Re-Launch Giveaway Winners!

First we all want to say thank you SO much for all of your enthusiasm and support during our re-launch! We had almost 1,000 entries!!

With November, we're resuming regular programming so make sure you come back for all the great posts and features we have planned for you!

Now, for what you're all waiting for... the winners of our HUGE giveaway!

The US book packs go to:

Hannah Elisabeth 

(Book Pack 1: Under the Never Sky and Shatter Me)

Donnas 

(Book Pack 2: Divergent, Obsidian, Hunted)

Alisha B 

(Book Pack 3: So Shelly and The Downside of Being Charlie)

Theresa Cole 

(Book Pack 4: Jumping Off Swings and Pretty Amy)

The International book packs go to:

A. K. Fotinos-Hoyer

Laura Ann Dunks

The writer's prizes go to:

Debra Elliott

Query, Synopsis, or First Page critique by Suzanne van Rooyen

Cynthia V

Query critique by Sarah Nicolas

Laurie Treacy

Query critique by Sarah Nicolas

Tina C.

Query and first page critique by Jennifer Malone

Kate Larkindale

Ten page critique by Lisa Burstein

Meredith Johnson

Fifty page critique by Sharon Jonston

Chihuahua Zero

First-five-page critique by Jaquira Diaz

Vicki Tremper

First-five-page critique by Jaquira Diaz

Again, thanks so much for all your support during our re-launch! We know you'll love what we have in store for you! The winners will be contacted shortly.

YAtopia Relaunch: Ryan

Last but certainly not least, on this day where we celebrate the winner of the YAtopia relaunch giveaway is a little look into the mind of Ryan Greenspan.

   

See that card there? Yeah, it's official. Like it or not-- I'm a citizen!  But it didn't come without some strangeness. The citizenship interview was like nothing I experienced before. But I guess weirdness follows the weird. Before the immigration agent--Jonathon was his name-- handed me my card, he had the most interesting series of questions.

AGENT JONATHON: You're from Canada, right? 

RYAN: Yes, it says so right there on my card.

AGENT JONATHON: Never mind the card! Let’s say a giant moose race took over Canada!

RYAN: What? How is that relevant?

AGENT JONTAHON: Their evil Moose Overlord (Lord Monty) passed a law granting each citizen the work of only one author to read for the rest of their lives! Which author would you choose?!

RYAN: Err, um, I'd have to say Roald Dahl. His writing has really influenced me. He speaks directly to the child in all of us. That's what I hope to do with my writing too.

AGENT JONATHON: Touching. But, Ryan! Think fast! The peanut butter & jelly uprising has begun! 

RYAN: Can I speak to another agent, please?

AGENT JONATHON: No time! Sandwiches across the nation are attacking their makers! No one is safe! What is your plan to combat this lunchtime epidemic!? Will you save us?!

RYAN: Is this for real?

AGENT JONATHON: Yes! They're right outside this door!

RYAN: In that case, I tell you to quickly barricade the door. We take off our clothes and stuff them underneath (bread can slip under doors, you know). I ask you, "What's a piece of bread's worst enemy?" You stare blankly, being just an agent and not a creative dynamo such as myself. A light bulb goes off (in my head)-- a toaster oven! But we'd need one big enough. "Arm yourself!" I say  and toss you a butter knife, which I conveniently keep in my pocket. We fight our way through the throngs of rabid, jelly-salivating menaces, and make it outside. There we lure them into the world's largest makeshift toaster oven, which you radioed ahead to be constructed using a Wal-Mart and super-heated lighting fixtures. We lock them inside and watch them get nice and toasty. Their screams are a relief to us. The evil lunch snacks beg and plead, but we don't listen. After the last agonizing murmur is snuffed, we celebrate with cheers and a hearty meal of, you guessed it, PB&J. We then ship the remaining sandwiches across the globe, ending the world's hunger problem.

AGENT JONATHON: You've saved us! A clever one, aren't you? Perhaps even worthy of having your life story published. 

RYAN: I try, I guess. My life isn't that special. Not yet anyway. I write middle-grade, play hockey, cook vegetarian, and am obsessed with superheroes. Not much of a life story yet.

AGENT JONATHON: Nonsense. As writers and readers, we all follow trails of consonants and vowels that lead us to sentences. With each sentence comes a paragraph; with each paragraph comes a page; thus, our stories are born. What would your life story be called and who would write it?

RYAN: Hmm, let's see. Without a doubt, Lewis Carroll would write my life story. It would be a nonsensical adventure story about a strange boy's indecisive wanderings through the murky waters of young adulthood. It would be called: "The Adventures of a Boy Who Can't Relax".

AGENT JONATHON: A best-seller no doubt. You're doing really well. We're almost done! But here's a curve-ball for you. Say you’re walking along; it’s a cool and sunny day. Suddenly, you trip! With a little knock on the head your imagination escapes from your ear. Where would you likely find the little rascal hiding?

RYAN:  It would probably flee to my favourite place in Canada, the place that inspired me so greatly when I spent time there a couple years ago: in the Rocky Mountains of Banff, Alberta. It's an oasis of beauty, serenity, creativity. There's scope for imagination there for sure. An imagination could go absolutely wild in that place.

