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!

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Kristina Springer

I’m happy to welcome author Kristina Springer to my blog today. Kristina’s debut novel, The Espressologist, just released on October 27 ( Farrar, Straus, and Giroux). It’s about a teenage coffee barista who discovers a talent for matchmaking customers based on their favourite coffee drinks. Grab a cuppa and check out Kristina’s responses to my 20 Questions!

1. Morning person or night owl?
   Morning.
2. Outliner or pantser?
   Outliner.
3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
   Save ‘em.
4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
   That she laughed out loud in so many spots.
5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
   That Beyonce one– Ring on It? It was on GLEE. So funny.
   
6. What was the last movie you watched?
   Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
   
7. What was the last book you read and loved?
   Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree, by Lauren Tarshis.
8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
   Tough question! Hmm…I’m always a sucker for A Christmas Carol.
9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
   I had a lot of names that end in “head” from my Dad while growing up. Really, me and my three brothers had a whole slew of them: Melon Head, Pumpkin Head, Knuckle Head, Meat Head, and so on.
10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
    I‘m not a fan of hospitals.
11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
    Pool attendant at an apartment complex. I just had to be there. And check the chlorine once a day.
12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
    Hmm…probably giving birth. Especially the last kid– he was ten pounds.
13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
    Spam.
    
    Oh wait… you probably mean this:
    
14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
    My kids.
15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
    Addresses (I’m working on Launch party invites).
16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
    France.
17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
    Somewhere tropical.
    
18. What’s your favourite sports team?
    I’m so not into sports teams. I never know who is playing or what season it is.
19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
    My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours comes out in the fall of 2010.
20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
    Be persistent.

Definitely good advice! Thanks so much for being here, Kristina. Congrats on the release of The Espressologist!

Thanks Shari!

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Megan Crewe

Although I’m in denial about it being October because that would mean summer is really, really over  (seriously… how is that possible?), I’m aware enough to know it’s a new month, which means *insert drum roll here* a brand new 20 Questions YA Author Interview! Yes, it’s true, and I’m delighted to welcome Megan Crewe to my blog on this, the first day of the month-which-must-not-be-named.

Megan is a fellow Canadian (*waves to Megan from across the country*). Her debut novel, Give Up The Ghost, launched September 15 from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.

Welcome, Megan!

And now, 20 Questions….

1. Morning person or night owl?
   I think of myself as a middle-of-the-day person.  I’m at my sharpest between about 10am and 2pm. 
2. Outliner or pantser?
   Outliner all the way! If I don’t have an outline I inevitably end up writing myself into a corner I can’t get out of.
3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
   Save them. They’re part of the journey!
4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
   That they stayed up late reading my book because they found it impossible to put down.
   
5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
   “Suddenly I See” by K.T. Tunstall
   
6. What was the last movie you watched?
   At home: Audition (a Japanese horror movie). In the theater: District 9.
7. What was the last book you read and loved?
   Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
   It is absolutely impossible to pick just one! The one I’ve loved the longest is The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.
9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
   My dad calls me “pumpkin” sometimes–that’s about it.
10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
    Spiders. And I’m mildly claustrophobic.
11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
    I haven’t had any really unusual jobs! I do get pretty goofy with the kids I work with, though.
12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
    Spend five weeks overseas by myself (my first non-family trip). But it was also incredibly exciting.
13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
    Having dry skin on my hands. I carry moisturizer everywhere.
14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
    My book!
15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
    A teacher’s name, so I could invite her to my launch party.
16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
    China.
17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
    Going to a far-off country I’ve never seen before and exploring its cities and landscapes.
18. What’s your favourite sports team?
    I cheer on the Canadian team during the Olympics!
19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
    More YA novels, paranormal and fantasy.
20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
    Read. Write. Revise. (and repeat!)

Thanks so much for being here, Megan!

Thanks for the interview!

Check out the book trailer for Give Up The Ghost:

Pocket Truths

What truths about you are hidden in your pockets? This is a get-to-know-you meme. Instructions: empty your jeans’ pockets, or a pocket of your purse or jacket. List what you find, and what those items say about you.

Okay. Here’s mine….

1. guitar pick – because I love my Ibanez, and because I did the children’s music at church this morning, and also a little bit because I just like to have one with me cuz it reminds me of the music. Music is the doctor.
2. small piece of green seaglass – because I can’t NOT pick up seaglass when I find it, and because the cooler autumn air means I actually wore these jeans to the beach the other day. Long pants – yikes! Still had flip-flops on, though. Not ready to let go of summer just yet.
3. a neatly folded tissue, just in case – because I have allergies, and because I am a mom. I was also a Girl Guide once upon a time and still live by that well-ingrained motto, be prepared. The neatly folded part is because if I folded it haphazardly or *gasp* just stuffed it into my pocket, I would have to pull it back out and fold it properly. I’m a little odd that way.

That’s all. I tag anyone & everyone willing to share their pocket truths. (Please post a link in the comments if you do this on your blog so I can check out how weird you are. Er, I mean… so I can learn more fascinating things about you!)

Peace….

More than you want to know

The lovely Lin Wang has given me the Kreativ Blogger award! Woot! Thank you, Lin.

