Back to School

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: If you had the power to change school curriculums, which books would you be sure high school students were required to read?

I love this question because it’s one I’ve thought about a lot; I had a great English teacher for AP English both junior and senior years who introduced me to the classics and I loved (most of) them. But I was that type of student. But for so many teens it’s more important to get them reading a book they’ll find interesting—and find a way to include a bit of a lesson, too. As disappointing as I find it, Shakespeare and Austen just aren’t everyone’s cup of tea!

Here are my suggestions—and yes, I couldn’t help but include a few classics!

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

This pairing is so important that both my high school teacher and a college professor taught it. And although I don’t love Wide Sargasso Sea reading the two books side-by-side is a great study in retellings, feminism, racism, and all sorts of possibilities.

You by Charles Benoit

Ever since I read Charles’ debut teen novel I’ve wanted to send it to my high school with a big “USE THIS” note. This is the perfect book for students—especially boys—on in a non-AP English track; it’s compelling, gripping, and gritty. And it’s written entirely in second person, which is a great way for classes to discuss point of view.

Go Ask Alice

Or a more contemporary story about teen issues like drug use, suicide, pressures to be perfect. Perhaps Thirteen Reasons Why, or novels by Ellen Hopkins and Amy Reed. Great classroom discussions!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

We read a lot of Holocaust literature in my middle and high schools—The Diary of Anne Frank, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Night, Dawn, and Day by Elie Wiesel. By the end of each Holocaust unit I felt desensitized because the discussions were so repetitive. The Book Thief, though, adds a really interesting and new perspective to this literature.

And, in addition to Jane Eyre you’d have to keep some Shakespeare, at least one Dickens, one Austen, The Canterbury Tales, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, a poetry unit, and I’m sure there are other classic curriculum choices I’m forgetting!

Super-Writer

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: What are your writing and publishing superpowers? And what’s your kryptonite?

What a great question—and I love seeing how writers have so many different strengths and weaknesses. Something I struggle with might be someone elses strongpoint…and something that is a piece of cake for me might be what a well-respected published author really has trouble with. A conversation like this is a great way to put everything in perspective.

My superpowers:

World-Building: I love creating worlds. I played pretend in my backyard or with barbies in the basement until I was way too old, because it was a way for me to create landscapes and rules and wonderfully rich worlds. When I started writing instead of playing dress up my desire to create worlds was a driving factor. And I know the world of my WIPs so well—I have street maps of the capital city of Coracus and can tell you the best way to travel through the crooked streets from the herbalist’s to the main square; I have demographic maps of the kingdom of Harren; I have physical maps of the entire continent; I have family trees that go back ten generations for the royal family, the Cymberlys. All these documents help inform the world when I’m writing so that it becomes rich, lush, and real. Having consistent rules for your world is one of the most important factors in making that world seem real and these documents help me make sure everything is aligned.

Plotting: I can come up with a plausible basic plot so quickly and it’s easy for me to outline the major events of my novel. The sub-plots and sub-sub-plots that add layers to my stories, not so much…

Reading and Critiquing: I sure hope I’m good at this, because it’s my job working in the editorial department! Reading multiple manuscripts a week I’ve learned to quickly tell what the strengths of the work is, what needs improvement, and offer feedback on the best way to make it the best book it can be.

Industry Awareness: Again, working in the publishing industry helps me keep on top of trends and frequently networking with the best agents and editors out there. This comes in handy during both the writing process, but even more so, querying and beyond.

My Kryptonite:

Characters: The characters I write are so vivid in my head—they’re alive, strong, flawed—but I’ve yet to learn how to make that come out on paper. This is my biggest weakness since most YA novels nowadays are character-driven, and if the agent/editor/reader doesn’t relate to the character they’re likely not to read, or like, the novel.

Romance: This relates to the first point; if I can’t make my characters come alive, it’s really difficult to build a relationship full of longing, steamy scenes, and heartbreak. Again, 99% of YA has to have a compelling romance, so this is a really important point I’m working on.

Sub-plots: Like I said before, the bare bones plot comes to me easily, but when it comes to adding depth to the novel I really have to push it. Each major revision I’ve done to my WIP The Rose of Coracus has included adding another layer to the plot for more depth and richness.

Spelling and grammar: You would think that someone who was a Creative Writing major and works in the editorial department at a publishing house could spell. And would know proper grammar. But that’s what spell check and copyeditors are for! I couldn’t do without them!

