July 29, 2011 • 1 Comment

I’ve finally unpacked and am sort of settled in Australia – who knew winters could be so sunny????? So I could actually get down to more regular blogging (I only said could, seeing as we all know that when it comes to blogging I can’t always be believed).

Anyway, today I’m very excited to be touring Jennifer Echols and her fabulous new book LOVE STORY:

For Erin Blackwell, majoring in creative writing at the New York City college of her dreams is more than a chance to fulfill her ambitions – it’s her ticket away from the tragic memories that shadow her family’s racehorse farm in Kentucky. But when she refuses to major in business and take over the farm herself someday, her grandmother gives Erin’s college tuition and promised inheritance to their maddeningly handsome stable boy, Hunter Allen. Now Erin has to win an internship and work late nights at a local coffee shop to make her own dreams a reality. She should despise Hunter… so why does he sneak into her thoughts as the hero of her latest writing assignment?
Then, on the day she’s sharing that assignment with her class, Hunter walks in. He’s joining her class. And after he reads about himself in her story, her private fantasies about him must be painfully clear. She only hopes to persuade him not to reveal her secret to everyone else. But Hunter devises his own creative revenge, writing sexy stories that drive the whole class wild with curiosity and fill Erin’s heart with longing. Now she’s not just imagining what might have been. She’s writing a whole new ending for her romance with Hunter… except this story could come true.

And now for the usual questions:

What inspired the plot for your book?

I have taken a lot of creative writing classes. It has always struck me how emotional writers get about their stories, and I thought that heightened emotion would make a great background for a romance.

Why did you decide to write in this genre?

I am writing the book I want to read. I do like to read all sorts of things, but even when I’m reading action/adventure or science fiction, I’m always looking forward to the romantic subplot.

What is your writing process like?

My writing process is a complete mess. Conversations between characters pop into my head, and I write them down. After about 150 pages of that, I try to figure out what the plot is, put everything in order, and fill in the blanks. I would not suggest this process to anyone!

What are you working on now?

I’m writing a romantic comedy that will be published by Simon Pulse in December. Then I’m finishing my next romantic drama, SUCH A RUSH, which will be my hardcover debut in July 2012.

What do you do when you’re not writing?

I run every morning, and I like to spend time with my husband and my ten-year-old son.

Who do you like to read?

Some of my favorite YA authors are Rosemary Clement-Moore and R. A. Nelson, and I also love adult romantic comedies like those by Jennifer Crusie and my critique partner, Victoria Dahl.

JENNIFER ECHOLS is the author of teen romantic dramas for MTV Books and teen romantic comedies for Simon Pulse. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her family. Please visit her online at www.jennifer-echols.com.

July 14, 2011 • Comments

I’m thrilled to be touring the awesome Melissa Walker (fellow Teen Fiction Café author) and her book Small Town Sinners.

Small Town Sinners is the story of Lacey Anne, daughter of the pastor and perennial good girl, who is eligible for a lead role in the season’s Hell House production—a role she’s been coveting for years. But when Ty moves to town as casting begins, a new perspective is added to Lacey Anne’s world and she starts to see her tight-knit, Evangelical community in a different light. With the help of her two best friends Starla Joy and Dean, and her potential first love Ty, Lacey Anne begins exploring her own thoughts and feelings about her religion, her community, and her place within both. While this novel deals with provocative issues like religion, teen pregnancy and underage drinking, it is not an “issue” book; the topics are masterfully interwoven into this story of friendship and family.

What inspired the plot for your book?
My friend Joy’s mother, Betty, started telling me about her church’s “Judgment House” and my jaw dropped. I researched more about Hell Houses and Judgment Houses, and then I pitched my ELLEgirl editor on a magazine story. She bit, I got to write the story. And the small town I visited, plus the teenagers in it, never left me. Here’s that original non-fiction story:
http://www.melissacwalker.com/media/ellegirl-hellhouse.jpg

Why did you decide to write in this genre?
My inner voice is set squarely at 17, and I’m glad (though I try to act more mature most of the time, it’s just an act).

What is your writing process like?
I outline chapter by chapter, which takes about a week for a full plot (that I’ve been thinking about in my head for anywhere from a week to a year), and then I write, write, write!

What are you working on now?
My next book is called UNBREAK MY HEART–it’s a love story, and it’ll be out from Bloomsbury in summer 2012!

What do you do when you’re not writing?
I read and I watch a lot of TV. I’m a bit of a pop culture junkie.

Who do you like to read?
Anyone who writes with heart. Some favorite reads so far this summer include Dana Reinhardt’s THE SUMMER I LEARNED TO FLY and Nova Ren Suma’s IMAGINARY GIRLS.

