Author Insight: Bookish Battles

What is the worst fight you've ever had with a character?

"I pretty much end up hating all my characters by the time I'm done writing about them--in fact, I can't read my finished books at all.- Elizabeth Scott, author of Grace.

"Vera won't stop slurping her coffee." - Heidi Kling, author of Sea.

"I've never had an actual fight with a character, but I have resisted a few times when something changes. I had a character show up on a page at random, and basically took over the story for the next twenty pages. I tried to push her out, and instead she became one of the main characters." - Scott Tracey, author of Witch Eyes.

"The worst fight I've had with a character is probably Indigo in Indigo Blues. I wanted her to look at Adam, her ex, in a different light. She's stubborn and it was hard for her to see that he had grown." - Danielle Joseph, author of Indigo Blues.

More Author Insight: What they write

In five words or less, how would you describe the genre and age group you write for? Why do you write it?

 

"Young Adult Urban Fantasy. Challenge." - Leah Clifford, author of A Touch Mortal.

"Teens and anyone with $17. (Just kidding!) But seriously - I write for teens about contemporary complexities and challenges because being a teenager is the time in your life when you really start to figure out the kind of person you want to be and CAN be." - Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds.

"Contemporary paranormal YA.  My books are grounded very much in the real world, with a single 'otherworldly' element.  They’re classified as 'paranormal', but I see that as a jumping off point more than the dominant element.  I like seeing how people think and react and what decisions they make when put in an unusual situation.  So that’s what I write.  Initially, I didn’t even realize my stories were YA, but I like the openness and flexibility people generally have at that time of their lives.  Characters’ reactions are less certain and, therefore, more intriguing." - Jen Nadol, author of The Mark.

 "Misfits of all kinds. I suppose because I identify with them. People on the fringes, who don't quite fit anywhere are the most interesting to me. If you really like marketing labels, you can call my writing YA, but in my mind, the only real rules of YA is that the main character is a teen and plot is important. the lack of rules is why I like it so much. It affords me the flexibility of writing a intimate, realistic book like Struts & Frets, then turn around and write a vast epic story about a demon girl in Catholic school and still be considered writing in the same genre. I feel like YA currently has the same sense of freedom as comics did in the 80's. Neil Gaiman said that they did so much bold work because there was this sense that nobody was paying attention. That they could get away with it because nobody took them seriously. That's where YA is right now. Successful, but not really taken seriously. That leaves lots of room to do the unexpected." - Jon Skovron, author of Struts & Frets.

Tweet News (10)

What did you miss on Twitter this week?

Scholastic posted video of Suzanne Collins reading from Mockingjay... TWEET.

Author David Macinnis Gill shared an excerpt of his latest novel, Black Hole Sun... TWEET.

Penguin Teen passed along some good news about The Eternal Ones by Kirsten Miller... TWEET.

Harper Teen unveiled the trailer for Emily Whitman's Wildwing... TWEET.

Author Jessica Brody announced a foreign rights deal for The Karma Club... TWEET.

Author Kelly Creagh told all about writing her debut novel, Nevermmore... TWEET.

Harper Teen shared a look at The Vampire Diaries Season 2 trailer... TWEET.

Behind Yellow Eyes passed on the news that Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater has been nominated by YALSA... TWEET.

Author Insight: What they write

In five words or less, how would you describe the genre and age group you write for? Why do you write it?

"YA, the best genre EVER!" - Elizabeth Scott, author of Grace.

"Entertaining, (hopefully) enlightening fiction." - Heidi Kling, author of Sea.

"Dark, disaffected urban fantasy YA. I like stories that are more serious, may not always have a happy ending, and explore life as a loner. I write things that I would have wanted to read in high school, so that's my mindset right from the start." - Scott Tracey, author of Witch Eyes.

"Teen fiction for real people. And I write it because that's where I found my voice and will always be a teen at heart." - Danielle Joseph, author of Indigo Blues.

Winner of Linger & Kiss Me Deadly

And the winner of a doodled copy of Linger and an ARC of Kiss Me Deadly, both signed by Maggie Stiefvater, is...

Alyssa

(lyssad87)

Congratulations! I have emailed you and will be sending your books out shortly. Thanks to everyone who entered.

More Author Insight: When Inspiration Strikes

Ideas for novels can spring from unexpected places. Where were you when inspiration struck and what form did it arrive in?

 

"Inspiration tends to strike me in the car, so usually when I’m having trouble with plots or ideas I’ll hop behind the wheel and just drive for an hour or two. For A Touch Mortal, I was watching Jackass on MTV when Scott Tracey uttered the line that inspired the short story that became the book." - Leah Clifford, author of A Touch Mortal.

"Inspiration once struck me while I was driving and listening to a great break-up song from Melissa Etheridge that made me think The Break-Up Album would be a terrific title for a novel. So I wrote a chick lit novel called just that during the summer of 2007. It didn't sell. Oh, I should have shared inspiration for a book that sold!" - Daisy Whitney, author of The Mockingbirds.

 

"I don’t remember where I was, but I’d just scrapped my first (horrible) novel and was trying to think of something new to write. It was a simple random thought - what if you knew it was someone’s day to die? - that became The Mark and Vision." - Jen Nadol, author of The Mark.

 

"The first line of the story (which was actually changed during revision) was Sammy's voice in my head, saying, "One thing I knew for certain, we were going to be famous." I think it was late one night while feeding my (then) three month old son in the rocking chair." - Jon Skovron, author of Struts & Frets.