What are your writing superpowers? What’s your downfall?

To-Do Lists

Today’s Question from YA Highway: In honor of NaNoWriMo: What kind of writing coach do you need? When you have to coach friends, what kind of coach are you?

The kind of coach I need and the kind of coach I am are the same thing and boils down to one word: deadlines. I often write to-do lists and if something is on the list and has to get done by a certain date IT WILL GET DONE. That’s just how I work. So, if my “writing coach” tells me to write 1,000 words by Tuesday, I’ll write it on my to-do list and get it done by the deadline. Maybe even earlier! And now, as I’m writing this post I’m realizing that I should write everything down on a to-do list. It always feels great to cross it off: “complete!”

Good luck with everyone doing NaNoWriMo. I did it for about half the month last year, with some success (talk about having a deadline!), and I’m sure I’ll try it again in the future. 

Three Cheers

Today's RTW Question from YA Highway is: What was the best book you read in October?

So give three cheers...

For LOLA, LOLA, LOLA! Without a doubt, Lola and the Boy Next Door was my favorite read this month. Set in San Francisco, eclectic Lola thinks she has it all—a hot rocker boyfriend, loving parents, a plan to make the most gorgeous Marie Antoinette dress for the school dance. But when Calliope and Cricket Bell move back in next door, Lola has to face the truth of what happened between her and Cricket a few summers earlier. Luckily, the boy next door is a creative genius and dreamy…really, the perfect complement to Lola.

This is Stephanie Perkin’s second contemporary romance and her first book, Anna and the French Kiss, was my favorite read a few months ago. But Lola and the Boy Next Door was even better. In Anna and the French Kiss I fell in love with Paris: the sights, the sounds, and the idea of falling in love in the world’s most romantic city. In Lola and the Boy Next Door I fell in love with Lola herself—her spunk, her eccentricities, her talent for costume that I wish I had. I wanted to be Lola—wanted to have what Lola had by the end of the novel (okay, I do have what Lola has…but my teen self would have wanted it!). Not only does she get the (right) boy, but she also becomes a fuller person. I even—gasp—missed when Anna and St. Clair made their first appearance in Lola and the Boy Next Door because I was so enraptured by Lola and her world! Lola is fabulous! 

Stay tuned for a review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone on Friday as part of Fall Book Club, and mini-reviews next week of all my October reads.

Gotta Write!

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: What’s your numero-uno reason for writing?

Sometimes simplicity is best: I have a story to tell. My world and characters have been floating around in my mind for a decade, and I want to share them!

Why do you write?

Traveling, Traveling

Today’s question from YA Highway: What has your writing road trip looked like so far? Excitement? Traffic Jams and detours? Where are you going next?

Ever since I fell in love with reading in the third grade, I’ve been writing stories as well. So in that sense, my writing journey starts at age eight or so. More realistically, it starts in eighth grade, at the age of fourteen. That’s when I started writing the novel I’m still working on, now called The Rose of Coracus. The journey was easy and fruitful the summer between middle school and high school. I traveled through lush rainforest with brilliant flowers. There were rainbows and magical creatures. It was a spectacular and invigorating journey. It continued through high school where there were the occasional trees and flowers as I worked with writing buddies, but nothing as successful as that first summer. In college, I took a detour into a desert; there were the occasional cacti, but not the lush palm trees I wanted. My first three years of college I was writing the wrong thing, although not by choice. Luckily, senior year returned me to where I belong. The rain forest bloomed again and was full of animal life: monkeys screeching, brightly colored birds flapping among the canopies. It was a great place to be, and I continued there for the first post-college year, writing and revising as much as I could. Last summer I hit a detour: querying two agents unsuccessfully. I realized that I needed to return to my writing jungle, but the rest of the summer was a barren road, waiting on critique partners’ feedback. As we move into fall and winter, I suspect that I’ll continue on this empty road as my job, moving, and the holidays cut into my writing time. But in the spring…I can’t wait for it! I’ll be writing until the jungle is as lush with flora and fauna as can be!

So there’s my writer’s journey; it’s been a long one, but full of wonderful scenery! I can’t wait to see where the next turn in the road takes me!

Secondary, Not Second Rate

Today’s question from YA Highway: What supporting character from a YA book would you most like to see star in their own novel?

This is such a fun—but hard—question! There are some secondary characters who are so intriguing that I’d like to see a lot more of them: Neville from Harry Potter, Gale from Hunger Games, George from the Song of the Lioness quartet.

