Beth Fehlbaum's Blog, page 8

Claiming my life, psych meds and all...

Today a person I know made it clear that she associates weakness with people who take psych meds, and that the affect of taking said meds is "fake". I'm here to say that having mental illness, seeking therapy, and taking psych meds are NOT shameful. I am NOT ashamed of the fact that I have PTSD, an anxiety disorder, OCD, an eating disorder, and depression. (Let's see...did I leave any off?...Probably...) I take meds on a daily basis for anxiety and depression, and when I can tell that they're not working right, I go in for a tune-up and get them adjusted. For me, it's the responsible thing to do as a highly functioning person with people who count on me to be the best I can be at my job, and more than that, I have a family who loves me and needs me to be, well, ME.

I'm not saying I always handle it perfectly: I went through a very dark Spring of 2013, ended up with my head in my hands a lot, and actually waited longer than I should have to talk to my doctor about it. He tweaked my meds and now I'm back to "myself" again. I use the skills I learned in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to manage my life on a daily basis, and I can recognize when I veer off into unhealthy ways of coping (or not). I'm no longer in therapy but if I felt that I needed it, I would not hesitate to seek help.

I told my friend, "Look, my dad's bipolar and I went through a lot and it fried my brain..."
She nodded knowingly, like, "Oh, yeah. No wonder; I forgot that you're a damaged person..."
I ignored the look in her eyes. "Hey, you've been through a lot too, and you might need some help with it."
She told me, in regard to meds, "That's all fake."
I said, "They won't work if you don't need them."
She said, "I just need to try harder..." as if by trying harder, the dark cloud dogging her for over a year will miraculously disperse.
I said, "It doesn't mean you're a weak person if you need help!"
But she disagreed.
I asked her, "If you were diabetic, would you judge yourself so harshly if you needed insulin? It's the same thing. It's a chemical imbalance."
She just shook her head.

It's not only people like me who have survived a hellish childhood of sexual abuse and neglect who sometimes need meds and therapy. It didn't help, mental health-wise, that I come from a family tree soaked through to the core with bipolar disorder, depression, eating disorders, and, oh yeah, women who make stupid decisions to stay with men who are abusive pricks and sacrifice their daughters by controlling them with guilt while simultaneously handing them over to said pricks. What I'm saying is, I was born with a temperament geared toward anxiety. Being sexually abused from age 8 and sleeping in my closet for years at a time-- things like that-- just solidified my destiny as a person with mental problems, mmkay?

I walked away from our conversation feeling shocked because for the first time, I think I saw me the way she does: as a weak, fucked up person who needs meds to cope because of her past. People often tell me that they cannot imagine me as a weak person. They need to talk to my former therapist so that he can tell him about the broken down pile of nerves that occupied his office for six years, to emerge, reparented and rebuilt and herself amazed that she made it through the recovery process. I owe my NOW state of being to my therapist, my husband and kids, a helluva lot of determination and grit, and psych meds.

I AM NOT MY PAST. I live in the here and now, and the me in the here and now takes Welbutrin and Pristiq every day because without them (and my CBT skills), I could deteriorate into a person wandering around in the dark inside of myself, wracked with anxiety, fixated on minutia and crying at the drop of a hat.

The shame does not belong to me. It does not belong to any of us who take psych meds, seek therapy, or have to stop and recall what the therapist taught us to do when people we love, who we thought loved us right back, reveal themselves as bigoted against the mentally ill.

The shame belongs to anyone who tells someone who takes meds that they are weak, or that if they just tried harder, they could "control" their mental illness or depression. It belongs to anyone who doesn't see others as worthy enough to fight for the life they are meant to live-- the life that miraculous discoveries like psych meds and therapy reveal as an actually pretty awesome life, and one that is worth the fight it takes to reclaim it when all we can see is shadows and darkness.

I am not ashamed. And I am not weak. And I love the recovered life that I fought for only out of love for my children at first--because they were at first the only reason I did not kill myself-- then for the love of them and my husband, and, finally, one day, I realized that I had learned to love myself, too. Finally.

Big Fat Disaster is available for Pre-order!! Woohooo!

What a fabulous surprise!

Big Fat Disaster, my newest book, is available for pre-order on Amazon! Click here.

And to preorder on Barnes & Noble, click here.

IndieBound

Books A Million

Amazon.ca

Rafflecopter Contest from UncommonYA! Win your choice of realistic fiction!

