Fresh Start September – Guest Post by Kim Curran

Hey Guys!
Today on Fresh Start September we have the amazing Kim Curran, author of Shift. She has written a brilliant guest post for all of you about what she would change if she had the power. This relates to her book as this is the power her main protagonist has.
Hope you enjoy it!

A question I’ve been asked a lot recently is what decision I would change if I had the power to undo any decision – the power the main character in my book Shift has. It’s a great question, but not one to which I can give an easy answer.

Perhaps it’s because all of the things that were so bad when I lived through them seem so far away now. The boyfriend I shouldn’t have dated. The friend I shouldn’t have trusted with the boyfriend I shouldn’t have dated. And while they might have resulted in a lot of tears and sleepless nights at the time, I can smile about them in the rare times I do think about them now.

There are some things I think about a lot. Like staying in one job for years longer than I should have, because I didn’t think I was good enough to get another job. But that wasn’t really a choice. I wasn’t caught between two options, weighing up the consequences. I simply didn’t think I had options. So that’s another thing I have to leave untouched.

The one thing that really sticks in my mind is my indecision over applying to Oxford University. My tutors at college suggested I did, and my predicted grades made it a possibility. I had all the application forms with me one night I was down the pub with my friends. I was reading over and over them and imagining what my life would be like if I did get in, when a very cute guy, I had a terrible crush on, asked me, quite simply, why I wanted to apply.

Right then, I had that sliding doors moment. You know the one? Where you see your life go off in two radically different directions. In one life, I did get into Oxford Uni and I loved it, but I became so caught up in the romance of it all that I changed and let all my old friends slip away from me. In the other life, I didn’t apply, went to a different but yet still great university and stayed who I was. So what did I do? I ordered a pint and threw the application forms away.

I don’t want you to think I did it because of that cute guy. Although, that cute guy is now my husband, so it all worked out in the end.

There are the things I wish I hadn’t done, like let my friend bleach my hair using bleach, or let my uncle, who hadn’t cut hair since the 80s, cut it after. But now, they make for good stories. And who knows, maybe I had even worse haircuts in alternative realities. Although it’s hard to imagine that.

The problem with choices is it’s so hard to track the consequences. Something that seems so small and simple can end up being the biggest decision in your life. While the big decisions, often end up having no effect at all.

My mother always says we worry about 90% of things that never happen. And she’s right. If I think of the hours I’ve wasted, worrying about this thing at work, or that thing I have to say to a friend, none of which turned out to be a big deal, well… it’s a lot of time wasted.

All anyone can do is try and make the best decisions they can, with the information they have at the time, and then let the future take care of itself. As for the past, it’s gone. So let it go.

Our choices and especially our mistakes make us who we are. They’re part of us. Our teen years are, I believe, meant to be full of them. We’re supposed to do stupid things and get into scrapes and have adventures and have our hearts broken and break hearts in turn. It’s all part of those crazy years, which, if you do them right and learn from them, will turn you into a stronger and more interesting adult.

So, I can honestly say now, hand on heart, that even if I had the power, I wouldn’t change a thing.

So there we have it! What a great post, don’t you think? What about you though? What would you change if you had the power?
I would like to take this moment to thank Kim Curran for writing this post for us today and allowing me to share it with you all for Fresh Start September!

Author: Kim Curran
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Published: September 4th 2012
Pages: 416
Format: Paperback
Add It: Goodreads, Amazon, TBD

Summary:
When your average, 16-year old loser, Scott Tyler, meets the beautiful and mysterious Aubrey Jones, he learns he’s not so average after all. He’s a ‘Shifter’. And that means he has the power to undo any decision he’s ever made. At first, he thinks the power to shift is pretty cool. But as his world starts to unravel around him he realises that each time he uses his power, it has consequences; terrible unforeseen consequences. Shifting is going to get him killed. In a world where everything can change with a thought, Scott has to decide where he stands.

As a bonus part of the event we are giving everyone the chance to win some prizes donated by our wonderful participants and ourselves! These include:

• 2 winners of Strange Chemistry ARC packs, each pack including a copy of Poltergeeks by Sean Cummings, The Assassin’s Curse by Cassandra Rose Clarke AND Katya’s World by Jonathan L Howard (courtesy of Strange Chemistry)
• 1 winner of an eBook of My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century by Rachel Harris (courtesy of Entangled Publishing)
• 1 winner will receive a paperback copy of Speechless by Hannah Harrington – US/CAN only
• 1 winner of a hardover copy of 34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues (courtesy of the author)-US only Enter here
• 3 winners of a book of your choice from any that has been featured in Fresh Start September (each courtesy of the hosts)

The giveaway is INTERNATIONAL and will run until the end of the event (30 September). Remember to follow the Twitter and Facebook pages of the prizes you want to win, for example, to be eligible to win the Strange Chemistry Prize, you must follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Good luck!

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