Young Adult Book Reading Challenges discussion
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Cynthia Hand
Unearthly Discussions
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Q&A with Cynthia Hand
Question: If you were in Clara's position would you have chosen Tucker or Christian? :)
Question: Did you have everything planned out in your head- like how the books and series ended or did you just make the decisions when you came to a certain part? :D
Thanks for coming to our group for this Q&A! Now that you've finished the Unearthly series, you're working on a new novel. Has the change from paranormal to contemporary been a shock? What are the easiest/most difficult aspects of either genre for you? And can you give us any hints about the new novel? ;)
Hi, thank you for answering our questions!What was your inspiration for your books?
Did you just wing it or plan it out?
What did you do during writers block?
How long did it take you to write the books?
Thank you! (:
How did you come up with the names and locations of the books to make it so realistic?
Wow!! Great! :D My questions are...1. In Unearthly series.. Why build-up about Christian and Clara ; the whole soul-mate thing, the Emotional Depth, and the Foreshadowing but in the end Clara end up with Tucker?
2. Will Unearthly series have Spin-Off?
Thank you :)
I loved the Unearthly series! I see there is a book called "untitled" as your next book. Can you give us some information about what that book will be? Thank you.
Question: How did you develop the relationship between Clara and her mother? I was particularly struck by the tension between them at the end -- both of them are good, strong people but are at odds at this point in the story. It's so hard to pull that off well and I think you did a great job. Thanks!
What made you interested in writing a book about angels?
Hey all, please remember to mark all spoilers. Some of us (me included) haven't finished the series and now I know who Clara ends up with.Cynthia, thanks for visiting us! Do you read a lot of YA while writing your next book? Who would you say are your biggest YA influences?
What made you decide to write YA in the first place?
What music do you listen to when writing?
How did you create the sexy cowboy Tucker?
How did you create the sexy cowboy Tucker?
First off thanks for attending and answering all of our questions. Do you have anyone in particular in mind when you create the characters in your book? Are they inspired from real life? or totatlly made up?
This is so exciting! I can hardly decide what to ask! I guess I will go with: Do you have any major book pet peeves? Like, is there anything that makes you cringe while reading, or even put (or throw) the book down and walk away?Also, I have noticed YA books often tiptoe around God and faith, even books about angel lore, but your books do not. Any comments?
Thanks for coming by! :)
Shannon wrote: "How did you come up with the names and locations of the books to make it so realistic?"I can answer that for you! She visited those places, got maps, and had a whole planning board of her locations and plots and such. If you go to her Goodreads page, she talks about/shows her planning boards and gives more of a scoop on how she came up with stuff for the series :)
I haven't read the Unearthly series but I'm planning to. Do you think I would like it?
Hi Cynthia, thanks for being here. I ADORED the Unearthly series so much. My question is: How did you come up with the idea to write such an original "angel themed" book? Seeing as there's already hundreds of books with the "angel theme" already.
Are any of the situations Clara is in drawn from your personal experience (moving around a lot as a kid/having an annoying little brother)? What characteristics of Clara (or any of the other characters) do you most relate to?
Comment from Pang Apr 01, 2013 06:53am - spoilers now marked & original comments deleted (please remember to mark spoilers).Wow!! Great! :D My questions are...
1. In Unearthly series.. (view spoiler)
2. Will Unearthly series have Spin-Off?
Comment from Priscila Apr 01, 2013 04:04pm with spoilers now marked:
I just really want to know: (view spoiler)
Mod
Wow!! Great! :D My questions are...
1. In Unearthly series.. [spoilers..."
Thanks Kim for fixing that!!
If you have NOT read Boundless, do not view my spoiler...Hi Cynthia!! I love the Unearthly trilogy so much! It's my favorite all-angels series! So thanks for writing it!
Also, I must commend you for how well you wrote the male love interests! Typically with the love triangle books I read, one of the boys is always the OBVIOUS pick for me and that's who the girl ends up with too. With yours, I thought Christian AND Tucker were great guys and I really liked them both. I was Team Tucker during Unearthly and Hallowed and then switched to Team Christian because I just couldn't help it! Love him! I rooted for him the ENTIRE duration of Boundless, (view spoiler)
Thanks for answering our questions, Cynthia! I cannot wait for your next books!
Stephanie wrote: "Question: If you were in Clara's position would you have chosen Tucker or Christian? :)"I would hate to be in Clara’s position. I think I’m more torn between these two amazing guys than Clara ever was. I guess all I can say is that, if I were Clara, I would follow my heart.
K8 wrote: "Question: Did you have everything planned out in your head- like how the books and series ended or did you just make the decisions when you came to a certain part? :D"I had most things planned out in my head, but it was planned as 4 books, not 3. So when I had to rewrite the 3rd book to be 3 of 3 instead of 3 of 4, I had to completely rethink the plot that I had initially planned. A lot changed. But some very important stuff did stay the same.
