Guest Post + Canadian Giveaway: Victoria Hanley (Wild Ink Blog Tour)

Victoria Hanley, author of Wild Ink: Success Secrets to Writing and Publishing in the Young Adult Market, is here today on the blog with a guest post!

My questions:

What's the aspect of writing YA novels that you find the most challenging, and how do you handle it--is it voice? Plotting? World building? Something else? What are your strategies to overcome this hurdle?

And her response:

Everything you mentioned has its challenges, for sure. But I’d say the most challenging part of writing YA is the way it’s necessary for authors to torture our young characters.

Torture? What am I talking about? The prevalent theme in YA novels is coming-of-age. Doesn’t the phrase “coming-of-age” sound sort of appealing?

But real coming-of-age is filled with grueling conflict. Whether a YA novel is contemporary, dystopian, romance, sci-fi, fantasy,  horror, or some other subgenre, the characters will be in a world of hurt. Depending on the author’s style, the characters endure physical, emotional or mental hardships—or all three, as happened in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Sadness, fury, and heartache cannot be avoided. Adults cannot fix things for the YA protagonist; adults cannot rescue or work out an escape.

But we writers tend to fall in love with our characters! We love them so much that we’d like to spare them any suffering and skip right to the ending when the conflict is resolved. However, if we spared them we’d turn the story into a long drawn-out yawn. (Correct me if I’m wrong here. Have you read any page turners—YA or otherwise—where the characters had it easy?)

The fact that YA novels have young protagonists only makes it harder on the author. At the beginning, our characters are so tender and innocent. We’d like to rush in and help. Instead, we’ve got to put those dear young people through extreme pressures. But oh! the temptation to take pity on them is always there.

If the necessity of being mean to our characters wasn’t bad enough, we’ve also got to relive all the angst, pain and troubles of our own youth as we dig into ourselves for authentic teen emotions. Eegh! Not easy.

So what’s my strategy for getting through the struggles when I’m writing YA? I remind myself that like anything else in life, something worth doing is also worth effort. And at least when I’m writing a novel I can see the end in sight—the end when my characters have passed through the crucible of coming-of-age and become a young adult. 

Thanks very much, Victoria, for giving us a glimpse into the author's mind when it comes to the struggles YA characters endure! I think The Hunger Games is a fantastic example of the necessity of making life difficult for your characters. 

And now for the giveaway... 2 copies of Wild Ink are up for grabs, courtesy of Prufrock Press.

The rules:

- Entrants must be 13 years or older.

- Open ONLY to Canadian mailing addresses

- One entry per person

- Following and tweeting are not necessary but always appreciated!

- Ends June 30, at 11:59 pm EST.

- Winner will be selected randomly and contacted by e-mail

To enter, please fill out THIS FORM. Comments are wonderful but do NOT count as entries.

Also, if you'd like to read an excerpt of Wild Ink, here's the link to Chapter Two: http://www.prufrock.com/Assets/ClientPages/pdfs/Wild_Ink_Excerpt.pdf.
 

"New Adult" Niche: Interview with Lauren Hammond (Insanity Blog Tour)

I'm pleased to welcome Lauren Hammond, author of Insanity, to the blog today for an interview about "New Adult" books!

First, a bit about the book:

Released: May 8th

Series: Asylum, book #1

"Sometimes love...can drive you crazy.

Adelaide Carmichael and Damien Allen couldn't be more opposite.

Adelaide's mother abandoned her when she was ten years old, leaving her to be raised by her abusive and alcoholic father.

Damien on the other hand came from a wealthy family, was a local celebrity, and seemed to have a bright future ahead of him.

Despite their differences, Adelaide and Damien were young, wild, and fiercely in love.

And they had a plan.

They were going to run away.

Be together forever.

And their plan was set in motion, until tragedy struck and for some reason, Adelaide wound up in The Oakhill Institution for the insane.

Adelaide has no idea what she did to wind up at Oakhill, but she knows one thing for sure...

She wants out.

And after Damien follows her there to aid her in escaping, Adelaide slowly begins putting together the pieces of her memory that are missing.

And it doesn't take Adelaide long to figure out that sometimes...

That one true love never dies."

And the author:

"It all began with a dinosaur, a T-Rex to be exact. He was the main character in my very first short story. Me and T, well, we went places. He is the reason I won my first essay contest at age ten. And he is probably one of the number one reasons, I pursued a career in writing.

Throughout highschool, I was what you would call a rebel. Someone who had convinced herself that she had life figured out at age sixteen. Still, writing was my only safe-haven during that time. I wrote notebooks full of poetry, even writing fellow classmates papers for them.

Unbeknowest to me, creative writing, seemed to be my one, true calling, my passion in life.

At age twenty, I began writing my first novel. After that, everything seemed to fall into place.

I won Best Poets and Poems of 2007, and The Editor's Choice award for my poem, Summer Days.

Also, during that time I wrote or co-wrote fifteen different screenplays, some which earned me finalist spot in various screenplay competitions.

In 2010, I've come full force, with my novel Love Sucks, that was released by Punkin House Press, in August of 2010. On top of Love Sucks, I have six novels that are slated to be released through the next five years. Also, doing some various marketing work for authors and publishers.

I pride myself in telling fellow writers to always follow their dreams. Who knows where I would be if I would have given up."

And now for the interview questions...

1.)    I understand Insanity fits into the “New Adult” category. Was it always your intention to make your protagonists, Adelaide and Damien, at this stage in their lives? Or did it just naturally end up New Adult as you wrote it?

Actually, it was always my intention to make this a New Adult novel. Mainly because it switches back and forth from the past and present and also because I felt it was going to be to risque, brash, and boundary pushing for the YA market.

2.)    How do you think the story would be different if it was firmly “YA”  or “adult”? Are there some events or experiences in Insanity that are intrinsically New Adult?

Honestly, I’d feel like I’d have to remove some of the profanity and intimate scenes. It goes a little too far in some areas.

3.)    A lot of traditional publishers are skeptical about New Adult books. What would you say to convince them to give the category a chance?

Honestly, this is something I’m not too sure of. New Adult is genre that’s like a middleman. It’s not  YA and it’s not fully adult. So where would it sell? What would publishers be able to classify it as? That’s what I think the major issue would be. Do I think the older teens and adults would read New Adult? Yes. But there is so much more that comes into to play when it comes to publishers giving the category a chance.

       4.)   Some people argue that New Adult books don’t have a “universal experience” the way YA books do. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

        I do disagree here. I think  the universal feel of a book depends on the writer, their writing style, and the story.

 5.)   Are there a few New Adult books you could recommend to my blog readers?

Absolutely! Easy by Tammara Webber & Because of Low by Abbi Glines

Both are great reads!

Thanks so much for having me! If you get a chance check out my New Adult novel, Insanity and the sequel White Walls on June 19^th!

Lauren’s Links:

Website    -    http://laurenhammondnovelist.blogspot.com/

Goodreads    -   http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4115682.Lauren_Hammond

Twitter    -    https://twitter.com/#!/NovelistLauren

Facebook   -   http://www.facebook.com/pages/Lauren-Hammond/100755776636370

Purchase links for Insanity:

Amazon ebook    -    http://www.amazon.com/Insanity-The-Asylum-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B008173I62/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337796479&sr=8-1

Barnes & Noble ebook  -   http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/insanity-lauren-hammond/1110620686?ean=2940014360340

Thanks very much for stopping by the blog and answering my questions, Lauren!

Armchair BEA: Networking Tips?

The topic for today's Armchair BEA post is: using your blog to network in real life (not just online!)

I must admit I don't actually have much experience to bring to the table for this discussion. Earlier this year I went to the Marissa Meyer signing for Cinder (she was super nice and I had an awesome time!) and last fall I was lucky enough to be in the Toronto area when the book blogger meet-up took place (hosted by the Ontario Blog Squad, at which I met some of the Ontario bloggers I'd previously only communicated with online, which was so fabulous). Oh, and I attended Word on the Street in Toronto last fall, too.


I'm hoping to get to a few more author signings — Richelle Mead is coming to Vancouver this month and I'd definitely like to be there! But really, I'd love to get advice from my fellow bloggers on this topic. Have any of you used your blog to connect with your local libraries or bookstores? How do you promote yourself at signings or other events? (I've heard business cards are a good idea...advice on making those?) Any tips on organizing get-togethers for bloggers? 

Armchair BEA: Introductions

Armchair BEA is an event (put together by a team of bloggers) intended for people who won't be attending the physical BEA in New York. There's a different topic to write about every day this week, and today, to start things off, we're doing introductions. There are 10 questions to choose from, and we're encouraged to answer at least 5 of them.

So here goes:


1.) Please tell us a little bit about yourself: Who are you? How long have you been blogging? Why did you get into blogging? 

To everyone who's new to my blog: welcome! I'm Danya, I hail from Vancouver, Canada and I've been blogging for about 2 years now. I got into book blogging because I'd seen some other book blogs while I was surfing the web looking for books to read. I love reading, and at that point I had lots of time on my hands so I figured, why not try it out? I'm kind of amazed that it's 2 years later now and my blog is still going strong!


2.) Tell us one non-book-related thing that everyone reading your blog may not know about you.

I spent a year teaching English in Japan. It was a dream of mine for many years, so I'm really happy I was able to fulfill it!

3.) What is your favorite feature on your blog (i.e. author interviews, memes, something specific to your blog)? 

Does an event count as a feature? I worked really hard on Psychtember last year (a blog event focused on YA books dealing with mental health issues) so I'm proud of that. And it will be back this September, so keep an eye out for it!

You tell me: what blog feature of mine do you guys like the most?


4.) What literary location would you most like to visit? Why?

I would love to visit the Beast's castle in Robin McKinley's Beauty, complete with invisible, gossiping servants and books from the future. (Also, I probably wouldn't say no to Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Lothlorien, Rivendell, or Pemberley.)

5.) Have your reading tastes changed since you started blogging? How?

I'd like to think they've expanded a little. I challenged myself last year to read books outside my comfort zone, and while I didn't get to as many as I'd aimed for, I did read a few that I might not have picked up otherwise. Sometimes I'll try a book due to rave reviews/recommendations from other bloggers — like Anna and the French Kiss and the Vampire Academy series, both of which pleasantly surprised me.

If you're participating in Armchair BEA, you can link up your introduction posts here!

May "New Adult" Challenge Reviews — Link Them Up Here!

Participants in my "New Adult" reading challenge: if you have reviews from May, here's your chance to link them up. And everyone else: if you are interested in joining the challenge, it's not too late! Please see the details here. The more the merrier :)