Book Spotlight: The Academy by Quinn Anderson

The Academy
by Quinn Anderson
Date Released: September 17, 2018
Riptide Publishing

About The Academy
True love stabs you in the front.

Nick Steele just wants a normal life, cliché or not. He had one once, back in Chicago. Before his father died and he took a year off from college to grieve. Now, he’s starting fresh at a prestigious—but tiny—Catholic university. Adjusting to small-town life will be a challenge, along with making friends and keeping his scholarship. All he wants to do is blend in, get his diploma, and go back home.

But Sebastian Prinsen—campus heartthrob and a notorious player—has other plans. He notices Nick right away and makes a bet with his two best friends: Who can kiss the new kid first? Nick seems immune to Sebastian’s charms, and yet genuine chemistry sparks between them. Even worse, real feelings do too. Sebastian falls more and more every time Nick blows him off, but if he comes clean about the bet, Nick will hate him forever.

The last thing Nick wants is to fall in love while he’s still grieving, but Sebastian feels like home to him. Nick wants that so badly he may ignore the warning signs and risk his fragile heart once more.

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Purchase Links

Riptide Publishing

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A Note from Quinn Anderson

Hi, everyone. I’m Quinn Anderson, and I’m here to share some behind-the-scenes facts about my latest release, The Academy. Stay tuned and comment on stops along the way for a chance to win a $10 Riptide gift card.

A Guest Post by Quinn Anderson

Muslim Side Characters

I’m certain it’s apparent by now that I include a fair number of Muslim characters in my books. If you’ve ever wondered why, it’s because in today’s social climate, most of the news that features Muslim people is politically charged and largely negative. As someone who has Muslim friends, coworkers, and ex-lovers, I had to share my more balanced experiences.

I always strive to include diversity in my books, but for too long, my focus was on race and sexual orientation. After the election, I wanted to be sure to include religion as well, especially in non-religious books. My Muslim characters are regular people going about their daily lives. Sometimes their religion has an impact on their decisions—like in The Academy, when Deen explains to the main character that he doesn’t eat bacon—but for the most part, it’s a small detail, like their hair or eye color. Being Muslin is an important part of who they are, but it’s not ALL that they are.

I’ve seen reviews for other books that have said things to the effect of, “Why’d you make this character Japanese?” or “Why did you mention that this character is Jewish when it had nothing to do with the plot?” I disagree with this line of questioning. I don’t think you need to have a reason, per se, to “make” a character not white, or not straight, or not Christian. Those aren’t the default setting, and if you stray from the “norm”, you shouldn’t have to justify it.

You can expect to see a wide array of diversity from me, whether it pertains to the plot or not.

About Quinn Anderson

Quinn Anderson is an alumna of the University of Dublin in Ireland and has a master’s degree in psychology. She wrote her dissertation on sexuality in popular literature and continues to explore evolving themes in erotica in her professional life.

A nerd extraordinaire, she was raised on an unhealthy diet of video games, anime, pop culture, and comics from infancy. Her girlfriend swears her sense of humor is just one big Buffy reference. She stays true to her nerd roots in writing and in life, and frequently draws inspiration from her many fandoms, which include Yuri on Ice, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Buffy, and more. Growing up, while most of her friends were fighting evil by moonlight, Anderson was kamehameha-ing her way through all the shounen anime she could get her hands on. You will often find her interacting with fellow fans online and offline via conventions and Tumblr, and she is happy to talk about anything from nerd life to writing tips. She has attended conventions on three separate continents and now considers herself a career geek. She advises anyone who attends pop culture events in the UK to watch out for Weeping Angels, as they are everywhere. If you’re at an event, and you see a 6’2” redhead wandering around with a vague look on her face, that’s probably her.

Her favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Gail Carson Levine, Libba Bray, and Tamora Pierce. When she’s not writing, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending too much time on the internet, playing fetch with her cat, screwing the rules, watching Markiplier play games she’s too scared to play herself, and catching ’em all.

Connect with Quinn

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Giveaway

To celebrate the release of The Academy, Quinn is giving away a $10 Riptide gift card! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on September 22, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!