  We are a collective of YA authors who have come together to spread the word about the newest, bold, gritty fiction. Our genres include realistic, contemporary, historical, magical realism, and paranormal--with a healthy dose of suspense woven through all of them.  




  Uncommon YA features not only the latest titles from the above montage but it has heaps of other features that will interest you. Whether you are a reader, writer or both, there is something to suit all interests.   Shout out! Saturdays. BLAST events Meet my Main Character. Behind the Scenes in Publishing.  Interview an Agent. Talking to my Teenage Self + more!    For a short time Uncommon YA is offering YOU the chance to choose your prize. Click on the titles below to learn more about each one. You can add it to your Goodreads shelf while you're there!   WARNING. It will be a tough choice choosing just one to win! Luckily, this is the first of many more competitions. So join us and win! 
           
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ESCAPE FROM EDEN author Elisa Nader says, "Follow Your Dreams!"

by Beth Fehlbaum

When I grow up, I want to be Elisa Nader, author of ESCAPE FROM EDEN. I knew that we'd get along very well when I saw her biography:
Hi. I’m Elisa. I like cheese and reading and TV show marathons. Writing is scary, but not as scary as, say, Civil War amputations. I’m an Aquarius. Uh… let’s see… I’m not very good at writing my own biography. Or autobiography. I guess this is reading more like a slightly incoherent personal ad.

I've never met Elisa in person; I've only "experienced" Elisa through our online messages and discussion boards. We're "publisher sisters"-- we both write for Merit Press-- and also members of this grassroots publicity group, UncommonYA.

(I stole the term, 'grassroots publicity group', from Elisa, by the way...)

Find Elisa online:
Website
Facebook
Twitter

I knew that Elisa was funny, self-deprecating, and, after reading her DEAR TEEN ME post that ran recently, a person who shares with me the history of having an eating disorder. After I read this article on following one's dreams, I realized that we share the juggling act of balancing a passion for writing with things like a day job and housework. (What writer can't identify with the pull of the characters needing to find out where they're going next competing with the pull of "I've gotta vacuum the house first because these dust bunnies are so loud that I can't think"?)

Synopsis of ESCAPE FROM EDEN:
Since the age of ten, Mia has lived under the iron fist of the fundamentalist preacher who lured her mother away to join his fanatical family of followers. In Edenton, a supposed "Garden of Eden" deep in the South American jungle, everyone follows the Reverend's strict but arbitrary rules--even the mandate of whom they can marry. Now sixteen, Mia dreams of slipping away from the armed guards who keep the faithful in, and the curious out. When the rebellious and sexy Gabriel, a new boy, arrives with his family, Mia sees a chance to escape.  

But the scandalous secrets the two discover beyond the compound's façade are more shocking than anything they ever imagined. While Gabriel has his own terrible secrets, he and Mia bond together, more than friends and freedom fighters. But is there time to think of their undeniable attraction to each other as they race to stop the Reverend's paranoid plan to free his flock from the corrupt world? Can two teenagers crush a criminal mastermind? And who will die in the fight to save the ones they love from a madman who's only concerned about his own secrets? Awesome cover, right? Elisa Nader designed it! I'm not the only one who thinks that Elisa's pretty cool: Kirkus awarded her novel, ESCAPE FROM EDEN, a starred review. [Pauses to add "Receive Starred Review from Kirkus" to the list of what I want to do when I grow up...]

And, check out these reviews:

"The chemistry between Mia and Gabriel is palpable in their teasing dialogue and sizzling moments of physical connection. Its rewards...are many: fast-moving action, a capable heroine and a resolution that leaves plenty of room for a sequel." --Kirkus Reviews (STARRED REVIEW)





"Nader has done something amazing: written a really original novel, one full of characters you'll care about; smart, witty dialogue; and plenty of shocks and thrills. A wonderful balance of light and dark." --Michael Grant, New York Times bestselling author of the Gone Series

"An exciting, terrifying, page-turning thrill ride you will not be able to put down." --Gretchen McNeil, author of Possess, Ten, and 3:59

"Chilling, suspenseful, and evocative, Escape From Eden is one of the most surprising love stories I've read in ages. Elisa Nader is an exciting new talent in YA fiction and her first novel will have people lining up to join her cult. Consider me the first member." --Bennett Madison, author of The Blonde Of The Joke and September Girls

"I'm a sucker for a swoon built on a flirty, love/hate relationship, and Escape From Eden doesn't disappoint. Elisa Nader tells a good story.... Both the pace and the intrigue build quickly, and there isn't any downtime once the plot gets going. I soon found myself...gleefully anticipating the next twist." - Forever Young Adult

Pick up your copy of ESCAPE FROM EDEN, today!
Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound

YA Writer Wednesdays welcomes KATY KRUMP, author of the BLUE DUST novels!