AGENT JONATHON: A truly remarkable image. But to keep you on your toes--look out! They’re back! Long forgotten stories have come back to torment their authors! What are some harsh words your first works may have for you?

RYAN: They'd probably ask, "What took you so long?" They'd wonder why I wasn't working on them instead of browsing the Internet or watching TV. You see, like many writers, I have a procrastination problem.

AGENT JONATHON: I see, well we can't all be perfect, can we? 

RYAN: No one is perfect. So, are we done here?

AGENT JONATHON: I had question about your first novel getting into a fight with Twilight and its weapon of choice, but I think you've done more than enough to prove you'll fit in splendidly in YAtopia. Welcome to your new home!

RYAN: Thanks! As for your question though--my first novel would have an arsenal on Twilight. To name a few: imagination, well-developed characters, engaging prose, a well-crafted plot... I could go on and on and on. Twilight wouldn't stand a chance.

 ***

To read more of Ryan's YAtopia contributions, drop by the blog every 22nd of the month or click on his name on the right. You can also check out his other blog at http://theamazingwriterman.blogspot.com or follow him on Twitter @TheHeraldRyanG.

YAtopia Relaunch: Aimee & Jen

Today we're introducing two of our newest members, authors Aimee L. Salter and Jennifer Malone.

(But don't forget to click the link at the bottom - you could win autographed books, critiques and more!)

Aimee was born in Portland, Oregon, raised in Hokitika, New Zealand, and has subsequently made her home everywhere from Los Angeles to Ulan Baatar, Mongolia. She is represented by Brittany Howard of the Corvisiero Literary Agency, New York.

When she's not writing, Aimee spends most of her time wrangling her young son (and young-at-heart husband), critiquing for other authors, and making awkward comments on Twitter. Her blog focuses on practical tips for making your manuscript better, and can be found at www.aimeelsalter.com. You can find her Twitter musings at @AimeeLSalter.

Jennifer is busy failing at not creating the world’s longest resume, which includes everything from regaling her students at Boston University with celebrity gossip collected in her years as a publicist for 20th Century Fox, trying not to terrify expectant parents of twins at a local parenting center and running her own wholesale craft business, Linaloos Designs, selling handmade accessories made from vintage sweaters to boutiques. In all her “spare” time, she writes middle grade fiction about first kisses and is repped by Holly Root at The Waxman Literary Agency.

If celebrity gossip isn’t your thing, Jennifer can also entertain you with tales from the year she spent traveling the world solo and, for a really good story, ask her about how she met her husband on the highway--literally! Feed her Twitter addiction by starting up a conversation @jenniferlmalone.


Q. What does your writing environment look like? (Is there anything you can't write without?)

Jen: I wish I could say I went to work every day in my cozy little studio overlooking a lazy river, but my writing environment is wherever and whenever I happen to be balancing my laptop that day. I am very superstitious about a particularly cozy chair in my living room--I get my best writing done there, but I pay for it with a very stiff neck afterwards. I did keep a list of all the places I worked on my last ms- just for fun. It's mostly fairly boring places like my library or coffee shops, but I did write two chapters in the Swiss Alps at a hippy commune (Nope, I am not a hippy, I was there for work. I have a weird job.) Aside from my laptop I don't need anything else to write, but I can tell you what I can't write WITH and that would be any background noise like TV or music and especially not with a window open to Twitter...

Aimee: I'm really blessed to live at the beach. My most common writing environment is my own living room. While my son is at school I sit at the dining table facing a huge window that lines our living room and looks out over the sea. (That said, there are days I have to shut the curtains to help myself stay focused). In a pinch I can write anywhere and so far I haven't found anything I can't write without. But my favorite environment is indoors, silent--unless I'm playings songs from the playlist for that particular book--and near a window while it's raining outside. That's when I seem to do my best work.

Has anything autobiographical made it into your manuscript?

 

Jen: A thousand times, yes. Tons of little things. My character names are almost all nods to people I know, especially favorite teachers. I also like to give my man characters quirky traits that I have: never knowing the actual words to a song but singing along anyway, always mixing up common
expressions, being accident prone on staircases, things like that. In my completed ms, my character builds a dollhouse from a kit with her mom, which is also one of my favorite childhood memories. My WIP takes place in the land of movies and I'm drawing A LOT from my experiences as a publicist for 20th Century Fox. There is one encounter with an A-list star that I replicate almost exactly using my character- it was really fun to write and should be pretty interesting to read.

 

Aimee: Like Jen, I've had tons of little details, settings, rooms, teachers names, even friends / former classmates names. But honestly, the thing I draw on the most is my emotions. I really remember what it was like to be seventeen. I don't know why that time of my life was seared so indelibly on my psyche, but I know it's the reason I write for teens. I use the feelings and fears I used to have in every single manuscript I write. The book that got me my agent also draws on my experience being bullied in high school.

 

 

What's your favorite thing about being a YA / MG writer? Is there anything you dislike?

 

Jen: Well, my first manuscript is actually middle grade, though it's geared towards the upper end: my MC is 13. My WIP is YA and it's a first for me. In both instances, I really love writing the romance- whether it's first kiss stuff or (a tiny bit) steamier. My absolute favorite thing to write is dialogue,

exploring what would make two people connect in a way that hopefully has the reader screaming "Just kiss already!" at a certain point in the book. As for what I dislike, I'd say maybe the effort it takes to craft a message without crossing the line into preachy.

