Author Interview: One Way or Another by Kara McDowell
Who is ready to get their holidays on? One Way or Another by Kara McDowell is a holiday contemporary romance available now to help get you in the spirit! Check out our interview with Kara McDowell and a cover that will have you ready to say Happy Holidays!
One Way or Another
by Kara McDowellPublished by: Scholastic Press
on October 6, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
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Sliding Doors meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in a sweet, smart holiday romance about a girl who decides to stop letting her anxiety stand in the way of true love.
The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That's about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what ifs. What if she's destined to be a famous ceramicist but wastes her talent in drama club? What if there's a carbon monoxide leak in the ceramics studio and everyone drops dead? (Grim, but possible!)
That's why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she's paralyzed by indecision. Should she go with her best friend (and longtime crush) Fitz to his family's romantic mountain cabin? Or should she accompany her mom to New York, a city Paige has spent her whole life dreaming about?
Just when it seems like Paige will crack from the pressure of choosing, fate steps in -- in the form of a slippery grocery store floor -- and Paige's life splits into two very different parallel paths. One path leads to New York where Paige falls for the city... and the charms of her unexpected tour guide. The other leads to the mountains where Paige might finally get her chance with Fitz... until her anxiety threatens to ruin everything.
However, before Paige gets her happy ending in either destiny, she'll have to face the truth about her struggle with anxiety -- and learn that you don't have to be "perfect" to deserve true love.
Author Interview
- For Paige, decision making is a thing. What are some everyday decisions that you hatemaking?
How much time do you have?! When my anxiety is under control, I only struggle with decisions that seem life-changing, like choosing a literary agent or publisher for my books. When my anxiety is bad, however, I hate deciding what to eat or how to spend my rare free time. When I get an hour or two to myself, I freeze up. Do I nap? Write? Read? Fold laundry? Half the time I end up frozen in indecision and waste at least half of my time scrolling through social media.
- What advice would Claire and Poppy give Paige in her big decision making?
Ooh, such a fun question! Poppy would tell Paige to follow her heart, but to make sure she takes photos of everything! Snowy, romantic, holiday pictures are great content, and Paige could get a lot of social media mileage out of those photos. ? Claire would tell Paige to take a break from her family and follow Fitz to the to the mountains!
- Paige loves baking. What are some of your favorite holiday treats? What’s something that never tempts you?
Every Christmas my grandma makes Mexican Wedding cookies. She shapes hers into crescent moons, and they’re my favorite of her many Christmas cookies! I also love homemade cinnamon rolls, which I make on Christmas morning, and a delicious caramel-y, chocolate-y pretzels & marshmallow concoction called Gourmet Popcorn. I’m almost never tempted by cake. Is that weird? I could live without birthday cake, and I’m certainly not wasting any space on fruit cake.
About Kara McDowell
Born in the mountains and raised in the desert, Kara McDowell spent her childhood swimming, boating, and making up stories in her head. Now she lives in Mesa, Arizona, where she divides her time between writing, baking, and playing board games with her husband and three young sons.
