Author Event: Harper Ross

Last week, I attended an author event with Harper Ross. She wrote this amazing book. Check out the fun cover:

Harper Ross was in conversation with Kristan Higgins

They talked about how this book came to be.

Harper wanted to write magical realism. The seed for the magical element (the typewriter) began because writing is the only thing Harper can control in her life. You can write everything on paper as you wish it to happen. Therefore, Emerson was a writer. I like that she became a ghost writer (and no she's not based on anyone nor is the romance author whose books she's writing). 

The typewriter:

The typewriter became the tool because it's something a writer would use.

When Emerson takes the typewriter from her father's study after his death, she doesn't understand the rules. This is where the title comes in. And actually, it's the title that Harper Ross came up with and it stuck. Not all titles stick. It's a very tricky process.

The typewriter works went you type out a wish. But it works in mysterious ways, ways you never imagined.

A wish:

What would you wish for?

Harper and Kristan talked about complicated relationships. This book has some difficult mother-daughter relationship, but also a hard relationship between Emerson and her father. Emerson and her father never made up before his death. To be honest, the mother-daughter relationships in this book reminded me of The Gilmore Girls.

Harper and Kristan talked about her next book, a book about truth and journalism. This book has a prickly character. Harper had a great quote here: Women writers are often told that their female characters have to be likeable, but she wonders if anyone ever says that to make authors. I would bet money that's true too. There were some unlikable characters mentioned. To be honest, I don't mind unlikable characters, but I do have to feel a connection to them in order to read the book. 

The conversation between Kristan and Harper was great - lots of laughs, lots of insightful moments, and the whole evening was great fun.

Two mother-daughter relationships, a magical typewriter, and a question about how far is too far to control the lives of the people around you and give yourself a moment of peace?

Doesn't the book sound great?

I was lucky enough to review it for Fresh Fiction:

Author Event: James Ponti and Alyson Gerber

 

Last Friday, I attended a super fun book event:

James Ponti was at RJ Julia's with Alyson Gerber.

He was talking about the newest CITY SPIES book: London Calling

Read my review here. 

James is always funny; I laughed so many times.

He asked kids in the audience about their favorite middle grade authors - several mentioned were his friends. Then he texted them to see who would text back first (Sarah Mlynowski -Author of the Whatever After series - won)

Alyson asked really great questions.

My favorite was about research.

James talked about how he liked to travel to the places in his books but when he couldn't, he would use all the resources available to him. For example, for the Istanbul scenes, he talked with his Turkish book editor who had lived there all her life. He learned about some secret passageways from her. 

If he can't find someone to talk to, he uses videos for research. There's almost always a video online that will walk down roads and he can see everything.

Or he will talk to his neighbors about certain ideas.

On Naming Characters

Besides the main characters who are named after the city they lived in; the other characters are named for people in James's life: his mother, his editors, people who help with research....and in a funny tale he told, his sister the tour guide. 

There were jokes about other authors. 

On writing:

Both James and Alyson talked about how writing mysteries for kids is different than adults and honestly, I never put it together, but it makes sense. Most adult mysteries deal with solving a murder. But rarely in mystery books for kids does someone die - and if they do, it's off the page (like a cozy). The action and danger have to be there. The stakes have to be high. You can't have any boring moments, or the kids will put down the books. It's a different set of skills. 

Did you know that City Spies has been optioned for a movie? I really hope this happens!

It was great to meet Alyson.

She's a fashionista who grew up in New England.

Her childhood librarian was in the audience (how cool was that?)

She writes:

Read my review of The Liars Society here.

* Book 2 comes out in April and I can't wait! 

Look at the cover!!!! 

This was such a fun event! And I'm so glad I got to go!

No photos were taken this time because I was sick with a cold and didn't want to make anyone else sick. 

Here's one from our first meeting (this is now the third time we've met)

Where I Am Today

I'm off to the Connecticut Library Association. I'm co-presenting about how to host author visits. I've got the library portion and Karen from my favorite bookstore RJ Julia's will be talking about the book store perspective. 

I've talked about several author visits on my blog and I'm lucky to have hosted so many great ones. Just looking at all the pictures brings back so many memories. 

