YA Author Interviews

I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing quite a few YA authors over the past year (and a couple MG authors, too!). Here are links to the interviews, in case you missed any of your fave authors:

• Cyn Balog, author of Fairy Tale
• Karen Bass, author of Run Like Jager and Summer of Fire
• Kristin Butcher, author of Return to Bone Tree Hill, the Zach & Zoe MG series, and many other books for teens and children
• Megan Crewe, author of Give Up the Ghost
• Tina Ferraro, author of The ABC’s of Kissing Boys, How to Hook a Hottie, and Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress
• Danette Haworth, author of Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning
• Carrie Jones, author of Need, Girl, Hero, Tips on Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend, and Love (and Other Uses for Duct Tape)
• J.E. MacLeod, author of Waiting to Score
• Keri Mikulski, author of Screwball and Change Up
• Lisa Schroeder, author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me and Far From You
• Kristina Springer, author of The Espressologist
• Courtney Summers, author of Cracked Up To Be and Some Girls Are
• Barrie Summy, author of I So Don’t Do Mysteries and I So Don’t Do Spooky – coming December 1!

What I read on my summer vacation

[ETA: I just noticed the top book in the pile was cut off in this pic. Such a fine photographer I am... oops. It was If I Stay, by Gayle Forman, which, btw, was an amazing book!]

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Danette Haworth

Hey, guess what? It’s time for a bonus mid-month 20 Questions YA Author Interview. I’m happy to welcome Danette Haworth to my blog. Danette’s first novel, Violet Raines Almost Got Struck By Lightning, is actually MG (shhh…) but she’s such a super sweet person that I just had to have her visit.

Danette Haworth is related to a Romanian prince, or so her grandmother has claimed. Ruling her kingdom from her home in Orlando, Danette spends her days writing books and her nights cooking suppers nobody likes. She is partial to chocolate ice cream and U2.

And now… 20 Questions for Danette!

1. Morning person or night owl?
Night owl! It takes two double cappuccinos in the morning to turn me back into a human.

2. Outliner or pantser?
Outliner until The Hotel of Blueberry Goodness. Then I became an accidental pantser.

3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
Haven’t they done their evil already?

4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
“I am just like Violet.”

5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
“Mad World,” sung by Adam Lambert on American Idol.

6. What was the last movie you watched?
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Again! I love Captain Jack Sparrow!

7. What was the last book you read and loved?
Second Fiddle: Or How to Tell a Blackbird from a Sausage by Siobhan Parkinson

8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
Violet Raines Almost Got Struck by Lightning, heh-heh

9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
Netti, but don’t make me hit you.

10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
I’m ascared of bugs!

11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Driving auction cars to a new location.

12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Take my baby to the emergency room. (Oh, me too, Danette. That’s scary stuff for sure!)

13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
Sunday drivers! The sign says 55 mph, not 40 mph!

14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
My children, of course! And Violet Raines! But if I can name only one thing, it would have to be my children, who’ve read Violet Raines.

15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
Siobhan Parkinson! I didn’t want to misspell her name.

16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
Turkey.

17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
The one I just took—me and my family and a beautiful cabin set by itself in two hundred acres on a ridge in the Smokies.

18. What’s your favourite sports team?
The YMCA basketball teams my sons are on.

Thanks a lot, Danette, lol – now I’ve got this stuck in my head:

19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
Revisions! I’m polishing up The Hotel of Blueberry Goodness, which comes out with Walker BFYR in 2010; then I’ll put finishing touches on Me and Jack, Walker 2011.

20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
Writers write.

Thanks, Shari! This was the funnest interview ever!

Thanks so much for being here, Danette!

Summer Reading Challenge

Jennifer Hubbard posted a Summer Reading Challenge on her blog — check it out, and if you want to join us, sign up in the comments (on her post, not mine!). It’s easy — only ten books — but the criteria may just nudge you out of a reading rut to discover some gems you might otherwise have missed.

Like Jenn, I hope to read way more than ten books this summer, so this challenge feels like an “achievable goal”, which is the best kind of goal, IMHO.  What I really love about this challenge is making a commitment to read certain books that have been on my TBR pile for ages. Finally, it’s time!

Here are my 10 books for the challenge:

1 classic: As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
1 re-read: The Truth About Forever, by Sarah Dessen
1 Authors Now book: Dull Boy, by Sarah Cross
1 from a genre I don’t usually read: Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon
1 “impulse book”: we’ll see what catches my eye!
5 others:
– The Heart of Christianity, by Marcus Borg
– Always Looking Up, by Michael J. Fox
– Rules, by Cynthia Lord
– Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen
– Need, by Carrie Jones

Ooh, I can’t wait to get started! But first, back to my regularly-scheduled revisions….

Blurg: Heartbeat

I just read Sharon Creech’s Heartbeat, a MG novel in verse. Loved it! Poignant, simple, with a nice sprinkling of humor…. Here’s the blurb from the bookjacket:

“Run run run. That’s what twelve-year-old Annie loves to do. When she’s barefoot and running, she can hear her heart beating… thump-THUMP, thump-THUMP. It’s a rhythm that makes sense in a year when everything’s shifting: Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather is forgetful, and her best friend, Max, is always moody. Everything is changing, just like the apple Annie’s been assigned to draw a hundred times.

Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech masterfully weaves this story about a young girl beginning to understand the many rhythms of life and how she fits within them.”

(Blurg = blurb in a blog.)

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Lisa Schroeder

This month, I’m delighted to welcome Lisa Schroeder to my blog.

Lisa is a native Oregonian, which means her childhood summers were spent camping, fishing, reading books (of course!), and playing in the sun, when it finally came out. These days, Lisa spends her summers, and every other part of the year, sharing all the wonderful things Oregon has to offer with her husband and two sons. She is the author of two verse novels for young adults, both published by Simon Pulse – I Heart You, You Haunt Me and Far From You.

And now, 20 Questions for Lisa!

1. Morning person or night owl?
110% morning person. I turn into a pumpkin after 10 pm.

2. Outliner or pantser?
Mostly panster with a little outlining sprinkled in as needed.

3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
I’ve saved many of them. I have a fat file to show kids if I ever do school visits.

4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
All the letters I’ve received from readers touch me. But the one that stands out in my mind went something like – “My boyfriend died while we were dating – just 17. Your book made me feel a lot less alone in the world.”

5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
Sweet Thing by Keith Urban – “The moon is high and the night is young, come on and meet me.”

6. What was the last movie you watched?
Seven Pounds with Will Smith

7. What was the last book you read and loved?
WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by Sara Gruen.

8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
BECAUSE OF WINN DIXIE by Kate DiCamillo [Oh, I love that book, Lisa! Kate is such a wonderful storyteller.]

9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
I can’t think of any!

10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
I’m terribly afraid of heights. When we went to the Space Needle, I didn’t even want to go outside on the deck.

11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
I picked strawberries the summer of my sophomore year in high school. The deal was my grandparents would match whatever I made, so I could buy a purebred cocker spaniel. His name was Lucky and he became the love of my life.

12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Written a novel in verse. And then another one. And then another one after that!

13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
Laziness.

14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
My kids.

15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
Your blog, so I could read other interviews.

16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
Orlando, Florida

17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
Anywhere where I wake up in the morning and the only goal is to have fun for the WHOLE ENTIRE DAY!

18. What’s your favourite sports team?
Since I know QB Aaron Rodger’s family, I’m going to have to say the Green Bay Packers.

19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
I have three books coming out in 2010 – a picture book called LITTLE CHIMP’S BIG DAY, a mid-grade novel called IT’S RAINING CUPCAKES, and a third novel-in-verse with Simon Pulse called CHASING BROOKLYN. Wheeeee – I can’t wait!

20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
Read a lot and write a lot. Play. Have fun. Try new things. Focus on craft. Find your strengths and write to those strengths.

Great advice, Lisa. Thanks so much for being here!

Thanks, Shari, for having me here! It was fun!!

Blurg*: My One Hundred Adventures

*Blurg = blurb in a blog

I just finished reading Polly Horvath’s My One Hundred Adventures (2008, Groundwood Books). It’s quirky and delightful, and it is set at the seaside (which, in my rating system, automatically gives it bonus points). I highly recommend it! Here’s the blurb from the back cover:

You can hear the waves crash more loudly when it is dark. You can smell the sharper smells of the sea. Maybe the wind will take us this time, I think, as a gust shakes the foundations of the house. Maybe we will be blown apart to the many corners of the earth, but then I feel a sharp stab of something, excitement maybe. It is the prospect of adventures to be had.

And the winner is…

The winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards for 2009 were announced this morning. I’ve been waiting for this! Here are a few highlights:

• John Newbery Medal for the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature: The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman (Harper Collins Children’s Books).
• Michael L. Printz Award for excellence in literature written for young adults: Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta (HarperTeen).
• Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement in writing for young adults: Laurie Halse Anderson.

For the complete list of winners and honor books, read the news release here. Personally, I was disappointed that Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games wasn’t in the list of Printz honor books, because that book rocks. Go figure. But, I was delighted to see Laurie Halse Anderson recognized for her complete awesomeness!

