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Part of growing up is working year-round and loosing the lazy days of summer spent spying on the cute lifeguard at the pool or walking around the mall in an endless loop. But all is not lost. Young adult authors are offering entertaining, sophisticated stories that nostalgic adults are eagerly grabbing from the bookshelves. So, in honor of the popular YA genre (and school children everywhere forced to trade in their swimsuits and sunglasses for uniforms and book bags), we're highlighting a few clients from our substantial list of gifted YA authors.
On Thursday, Diana Peterfreund will be the guest author in our chat room at 9pm ET. Diana's killer unicorn series, featuring RAMPANT and the upcoming release, ASCENDANT, has received major kudos from reviewers and readers alike. The author shares her inspiration for the
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unique storyline and upcoming projects below in The Knight Post. Also this month, Linda Gerber let's us in on her secret to finding good ideas for YA novels in The Authors' Corner, and in a special "Back-To-School" section, several authors write up short "essays" on what they did over summer vacation.
During the summer we had a couple of notable news items that created much excitement around the office. Gena Showalter's, THE DARKEST LIE, debuted at #7 on the New York Times list, and Nalini Singh's BONDS OF JUSTICE premiered at #14. Big congrats to these amazing authors! Also, our office attended the RWA conference in Orlando, Florida near Walt Disney World in July. It was scorchingly hot, but we had a wonderful time meeting with clients, editors and old friends. Sadly, though, we didn't get to meet Mickey or Donald due to jam-packed schedules... Oh well. Next time. :-) |
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Diana Peterfreund first arrived on the scene with her smart and funny Secret Society Girl series in 2007 featuring memorable Ivy League heroine Amy Haskel, which was marketed as general fiction. For her follow-up project, the one-time cover model and food critic stepped firmly into the realm of YA -- creating a world where unicorns are murderous beasts that can only be killed by virgin female hunters descended from Alexander the Great. Leading the warriors is "take no prisoners" heroine, Astrid.
Writing about unicorns that prefer flesh to munching on grassy meadows is definitely at the opposite spectrum from Amy's battles against archaic private school legacies, but Diana's story is no less witty, worldly and even more foward-thinking with an not-so-subtle analysis of teen sexuality and feminist theory.
Publishers Weekly described the first book in the series, RAMPANT (HarperTeen, August 2009), as a " gripping page-turner [that] evokes the same grrl-power spirit as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, packed with action, mystery and a complex and intriguing mythology." The second book, ASCENDANT (September 2010), is as action-packed, thoughtful and engaging as its predecessor.
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TKA: You’ve said the idea for bloodthirsty unicorns came to you in a dream. How would you interpret your dream of a dangerous unicorn now that you’ve done tons of research on the subject? Have any other dreams inspired your stories or specific characters?
DIANA: If I dreamed of unicorns again, I think I’d know I was dreaming of my book. When I’m deep in drafting mode, I often dream of my characters and stories. I can’t turn it off! I’ve even solved plot problems in dreams. I’ve come to a conclusion that dream interpretation matters a lot on the person having the dream. Someone afraid of dogs would find very different meaning in a dream about a dog than I would, because I love dogs. I hope that I’m changing the meaning of unicorns in the dreams of my readers, too.
TKA: In RAMPANT and ASCENDANT the all-female hunters must be virgins to retain their mythological unicorn-fighting abilities. Why did you choose to integrate the oftentimes hot-button issues of virginity and teen sexuality in your novels? And what do you hope that people take away from Astrid’s story regarding the constructs of female sexuality?