 

Aimee: I love being transported back into my high school days because I get to rewrite my own history--learn the lessons I wish I'd learned back then, or have some of the experiences I felt like I missed (even getting to relive some of the awesome parts). But I hate it too. There was a lot of pain in my life back then and I have to draw on that to make my characters real. My hope is, by mining those feelings and experiences, one day a girl will pick up my book in her library, read it, and think "She knows how I feel!"

 

And finally, if you could have been the author for any book out there, which do you wish you'd written and why?

 

Jen: Just one? Yikes. Well, I'm about to begin reading the Harry Potter series aloud for the third time- once to my husband as he did manly fixer-upper stuff to the decrepit 120 year-old Victorian we bought and renovated, once to my now 10 year-old twin boys and soon to my first-grade daughter. So I may just have to choose this series because if I'd written it, it would mean that not only am I the mastermind plotter of all time, but that I am capable of capturing the hearts of bajillions of kids (and adults) and most importantly, that my imagination would be the most wildly fun place on earth to go and play any time I wanted. Although more money than the Queen, paparazzi and haters: not so much.

Aimee: Right now, I'm in awe of the wit and humor in Julia Quinn's historical romances (specifically the Bridgerton Family series). I wish I had the ability to write that kind of snappy, laugh-out-loud dialogue. But in terms of story content, I wish I'd written Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. The concept is mind-boggling, and the story feels so real to me. Since I can't actually write that book, my goal is to be able to write something like it.

***



For more info on the re-launch, including how you can win some incredible prizes, click here!

YATopia Relaunch: Lisa and DJ

Today we're introducing the lovely Lisa Burstein, author of Pretty Amy, and reintroducing DJ DeSmyter, who has been with us since the beginning. Lisa and DJ decided to ask each other quirky questions for their interviews, but before we get to those, here is some information on the two of them:

Lisa Burstein lives in Portland, OR with her husband a neurotic dog and two cats. She is the author of PRETTY AMY, May 2012 (Cybils nominee 2012) from Entangled Teen. DEAR CASSIE will be published by Entangled Teen in March 2013. She is represented by Susan Finesman at Fine Literary Management. Lisa has been accused of actually being a seventeen year-old-girl in reviews, but she is definitely old, married and no longer in high school. Visit her website or blog to learn more about her. And if that's not enough Lisa, check out her Twitter @lisaburstein, Facebook, and Goodreads!

DJ is a proud writer of young adult paranormal-romance who suffers from Sexy New Idea Syndrome and currently writes from his bedroom. His novel Hunted was published by Pendrell Publishing in 2011. In addition to novel-writing, he is also a singer/songwriter and book blogger. His reviews and songs can be found on his site, DJ's Life in Fiction. As he continues to grow as a person and a reader, DJ hopes to continue growing as a writer and can't wait to see where his stories take him. Find Hunted on Facebook and GoodReads!

***

DJ INTERVIEWING LISA:

Which book do you wish you had written?

Catcher in the Rye.

If you could be a Disney character, who would you be?

Wall-E.

Team Edward or Team Jacob?

This is terrible, but neither ;) When it comes to Twilight I am not a fan. (<--DJ's not sure what to make of this, :-P )

What song are you embarrassed to admit you love?

Waterfalls by TLC

David Beckham or Robert Downey, Jr?

Robert Downey Jr. I had a thing for him in the Breakfast Club, of course these days it would be David Beckham.

Describe yourself in three words.

Funny, Sharp, Creative

LISA INTERVIEWING DJ:

If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?

I would want to be a dolphin. I've always loved them and how intelligent they are. Plus they can beat up sharks.

What is the weirdest thing I would I find in your refrigerator right now?

Hm...let's see. You know, I don't think I have anything out of the ordinary in there. I do have some leftover pancakes in a bag. Does that count as weird?

If you could be any character in fiction, who would you be?

Karou from Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone. She has such a fascinating and adventurous life that I think it'd be fun to be her for a day. Plus she has Akiva. Enough said.

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?

I'm a huge fan of the show Charmed and have always loved Piper's power to freeze time, so I would want to be able to do that.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

 My biggest pet peeve is when I get taken advantage of. I'm a pretty quiet person and I tend to get walked on a lot because people think I won't protest or that I won't mind doing whatever it is they're too lazy to do.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Quiet, friendly, and creative.

***

For more info on the re-launch, including how you can win some incredible prizes, click here!



YAtopia Relaunch: Suzanne and Sharon

Today we're introducing you to new YAtopian Suzanne van Rooyen and reintroducing you to YAtopia old-timer Sharon Johnston.

Suzanne van Rooyen

Suzanne grew up in the concrete jungle of Johannesburg, South Africa. After a brief stint in Australia, she felt most at home in the forests of Finland where the cold, dark winters provide a perfect excuse to stay indoors and write. She is the author of the cyberpunk novel Dragon's Teeth (Divertir, 2011), the YA science fiction novel Obscura Burning (Etopia Press, 2012) and several short stories published by Storm Moon Press, Niteblade and others. Despite having a Master's in music, Suzanne prefers conjuring strange worlds and creating quirky characters. When she's not doing that, you can find her playing in the snow with her shiba inu or eating peanut butter and watching science fiction movies.

