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!

Blurg: Eyes Like Stars

I just read Lisa Mantchev’s Eyes Like Stars and loved it! Unique, innovative, and freakin’ hilarious at times, thanks to Lisa’s take on the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here’s the blurb:

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith is not an actress, yet she lives in a theater. She’s not an orphan, but she has no parents. She knows every part, but she has no lines of her own. Until now.

Welcome to the Théâtre Illuminata, where the characters of every play ever written can be found behind the curtain. They were born to play their parts, and are bound to the Théâtre by The Book–an ancient and magical tome of scripts. Bertie is not one of them, but they are her family–and she is about to lose them all and the only home she has ever known.

Highly recommended!

(*blurg = blurb in a blog)

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!]

Reading is ice cream

New books = yay! Here’s what I got today:

(Dull Boy, by Sarah Cross; Always Looking Up, by Michael J Fox; Along for the Ride, by Sarah Dessen)

Okay, enough shopping. Time to get back to work. (Sadly, I can’t read these quite yet, but they will be sweet incentive to reach my revision goals — kinda like no ice cream until you finish your cake, which I know is a bit of a twist on the old saying, but revisions are fun, too. Just not quite as fun as jumping into an awesome new book. Revising is cake, reading is ice cream. So no ice cream until I finish my day’s cake quota. And I’m thinking I should probably back away from the analogy right about now….)

Wishing you peace and good books. And ice cream. 

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….

20 Questions YA Author Interview: Carrie Jones

I’m delighted to welcome Carrie Jones to my blog for this month’s 20 Questions YA Author Interview.

Carrie is a recent graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts Master’s degree program. She’s won the Independent Booksellers Award and Maine Literary Award among others. Her latest book, NEED, came out in December. She lives with her cute family and big white dog and very obese cat in Downeast Maine. She likes ice cream. A lot.

Thanks for being here, Carrie. And now… 20 Questions!

1. Morning person or night owl?
Morning and I are mortal enemies. Morning always wins.

2. Outliner or pantser?
Both. It depends on the situation.

3. Rejection letters – save ‘em or toss ‘em?
They are deleted files and recycled paper, baby!

4. What’s the best thing a reader ever said to you?
There are two favorites of mine. They both made me cry.

• Favorite #1: “TIPS gave me the strength to believe in myself. I came out to my mom tonight.”
• Favorite #2: “I hate books. I totally hate books. But I read NEED. I’m dyslexic and I never read and I read it in one night.”

5. What was the last song you had stuck in your head?
“Over My Head” by The Fray

6. What was the last movie you watched?
Star Trek

7. What was the last book you read and loved?
A History of Love

8. What’s your all-time favourite story?
Um…. I don’t know… Ack! Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or A Wrinkle in Time. (Ooh, great answers to a tough question, Carrie! )

9. Any nicknames we might come across if we delved into your past?
This is very embarrassing but here goes:

• Care Bear
• Care Bee
• Barney
• Squirt
• C.C.
• Carriekins

10. Any phobias you’re willing to admit to?
I am deathly afraid of downhill skiing. I try and try and fall and fall.

(As far as I know, Carrie is not in that video. I hope she is not so crazy as those guys mixing skateboarding tricks with downhill skiing – yikes!)

11. What’s the most unusual job you’ve ever had?
Undercover stuff.

12. What’s the scariest thing you’ve ever done?
Undercover stuff and downhill ski and hidden under the bed when someone broke in my house.

13. What’s one thing that really bugs you?
People who spit on me. (Ick. I remember hearing about that. Nasty stuff.)

14. What’s one thing you’re really proud of?
Em, my kid.

15. What’s the last thing you Googled?
Fractured cartilage

16. Where’s the farthest place from home you’ve travelled?
Spain or Scotland, I guess.

17. What’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
A place where I don’t have to worry about writing revisions and I get to have different food and people are nice to me and I get to sleep late.

18. What’s your favourite sports team?
Red Sox and the Ellsworth Eagles

19. What’s up next for you writing-wise?
I am revising CAPTIVATE, the sequel to NEED

20. What’s your favourite piece of advice for writers?
Write. Don’t expect it to be Meg Cabot or Sherman Alexie. Just write.

LOL, good advice, Carrie! Thanks so much for being here, and good luck with the revisions!

Indie bookstores rock!

Shrinking Violet Promotions is nearing the end of their series promoting great independent bookstores. Definitely check it out! There are some really cool indies – maybe you’ll find one to visit next time you’re away somewhere on vacation, because we all know books and holidays go together like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong. (Wow, my brain is weird.)

Anyway… the other day I discovered that SVP had profiled a store I know and love: Greenwoods’ Bookshoppe, in Edmonton. If you’re heading to Edmonton this summer, don’t just take in the world-famous mall (which personally I’d avoid, given that I hate both shopping and crowds, but you know… to each her own), head to Edmonton’s Old Strathcona area and spend some time in Greenwoods’.

[ETA: Oh man, I totally have that song stuck in my head now.]

The next kindle?

Check out the kindle 9XXXD. There’s seriously no limit to where e-reader technology can take us.

(With thanks to Jennifer Jackson.)

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.)