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DIANA: Even before I got the idea of killer unicorns, I’d wanted to write a story incorporating the issues surrounding our modern concept of female virginity. I was an abstinent teen, and I had other abstinent friends in college, and what always struck me as funny was the idea that people thought we had to have a very specific “reason” (like a religious conviction or a “rule” about not having sex before marriage) behind our choice. Just saying we didn’t feel ready or that we hadn’t met a guy we wanted to have sex with (who also wanted to sleep with us!) was somehow insufficient – which is ridiculous. It’s your body and your sexuality, and “I don’t feel like it” is a perfectly good reason, and every bit as valid as “my religion prohibits it” (or “I want to hunt killer unicorns”). There’s a certain attitude out there that says abstinence is not a feminist position, but I believe it’s a personal decision. And how can a woman saying that she has the right to choose what she does with her body, regardless of societal pressure in either direction, be anti-feminist? The girls in my book have various reasons for choosing not to have sex, and I hope what readers take from that is that they’re all valid, and women don’t have to justify their decision or their reasoning about their sexuality to anyone. Astrid saying she’s not ready is rock-solid.
TKA: Even though you’re dealing with a fantastical element, there is an emphasis on realism in your novels. Specifically in ASCENDANT, *****mild spoiler
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warning*****an important character is injured and doesn’t necessarily bounce back in record time. What stopped you from taking artistic license with certain elements, like healing, usually employed in fantasy?
DIANA: The sad fact is, I did take artistic license there, as well as with the other scenes of recovery in my books. As slow as the recovery is, it’s still a fictional recovery. It would never happen at that speed, or even at all, in real life. But in order to not make the book comprise decades and age my characters into their thirties, I have to add in a few fantastical elements. One of my biggest pet peeves in reading action stories of any kind is how characters take gunshot wounds or whatever and are back on their feet in an hour or a day. It cheapens the seriousness of what supposedly happened to them, and also makes the reader care less about any danger they’re in. If they can shrug off a gunshot wound anywhere but the head, then who cares if they get shot, right? I’ve had surgery – it takes weeks before you’re even up to getting out of bed, and that’s something that was planned and performed carefully – it’s not a unicorn horn to the gut.
TKA: What do you think are some of the top mistakes to avoid that some aspiring young adult authors make when first attempting to write for a teen audience?
DIANA: The main thing I’ve seen is the false idea that you can write down to these readers. You can’t. Teen readers can be way more discerning than their adult counterparts. They’re the ones in English Lit classes every day being taught how to dissect Shakespeare and Hemingway. They will analyze and remember and call you on everything. I see a lot of the same false assumptions with teen lit as I do with romance novels – that it’s somehow “easier” to do or that the readers are stupid. Madeleine L’Engle (A WRINKLE IN TIME) said, “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.” Children don’t come in with a preconceived notion of what a book can and should be. You can still shock them.
TKA: What were some of the pros and cons you faced while writing short stories in ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS (Margaret K. McElderry Books, September 2010) and KISS ME DEADLY (Running Press, August 2010) anthologies versus producing a full-length novel?
DIANA: I can’t think of a single con, to be honest. I loved writing those short stories so much! Especially after coming from these huge, multi-book series all in the same characters’ heads (Amy and Astrid), it was incredibly refreshing to say “Hey, I’m just going to write ten thousand words about Wen,” and go. Wen (From “The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” in ZOMBIES VS. UNICORNS) is a very different person than Astrid – younger, kinder, and a woman of faith -- so to see her take on unicorn hunting was eye-opening and really added a lot to my world. We certainly aren’t done with Wen yet!
“Errant” (in KISS ME DEADLY) was another wonderful switch – I got to write in third person; I got to write a historical; I got to explore unicorn hunting from the perspective of people who actually understood it in a way that Astrid does not. And, to go back to one of your previous questions, I also got to explore the concept of female virginity with a character – the nun, Gitta--whose position (because of the time and culture in which she lived) actually allowed her to become an independent and educated woman, and contrast her situation with that of Elise, the nobleman’s daughter, whose body was the property of her family. It’s a little different than most of the other stories in the anthology, which are more straight paranormal romance, but readers have really seemed to respond to it.
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TKA: What can you share about the post-apocalyptic novel you’re currently working on?
DIANA: It’s a post-apocalyptic retelling of PERSUASION, by Jane Austen, and its set many generations in the future, in a world where humanity is divided among strict class lines and the ruling class, who took power during the apocalypse, is extremely anti-technology. I’m having a lot of fun re-envisioning Austen’s story and characters for my world and a modern YA audience, and I’m getting to write in a style I’ve wanted to tackle for a very long time. But I can’t say anything more yet!
