Hello and happy Wednesday! Today on the blog we are introducing a new fun series to shine the spotlight on our very awesome authors! We kick off with Ann M. Miller, author of this summer's YA Contemporary Sports Romance A Heartbeat Away from You. If you haven't checked out Max and Ali's story yet, this enemies to lovers story is perfect for any season.
Author Spotlight: Ann M. Miller and A Heartbeat Away from You
If your book was adapted to the screen, would you want to see it as a movie, a limited short series, or something else?
I would love to see A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM YOU adapted to the screen as a limited
short series. There’s enough material to fill several episodes, and I think Ali and Max’s history as
childhood nemeses would make great flashback scenes. In the book, Ali has a heart condition
that causes her to collapse on the ballfield. It’s a moment that’s often talked about, but we don’t
actually get to witness it in real time. I think it would be amazing to see that scene play out on
the screen and give viewers that additional emotional context.
I can see Isabel May (from Alexa & Katie) playing the role of carefree, sporty Ali, and Charlie
Plummer (from Spontaneous) playing the role of studious, responsible Max.
If you could write a spin off novel for one character in your book, who would it be and why?
It’s funny you should ask that! I’ve actually written an outline for a book featuring Rachel, Ali’s
supportive best friend. Although she played an important role in A HEARTBEAT AWAY
FROM YOU, I feel like we didn’t get to know much about her family and interests. As a strong
female character in her own right, she definitely deserves her own book. Although I have yet to
start writing the first draft, the general premise as it stands right now is this: After someone close
to Rachel disappears, she embarks on a treasure hunt of sorts in an effort to find them. The story
will center around found family and long-lost mementoes.
Your characters are dropped into an alternate universe! What AU would you love to see your
characters run amok in?
This is not an alternate universe per se, but I’d love to see Ali and Max whisked back to the past,
particularly the 1940s, when women were drafted into the All-American
Girls Professional Baseball League. I can picture Ali as a force to be reckoned with on one of the
newly created female teams, while geeky Max befriends his paternal grandfather as a young man
and learns shocking family secrets.
What are the themes songs for your main characters?
There are two songs that immediately come to mind when I think about A HEARTBEAT
AWAY FROM YOU: Heartbeat Song by Kelly Clarkson and Girls Just Wanna have Fun by
Cyndi Lauper. They’re upbeat and energetic, just like main character Ali. The first song plays on
the ‘heartbeat’ theme of course, but it’s also about opening yourself up to unexpected romance,
which is what Ali does with Max, and the second song is about girl power and letting loose, two
concepts which fearless Ali embodies.
You can listen to the full playlist for A HEARTBEAT AWAY FROM YOU on Spotify:
What is your next project? What other works would you like to share?
I’m currently working on a YA contemporary romance about a violin prodigy who has given up
music due to her PTSD. She meets a brooding boy who asks her to give him violin lessons. She
refuses, until he offers her a deal she can’t resist—a chance to meet her idol. At its heart, it’s a
book about the power of music and finding new dreams when the old ones don’t fit.
I previously published a YA magical realism duology about Julia, a teen who discovers she can
open portals into paintings. CAPTURED IN PAINT explores how she finds out about her ability,
and her quest to find her boyfriend, who’s trapped in a painting. In ILLUSIONS IN PAINT, she
jumps in and out of some very famous works of art as she attempts to get rid of her power.
CAPTURED IN PAINT is also now available as an audiobook!
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