RTW – Friends

September 22, 20104 Comments

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

Today’s Topic: If you went to school with your characters, would you be friends?

I’m going to use my characters from Loving Max Holden, the contemporary YA romance I’m currently shopping to agents. I feel like I know them better than I know my actual, real life friends anyway.

Shy Jillian is a self-proclaimed blender. She’s not pitiful, but she often lacks the confidence to go after what she really wants. She’s dependable, smart, cynical, and her sense of humor is pretty dry. Honestly, she’s a lot like I was at seventeen… so yes, OBVIOUSLY I’d be friends with her! 🙂

Jillian’s childhood friend and next door neighbor, Max, is very much her opposite. If he were an animal, he’d be a Golden Retriever. Popular, fun-loving, confident, loyal. If I had gone to high school with him–much like Jillian–I would have been envious. He seems to have it all, and effortlessly so. So, no, I probably wouldn’t have been friends with Max. Not because I wouldn’t have wanted to be, but because I would have viewed him as out of my league.

Truth be told, if Jillian’s seventeen-year-old outlook on life is based loosely on my own, then Max’s is based loosely on my husband’s. I often tell him that if I’d known him in high school, we wouldn’t have been friends. Funny how well we do together as adults! 🙂

RTW – The Feel Good Decade

September 15, 2010September 22, 20106 Comments

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing or reading related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic: If you could travel back to any historical era for research purposes, which would you choose?

This one’s easy for me! I’ve been researching the 1970s for the last few weeks for my WIP, Where Poppies Bloom, which features a ghost who’s been dead since 1977. Not sure the ’70s qualify as a “historical era” (I think historical is technically anything before the 1900s, right?) but I’m chosing The Feel Good Decade anyway, because it’s just so groovy. 🙂 The Vietnam War was over and the draft was done . Civil Rights was the law. Protesting was coming to an end. People just wanted to be happy! Why else would they have worn bell bottom pants and disco-ed till they dropped?

Just check out this awesomeness!

Thanks for another fun topic, YA Highway! Looking forward to next week!

Road Trip Wednesday: My DUFF Kit

September 8, 2010September 7, 20106 Comments

Today’s Topic: What’s in your DUFF kit? (see Kody Keplinger’s blog for more explanation!)

I love this topic! I just bought The DUFF over the weekend, and though I’ve only had time to read the first few pages, I’m dying to get further into Bianca’s story. I love Kody’s concept and her honest portryal of a teenager with real issues. Here’s what’s in my DUFF Kit:

1. My favorite (very caloric!!!) drink:

2. My most comfy and old shoes: Um… can I choose slippers? 🙂

3. Movies featuring my favorite male actor:

And

4. My favorite junk food:

5. My most comfortable piece of clothing:

Thanks YA Highway and Kody Keplinger for another great RTW topic. Looking forward to next week! 🙂

RTW – The Best Book I Read in August…

September 1, 2010January 20, 20114 Comments

Today’s topic: The best book you read in August…

I’ve read some truly amazing books over the last month. I’ve taken a bit of a writing vacation (coming to an end September 5th!), so I’ve had a little extra time to devour some awesome YA literature. Here’s what I read in August: The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams, Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements, Forever… by Judy Blume, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, The Summer of Skinny Dipping by Amanda Howells and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

I’ve blogged about a few of these titles already, but one I haven’t mentioned that has stuck with me is Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler.

From Booklist: “What is the statute of limitations on feeling guilty for cheating on a ghost?” Anna writes in her journal, or rather, writes to Matt, her first true love and her best friend Frankie’s brother. More than a year has passed since Matt’s sudden death, and all that time Anna has kept her brief relationship with Matt a secret from Frankie. Matt had planned to tell his sister but died before he had the opportunity. Now, while on a beach vacation with Frankie’s family, Anna finds herself falling for cute, sensitive Sam against her will—if she can love someone else, does that mean she no longer loves Matt? Anna approaches this issue and other big questions with the insight and maturity that come when a young person loses someone he or she cares deeply about. Anna’s authentic voice and some lyrical writing will satisfy fans of Sarah Dessen, while the mix of romance, drama, and tragedy will be a draw for teen readers of Nicholas Sparks and Jodi Picoult.

What I loved about Twenty Boy Summer was that it didn’t set out to teach us a lesson about loss and grief, but rather the lesson came organically, bit by bit, as Anna began to let herself feel for the first time since Matt’s death. Anna’s voice is so natural and real, and her relationships with Matt, Sam, and her best friend Frankie felt completely authentic. Nobody in Twenty Boy Summer is perfect, but motivations are clear and that makes the characters endearing. Plus, Anna’s relationship with Sam is so sweet and sexy. This is one of those stories that make you wish you were a teenager again so you might have one of those lovely summer romances that will forever live in a bubble of perfection. Sarah Ockler is incredibly talented and I look forward to reading her future releases.

Thanks to my wonderful CP, Heather Howland, for recommending Twenty Boy Summer. She has awesome taste in books and never hesitates to pass great titles on to me. 🙂

Road Trip Wednesday

August 25, 201011 Comments

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing – or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

This Week’s Topic:

What would you do to impress the Hunger Game judges?

Sadly, I think the Hunger Games judges would be sorely disappointed in my general skillz set. I’m certainly not an outdoorsy girl (unless you count reading in the sun, which accounts for my kickass tan), and I’m freakishly lacking in speed, balance, precision and any other remotely athletic ability. I can, however, swim (so I’m like Finnick? Awesome!), which could probably work to my advantage, depending on the arena.

My most useful talent, I think, would involve food preparation. I can whip up a decent dinner when my pantry and refrigerator become sparse, so I could probably do pretty well with the wild meat, nuts, berries and root vegetables that might be available during the Games. Of course, I’d need someone to shoot or snare that meat, and then someone else to gut it and clean it, and then one other person to make a fire, but once I’m prepped, I’d definitely be the food girl.

Road Trip Wednesday

August 18, 20105 Comments

So, this is my first time participating in YA Highway’s very excellent Road Trip Wednesday. If you’re unfamiliar, here’s what it is:

Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question and answer it on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody’s unique take on the topic.

We’d love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link in the comments – or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments.

This week’s topic is: If you could rewrite the ending of any book, how would you rewrite it and why?

If I could rewrite then ending of any book, it would be Judy Blume’s Forever…

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED Forever… and frankly, I want to BE Judy Blume, but the ending of her 1975 novel left me feeling sad and a little hopeless. In case you’ve never read it, Forever… is the story of Michael and Katherine, high school seniors who fall convincingly in love, sleep together, and promise each other forever.

In Judy Blume’s ending (((SPOILER ALERT!))) Michael and Katherine break up after a summer of separation. Had I written it, I would have let Michael and Katherine live on in literary teenage bliss Forever… because I’m a hopeless romantic who believes high school love can survive young adulthood and beyond, if it’s honest and genuine. Naïve? Maybe. Optimistic? Definitely!

But, if I’m being truthful, Judy Blume’s original ending is so much more realistic, courageous, and thoughtful that mine would have been. Let’s face it. Teenage relationships break up. Often. And Ms. Blume nailed that beautifully, which is why, I suppose, her books so amazingly timeless.