Just another teen reading books: January 2019

Sunday, January 27, 2019

Interview With Natalie Williamson!

Today I'm happy to present an interview with Natalie Williamson! Ms. Williamson is the the author of the YA book, Rules We're Meant to Break, which releases June 11th.

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, Rules We're Meant to Break, in seven words?
Blended families, forever friends, and swoony kisses

2. Have you always wanted to write YA books?
Yes! I read mostly YA (and romance) so when I started writing there was no question about where I wanted to end up.

3. Random Question! What's your favorite holiday?
Christmas! It's so magical, and I love getting to spend extra time with family. And also getting extra time at home to curl up with a good book.

I love Christmas, too! :)

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Read! Read in the age category and genre you want to write, and read outside it, too. Whenever I hit a writing slump, it helps me so much to read a new book I've been looking forward to, or an old favorite that I love.

Good advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?
I loooooved The Birds, the Bees, and You and Me by Olivia Hinebaugh. And I'm looking forward to:
Match Me if You Can by Tiana Smith
How the Light Gets In by Katy Upperman
Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett
Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon
You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn
When the Truth Unravels by RuthAnne Snow
Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford
I could keep going, but it'd be a long list!

I'm really looking forward to reading a lot of the books you mentioned here! :)

Thank you to Ms. Williamson for participating in this event and for letting me interview her! :)

Author bio: Natalie Williamson is an HR person by day and a YA writer by night and nap time. She referenced Harry Potter in her first ever full time job interview, which tells you almost all the things you need to know about her. Other important things to know include: she loves her husband, daughter, dogs, and cat; she has a serious dessert problem; and she frequently Wikipedias movies and TV shows to find out if they have happy endings. RULES WE’RE MEANT TO BREAK is her debut novel.

Here are a few links:

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Interview With Rajani LaRocca!

Today I'm happy to present an interview with Rajani LaRocca! Ms. LaRocca is the author of the Middle Grade book, Midsummer's Mayhem, which releases June 4th.

Here's the interview!

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, Midsummer's Mayhem, in seven words?
A Midsummer Night's Dream meets competitive baking.

2. Have you always wanted to be a Middle Grade author?
I've always loved books and read them everywhere, all the time, from a young age. But my first dream was to become a doctor. I did a lot of creative writing from grade school through college, but when I got to medical school and residency, I stopped due to lack of time and head space. A few years ago, once I was established in my medical career and my children were in school and busy with their own activities, I returned to writing. And once I started, I couldn't stop! I feel that writing books for kids and practicing medicine complement each other, and I wrote a blog post about this topic that you can find here: https://mgbookvillage.org/2018/02/19/writing-like-a-doctor-doctoring-like-a-writer/ And now, all these years after falling in love with books as a child, I hope some kids fall in love with mine.

3. Random Question! What's your favorite movie?
I have to choose Bend It Like Beckham. I love the main character, her well-meaning family, and the story of pursuing your dreams no matter what obstacles you encounter.

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Remember that the only thing you can control is yourself. Publishing is full of "no," but if you keep investing in yourself and your writing, it will pay off. Make connections to other writers, and learn from each other. And rejection-proof yourself by believing that you will eventually get to YES.

That's great advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?
I've read some stunning MG 2019 debuts, including: CATERPILLAR SUMMER by Gillian McDunn, PIE IN THE SKY by Remy Lai, THE SIMPLE ART OF FLYING by Cory Leonardo, and PLANET EARTH IS BLUE by Nicole Panteleakos. I also can't wait to read SEVENTH GRADE VS. THE GALAXY by Josh Levy, SUPER JAKE AND THE KING OF CHAOS by Naomi Milliner, ALL OF ME by Chris Baron, THE STORY THAT CANNOT BE TOLD by Jessica Kramer, and A GOOD KIND OF TROUBLE by Lisa Moore Ramee. There are so many others I'm eager to read—too many to name here—but you can learn about them all on the the Novel Nineteens website: http://novelnineteens.com/ and on our Twitter chats at 8 PM on the 19th of each month!

I haven't heard of all of these books before now, I need to look them up! :)

Thank you to Ms. LaRocca for participating in this event, and for letting me interview her! :)

Author bio: Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area with her wonderful family and impossibly cute dog. She is a writer of stories for children, doctor of adults, and baker of too many sweet treats. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @rajanilarocca or visit her website at www.rajanilarocca.com.

Here are a few links:

Friday, January 25, 2019

Interview With Erin Hahn!

Today I'm pleased to present an interview with Erin Hahn! Ms. Hahn is the author of the YA book You'd Be Mine, which releases April 2nd.

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, You'd Be Mine, in seven words?
Country music super stars fall in love!

2. Country music seems to play a big part in You'd Be Mine. Who are some of your favorite country singers?
I have so many favorites! If I had to choose *today*, though, I’d say Miranda Lambert, Johnny Cash, Chris Stapleton and Brothers Osborne.

3. Random Question! What's your favorite color?
My favorite color is navy blue... which is perfect since Annie’s dress is navy on the cover of YOU’D BE MINE.

️

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
My best advice would be to read and read widely. If you want to write, you need to be well versed in what’s already out there. I’m not just talking about the classics or award winning literature, though that’s great too! But whatever you want to write.

That's good advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?
So many books seem incredible in 2019! It’s going to be a fantastic year for YA!! If you love fantasy, my favorites (that I’ve finished as of today) are “We Hunt the Flame” by Hafsah Faizal and “Grave Maidens” by Kelly Coon. In contemporary, so far I’ve loved “Hot Dog Girl” by Jenn Dugan, “Two Can Keep A Secret” by Karen McManus, “Red, White and Royal Blue” by Casey McQuiston and “Immoral Code” by Lillian Clark.

I agree, it really is going to be a fantastic year for books! :)

Thank you for participating in this event! :)

Author bio: ERIN HAHN started writing her own books when her little sister gave her shade about a country music-themed Twilight fanfic. By day, she likes to help kindergarteners make snakes out of playdoh. By night, she writes swoons. She married her own YA love interest who she met on her first day of college and has two kids who are much, much cooler than she ever was at their age. She lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan, aka the greenest place on earth and has a cat, Gus, who plays fetch.You'd Be Mine is her first novel.

Here are a few links:

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Interview With Jennieke Cohen!

Today on the blog I'm pleased to present an interview with Jennieke Cohen! Ms. Cohen is the author of the YA book Dangerous Alliance, which releases later this year.

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, Dangerous Alliance, in seven words?
London ballrooms, boys, books, and bad guys!

2. Which character from Dangerous Alliance are you most like?
My main character, Vicky, and her older sister, Althea, are modeled on me and my younger sister. Of course, it's not as black and white as that. They both share a lot of our traits, but neither of them are exact replicas of us. Vicky does share my love of books (especially Jane Austen novels), my belief in family, my loyalty to those I love, and my relatively sheltered upbringing. She’s also quite a bit more naive than I was as a teen though!

3. Random Question! If you could travel anywhere in the world at this moment, where would you travel to?
At this moment, I think I'd like somewhere warm, so I’d say Australia since I’ve never been, and it also happens to be summer there right now!

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Don’t talk yourself out of submitting your writing to X contest, or Ms. Bigtime Agent. You’ll never know who will like your writing until you send it to them!

Good advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?
In YA, I’m really looking forward to Samantha Hastings’s THE LAST WORD, which takes place in Victorian England, Kalyn Josephson’s THE STORM CROW (which I’m currently reading!), and Catherine Tinker’s RECONNECTED, a contemporary version of PERSUASION. In middle grade, I’m super excited for Lisa Schmid’s OLLIE OXLEY AND THE GHOST, Rajani LaRocca’s MIDSUMMER’S MAYHEM, and Julia Nobel’s THE MYSTERY OF BLACK HOLLOW LANE. I’ve already read Kip Wilson’s extremely relevant historical novel in verse, WHITE ROSE, and really enjoyed it! And, although this isn’t a debut, I was lucky enough to read an early version of the last book in Tobie Easton’s Mer chronicles series (IMMERSE), and let me tell you, it is SOO good!! It’s a completely perfect ending to the series, and I can’t wait until the world knows what I’ve known for months!! There are so many other books I can’t wait for, but this answer would be a bit too long, so definitely check out our Novel 19s Website www.NovelNineteens.com to see all the amazing debuts coming your way!

I'm looking forward to reading a lot of these! :)

Thank you to Ms. Cohen for participating in this event and for letting me interview her! :)

Author bio: Jennieke Cohen (JEN-ih-kuh CO-en) is used to people mispronouncing her name and tries to spare her fictional characters the same problem. Jennieke is the author of the YA historical novel DANGEROUS ALLIANCE, which will be releasing December 3, 2019 from HarperCollins/HarperTeen. She studied English history at Cambridge University and has a master’s degree in professional writing from the University of Southern California. When not writing or researching little-known corners of history, you'll find her singing opera arias and show tunes, over-analyzing old movies, or discovering the best foodie spots in her native Northern California. Read more on Jennieke’s website www.JenniekeCohen.com or find her on Twitter or Instagram @Jennieke_Cohen

Here are a few links:

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Interview With Josephine Cameron!

