“Can I write an illiterate hero and make him a dynamic, sexy heart-throb that is
also a fully-formed character?”
That was the question I asked myself when I read the staggering statistics about
adult-illiteracy in America. When my eldest son was diagnosed with dyslexia, we were
inundated with horrifying statistics. We became advocates for our son, but what about
all of the children that went on undiagnosed? What about the 19% of high school
graduates that cannot read? Illiteracy cannot be distilled down to dyslexia. There
are hundreds of reasons people don’t learn to read effectively. I wanted to give a
voice to those that are unable to express themselves with black ink on white paper.
In that firm decision, GYPSY HOPE was born.
Strong characters, passionate love scenes, and hearty doses of emotion are the
hallmarks of my work. I’ve made a career of crafting broken heroes and heroines
capable of setting fire to their bed sheets but that find healing in the light of
love. I refused to allow Brock’s illiteracy to make him less of a man. Illiterate
does not mean unintelligent, unattractive, or incapable. It means some people
struggle to read just like I struggle to fathom what on earth my husband is doing
when he’s working advanced calculus techniques to program a computer. None of us are
good at everything. We all struggle. We all have failings, and shame, and things we
wish we could rid ourselves of. That’s what makes us human. Those are also the things
that create literary characters who people relate to and love instead of two-
dimensional caricatures. I will never write a billionaire alpha that hops in one of
his many helicopters to escort his date to a night on the town. Nope. I want true
pluck. I want gritty characters that could be your next door neighbors, your best
friends, and your lovers. I want my characters to feel that real. That means my
characters aren’t perfect and they never will be.
As Brock’s plight and the plot for GYPSY HOPE took shape in my mind, I worried giving
voice to illiteracy might not be enough to help. ProLiteracy entered the scene.
I’m so thrilled to be partnered with them for the release of GYPSY HOPE. For
every book sold I will donate $1 to this phenomenal organization that works globally
to educate and provide resources and help to end the global pall of illiteracy.
This gives each of us the opportunity to give and receive. By purchasing a copy of GYPSY HOPE you
get to read Brock and Hope’s story, a sexy passionate romance, where a couple learns
to deal with illiteracy in a healthy way. You also get to give the gift of reading to
someone that may never have learned to read. Around the world, 757 million people
cannot read or write a simple sentence. Please join me in helping to end this global
crisis. We can do it one book at a time.
Jillian Neal is a New Adult author with a passion for passion. She writes
strong character driven novels, told from the male perspective. Her guys aren’t
afraid to let us inside their minds or inside their bedrooms. Young love comes to
life inside the author’s Realm, along with sinister crime fighting, mixed in with a
hearty dose of family. The engaging adventures will stretch your mind and keep you
coming back for more.
Jillian lives outside of Atlanta with her husband and children.
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From the time a car accident took her parents lives when she was a child, Hope
Hendrix has lived in perpetual fear of most everything. Tired of always chickening
out, she decides to grab onto life and really live it. For Hope, that means finally
telling her best friend, Brock Camden, that she’s been in love with him since high
school.
Misplaced cowboy and the town’s famed football star, Brock Camden, has lived a life
of lies for so long all he knows is regret. It was never the life he wanted, but the
past can’t be undone. Now, Hope, the one girl he’s always longed for, admits she
wants him, too. Can he escape the web of deceit thrust upon him when he arrived at
the shores of Gypsy Beach and have a real life with Hope, or will all the lies and
uncertainty ultimately be their undoing?
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