Here come the other half of this week’s new YA releases. If you entered the giveaway for Part 1, you are automatically entered to win the books featured in this post. However, you can enter once more today to double your chances of winning! If you haven’t entered, scroll all the way down for a chance to win one of the 14 fabulous books up for grabs!
This Week’s Interviews
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
- From Amazon: Vera’s spent her whole life secretly in love with her best friend, Charlie Kahn. And over the years she’s kept a lot of his secrets. Even after he betrayed her. Even after he ruined everything. So when Charlie dies in dark circumstances, Vera knows a lot more than anyone—the kids at school, his family, even the police. But will she emerge to clear his name? Does she even want to?
How long did you work on this book?
Please Ignore Vera Dietz was one of the faster books I ever wrote. I wrote the first draft in about 40 days and the “final” draft went out on submission (and eventually to auction) about nine months later. Then, edits with my editor took about five more months, on and off.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
WARNING. This story is not for the faint-hearted. My journey to publication (selling a book) was fourteen years and seven novels long. In those years I gathered about 350 rejection letters. It was fifteen years (nearly to the day) from when I started writing novels to when I saw one of my books on an actual bookshelf. I wouldn’t trade the journey for anything though. It taught me a lot. Mostly, it taught me to write because I love writing.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Write what you want to write…and love writing. If you aim for publication only and you feel that it will be the highlight, you might be disappointed. Publishing books is amazing, there is no doubt, but the business of publishing books is an insane, bizarre, often irrational rollercoaster that you need to be able to ignore in order to write more books. So—love writing. It’s the thing you have the most control over.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Hands down, it’s the daily massages and the live-in cook. Who’d have thought?
I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña
- From Goodreads: Kidd is running from his past and his future. No mom, no dad, and there’s nothing for him at the group home but therapy. He doesn’t belong at the beach where he works either, unless he finds a reason to stay. Olivia is blond hair, blue eyes, rich dad. The prettiest girl in Cardiff. She’s hiding something from Kidd—but could they ever be together anyway? Devon is mean, mysterious, and driven by a death wish. A best friend and worst enemy. He followed Kidd all the way to the beach and he’s not leaving until he teaches him a few lessons about life. And Olivia.
How long did you work on this book?
I thought I had it all figured out when my previous book, We Were Here, took only four months to write. I was like, “Man, I got this novel-writing thing down!” And then came this book, I Will Save You. It took me over a year to write (including around twenty revisions). This book is more complicated in terms of structure. I start with the end and work my way back, while at the same time inserting a few sections that take place AFTER the end. It took me a long time to understand what I was doing. I didn’t “get” it right away. It finally clicked into place during the tenth or eleventh draft. And now I’m super excited about it. But the moral of the story: I still know nothing about writing novels. It’s really hard!
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
This is my fourth novel. My first one, Ball Don’t Lie, was the real journey. The book took about a year and a half to write. And then I started researching agents. I didn’t have any money at the time – like, zero – so I went into to Barnes & Noble and read through one of those lit agent guides. The book was thirty bucks, too much for me to handle, so I just ripped out the pages of agents I wanted to contact (I realize this doesn’t make me look like the greatest guy, but I was seriously desperate). I got an agent pretty quickly, but it took him a while to sell the book. He was going out to both adult AND YA imprints. When Delacorte offered the best deal my agent called me and said, “Congrats, Matt! Your book sold today. It’ll be coming out in eighteen months as a YA title.” I jumped up and down and all that. Then I had to go Google “YA.” I honestly didn’t know what it was. Now, of course, I do. And I feel lucky to be here.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
I teach a novel class at NYU now and I tell writers that it’s all about work ethic. Put in more hours than the next person and you’ll have a leg up. I think it was Toni Morrison who said, “I don’t wait to be struck by lightening and don’t need certain slants of light in order to write.” Inspiration is great, but I think it’s hard work that gets your book on the shelf. I come from a very blue collar family, and I like to think of myself as quite similar to my uncles. They bust their butts eight hours a day with concrete; I bust mine eight hours a day with words. There are a bunch of brilliant people out there writing books, but I don’t happen to be one of them. So I try and level the playing field with hard work.