Bio:

MELISSA WALKER: Melissa has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. She is the author of the Violet on the Runway series as well as Lovestruck Summer. Melissa manages I Heart Daily, an e-newsletter and blogs for ReaderGirlz, an online community for teens. www.melissacwalker.com

Reviews:

“Small Town Sinners shines a light on the fascinating world of the teenage Hell House. Sit back and let Melissa Walker be your guide. She writes without a shred of judgment and plenty of heart.” —Dana Reinhardt, author of A Brief Chapter of My Impossible Life

“Walker is sympathetic and respectful of her characters’ faith, while putting on display the shocking extremist scare tactics that make Hell Houses, well, hellish.” —Donna Freitas, author of This Gorgeous Game and The Possibilities of Sainthood.

“A non-judgmental, nuanced, fascinating look at the teenage religious right… Walker writes an outstanding contemporary novel with a cast of characters who, far from being portrayed as hateful zealots, are relatable for readers of all faiths. The extremism of Hell House is tempered by the perfectly understandable attitudes and intentions of Lacey Anne, who struggles with what it means to grow up, to question and to think for herself.” –Romantic Times

“Both tender and provocative… Walker creates an astutely balanced portrait of a conservative congregation’s in-your-face response to perennial issues of domestic abuse, teen pregnancy, and suicide, as well as of those who struggle to fit the prescribed Christian mold.” –Publishers Weekly

“This secular story about religious people could easily devolve into camp mockery, but because Walker takes her character’s crisis of faith seriously and sensitively, readers will, too.” –Kirkus Reviews

June 14, 2011 • Comments

I’m soooooo excited to be touring my fabulous crit partner and awesome friend Amanda Ashby’s latest book FAIRY BAD DAY. I watched this book evolve from start to finish and it’s is the most amazing book ever. It’s funny, it’s moving…. and best of all it involves Skittles…. Need I say more?

So, what’s it all about?

It’s going to be a fairy bad day

First, my rightful designation of dragon slayer is STOLEN right out from under me by Curtis Green. Sure, he’s really cute, but that doesn’t give him an excuse.

On top of that, I am assigned to slay fairies. I know what you’re thinking—how hard could it be, right? Wrong! These menacing beasts with their tiny hipster clothes and mocking sarcasm love taunting me. And they won’t STOP!

But the thing that tops my list of stuff to ruin my day? That would be the GIANT KILLER FAIRY that I have to hunt down and slay because I am the only one who can see it. There is someone who can help me. Unfortunately…it’s Curtis.

The reviews have been amazing, and so well deserved, here are just a few:

“Teens with a taste for the paranormal school story and a tolerance for raucous humor will be involved with and amused by this romantic fantasy. The exciting plot, humor throughout—often provided by the little fairies—and relatively innocent romance between characters will grab readers and keep them involved. ” Kirkus Reviews

“In a fun mashup of the modern and the magical, Ashby (Zombie Queen of Newbury High) creates nicely developed characters and supports them with strong plotting and zippy writing. Laced with humor, danger, and romance, this book will have readers smiling all the way to the last page.” Publisher’s Weekly

“Great fairy fun from page one! If Buffy and Harry Potter got together and threw a magical slayer party, it would be the world Amanda Ashby created in Fairy Bad Day. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humor, emotional depth, and cute boy romance, reading this book will guarantee your day is fairy awesome.” Tera Lynn Childs, award-winning author of Oh. My. Gods. and Forgive My Fins

“Fairy Bad Day is fairy awesome supernatural slaying fun.” Stacey Jay author of You are So Undead to Me and Undead Much

“I really liked that no matter how mad Emma wanted to be at Curtis, she just couldn’t stay mad—not with those beautiful brown eyes and that lopsided grin. I loved the cover design, it really drew me in. This was a very good book and I would highly recommend it.”— School Library Journal Vanessa, age 12

So this is Amanda’s official bio….. for a small fee I’m willing to impart the really good stuff…… (don’t be fooled by the angelic pose above!!)

Amanda Ashby was born in Australia, and has spent the last fifteen years dividing her time between England and New Zealand before finally deciding that to move home. When she’s not moving country, she likes to write books (okay, she also likes to eat chocolate, watch television and sit around doing not much, but let’s just keep that amongst ourselves, shall we?)
She has a degree in English and Journalism from the University of Queensland and is married with two children. As well as writing, she works part-time at the children/teen desk of her local library, which basically means that someone pays her to talk about books. Her debut book, You Had Me at Halo was nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award, and her first young adult book Zombie Queen of Newbury High was listed by the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age 2010.

http://www.amandaashby.com

http://www.amandaashby.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/amandaashby/

June 9, 2011 • Comments

I’m thrilled to be touring the fabulous Jessica Brody and her latest book My Life Undecided.