I'm happy to present an interview with Josephine Cameron today! Ms. Cameron is the author of the Middle Grade book, Maybe a Mermaid, which releases March 26th.

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, Maybe a Mermaid, in seven words?
Summertime! Mystery, new friends…maybe a mermaid!

2. Have you always wanted to write Middle Grade books?
I remember having a discussion with a college professor who asked if I’d ever considered writing middle grade novels. He may have noticed that I took all my study breaks with Prince Caspian and Gathering Blue. Or that all the protagonists in my “adult” literary fiction short stories were aged 10-13 years old.

I told him I would LOVE to write middle grade but I couldn’t possibly. It was too hard. You had to be so concise. You had to have a compelling voice. You had to break hearts and make people laugh all in one shot. I thought maybe I could pull off being a writer, but I would never be a good enough writer to write middle grade.

It took years after that conversation—years of bringing great books like Savvy and Elijah of Buxton to read during lunch breaks at my office jobs, years of writing and studying and writing some more—before I got up the guts to try a middle grade novel. And before I could start it, I had to promise myself I’d never have to show it to anyone. It could be my secret project, and if it was horrible, no one would ever know. But once I started, I couldn’t stop. I felt like I hit my stride. Writing middle grade is so FUN!!

That's a great answer! :)

3. Random Question! Do you listen to music while you write?
Never. I’m a musician and I teach piano and guitar to K-8 students for my day job. If there’s music playing while I’m trying to put words on the page, I feel like my brain is split in two. In fact, I’m typing these answers in a coffee shop that is playing the Talking Heads and The Police and even though I love those bands, I’ve had to plug my ears several times already so I could read through a sentence clearly!

4. What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
Try to pay attention to what you love. And don’t put limits on yourself. Not everyone has this problem, but if you’re like me, you idolize the authors you love and when you approach a project of your own, your mind is filled with a running list of all the ways you could ruin it. That makes it really hard to start. As much as you can, ignore that voice. If you have to, remind yourself: no one has to see it. Give yourself permission to fail. More importantly, give yourself permission to try.

That's good advice! :)

5. What are some books you’re looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you’ve already read some ’19 books, do you want to mention them?
I was super lucky to get my hands on an advance copy of The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart. Coyote’s voice grabs you immediately and there are so many quirky, well-drawn characters who will pull you along and have you rooting for Coyote all the way to the end.

I’ve got a top-secret copy of Quinn Sosna-Spear’s time travel adventure, The Remarkable Inventions of Walter Mortinson, on my kindle (a perk of sharing an agent with authors who write books you are impatient to read) and I can’t wait to dive in!

And there are so many other middle grade books I’m looking forward to… Tito the Bonecrusher by Melissa Thomson (luchalibre!) Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord (friendship and bunnies!), Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai (secret cake baking!), My Fate According to the Butterfly by Gail D Vilanueva (a race against an omen!) and so many more. I will never have enough time to read all the great books in the world, and that’s both a good and a bad problem to have!

I haven't heard of all these books, I need to look them up! And 2019 looks to be a great year for books! :)

Thank you to Ms. Cameron for participating in this event and letting me interview her! :)

Author bio: Josephine Cameron received her MFA in creative writing from the University of Notre Dame. She lives in Maine, where she writes, sings, and teaches music to kids. Maybe a Mermaid, her debut novel, will release on March 26, 2019 with Farrar Straus, and Giroux Books for Young Readers (Macmillan).

Here are a few links:

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Interview With Mara Rutherford!

Today I'm happy to present an interview with Mara Rutherford! Ms. Rutherford is the author of the YA book, Crown of Coral and Pearl, which releases August 27th.

Here's the interview!

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, Crown of Coral and Pearl, in seven words?
Gah, I'm so bad at this! So I'll use the tagline: Steal the crown, save the kingdom. Of course, the book is about so much more, like Family, Duty, Courage, Freedom, and Home, with a little Romance and Royal Intrigue thrown in for good measure. I did mention I was bad at this, right?