To learn more about Diana, visit www.DianaPeterfreund.com |
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This Thursday, August 19th @ 9pm ET, we have a fabulous event planned featuring hosted author Diana Peterfreund in TKA's party room (a.k.a. our online chat room ;-)). Diana will discuss writing for the young adult audience, unicorn mythos, her upcoming projects, and any other questions you could possibly think of! We'll also have lots of shiny new books to give away. ;-)
When:Thursday, August 19th @ 9pm ET
Where: TKA's chat room**: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=115545
How To Chat: Enter any combination of username and password. Login.
**Your computer must be Java enabled to chat. |
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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
My favorite Staples commercial ever (what? You don’t have favorite commercials?) runs about this time each summer. You know the one. A dad dances with his shopping cart through the store, gathering school supplies as Andy Williams croons, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” His offspring trudge sullenly behind.
I feel for the kids. I really do. But for me, back-to-school truly is one of the most wonderful times of the year. Although I love summer, I’m always ready for September to roll around. My family slips back into a regular schedule. I get more writing done. And school visits start up again.
One of the fun things about writing for teens and tweens is getting to visit the schools and hang out with the readers. I never know what kind of questions they’re going to come up with.
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They have insatiable curiosity, and very little filter.
Like one day when I was doing a book fair signing and a student approached the table with a confused look on her face. She glanced down at the totally cute cover of DEATH BY BIKINI in her hands and then up at me. Then down to the book, and back to me. And then she asked, “How old were you when you wrote this book?”
The number one question I get, though, is “Where do you get your ideas?”
The truth? I steal them.
Seriously. I take ideas from everywhere. Stories in the newspaper. Videos on Youtube. Things I see on TV. And I eavesdrop. A lot. So watch what you’re talking about if you see me standing attentively next to you in an airport or at the mall. Or sitting at your lunch table at school. You just may end up in my book.
In the case of my upcoming book, TRANCE, the idea came from a dream. Years ago, I had a very distinct, very disturbing dream about an airplane crash. That would have |
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been the end of it, except a few days later, I saw the same crash on the news. I recognized the plane. I recognized the area. And I was thoroughly freaked out.
Flash forward a couple of years. While I was talking to one of my sisters on the phone, I mentioned the dream. She got really quiet. Then she told me she’d had similar dreams of coming events.
So I thought… What if a pair of sisters shared premonitions? And what if neither one of them could see the whole picture, but had to fit their visions together, like pieces of a puzzle? And what if they got clues to help them figure it out? Clues they wrote themselves while they were in a trance?
And… that’s how it happens.
Like I tell students, ideas come from everywhere… even school visits.
Especially school visits. Oh, how I love this time of year. |
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| On the first day of school, teachers everywhere inevitably ask their classes to write an essay about what they did over the summer. A few of TKA's young adult authors revisted their youth, at our request, and shared what they've been up to these past few months. |
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Lauren Baratz-Logsted (THE TWIN'S DAUGHTER, August 2010) -- I spent my summer writing (finishing an adult novel and writing Book 7 in The Sisters 8 series with Greg Logsted and Jackie Logsted), reading (Jon Clinch’s KINGS OF THE EARTH will no doubt be my favorite book read in 2010) and spending my time with my family (going to New Hampshire and the Cape, and just generally playing). I also let my hair grow but now it’s out of control so I may need to drink some wine and get out the scissors. Oh, and I also managed to watch General Hospital every day. |
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Marley Gibson (GHOST HUNTRESS: THE COUNSELING, September 2010) -- Life this year seems to be a permanent summer vacation. My companion and co-author, Patrick Burns, and I live full-time in an RV and have been traveling the country promoting our books, filming ghost hunts, and visiting strange and interesting places. We started the summer in Boston, worked our way to Connecticut, then our GhoStock conference in Gettysburg. We headed to Chicago and up to the north woods of Wisconsin -- with a stop in The Dells. We turned the rig south to Tennessee to investigate a former hospital, a haunted hotel, and a Civil War plantation. The summer wraps up with the Romance Writers of America conference in Orlando, the Ohio Paranormal conference in Dayton, the Psychic and Paranormal Gathering in Louisville, and then we’ll both be guests at Dragon*Con in Atlanta. Follow our travels on Twitter @hauntedhighways. |