You can find Suzanne on her website, on Twitter @Suzanne_Writer or on Goodreads.

Sharon Johnston

Sharon is a corporate communication manager and a former journalist from Australia who writes in her spare time. Sleeper is Sharon's first novel that she is currently querying. Although she normally writes about the strange and the weird, her first publication is a general fiction short story call "Growth" as part of The Australian Literary Review's anthology The Basics of Life.

Sharon loves YA, science-fiction, speculative fiction, paranormal and anything that comes from the deepest darkest parts of someone's mind. She draws inspiration from local writers who have made it in the tough Australian publishing industry such as Tara Moss, Kerri Arthurs, Karen Brooks and Emily Rodda.

Well-known for her fantastic taste in shoes, Sharon has actually been stalked by women wanting to know where she got her high heels from. She invites you to read her personal blog and she is a Twitter fiend so follow her @S_M_Johnston.


Suzanne, interviewed by Sharon:

Sharon: Dragon's Teeth is Cyberpunk. What makes a novel Cyberpunk?

Suzanne: Excellent question. Cyberpunk as a genre usually denotes a future where there is an emphasis on sophisticated technology, but a breakdown in society. Dragon's Teeth has exactly that! There's an emphasis on technology, specifically on medical procedures that increase longevity, including the use of cybernetic implants. There's also a huge breakdown in society. It's post apocalyptic, but more than that, in the world of Dragon's Teeth there is rampant corruption and an underground criminal network undermining the society that's trying to reclaim its place on a damaged planet.

Sharon: You've got a passion for music and dance. How does that influence your writing?

Suzanne: Music definitely influences my writing. I use music as a soundtrack for all my writing. It helps me capture the right atmosphere and character emotions and can even help with setting. As for dance, I'm not sure that influences my writing as much as music does. It certainly helps character creation though. Many of my works feature muscians and in my WiP one of my secondary characters is a dancer.

Sharon: How has your reading as a teenager influenced your writing for teenagers.

Suzanne: As a teenager I didn't read teen books. I mostly read fantasy by authors like Caiseal Mor, Stephen Lawhead and Juliet Marillier - none of which is YA as we know it. I think that has made me realise that teens don't need to be coddled or written down to. Today's teenagers are quite sophisticated and they expect a lot from YA authors. That definitely puts us writers under pressure, but also raises the bar on quality, which is never a bad thing.

Sharon: What are your top four favourite books and why?

Suzanne: Oh I hate this question! Only four? Lost Souls by Poppy Z Brite because I love her description and the effortless ways she weaves together romance and horror somehow making the horrific aspects of her story rather dreamy - that takes skill! The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, that's an entire graphic novel series so I'm cheating here, but that series blew me away. Gaiman really is a genius and his Sandman creations are phenomenal: fantasy, science-fiction, horror - all rolled up into one with so many layers. Love it! The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater because she writes beautifully and her characters are so real. Stiefvater also manages to keep her book fantastic and yet totally believable, and I'm a sucker for creatures from mythology. The Crow by James O'Barr because this is the story that first got me into darker fantasy. O'Barr wrote the story and illustrated his own graphic novel - that's incredible. I love how visceral and dark but also how totally heartbreakingly poignant this story is. Ah, I could go on and on about all the books I love...


Sharon, interviewed by Suzanne:

Suzanne: Can you tell us a bit about Sleeper?

Sharon: I can, but will I? (Sorry, that's the influence of my English teacher sister coming through). Sleeper is a Speculative Fiction (Science-Fiction/Fantasy mix) about a girl, Mishca, who discovers that her adoption was a front and that's she's actually a sleeper soldier for a private army. Her programming is accidentally triggered by a life saving heart transplant operation. The rest of her "unit" have the same condition, so are deemed as defective and scheduled for termination. So Mishca sets out to save them.

Suzanne: What do you think makes the Australian publishing industry a tough nut to crack?

Sharon: We're such a small market and there's so many books from overseas that a lot of publicity here. Even published Australian authors aren't necessarily finding homes for the new stories. But I think this will change as teenagers are thinking more globally and want to read stories from other countries. Australia is one of those countries that everyone wants to know more about. I had not only one of the most popular Australian manuscript with an earlier version of Sleeper on a YA writing site, Inkpop (which was recently bought out by Figment, but was the site that discovered Leigh Fallon and Wendy Higgins), but one of the most popular stories on the whole site. So that definitely showed me that teens internationally love stories set in Australia. More and more Aussie authors are finding success overseas, especially with the rise of ebooks.

Suzanne: If you could be any fictional character for a day, who would be and why?

Sharon: Wow, this one is tough. A lot of characters I love face so much adversity that I really wouldn't want to walk in their shoes. I love Tonks from Harry Potter. She's a bit bad-ass and a bit goofy and I'd love to change my hair colour whenever I feel like it. She can handle a broom too.

Suzanne: Which 2012 YA book was your favourite and why?

Sharon: A Million Suns was just amazing. I loved Across the Universe so much. It's like a YA 1984. The insights into the flaws of society continue on into the sequel. And the twists! Revis is just a master. I can't stop at one. Pandemonium blew me away. I didn't mind the first one, but the sequel rocked. While it's not my usual YA, From the Ashes was also amazing. It really helped me understand writing from the male POV.

 For more info on the re-launch, including how you can win some incredible prizes, click here!

YAtopia Re-Launch: Jaquira and Sarah

Today we're introducing you to new YAtopian Jaquira Diaz and reintroducing you to YAtopia old-timer Sarah Nicolas. 

Jaquira Díaz

Jaquira Díaz is the Carl Djerassi Fiction Fellow at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. Her work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, has been selected as Notable in Best American Essays 2012, and will be anthologized in Girls on Fire, and Sins and Needles: Writers and their Tattoos. She teaches fiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she also works as Senior Editor of Devil’s Lake. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in The Sun, The Southern Review, Slice Magazine, and Pushcart Prize XXXVII: Best of the Small Presses, among other publications.

During her spare (?!) time, she watches reruns of Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, or Battlestar Galactica with a boxer-mutt she calls Homie Dog, and daydreams of landing a sweet gig writing for AMC or SyFy or HBO or pretty much any cable network really. Her obsessions include sushi, coffee, road trips, Charms Blow Pops, roller derby, and pretending she’s in the WNBA. Sometimes, while walking Homie Dog around Madison, she breaks into song, reenacting scenes right out of “Once More, with Feeling,” the Buffy musical. She also knows all the words to Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di.” To find out more, or if you’d like to send free cupcakes or puppies, you can find her at jaquiradiaz.com or follow her on twitter: @jaquiradiaz.

Sarah Nicolas

Sarah is a twenty-something who currently lives in Central Florida with the sweetest mutt on the face of the planet. Fantasy and Sci-Fi are her favorite genres, but she loves all YA and New Adult. Sarah believes that some boys are worth trusting, all girls have power, and dragons are people too.

Sarah’s a proud member of the Gator Nation and has a BS in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Sales. She's a Technical Writer, an Associate Publicist with Entangled Publishing, and an author's assistant.

She also blogs at http://www.sarahnicolas.com/ and is obsessed with Twitter, so she'd love for you to follow her @sarah_nicolas. Tumblr is her newest favorite distraction. Sarah and her sister, Kayelee, can be seen vlogging every Thursday at the YA Rebels. 


Jaquira, interviewed by Sarah:


Sarah: Which one of your characters has the most of you in him/her?

Jaquira: I’m working on the third draft of a novel set in 1990’s Miami right now. The main character, Nena, is a lot like I was as a teenager. Her character is full of contradictions. She lives in a disenfranchised neighborhood. She’s a juvenile delinquent. She’s angry, curious, self-aware. She likes to test boundaries. She’s both strong and vulnerable. She’s loyal to her friends, but also betrays them. She sees that the world is unfair to those that don’t deserve it, but she doesn’t accept that. She wants to change that. She is struggling with who she is right now, but she’s also hopeful. She can see beauty even in the miserable world in which she lives.


Sarah: Name three books you think everyone should read.

Jaquira: Just three? There are so many!

Nova Ren Suma’s Imaginary Girls, because it will shatter your world and your understanding of what fiction is supposed to be, what a novel is supposed to do. This book is smart. It takes risks. I spent many hours loving and hating Nova Ren Suma because she wrote this book.

Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. This book takes you into the world of a teenager living in the Spokane Indian reservation, who decides to leave it in order to attend a predominantly white, middle class high school, and who struggles to fit in in both of these worlds. It’s about coming of age, about friendship and betrayal, about the shame that comes with growing up poor, the injustices that you suffer when you live in poverty. It’s about a boy who decides that because no one else can save him, he will save himself. It will make you cry, laugh, recoil, cringe. You will throw it across the room, and then run back to pick it up again.


emily m. danforth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post. This is a beautiful book on many levels, about coming of age and coming out. It’s about love and betrayal, about how you survive even when your own family doesn’t understand or accept you. To quote Malinda Lo (author of Ash and Huntress): “The Miseducation of Cameron Post is indeed an important book — especially for teens growing up today in communities that don't accept them for who they are. But it is also a skillfully and beautifully written story that does what the best books do: It shows us ourselves in the lives of others.”


Sarah: What is the one tip you would give to aspiring authors?

Jaquira: Never stop learning. Whether you pursue an MFA in creative writing, or you attend conferences where your novel is workshopped, or you work independently. Even after you publish your first novel, your second, your sixteenth. Even if your novel gets glowing reviews, even if all your books are on the New York Times Best Sellers list. You can always learn more. This means reading widely and diversely. Read fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and lyric essays. Read the newspaper. Read plays and screenplays. Read books by writers of color, by LGBTQ authors, even if the characters are not like you, especially if the characters are not like you. Read outside your comfort zone. Read novels and collections of short stories. Read in multiple genres. The most important thing an aspiring writer can and should do is READ! Also, take more risks, write harder, and always aspire for more.


Sarah: What got you interested in reading/writing?


Jaquira: I’ve always been a reader and a writer. I had a chaotic childhood and adolescence, but one thing remained constant: I was a kid who loved to read. I read everything I could get my hands on: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, Manuel Puig’s Kiss of the Spider Woman, Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, Julio Cortázar’s Rayuela, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, and almost everything by Edgar Allan Poe and Stephen King. I grew up in Miami, in a city that spoke multiple languages, in a bilingual family. But I didn’t see myself in books. So I started writing for myself, and the books I wrote had characters that were like me. You could say I wrote out of necessity, because I needed to. I never really had a choice.

