When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love.

Last year, Natalya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive.

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career.

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present, and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell.

But when upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself.

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

Elodie Nowodazkij was raised in a tiny village in France, where she could always be found a book in hand. At nineteen, she moved to the US, where she learned she’d never lose her French accent. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Modern Language & Linguistics, and later earned master’s degrees in German Cultural Studies and European Studies. Unbeknownst to her professors, she sometimes drafted stories in class. Now she lives in Germany with her husband and their cat (who doesn’t seem to realize he’s not human), and uses her commuting time to write the stories swirling in her head. She’s also a serial smiley user.

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Guest post – Choosing my own magic

ONE, TWO, THREE isn’t the first book I wrote but it’s the first one I felt like I wanted to share with the world (scary) and that was getting so many lovely reviews by the ones who read it. I got very close to getting picked up by a literary agent several times, I received great feedback from beta readers, critique partners and through contests but…the magic door stayed close. In the past months, I read a lot of books that I know would do so well with readers but for x or y reason haven´t hit the shelves yet. That´s when I realized that I could choose my own magic.

That doesn’t mean I didn’t have to work hard on my book, or that it didn’t have to go through several editing rounds, copy editing, proofreading…That doesn’t mean I am guaranteed for my book to do well.

It would be a lie to say I´m not scared because I totally am. People are going to read my book(s). People are not going to read my book(s). People may hate my characters. Others may love them.

But mainly I´m excited. And happy. And looking forward.

Yep, lots of emotions. Luckily I have a very patient and supportive husband 🙂

I cannot wait for you all to get to know Antonio and Natalya!

Four questions to Elodie Nowodazki

1.  You’re French and live in Germany…but you write in English. How come?

I lived in the United States, in Maryland, for quite a few years, first as an “au pair” and then as a university student. I’m a proud Retriever and a proud Terps J, having received a BA from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County and my first Master’s from the University of Maryland at College Park. Writing in English just seems to be more “natural” for me. But maybe one day, I’ll write a novel in French too.

2.  What was your inspiration for ONE, TWO, THREE?

I used to love dancing ballet as a kid, and I won a writing contest to go see the Opera de Paris. We saw the dancers train, it was magical. Those moments stayed with me.

Then, one day, I was talking about the movie Center Stage on Twitter and Natalya’s voice came into my head. At first, all I knew was that she was seventeen and an accident had killed her hope of becoming a professional ballerina…The accident turned into a car crash that also took her father’s life.

Natalya’s voice was sad and broken, but full of want.

From there on, it became her story.

3.  The family from Natalya, the main character in your novel, originally comes from Russia. How did you do your research?

The name of my main character was actually inspired from my mother-in-law, who moved to Germany from Russia about 20 years ago. My husband, who was born in the Ukraine, still speaks Russian with her, and I learned a lot from them. His family is the one who taught me there’s a Russian proverb for every situation, and some of Natalya’s favorite food is also mine.

4.  Can we expect more books to come with Natalya & Tonio?

Yes. But I’m not planning a sequel. There will be at least two companion novels to One, Two, Three. The first one will be published in November 2014. It will focus on Emilia, Nata’s friend at the School of Performing Arts. It’s entitled ALWAYS SECOND BEST, and you can already find it on Goodreads. The second companion novel will be focusing on Becca, Nata’s best friend. Publication will be in early 2015.

Little facts about One, Two, Three & Elodie Nowodazkij

1. Little fact: I wrote this book (mostly in the train) in 6 months back in 2012. And it has gone through several revisions since.
2. Little fact: Like Natalya, I love pelmeni – but my favorite Russian dish is stuffed blinchiki (mostly with mushroom and mashed potatoes) yum!
3. Little fact: I got the inspiration of my main character’s name – Natalya – from my mother-in-law
4. Little fact: Like Natalya’s father, my favorite composer is Chopin.
5. Little fact: My book is officially coming out on June 26th 2014 because it’s my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary

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