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Rachel Caine (Morganville Vampires, GHOST TOWN, October 2010) -- I can safely say that this was the best summer EVER! Granted, I had a lot of work to do, but I got to do some of it on trains, some of it on board the Queen Mary 2, and some of it in fabulous posh hotels all over England, Scotland, and all the way over to California, too. I got to meet fantastic people everywhere I went. I got to go to Comic-Con in San Diego and wear a guest badge. What else could I possibly wish for? Nope, nothing. I'm good. :) |
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Gena Showalter (UNRAVELED, September 2010) -- I am a total workaholic, and that doesn’t change during the summer months. If anything, my aversion to heat, sweating, and bright light (yes, I’m practically a vampire) keeps me chained to my computer for much longer stretches. This time around, I worked on the second book in the Intertwined series, UNRAVELED, really shaking things up for Aden and his friends. Aden might be the new vampire king, but powerful enemies are surfacing, the souls trapped inside his head are slowly driving him crazy, and the girl he loves is keeping a very dangerous secret… |
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Jonathan Friesen (RUSH, June 2010) -- This summer I went on cat hunts. If you love cats, you better stop right here. The story isn’t pretty. It’s not that I don’t love cats—big, angry, sharp-clawed cats. I just hate him, the wandering him cat that turned my mousers into mommies and littered my farm with twenty-one kittens.
So each morning I waited, bug-dope in one hand, my .22 in the other. I did not shoot bear or wolf or coyote, no ma’am; those are friends. But that blasted gray long-hair. I must’ve fired a hundred shells. He’s smart. Smart and charmed. Nine lives? Hah! Try ninety.
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| Nalini Singh's latest Psy-Changeling installment, BONDS OF JUSTICE, debuted on New York Times list at #14. The author was also recently interviewed by TVNZ’s morning show, Breakfast. Click here to view the segment. |
Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series continued its New York Times running streak. THE DARKEST LIE debuted at the #7spot. |
HEALING LUKE and UNDER FIRE by Beth Cornelison are both finalists in the ACRA Heart of Excellence Readers Choice contest, and Beth won the Daphne Du Maurier award for THE CHRISTMAS STRANGER (category series romantic mystery/suspense). |
Robin Owens’s HEART CHANGE won the Best Paranormal category and Best Overall Published Book (Best of the Best) in the Kiss of Death's Daphne Du Maurier awards. |
| Patti O’Shea’s EDGE OF DAWN won the Beacon Award for Best Paranormal. |
| Harvard University is offering a course on "The Vampire in Literature and Film" and GLASS HOUSES by Rachel Caine is on the required reading list. |
| Linda Gerber’s DEATH BY BIKINI and DEATH BY LATTE made the YALSA 2011 Popular Paperback nomination finalist list in the Crime Scene category |
| Marilyn Brant won Best Single Title of the year for ACCORDING TO JANE at the Booksellers’ Best Awards at RWA. |
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QUESTION: Why do you think young adult literature has such a wide appeal to both teen and adult audiences? What are some of the YA titles you’ve enjoyed as an adult or are on your TBR list?
MELISSA JEGLINSKI : I really feel that young adult novels appeal to many ages because the themes are often ageless: romance, angst, family problems. But also, we all love to relive those moments of our youth and YA novels give us that opportunity to get swept away "back in time" as it were to when we were younger. Maybe we didn't have vampires to kill or kiss then, but it's still a great form of escapism.
I have vowed to read HUNGER GAMES because everyone raves about it. So, it's on my list to read before end of year. |
NEPHELE TEMPEST: I think young adult books are appealing to a broad audience because even adults remember what it was like to be a teenager—and it’s a period in life when you’re really making that adjustment from childhood to adulthood. Everyone can relate to the joys and miseries of first love, of trying to fit in with peers, of discovering one’s place in the world. In many ways, the emotions we first address as teens carry on into the rest of our lives. Things just get more complicated as we gain more responsibilities. A lot of young adult literature speaks to these concerns in an intriguing way.
YA has changed a lot since I was a teenager. I remember reading books by Paula Danziger (THE CAT ATE MY GYM SUIT) and Robert Cormier (THE CHOCOLATE WAR), among others. These days I’m looking forward to reading Diana Peterfreund’s ASCENDANT, Suzanne Collins’ MOCKINGJAY, and Libba Bray’s upcoming series THE DIVINERS.
ELAINE SPENCER: I think that young adult authors are really pushing the envelope these days and encompassing subjects and topics that appeal to a mainstream audience. At one point in time or another everyone was a teenager and there is something raw and almost refreshing about the emotions and outlook that came with the naivete that that time in everyone’s life carried. Additionally I think that the YA market is more accepting of boundary pushing story lines. Young adult authors can tell stories that are smart and creative and high concept that don’t necessarily have some of the genre confines that the adult markets tend to be more hesitant towards. Like everyone else I’m anxiously awaiting the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy. Also on my TBR is the final book in the Luxe series and Alyson Noel’s series.
LUCIENNE DIVER: Will you accept “because it’s awesome” as a response? Really, YA fiction is universal. Everyone can relate. I’m not sure there’s another time in our lives when we feel everything as acutely as we do during our teen years. Everything from the possibilities to the responsibilities (first job, deciding whether and where you want to go to college, what you want to study to prepare you for the rest of your life, etc.) are huge. But I don’t think it’s nostalgia so much as that same sense of possibilities. Genre boundaries don’t exist in the YA section like they do in the adult portions of the bookstore. As such, there’s an unfettered freedom to create and to simply tell the story that wants to be told. Are there still things that sell better than others? Romance, angst, action? Of course, but I generally see a very solid blend. YA titles I’ve enjoyed as an adult: the Harry Potter Books, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, THE HUNGER GAMES by Suzanne Collins (my son swiped CATCHING FIRE before I could move on to that one as well), THE SPLENDOR FALLS and the Maggie Quinn: Girl vs. Evil series by Rosemary Clement-Moore, the Morganville Vampires series by Rachel Caine, the Dark Elite series by Chloe Neill….it’s a long list. |
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TOTAL ECLIPSE, A Weather Warden Novel
Rachel Caine | Penguin
Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin, her husband, the djinn David, and the Earth herself have been poisoned by a substance that destroys the magic that keeps the world alive. The poison is destabilizing the entire balance of power, bestowing magic upon those who have never had it, and removing it form those who need it. It's just a matter of time before the delicate balance of nature explodes into chaos-and doom. |
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EXPECTANT PRINCESS, UNEXPECTED AFFAIR
Michelle Celmer | Harlequin
He'd danced with her on a dare. But Samuel Baldwin had seduced Princess Anne to quench his own desire. Chipping away at Anne's icy demeanor had been pure pleasure...until he discovered their passion-filled night had left him responsible for one pregnant princess.
He was set to be the country's next prime minister, but marrying a royal would mean an end to his career. Duty to the mother of his child was etched deep in Sam's bones--their wedding "would" take place. But after making such a sacrifice, would this groom's heart ever thaw?
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THE BISHOP
Steven James | Revell
FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers's cutting-edge 21st-century geospatial investigative techniques and impeccable logic have helped him track some of the country's most grisly killers. But those skills are pushed to the limit in this new installment of the highly-acclaimed, award-winning The Bowers Files series. This time it's a congressman's daughter who is found dead even as her killers launch a spree of perfect murders in the Northeast. With nothing to link the crimes to each other, Agent Bowers faces his most difficult case yet--even as his personal life begins to crumble around him. Known for his intricately woven, masterfully plotted novels of high-octane action and spine-tingling suspense, Steven James delivers once again. The Bishop is a gripping, adrenaline-laced story for readers who are tired of timid thrillers. Strap on your seatbelt and get ready for a wild ride. The game is on.
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PARALLEL FIRE
Deidre Knight | Samhain Publishing
Anna Draekus is a soldier wrapped up in secrets, one of which has just been blown. As a member of the shadowy Madjin Circle, she was marked and trained from childhood to protect the king, even without his knowing. And now that her superior officer Nevin Daniels has discovered her allegiance to the Madjin, another secret is in serious danger of exposure.
The one where she fantasizes about cracking the taciturn Refarian’s composure and making him scream her name in passion.
Nevin has tried everything to exorcise Anna from his mind and body, once and for all. Nothing works. He’s long lusted after the free-spirited and plainspoken soldier, but her mere presence ties him in knots and drives him to the brink of insanity. Something a man in his position can’t afford. Something a man of his maturity could never hope for.
Then a routine patrol finds them wrecked and marooned deep in the Wyoming backcountry. And Anna unwraps Nevin’s deepest secret of all: Beneath his tightly controlled exterior beats the wild heart of a tiger. |
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LOCK, STOCK AND SECRET BABY
Cassie Miles | Harlequin
Special Forces operative Blake Jantzen's mission is clear: "protect Eve from the psychopath targeting her." His soldier instincts are put to the ultimate test when guarding her leads them both into a dangerous web of secrecy and deceit. Everyone has something to hide--including the beautiful pregnant woman whose life rests in his hands...and whose presence stirs a passion that even he cannot control.
Eve Weathers is a brilliant scientist...and a virgin. After learning she's been impregnated as part of an experiment, she knows trusting Blake is the only way to keep her unborn child safe. It seems the baby she carries is the key to exposing a killer...and unlocking a mystery that will forever link her and Blake.
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HEART JOURNEY
Robin D. Owens | Penguin
Helena, a renowned cartographer, is exploring Celta when she finds out she has a HeartMate. Actor Raz Cherry ignores an oracle that foretells of his HeartMate. Only when mysterious thefts threaten their families can they overcome the obstacles on their journey to love.
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KISS OF THE ROSE
Kate Pearce | Penguin
Desperate to defeat King Richard III and gain the crown, Henry Tudor made a pact with the Druids binding him and his heirs to the Druids' struggle against vampires. Ever since, the Llewellyns, a vampire- slaying family, have been in the king's employ. Now Henry VIII reigns, and his father's bargain has been almost forgotten-until bloodless corpses turn up in the king's bedchamber. To save the king, Vampire hunter Rosalind Llewellyn must form an uneasy alliance with Druid slayer Sir Christopher Ellis. But soon, Rosalind must face an unthinkable truth: that her sworn enemy may be her soulmate...
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LIST OF AUGUST RE-ISSUES
THE ACCIDENTAL WEREWOLF by Dakota Cassidy (mass market)
THE KNIGHT by Steven James (mass market)
INTERTWINED by Gena Showalter
(paperback)
JULY RELEASES
THE EDUCATION OF BET by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
MY WAY TO HELL by Dakota Cassidy
VIRGIN PRINCESS, TYCOON'S TEMPTATION by Michelle Celmer
WANTING IT: ORCHID SOUL TRILOGY BOOK 3 by Delilah Dawson
THE PIRATE by Katherine Garbera
A DROP OF RED: VAMPIRE BABYLON, BOOK 4 by Chris Green (Mass Market Re-issue)
COLD SIGHT by Leslie Kelly
DARK AND STORMY KNIGHTS, "Beknighted" by Deidre Knight (anthology contribution)
MASKED, "Call Her Savage" by Marjorie M. Liu (anthology contribution)
A WILD LIGHT: HUNTER KISS BOOK 3 by Marjorie M. Liu
TWICE BITTEN: CHICAGOLAND VAMPIRES BOOK 3 by Chloe Neill
THE DARKEST LIE: LORDS OF THE UNDERWORLD NOVEL by Gena Showalter
THE BODYGUARD, "Temptation in Shadows" by Gena Showalter (anthology contribution)
BONDS OF JUSTICE by Nalini Singh |
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