I am so pleased to have Daisy Jordan, author of Love Means Zero
as a guest poster here on Acting Balanced today - and not only is she guest posting, but she's offering an autographed copy of her new book to one lucky reader. There will be opportunities to enter to win both today and tomorrow, when I review Love Means Zero - so get your entries in today and come back to get my take on Daisy's book tomorrow and get another entry!
as a guest poster here on Acting Balanced today - and not only is she guest posting, but she's offering an autographed copy of her new book to one lucky reader. There will be opportunities to enter to win both today and tomorrow, when I review Love Means Zero - so get your entries in today and come back to get my take on Daisy's book tomorrow and get another entry!
Daisy Jordan is an obsessive tennis fan and wrote Love Means Zero, in which Hilton gets a job as a photographer for a tennis magazine, so she could live out her dream-job fantasy through Hilton. But don’t worry if you’re not a tennis fan; Love Means Zero still has all the drama and suspense of Daisy’s previous books! Those books include Everything Happens for a Reason…, the Spin the Bottle series, and All That Sparkles Isn’t Real Sapphire. Before she published her first book, Daisy grew up in Indiana watching tennis all summer every summer on TV and having her own fair share of high school and college boy drama, much like her characters. She now lives in Denver and religiously fills out brackets for every Grand Slam with her brother Josh, while still managing to find time for boy drama. Daisy can be found online at:
, in which Hilton gets a job as a photographer for a tennis magazine, so she could live out her dream-job fantasy through Hilton. But don’t worry if you’re not a tennis fan; Love Means Zero still has all the drama and suspense of Daisy’s previous books! Those books include Everything Happens for a Reason…, the Spin the Bottle series, and All That Sparkles Isn’t Real Sapphire. Before she published her first book, Daisy grew up in Indiana watching tennis all summer every summer on TV and having her own fair share of high school and college boy drama, much like her characters. She now lives in Denver and religiously fills out brackets for every Grand Slam with her brother Josh, while still managing to find time for boy drama. Daisy can be found online at:Travel - The Great Escape
“Of course she knew traveling changed the way you thought and even what you thought about; distance did crazy things. A lot of the time while you were traveling it was like that trip was a whole other life; everything back home seemed remote and totally separate. She knew that because she’d travelled a lot, and it happened to some extent every time.”
These are the thoughts of Hilton, the main character in Love Means Zero. She thinks this when she realizes that as she’s been traveling for her job, she hasn’t been missing her boyfriend Luke in the way she would’ve expected, an “I can’t wait to see the love of my life” way. She hasn’t been missing him any differently from how she misses her best friends.
Hilton has had this experience with travel before. Back in high school, there was a time she used it to her advantage, when she wanted to forget about a guy. But, back then, it only worked until she went home. Back at home, the same people and the same issues still existed. There becomes a point in Love Means Zero, too, when Hilton prefers being away from home, because her problems with Luke seem so remote and like another life. But, at the same time, she knows eventually she will have to face them, and him.
So is it good to use travel as an escape, and to live this other life where things at home seem totally separate? Or is it just running away?
To some extent, it is running away, or ignoring the problems. But sometimes that can be just what we need. Sometimes, while ignoring the problems of our everyday lives for a brief while, we discover something better, something bigger, that moves our lives in new directions. Traveling opens our eyes and gives us new perspectives. And sometimes, those new perspectives make the problems of our everyday lives seem unimportant.
This is partially what happens for Hilton. While traveling, she gets to know herself better and discovers her true dream, the life that will make her happiest. In her case, that crazy effect of distance carries over when she gets back home; it actually changes how she views her life at home and how she feels about the people in it.
Of course this doesn’t happen on every trip for every person, and it shouldn’t. Sometimes traveling is an escape, sometimes it’s an enriching experience, sometimes it’s both, and sometimes it’s neither. Each trip is a new experience, and we can make of it what we want.
I love to travel for both of these reasons – escape and enriching experiences. Travel clears my head and gives me a much-needed break and change of pace. It gives me new things to think about, and it opens my mind. It makes me happy, and it opens the door to possibility. It doesn’t take me away from reality, but it gives me a new reality. Traveling is how I act balanced!
Giveaway:
One lucky AB reader will win an autographed copy of Daisy Jordan's new book, Love Means Zero
- open worldwide! Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on October 23rd, and the winner will be chosen by random.org, announced here on the blog and contacted by email.Mandatory Entry (Must be completed or other entries will be deleted):
Leave a comment on today's post talking about why you travel, include your contact email!
Bonus entries (Leave a separate comment for each entry):
Become a Fan of Daisy Jordan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorDaisyJordan
Follow Daisy Jordan on twitter: http://twitter.com/DaisyJordan06
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Tweet about this giveaway (1x per day - leave link)
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" #Win Autographed Book: Love Means Zero @chascouponmom @DaisyJordan06 ends 10/23
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*Come back and leave a comment on Friday's review post for another bonus entry!
It goes live at 8:00am EST
Disclaimer: I received two copies of Daisy Jordan's book, Love Means Zero from the author through Pump Up Your Book for the purpose of completing a review and giveaway. All opinions expressed in the guest post are the author's and all opinions in the review are 100% my own.
from the author through Pump Up Your Book for the purpose of completing a review and giveaway. All opinions expressed in the guest post are the author's and all opinions in the review are 100% my own.