And then there are other ‘types’ of characters that, if they had their own story, would really contribute to a fuller understanding of the original story. Fairytale retellings like those by Gregory Maguire (Wicked told from Elphaba the Wicked Witch from The Wizard of Oz’s point of view or Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister told from Cinderella’s stepsister’s point of view) are great examples. And then there’s a new book I’m working on at Harper by Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan called Team Human. They were inspired by Twilight: what if they told a story from the best friend’s point of view? How would she react to her friend dating a vampire? Intriguing questions that bend our perceptions of the original story lend to really thoughtful novels!

So there you have it: so many different supporting characters that definitely deserve—or have shown their worth—in the spotlight!

I Can't Pick One!

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: What was the best book you read in September?

I have to admit—it’s been one of those busy months where I’m reading nonstop. Currently I’m in the middle of three different books and two manuscripts. Yep, crazy! But, two of the books I’m enjoying right now are The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (should be included in everyone’s fantasy reading list!) and Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (so creative!). I don’t know which will become my favorite for the month—so let’s just say it’s a tie TBD later! Has anyone read both books yet? 

Go Ahead, Judge

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway is: What are your all-time favorite book covers?

Having sat in meetings where designers are presenting and tweeking and defending and changing their cover choices to editors and sales people, I know how much thought goes into book covers. Not one inch of the jacket is ignored—from the model’s left eyelashes to the curve of a letter in the title. There are plenty of jackets out there that are good and representative of the novel it’s covering. Then there are book covers that speak to me and make me pick up the book without knowing a thing about what’s inside. When you find a cover that does both, you’ve found a perfect cover. Go ahead and judge these books based on what they look like! My favorites tend to fall into three categories:

The pretty dresses:

I swoon for gorgeous, breathtaking dresses and covers like these tend to hint to my favorite genres, fantasy and historical (or even better, a combination of both!).

The iconic:

Something a little different that’s impossible to forget. The jacket for The Replacement, especially, is one that made me buy the book on looks alone.

The I’m-not-sure-what-technique-this-is-but-I-like-it:

Is this reminiscent of wood cutting? Block printing? I’m not an art or design person, but images like this really appeal to me for their deceptive simplicity.

What kind of book covers to do you like? How representative of the title does the jacket have to be? Or do you just want it to be pretty and eye-catching? 

Over and Over Again

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: What themes, settings, motifs, scenes, or other elements do you find recurring in your work?

This is such a good question and I wish I had more time to answer it…but I’m determined to post something earlier than 6pm! Some recurring elements I find in my work are:

·        Non-conventional endings: My WIP The Rose of Coracus does not have the ‘the boy and girl are together happily ever after’ ending. Because it’s not right for the pair. Perhaps it’s the bit of feminist in me, but I don’t think books—even romance-driven YA—need to have that conventional conclusion. If it’s not right for my characters, it’s not going to happen in my manuscript.

·        Patience: This relates to the first point. I was surprised to see that many of my characters have to exhibit non-teenage-like patience. They have to wait for what is right for them, work towards it even if it takes a long time. In this regard, I feel like my characters have a lot to teach readers—and me!

·        Female-Centered: Many of my manuscripts have scenes where women need to work together to stand up against patriarchy (an evil king, the Princess’s father, in Dueling Princesses for example) or highlight female-centered networks of support. (My goodness, I am a feminist!)

·         On a more superficial level, I doubt I will ever write a fantasy book that doesn’t include gorgeous dresses, quasi-medieval setting, a ball, and royalty!

Do you have any themes or such that reoccur in your writing? Share!

Also, last chance to help me out and let me know what you’d like to see here!

Old to Young

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway is: What non-YA character would you love to see star in a YA book as themselves?

This is a fun question because Young Adult is the best! When I’m not reading teen novels I tend towards older classics—Austen, Brontës, Hardy. Yet many of those books, Pride and Prejudice or Jane Eyre for example, are basically YA: a girl in her late teens or early twenties falls in love and ends up with the man of her dreams. The main difference being that the ‘happily ever after’ of a 17^th or 18^th-century novel is marriage while today in contemporary novels we (normally!) stick to dating. So although Emma Woodhouse or Bathsheba Everdene would make fascinating YA heroines, they more or less already are. But there are plenty of adult or side characters from classic novels that could make for interesting teen protagonists—Rochester’s younger exploits, even before the (non PG-13 rated) adventures he tells to Jane. Or the story of the teenaged Rebecca and Mrs. Danvers. It could be a very creepy psychological thriller!