YA Writer Wednesdays welcomes Katy Krump, author of the Blue Dust novels, Forbidden and Destiny! Welcome, Katy! What's your book about?

All teenage girls keep secrets and Kerry Johnston is no exception. More than anyone else she knows how to  lie, for ‘Kerry’ is an alias and her life is a nightmare of secrecy, violence and fear. In reality this overweight, limping teenage girl is Qea, a Forbidden child from the Qarntaz Octad, sent to Earth to hide from the warlord she has betrayed. Born third into her family in an overpopulated world where surplus offspring are Forbidden and killed or delivered as fodder for the malevolent Inquisitors, Qea has spent her life in hiding.

Qea (Pronounced Kee-ah) is a girl with an unusual history. She comes from a distant galaxy where warlords rule the law and corruption is rife, so she must become hard to survive, but here on earth a young man will change her heart and risk her life, changing it forever.

What inspired you to write it?

It was really born out of my own struggles as an ‘alien’. I emigrated to the UK from South Africa 13 years ago and found it all quite traumatic. I started a blog about living on a new planet as that’s what it felt like to me, and that morphed into Blue Dust. I’ve also always loved thrillers and once as a child came home from school to find the house deserted . They hadn’t been abducted by aliens although I kind of wished they had, instead they’d been shopping which was far too boring and mundane for me. I never forgot that feeling though and would spend endless hours making up stories about what could have happened to a family that mysterious vanished. I took that thought and ran with it.

Find Katy online!
Website
Publisher's site
Facebook
Twitter: @katykrump
Google+
Pinterest

Where to buy Katy's books:
Ghostly Publishing  
Amazon 
Barnes and Noble
Other online stores stock it too. When is your book coming out / When did it release?

Forbidden was released in November 2012. The sequel Destiny, is due for release on 24 October this year.

Has the reality of being published been different than you thought it would be?

It’s been hard getting to this point. I broke into television writing surprisingly easily and was expecting publishing to be the same, but it’s a whole other beast – everyone with a computer these days thinks they’re a writer. I’ve had loads of rejection – am thinking of wallpapering my lounge with all the rejection letters- but most were complimentary and encouraging and no one actually said ‘your work is rubbish’. I took that as something positive. Despite being told once that I had more chance of being eaten by a great white shark while being struck by lightning, than I did of writing a best seller, I chose to ignore that advice and with the support of friends and family, soldiered on, wrote constantly and took advice from wise editors. Being offered a publishing deal was a dream come true – sounds so cliché, but it was amazing and I’m finding it all fantastic, though a bit scary. Nothing is ever as you imagine it to be, but being an actual author with a book deal is everything I hoped and has certainly met my expectations. Now all I need to do is sell a couple of million copies. It’s been wonderful and a bit scary. What I hadn’t anticipated was the amount of marketing I’d have to do myself, all the Twittering and facebooking and pinning things all over the internet is very time consuming and I’m never entirely sure if anyone actually looks at it all. I also naively imagined that as soon as my book was released it would be stocked in every bookshop in the whole world, but of course that’s not the case. So getting it ‘out there’ is a lot harder than I anticipated. What's the best part of being published?

Knowing I have a company that believes in me and my writing is wonderful, because it took a long time to get to this point. Being able to say ‘My publisher says…’ or ‘I’ll have to ask my publisher…’ Somehow I feel that having a traditional publisher has more gravitas than being self-published….sorry….

What is something about publishing that you wish someone had told you in advance?

  That not everyone will love your book and that finding a publisher is very difficult indeed. Also, you need to sell a gazillion books to make ‘proper money’. Writing is the easiest part really, it’s what happens afterwards that’s hard.


Who's your publisher? Tell us your story-- how'd you come to be a published author?

I have a four book deal with Ghostly Publishing, one of the UK’s biggest independent children’s publishers. My previous book was sent out to many publishers, but with Blue Dust I was lucky enough to find Ghostly Publishing. I sent it to a couple of other publishers too and to be honest forgot about it, and began working on the next book. I’d made a mistake in my email address, so Neil, the Managing Director,  had to do some online detective work and he hunted me down through my blog and also left a message on authonomy, which I didn’t see for weeks. I eventually got in touch with him and voila! It’s been great so far, especially as I know he loves the book. As an author himself Neil understands the whole business, which is fantastic. Of course nothing is ever as you imagine it. I was a complete numpty about the social media side of things so it’s been a sharp learning curve.

Do you write from an outline or are you a "pantser"?

  A bit of both really. I ‘stew’ over things for a long time, make notes all over the place – old envelopes is a favourite -  and I have a notebook next to my bed as inspiration often strikes in the middle of the night. I then start writing and the story and characters develop as I write. I always have an idea of where I’m going, though. Characters have a way of taking on a life of their own, I love this.

Who's your favorite author? What is it about his or her writing that has made you a fan?

As a child no one could hold a candle to Enid Blyton, but my first proper heroine in fiction was Jo March in Little Woman. She moved away from home to become a writer and that resonated with me even back then. Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple as well as Tommy and Tuppence, influenced my love of crime and I spent many happy hours wandering around the neighbourhood looking for clues and writing down car number plates ‘just in case’. I love a good thriller on a cold night. A recent hero of mine is the much flawed Harry Hole in the Jo Nesbo books. I also admire Lizbet Salander (to a point) in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the sequels and I’ve recently discovered Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey in the Dorothy L Sayers series. He’s a bit old fashioned, but I enjoy his eccentric Englishman sleuth. All of these authors are my favourites.

What's the last book you read that you still haven't been able to shake off? What was it about the book that stayed with you?

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak . I simply loved it and cried for ages after finishing it. Something about Death telling a story was fascinating and moving and gave me a whole new perspective on life.

Are you a full-time writer or do you have a "day job"? What do you do in your "day job"?

 I’m a full-time writer. I was a teacher, but started losing my sense of humour (and mind) and  moved into writing for television and now books. I still love writing scripts and am adapting my books for film too. I visit schools in my area to talk about my books and also run workshops –I suppose that’s my day job and dare I say, I’m liking being back in a classroom in a totally different role.

Why YA as opposed to some other genre?

  I suppose it’s because basically I’m a teenage girl masquerading as a middle-aged woman. I once asked my mother what it felt like to ‘be old’ and she said, ‘I don’t feel any different now from how I felt when I was sixteen.’ I did the required eye-rolling and snorting and thought, ‘Pshaw, rubbish,’ or words not as complimentary, and continued with my happy, uncluttered teenage life, boiling with fury when I was dismissed or treated as insignificant because of my youth. Now, I realise she was right.

I still feel sixteen in my head, though of course I’m much wiser. I am, really I am. I remember the feeling of disempowerment and in direct contrast to that, the rush of knowing I was invincible and would never get as old as my mother. Those moments of pushing the boundaries just to see what would happen are as clear now as they were back then. I was often treated as if I was too young to have valid opinions or thoughts and constantly told that I’d ‘understand’ when I was older. Those feelings have influenced my writing and are a major motivation for my choosing to write YA fiction. I clearly recall the muddle in my head as I tried to find my true self, the surging hormones that made me feel out of control and dangerous, and Qea, the heroine in Blue Dust : Forbidden, reflects these emotions. I think it’s vital for a writer to draw on life experiences. My book is sci fi/fantasy about an alien. Obviously I’m not an actual alien, but I do understand what it’s like to be a stranger in a strange place after emigrating, so I took what I knew and turned it on its head. For me, using personal experiences makes the writing easier. It’s not necessary to write exactly what happened, but turn it around and you have a fantasy story.

I have clear memories of my childhood and teenage years and the uncontrollable passions that could swamp me in an instant. I was a bit of a loner, but I spent a lot of time observing others (in a non-stalker way of course) and it was through these observations that my writing began. Times have changed so much with all the technology and social media that young adults are involved in, and yet the essence of growing up, discovering your true persona, parental and sibling relationships, negotiating the quagmires of friendship and love, remain constant. I store up my observations of people’s behaviours and dialogue, and use them in my writing. Once you learn to do that, the writing gets easier.

My advice to writers is to find the genre that makes your soul sing, spend some time learning about the technical aspects and then do it. Write whatever you want to no matter how weird it might feel or seem to others. Fantasy is ideal for people with vivid imaginations, like me. The writing is the easy apart. It’s what comes afterwards that’s difficult; re-writing, editing, learning how to take out a superfluous passage or even chapter, even though you love it, that’s hard. As with anything, discipline, perseverance , willingness to take constructive criticism from an editor and self-belief are vital when writing.

Great advice, Katy! Thanks so much for joining us today! Best of luck on Forbidden and Destiny!

YA Writer Wednesdays welcomes Betsy Cornwell, author of TIDES!

Today on YA Writer Wednesday, We're thrilled to have Betsy Cornwell, author of TIDES !
"A haunting, atmospheric, intergenerational tale of the "inbetween," suffused with selkie lore."
--Kirkus

"[A] graceful debut novel. . . The narrative shimmers and haunts, and will appeal to readers who don't typically like fantasy."
--Booklist


TIDES released June 4, 2013, Clarion Books/ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt! Hey, Betsy, what’s your book about?

Tides is all about selkies and kidnappers, mysteries and science, and the fluid nature of family and love. It’s the story of a boy named Noah who moves to his grandmother’s island cottage for a summer marine science internship, and brings his sister, Lo, along to help her get away from their parents. He and Lo soon learn of their grandmother’s decades-long romance with a selkie woman—and before long, Noah begins to fall for the selkie’s daughter. But when one of the selkie children is kidnapped, the tremulous bonds between them are tested, and they all must fight to keep the selkies’ secrets from being revealed.

When did your book release?

It came out in (gorgeous) hardcover and ebook on June 4th, and I just found out the paperback edition is coming on April 1st of next year!

What’s the best part of being published?

Hearing from readers is absolutely the best part. One of the most crucial reasons why I write, and why I read, is for that real connection between writer and reader that can come from a good story. A few days ago I got a message on Tumblr from a queer teen who said how happy she was to see queer characters in Tides. I wish I’d had more LGBTQ characters in the young adult fiction I read growing up, so it made me really happy that I could help provide that for a young person now. Just knowing I’ve written something people enjoy or appreciate is such a wonderful thing.

Who’s your favorite author? What is it about his or her writing that has made you a fan?

I have to give two answers for this. First, my favorite short story writer, and definitely my favorite stylist, is Angela Carter. She wrote a lot of dark, complex fairy tale retellings, and her writing style is liquid and sensual and highly lyrical. Reading her stories is like eating highest-quality dark chocolate truffles—with a few drops of poison, of menace and darkness. Her work is gorgeously rich and brilliant.

Second, my favorite novel is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, so Smith ties with Carter as my favorite writer ever. I Capture the Castle is the journal narrative of a seventeen-year-old girl named Cassandra who lives with her eccentric and impoverished family in a crumbling castle in the English countryside in the 1930s. The story itself is delightful, full of witty humor and romantic twists, but the real reason I love the book so much is Cassandra’s character and voice. As soon as I read the book (when I was seventeen) I felt as if I’d found my best friend. I still feel that way.

Are you a full-time writer or do you have a “day job?” What is your “day job”?

Right now, I’m teaching creative nonfiction at the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY), a ‘nerd camp’ I attended and adored when I was a teenager. It’s been a crazy-busy summer, but I love it here, and the students are amazing.

After CTY ends, I’m moving back to Ireland, where I’ve spent the last year writing and traveling as a full-time novelist. I will be working as a private tutor and freelance writer while I’m there, as well, and hopefully as an online writing teacher, too.

I also produce commercial videos for the horses my partner trains in Ireland, but that’s a very part- part-time job!

(And, oh yes, there will be horses in my next book, Mechanica—out with Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2015—which I’m currently editing.)

Why YA as opposed to some other genre?

C.S. Lewis wrote that “we read to know we are not alone.” I often felt alone as a child and teenager, and books were one of the most important ways for me to help myself through that. Helping other children and teens feel less alone is one of the most honorable goals I can imagine for any kind of work I do.

Besides that, children’s and YA books are about being brave and kind, about learning wisdom and love, about that journey into and through maturity that we all keep starting, and starting again, no matter how old we get. I think that’s why so many adults read YA: we’re never done coming of age.

Who’s your agent? Take this opportunity to brag on him/her if you’d like!

My agent is the utterly magnificent Sara Crowe, who is part of Harvey Klinger, Inc. I’m pretty sure she’s actually superhuman. She does so much for my work and for me, she has faith in me even when I don’t, and besides all that, she’s a real kindred spirit, too. I can’t say enough good things about Sara.

Thank you for joining us, Betsy! Best of luck with TIDES!

Shout-Out! Saturdays welcomes Lit-Up Review!

THANK YOU, Emily Rasmussen and Lit-Up Review for joining us today on Shout-Out! Saturdays! Emily has two sites:
www.foreverliterary.blogspot.com and www.litup-review.com

Welcome, Emily! You're a quite well-known blogger. Did you ever think that your blog would grow like it has, when you began?  To what do you attribute your success?

Lit Up Review has grown much more quickly than I expected! The expansion of my personal book blog, Forever Literary, has been slower, so I expected this new project to gain popularity at a similar pace, but we have received so much love from the blogging community already. Although we are not even two months old, I can tell the fact that we all have different blogging talents has helped a lot; I am our head copy editor (a task on which I am sometimes running behind), Meredith makes us pretty banners, and Willa and Erin led the brainstorming for our feature names. We each have different strengths, and when we combine them, we can form one site that exhibits all we collectively have to offer.

What's your favorite part of being a book blogger?

My favorite part of being a book blogger is absolutely the community. I started blogging because I do not know anyone in person who reads YA as voraciously as I do, and I wanted to find individuals with whom I could discuss books, count down the days until an upcoming release, and unveil the bookish side of myself in general. So far, I have not been disappointed. I have yet to talk to anyone who is less than welcoming and friendly, and I have made a few amazing friends and readers who actually care about my opinion on various novels. It is incredible.

If you could wiggle your nose and have four hours to spend with any author, who would it be, and what would you most want to talk about?

Tahereh Mafi, especially if I could meet her mom as well. We would probably talk about the most random and obscure things, but I would make it a point to converse about shoes.

What's your favorite book of all time, and why is it your favorite?

Um, well, my favorite book of the past few months is Shatter Me, which makes sense given my response to the last question. With its structured and suspenseful plot, unstable main character, and writing gorgeous enough to give me goosebumps, it is as close to perfect as a novel can get.

What is the most important thing you would like YA authors to know about approaching you for a blog tour stop or a book review?

I'd like them to know that I love hearing from them, as long as the thing being pitched fits within my review policy. I have received some weird review requests for items that do not even relate to young adult literature, but as long as I can see they spent more than two seconds on one of my sites, I am always honored that they contacted me.

Thanks, Emily! You do great work connecting those who write YA with those who love it.

SHOUT-OUT! Saturdays welcomes Tabatha Perry, Young Adult Librarian at Montgomery County Memorial Library System and President of the Montgomery County Book Festival!

It is truly an honor to welcome Tabatha Perry to Shout-Out! Saturdays. Thanks so much for joining us, Tabatha! Did you always want to be a teen librarian? What attracted you to the career more than anything else?

No, I wanted to be a teacher, but after two years, I realized it wasn't a great fit for me professionally.  I became a reader-addict in college and found that I got the most satisfaction out of sharing a good book with a friend and having them come back to me and want more to read.  I realized I could do this for kids too, so I changed professions!  (Besides, I'm just a teen at heart!)

 What is your favorite part of being a teen librarian?

When a parent comes to me and says they have a reluctant reader, I see it as a challenge.  Nothing is more rewarding than putting a book in a child's hand and having them come back and tell you how much they enjoyed it!

If you had unlimited funds and the ability to acquire anything you wanted for your program, what would it be?

I would have a separate two level room just for teen activities.  Downstairs, I would have a gaming system set up, state of the art, with all the latest games.  I would have a bank of 6-12 computers just for use by teens, and for teen programs, such as gaming parties.  I would have a foosball table, a ton of board games, and tables and comfortable seating set about the area.  This would be a gathering place for teens.  Casual and fun.  A spiral staircase would lead to the second floor part of the room.  The second floor would be an area to read, or study in small groups.  It would have several booths along the one wall and comfy movable seating in the rest of the room.  It would also have a giant screen and a digital projector so that movies could be shown in the room and teen programs could be held in this room.

What do you find gets teens really excited about a book or series?

Honestly, having to wait for it to come out makes them more interested in it.  The anticipation just makes them more eager to get their hands on the book.  Also, as we all know, a movie or television show of the book will always gather more readers.

What do you think is the most important thing that YA authors can do to connect to your teen patrons?

I would say, talk to them as much as you can.  They really enjoy getting to know about you.  It grounds them somehow.  It makes reading YOUR books more important to them.  Tweet with them, Facebook with them, respond to their emails.  When they get a sense of who you are, they will read everything you have written and beg for more.  You are their rock stars!