2. What was the inspiration for your book?
Crown of Coral and Pearl was inspired in large part by my relationship with my own identical twin sister, particularly the ways we have been compared all our lives. In my book, the girls' fates are determined by a single, small scar on the main character's cheek (just not in the way they think). I also wanted to create two very different worlds: Varenia, a village in the ocean where Nor and Zadie grow up, and the castle she goes to, which is carved into a mountain. Duality plays a large role in the book.

3. Random Question! What's your favorite food?
The one food I feel like I would never get sick of is peanut butter. But I just took a trip to Paris, where I had a dessert called a St Honore, and it was the best thing I've eaten in years. The one I got was basically a cream puff topped with profiteroles - it's named after the patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, to give you some idea of how good it is.

That sounds really good! :)

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?
When I was on submission with the book that got me my first agent, I was stalking editors (not recommended, by the way) and found an interview with one. She gave this advice to writers, and it has stayed with me ever since: Follow your compass, not your clock. If you want to be a traditionally published author, set deadlines on yourself in terms of word count or finishing a revision, but not on the things you have no control over, like getting an agent by 25 or getting published by 30. If you focus on where you're going, rather than when you'll get there, you can enjoy the journey a lot more.

Good advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?
I'm super excited for Joan He's book, DESCENDANT OF THE CRANE. Joan was my first Pitch Wars mentee and this was the manuscript that I fell in love with from the first page. It's going to be amazing (and the cover is so gorgeous, I cried when I saw it). I think Gita Trelease's book, ENCHANTEE, is going to be fabulous, and I can't wait for THE BEHOLDER by Anna Bright. I've heard wonderful things about Hafsah Faizal's WE HUNT THE FLAME, too. Plus some of my fellow Inkyard authors, like Laura Namey's THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS, and I've already read a couple of books, like AN AFFAIR OF POISONS and FIREBORNE by Rosaria Munda. Both are amazing. It's impossible to choose!

I want to read a lot of the books you mentioned! :)

Thank you to Ms. Rutherford for letting me interview her and for participating in this event! :)

Author bio: Mara Rutherford began her writing career as a journalist but quickly discovered she far preferred fantasy to reality. Originally from California,Mara has since lived all over the world along with her Marine-turned-diplomat husband. A triplet born on Leap Day, Mara holds a Master's degree in Cultural Studies from the University of London. When she's not writing or chasing after her two sons, she can usually be found pushing the boundaries of her comfort zone, whether at a traditional Russian banya or an Incan archaeological site. She is a former Pitch Wars mentee and three-time mentor. Her debut YA fantasy CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL will release from Inkyard/HarperCollins in August 2019.

Here are a few links:

Monday, January 21, 2019

Interview With Laura Taylor Namey!

Today I'm happy to present an interview with Laura Taylor Namey! Ms. Namey is the author of the YA book, The Library of Lost Things, which releases October 8th.

Here's the interview!

The bold font are the questions I asked, the regular font are her answers, and the bold italic font are my comments about her answers.

1. Would you please describe your debut book, The Library of Lost Things, in seven words?

Books. Teen pilot. Peter Pan. Family secrets.

2. Did you always want to be a YA author?

I used to teach school, and there was always a huge part of me who wanted to write books similar to the ones I was using so often in my classroom. Everything clicked with YA. I love tapping into my own experiences as a teen, using my own teens as guides (and often beta readers,) and the focus on coming of age themes using smart storytelling.

3. Random Question! What's your favorite word?

I have always loved the word––midnight. The way it sounds. The way it makes me think of fairy tales and dreams and and starry night skies.

I like your answer! :)

4. What's one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors?

Read as much as you can in the genre you’d love to write in to get a sense of storytelling, tools and tricks authors in that genre are employing, and how they utilize their sense of voice to tie everything together. Then write, write, write as much as you can to develop your own voice. Then, repeat.

Great advice! :)

5. What are some books you're looking forward to reading in 2019? And if you've already read some '19 books, do you want to mention them?

I am looking forward to all of the #Novel19s debut group books. I am pre-ordering as fast as my wallet allows. Also, I can’t wait for Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon, and anything and everything by Kit Frick, Stephanie Garber, Laura Weymouth, and Kelly DeVos

There's going to be a lot of amazing books this year! :)

Thank you to Ms. Namey for letting me interview her and participating in this event! :)

Author bio: A Cuban-American Californian, Laura can be found drooling over leather jackets, haunting her favorite coffee shops, and wishing she was in London or Paris.

This former teacher writes young adult novels about quirky teens learning to navigate life and love. Her debut, THE LIBRARY OF LOST THINGS will be published 10/08/19 from Inkyard Press/HarperCollins.

Here are a few links: