pop! Goes The Reader! Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside our control, Kristin Reynolds and I will have to postpone the reveal of her cover for her middle grade debut, The Land Of Yesterday, which was originally scheduled for Friday, until next week. That said, we still have one more exciting cover to reveal today, so let’s get to it! Coming to a bookstore and library near you June 5th 2018 from Sky Pony Press, Ten After Closing is told from the alternating perspectives of Winny and Scott, two teens who become hostages and unlikely allies during the holdup of a local café. The cover of Ten After Closing was designed by Kate Gartner with accompanying illustrations by Ulla Puggard. Please read on to learn more about Jessica Bayliss’ forthcoming release, including the exclusive cover reveal, complete synopsis and a special note from the author about the novel’s origins and inspiration!
Ten After Closing was a book of firsts for me. My first YA. My first thriller. My first time playing with structure (TAC is told from the middle out in diverging timelines). It was the fifth book I wrote, but when I entered it into a writing competition, it earned me my first ever chance to be mentored. And, the best moment of all, when I sent it out to the agents who requested it, Ten After Closing became the first book to result in an agent voice mail on my phone.
Firsts is a great way to think about Winny’s and Scott’s stories in this book. They’re two soon-to-be graduates who are facing the new in life and aren’t quite sure how they feel about that. Even before armed gunmen change everything for them when they enter Café Flores at ten minutes after closing, Winny and Scott are people taking first steps toward becoming different people.
Sometimes it takes the unimaginable to learn who we really are.
But, don’t go away from this note thinking TAC is only about their personal journeys; this book is a strap-in and hold-on-for-the-ride kind of read. From the moment I began plotting Ten After Closing, I had two big things on my author checklist: deliciously tense life-or-death moments and lots of swoony romance. Mission accomplished.
As my debut novel, Ten After Closing still has plenty of first-moments in store for me. Like Scott and Winny, I’m now facing the new and taking my own unimaginable ride. Unlike my characters, though, I know exactly how I feel about it — I’m loving every single minute.
About Jessica Bayliss
Jessica Bayliss is a clinical psychologist by day and a writer all the time. She has been a lover of thrillers, ghost tales, and horror since her days scanning VHS rental shelves—admittedly with eyes half-averted from the gory covers. She also loves to eat, cook, and exercise — in that order — and is a firm believer that coffee makes the world a better place.
Her YA horror novella, Broken Chords (Leap Books), is hot off the presses! Look for her upcoming release, Ten After Closing (Sky Pony Press, spring 2018). For more information about Jessica and about PsychWRITE, her series of courses and workshops for writers, visit: JessicaBaylissWrites.com.
Title Ten After Closing
Author Jessica Bayliss
Pages N/A
Intended Target Audience Young Adult
To Be Published June 5th 2018 by Sky Pony Press
Find It On Goodreads ● Amazon.com ● Chapters ● The Book Depository
10PM: Closing time at Café Flores. The door should be locked, but it isn’t, Scott Bradley and Winsome Sommervil are about to become hostages.
TEN MINUTES BEFORE CLOSING: Scott’s girlfriend breaks up with him over the phone while he’s in the café’s basement storeroom because he’s late picking her up for the big end-of-the-year party. Now he can’t got to the party, but he can’t go home, either — not knowing his dad will still be in a drunken rage. Meanwhile, Winny wanted one night to let loose, away from her mother’s crushing expectations. Instead, she’s stranded at the café after her best friend ditches her in a misguided attempt at matchmaking.
TEN MINUTES AFTER CLOSING: The first gunshot is fired. Someone’s dead. And if Winny, Scott, and the rest of the hostages don’t come up with a plan soon, they may not live to see morning.
Told from both Winny and Scott’s perspectives, and alternating between the events leading up to and following the hold-up, Ten After Closing is an explosive story of teens wrestling with their own challenges, thrown into circumstances that will test their very limits.
2 Responses
Sounds amazing, cannot wait to read it!
Ooh sounds interesting, can’t wait to curl up and read it 🙂