PLEASE READ THIS! MY LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!

Okay, maybe that was a bit melodramatic, but I’m sorry, I’m feeling a bit melodramatic at the moment.

Here’s the deal. My name is Brooklyn Pierce, I’m fifteen years old, and I am decisionally challenged. Seriously, I can’t remember the last good decision I made. I can remember plenty of crappy ones though. Including that party I threw when my parents were out of town that accidentally burned down a model home. Yeah, not my finest moment, for sure.

But see, that’s why I started a blog. To enlist readers to make my decisions for me. That’s right. I’m gave up. Threw in the towel. I let someone else be the one to decide which book I read for English. Or whether or not I accepted an invitation to join the debate team from that cute-in-a-dorky-sort-of-way guy who gave me the Heimlich Maneuver in the cafeteria. (Note to self: Chew the melon before swallowing it.) I even let them decide who I dated!

Well, it turns out there are some things in life you simply can’t choose or have chosen for you—like who you fall in love with. And now everything’s more screwed up than ever.

But don’t take my word for it, read the book and decide for yourself. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll scream in frustration. Or maybe that’s just me. After all, it’s my life.

Now for the usual questions:

What inspired the plot for your book?
This book was definitely one of those “aha!” moments that I hear writers talk about. My husband and I were watching TV, an ad for a reality show came on and I said, “Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a reality show where you could vote on what the characters did. As in, “who they went out with?” or “Whether or not they forgave their backstabbing best friend.” Like American Idol meets The Hills. We both agreed although it would be cool, it wouldn’t be practical from a production standpoint since they shoot those reality shows months before they air. I was not deterred though. I said, “Fine, I’ll write it as a book,” and then marched up the stairs and in ten short minutes, wrote a page-long synopsis for what would become MY LIFE UNDECIDED and sent it to my editor. She wrote back right away saying that she loved it and the book was born!

Why did you decide to write in this genre?
I used to write women’s fiction. I had two novels published in that genre before I switched to YA. But I like to say I didn’t choose YA, it chose me! I never even thought about writing it. But when I came up with the idea for my first YA novel, THE KARMA CLUB, I tried to plot it out as an adult novel and it felt all wrong to me. Then I started to think about it as a story about teens and suddenly it all started to fall into place. MY LIFE UNDECIDED is now my second young adult release and I don’t think I’ll be switching back any time soon. I’m having way too much fun!

What is your writing process like?
I’m currently writing my seventh novel and after seven, you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t. I wrote a blog post recently about How to Trick Your Brain into Writing. You can read it here: http://jessicabrody.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-trick-your-brain-into-writing.html

But essentially that’s what my process is like. It’s a daily struggle to trick my brain into writing! For instance, I always have to write in the same place, drinking the same coffee, eating the same pastry, and listening to the same audio track. It gets me into writing mode and tells my brain, it’s time to work! Repetition works well for me.

What are you working on now?
Ooh, I have TONS of fun stuff in the works! Some I can talk about and some I can’t…YET! My next book is called 52 REASONS TO HATE MY FATHER. It will be released in Summer 2012. I’m working on the copyedits for that now. It’s about a spoiled teen heiress, famous for her partygirl antics and tabloid headlines, who’s forced by her ever-absent mogul father to take on a different low-wage job every week for a year, if she wants any hope of receiving her trust fund. I had SO much fun writing that one. And it was recently optioned for film! So my fingers are tightly crossed about that one!

And I’m also currently writing the first book in a new sci-fi trilogy I just sold called UNREMEMBERED. It releases in early 2013 and it’s about a sixteen year old girl who wakes up amongst the wreckage of a devastating plane crash with no memories. She’s forced to piece together her forgotten past with only one clue to her identity– a mysterious boy who claims she’s not from this time.

What do you do when you’re not writing?
Think about writing. LOL! Seriously though, when I’m in the middle of a book, it completely consumes me. I live that book. I inhabit that world. I react to things as my character would. It’s actually a really cool process and I love it.

Who do you like to read?
I love reading YA. It’s about all I read these days. There are just so many great young adult books out there, it’s hard to leave the genre. Although from time to time, I will read a good commercial fiction novel.

I recently read RUBY RED by Kerstin Gier which just released. It’s the first in a series and I’m now TOTALLY hooked. I’m dying for the second one. The series was originally published in Germany and I’m about this close to buying the German edition and running it through Google Translate, just so I can find out what happens! Too bad I studied French!

