Adam_and_Jane presents:

Follow Me Back Preview (with Eric and Tessa!)

"HELLO WATTPAD! This is Eric Thorn, coming at you live from the Wattpad Block Party. I'm here tonight with Tessa Hart, and the two of us are hosting tonight's jam-packed FOLLOW ME BACK preview party extravaganza!"

Tessa: Hi everyone! I'm so excited to be here!

Eric: If you don't know us, Tessa and I are the main characters from Follow Me Back, the romance/thriller story that went #1 on the Hot List and landed A.V. Geiger a book deal with Sourcebooks. Tonight, we're bringing you all the exclusive details about the published version of the story, hitting stores in June 2017...

Tessa: LOOK! It's a book! A real book!

Tessa: ASDFGHJKLXCBNCNVVCNMJKFD!!!!

Eric: Oh great. There she goes with the random strings of capital letters.

Tessa: Sorry sorry. I get a little worked up sometimes when I see myself on the cover.

Eric: Dude, calm down. You're such a fangirl.

Tessa: Admit it, Eric. You're excited too.

Eric: It's cool, I guess.

Tessa: You should see Eric's face right now, you guys. He's got the cutest smile on his face.

Eric: Whatever. It's cool, OK? I'm happy when Tessa's happy. Plus, we've got a ton of stuff to share with all the Wattpad readers tonight.

Tessa: Right! So first off, we're going to reveal an all-new excerpt from the published version of the book that no one here has seen before. And then we are going to have the author, Viv, here to chat with us about it!

Eric: Apparently, there are 10 totally new added chapters in the book that aren't on Wattpad at all, so we'll see if we can get any more spoilers out of the author...

Tessa: And THEN we're going to play a game!

Eric: That's the best part, you guys. There's a prize involved. A serious prize.

Tessa: Eric and I will be giving away our own advance copy of the paperback book, with all of our notes and comments handwritten in the margins...

Eric: And SIGNED by the author. For real. This is one-of-a-kind, people. And ANYONE can enter to win it, anywhere in the world.

Tessa: ASDFGHJJKLLASDFGGKJLSHJASDFJLGJKASDFGASDJ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eric: Tessa, I swear I'm going to throw your phone out the window again if you don't calm down.

Tessa: ...

Eric: Deep breaths. Deep breaths. Don't hyperventilate on me now.

Tessa: Gimme a sec...

Eric: Um, why don't I show them all the excerpt while you do your breathing exercises?

Tessa: Good idea...

Eric: OK. Here's Chapter 9 from the published version of Follow Me Back. If you haven't read the first draft on Wattpad, this chapter takes place about a month after I started catfishing Tessa from my fake account. She's a huge Eric Thorn superfan, but she has no idea that she's really talking to me, her celebrity obsession... Tessa and I will be hanging out in the comment section below while you read this, so let us know what you think!

*****

"WELCOME ABOARD, MR. Thorn."
Eric shot a limp salute to the flight attendant who stood before him in a formfitting, blue uniform. He had to admit, fame sometimes had its perks. He didn't miss the indignities of commercial air travel. Far more civilized to make the trip from LA to Seattle on his label's private jet.

"Call me Eric," he said with a self-deprecating shrug.

The flight attendant smiled back warmly and leaned closer over the armrest of his chair. "Is there anything I can get you from the galley to start you off?" The top two buttons of her blouse had come undone, and her arm brushed lightly against his shoulder.

In a different mood, he might have ordered a bowl of mixed nuts and asked her to join him for a snack. But he had other plans today...

"No, thanks. I'm going to grab a nap, if you don't mind." Eric pushed the lever to recline his seat. He already had one hand in his pocket, reaching for his phone. He hoped this flight attendant wouldn't be the type who insisted on checking in with him every five minutes. As an afterthought, he jerked a thumb at the man who sat on the other side of the aisle. "Maury over there will take a Jack and Coke."

His manager had taken out his cell phone the moment they stepped on board, and Eric was grateful for the excuse not to talk. He didn't know how much time he had before Maury interrupted, but perhaps he could manage to scrape together a few minutes. He might not get another chance all afternoon— and he knew he would be otherwise occupied that night.

