Abby the Librarian has posted an interview with me, in which I answer questions about the DUMB’s title, and confess that I’m a Britney Spears fan. (Sorry Mum and Dad – you did your best.) By the way, anyone heading over here from Abby’s site expecting to see photos of Seattle’s most infamous dwellings, here [...]
at TeensReadToo. Please go check me out! Oh, and while you’re here, please head over to my new Facebook Author page and say you like me. (Man, does that sound desperate, or what!)
Danielle Chiotti, an agent at Upstart Crow Literary, has an excellent post on rules to get authors writing. Okay, so you might be wondering: What else do authors do, if not write? Well, by the time you’ve read this list, you’ll know. (And don’t pretend you don’t procrastinate in exactly these ways!) Oh, and that [...]
So a few weeks ago I met Lauren Myracle at a signing. As a fan, it seemed natural to give her an advanced copy of DUMB. Not that I was sure she’d have time to read it, mind you, but it was pretty cool to think that one day she might. Well, she did . [...]
My sister-in-law sent me a cool link to the Guardian newspaper, which was running a series in which authors submitted their Rules for Writing. There’s some good stuff in there, such as: “Read it aloud to yourself because that’s the only way to be sure the rhythms of the sentences are OK (prose rhythms are [...]
At dinner the other night, a friend asked what I was working on at the moment. I ran through my project list, which includes both YA and fantasy, and he asked how I was able to work in two completely different genres at the same time. It’s a good question, too. I’ve never had trouble [...]
Super-author Mandy Hubbard (whose fantastic debut novel, PRADA AND PREJUDICE is already in its fourth printing!) wrote an insightful (and very honest) piece about how having a book published has changed her life as a writer. It’s a question authors get asked a lot, and got me thinking . . . I think Mandy’s list [...]
Yes, indeed, writing really is the most ridiculously gratifying career. In what other job can you justify taking time off to read biographies of Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix, or obsessively (re)watch YouTube footage of the aforementioned artists (pre-suicide/overdose, of course)? All of which is to say that things are going well on the book front [...]
Today, I bit the bullet and Googled myself. Or rather, I Googled my book, figuring it was about time I uncovered any negative reviews and took the authors off my Christmas card list. Trouble is, even with the most specific search terms imaginable (“antony john busted confessions flux”) I was flooded with links to all [...]
Or not. One of the peculiarly masochistic pleasures of having a book release date is seeing who you’re up against. In my case, October 1 sees the release of at least 15 other YA books (or books with YA appeal) including those by Tamora Pierce (Melting Stones), Cornelia Funke (Inkdeath), and Terry Pratchett (Nation). Oh crap. Just [...]
