If the Easter Bunny didn’t deliver, this week’s authors surely will. Read on for author interviews, YA releases, and a must-see giveaway all the way at the bottom of this post! Don’t forget to come back tomorrow for part two, where you can enter our giveaway a second time.
This Week’s Interviews
by - From Goodreads: When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents are forced to pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and had never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Until now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend Zen, who is way too short for the job. Harmony has spent her whole life in religious Goodside, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to bring Melody back to Goodside and convince her that “pregging” for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from. When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.
How long did you work on this book?
I started thinking about BUMPED back in 2008, when the infamous Gloucester High School “pregnancy pact” made news. I researched for more than a year (on everything from the history of surrogate motherhood to IVF to how religion affects sexual activity to twins separated at birth and reunited as adults and so much more) before I started writing in September 2009. I finished the first draft in nine months—which is appropriate for the subject matter!
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
I always say that my debut novel SLOPPY FIRSTS took six months and ten years to write. The actual draft took half a year, but all the preparation that went into it started a decade earlier when I took the first of many writing workshops.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Don’t Google yourself. The good reviews are never good enough and the bad reviews can make you never want to write another word again.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
That after six novels in ten years I’d still have to fight the urge to Google myself!
by - From Goodreads: Summer. A break from the burdens of school. Deep tans, deeper thoughts. Far away from the everyday. Closer to making dreams come true . . . What does summer mean to you? For the two teenage girls in these two unforgettable novels, summer means being torn away from the familiar and finding new friends. A new place in the world. A new sense of self. And maybe even new love along the way . . . When you’re having the time of your life, you never want it to end.
What routines do you find helpful for you to stay actively writing?
While having really tight deadlines helps me stick to a routine, the main reason I choose to write everyday, including most holidays and weekends, is because it makes it a lot easier for me to stay in the voice of the character. Every time I take a break, I find it takes me an equal amount of time to get back into it, so sticking to a daily word count—I aim for 2,000-3,000 words a day—really helps. Though that’s not to say that I don’t spend the first three hours of every morning procrastinating on Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail, because I do. And so far, I’ve yet to discover a cure for that!
As a published writer, do you feel pressure to balance your creative writing license with what the audience wants? If so, how do you balance the two?
While I think it’s important to be aware of publishing trends and audience expectation, at the end of the day I just write the story I’m driven to tell. I have to like the characters and believe in their journey in order to spend that much time with them. And while readers always know what they want for the characters—the author knows what’s needed for the characters—and the two don’t always match!
What advice would you offer writers to build their marketing platform before they become published
I know this is an unpopular and old school way of thinking, but if you are trying to become published in fiction, writing the book is the most important thing. Your number of Twitter followers and Facebook friends is all very nice, building a community of readers and writers is always a good idea, but in the end, a publisher cares only about the quality of your story.
That said, if you have a publishing contract in hand and are trying to broaden your name, then building ties through social networking, joining professional and online writer’s groups and chat loops, blogging, vlogging—it’s all good. But, it’s also a time drain, so do the stuff you enjoy and don’t worry about the rest. I think there’s a tendency to feel like you need to be everywhere at once because everyone else seems to be everywhere at once. If you can manage that, great—go for it. But if not, don’t worry—focus on the stuff you enjoy and forget the rest. The most important thing you can do for your career is to write your next book—don’t let your marketing efforts get in the way of that.
How much do trends influence your writing?
I’m aware of them, but they don’t influence what I choose to write next—my own life experiences usually determine that. I wrote The Immortals and the Riley Bloom series after going through a time of great loss that got me thinking a lot about man’s age old quest for immortality. And it was the research I did for those books that ultimately led me to the idea for my next YA series, SOUL SEEKERS, set to debut in Summer 2012.
The Silver Bowl
by Diane Stanley
- From Goodreads: Unwanted at home, Molly goes to work for the king of Westria as a humble scullery maid. She arrives at the castle with no education, no manners, and a very disturbing secret: She sees visions, and those visions always come true. One day, while she’s working in the king’s great hall, young Prince Alaric passes by. Molly finds him unbearably handsome—but also unbearably rude. But what does it really matter? She’ll probably never see him again. In time Molly is promoted to polishing silver and is given a priceless royal treasure to work on: the king’s great ceremonial hand basin. But there’s something odd about it. The silver warms to her touch, a voice commands her to watch and listen, and then the visions appear. They tell the story of a dreaded curse that has stalked the royal family for years. There have already been deaths; soon there will be more. As tragedy after tragedy strikes the royal family, Molly can’t help but wonder: Will the beautiful Alaric be next? Together with her friends Tobias and Winifred, Molly must protect the prince and destroy the curse. Could a less likely champion be found to save the kingdom of Westria?
How long did you work on this book?
About a year. The first draft went really quickly, say three months. The revision and all the many steps that followed (editor’s notes, copy-editing, etc.) took much longer.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
Rejections aren’t an issue. I don’t work that way. Since I’ve been in children’s books for 34 years and have published fifty books, I long ago settled in with particular editors and we just do a contract for the next book. Sometimes I know what it’s going to be and write them a proposal. Often it’s for an “untitled fantasy novel” or, in the old days, an “untitled picture book.” I’m currently busy revising the sequel to THE SILVER BOWL, THE RAVEN OF HARROWSGODE, and I have an outstanding contract for the last book in the trilogy, THE PRINCESS OF CORTOVA.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
Big, open-ended question! Here are two quick quips that happen to be true: The best way to get published is to polish your craft. And . . . Many people don’t really want to write—they want to have written; real writers love the process more than the product.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
Well, that happened back in 1978, so I don’t exactly remember! But I will say, looking back on a long career, that writingand making art are exceedingly joyful pursuits, and I’m incredibly lucky that I get paid to do it.