The flight attendant teetered away on her high-heeled pumps, and Eric rolled onto his side, presenting her with a view of his turned back. He pulled out his phone and rested it on the seat beside him, shielded from view by his body.

As he fired up Twitter, he couldn't help thinking how far he'd come in the past month. Back in August when he first created the fake account, he would've been way too paranoid to open it anywhere in his manager's vicinity. He'd been feeling less anxious in general lately. Less quick tempered. More relaxed. His secret message exchange with Tessa had more than a little to do with the transformation.

It just felt good to have a simple friendship: a pressure valve where he could release all the stresses of the day. He could vent to her about his irritating "manager" at work. She could complain about her crappy boyfriend back at home. Just normal conversations that most people took for granted, but Eric hadn't had a friend like that in years.

The Twitter home screen came up, and he smiled. A new message.

Tessa H: Are you online?

Eric darted a glance over his shoulder. Maury was still yak- king on his phone, with a cocktail glass balanced in one hand. The flight attendant had disappeared into the galley.

He hastily texted back.

Taylor: For now. I'm on a plane. Might have to log off quickly...


Tessa H: Traveling again? That sounds fun.

Eric snorted. Fun? Not exactly. More like stressful and exhausting.

Taylor: Nah. Work trip. I'd pretty much rather blow my brains out, but what else is new.

Tessa H: You shouldn't joke about that, Taylor.

Taylor: Sorry. Just an expression. So what's up? Did you hear from Scott?


Tessa H: Nope. Not a peep. He's kind of being a jerk at the moment.

Taylor: You should talk to him, Tessa. Stop messaging me and go call your boyfriend.

Tessa H: Maybe later. I have therapy in a sec. I'm just waiting for Dr. Regan to show up.

Taylor: Uh-oh. Have you been projecting again, young lady?

Eric bit down on the back of his thumb to stifle a laugh. He got such a kick from throwing all her Freudian mumbo jumbo back in her face. The two of them could go back and forth for hours, call- ing each other out on their various psychological shortcomings.

Tessa H: Of course. Projecting all day long. Except when I'm too busy catastrophizing...

Taylor: Catastrophizing? Pretty sure that's not a word.

Tessa H: Pretty sure it is, and you do it all the time.

Eric tittered. This ought to be good.

Taylor: Such as?


Tessa H: You'd rather blow your brains out?

Taylor: OK, Dr. Tessa. That might have been a slight exaggeration.


Tessa H: Where are you headed anyway?

Taylor: Seattle.

He hit Send on the message and immediately winced. Crap. He hadn't meant to let his guard down quite that much. He normally fudged the truth when it came to geographical locations. He bit his lip, hoping that she wouldn't put two and two together.

Tessa H: OMG!!! SEATTLE? SERIOUSLY????

"Shit," he muttered under his breath.

Taylor: Whoa. Didn't realize you were such a Seattle fan.


Tessa H: Don't you know who else is in Seattle??????

Of course she'd caught it. This was what he got for befriending an Eric Thorn superfan of all people. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, considering how best to cover his tracks.

Taylor: Oh no. Don't tell me.


Tessa H: ERIC THORN!!!!


Taylor: Huh, that's weird. I didn't pick up a signal yet on my douche bag detector.

Tessa H: He's playing a stadium show tonight! I wonder if there are still tickets?

Taylor: Nope. Pretty sure I got the last one.

Tessa H: Wait. Wait. YOU HAVE TICKETS?????


Taylor: Well, not exactly. More of a corporate VIP type situation.

Tessa H: OMG WHAT??? I thought you said it was a work trip!


Taylor: Mostly work, and I'm sure the con- cert will suck monkey balls...

Tessa H: Whatever. Do you have any idea how jealous I am right now? You know I've never even seen him live, right?

Eric paused, his finger hanging in the air. Really? He knew Tessa was confined to her home, but her condition had only started in June. How was it possible that she'd never come to see him play in all the years before?

Taylor: Never? I thought you were such a fangirl!


Tessa H: He never tours within five hours of my house.

Taylor: Where? What part of the country?

Tessa H: Let's just say it's a rural area... I can't believe you're seeing ERIC THORN. Will you please try to enjoy it? For my sake?

Taylor: OK. For your sake.

Tessa H: Promise? Will you sing along?

Eric broke into a playful grin. Sing along... Yes, Tessa. That

much he could definitely promise.

Taylor: Every word of every song.


Tessa H: Good. And maybe try to smile at least once. Do you think you can manage that?

Taylor: Smiling right now, sweet pea. You tend to have that effect on me :)


Tessa H: Sweet pea?


Taylor: Well, you won't even give me a hint what you look like, so I choose to envision you as small, green, and spherical.


Tessa H: LOL. Pretty close. I gotta go though. Dr. R is here.


Taylor: OK, talk to you tomorrow. Have a good session.

*****

Eric: And we're back! Tessa, are you feeling better now?

Tessa: I'm fine. Sorry I got carried away.

Eric: No worries. I tend to have that effect on people.

Tessa: Um, I was fangirling over the book, Eric. Not you.

Eric: Oh right.

Tessa: Speaking of which, I'll try not to fangirl too hard over the fact that we have the author of Follow Me Back joining us right now for a group chat. I'm thrilled to introduce Wattpad's own @adam_and_jane, otherwise known as A.V. Geiger! WOOT!

Viv: Hi Tessa! Hi Eric!

Eric: Hi mom.

Viv: I'm not your mother, Eric. I'm your author. We've been over this.

Eric: I can't call you mom?

Viv: You have a mother. A fictional mother.

Eric: It gets confusing sometimes tbh.

Tessa: So Viv, tell us about the publication plans. How is everything going?

Viv: It's good! The book comes out in June, which is only four months away now... and it's available for pre-order all over the place! Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository for worldwide shipping... #ShamelessPlug

Eric: Yeah, I saw it on Amazon, but that price seems too low to me. I'm worth more than six bucks, aren't I?

Viv: Maybe you are. Maybe you aren't. We'll see if anybody pre-orders you!

Eric: You better get it people. Tessa's going to cry if you don't.

Tessa: Um, no... Not everyone has access to a credit card, Eric. You and I don't have credit cards.

Eric: Mom, can I borrow your credit card? There's this book I really really want....

Viv: You better not be talking to me, Eric.

Eric: Kidding! Just kidding. So Viv... what can you tell us about the book that Wattpad readers don't already know? Is the Wattpad version staying online after the book comes out?

Viv: Yes, but it's just the first draft. There's a ton of stuff that got changed in the published version.

Eric: Are there really 10 new chapters?

Viv: Yep, plus a lot of smaller scenes that got changed and added throughout.

Eric: Wow. That must have been a lot of work.

Viv: You have no idea. I've been working my butt off since I got this book deal...

Tessa: Can you give the Wattpad readers any hints about what's changed?

Viv: Sure. So, if you think about it, a lot of the action in the Wattpad story took place behind the scenes. The readers heard the characters talking about what happened in police interrogations or DM conversations, but the readers didn't actually see things play out for themselves. Those scenes are all fully fleshed out now in the book.

Tessa: Like the scary parts, basically?

Viv: A lot of the new chapters are scary, but not all of them. There's all kinds of stuff. Like in the Wattpad version, we heard about Tessa's ex-boyfriend Scott, but we never actually saw him.

Eric: I still don't understand why you had to put that toolbag in the book.

Viv: Sorry Eric. He's part of the story. Same with Tessa's mother. In the Wattpad version, we heard Tessa talking about how she does psychotherapy exercises with her mom. In the book, we actually get to see Tessa and her mom attempting a desensitization exercise.

Tessa: That was hard for me to read about, but the new concert scene was worse.

Eric: Yeah, the concert scene freaked me out. That isn't in the Wattpad version, is it? There's a whole chapter that takes place at one of my stadium shows, and things don't go quite as planned...

Viv: Right, exactly. That chapter adds a lot more motivation for your character, Eric. It shows the readers why you react the way you do, later in the story.

