BLOG TOUR: RAINBOW ROWELL GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY

Hopefully by now you have read my review of Landline by Rainbow Rowell and have an idea of how brilliant a book it is. Well, I have more rainbow-y goodness for you today as part of the Landline blog tour! Originally there was going to be a guest post from Rainbow Rowell herself, but she's busy at the moment being awesome around the US on her tour, so instead I have an exclusive extract from the UK edition of Eleanor and Park, as well as a Rainbow Rowell prize pack giveaway!

But first, let's take a look at Landline...

Georgie McCool knows her marriage is in trouble. That it's been in trouble for a long time. She still loves her husband, Neal, and Neal still loves her, deeply - but that almost seems besides the point now. Maybe that was always besides the point.

Two days before they're supposed to visit Neal's family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie tells Neal that she can't go. She's a TV writer, and something's come up on her show; she has to stay in Los Angeles. She knows that Neal will be upset with her - Neal is always a little upset with Georgie - but she doesn't expect to him to pack up the kids and go home without her.

When her husband and the kids leave for the airport, Georgie wonders if she's finally done it. If she's ruined everything.

That night, Georgie discovers a way to communicate with Neal in the past. It's not time travel, not exactly, but she feels like she's been given an opportunity to fix her marriage before it starts...

Is that what she's supposed to do?

Or would Georgie and Neal be better off if their marriage never happened?

Landline is out now - get your copy here!

If you've read Eleanor and Park, chances are you were pretty frustrated with the ending. Luckily for you, Rainbow has chosen to write about the mystery surrounding it...

THE THREE WORDS

"You're probably hoping I'll tell you what the three words are.

This is the question I've been asked most since I wrote Eleanor and Park. This is what people tweet at me and email me about. It's the first question at every signing and public event.

WHAT ARE THE THREE WORDS?

My father-in-law called my husband to ask. My mother cornered me at lunch, "I know you won't tell the Internet, but I thought you'd tell me. I'm your mother."

I didn't tell her. And I'm not going to tell you.

But we can talk about it for a few minutes, if you'd like...

I always knew, when I started Eleanor and Park, what the last line would be. I knew Eleanor was going to send Park a postcard, and that it would be 'just three words long'.

And I knew that readers would assume those three words were "I love you". I want readers to assume that. It's the obvious answer – and it's a happy answer. Wouldn't it be lovely if Eleanor finally said, "I love you"?

But I can't bring myself to confirm that interpretation. Or to say anything conclusive about the postcard – beyond that I think Eleanor wrote something hopeful. Park responds hopefully. He sits up, he smiles, he feels like something with wings takes off from his chest. That sounds like hope to me.

It drives people crazy when I talk like this: as if the characters have minds of their own, and I'm just interpreting their actions based on what I've read.

I mean, I created Eleanor and Park. I should be able to tell you, concretely, what it says on the postcard.

But there's something about that moment between them...

It's the end of the book, and we're getting ready to leave the characters. Their story is about to become their own again. (If you imagine that characters keep on living after you close a book; I do.)

So we're backing away from them, and they're having an intimate moment. And it just feels wrong to read their mail.

I know! It's crazy for me to say that! We've been in their heads for 300 pages, and it's a postcard – everyone at the post office probably read it.

But in that moment, as the author – the voyeur-in-chief – it didn't feel right to read it, to share it.

The important thing to know about that postcard is that Eleanor sent it. She worked through all her fear and anxiety and insecurity, and she reached out to Park. She sent him something that made him smile and feel wings fluttering in his chest.

Readers often ask me – after they've asked about the three words – why I decided to end the book this way. Why couldn't I give Park and Eleanor a happy ending?

I think I did give them a happy ending.

I mean, I know it's not really an ending; there aren't wedding bells and sunsets. This isn't the end for these two people. It's just where we leave them.

But they're 17 years old.

I don't believe that 17-year-olds get happy endings. They get beginnings.

This is the end of this story about Eleanor and Park, but it's the beginning of something else. And I have so much hope for them."

Rainbow Rowell

GIVEAWAY

If you love Rainbow Rowell and you live in the UK or Ireland, you're going to love this giveaway! I'm giving you the chance to win a signed Rainbow Rowell prize pack, including a signed copy of Eleanor and Park and matching poster, also signed. Sound good? Of course it does, so enter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway