Welcome our new YAtopians

Recently we put out the call for three more YAtopian’s to join our ranks. We had a fantastic response with such high quality applicants. We would have loved to have you all joining, but unfortunately we only had three spots. Thank you so much to everyone who applied.

Out of the many applications we had a consensus on three great writers, each with their own unique journey that allows them to bring you more great perspectives on MG, YA and NA books, writing and paths to publication.

So here they are..drumroll…our new YAtopians!

As a young girl, Lori Goldstein would make a tent with her bed sheet and clasp a flashlight in one hand and a book in the other. She’d read into the wee hours, way past her bedtime. Today, she not only reads past her bedtime, she writes too.

Thanks to Azra, the sixteen-year-old genie in Lori’s debut novel, her wish to be a published author has been granted. The currently titled Becoming Jinn, a Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy, will magically appear in Spring 2015 from Feiwel and Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s. The spell will last through Spring 2016 when the sequel is revealed. Lori is represented by Lucy Carson of The Friedrich Agency. 

With a degree in journalism from Lehigh University and more than 10 years of experience, Lori is a freelance copyeditor and manuscript consultant for all genres. She focuses on the nitty-gritty, letting writers focus on the writing.

Too much of Lori’s day involves chatting books, obsessing over The Vampire Diaries, and perfecting the art of efficient writing through Twitter. Find her at @loriagoldstein, follow her blog at www.lorigoldsteinbooks.com, or swing by Goodreads to see her favorite reads.

Lindsay Leggett is a writer and an editor for Month9Books. She loves the juxtaposition of beauty and grit, urban crawls, indie everything, and time well spent in the woods. She currently lives in Northern Ontario, with plans to dominate... er, travel the world. 

Lindsay is the author of Flight and has a number of works-in-progress on the way. She spends most of her time writing and editing, but can often be found watching copious amounts of anime, playing video games, or riding horses.

Find her at www.burningtree.ca for fun blogs and vlogs, interactive writing, and random fun.

Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, and horror. Her Young Adult Paranormal Romance novelette NEW PRIDE and novel SHIFTING PRIDE debuted in 2012 from Etopia Press. A spin off short story based on the lions of Tsavo, TSAVO PRIDE, is now available on Amazon. ENDURE is a YA paranormal dystopian with sci-fi elements. Its sequel, EVOKE, is coming late 2013/early 2014 by Etopia Press. ZODIAC COLLECTOR, a YA paranormal romance, is coming 2014 by Spencer Hill Press. When she's not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at AuthorLaura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer, and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion.

Please make our newest citizens of YAtopia feel welcome!