Sarah, interviewd by Jaquira

Jaquira: Can you list five songs in the soundtrack to your work-in-progress?

Sarah: It's funny, because most of the songs I listen to while writing Dragons, I would probably never listen to otherwise. With this one, I'm struggling with keeping the tone light, so some of my favorites are: You Could Be Happy (cover) by Cameron Mitchell, Stereo Heart, Love You Like a Lovesong, and Hero from the movie Starstruck.

Jaquira: Which YA/MG protagonist is most like you?  

Sarah: Except for the whole butt-kicking thing, I think I'm a lot like Katsa from Graceling, especially in the way she looks at and reacts to romantic relationships. Also, her sense of justice.

Jaquira: If you could have any author (alive or dead) as a mentor, who would you choose?

Sarah: This is a tough one, but I think I'd go with Tamora Pearce. Everything she does blows me away and I'd love to learn everything she could teach me.

Jaquira: You have just volunteered as tribute for the Hunger Games. Which characters (from any book by any author) do you take out first, and what weapon do you use?

Sarah: I think I've blogged about this before, but if I was in the Hunger Games I'm pretty sure I'd accidentally take myself out before anyone else got a chance to. I'd trip off the platform and trigger the charges or something.


For more info on the re-launch, including how you can win some incredible prizes, click here!

YAtopia Re-launch!

While we're terribly sad to see Leigh, Chanelle, Kelley, Nyrae, and Wendy go, we're super excited to welcome our newest YAtopians to the blog! Over the next week (October 21, 22, 23, 24, 25), we're going to reintroduce you to our remaining original members, introduce you to our new members, and invite you to help us celebrate with a HUGE giveaway!

Check out our shiny new About Us page and our Twitter Member List for a sneak peak of the member profiles, which will be:

• Oct 21st: Sarah and Jaquira
• Oct 22nd: Sharon and Suzanne
• Oct 23rd: DJ and Lisa
• Oct 24th: Aimee and Jennifer
• Oct 25th: Davey and Ryan 

Now, for what you're all really wondering - what can you win?

Book pack 1 (US only): 

• Under the Never Sky, signed by Veronica Rossi (hardcover)
• Shatter Me, signed by Tahereh Mafi (Plus a Shatter Me keychain!) (hardcover)

 Book pack 2 (US only): 

• Divergent, signed by Veronica Roth (paperback)
• Obsidian, signed by Jennifer L. Armentrout and the cover models! (paperback)
• Hunted, signed by DJ DeSmyter (paperback)

 Book pack 3 (US only): 

• So Shelly, signed by Ty Roth (paperback)
• The Downside of Being Charlie, signed by Jenny Torres Sanchez (paperback)

 Book pack 4 (US only): 

• Jumping Off Swings by Jo Knowles (paperback)
• Pretty Amy, signed by Lisa Burstein (paperback) 

International book pack (non-US only):

• Any MG, YA, or NA book or two, winner's choice (maximum value of $16)
• Any MG, YA, or NA book or two, winner's choice (maximum value of $16)

Writer's prizes (all open internationally):

• Query, synopsis, or first-page critique by Suzanne van Rooyen
• One of two query critiques by Sarah Nicolas
• Query and first-five-page critique by Jennifer Malone
• Ten-page critique by Lisa Burstein
• Fifty-page critique by Sharon Johnston
• One of two first-five-page critiques by Jaquira Diaz

And what do you have to do to win? Nothing! Well, nothing, but fill out the form below. HOWEVER, there are a lot of opportunities to earn extra entries. The contest will close at 11:59 EST on October 27th and the winners will be announced on October 28th.

Questions? To the comments!

Meet Your Saturday Posters & Win a Book!

DJ and Wendy will rock your weekends with alternating posts every Saturday...
because they're awesome. :-)

DJ DeSmyter

1. DJ, when did you start writing? Why?

I began writing poems in middle school and it wasn't until a few years ago that I began novel-writing. My first official story was a novella that will never see the light of day, but I am so proud of it because it was my first, you know? As a reader, I become invested in the books I read and I often find myself thinking about a book's world and characters days after finishing it. I want to have that kind of impact on readers. But I also hope I can inspire someone to start writing, just like Stephenie Meyer did for me.

2. What do you love the most and hate the most about being a writer?

I love the friendships I have made being a writer/blogger. I've never had many friends who shared the same enthusiasm I have for books and the characters in them, so being part of this community has been wonderful! I can geek out about fictional people all I want and not get "You're crazy" looks! What I hate is writer's block. I'm a firm believer in this and whenever it hits me, I sink into this funk that usually takes a week or two to climb out of.

3. Tell us a little bit about how you came to be with Pendrell Publishing.

I took kind of an unconventional route to getting a book deal. Most writers try and get an agent in order to submit to the bigger houses, but that wasn't the first step for me. Having read Lani Woodland's Intrinsical and loving it, and looking into Pendrell Publishing, I found out they accept unsolicited manuscript submissions. I had planned on submitting to them to kind of warm myself up to the submitting process, but then decided not to. The thing was that my crit. partner did a lot of work on Hunted, so at 2 in the morning, a couple of hours before Pendrell's deadline, I submitted. And, well, you know the rest. I couldn't have asked for a better home for my book. :-)

Wendy Higgins:

1. Wendy, what genre do you write and why?

You know, it’s funny. I was always a lighthearted chic-lit kind of girl. I wrote general fiction, using humor to tackle underlying serious issues. But when I was finally hit with major inspiration to write a complete novel, it was paranormal romance! And much darker than I ever thought myself capable. So I suppose I could go either way. I don’t know if my next book will be paranormal, too. Who knows?