Tera Lynn Childs

Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Kim Harrington

Review: Don't Even Think About It

After taking a flu shot, students in one homeroom suddenly start hearing thoughts - EVERYONE'S thoughts. At first it's hard to believe, hard to control, and hard not to think. Everyone has secrets.

They start meeting to discuss what they're going to do. Tell no one is the obvious answer. It could be kind of cool to see what others are thinking. Cheating would be easier. You'd always know what your friend really thought of you.

As time goes on, secrets spill out. Lives are ruined from all the drama: family, friendship, and relationship. Nothing will ever be the same for this group of sophomores.

My Thoughts: Oh man, I would NEVER want this power. At first, I think it might be cool, but then to hear everything would be terrible.  All that noise in your head and all those secrets coming out. Plus I would never want anyone to know what I was thinking. 

But - the idea makes for a wonderful book. I devoured this one. I really liked watching the group trying to figure out what to do with their new powers. I like how they worked out clues to help themselves cope with all the noise. My favorite characters was Olivia - how this new power gave her confidence to break out of her shell and find friends and maybe even a boyfriend. I can't wait to see what happens in the sequel!

Cover Thoughts: Before I read it, I really liked it. But now, it doesn't capture the awesomeness of the book.
Source: My Library

Fun Fact: I got to hang out with Sarah Mlynowski as she came to a local bookstore. She's super fun (just like her books.)

Summer Books Event at RJ Julias

On Friday, Erin and I attended Summer Reads stop at RJ Julia's and it was a blast! Lots of laughter and lots of talking. Here's some notes on the tour. 

Susane Colasanti:
All I Need is her 7th book (read my review here)
She wanted to write a beautiful summer romance - the kind of romance she always hoped would happen to her one summer. It never did. She always thought this summer was going to be the one that changed her -either a romance or she would reinvent herself. But it never did and summers were always boring.
So she wrote this book. 

Also in this book, she writes about Soul Mates. She confesses that she's obsessed with Soul Mates and that everyone has one.
She also confesses that she's still 16 at heart.
She loves her job because she can reach out to teens and make them feel less alone. She loved being a science teacher (10 years) but believes that she can help more teens as a writer. She wants them to be able to survive the worst time in the lives, knowing that it really does get better. 

She used to fight with her high school English teacher over the books assigned for school. She would read them, but she never really liked the classics. The Outsiders was the only book she had to read for school that she enjoyed. Otherwise, she'd be reading Stephen King. 

Huntley Fitzpatrick:

My Life Next Door is her debut novel (although she has 2 other books written that will never be published)

She believes that you can change your past with writing and make things better.
She's a hopeless romantic and adores the Happily Ever After Ending - which she brings to her books.
She always reads the ends of books first, so she knows if she wants to read it or not and if it has a satisfying ending. 

For her book, she wanted to take the star-crossed lovers theme from Romeo and Juliet and change it. She didn't want the main characters to be impulsive and immature with crazy families, and of course, the two characters don't die at the end. The ending of that tale always bugged her.
She loves writing YA because it's the time where all the first experiences happen and because teens are so curious and questioning everything during this time in their lives.

Leila Howland

Nantucket Blue is also her debut novel 

It's a novel about friendships and what happens when a great friendship breaks up.
It's based off of her experience as at the time she was breaking up with her best friend. When she went looking for books to read, she couldn't find any.
She wanted to explore the idea further and started writing to let out her emotions and heartbreak.
In her book, she wanted to make a perfect girl - and then place her into a summer where Everything goes wrong for her. She says something wrong at a major life event for someone else, and then she can't take it back. Regret follows and then Shame.
How can she make it right?
But also Leila wanted to figure out what's the worst thing that this one friend could do after a best friends breakup? 

She had previously written a novel for adults, but was told that her voice was too young. Her agent sent her some YA titles by E. Lockhart and Natalie Standiford. She found urgency to writing and entertainment value with lots of emotion. She couldn't put the books down. She finally found her voice after reading these books. A sequel will be coming next summer. 

