Countdown to YallFest -- An Interview With Melissa de la Cruz

FIVE WEEKS FROM TODAY, I WILL BE IN CHARLESTON!!!!!

Today's interview is with YA author, Melissa de la Cruz.  As if being interviewed wasn't exciting enough, the adaptation of her book Witches of East End made it's debut last Sunday on Lifetime.  How fun!

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

(from Goodreads)
 Melissa de la Cruz is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of many critically acclaimed and award-winning novels for teens including The Au Pairs series, the Blue Bloods series, the Ashleys series, the Angels on Sunset Boulevard series and the semi-autobiographical novel Fresh off the Boat.

Her books for adults include the novel Cat’s Meow, the anthology Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys and the tongue-in-chic handbooks How to Become Famous in Two Weeks or Less and The Fashionista Files: Adventures in Four-inch heels and Faux-Pas.

She has worked as a fashion and beauty editor and has written for many publications including The New York Times, Marie Claire, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Allure, The San Francisco Chronicle, McSweeney’s, Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl! and Seventeen. She has also appeared as an expert on fashion, trends and fame for CNN, E! and FoxNews.

Melissa grew up in Manila and moved to San Francisco with her family, where she graduated high school salutatorian from The Convent of the Sacred Heart. She majored in art history and English at Columbia University (and minored in nightclubs and shopping!).

She now divides her time between New York and Los Angeles, where she lives in the Hollywood Hills with her husband and daughter.

AUTHOR Q&A:

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Fear. Sometimes rage. I find that to truly focus I need to feel panic, and then suddenly everything in my manuscript becomes clear. I work best under duress, which is something my editors have learned and they're quite good at instilling fear in me. J I appreciate that! I also work well with many distractions, I think it's because I had a day job for nine years and had to write my books in the middle of doing my real work.

Describe your book in 5 words

Post-apocalyptic. Zombie. Dragon. Pirate. Fantasy.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

The first, definitely.

Best writing tip you ever received?

To introduce the love interest in the first 30 pages, not that specifically but learning that there was CRAFTING involved in writing a novel, not just voice.

What one young adult novel you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?

Harry Potter. Because! I don't think I have to explain.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

1. I was a child model.

2. My favorite One Direction guy was Harry, but now it is Louis.

3. I have a Maltese named Mimi. She is not named for Mimi Force, our kid named her.

4. I learned to drive at 34.

5. I like savory treats better than sweet.

Where's your favorite place to write?

In a cubicle, surrounded by softly ringing phones and people murmuring. Sadly this is no longer possible for me.

What are you working on now?

My new series THE RING AND THE CROWN coming next spring from Disney-Hyperion.

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

YA Fantasy and Paranormal. My favorite genre to read is "literary" fiction, but I would have to say I really enjoy bestsellers just as much, I like popular fiction, no matter what genre, I like to read what a lot of people are reading and take the pulse of the culture. But for my own taste, I love smart angry women writers like Lionel Shriver and Kate Christensen.  Also cookbook memoirs.

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length novel?

When we've sold it!

Countdown to YallFest -- An Interview With Veronica Rossi

Six weeks from today I will be on the road.  SIX WEEKS!!!!!  And pretty much, this is me every day. 

Today's Q&A is with author Veronica Rossi, author of the Under the Never Sky series.  The third book in the series comes out in January, so if you haven't read the first 2, you have plenty of time to take care of that in time for the release of  Into the Still Blue.  What are you waiting for?  On a related note, I am lucky enough to have been able to get my hands on an ARC of this book so look for a review on this blog in the near future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Veronica Rossi is the author of post-apocalyptic fiction for young adults. Her debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, is the first in a trilogy. Released in January 2012, it was deemed one of the Best Books of Year by School Library Journal. The second book in the trilogy, THROUGH THE EVER NIGHT, debuted in January on the NY Times and USA Today Best Seller Lists. The final book in the series, INTO THE STILL BLUE, is expected to release January 2014.

Foreign rights to the UNDER THE NEVER SKY trilogy have sold in over twenty-five territories to date and film rights have been optioned by Warner Bros.

She completed undergraduate studies at UCLA and then went on to study fine art at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two sons. When not writing, she enjoys reading, painting, and counting down the minutes until she can get back to making up stories about imaginary people. 

Q&A

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

Yeah, those.  And all the ones in between!

Best writing tip you ever received?

              

 $5. Just kidding. Um… tip… I think it’s probably to allow yourself to suck when writing early drafts. It takes away a lot of the fear of generating good material. It’s not easy to be creative when you’re judging your work.      

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

1.  In the past year, I've discovered a deep love of Brussel sprouts

2.  I talk to myself.  Heck.  Sometimes I argue with myself.

3.  I'm arguing with myself about including that last point at this very moment.

4. My favorite animals are elephants.

5. Dresses with pockets make me happy. 

 

Where's your favorite place to write?

I usually work in my home office, but I love working in hotel rooms.  No distractions!

What are you working on now?

Something I'm very excited about!  Can't divulge any details yet, but it's an idea that I've been mulling over for years.

Countdown to YallFest - An Interview With Ransom Riggs

45 DAYS TO GO!!!!!  

Today's interview is with Ransom Riggs and I am super excited about it.  His book, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, is on the top of my to-read list.  The cover fascinates me in both a creepy and an "I can't look away" way.  I think we were meant to be friends.  For real.  I'll let you know how it goes when I tell him this next month :)

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I grew up in Florida, went to Kenyon College in Ohio, then film school at USC in LA, where I still live. I write books and screenplays, blog daily for mentalfloss.com, and make short films.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is my first novel. I'm really excited about it -- it was challenging and rewarding and I hope people like it. If you read that and like the found photographs in it, you might be interested in a book comprised entirely of found photographs that I have coming out January 2012 from HarperCollins. It's called Talking Pictures. You can find sneak peeks by doing a search for "mental floss talking pictures" (I included a number of images in blogs there) and I made a kinda-sorta book trailer for it, which is on my youtube page: youtube.com/ransriggs.