I’d also like to encourage people to take risks. You’ll never do anything new if you play it safe. Just go for it. Go all the way. Jump off the deep end. Always leave a door open because you never know who’s gonna walk through. If you have to pull back a little in revision that’s fine. But start out taking risks!
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Two things. The first one is reader correspondence. I’m so moved whenever I get a letter or email from a kid. What an honor that they not only took the time to read one of my books, but they also reached out and told me how they felt about it. Being a writer is strange. You spend all this time alone in a room, making up this your tiny story. And then, long after the book comes out, somebody in a place you’ve never even heard of picks it up and enters the world you created. Kind of insane if you think about it. And definitely the most rewarding part of writing books.
The second thing is a huge surprise. One of the reasons I wanted to be a writer was so I could sleep in and not go to an office or sit in a cube. And now I pay a hundred bucks a month so I can go to the Brooklyn Writers, which is like an office for writers, and I sit in a cube. Oh, and I get here at 7:30 every morning. Funny how things work out.
Jumpstart the World by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- From Goodreads: Elle is a loner. She doesn’t need people. Which is a good thing, because she’s on her own: she had to move into her own apartment so her mother’s boyfriend won’t have to deal with her. Then she meets Frank, the guy who lives next door. He’s older and has a girlfriend, but Elle can’t stop thinking about him. Frank isn’t like anyone Elle has ever met. He listens to her. He’s gentle. And Elle is falling for him, hard. But Frank is different in a way that Elle was never prepared for: he’s transgender. And when Elle learns the truth, her world is turned upside down. Now she’ll have to search inside herself to find not only the true meaning of friendship but her own role in jumpstarting the world.
How long did you work on this book?
Hmm. Depends on whether you count all three (very different) drafts. I wrote the first draft in 2003. Then a second very different version in 2006. Then I finished a final revision–also very different–and sold it in 2008. So I guess I could say I worked on it for five years. But of course I worked on other things during that time.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
Seemed long! Then again, they say to expect to wait ten years for your big break. And I only waited eight, so I guess I have nothing to complain about. During that eight years, I got tons of rejections. I couldn’t get an agent interested, so I tried to publish my own short stories. I got 122 rejections before I placed one. But then I placed another story five days later and another nine days after that. And all of the stories went on to find homes without my revising them based on rejections (I revise plenty right up front). My first novel (it wasn’t the first I published), Walter’s Purple Heart, was rejected about 25 times. Then after Pay It Forward was published, Simon & Schuster wanted to know what else I had. So I sold them Walter’s Purple Heart. And they were one of the publishers who had rejected it! Getting the idea that rejection doesn’t mean what you think it does? Good. I meant for you to.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Don’t be discouraged by rejection. Just think of it as your membership card in the Real Writers’ Club. And don’t write in a vacuum. Let people critique your work. But don’t be discouraged by what they say. Just use criticism as a challenge, a way of raising the bar for your own talent.
And read. That’s probably most important. If you want to write, it’s hugely important that you read. The more you find what you love to read, the closer you’ll be getting to what you really want to write.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
On the down side, how hard the publishing industry really is, even for authors who’ve already had their big break. On the plus side, the communication with readers is a real pleasure. I have so many readers who email me and then become “pen friends.” It’s really opened up my world, and I’ve met some incredible people.
Banished by Sophie Littlefield
- From Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell can’t wait for the day she’ll leave Gypsum, Missouri, far behind, taking only four-year-old Chub, the developmentally-delayed little boy her cruel drug-dealing grandmother fosters for the state money. But when a freak accident in gym class leaves a girl in critical condition, Hailey feels drawn to lay her hands on the injured girl and an astonishing healing takes place. Before Hailey can understand her new powers, a beautiful stranger shows up…just in time to save her and Chub from hired killers. A desperate race begins, with Hailey as the ultimate prize: there are those who will stop at nothing to harness her gifts to create an undefeatable army of the undead. Now it is up to Hailey and a small but determined family of healers to stand up to the unbelievable and face the unthinkable.
How long did you work on this book?