Mary wrote: "Thanks for coming to our group for this Q&A! Now that you've finished the Unearthly series, you're working on a new novel. Has the change from paranormal to contemporary been a shock? What are the ..."Wow, good questions! It’s hard to talk about my current project, because nothing is sold yet, so everything is very much up in the air. I AM working on a contemporary (it has a tiny supernatural twist, but it’s really a contemporary) and it hasn’t felt too much different from how I wrote before, except that maybe it isn’t quite as epic. It’s a stand-alone, and the story isn’t as big or the world as new as it was when I started Unearthly. It’s also a subject that I have a lot of personal experience in, and that can be tough. I have to work to keep myself objective.
Lauren wrote: "Hi, thank you for answering our questions!What was your inspiration for your books?
Did you just wing it or plan it out?
What did you do during writers block?
How long did it take you to write the..."
Hi! Okay, in order:
Inspiration: That was kind of mysterious, although I did love Madeleine L’Engel’s novel Many Waters as a kid. Which has angels who walk the earth and sire children, which I found fascinating.
Mostly I just wing it, although I always have some idea of where I’m going to end up.
I do things to get my brain to relax: take walks, do dishes or laundry, listen to music, drive, take a shower. And then I force myself to get my butt back in the chair and work.
All of my books have taken different amounts of times to write. Unearthly (for the first draft) took me about 6 months. Hallowed, 3 months, Boundless, because I had to rewrite it, more like 9 months.
Shannon wrote: "How did you come up with the names and locations of the books to make it so realistic?"I used all real places, which was fun. The names just sort of came to me. I have been known to check baby-naming websites, though.
Emilia wrote: "Hello what age group is Unearthly aimed at?
(want to know if i can read it!!)"
12 and up!
Jennifer wrote: "I loved the Unearthly series! I see there is a book called "untitled" as your next book. Can you give us some information about what that book will be? Thank you."I can't say a lot about the next project, since nothing's set in stone yet. I am working on two projects, actually, one that's a bit of a post-apocolyptic western, and one that's a contemp with a tiny paranormal twist.
Pang wrote: "Wow!! Great! :D My questions are...1. In Unearthly series.. Why build-up about Christian and Clara ; the whole soul-mate thing, the Emotional Depth, and the Foreshadowing but in the end Clara end..."
Thank you :)
SPOILER ALERT (don’t read my answer if you haven’t read BOUNDLESS)
(view spoiler)
Snapefan4Life wrote: "Question: How did you develop the relationship between Clara and her mother? I was particularly struck by the tension between them at the end -- both of them are good, strong people but are at odd..."Aw, thank you. I wish I could say that I did a lot of intensive work to develop Clara and her mom, but the truth is the characters sort of naturally fell into their own patterns and development. I just sat back and watched. And sniffled a lot.
Eevee wrote: "What made you interested in writing a book about angels?"I didn't start out intending to write a book about angels. I had the idea of the character of Clara first, and I knew she was supernatural in some way, and that she had a purpose she was trying to fulfill, but none of the go-to supernatural creatures seemed to fit: she definitely wasn't a vampire or a werewolf or a fairy. . . Then I remembered this old passage from the Bible (Genesis 6) that talked about the children of the "sons of God" (typically interpreted as angels) and the "daughters of men" (humans). The passage said these offspring were "the heroes of old, men of renown." I always thought the idea of being part angel was fascinating. So once I made that connection, it was clear that's what Clara was, and the rest fell into place.
Kim wrote: "Hey all, please remember to mark all spoilers. Some of us (me included) haven't finished the series and now I know who Clara ends up with.Cynthia, thanks for visiting us! Do you read a lot of Y..."
Sorry it got spoiled for you. :(
Yes, I read tons of YA, in bursts. Right now my biggest YA influences are Lauren Oliver, Gayle Forman, and John Green.
I fell into writing YA accidentally. I started writing Clara’s story, and about a quarter of the way in, I figured out that I was writing YA.Then I started to read a lot of YA (I think I read about 70 Ya novels that year) and fell in love with the genre.
Bre wrote: "What music do you listen to when writing?How did you create the sexy cowboy Tucker?"
I don’t listen to any music when I’m writing. It distracts me. But I do listen to music to inspire my writing. It varies a lot with every book. There’s a project I’m working on now that I listen to a lot of movie Western soundtracks.
I wish I knew how I created Tucker. He just kind of popped out of the scenery once I decided on Jackson as my setting.
Cynthia wrote: "First off thanks for attending and answering all of our questions. Do you have anyone in particular in mind when you create the characters in your book? Are they inspired from real life? or totat..."My characters are always made up (except for minor characters, sometimes I use real people for small characters, like there is a real Corbett Phibbs and a real Mr. Ericson). But all of my characters have little bits of me in them, too.
Shaylin wrote: "This is so exciting! I can hardly decide what to ask! I guess I will go with: Do you have any major book pet peeves? Like, is there anything that makes you cringe while reading, or even put (or thr..."I have a few pet peeves, but there are authors who can do those things well, so my objections are never absolute. For instance, I am a little irritated when a character has a baby in a novel and of course everything is great and rosy and wonderful with the baby (cough, Twilight) when in reality babies are freaking hard. A 19 year old with a baby is going to STRUGGLE. I also will cringe in a book when it’s clear that the author is trying to make the character EVERYTHING AWESOME: she fights! She reads books! She plays a musical instrument! She knows karate! She loves pretty dresses! To me, this is a rookie mistake—so often as young writers we try to create characters who are versions of ourselves, minus the flaws.