Are there any other adult characters from classic literature that you’d like to in a staring role in a teen book?

Best of the Month

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: What’s the best book you read this month?

This is an interesting question because I didn’t read any books that I loved this month. There were good books, interesting books, important books, but none that made me say ‘wow’. So I’m going to answer with the most intriguing book I read this month:

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I’m honestly not quite sure how I feel about this novel. It’s so different than the Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, which I adored. This novel is older, darker. It takes the mythology of deadly water horses and turns it upside down; in a small island community brave (or foolish) men capture these horses each November to race them. This year, for various reasons, Kate ‘Puck’ Connelley joins the men and begins a relationship with the race’s past champion, Sean. Their relationship isn’t the sigh-and-swoon type of Sam and Grace. I never actually felt really connected to them. I cared more about Sean’s water horse. But the language in this novel, especially the sparse dialog, proves once again that Maggie Stiefvater is a talented writer.

If you don’t have a galley, The Scorpio Races publishes October 18^th. I’m eager to hear everyone else’s thoughts! And tune in the week for my monthly Reading Roundup for mini reviews of all the books I’ve read this month!

So Much Time...So Little To Do

Today’s RTW Question from YA Highway: What time do you prefer to do your writing? Early Worm? Night Owl ? Any five seconds you can grab?

Last summer pre-job I had a fantastic writing schedule that worked marvelously for me. Every morning I would sleep in a bit (waking up around 8:30-9:30), check all the job boards while eating breakfast, and then write for a good couple hours before doing household chores, my volunteer work at the library, or getting together with friends. I’m my most productive in the morning and I was able to bang out a solid revision in a few months. It was great.

Now, (although I’m most certainly not complaining about having my job!) it’s harder to find time to write. I obviously can’t write during weekday mornings. And I don’t want to wake up early to start writing every weekend when those are the only days I can sleep in and be a bit lazy. I’ve tried setting a weeknight writing schedule but, inevitably, networking happy hours and plans with friends and (oops!) naptime/bedtime gets in the way. So, right now, I write whenever I can get a chunk of time—last weekend I was actually really productive (but I’m going on vacation next week so that kind of cancels it out!).

Since I expect to be working and writing for years to come, I’m going to have to learn how to balance both…someday (hopefully soon!) I’ll figure it out!

Five Senses

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: The Five Senses. How you use them in your writing, how you are inspired by them, pictorial essays, that character with smelly socks, books that have used them well, the ones that are currently missing from your work, etc.

This is a great reminder for writers to actually use all five senses in their writing—in my manuscript I use each sense to some extent: sight (the bustling marketplace, dancing), smells (spices, fish fresh from the ocean), sound (merchants yelling, tambourines jingling), taste (hearty ale, sugary marzipan), feel (the difference between chaffing wool and smooth silk). But whether I include enough of those details and incorporate them well enough isn’t so obvious—I’ll keep the five senses in mind during revision!

Books that use the five senses extra well:

You by Charles Benoit: if you don’t have a visceral reaction from the vivid descriptions of the accident, something is wrong with you!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins: Descriptions using so many different senses really bring Paris alive.

Love and Leftovers (ARC) by Sarah Tregay: Some really unique food imagery and taste in this adorable novel in prose.

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: Don’t those Hogwarts dinners make you salivate?

Chime by Frannie Billingsley: The delicate imagery used to describe the Welsh setting of this novel is beautiful.

I’m having trouble thinking of other examples—both in my own writing and YA books that use the senses well—so please share your thoughts!

Best Of the Month

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: What's the best book you've read this month?

This is an easy question for me to answer this month: Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver! Her middle grade debut is exactly what I like in tween books: magic, historical (feeling) setting, powerful but subtle message. In this novel Liesl's father has mysteriously died and it's up to her and her ghost friend Po and his pet Bundle to help her fulfill her father's last wish which will allow him to rest. Like any modern fairytale there is a fair share of evil stepmothers, conniving villains, and happy coincidences.  You just can't read the ending of this novel without smiling. I highly recommend everyone read this when it finally publishes in October.

Stay tuned in the next week or so for my monthly Reading Roundup for mini reviews of all the books I’ve read this month!

The Bad Guys (and Girls!)

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: Who are your favorite literary villains/antagonists, and why?