My agent and I discussed the idea of writing a young adult novel in the summer of 2008, after I had turned in my first two mystery novels and had some time on my hands and a desire to try something new. Barbara knew I had teenagers at home, and that I was interested in exploring dark themes with paranormal elements, so it seemed like a natural fit. I remember we talked about it while I was driving home from Los Angeles to the San Francisco bay area, where I live, and I had pulled over into a fast food parking lot and was taking notes on a napkin. By the time I got home I was on fire to start the book, and I wrote it in one long rush – I think it was finished in two months.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
It occured to me yesterday that I have been writing longer than my daughter has been alive – and she is fifteen! I wrote for magazines and wrote a lot of short stories in between novels. My first eight novels were never published. BANISHED is actually the eleventh book I wrote. I received over two hundred rejections along the way.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
As you might guess from my response to the last question, I’m a firm believer in persistence. It’s a very hard thing to do – especially when we’re young – but you must believe in yourself even when other people don’t. I wish I could whisper in every writer’s ear, “keep writing your stories” – with an emphasis on *YOUR* stories. Many people will tell you that you’re doing the wrong thing – the wrong genre, the wrong voice, the wrong length, the wrong characters, the wrong issues – and it’s simply not true. Write what’s inside you, and keep working at your craft, and you will get better and better and better.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
I’ve found that my passion for writing never flags. I’ve had a busy schedule and the usual amount of setbacks and there are days when I am very weary of the business aspects of writing, and sometimes I get disheartened by harsh reviews or economic realities, but I feel more certain every day that I am in the best job in the world. When I read a beautiful passage in another author’s book, I still get shivers; when I occasionally think I’ve written something truly special, it’s the best feeling in the world.
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
- From Goodreads: BROOKLYN: Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break. PARIS: Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape. Two girls, two centuries apart. One never knowing the other. But when Andi finds Alexandrine’s diary, she recognizes something in her words and is moved to the point of obsession. There’s comfort and distraction for Andi in the journal’s antique pages—until, on a midnight journey through the catacombs of Paris, Alexandrine’s words transcend paper and time, and the past becomes suddenly, terrifyingly present.
How long did you work on this book?
I got the idea for the book about ten years ago, but couldn’t delve in right away because I had another book due, and I also had a baby. I worked intensively on it for the last three years.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
With this book, the journey was wonderful. Delacorte bought the book based on a proposal and early chapters, and I worked with a wonderful editor there, Krista Marino. This makes a marked change from the first book I published — The Tea Rose — which took ten years to write, and which received many rejections. That particular journey was a bit tougher!
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
As Churchill said: Never, never, never give up. The path to publication can be long and discouraging. The whole world is often ready and willing to tell you no. Don’t tell yourself no.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
That the thrill of holding the finished book in my hand never diminishes. It never gets old. I just finished my fifth novel and writing is still hard, wonderful, frustrating, joyous work. I can’t imagine ever loving anything else as much as I love writing novels.
The Goblin Gate by Hilari Bell
- From Goodreads: A richly compelling adventure that has everything fans of epic fantasy want: mystery, intrigue, conspiracy, magic, and romance. Master storyteller Hilari Bell crafts another winner in her much-anticipated follow-up to The Goblin Wood. Searching for the key to rescue his brother, Tobin, from certain death in the Otherworld kingdom, Jeriah is thrust into a tangled web of political intrigue when he uncovers a dangerous secret – one that could change the fate of an entire kingdom. As the bonds of magic, love, and loyalty are tested for this would-be hero, he must put his pride aside and seek help from the very beings he’s been taught to hate – the mischievous goblins.
How long did you work on this book?
It took me a year to write Trickster’s Girl–like pretty much all my books–but that’s not to say I’m writing for the whole year. I’ve got a couple of months of prewriting, which is actually pretty laid back work, a couple of months of writing the first draft which is very intense. Then I take some time off and just let it sit, rewrite, let my critique group read it which gives me a few more months off, rewrite, then let my editor read it (more time off) and rewrite again. And by then it’s late fall, and I’m starting to prewrite the next book. So though it takes a year, I’m actually writing all that time. And by some strange coincidence, all the big chunks of time off just happen to be in the best time of year to go camping.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
My journey to publication was a long one–I wrote, seriously for publication, for seventeen years before I finally sold a book. The first novel I sold was the fifth I’d written, and by the time I sold it I was working on novel number 14. And it’s not that I’m that horrible a writer, honest! When I first started writing fantasy for kids and teens you couldn’t sell a fantasy novel for love or money. I once had an editor tell me, “Sell 3 or 4 realistic novels, about real kids with real problems, preferably humorous–and if they do really well, then maybe someone will look at your fantasy.” Then Harry Potter swept in, and a lot of us slid into publication on Harry’s big beautiful coat tails. But before that, selling a fantasy was almost impossible. However, I can be really stubborn when it matters.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
My advice to writers has changed from year to year–sometimes month to month–but right now I think I’d say…Love the writing. The career path is too crazy, and out of your control. The writing is in your control–sort of–and if you don’t love it, well this isn’t the career for you!