Also, watch out for a Miss Peregrine book trailer, which I'm working on right now! I get to go to Belgium and film inside creepy abandoned chateaus, which I'm *really* looking forward to. 

AUTHOR Q&A

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Silence.  My noice-cancelling headphones have become almost essential.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

The first.  I rewrite and rewrite it a million times.  The last comes easy.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

I'm six foot four.  I lived on a working farm until I was five.  I used to know how to cook Indian food but now I've forgotten.  I love documentaries.  One day, I will conquer the moon.

What are you working on now?

A novel for Little, Brown - the plot of which is SECRET! (Sort of, for now.  But I'm really excited about it.)

What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?

Oh, definitely YA to write in.  I read everything, lots of YA, lots of adult, nonfiction of all sorts.  I even read poetry when I'm feeling ambitious.  I think it's crucial to have lots of different influences.  If you only read in the genre you write in, your writing will sound like everything else that's already out there.  

Countdown to YallFest -- An Interview With Rainbow Rowell

47 days until YallFest, not that I'm...ok, I'm totally counting :)  Today's interview is with one of my new favorites, Rainbow Rowell - fitting since this is Banned Books Week and one of her books, Eleanor and Park, has recently been banned by a county in Minnesota because of **gasp** profanity. 

(You can read more about that ridiculousness here) 

Anyhoo, on to the good stuff :)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Rainbow Rowell is the author of ATTACHMENTS, ELEANOR & PARK, and FANGIRL.  

Rainbow lives with her husband and two sons in Omaha, Nebraska.  Right at this moment, she is probably arguing with someone about something that doesn't really matter in the big scheme of things -- or trying to figure out how Sherlock faked his death.  

Blog and other stuff and rainbowrowell.com.

What one thing do you need to have when you write?

Lip balm.

Describe your book in 5 words.

FANGIRL - Earnest, snowy, swoony, minty bookish

What is the hardest line to write - the first or the last?

The whole first page is a nightmare.  I want people to just skip it.  And I always end up rewriting it.

Best writing tip you ever received?

"Just finish your book." 

What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen?  Why?

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt.  I think it would have made me feel less alone.              

Where's your favorite place to write?

At coffee shops.  In giant overstuffed chairs.

What are you working on now?

I'm revising my adult novel, Landline, which comes out in Spring 2014, and playing with a romantic/political/tragicomic fantasy.

What is your favorite genre to write?  To read?

I write mostly contemporary.  I read mostly fantasy.

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length
novel?

All of my ideas are full-length novels.  I have a hard time narrowing my scope. 

Countdown to YallFest -- Cinda Williams Chima Interview

Two months from today, I will be in Charleston, SC to attend YallFest.  I get to spend an incredible weekend smooshing on tacklehugging hanging out with some of my favorite bookie friends and meeting some of my favorite YA authors.  Just in case you need a bit more clarification, the gif below is an accurate depiction of my feelings: 

Almost as exciting as the big event is the fact that I am one of the lucky bloggers chosen to post interviews from YallFest authors - so look for those on Mondays and Fridays between now and the big day.  It is like the organizers knew I'd need something to keep me occupied :)

So without further ado, let the countdown to YallFest begin!

First up is author Cinda Williams Chima. 

From Goodreads:




New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima comes from a long line of fortune-tellers, musicians and spinners of tales. She began writing romance novels in middle school, which were often confiscated by her teachers.

The Warrior Heir was named to Voya’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2005-2006, is a 2006 Booksense Summer Reading Pick, was named to the 2007-2008 Lone Star Reading List, and was a finalist for the 2006 Great Lakes Book Award. Warrior Heir received a starred review in the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books and a “Perfect Ten” (5Q, 5P) in Voya. The Wizard Heir also received a “Perfect Ten” from Voya and appears on Voya's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2007. The Dragon Heir received a starred review in Kirkus, was named to Kirkus's Best YA 2008 list, was a VOYA Perfect Ten, and is a USA Today, Indie Next, and NYT bestseller.

Chima's Seven Realms series launched with The Demon King in October, 2009.It received a starred review in the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, was a Voya Perfect Ten and was named to the 2009 Voya Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List. The Exiled Queen followed in September, 2010. It received a starred review from Kirkus, was a Voya Perfect Ten, and a New York Times bestseller. The Gray Wolf Throne follows in September, 2011.

Chima is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron. Chima is an active member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She has been a workshop leader, panelist, and speaker at writing conferences, including the Northern Ohio SCBWI Conference, the Western Reserve Writers’ Conference, and the World Fantasy Convention. She frequently speaks to young writers and readers at schools and libraries nationwide.

Chima lives in Ohio with her family, and is always working on her next novel.

 
What one thing do you need to have when you write?

A computer

Describe your book in 5 words

Wizards misbehave, magic goes mutant.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?

Usually the lines in between.

Best writing tip you ever received?

Give yourself permission to write badly.

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.

1. I am a twin.

2. I am named after a character in a novel.

3. I didn’t really start driving until I was 27.

4. I am descended from Puritans and scoundrels.

5. I used to be in a folk music band.

Where's your favorite place to write?

On a balcony overlooking the ocean.

What are you working on now?

I’m writing The Sorcerer Heir, the fifth book in a trilogy.

At what point in the development of an idea do you know that it will become a full-length novel?

When I’m finished with a full-length novel.