Eric: I suppose so... Then there's also some plot changes in the book, right? Anything major?

Viv: I don't want to give any spoilers here, but yes. There are things that you read here on Wattpad that are NOT actually true.

Tessa: Like, I didn't actually appear on an episode of Catfish with Nev and Max.

Viv: Exactly. That was fun for Wattpad purposes, but not how it really went down.

Eric: And then there's Blair...

Viv: Right. I decided to take that character in a totally different direction. It affects Book 1 and it will affect the published sequel even more.

Tessa: So there's definitely a second book coming out?

Viv: Yes, the sequel is scheduled to release a year after book one, in June 2018. It's going through an even heavier revision process than the first book. There are MAJOR plot-level revisions coming for book 2. Basically, everything you think you understand about the characters will be changing...

Tessa: Wait. All the characters? Even about Eric and me?

Viv: You'll see...

Eric: Crap. I'm nervous now.

Viv: You should be.

Tessa: WHAT DOES THAT MEAN????

Viv: That's all I'm going to say.

Eric: Tessa, you better do your breathing exercises again.

Tessa: ...

Eric: I'm feeling a little light-headed myself.

Viv: Sorry you two.

Eric: I'm just going lie down over here for a sec...

Viv: Uh-oh. Ummmm, why don't I tell all the readers now about the Giveaway Game...

*****

FOLLOW ME BACK GIVEAWAY!

A.V. Geiger (@adam_and_jane) will give away an advance paperback copy of FOLLOW ME BACK, signed and annotated by the characters, to one lucky reader. This giveaway is open to international entries!

Rules:

There are two steps to enter. First, you need to participate by commenting on the Reader Survey below. Second, you need to complete the official Wattpad Block Party Rafflecopter giveaway entry form linked at the bottom of this post. We will be checking to make sure that the winner has done BOTH!

The only other requirement is that you are able to receive a shipped package. The winner will be asked to give their full name and a valid shipping address in order to claim the prize.

Reader Survey:

If you follow me, you know how I love to throw these Reader Surveys into all of my Wattpad stories. I thought it would be fun to do one for the book! Below is a short fragment that appears in the published version. This excerpt takes place toward the end of the book, when Eric is parked outside in Tessa's driveway (Note: If you haven't read FMB on Wattpad already, then you should *really* read that first before you go any further. It's up to you...)

Read and then answer the multiple-choice question in the Comments:

Eric trembled against the cold and swore under his breath. Damn, it was frigid. He'd thought it was bad outside the concert venue earlier, but the temperature must have dropped another twenty degrees in the hours since. He expelled a steaming breath, fiddling with his phone to distract himself from the impending hypothermia, and his thumb landed on its usual destination.

Twitter.

The police had frozen his second account—they needed it for evidence—but they'd left his @EricThorn account untouched. Eric stared down at his profile. He'd told Tessa in the police station that she should unfollow him, and he couldn't help but wonder if she'd done it. Had she blocked him too? Deactivated her account? He couldn't bring himself to check.

Instead, for some unfathomable reason, Eric clicked to compose a new tweet.

Reader Survey Question:

What do you think Eric tweeted?

A)

B)

C)

D) None of the above! (Comment what you think he tweeted instead...)

*****

Viv: That's it! Please be sure to comment with your answer AND also complete the Rafflecopter entry linked at the bottom of this post. The winner will be announced next month after the end of the Wattpad Block Party. If you have any questions, Eric and Tessa are hanging around in the Comment section to talk to you about the contest... or anything else!

Tessa: Good luck, everyone! Leave us lots of votes and comments!

Eric: See you later, Wattpad. Thanks for reading. 

***********

P.S. Don't forget to enter the 130+ #WattpadBlockParty Giveaways! Clickable links are at the top of my Wattpad profile! :)

GIVEAWAY LINK ONE:

http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2017/01/giveaways-for-wattpad-block-party_31.html

GIVEAWAY LINK TWO (with Widgets):

http://kellyanneblountauthor.blogspot.com/2017/01/giveaways-with-widgets-for-wattpad.html