Una LaMarche
Five Summers is also a debut novel. (Read my review here)
While it's her first novel (ever written and published), she has a background in journalism.
It's a novel about friendship based off some of her own camp experiences. She attended a camp with an annual dance, so she added that into the book.
She wanted to make this centered on friendships and what happens to the friendships after a few years of not seeing each and a few secrets that could damage the relationship.
She has a love/hate relationship with books where the main characters were clearly meant to be together, but never did - like Little Women and Circle of Friends. She's crushed when the romance doesn't work out the way she expected. 

She used to keeps a diary - but sometimes her life was so boring she wrote fictional accounts of her day. 

Breathless Reads Tour: RJ Julia's

I've been hearing so much about the Breathless Read Books, so I was super excited to see some of the author at RJ Julia's - an independent bookstore that great the most amazing authors.

Waiting for the authors to arrive!

The Authors:
Jessica Spotswood - Born Wicked
Elizabeth Richards - Black City
Beth Revis - Shades of Earth
Fiona Paul - Venom
Morgan Rhodes - Falling Kingdoms

 What I Learned from the Q&A:

Why Write YA:
JS: Gone with the Wind made her want to be a writers. YA books are the ones that stayed with her growing up - the ones she read over and over again for comfort. It was a natural fit.

ER: YA is all about firsts!

BR: YA is the beating heart of literature where teens have a passion for life and aren't jaded.

FP: In YA you can mix genres and readers love it

MR: It's a time for self discover and learning what rules are made to be broken.

When did you know you wanted to write?
JS: Started writing at a young age, Gone with the Wind knock offs with strong girl characters - with horses and Yankee boys.

ER: Influenced by J.K. Rowling

BR: Knew she always wanted to write

FP: Wanted to be a lot of things - but found herself reviewing books, the majority were YA - which influenced her to start writing

MR: Read adventure series by Enid Blyton and made up her own stories about the chracters.

What to you do to combat writer's block:
JS: If the character has made a wrong choice, she goes back to the last right choice and rewrites from that point forward. Also she gives herself Care Bear stickers when she reaches a certain goal (I Love this idea!)

ER: Doesn't write in chronological order - but works backwards from a fun scene.

BR: Blows up something or kills off a character

FP: Outlines the book like crazy beforehand - she always writes two books at the same time. When she's stuck on one, she changes books.

MR: Outlines the book prior to writing. If she gets stuck, she eats ice cream.

Tips for Writers:
JS: Write a book for you that you can write - don't be afraid to write for fun and not for publication

BR: Don't give up (Across the Universe was her 11th novel) and write fearlessly

FP: Read! Also don't get discouraged by criticism.

MR: Trust your gut and find your own twist on an idea.

Books I've Read and Reviewed: 
Venom
Falling Kingdoms

Not on the East Coast Tour...but still Breathless Reads
Origin
Prodigy (halfway through so far - review coming soon)

Author Night at RJ Julia's

Thursday Night, my friend Mary and I battled our way through a massive rain storm, complete with thunder and lightning to meet Sara Shepard, Sarah Mlynowski, and Maureen Johnson.

They were HILARIOUS - from the moment they were introduced to the moment we left. They perched upon stools and each read from their books.

The Last Little Blue Envelope
Ten Things We Did and Probably Shouldn't Have
The Lying Game

I can't wait to read ALL of them. I bought copies there so I could have them signed.



After the readings, Maureen Johnson became the new Oprah and wandered through the aisles with a microphone allowing people to ask questions.

There was lots of laughter and a lot of truth telling:
Sara S used to create small fires with her friends and LOVES writing about other people's dirty little secrets.
Ten Things We Did... was based on Sarah M's experience in high school. She also got a speeding ticket during her book tour for HOW TO BE BAD. Fitting no?
Maureen Johnson color codes her sock drawer and dropped her phone in the toilet during BEA this year

Mary and I met up with fellow YA Librarian (and blogger) Jessica talked about books and TV series until the line dwindled down and then we had our books signed.

We met two of the women working for RJ Julia's - an EXCELLENT bookstore.

Jessica asked Maureen Johnson to write #YASaves in her book and I confess I copied her excellent idea (Copying a brilliant idea goes with the territory when you're a YA Librarian). We all had a few extra minutes talking with the authors - more like gushing over their works. We posed for pictures, thanked them profusely, and then left.


It was a GREAT night!