Today I am very excited to welcome author Kari Gregg to Joyfully Jay. Kari just released a short story, Foreshock, that takes place during last year’s Northeast earthquake. Today she is here to share some thoughts with us about the quake and tell us a bit more about her book (which I reviewed here earlier today), along with offering a great giveaway.ย
Please join me in welcoming Kari!
Last summer, I was sitting in my living room and pounding away on my laptop. Collared had been turned in, but In the Red‘s deadline loomed. I was having one of those fantastic good days, when the words roll effortlessly off the keyboard and those words mirror the movie inside my head. Awesome. Perfect.
And then the ground started shaking.
That? Was freaky.
But not quite as unexpected as you might think. We live near a bomb factory. No, not that close. It’s not like it’s across the street or on the other side of the mountain. Close enough to know when all is not well at the bomb factory, though. So honestly, when the first tremors hit, my first thought was something went wrong at the bomb factory.
Then, when the ground kept shaking, my second thought was “!!!OMG, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AT THE BOMB FACTORY!!!”
After a few more seconds with no kaBOOM, I finally bought a clue and checked the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) website to see if the New Madrid Fault had slipped. Nope, it wasn’t New Madrid, but yep, that was an earthquake. (I was probably on twitter two nanoseconds later.)
In Foreshock, Eric and Kyle don’t have a bomb factory nearby so their earthquake experience was just a tad different:
Ericโs fingers dug into Kyleโs bicep, but the shaking didnโt stop. It worsened, the vibration intensifying as it jarred up his legs to throw him off balance in spite of Kyleโs grip. Disorienting. His gaze flashed to the countertop, zeroing in on the bottle of olive oilโgood God, had he really used that to lube Kyleโs ass?โperched precariously on the edge where heโd left it. The bottle rattled, echoing the clatter of the shifting debris in their kitchen.
It wasnโt just him or Kyle then.
Earthquake?
No, couldnโt be. Of course, he knew earthquakes were possible in Virginia, but . . . This wasnโt California, for Godโs sake. His mind stubbornly refused to process what his body instinctively recognized. His muscles bunched. The hair on his arms stood on end, and his heartbeat tripled as animal fear clogged his throat. โKyle!โ
So…What were you doing when the quake hit the East Coast last year? Did you feel it? Hear about it on Facebook, Twitter, or TV? Comment below with your email address to be entered into a random drawing for a $10 Amazon gift certificate!
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Kari Gregg lives in the mountains of Wild and Wonderful West Virginia with her Wonderful husband and three very Wild children. Once Kari discovered the fabulous play land of erotic romances at RWAโs National Conference in 2009, the die was cast. Finally! A market for the smoking hot stories she loves!
When Kariโs not writing, she enjoys reading, coffee, zombie flicks, coffee, naked mud-wrestling (not really), and . . . coffee!
If you would like to catch up with Kari, caffeinate yourself and head on over to http://www.KariGregg.com
You can also find Kari…
on Goodreads
on Facebook
on Twitter
Kari is giving away a $10 Amazon gift certificate to one lucky commenter. ย The contest will close Friday, March 16 at 11:59 pm EST. ย Leave a comment below to enter.
- By entering the contest, youโre confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
- Winners will be selected by random number.
- If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner will be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay andย leave your email addressย if it is not in your profile.
>Hi Kari,
I was picking grapes to make jelly. I felt it but since I was sitting on an unstable "old" propane tank, I just thought it was the tank shaking. About 5 minutes later I found out it had been an earthquake.
>I was sitting at my kitchen table, editing Crescendo, and having the same thought your characters did, which mostly involved me going O_o and then later being really grateful it wasn't more serious because I would've sat there until the ceiling fell on me while my brain tried to process WTF was going on :-p
>I saw lots of news footage after the earthquake hit. I remember seeing the damage done to the Washington Monument and thinking how I would not have wanted to be in there when that happened.
There was an earthquake in Oklahoma last year(November) and we felt it in Texas. It was definitely a strange feeling. Kind of made me feel dizzy for a few minutes after it happened.
lkbherring64(at)gmail(dot)com
>I was in Staples office supply with my kids back-to-school shopping. I live a bit closer to the center than Kari so I could tell it was an earthquake right away, but I was so stunned I just stood there. Half the folks in the store were running around and some were leaving the store but I didn't really know what to do. Fortunately it was just rumbling, no damage or things falling off the shelves so it didn't scare the kids.
One of the things I learned that day that I had heard from people in other emergency situations is how hard it is to get a phone line afterwards. I tried to connect with my husband and all my local family, but it was impossible to get a cell signal. The only people I could reach were those who had texting, so that is a good thing to keep in mind. But overall it could have been a lot worse!
Thanks Kari for sharing your story with us. And don't forget guys that Kari is donating her profits to the Trevor Project so be sure to buy the book!
>This sound like a good read so please count me in. Thanks
diannakayATgmailDOTcom
>I live up north but I my friend who lives in Virginia actually messaged me on MSN and asked me to call her mom for her who was a little closer to the quake. The phone lines were down where she was so she couldn't do it herself. Of course I did it for her even though I had never talked to the lady before. I let her told her what my friend said, that everything was fine and she just couldn't call herself because of the phone connections. Her mom was very greatful that I called.
The book sounds excellent, and that's awesome that the profits are going to a wonderful cause. And thanks for the awesome giveaway too!
angel_flower_7969(at)hotmail(dot)com
>I live in Greenfield, MA it's in Western MA not to far from UMASS Amherst College. So I didn't feel a thing and didn't anything about it. When my daughter Jen came home from school in Chicoppe she told me about shaking and the confussion it caused in her class. Then it was over in seconds! Glad to here you weren't hurt and still glad that I never new it was happening.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOVE YOUR WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chris
ceagles48218@yahoo.com
Chris
>I was in my kitchen when the quake hit and having been through a couple in CA, I ran out my door and outside in my courtyard where all my neighbors had gathered. (I forgot about ducking inside a doorframe!)
I look forward to reading the book.
Lasha
mslasha @ gmail.com
>Kati,
I was in my classroom-thankfully no students–we were in what we call pre-service. Now here's the funny part–my classroom is directly beneath the school gymnasium–there was an adult male lunchtime pickup game going on above me–I thought the tremors were from the game until my Principal went running down the hall telling everyone to get out of the building!! LOL!! Needless to say I was shocked!!
Best of luck on the book's release–I so enjoy your work!!!
>I was working in San Jose a couple of years ago and the entire floor moved in a rolling fashion. I thought, weird, a really heavy truck must have driven by. I swayed a bit as I kept talking to my clients. The client I was speaking too, her roller chair slid and she hit her desk. She held on for dear life (I think she was a bit melodramatic) and screamed, "EARTHQUAKE"! A bit stunned, I looked around as everyone was in a panic. The rolling floor stopped after about 5 seconds. Everyone asked me if I was okay, seeing as I was from the Midwest. I looked at them and said, that was kind of cool. Then I got back to work. I figured the Californians used to this would have been more nonchalant, but it was not the case. They on the other hand thought I was crazy as I didn't even blink an eye and kept at them for answers to our project. *HAH*
Anyway, I am a Kari fan as I'll be following along on this tour. Question – is it wrong that every time I see this title, I see Foreskin instead of Foreshock? I do a double take every time I see the title.
>oops–forgot my email: sammythepirate@gmail.com
Thanks!!
>I was at home, just doing chores. I actually didn't notice any movement here, but about twenty or twenty-five miles away my friends felt it and some buildings actually had damage done to them!
Thank you for the contest!
Ann
Kyreadinggirl@yahoo.com
>And just realized the typo–Kari!!! OMG–I am lost today–LOL!!!
>My daughter and I were driving on the highway to a mall when we heard the news on the radio. Then my husband called to say the house was shaking. We couldn't believe it. We didn't feel a thing.
>Well I don't have a fun story to share but I am laughing at yours "!!OMG, SOMETHING WENT WRONG AT THE BOMB FACTORY!!". How crazy! Not to mention that you actually live by a bomb factory. Sounds like something out of a Tim Burton film. Made me laugh ๐ and I really enjoyed your story!
Ktmugan@yahoo.com
>I was at work & a couple people said they felt the tremors. I never noticed them. I called my mom's ofc on the local Marine Corps base to ask if she felt anything & she said she just thought it was from the construction they were doing to the building she works in…lol We were all shocked to hear we'd been through an earthquake.
aunt_cori@yahoo.com
>We actually live a couple of hills away from the bomb factory — outside the blast zone if the SOBing thing ever goes up for real. One of their buildings went up (as in kaBOOM) early last summer (? may have been spring last year) and we didn't feel a thing, though friends closer in said they felt a tremor which is why I thought of the bomb factory when the quake hit. ;-p
Thanks, everybody, for playing along! Keep the comments rolling…The giveaway here's good through Friday. And other chances to win this week too. YAY!
>I was right here in Texas, being oblivious to any such goings on. ๐
~smooches~
Jase
vslavetopassionv(at)aol(dot)com
>Juliana
Cool post and giveaway! That was so crazy! Thanks!
OceanAkers@aol.com
>Hallo Kari,
well I've seen it on TV, we don't have earthquakes but we were caught by one on our holiday, that was a strange experience, because mostly I thought'Huh, did that thing just move?'
Jibriel.O(at)web(dot)de
>This one looks awesome Kari & it sounds like my kind of book. I can't wait to read it.
>This is such a unique idea for a book! Let's see… When the earthquake hit last year I didn't find out until the next day, in the newspaper. I live on the west coast ๐
kit_singer@hotmail.com
>Saw coverage on the news that day. I live in the mid west and although we get our far share of earthquakes, they don't do a ton of damage (at least not so far).
sionedkla@gmail.com
>I heard about but did not feel your quake. Now in November the quake here in OK woke me up. I heard a big boom then it felt like someone or something moved my bed. It was my first experience with the earth moving when I was alone.
>Hello Kari & Jay,
Thank you Jay for hosting Kari on your Blog for her "Foreshock" Virtual Book Tour & Thank You Kari for taking the time out of your day to spend with Jay's Fans…which many are your Fans too, including Me. ๐
I'm a BIG Fan of your writing Kari & LOVED your Books, "Collared", "I, Omega" & "What Rough Beast", they were soooo Smokin' HOT, I thought I had to take a cold shower just to cool myself off. ๐ If anyone has not read anyone of these 3 Books, OMG you don't know what you are missing….run & get them!!!!
I also can't wait to read your short story, "Foreshock"…before your Interview with Jay I had no idea that it takes place during last year's Northeast earthquake.
I'm from the Northeast & I was actually watching CNN at the time, my Hubby was sitting across the room from me & all 3 of my Mini Pins were laying (or trying to lol) on my lap. My Pups actually got restless before it happened; they hopped off the couch & started acting so weird. Then I felt a rumbling, like a truck was coming down the street, but it was more of a left to right shaking, just different! Next thing I know we have glass cases with Nascar Diecast in them & they started hitting the glass. The rumbling, like a train, got stronger, but a left to right shaking…then all of a sudden, it was over. Now here is the funny part, my Hubby who was sitting right across the room from me, felt NOTHING! I couldn't believe it. I'm still amazed that my Pups knew something was up before it even happened.
I would very much appreciate if I could have the opportunity to enter your giveaway for a random drawing for a $10 Amazon gift certificate! Thank You.
Wishing You Ladies All the Best,
PaParanormalFan (Reneeโ S.)
paranormalromancefan@yahoo.com
>I was (half)watching TV and on the computer when I heard about the earthquake. I saw some of my friends posting about it on Twitter and on their blogs.
I thought… oh, wow… But I was also honestly thinking, That's nothing new since I live in Los Angeles, California and very vividly (because I was at that little age where things that are frighting stick with you and it's the source of my nightmares) remember the '94 earthquake. But then I heard that earthquakes don't happen on that part of the world (which yes, I always assume things are the same everywhere lol) and then I was like…. O_________O oh. Scary. Because I know how fucking scary earthquakes are. I HATE them. They're my worst fear since '94. And I'm always afraid that "this" or "that" summer (because that's when they usually occur) The big one we have coming is going to hit and throw the world upside down again… *shiver*
I hate thinking about earthquakes. It's a bad omen. lol.. It's like a jinx. when your thinking, and talking out loud about them a small one happens or something. urgg… –___–''
Anyways… that's what I was doing and where I heard it. ๐
Judi
arella3173_loveless(at)yahoo(dot)com
>Posted this in the wrong spot (shakes head):
That was quite the day here in Maryland. I was sitting at the computer when the dogs went crazy, barking and tearing around the house. Oh, good, I thought, the neighbors Golden is loose again. And then the house started shaking, pictures sliding on the walls. Then it stopped.
I ran out the front door (yes, I know, we aren't supposed to do that) and looked around. For what, I don't know. I then realized we had just had a earthquake. One quick check online and the videos starting pouring in. Now almost a year later, the Washington Monument is still closed and the Washington Cathedral's damage estimate is still climbing. And we have lost the certainty that the big one can never happen here
melaniem54atmsndotcom
>Oops, I guess I need to add my email address too.
lacrimsonfemme at gmail dot com