Romantic Reads: Volcano

The Story Behind the Story Volcano by JoAnna White

Volcano is a story about a reckless famous YouTuber named Liam. He lives on the edge of life, putting himself in as much danger as possible. His best friend, Julia, opposes that and is often his voice of reason (which he doesn’t listen to). The inspiration behind the story of Volcano is a bit of an amusing one, so here goes …

I’ve been writing ever since I was 10 years old. I wrote my first story back then and ever since, wrote random stories for fun. A lot of the times, my friends came up with these crazy ideas and we’d plan the book together, base characters off of us, and then I’d write them and find ways to include God in each one of them. The characters would go through a hardship that God would help them overcome. Eventually, I wanted to try to write a book about a natural disaster, and that is when I wrote Earthquake. My laptop crashed and back then, I didn’t save my stories or back them up very often, so I lost Earthquake. I honestly couldn’t even tell you what the book was about or who the characters were, other than an earthquake was the main storyline.

As I became an author and turned writing into a career, I delved more into fantasy, but still wanted to return to my contemporary roots. So, I decided to rewrite Earthquake, but with a romantic twist. Then, the idea hit me: a series of Christian romances, where each one ends in a natural disaster, with the book titles to be named after the disaster.

Then, I worked with my fan group on Facebook, called JW Warriors, to plan Volcano. My first thing I needed was the main couple. I asked myself these questions: “Okay, what kind of guy character or girl character haven’t I done before?” … “What things do I need them to overcome, to learn about God?”

My cousin loved the idea of a famous YouTuber and I thought the idea of getting caught up in fame would work. But I really wanted to go much deeper than that. It wasn’t just about the fame. I actually took a part of myself that I used to struggle with, just in a different way than YouTube.

When I was still learning about how to turn writing into a career, I got on a website called Wattpad, where you can write and read stories for free. Every time someone read my book, it counted as a read, and eventually, I became obsessed with how many reads and comments each of my stories got. I realized eventually that I had made my value in my reads and comments, but I had to learn that my value came from God. So, I took that same lesson and concept and applied it to Liam—where, he became obsessed with his views and subscribers. Like me, he believes in God, but was searching for his value in the wrong things.

However, I didn’t want to use a musical YouTuber; the idea seemed cliché in my head, so I decided to do a thrill-seeker. Then, I gave him an injury. Because the thought of making a stupid mistake, getting yourself hurt, and not being able to do what you loved, would put him in a position where his views and subscriptions were dropping. It would force him to learn to rely on God, just like I had to do when I left Wattpad. Sometimes, God holds off on our dreams and lets us go through dry periods, to force us to turn to Him. It’s only when we learn to lean on and rely on Him that we find true happiness and fulfillment.

So, through the romance and the adventure, and all the intense natural-disaster action, I hope readers can take that single, important lesson from the story.

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Author Bio:

Joanna White is a Christian author and fangirl.

Hunter and Shifter are the first two books in her debut series, called the Valiant Series, published by Christian publisher Ambassador International and there are more to come. 

In December 2019, one of her short stories was featured in Once Upon A Yuletide (a Christmas fairy tale anthology by Divination Publishing). Dark Magi, Book One of the Republic Chronicles came out in November 2019. Glimpses of Time and Magic, a historical fantasy anthology, also featured one of her stories. The Crystal Heist was her most recent release, in August 2020.

She graduated from Full Sail University with a BFA in Creative Writing For Entertainment. Ever since she was ten years old, she's been writing stories and has a deep passion for writing and creating stories, worlds, characters, and plots that readers can immerse themselves in.

In 2020, she reached her personal goal of writing a million words in a year. Most of all, Joanna loves God, her family, staying at home, and being a total nerd.

To stay updated and find out more about her novels, where her inspiration comes from, games, giveaways, and more, visit her website at: authorjoannawhite.com.

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Book Blurb for Volcano:

Liam is as famous and reckless as they come. 

His fame and fortune have come from his wild adventures all around the world, which he films for his YouTube channel. Never before has his life ever been in danger, or has he ever gotten hurt. 

Until now.

His best friend, Julia, wants to be there for him, but sitting on the sidelines isn’t what Liam does best. Especially with his numbers and subscribers dropping since he can’t do much. 

To help him, Julia takes Liam and a bunch of their friends on a vacation to Hawaii, but all that does is make Liam’s inner adrenaline junkie want more.

The last thing either of them expect is a volcanic eruption to happen—let alone the worst one in Hawaii’s history. 

But after a massive earthquake split California, the surface of the earth is on the move, and Liam and Julia are standing right in the path of destruction.

Especially when Liam and his friends decide to climb the Volcano to have a look—right before it blows.

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Buy Volcano on Amazon or the author’s website

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Connect with JoAnna:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjoannawhite
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorjoannawhite
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authorjoannawhite
Join JoAnna’s fan group on Facebook (to be Christian nerds together and be involved in planning my books and behind the scenes stuff): https://www.facebook.com/groups/jwwarriors.