2. What are some things people may not know about you?

I’ve had nearly every customer service job under the sun – waitress, department store associate, banker/loan officer, Chuck-E-Cheese birthday party girl (even dressed as Chuck-E a few times), English teacher, and flight attendant – to name a few. These experiences of working with the public have given me a plethora of writing ideas, especially characterizations! 

3. Tell us a little bit about how you got a literary agent.

I didn't go about finding an agent in the traditional way. I'd been querying a few months with no luck because of my weak first chapter (too much telling, not enough showing). I joined inkpop.com so that I could get some feedback and ideas about how to strengthen the intro - the critiquing there was very helpful. During that time a woman read my whole story on the website and fell in love with it. She was represented by Neil Salkind and she asked if she could put me in touch with him... uh, yes please! I sent him an official query and he called me that same week with an offer. He usually reps nonfiction, so this has been quite an adventure for both of us. We've got some promising stuff cooking up right now. Fingers crossed!

Giveaway!

Wendy is giving away a new, hardback copy of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare! Just become a follower and post a comment to win. This giveaway is opened internationally. Please leave an email or way to contact you. We look forward to hearing your comments!
The winner will be drawn at random and announced on Monday, January 10th.

And Your Thursday Posters Are...

Chanelle and Sharon are your Thursday posters, guys! There's some info about them already on the blog, but if you wanted to know a little more about them and perhaps win a book...



Sharon, everyone!


Q: Why did you start to write YA? Do you feel like there's a view from people who aren't involved in the writing industry for people over a certain age to write for adults?

A: The first novel I started writing was probably more Middle Grade as I was writing it for my son. But I put it on hold when the idea for Mishca started knocking in my head and refused to go away. It wasn’t intentionally YA, but it ticked all the boxes.

I don’t think readers care about the age of the writer, I think they care about an authentic voice, a kick-ass plot and characters they feel drawn to.

Q: What kind of books keep you up all night thinking about? What was the last book that did this?

A: The Time Travellers Wife definitely had me thinking. It took me about a month to read it as I found I wanted to put it down and really process what I’d read. This is not normally how I read – I devour books in a day or two depending on how much spare time I have.

Q: Describe yourself in five words.

A: An epically weird writing ninja.

Q: If you could write in any location in the world, where would it be or what would it look like?

A: I already have the best place in the world to write – Australian beaches. My husband works as a lifeguard so I spend every Saturday at the beach. After lunch I take an hour off by myself with my laptop and write. I wrote a lot of Mishca at Blacks Beach (see picture) and am writing Dirty Rainbow at Eimeo Beach, where my husband is currently stationed.

Quickfire questions:

Gold or silver? Gold

Coke or Sprite? Neither, I'm not big a softdrink (soda) drinker

Hair up or Hair down? Down

Fake eyelashes or fake nails? I fake nothing =P

Red or white roses? Red

And we have Chanelle, everyone!

Q: If you were only allowed to write one genre for the rest of your life what would you choose and why?

A: Ooh, that's a hard question. It would definitely be for YA, but within that genre, I'm not sure. I guess, I'd have to say Urban Fantasy because though I really do enjoy reading contemp stories and even trying to write them, I have come up with a lot more UFs than I have contemps. And for some reason, I feel like I'm not doing contemps 'right' when I try!!

Q:What do you think will be "the next big trend" in 2011 and why?

A: I think the big trend of 2011 will be UFs making a comeback. They kind of got a lot of stick in 2010. People complained they were overdone and there wasn't anything new. Contemps became more popular - especially issue driven books. But I think there's a lot of UFs coming out this year that are going to make people believe in the genre again.

Q:What surprises people the most about you once they get to know you?

A: That I'm actually a huge animal lover. I have two dogs, who are like my babies, and I used to have horses when I was younger and had a LOT more free time than I do now. And also, when I wasn't writing with every free minute of my day. I'm big on animal rights and believe that they should be treated with respect :)

Q: Which three writers would you most like to meet and what would you ask them?

A: Firstly, and probably obviously, JK Rowling. I have a HUGE amount of respect for her. She's done a lot for my own writing career and was also the first writer who made me read seriously. From the age of ten, I collected her books and still enjoy them to this day. Secondly, Suzanne Collins. What I wouldn't do to pick her creative mind for like ten minutes!! Then I would like to meet Cynthia Hand because I've actually become a bit of a fangirl after reading Unearthly. I want to know everything about that series!!

Rapid fire questions:

Purple or yellow? Purple. Yellow offends me.

Coffee or energy drinks? Neither. I hate both.

Dresses or pants? For everyday...pants (TROUSERS!!), but for occasions, dresses.

High heels or flats? Like above, flats for everyday, heels for occasions.

Horror or comedy? Horror, definitely. I'm a huge horror fan.

Now...THE GIVEAWAY!!

We will have TWO winners for this giveaway.

