Guestopia: Elana Johnson

On the 26th of every of month, we feature a guest blogger, who can write about any topic related to books, reading, writing, or teens. Go here for more information.

Music that Inspired the Writing—Crush by David Archuleta

A guest post by Elana Johnson

Okay, so along with a ton of other people, I love David Archuleta. Not only is he from my home state of Utah and I’ve met him in person, but he’s a fabulous singer. One of my favorite songs of his is Crush.

It’s just filled with exactly the right emotion for young adults. And as an author who’s quite a bit older than a young adult, I’m always trying to find ways to tap into my inner teen.

So in SURRENDER, there are two narrating characters. They’re each matched to someone else, but they have a little crush on each other. For Gunner, he’s been crushing on Raine for a quite a while now.

For Raine, everything is brand new. She’s never really thought about Gunn that way before, until they sneak out together at night—something completely against the rules of their society.

Then she’s thrown right into the emotions we hear in David Archuleta’s “Crush.”

Do you ever think
When you're all alone
All that we could be?
Where this thing could go?
Am I crazy or falling in love?
Is it real or just another crush?

Do you catch a breath
When I look at you?
Are you holding back
Like the way I do?
'Cause I'm trying, trying to walk away
But I know this crush ain't going
Away

When Raine has those quiet moments, she keeps thinking of Gunner. She can’t help but wonder if he’s thinking of her too. She wonders if he’s holding back the way she is, just like the lyrics say. It’s the perfect song for her developing crush on Gunner in SURRENDER.

Thus, whenever I was working on their relationship, Crush was the first song to be played for that writing session. It truly inspired the writing of SURRENDER.

Are you a David Archuleta fan? What are some of your favorite literary crushes? 

Elana's work including POSSESSION, REGRET, and SURRENDER is available from Simon & Schuster wherever books are sold. She is the author of From the Query to the Call, an ebook that every writer needs to read before they query, which can be downloaded for free on her website. She runs a personal blog on publishing and is a founding author of the QueryTracker blog. She blogs regularly at The League of Extraordinary Writers, co-organizes WriteOnCon, and is a member of SCBWI, ANWA and LDStorymakers.

She wishes she could experience her first kiss again, tell the mean girl where to shove it, and have cool superpowers like reading minds and controlling fire. To fulfill her desires, she writes young adult science fiction and fantasy.

Blog. Twitter. Facebook.

Raine has always been a good girl. She lives by the rules in Freedom. After all, they are her father’s rules: He’s the Director. It’s because of him that Raine is willing to use her talent—a power so dangerous, no one else is allowed to know about it. Not even her roommate, Vi.

All of that changes when Raine falls for Gunner. Raine’s got every reason in the world to stay away from Gunn, but she just can’t. Especially when she discovers his connection to Vi’s boyfriend, Zenn.

Raine has never known anyone as heavily brainwashed as Vi. Raine’s father expects her to spy on Vi and report back to him. But Raine is beginning to wonder what Vi knows that her father is so anxious to keep hidden, and what might happen if she helps Vi remember it. She’s even starting to suspect Vi’s secrets might involve Freedom’s newest prisoner, the rebel Jag Barque….

Purchase Surrender here.

Last, but definitely not least, Elana is having an ebook giveaway this week!

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