I always thought it was silly to write about angels while avoiding God. I was clear with my editor from the beginning that I intended for God (not a specific religion, mind you, but God) to be a big part of the series.
Marianne wrote: "Hi Cynthia, thanks for being here. I ADORED the Unearthly series so much. My question is: How did you come up with the idea to write such an original "angel themed" book? Seeing as there's already..."Thank you! I didn’t worry about trying to be original. I just created the world as it came to me. Also, at the time I was writing, there weren’t any angel-themed books out there, or very, very few. So I had nothing to compare my world to. I just let it be my world.
Kritika wrote: "Are any of the situations Clara is in drawn from your personal experience (moving around a lot as a kid/having an annoying little brother)? What characteristics of Clara (or any of the other charac..."Good questions. There were a few things that correlated between Clara and myself: my parents were divorced, I did have a little brother who I worried about a lot when I was a teenager, I know how to ski and fish and have been white water rafting a time or two, I have some experience with grief and loss, and, most of all, I have often found myself wondering about my purpose on this earth, and if I could mess up that purpose. I am also, like Clara, in love with Jackson Hole.
I relate to Clara A LOT, but I also understand Angela and her tendency for know-it-all-edness whenever she’s threatened, and I feel for Maggie in the concern and love she has for her children.
Autumn wrote: "I haven't read the Unearthly series but I'm planning to. Do you think I would like it?"Yes. Yes, I do. :)
Holly wrote: "If you have NOT read Boundless, do not view my spoiler...Hi Cynthia!! I love the Unearthly trilogy so much! It's my favorite all-angels series! So thanks for writing it!
Also, I must commend you..."
I think I covered this in one of my earlier answers, in which I was super long-winded. :)
Cynthia wrote: "Angie wrote: "I am excited to tell you that Cynthia Hand author of our book the month will be here April 14th for a Q&A with the group. Leave your comments and questions here!Mark Spoilers for t..."
Thanks for having me! It's always so much fun to connect with readers. Ask away!
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I really love the serie, it's one of my favorite, but the final OMG that final broke my poor heart"
Check my answer to this question above.
Cynthia wrote: "Holly wrote: "If you have NOT read Boundless, do not view my spoiler...Hi Cynthia!! I love the Unearthly trilogy so much! It's my favorite all-angels series! So thanks for writing it!
Also, I mu..."
Again, SPOILERS if you haven't read Boundless.
Yes, I just read that reply :) Thanks for the honesty in your long-winded answer ;) I agree with what you have to say on that subject, now that you've brought those points to light. Especially the part where you said (view spoiler)
Now that I've read some of your responses though, a few more questions are forming in my mind:
1) What on earth does (view spoiler) mean?? :D !!!
2) Why did you end up rewriting the series into 3 books instead of 4? Was it a contract thing?
3) I know every aspiring author asks their favorite authors for writing advice, but I've really been struggling with piecing my ideas together. I love to write, but I almost feel as if I don't know how to or how to do it well. When I get stuck while moving from one scene to the next, I get so discouraged and I don't know how to get through whatever weird issues I have with writing. Any advice?
4) (More of a statement really) I like the sound of the 3.5 novella :) I hope that goes through some day. I liked Radiant too btw. :)
Thanks, Cynthia!
I read that long Christian/Clara response and I'm glad to have that cleared up!!I honestly don't know what to ask you as most of the questions I've been wondering about have been answered satisfyingly. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed reading the Unearthly trilogy! :~)
Oh one really important question, are you going to have book signing(s) in Europe any time soon?
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Holly wrote: "Cynthia wrote: "Holly wrote: "If you have NOT read Boundless, do not view my spoiler...Hi Cynthia!! I love the Unearthly trilogy so much! It's my favorite all-angels series! So thanks for writing..."
Great, I'm glad I could help.
1. I mean that (view spoiler)
2. I ended up writing 3 books instead of 4 because Harper only bought 3, as at the time I was selling my books, they were buying trilogies, not 4 books at a time, and when I went to sell them the 4th book, they said that paranormal romance was on its way out and they would rather me work on something else. It sucked, but in the end I think it was for the best.
3. Writing advice: don't put too much pressure on yourself with writing. Everyone comes to writing a different way--you just need to figure out what works for you. Maybe do some study, either on your own, or you could take a class. If you have trouble moving from one scene to the next, maybe you don't have enough of a hook in that first scene to propel you into the second.
4. Thanks!
Alexa wrote: "I read that long Christian/Clara response and I'm glad to have that cleared up!!I honestly don't know what to ask you as most of the questions I've been wondering about have been answered satisfy..."
I would love to do signings in Europe, but I can't afford to pay for the trip myself, so my European publishers would have to ask me. (bats eyes at Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Poland)
Angie wrote: "We are going to close questions here for today. I'll let Cynthia know there are two more. Thanks everyone for participating!!"Thanks so much! It was so fun!
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Mark Spoilers for those who haven't read her books!