Sharon is kindly giving away a copy of Blood Countess by Tara Moss. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning, is follow this blog and comment below with your email address. If you want an extra entry, tweet the following:

You can win a copy of Blood Countess over at @YAtopia - http://yatopia.blogspot.com/

But here's the catch, this part of the giveaway is only for Australian readers only. So if you have an Australian address, comment below for a chance of winning.

Chanelle is kindly giving away EITHER an order of Stolen by Lucy Christopher or Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. The winner will get to choose which one they want. All you have to do is be a follower and comment below with your email address. Again, you can earn extra entries by either following Chanelle's personal blog Beyond Words and/or tweeting the following:

You can win a copy of either Stole or Forbidden over at @YAtopia - http://yatopia.blogspot.com/

This part of the giveaway is open to anyone Book Depository delivers to.

You can either enter for both or one. But please state which one you're entering for below. If you want to enter for both, please do separate comments for each giveaway. Just so it doesn't get confusing. Winners will be announced next Thursday.

Thanks for reading everyone, and I hope you stick around to see what other great stuff YAtopia has to offer. Trust me...it's a lot!!

Your Two for Tuesday Contributors & Leighbee's Freebies

Sarah and Leigh will be posting on Tuesdays. You can learn more about us on the Contributors page, but to help you get to know us better, we answered three questions each. Oh and don't forget to enter Leigh's giveaway at the end!


Sarah Nicolas

Q: Are you a pantser (writes off the seat of her pants) or a plotter (lays out the story and works it out before writing)?A: You remember in school when they made us turn in an outline a few weeks before the paper was due? I wrote the complete paper first and based the outline off of it. Definitely a pantser. I write my first draft very quickly and then spend a loooooooong time revising.


Q: Writers are renowned for having odd quirks, like having to write to music, or in a particular coffee shop, or in Leigh's case, in longhand with the same pen. What writing quirks have you developed over the years?
A: This is a rather inconvenient quirk: I can't write at home. It doesn't matter if the house is empty for an entire weekend, I can't seem to concentrate. Luckily, my apartment complex has a very nice business center and I also write at coffee shops, restaurants, even other people's houses.

Also, I talk to myself a lot when I'm trying to figure something out. Which wouldn't be that bad if I wasn't sitting in a restaurant with "normal" people all around me.

Q: If you could pick one character from a book and write a spin off story about them, who would that character be, and why?
A: "I was alive when the Dead Sea was just a lake that was feeling a little poorly." I would love to dive deeper into the past and present of Magnus Bane from The Mortal Instruments series. I feel like there's much more to him than parties and glitter, and Cassandra Clare has only scratched the surface.

I'd love to hear everybody else's response to this question: If you could write/read a spin off about a character from any book, who would you pick?






Leigh Fallon



1. When writing a novel, what comes first for you? I.e. Characters? Setting? Plot? Atmosphere? Theme? Something else?

Usually a scene pops into my head. It’s like a memory, usually triggered by music or a landscape. I can see it playing out in my head like a movie. I hear the characters talking, and the sounds of their surrounding area. I take that scene, and then build on it. The scene normally gives me my MC, the tone, and the atmosphere. If I feel strongly enough about it, I start to develop it. Take it back a few steps; figure out how the MC found themselves in that situation, and the people she / he met along the way. And it works its way out from that initial scene like a web, all very intricate and each element relying on the elements surrounding it to give it strength and stability.

I love writing that way; it’s like watching a brilliant movie trailer and then finally getting to see the movie and discovering all the elements of the story that made the trailer so riveting.

2. Has being a mother affected your writing at all? How?

I dabbled a little when I was younger, specializing in writing snarky complaint letters to companies for friends and family. I had a knack for getting freebie's from them (but only on legitimate complaints. I swear! LOL). I never even considered being a writer until after I’d had my kids.

Being a mother made me a writer! After I had my twin bundle of boys, I finally hit the mommy wall. Four kids under the age of six are enough to drive the most patient of mothers to distraction, so I sought solace in writing. I started jotting down my scenes as they popped into my head, writing on scraps of paper I’d find lying around the car. I used to spend hours sitting in my jeep in the town of Kinsale in Co. Cork, Ireland where we lived at the time. I’d be dropping my two older girls to ballet and other after school activates, so I’d be left festering in the car with two screaming bored babies with rain pelting against the windscreen.

The beauty of Kinsale, combined with my desire to escape reality, even for a few short moments, was what ultimately created The Carrier of the Mark and the rest of the series. And for that, to my children, I’ll be forever grateful.

3. You've lived in a lot of different places. What effect do you think this has had on your writing?

Travel is the ultimate way to experience life, and I’ve traveled a lot. Not just Ireland and the US, I’ve worked all over Europe. I’ve met amazing people and sampled so many different cultures. Every country is different, every person unique. Getting a taste of such diversity has really added depth and understanding of people which I think has helped my character development.

In writing, it’s the subtle differences that can turn a person from just a flat character to a real person that jumps off the page and has a life of their own.

COMPETITION TIME!!
Want to win a pre-publication copy of Desires of the Dead? I have one glossy arc up for grabs.  Want it?  All you have to do is comment and follow. Oh, and make sure that you a leave a way for me to contact you about your swag!

Over to you - So are you a traveller?

Where have you been and where would you like to go?