I’ve always loved telling stories. My favorite is the one where I sent the wrong letter to the right missionary. We were married the next summer. I attended LDS Business College where I earned an Associate’s in Computer Technology and Brigham Young University where I should have majored in English. I live in a small town nestled in the heart of the Appalachians. When I’m not busy writing, I can be found baking cookies, going to the movies, helping with the homework or catching fireflies with my handsome husband and four adorable children.
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LDSWBR: Do you find it easier or more difficult to write during the summertime? Why?
SUSAN: I don’t know that it’s harder for me to write in the summertime. I pound it out during the school year so that when my kids are out, I can take a break. I write when I can, but I don’t let the guilt creep in if we went to the pool or the movies or caught fireflies instead. My family will always come first and there’s plenty of time for writing during the school year.
LSDWBR: Would you rather be in the pool or next to the pool?
SUSAN: This is a tricky question for me. I’m pretty picky about the pool. I love to swim. Laps. In a calm lap pool. I don’t like to be cold and unless I’m doing some serious moving, the pool makes me chilly. If the water is warm enough though, or my husband throws me in, I splash around with the family.
LDSWBR: Ice cream or slushie? What flavor?
SUSAN: Ice cream! (Though my current WIP has a lot of slushies in it.) I’m not a fruit lover, even though I’ve tried. I’m sure I get the love of ice cream from my dad. He ate at least one, every day
LDSWBR: Thank you so much, Susan!
Becoming Bayley by Susan Auten
Bayley Albrecht’s dream is to play soccer on BYU’s South Field. When she is invited to soccer camp the summer before her senior year in high school, she just knows she’s one step closer to her dream. Things get even better when she meets Matt Macauley, the star of the men’s soccer team. When they decide to write each other while Matt is on his mission, Bayley figures her life can’t get any better. But it certainly can get worse . . .
After she receives a minor concussion from playing soccer, Bayley discovers she had a disease called alopecia which causes her to lose her hair. As Bayley struggles to deal with the reality of her baldness she finds herself having to make some tough decisions. Can she still play soccer? Does she even want to? More importantly, should she tell Matt? And will he still want her when she does? Becoming Bayley is the story of one girl’s journey through self-discovery, of the definition of true love, and of the realization that as a daughter of God, she is of infinite worth.
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Reality Check by Karen Tuft
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Twitterpated by Melanie Jacobson
Of Grace and Chocolate by Krista Lynne Jensen
Espionage by A.L. Sowards
16 Responses to “Becoming Bayley by Susan Auten – Countdown to Summer 2012”
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I love that missionary story–pretty funny. I wish my library had this book–it looks good.
Excellent book. Love a book that’s entertaining but also means something. Good work, Susan.
This book was amazing! Loved the story! I can’t wait to read more by her.
I love BYU soccer and so I have to read this book. I’m guessing, yes, she’ll tell Matt, and yes, he’ll be accepting. :)
I just finished reading this book on my Kindle and loved it! I had never heard of alopecia before and it was interesting to learn more about it.
Awww! Another great sounding book! An old friend of mine had alopecia and I didn’t even know it for a few months! She was a beautiful lady. I love Susan’s dad – an ice cream a day?!! Wa-Hooo! :o)
I hae seen this book around and read the first little bit availible as a teaser online and it looks so good. I like that along with the romantic plotline there is the one with her super girly sister and how they come together. I really wish this was one of the books to be given away but I will definatly be reading it when I can buy it. And I love the story about the wrong letter to the right missionary, that sounds great.
Thanks for including me, Shaunda!!!
I loved Becoming Bayley! It was a fantastic book – seriously worth getting! Not only was it a fantastic cute love story, but it was realistic and had some really great lessons! The kindle edition had only a few errors, which is fantastic for a kindle book!
This sounds like a great book. I am thrilled to read a book where the heroine has a real-life problem other than that the boy she likes doesn’t seem to like her. Can’t wait to read it.
I’ve heard good things about this one. I’m excited to read it!
I had not heard of this book until I checked out this link. I am interested in reading this book because a 2 girls that I knew growing up had Alopecia. It will be interesting to see the perspective of someone with this disorder.
This sounds very interesting, but I have to admit, I’d have to be careful of when I read it. Since I’d be “taking on” the persona of Bayley, I’d have to be in the right mood for losing my hair. :)
This book sounds interesting. I like books that help me put life’s little inconveniences in perspective, and this sounds like it would do that.
Soccer is a much loved sport in our family because my husband is from Brazil. I need to learn more about the sport so this is a book that interests me and also all the challenges that she will go through. I will check it out soon!
What a wonderful story about a real-life trial in Bayley’s life that is so visible to the world. I think readers can apply this to their own lives and their trials. (It’s good to know someone else’s husband throws them into the pool when the water is just too cold to get in on one’s own!).