Reviews:
“Brooklyn is a sympathetic protagonist with whom teens will identify. Her journey is fun to read, and decision-challenged readers will learn an important lesson about self-acceptance along the way.”
–School Library Journal
“Brody taps into a universal human desire…An amusing coming-of-age story with many funny moments…[Brooklyn's] flustered, off-the-cuff narration should keep readers as invested in her actions as her blog followers are.”
–Publisher’s Weekly

About the Author:
A few fun facts about Jessica Brody’s own life undecided:
• Jessica was born in Los Angeles, moved to Colorado when she was twelve, moved back to California after college and now indecisively splits her time between both states.
• Jessica graduated from Smith College in Massachusetts with majors in Economics and French because she was convinced she wanted to be an “important business woman.” After a brief stint as a strategic analyst for MGM Studios, she abandoned her business background to become a full-time writer. Now she uses her mad spreadsheet skills to build complicated outlines for her books.
• Appropriately, when writing this book, Jessica couldn’t decide on a title. So she polled 50 of her closest friends to finally come up with My Life Undecided.

Visit her online at: www.JessicaBrody.com.
And coming soon: www.MyLifeUndecided.com, where you can post your own undecided questions, poll the community, and get some answers.

May 29, 2011 • Comments

I’m very excited to be touring one of my favourite YA authors, and fellow Teen Fiction Café blogger, Elizabeth Scott with her book Between Here and Forever:

Abby accepted that she can’t measure up to her beautiful, magnetic sister Tess a long time ago, and knows exactly what she is: Second best. Invisible.

Until the accident.

Now Tess is in a coma, and Abby’s life is on hold. It may have been hard living with Tess, but it’s nothing compared to living without her.

She’s got a plan to bring Tess back though, involving the gorgeous and mysterious Eli, but then Abby learns something about Tess, something that was always there, but that she’d never seen.

Abby is about to find out that truth isn’t always what you think it is, and that life holds more than she ever thought it could…

And now for the usual questions:

What inspired the plot for your book?
The very start of the idea actually happened back in 2007, when I was writing discussion questions for my first novel, Bloom–I was writing
a question about what readers felt the future held for all the
characters–and accidentally paired up two characters who weren’t
supposed to be! At the time, I laughed and changed it, glad I’d caught
my mistake–but for some reason the idea of those two characters
stayed in my mind and I actually wrote the first scene where they meet
and connect on an entirely new level. But at the time, I had a bunch
of other stuff going on, and I wasn’t sure if anyone would even want
to read a sequel to Bloom that wasn’t about Lauren and Evan.

So, I kept the idea of those two characters together, floating around,
and when I got the idea for Abby and her story–well, let’s just say
those two characters from Bloom were perfect for an important role in
the book. I was thrilled to be able to revisit them as I dove into
Abby’s world, and everything combined together to create a story that
I’m truly proud of.

Why did you decide to write in this genre?
I’ve always written about teens, and I can’t imagine writing anything but YA!

What is your writing process like?
Get up, wish there was more time in the day, then try to do all my
online stuff in three hours or less and then work until 6 PM.

What are you working on now?
My next book, As I Wake, will be out on September 15th and it’s about
Ava, who is welcomed home from the hospital by a doting mother, lively
friends, and a crush finally beginning to show interest. There’s only
one problem: Ava can’t remember any of them–and can’t shake the eerie
feeling that she’s not who they say she is.

Ava struggles to break d dog and my friends, read, watch TV, and sleep! through her amnesiac haze as she goes through
the motions of high-school life, but the memories that surface take
place in a very different world, where Ava and familiar-faced friends
are under constant scrutiny and no one can be trusted. Ava doesn’t
know what to make of these visions, or of the boy who is at the center
of them all, until he reappears in her life and offers answers . . .
but only in exchange for her trust.

What do you do when you’re not writing?
Hang out with my husband and dog and my friends, read, watch TV, and sleep!

Who do you like to read?
I’ll read just about anything, but you can check out books I’ve read
and loved on Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/363405.Elizabeth_Scott

April 11, 2011 • Comments

I’ve just got back from a month in Australia, where we’ve found a business to buy and are heading there permanently at the end of June…..yay!!! So a crazy busy time ahead getting everything sorted.

I’m really excited to announce my friend and CP, Amanda Ashby’s latest sale. Here’s the announcement on Publishers Marketplace:

Amanda Ashby’s DEMONOSITY, in which a sixteen year old girl’s life is
turned upside down when she has to protect an ancient alchemist’s
relic from two demonknight brothers, one of whom is good and one of
them bad: the problem is she has no idea which is which, to Puffin, in
a nice deal, by Jenny Bent at The Bent Agency (World English).

So, huge congratulations to Amanda, it’s an awesome book, you’re going to love it.

Finally, check out Teen Fiction Cafe, because I’m posting this week!!!