And now I have a few more books to add to my must-read list….

The Cuffies

For the Cuffies (“Off the Cuff” awards), children’s booksellers choose their favourite – and not so favourite – books of the year. Categories include fave novel of the year, most innovative book, funniest book, book you couldn’t shut up about, book you wish everyone would shut up about, and a bunch more. Check out the 2008 winners!

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Kristin Butcher

This month I welcome Canadian author Kristin Butcher to the 20 Questions interview. Thanks for being here, Kristin!

Bio: Kristin’s first book, The Runaways, was published in 1997. Since then, Kristin has published nine more novels and two biographies for children and teens. She has three new books coming out in 2009, including book two in her middle-grade Zach & Zoe series, a non-fiction book called Pharaohs and Foot Soldiers, and a YA novel, Return to Bone Tree Hill. Kristin is also an active member of the River Writers critique group, which means she’s one of my fabulous crit partners!

Kristin, with all you’ve got on the go right now, it’s amazing you found time for this interview! We’d better get right to it so you can get back to work.

20 Questions for Kristin:

1.  Morning person or night owl?
Definitely a morning person. I wake up full of good intentions but peter out somewhere around three in the afternoon.

2.  Outliner or Pantser?
A little bit of both. When I write a book on spec, an outline is a must. The publisher wants to know exactly where the story is going and how I’m going to get it there. But when I’m writing a complete novel before submitting it for publication, the outline is more spare and pretty much in my head.

3.  Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
Save them. The good times come in waves, and during the bad times it helps to remind myself that a story which is now published was rejected a number of times before it found success.

4.  What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
I’m so not good at absolutes. I don’t like to corner myself. But when readers tell me they felt like they were in the story, I know I’ve done my job.

5.  What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
Something from some commercial on television. I don’t know the words. Shall I hum?

6.  What was the last movie you watched?
I think it was called Recipe for a Perfect Christmas.

7.  What was the last book you read and loved?
It’s that ‘loved’ caveat that keeps me from committing. I’ve read lots of books that I enjoyed, but loved? Hmmm. I guess My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult was the last book I can truly say I loved. I’m a sucker for moral conundrums and plot twists. [Kristin, I loved that book, too!]

8.  What’s your all-time favourite story?
There are those absolutes again. I reserve the right to change my mind if something else comes along, but for the time being I shall say Sophie’s Choice by William Styron.

9.  Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
Not really. Some of my teenage students used to take liberties with my last name, but what’s a vowel change here and there?

10.    Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
Sorry. I’m a mind over matter kind of person.

11.    What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
The summer before my first year of university, I held a number of jobs to earn my tuition. One of them was Miss Tourist Information of Victoria. I had to wear a beauty queen type banner with that logo on it and wander the streets of the city waiting for people to ask me questions.

12.    What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Become a parent. It was also one of the most rewarding and entertaining things I’ve ever done.

13.    What’s one thing that really bugs you?
Inefficiency. I have no patience for people who don’t try to do their best. When I was in grade 5, I coasted one term and paid the price on my report card. I went from an ‘A’ to a ‘C’ in social studies. I was devastated, but I learned my lesson. The next term I went back up to an ‘A’. At the end of the year my teacher wrote the following rhyme in my autograph book, and I’ve never forgotten it.

If a task is once begun,
Never leave it ’til it’s done.
Be the labour great or small,
Do it well or not at all.

14.    What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
My sense of determination. If I want something I persevere until I get it — no matter how long it takes. I don’t know if I’m proud of this quality, so much as grateful for it.

15.    What’s the last thing you Googled?
Sophie’s Choice. I couldn’t remember the author’s name.

16.    Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
Punta Cana for my son’s wedding.

17.    What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
Punta Cana for my son’s wedding!

(Image from http://compasstours-travel.com)

18.    What’s your favourite sports team?
Michael Jordan was at his height (little basketball joke there!), I was a major Chicago Bulls fan. Otherwise it’s the Toronto Blue Jays.

19.    What’s up next for you writing-wise?
At the moment I’m looking forward to the three books I have coming out in 2009. They are all in different genres and target different age groups, so they cover a lot of ground. Other projects in the works include an historical novel for middle readers that I’m currently revising, another hi-lo novel for teens that’s outlined but needs to be written, and the third book in the Zach & Zoe series which is in the early outline stage. Plus a kazillion story ideas crammed in my brain.

20.    What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
Write. It’s through practice that you hone your craft. It’s not so much what you say that’s important, but the way that you say it, and only through practice will you discover your voice.

Thank you so much, Kristin! It was great having you here. Good luck with your many writing projects!