Amy Matayo | Let's Get Real

For the past seven years, I’ve written books. Young Adult books. Contemporary Romance books. Humorous books. All kinds of books. Five out of eight of these books have been published so far (because, if I’m being honest here, three aren’t worth publishing without a complete overhaul of both content and style). But SWAY is my first foray into New Adult territory.

SWAY released last year, but to this day it is still my favorite. Unlike THE WEDDING GAME and LOVE GONE WILD before it, this book is classified as New Adult. What is New Adult, you ask? Well I googled it, and this is what I found:

New Adult fiction encompasses the 18-25 age group, meaning the male/female protagonists fall in that age range. On top of that, New Adult fiction tends to focus on the characters leaving home, exploring sexuality, and navigating through higher education and career choices. Which, coincidentally, is what my characters in this novel are going through.

Now, just to be clear, SWAY is a fairly clean read—though there might be a few references to things and situations one might not normally find in an inspirational book. But going into it, that was my plan.

My biggest desire in life is to be real with people—at home, at the grocery store, at my kid’s school, at ballgames. Case in point: my Facebook and Twitter posts normally feature my latest mess- ups. Like the time I let my daughter give me a make-over and then drove to the grocery store for a gallon of milk shortly after. I was out of the car and walking inside when I got a glimpse of myself in one of those claw-game mirrors. My eyes were blue from eyelash to eyebrow and beyond. My cheeks were a weird shade of red and brown because I think my daughter mixed a little eyeliner in with the blush to make things interesting. Interesting. That’s a word for it.

Mortified, I turned on my heel and practically ran back to my car. Thank God it was dark outside.

Then there was the time I made homemade salsa and then promptly broke half the jars because I forgot about the concept of not putting hot jars into cold water. Or the time I climbed on a treadmill at Sears only to hear my sister say, “You have toilet paper hanging out of your pants.” And that’s when I realized the workers who’d been laughing hysterically behind me for a couple of minutes were actually laughing at me.

This sort of thing happens often. I could go on and on with stories, but I’m pretty sure I would bore you to death. Or maybe I wouldn’t. Whichever, there’s only so much humiliation I can take.

Anyway, my goal in life is to be real. To be honest. Because we all do things we shouldn’t do, we all have thoughts we shouldn’t have, we all say things we shouldn’t say, we all feel things we shouldn’t feel. And my hope is that my characters reflect that. And really, when it comes down to it, God’s grace is in the middle of all our screw-ups. And mine are frequent. And my characters’ are frequent. And if you’re like me or them, yours are frequent too.

Bottom line: in SWAY, my characters mess up. They mess up so much that some situations they find themselves in might seem insurmountable. I hope you’ll read it anyway. I hope you’ll like it anyway. I hope you’ll identify with them anyway. Because messing up is just a part of life. They do it...and I do it...extremely well.

Happy reading!
Amy Matayo

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About Amy Matayo

Author Amy Matayo is an excellent speaker, mathematician, seamstress, chef...and liar. She's decent at writing books but not much else. Then again, the book thing makes her marginally cool and a whole lot intimidating.

Not really. Not even her kids are afraid of her.

She graduated with barely passing grades from John Brown University with a degree in Journalism. But she's proud of that degree and all the ways she hasn't put it to good use.

She laughs often, cries easily, feels deeply, and loves hard. She lives in Arkansas with her husband and four kids and is working on her next novel.

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About SWAY

Falling in love is a beautiful thing. Unless you fall for the wrong person.

Finally settled after a tragedy-laden life, 24-year-old Caleb has found security in his faith, his friends, and his career. It's the life he's always wanted-simple, predictable, and safe. Enter Kate Hawkins, the attractive 21-year-old stranger he rescues from a bar fight who has an odd affinity for the color pink and a unique sense of humor.

It doesn't take long to realize their connection is intense, but after only a handful of dates, a shocking revelation surfaces. Lines are drawn, sides are taken, and loyalties are decided as their newfound relationship is brought to a sudden halt.

But unlike most couples who split, avoiding each other is impossible. As daily interactions become unbearable, one realization becomes clear: they've both fallen hard for the absolute wrong person, which leaves both scrambling for a way to make it right.