In response to receiving this award, I’m supposed to post seven things about myself that people might find interesting. So I get the glory, and you all suffer the consequences… heh. I really don’t want any of my readers to fall into a coma whilst reading about me, so I’ll try to be brief.

Ahem.

Little-known yet strangely fascinaing facts about yours truly:

1. Nothing must touch my neck. I have a touching-my-neck phobia (perhaps there’s a name for that?). Don’t laugh – this has serious wardrobe implications.
2. I’m compelled to pick up all sea glass that I come across, even though I never do anything creative with it. (Not so Kreativ after all, am I, Lin?)
3. I’ve held a human heart in my hands. And a brain. And a spleen. (I work as an autopsy assistant.)
4. For three years, I lived in a tiny mining camp in the middle of the Yukon… and loved it.
5. I watch It’s a Wonderful Life every Christmas and re-wind the ending several times, each time crying all the way through the scene where everyone’s bringing money to help George (especially when his brother toasts him, calling George “the richest man in town.”) Go ahead. Watch it – see if you don’t need Kleenex.
6. I have low blood pressure. If I stand up too fast, I fall down. I’m not a Weeble.
7. I can’t sleep if the closet door is open. No, I’m not scared of monsters… unless it’s the disorderly gaping-hole-of-unclosed-door monster (a close relative of the messy chair-not-tucked-into-table monster, who also scares me).

There you have it. Now I fear y’all know way more about me than you ever wanted to know. Or should know. (I’m normal, I swear!… Hey, quit laughing.)

I’ll be back soon to nominate some of my fave creative blogs. In the meantime, here  are the rules for those who receive this award:

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.

Love is fun…

…and definitely dance-worthy!

(Yes, this is way off my usual topics of Island Life and Writing, but I just found this video (thanks Lisa Schroeder!) and had to share. Hope you enjoy it!)

The lost generation

This is cool:

Peace….

Blurg: Crash Into Me

I usually only post a blurg (blurb in a blog) after I read a novel I love. I haven’t yet read Crash Into Me because it was just released yesterday and I haven’t managed to get my hands on a copy yet. However, since the author, Albert Borris, isn’t able to promote the book himself, I thought I’d give him a hand.

Albert suffered a massive stroke in December. Here’s a little about his story, from the Class of 2K9 blog:

This past December, just months before the release of CRASH INTO ME (Simon Pulse), Albert suffered a stroke so powerful, his doctors told him he was lucky to be alive.

And alive he is, having made a full physical recovery, enough to roughhouse with his two young sons and work out at the gym. However, Albert is still working on recovering something else: his words.

To be sure, they are all up there in his brilliant mind. He just can’t get them out – verbally or on paper – in the correct order, yet. But he’s working on it.

And here’s a little about his debut novel, Crash Into Me (again from the Class of 2K9’s blog):

When Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae meet online after each attempts suicide and fails, the four teens mak e a deadly pact: they will escape together on a summer road trip to visit the sites of celebrity suicides…and at their final destination, they will all end their lives. As they drive cross-country, bonding over their dark impulses, sharing their deepest secrets and desires, living it up, hooking up, and becoming true friends, each must decide whether life is worth living–or if there’s no turning back.

You can help Albert by spreading the word (blog about this, or just pass on the link to someone who might be interested) or by buying the book!

Peace….

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Cyn Balog

I’m delighted to welcome debut author Cyn Balog for July’s 20 Questions YA Author Interview.

Cyn Balog grew up in Edison, New Jersey and has been writing for most of her life. She graduated from Douglass College, Rutgers University, with a degree in Communication. An avid fitness enthusiast, she has been living in Bucks County for five years with her husband and children and working as an Events Manager for Runner’s World Magazine. Fairy Tale is her first novel.

1. Morning person or night owl?
   Morning! I fall asleep at like, 8:30 every night.
2. Outliner or pantser?
   Pantser for the first half, Outliner for the second!
3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
   Toss– they’re just one person’s opinion, after all.
4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
   You’re good at this!
5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
   Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast
   
6. What was the last movie you watched?
   Quantum of Solace, though I fell asleep halfway thru. I know the beginning to every movie out there, but few ends.
7. What was the last book you read and loved?
   I’ve read and liked a lot of books, but one that made me weep is FEED by MT Anderson.
8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
   Charlotte’s Web.
9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
   Cinderella
10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
    I hate talking on the phone, New York City, and driving.
11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
    I used to work for a company that made shrink wrapping machines. All I did was use a copier for 8 hours a day.
12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
    Went whitewater rafting on the Dead River in Maine and capsized on Class 5 rapids.
    
    (Okay, this is not the Dead River, but it’s definitely white water. Now, doesn’t that look fun? Eep.)
13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
    Self-absorbed people.
14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
    Certain members of my family, especially my sister, my husband, and my daughter.
15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
    Telephones; I was trying to figure out the history of the telephone circa 1900 for a book I am writing.
    

    (Image from wikimedia commons.)

16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
    Maui
17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
    I want to show my daughter Disney World for the first time SO BAD that I think about it every day.
18. What’s your favourite sports team?
    Philadelphia Flyers
19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
    SLEEPLESS is a book about a sandman who falls in love with a mortal whose sleep he controls; should be out in 2010!
20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
    Never let anybody tell you that you can’t.

Thanks so much for being here, Cyn, and congratulations on the launch of Fairy Tale!

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!