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Again, what has most suprised me varies a lot, but right now it’s how much and how swiftly things can change. I watch a lot of junk TV, inculding Project Runway, where the tagline when they kick someone off is: In fashion, one day you’re in, the next day you’re out.” Well, for wild ups and downs fashion’s got nothing on writing! I much prefer the parts when Tim Gunn says “Make it work!” You have a better chance with that one.
Enchanted Ivy by Sarah Beth Durst
- From Goodreads: What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet!Lily’s test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he’s her guard. That’s weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets.When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future.
How long did you work on this book?
You could say that I’ve been working on it since high school, since it draws inspiration from my memories of that obsessive/exciting/terrifying experience known as the college application process. But in reality, it took about a year to write: a month on research/brainstorming/outlining, two months on the first draft, and nine months on revisions.
For me, the heart of writing is revision. That’s when the story really comes to life. I tend to do a lot of very quick revisions, adding more and more layers and honing in on the true story.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
Long and lots. 🙂
I took the standard road to publication: write, submit, write more, submit more… Really, I think the key to publication is persistence. Yes, there is luck involved. You have to be in the right place at the right time with the right thing. But you can help MAKE your own luck by writing a lot, researching the appropriate agents/editors to query, and continuing to submit your work.
Think of it like a lightning strike. Yes, it’s rare. But if you dance around in an open field while waving a metal umbrella through enough thunderstorms, eventually you’ll get hit. It might happen quickly or it might not. The important thing is not to give up.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Be kind, especially to yourself. Some days it will be difficult. Some days you won’t like a single word you’ve written. Some days you’ll feel like you have a “fail whale” in your brain. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Remind yourself that it will get better and that you’re lucky to live in a time when you can write and don’t have to hunt mastodon. (Hunting mastodon really impinges on writing time.) Also, see above about the importance of not giving up!
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Before I was published, I thought of publication as this Big Event. I would get the Call, and then confetti would rain from the sky, a marching band would spring out of the cushions of the couch, and roses would spring up beneath my feet wherever I walked. But in reality, there isn’t one big day when everything is AWESOME and then it’s over. It’s a series of smaller moments. Even the big Call where you get the offer is actually a series of calls as details are learned and the deal is worked out. And there continue to be moments along the way: first time you see cover art, first time you see your book on Amazon, the day you receive the box of author copies, every time you receive a fan email… I actually prefer all the little moments to the confetti and the marching band, but it still surprised me. In retrospect, it probably shouldn’t have. One thing I keep learning time and time again is that life is all about the little moments.
Daughter of Winter by Pat Lowery Collins
- From Goodreads: It’s 1849, and twelve-year-old Addie lives in the shipbuilding town of Essex, Massachusetts. Her father has left the family to seek gold on the West Coast, and now the flux has taken the lives of her mother and baby brother, leaving Addie all alone. Her fear of living as a servant in some other home drives her into the snowy woods, where she survives on her own for several weeks before a nomadic, silver-haired Wampanoag woman takes her in. Slowly, the startling truth of Addie’s past unfolds. Through an intense ancient ceremony, and by force of her own wits and will, Addie unravels the mystery of her identity — and finds the courage to build a future unlike any she could ever have imagined.
How long did you work on this book?
I’ve had the idea for parts of this book for a long time. I was intrigued by an historical schoolhouse and graveyard in Essex, a neighboring town, as well as by the surrounding shipyards where the schooner building trade was in its heyday in 1849. But as with most of my books, I had only vague notions of what the story itself would be about. When I finally got a germ of an idea, I wrote ten chapters for the editor who was publishing my most recent book, “Hidden Voices, The Orphan Musicians of Venice”, and the manuscript was purchased on that basis.