The Shore: Shirt and Shoes Not Required; LB (Laguna Beach)
by Todd Strasser and Nola Thacker
- From Goodreads: Building off the success of the reality TV show “The Jersey Shore,” a hot summer bind-up of two Summer Share books.
What routines do you find helpful for you to stay actively writing?
Certainly spending money on travel and summer rental homes helps keep me going, but seriously, I wouldn’t know what else to do.
As a published writer, do you feel pressure to balance your creative writing license with what the audience wants?
Yes. How do you balance the two? Every now and then I start to write something for me, but then I get another book contract and got back to writing for them.
What advice would you offer writers to build their marketing platform before they become published?
You mean once they’ve focused mostly on the primary goal of writing a good book? I’d say, “Get ye an agent.” Although I think it’s pretty cool how some writers are now starting on Kindle and other platforms and building an audience with blogs, tweets, Facebook, etc.
How much do trends influence your writing?
I take on contrarian view. When vampires first got big, I went toward realistic thrillers. Now they’re telling me dystopian stuff is big so I think I’ll do an updated version of Cheaper by the Dozen.
Raven Speak
by Diane Lee Wilson
- From Goodreads: Asa Coppermane is the proud daughter of a Viking chief. Asa and her horse, Rune, are creatures of the sea and the cold northern lands. But this winter has been the worst one Asa has ever seen. Her father and the other men have gone to sea to search for food, leaving behind the women and children, many sick with fever. Also left behind is Jorgen, the clan’s wise man. His stories are meant to comfort them all, but Asa suspects that what Jorgen really wants is power. Now that her father is gone, Jorgen demands Asa give up Rune — for food, and as a sacrifice to the gods. When Jorgen comes to kill Rune, Asa fights him off and she and the horse flee. They find shelter with a one-eyed old woman who speaks to her two pet ravens, and who seems to have a strange power over Asa. The old woman hints that Asa must make a sacrifice to save her clan — but how? And what kind of sacrifice? What are the secrets of the raven speak?
How long did you work on this book?
RAVEN SPEAK had an interesting journey. I originally began Asa’s story after publishing my first young adult novel, I RODE A HORSE OF MILK WHITE JADE. At the time, I envisioned it as a children’s picture book, but my editor kept telling me it had the makings of another novel. I didn’t see it that way and set the project aside. Over the next few years I completed three more novels and had them published before returning to Asa Coppermane’s world. By then I had a new vision for her story, one that would encompass the complexities of a novel, and RAVEN SPEAK took a little over a year to write.
How was your journey to publication? Long, short, how many rejections?
I was fortunate. The first agent I spoke with signed me, and the second publisher we contacted, Orchard Books, published my manuscript. I’ve just sold my sixth novel to Simon & Schuster.
What advice would you most like to pass along to other writers?
I tell aspiring writers that writing is more about discipline than talent. You have to do it every day—no excuses; because it’s hard work! There’s no one patting you on the back at the end of the day, no ready paycheck, no assurance that what you’re producing is even any good. You just have to trust yourself and keep going.
What has surprised you most about becoming a published author?
I guess the most surprising instances for me occur when I visit classrooms and students want me to autograph any and all objects they can produce: books, napkins, pieces of scrap paper. Of course I’m happy to do so, but I want to tell them “I’m just a person, not a celebrity.”
Additional Releases
Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel
by Candance Bushnell
- From Amazon: Summer is a magical time in New York City and Carrie is in love with all of it—the crazy characters in her neighborhood, the vintage-clothing boutiques, the wild parties, and the glamorous man who has swept her off her feet. Best of all, she’s finally in a real writing class, taking her first steps toward fulfilling her dream. This sequel to The Carrie Diaries brings surprising revelations as Carrie learns to navigate her way around the Big Apple, going from being a country “sparrow”—as Samantha Jones dubs her—to the person she always wanted to be. But as it becomes increasingly difficult to reconcile her past with her future, Carrie realizes that making it in New York is much more complicated than she ever imagined.
- From Goodreads: i have always been broken. i could have. died. and maybe it would have been better if i had. It is a day like any other when seventeen-year-old Melinda Jensen hits the road for San Francisco, leaving behind her fractured home life and a constant assault on her self-esteem. Henry is the handsome, charismatic man who comes upon her, collapsed on a park bench, and offers love, a bright new consciousness, and—best of all—a family. One that will embrace her and give her love. Because family is what Mel has never really had. And this new family, Henry’s family, shares everything. They share the chores, their bodies, and their beliefs. And if Mel truly wants to belong, she will share in everything they do. No matter what the family does, or how far they go.
by - From Goodreads: Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can’t help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she’s never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back. But now she’s moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid. Only she can’t. Because even here, he finds her. That’s how desperately he wants her back. She knows he’s no guardian angel, and his dark world isn’t exactly heaven, yet she can’t stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most. But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.
Giveaway
Thanks to these generous authors and publishing houses, we’re giving away copies of BUMPED, THE SHORE: SHIRT AND SHOES NOT REQUIRED, THE SILVER BOWL, FOREVER SUMMER, and 5 copies of RAVEN SPEAK. And that’s just today. We’ll announce more awesome giveaways in our second post tomorrow morning, where you can enter again. Please leave a comment on this post and fill out the form below to win. The contest is open to US residents and winners will be announced Thursday morning.
Happy reading!
The Ladies of ACP
