This Much Is True by Katherine Owen [Review & Interview]

Genre:	New Adult
Publication.Date	August 11 2013
Pages:	432
Published By:	The Writing Works Group
Website	Katherine Owen
	This Much is True Goodreads Page
My review copy:	I bought my review copy

Where to get:

Fate brings them together. Fame & lies keep them apart. One truth remains...

She's become the Paly High girl with the most tragic story...

At 17, Tally Landon just wants to graduate and leave for New York to pursue ballet. Her best friend Marla convinces her to attend one last party--a college party--where she can be among strangers and evade the whispering's about her heartbreaking loss that follows her everywhere she goes. While at the party, she meets Lincoln Presley, Stanford's famous baseball wonder and has a little fun at his expense--when she lies about her age and who she really is--intent on being someone else for the night and escaping her tragic story.

His only focus is baseball, but he can't forget the girl he saved on Valentine's Day...

At 22, Lincoln Presley's star is on the rise; he's about to finish at Stanford and expected to be taken early in Major League Baseball's upcoming draft. His cousin's party serves as a welcome distraction. But then, he sees the girl from Valentine's Day he saved from that horrific car accident; and he can't quite hide his disappointment when she appears to look right through him and not remember him at all. He vows to learn her name at least before he leaves. What's the harm in getting to know this girl? What's the worst that can happen?

Fate soon tests these two star-crossed lovers in all kinds of ways...

And yet, despite the lies being told to protect the other, and the trappings of fame that continually separate them, and in lieu of the deception by those they've come to trust the most; one truth remains.

This much is true.

“We spent the first seventeen years of our lives together and shared everything from our looks to our clothes to our innermost thoughts. But then, one day, it was over. And no one prepares you for that. No One."

“I don't do relationships of any kind. I'm in. I'm out. Everybody wins. I flash him my award-winning smile."

 “If I were gifted at making long-term plans, which by now we all know I’m not, and if I was at all      hopeful, which we all know that I can never be, although it crosses my mind that it’s entirely possible these are all just huge, f*&king, temporary setbacks and nothing more, even though it’s been going on for over three years now, since Holly died, and I met Lincoln Presley. Events that could be construed as somehow inevitably related. Yes, perhaps there’s an expiration date on the said pursuit of unhappiness. Perhaps, things will eventually go my way after I actually discover what that way is supposed to be.”

     Tally was a twin until tragedy struck on valentines day and her sister was taken from her in front of her eyes, but that night someone saved her someone she called "Elvis", but she doesn't want to think about that night at all, its been hard to move on so she has basically closed off the world and focused only on dancing. Tally's pain is always very raw through out this book which is what makes her all the more interesting to readers. When Lincoln sees the girls from Valentines Day he instantly wants to know her, but she doesn't know that it was him that saved her that night. When they start to spend time together the connection begins but things are never that easy. This book begins with Tally being 17 and Lincoln 22, it progresses through the years and let me tell you it's anything BUT an easy ride.

     To explain how much I love Katherine Owens as an author is still something I struggle with. Since the first book I read by her "When I See You", I have been enamored by her writing and character development. The fact that she can draw a reader in from the very first sentence and have you holding your breathe till the inevitable conclusion is remarkable. This is not just any book. This is THE Book. It will keep you wondering, guessing, bargaining and praying for a happy ending.

     The most precious thing about this book is that it doesn't give you a clue about the ending. You want to believe that you know what will happen but you don't, you can't because the story twists and turns so much that you are left breathless and wondering what will happen next.

1. What event,person or place in your life made you decide to write? 

I’d been waiting to fulfill a dream of writing full-time since my college days. When I was unceremoniously downsized in April of 2009 from my corporate sales job, I sat down and pounded out my first novel writing a beginning, middle, and an end to a book aptly titled: The Point Where We Began. It will never see the light of day at over seven hundred pages, and because it is truly a newbie’s writing personal dreck. From there, I read everything I could get my hands on—from all types of fiction to all types of books on the craft of writing—and I took classes at The Writers Studio for the next two and half years. By December of 2011, I’d written and released three novels, When I See You, Seeing Julia and Not To Us. I even won a literary award and first place with Seeing Julia with the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest in late July of 2010.

2. What do you find gives you your passion to write, even when you're feeling down? 

Reading good fiction always rejuvenates me even when my own writing seems all but impossible to get down on the proverbial page. There are times when you just have to write it out. 

3. What is your advice to writers that are afraid of getting rejected? 

Rejection. Bad reviews. You will not be for everyone. I’m not sure there’s an absolute way to get over rejection or feel less than awful about a bad review. Writers feel deeply; and we take things like rejection and reviews personally—good or bad. I do believe after being on this journey for the past four years that I have learned how to somewhat handle both rejection and/or bad reviews, where, before, I used to wallow for days after such an event, now I've got it down to a manageable fifteen minutes. The thing is…if writing were easier, everyone would be good at it, but most are not. I take extreme solace in that one profound thought and so should every writer reading this.

4. What mix of music do you listen to while you write or if you don't what is the one thing you must have when you are writing? 

Yes, music plays an important part in getting in the right frame of mind for putting words on the page. I have a wide variety of tastes in music. It depends on the novel and story line I’m writing. For This Much Is True, I listened to a lot of Keisha and Kelly Clarkson. I have a playlist for This Much Is True here and one for When I See You here. Enjoy! 

5. Do you get your story ideas from personal experience or just from life in general? 

There seem to be people, places, and things that influence my writing, but I never really take directly from real life (although some people believe my novel is about them). I like to think of it as creative license in the truest sense. Yes, people, places and things inspire me. But my characters tend to come to me in dreams, day or night; and I fiddle with them in my mind until I truly know them—how they talk, what they think, and what they will or will not do. It takes some time, but that is how it works for me. 

Every job I've ever had—from carryout girl at Safeway while I was in high school to corporate public relations, and global sales account management work—prepared me for this writing career at this juncture in my life. I utilize those hard-won skills every day as a full-time fiction writer.

Finish this sentence: 

6. I am most grateful for....my family, which makes it possible for me to write full-time.

7. I wouldn't be able to write if....I hadn't taken and been inspired by the writing classes with The Writers Studio.

8. My favorite author is....Gillian Flynn. I love her writing style and when I get caught up in the I-should-would-could stuff, I always ask myself: what would Gillian do? In other words, does she blog? Does she tweet? Is she chatting on Facebook or fixing her website? Or, is she writing? That’s all I should be doing. 

9. My all-time favorite book is...I have six. Sorry. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay, April & Oliver by Tess Callahan, The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, Falling Under by Danielle Younge-Ullman. The whole list of top favorites is here on Goodreads.

10. If I was to be stuck anywhere in the world for 7 days, I'd pick... Pacific City at the Oregon Coast—the most beautiful and tranquil place in the world. I always get re-inspired when we go there.

About the Author

Dark. Edgy. Contemporary. Romantic.

Were we describing me? Or my fiction? Sorry.

I drink too much...coffee, not enough water. I swear too much for God and my mother, and I slip these into my fiction. Sorry.

I'm impatient, a perfectionist, a wordsmith, a dreamer, which ends up being good and bad. I'm a workaholic; ask my fam-dam-ily. I've written four novels in as many years: "Seeing Julia", "Not To Us", "When I See You", and my latest release "This Much Is True".

If you love angsty, unpredictable love stories, I'm yours. ♥ I'd love to hear from you. Visit me at my webpage www.katherineowen.net or connect with me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KatherineOwenAuthor or Twitter. I'm a huge fan of the tweets @KatherineOwen01

CLICK ON THE BANNER FOR FULL SCHEDULE!