Sneak Peek Wednesday: Ann, Not Annie by Sage Steadman [Giveaway]

Ann, Not Annie
by Sage Steadman
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: Sept. 20, 2017
Genre: Young Adult Romance

Ann, not Annie, is tired of her nominal existence and has vowed to turn things around by dating the hottest guy in school, Jacob Waters. Easier said than done since Jacob isn’t even aware she exists. The truth is, due to Ann’s lively temper she spends more time in detention with the rest of the school rejects than she does fantasizing about Jacob Waters wearing spandex.

Her best friend and devout alien believer, Lisa, doesn’t like the changes she’s seeing in her BFF. Neither does Danny Feller, a fellow detention inmate and resident lost boy who has started keeping an extra watchful and unwanted eye on Ann.

When a chance encounter in an empty hallway changes everything, Ann finds all her dreams coming true and she is well on her way to living the perfect life she’s always wanted. But appearances aren’t always what they seem and Ann is going to have to face not just cold hard facts, but also her past.

 

 

Excerpt…

The usual slackers joined Ann in detention. Stacey what’s-her-face always insisted on wearing a tankini belly shirt with a push-up bra, and liked to obnoxiously bat her eyelids and flirt with teachers. If she’d had the decency to throw on a cardigan, then Ann wouldn’t have to spend countless hours of unlawful imprisonment watching Stacey flip her hair and hoist her boobs repeatedly.Then there was Mike. He was quiet and had an affinity for fire and things that exploded. Ann overheard two of her classmates say that Mike was in detention that day for wadding up newspapers and sticking them in the tailpipes of teachers’ cars. Ann slumped in her chair as Mike discreetly etched a bomb into his desk with a razor blade.

Rumor had it he’d once told the high school guidance counselor he wanted to grow up to be the next Unabomber. Ann was certain if there were ever going to be a Glenwood High School shooting, it would be Mike who did it.

That never happened, I might add. In fact, Mike eventually attended Harvard Business School (his dad, a financial bigwig in New York, pulled a few strings—I’d say a whole orchestra’s worth), and Mike became next in line to be vice president of a chain of grocery stores before his twenty-second birthday.

Ann absentmindedly drummed her fingers loudly on the desk. It was that or bang her head against it. Ms. Steinberg shot her a glance from over her gossip magazine, and Ann slumped back with a sigh.

“Don’t you have homework to do?” Steinberg asked.

Don’t you have lice to clean out of your curly rat’s nest? Ann thought, before grabbing her notebook.

The odor-heavy Ms. Steinberg was the school’s detainment officer. She sat behind an ancient, wobbly desk, manufactured sometime in the seventies, and read gossip magazines. Occasionally she stood in front of her desk and ominously slapped a ruler into the palm of her left hand. She waited, as if any minute a special messenger might burst through the door perspiring with excitement, to deliver the news that corporal punishment was lawful and say “By all means Ms. Steinberg, swing away. These infidels had it coming.”

I’ve often wondered how people like Ms. Steinberg end up in school education. Did she used to like kids? Or has she always hated them and felt like high school would be the best place to nurture that hatred? Either way, Ms. Steinberg was a joke, and Ann liked to fantasize about tying Steinberg to a chair and escaping from detention. Ann closed her eyes and was entertaining the daydream when the door abruptly opened and the school’s leading outcast (kind of like head mascot, but less reputable) sauntered in.

Now, I am of the firm belief that until you’re eighteen it is your God-given right as a teenager to break rules, trespass on private property, and streak naked in public without subjugation to severe punishment.

This brings me to Danny Feller. You might say he was beautiful, hot, gorgeous, magnificent, sexy—pick which adjective you like, they all fit—and he was walking into Ann’s detention. Now Danny didn’t consider himself a bad-looking guy. He just wasn’t into flaunting his awesomeness, but sometimes a person’s awesomeness simply flaunts itself, even when you politely ask it not to. And I don’t say all this to toot Danny’s horn. I’m not really into tooting horns, anyhow, but here’s the thing: At this particular moment, Ann Julia Grey was in denial about Danny Feller’s obvious magnificence. (Tragic sigh.)

She looked up, locking eyes with Danny. She looked at him as if she were trying to produce a paralyzing lightning bolt from her eye sockets. Really, she was just grumpy. Danny sensed as much and tried smiling at her. Ann immediately grew flushed and glanced away.

Danny brushed his dark brown hair from his eyes as he looked for the misplaced detention slip. He rummaged through pockets, pulling out candy wrappers, random homework assignments, loose change, until finally he found the slip and handed it over to the model of patience, Ms. Steinberg, who was making loud, disapproving sighs. She snatched the slip with a tight frown as sweat formed at her hairline.

Ann watched Danny take his usual spot in the back left corner. He plugged his headphones into his iPod and began drumming his fingers on the desk. Ann noticed his solid hands: not too meaty, but not skinny either, and tanned from the summer. She noticed a slight tingling sensation in her knees as her stomach did back flips. She wrote it off as indigestion and turned back to her notebook.

 

 

Meet the author…

Sage Steadman was awarded a master’s degree in social work from the University of Utah. While pursuing her passion for writing, she worked as a licensed mental health therapist. She published her debut novel, “Snowflake Obsidian: Memoir of a Cutter,” in 2010 under her pen name, The Hippie, and since, re-released the second edition under her real name. The novel has been deemed an “idyllic” read, filled with love, humor, romance and heart. She is also the co-author of the gritty and inspiring historical fiction novel, “Upon Destiny’s Song,” alongside classical guitarist, Mike Ericksen, and has penned an article on teen cutting for Canadian Magazine, “Edmonton’s Child.” She has recently produced a stunning and thought-reflecting novella entitled, “The Waking Dream.” Sage is heralded as a talented writer who tackles her novels with a witty, raw and honest approach. She currently lives near Salt Lake City, Utah with family.

Website

 

 

Giveaway time!

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3 Thoughts on “Sneak Peek Wednesday: Ann, Not Annie by Sage Steadman [Giveaway]

  1. This is a new one for me, thanks!!

  2. I have’t read this author and this book sounds good.

  3. I’m not really into YA anymore, but the edgy cover caught my attention, and I’m definitely going to put this on my wishlist! I like rebellious characters (as I was a teenage rebel myself), so I think I would have fun with this read.
    Thanks for sharing this!

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