Meet Author J.B. McGee

Thank you so much for taking a minute to stop by my blog post, and thank you to My Crazy Corner for featuring me.

Many readers know about my family’s struggle with mitochondrial disease, especially since The Bookworm Box featured this video last month. Every cell has a mitochondria. It’s the power plant of the cell, and it makes almost all of the energy (or ATP) the body needs to sustain life. They are pretty important, and keeping them happy is crucial. But keeping them functional is vital. 2014 and 2015 have proven to be very difficult for my oldest son, Noah.

Jonah (left) and Noah (right)

When I was asked to participate, I wondered what book I’d feature. It’s not like I have anything new to offer readers right now. Family comes first no matter what, and there’s not been a lot of time left over for anything else.

While a lot of books are centered on a character’s friends, my books are centered on family. And Skipping Stones, while fiction, is my favorite because it’s based off the relationship I had with my own grandparents.

Can you see the love?

The town where Alex spends her summers, is where I spent mine. The town that built her, also built me.

Graniteville, South Carolina

Courtesy of Jen Oreto

The creek where she skips stones is where I tried to learn.

And as much of a lost cause as she is at skipping stones, I’m worse.

My boys take after me, which is what inspired this story. At this exact moment of their father trying unsuccessfully to teach them to skip stones is when the story started to brew.

The red velvet cake that is nearly its own character is my Memaw’s recipe.

Thank goodness my writing skills are a little better than my photography skills. But my baking abilities I got from one of the greatest, and this cake…gah. I want cake now.

When I wrote Skipping Stones, instead of having all fictional characters living in my head, it was like Memaw and Papa were back with me. I could feel them, and when it was over, I mourned their departure from my life again.

Skipping Stones is about to turn two years old on September 17, which is my father’s birthday (Memaw and Papa were his parents), so I thought I’d feature this book. With each person who reads it, their legacy and memory continues. Their love lives and spreads.

I would compare this novel with others that have had such a great impact they have ultimately been made into motion pictures. - The Book Enthusiast

J.B. McGee has outdone herself and completely showcased her imagination and ability to tell a story with Skipping Stones. - Romantic Reading Escapes

The characters are so well developed, I felt like I was a part of this story! Even though it wasn't a sex driven book, it was raw and emotional, full of twists and surprises that kept me turning pages. This is one of those books that is not to be missed, it's so beautiful and unique. - Shh...Mom's Reading

It is tragic, emotional and beautiful. It takes real talent to take such a big loss and still make it a beautiful love story at the same time. - The Boyfriend Bookmark

J.B. McGee does an amazing job building up the characters in this book. She has a gift for drawing you into the characters and making you feel invested in their stories. - Reading Rainblog

They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Not everyone will grieve in this order, nor will everyone go through every stage. It’s during the stage of denial when Alex Hart meets Andrew Foster. He takes her one-step closer to acceptance: the stage when new, meaningful relationships are formed. The stage when the realization occurs that this is now the new state of normal.

Just when Alex thinks she is on her way to healing, she enters the bargaining phase. That’s the phase where you wonder what you could have done differently. You wonder “what if?” Specifically, what if the ones you loved hadn’t left you?

Leaving…this is what makes heading off to war so difficult and frightening for Alex. She knows all too well what it’s like to be the one on the losing end of life, which is why she’s made it her personal mission in life to save as many lives as possible. The extreme high she gets from treating trauma victims turns into Alex’s own form of therapy, or so she thinks.

When faced with her world being turned upside down, Alex may just find that her true therapy is in the one who has always saved her.

Skipping Stones is a stand alone novel.

The following quotes were chosen by readers and made into teasers.

Courtesy of The Book Avenue

Courtesy of The Book Freak

Courtesy of We Art Books

Courtesy of JW

J.B. McGee was born and raised in Aiken, South Carolina. She is the mother of two beautiful children and a stay at home mom/entrepreneur. She finished her Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Carolina-Aiken in 2006. During her time studying children's literature, a professor had encouraged her to become a writer.

In 2011, it was discovered that both of her children, she, and her husband have Mitochondrial Disease, a disease that has no cure or treatments. Being a writer allows J.B. to remain close to her family, work on raising awareness for this disease, and to lose herself in the stories that she creates for her fans.

J.B. McGee and her family now reside in Buford, Georgia. She is an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author of her debut series, the 'THIS' Series.

She is represented by Stacey Donaghy with Donaghy Literary Group