The actual writing of the “Daughter of Winter” took about 18 months.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
My first book was a picture book published about 30 years ago. That sale was quickly followed by two more, and I expected it would always be that way. But then I didn’t sell anything for about five years. I learned over many more years that there are definitely fallow periods in this industry just as in all others. I’ve actually had more rejections than I could possibly count. There are still many manuscripts without a home in my files. During all this time, I’ve experimented and tried many things, while also publishing poetry and short stories. At one point I thought I’d switch completely to the adult market, but then I began to have success with my YAs and decided I want to continue to write them. There are some picture books in the works as well and a coming of age memoir for adults.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
I usually caution writers that if you want to succeed, you have to place your writing first and foremost in your life. It isn’t something you can only do when the kids are asleep and you are bone tired. You need to consider it as a job that you make time for on a regular basis when you’re at your best. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be periods when family problems such as illness make it impossible to stick to a schedule. (I wrote some of “Daughter of Winter” in doctor’s offices waiting for my husband.) It is preferable to have your own private space in which to write, but until you have it, just make do with whatever space you have. I know a famous illustrator who still uses her kitchen table.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
What has surprised me most about being a published author is that writing for children, although having a lofty goal, is really a business, and it’s necessary to learn the best way to survive in it. Not surprisingly, however, is how generally kind and helpful most writers of children’s books can be. They are some of my very best friends.
Additional Releases
Another Pan by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
- From Goodreads: Sixteen-year-old Wendy Darling and her insecure freshman brother, John, are hitting the books at the Marlowe School. But one tome consumes their attention: THE BOOK OF GATES, a coveted Egyptian artifact that their professor father believes has magical powers. Soon Wendy and John discover that the legend is real—when they recite from its pages and descend into a snaking realm beneath the Manhattan school. As the hallways darken, and dead moths cake the floor, a charismatic new R.A. named Peter reveals that their actions have unleashed a terrible consequence: the underworld and all its evil is now seeping into Marlowe. Daniel Nayeri and Dina Nayeri return to reimagine Peter Pan as a twisty, atmospheric, and fast-paced fantasy about the perils of immortality.
- From Goodreads: Raphael is a dumpsite boy. He spends his days wading through mountains of steaming trash, sifting it, sorting it, breathing it, sleeping next to it. Then one unlucky-lucky day, Raphael’s world turns upside down. A small leather bag falls into his hands. It’s a bag of clues. It’s a bag of hope. It’s a bag that will change everything. Soon Raphael and his friends Gardo and Rat are running for their lives. Wanted by the police, it takes all their quick-thinking, fast-talking to stay ahead. As the net tightens, they uncover a dead man’s mission to put right a terrible wrong. And now it’s three street-boys against the world…
- From Goodreads: As the daughter of a renowned surgeon and a prominent Washington D.C. politician, Clea Raymond has felt the glare of the spotlight her entire life. And though she dreads the paparazzi who track her every move, she herself is a talented photojournalist who takes refuge in a career that allows her to travel to the most exotic parts of the world. But after Clea’s father disappears while on a humanitarian mission, eerie, shadowy images of a strange and beautiful young man begin to appear in Clea’s photos—a man she has never seen in her life. When Clea suddenly encounters this man in person she is stunned—and feels an immediate and powerful connection. As they grow closer, they are drawn deep into the mystery behind her father’s disappearance and discover the centuries-old truth behind their intense bond. Torn by a dangerous love triangle and haunted by a powerful secret that holds their fate, together they race against time to unravel their past in order to save their future—and their lives.
Giveaways
Along with the books being offered in our first post, Matt de la Peña, Catherine Ryan Hyde, Sophie Littlefield, Hilari Bell, Sarah Beth Durst, and Pat Lowery Collins have kindly offered books as prizes! Jennifer Donnelly is offering 3 copies of REVOLUTION! That brings this week’s giveaways to a total of 14 fabulous new reads! You must leave a comment and fill out the form below for a chance to win! Contest closes Friday, October 15th at midnight EST and is open to US residents only please. Best of luck!
Happy reading,
Martina & Marissa
