Special: Wanderlove Reading Video by Kirsten Hubbard

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANDERLOVE!

To celebrate this special day the awesome Kirsten Hubbard made six WANDERLOVE reading videos during her recent trip to Central America. In the video I'm featuring you see Kirsten Hubbard reading from a very essential and one of my favourite scenes of WANDERLOVE. She's on a paradisic beach in El Gigante, Nicaragua. 

Where does the term "Wanderlove" come from? Watch the video and read Kirsten's explanation below!

I know I'm not the first person to coin the term "Wanderlove". The internet informs me there's an album by a band called The Ragbirds with the same name, and also an old movie. But I did think of it myself! Here's how it went down.

I never really liked the word Wanderlust. I mean, I loved the idea of it, but not the word itself. "Lust" just felt wrong for the way I felt about travel. One day, it hit me: why not substitute "Love"? Wanderlove was SUCH a better word. But it was a momentary thought, one I didn't write down. Later, when I started writing Wanderlove, I had this feeling I'd thought of the perfect title at some point, but couldn't recall it. After a few weeks, luckily, it came back to me. It took me a while to sort out my thoughts about the meaning of the word -- essentially by writing the exchange between Bria, Rowan and Starling in the video.

Because it's SUCH A COOL WORD, I was anxious that someone would nab the word first, over the years it took to draft, revise, sell and edit Wanderlove. And actually, there is a recent self-published YA novel with the same title. But nobody had ever used it in a travel-love sense, which makes me super happy.

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Are you a Global Vagabond?

No, but 18-year-old Bria Sandoval wants to be. In a quest for independence, her neglected art, and no-strings-attached hookups, she signs up for a guided tour of Central America—the wrong one. Middle-aged tourists with fanny packs are hardly the key to self-rediscovery. When Bria meets Rowan, devoted backpacker and dive instructor, and his outspokenly humanitarian sister Starling, she seizes the chance to ditch her group and join them off the beaten path.

Bria's a good girl trying to go bad. Rowan's a bad boy trying to stay good. As they travel across a panorama of Mayan villages, remote Belizean islands, and hostels plagued with jungle beasties, they discover what they've got in common: both seek to leave behind the old versions of themselves. And the secret to escaping the past, Rowan’s found, is to keep moving forward.

But Bria comes to realize she can't run forever, no matter what Rowan says. If she ever wants the courage to fall for someone worthwhile, she has to start looking back.

Summary by Goodreads 

I give WANDERLOVE 5/5 possible stars and call it " a truly wonderful & vibrant story made of pieces of dreams, memories and a colourful rush of love for every tiny miracle on this planet. " Read my review here.

I hope you enjoy the video and of course love WANDERLOVE as much as I do! Have you read WANDERLOVE or do you plan to? Tell me in the comments below :)

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Now head over to YA Highway! You should really watch the other five videos. Kirsten's also having a big WANDERLOVE giveaway and you can win bracelets, art prints & bookmarks!