There are bad guys: Lord Voldemort, Sauron, Captain Hook, etc.

Then there are bad girls: cold, vicious, manipulative women who will use any means to get what they want. Even with fantastical settings and magical abilities, I find these women more human. More real. More of someone who could really exist. And that what’s really creepy. They’re the perfect villain. Cruella de Vil (101 Dalmatians), Mrs. Coulter (Golden Compass), Mrs. Danvers (Rebecca), and various wicked stepmothers and witches from fairytales come to mind. My favorite bad gal, though, has to be The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—she uses candy to lure in her victims! I wouldn’t be able to resist that. Scary, right?

Inspirational Images

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: Share some images that inspire your WIP(s).

So here are some pictures that inspired my WIP, The Rose of Coracus, almost 10 years ago when I started writing it! (For more about what inspired this manuscript, read here.)

The heroine*:

An energetic dancer from a disliked ethnic group with a talent for sewing.

The love interest*:

A handsome prince who wants to learn more about his people…so he explores the city in disguise. 

The nasty noble girl*:

No more needs to be said about her.

The setting*:

 A huge castle on the hill above the sprawling and Tudor-esque city.

I’m really really excited about this manuscript…which is good, because I’m starting to query agents! *Eep*

* Photos, top to bottom: Esmeralda from Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince Henry and Marguerite from Ever After, Salzburg Castle and the streets of Rouen, France. 

Favorite(s)

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: What's the best book you've read this month?

Well, that’s a tough question to answer because I’ve been very very pleased with the books I’ve read this month and I’d have to go with a three-way tie: I read Fire by Kristin Cashore for the first time, an ARC of Forever by Maggie Stiefvater which is a great conclusion to the trilogy, and I fell in love with Paris and St. Clair in Anna and the French Kiss. It says wonders for these books that I’m in love with them all even though they’re so different—fantasy, paranormal, contemporary! If I really had to pick one I’d go with Anna and the French Kiss. It was so cute and definitely made me want to go back to Europe. Stay tuned in the next week or so for my monthly Reading Roundup for mini reviews of all the books I’ve read this month!

Five from the Fire

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway is: The house is on fire and you've only got time to grab five things. What are they?

1.    Computer/external hard drive. My life (literally) is on here: photos from the past six or so years (easy to print and replace the ones I’d lose since older photos aren’t at my apartment), WIPs and future story ideas, old classwork, important passwords, everything.

2.    A necklace. A special piece of jewelry I’d be very upset about losing.

3.    Purse. Because who wants to deal with replacing a driver’s license, credit cards, etc.? And since my bag is similar to Mary Poppins’ in all likelihood I’d have everything I need to get through the next few days: phone, snacks, a book, tissues, lip gloss, band aids, gum, pens, notebook, IPod, camera, umbrella, sunglasses, map of NYC. (Maybe I should clean out my purse…)

4.    Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. To make me feel better.

5.    Kitchenaid Mixer. Since this is hypothetical, I’ll pretend that I could run out of a burning building carrying this. I waited so long to get a mixer, I wouldn’t want to lose it. I need something to make all my delicious treats with!

Since I highly doubt this would all actually come with me if my apartment burnt down…neighbors, please be careful! What would you want to grab?

Elevator Pitches

Today’s RTW question from YA Highway: You're re-reading one of your favs when someone asks the dreaded question: "What's that book about?" Give us your best off-the-cuff blurb of any book, any genre, and have your readers try to guess the title in the comments!

Sometimes it is SO difficult to summarize a book in one sentence. Can you imagine Suzanne Collin’s elevator pitch for The Hunger Games: “A group of kids fight to the death in gladiatorial-like combat while the privileged watch the battles on TV.” That doesn’t make the series sound too appealing—but, luckily, an agent and an editor and millions of readers gave it a chance and found out that the writing and the characters are so fantastic the unusual setting isn’t a turnoff.

My try at some elevator pitches for favorite books? Here’s a selection for some Harper books that I’ve worked(ish) on:

“A girl discovers she has the power to fight evil demonic reapers; luckily she has a hot guardian to help her out.”

“A teen questions her progressive lifestyle and decides to attend public school so she can ‘fit in’”

“For an average high school boy a few seemingly harmless decisions lead to horrific consequences.”

“In the future society is divided into factions—except for one girl who doesn’t quite fit.”

Any guesses to what these books are? I’ll post the answers in the comments tomorrow. J