Holly Cupala's Blog, page 14
October 26, 2010
Tomorrow Night: Inside Story!!
I'm ridiculously happy to be taking part in this year's Inside Story, a Seattle-area book party put on by SCBWI Western WA to showcase new releases by local authors.
Do you know why I'm excited?! Because I've been an SCBWI member for ten years...and this is the first time I get to participate as an author! It's one of those goals I've always had as a writer, and I can hardly believe the day has come. I'm even more excited that the theme is HOPE. Yes. Come join us tomorrow night at 6:30 PM at Parkplace Books in Kirkland (directions) to see this fabulous lineup talk about the "story behind the stories":
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October 25, 2010
YA Bloggers Want...A Genre Worthy of Obsession: Eve's Fan Garden
I'm very excited to host Gypsy Wings today for What YA Bloggers Want...also known as Gypsy Rae Photography, also known as Georgia Cranston!Georgia is an artist, a writer, a mama, a book blogger at Eve's Fan Garden, a Twilight Mom, and has been a friend to readergirlz since the very beginning.
Check out her Esty shop, her website, and her amazing photostream to find out more about this one-of-a-kind shining star who is here to chat with us today about genres and obsessions. (We all have them, right?)
Welcome, Georgia!
*****
It's kinda funny. What I want out of YA books tends to change on a pretty regular basis. For a while I was deeply DEEPLY in love with all things paranormal and fantasy. My obsession with those lasted for a few months and then I wanted contemporary, real life stories, and now? Now I want dystopian and post-apocalyptic stories. I am sure that sometime in the near future I will see something shiny and new and become obsessed once again.But with ALL of the books available to me, what I really want are characters who are well written, a story that I can believe in, and something that makes me think, or
somehow inspires me, or makes me want to be better. And if it is not the kind of book that is intended to inspire, what I want is a story that sucks me in with the writing and maybe has a good love triangle... Because really, who doesn't love a good love triangle?
My favorite YA books
The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
The Study Series and Glass Series by Maria V. Snyder
Matched by Ally Condie
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
*****
Thanks for stopping by and telling us about your faves, Georgia! And in case you didn't know, Georgia is the genius artist behind the Tell Me a Secret handmade necklace I gave away for the TMAS launch party a few months ago. Isn't it gorgeous?
Readers, what genre do you obsess over? Have your obsessions changed over time or do you mainly stick with one genre? What would it take for you to take a peek at something else? Tell us in the comments for a chance to win this week's prize!
The What YA Bloggers Want series celebrates YA lit for YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month!
October 22, 2010
Mindi Scott's Freefall party!
On Sunday I put on my sparkly sweater and headed out to Mindi Scott's FREEFALL launch party at Third Place Books and came home with a stack(!) of signed books...
...alas, none of them were FREEFALL, because Mindi sold out! (Hooray, Mindi!)
But I did get to hear Mindi read from the book and hang out later with lots of cool Northwest authors - here I am with Denise Jaden (LOSING FAITH), Mindi, Kimberly Derting (THE BODY FINDER), Karen Kincy (OTHER), and Mandy Hubbard (YOU WISH):
I'm really sorry I missed Phoebe Kitanidis (WHISPER), who was kind enough to come to my Tell Me a Secret party last July even though she didn't know me from Adam. Plus I would have come home with five books! Next time, Phoebe.
Mindi contributed to my author secrets video, plus you can check out her Story Secrets interview here!
...alas, none of them were FREEFALL, because Mindi sold out! (Hooray, Mindi!)
But I did get to hear Mindi read from the book and hang out later with lots of cool Northwest authors - here I am with Denise Jaden (LOSING FAITH), Mindi, Kimberly Derting (THE BODY FINDER), Karen Kincy (OTHER), and Mandy Hubbard (YOU WISH):
I'm really sorry I missed Phoebe Kitanidis (WHISPER), who was kind enough to come to my Tell Me a Secret party last July even though she didn't know me from Adam. Plus I would have come home with five books! Next time, Phoebe.
Mindi contributed to my author secrets video, plus you can check out her Story Secrets interview here!
October 21, 2010
Story Secrets: AVIELLE OF RHIA by Dia Calhoun!
Winners of previous Story Secrets giveaways...
BLUE FIRE by Janice Hardy: Janine (Squee)THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE by Liz Gallagher: Cheyenne (PageTurnersBlog)LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden: Lost in Believing
Contact me here to claim your prize!
*******
I'm very excited to get to chat with rgz co-founder and award-winning fantasy author Dia Calhoun today about her YA fantasy novel, AVIELLE OF RHIA!
Dia has the soul of fantasy as well as amazing storytelling skills (plus she always has gorgeous covers, don't you think?).
Dia is here to tell us about the stories behind her fantasies, writing as a way of working through grief, and her next project.
Welcome, Dia!
*****
Avielle of Rhia is about a princess who overcomes grief and fear after a deadly attack kills her family, and comes into her power as queen by learning to face her fears and love her people.
Dia Calhoun, on the story behind the story:
AVIELLE OF RHIA was directly inspired by the 9/11 and its aftermath. At first the story was too directly tied to 9/11. I had people waving the flags of Rhia and shopping after the attack to stimulate the economy. I had twin towers. All of that had to go, the story took awhile to find its own form and truth.
After 9/11, I was unable to write at ALL. I was frozen with fear. One day, about six weeks afterwards, I was reading a story about a magic cloak. And I thought, "I wish I had a magic cloak to keep myself safe." A light bulb flashed in my mind. I decided to write a novel about a girl who weaves a magic cloak to keep herself safe. I realized that writing was the only was I would find my way through the dark tunnel of fear and grief I was in. And that writing was an act of courage.
Dia, on writing inspiration:
I would say that place is one of my biggest inspirations. Settings give me ideas for stories. I should really travel more, I think!
Dia, on stories taking shape:
The story went through several drafts, but didn't really come into its own until I came up with the idea of the birds. Avielle's great great grandmother, Dolvoka killed all the birds in Rhia through magic. Because Avielle looks like her, everyone thinks she is doomed to follow in her great great grandmother's evil footsteps. Birds became an image of light, spirit, and freedom. Then the book really took flight.
Dia, sharing secrets:
All my novels come from some emotional truth in my life. My secret is to mine all the secrets of my heart and then find ways to take that raw metal and polish it into gold.
What's next?
My next novel is EVA OF THE FARM, a middle grade novel due out from Atheneum in Sprint 2012. Big surprise: It is NOT a fantasy. I t is my first contemporary novel. It is in verse, which I love. Lorie Ann Grover, verse novelist, read a bunch of old poems I wrote about my family's orchard, called the Farm. She encouraged me to write a verse novel about the Farm. My fantasy novels FIREGOLD and WHITE MIDNIGHT were both inspired by the Farm, and I thought I would never have another novel about it. But writing a contemporary verse novel gave me a new angle and voice. Thank you, Lorie Ann!
And thank you, Holly, for the interview!
*****
Thank you, Dia!
Readers, have you been inpsired by tragic events in your life? Have you found strength in hard times? Have you thought about writing fantasy or verse novels? (Personally, I would love to see some fantasies in verse.)
BLUE FIRE by Janice Hardy: Janine (Squee)THE OPPOSITE OF INVISIBLE by Liz Gallagher: Cheyenne (PageTurnersBlog)LOSING FAITH by Denise Jaden: Lost in Believing
Contact me here to claim your prize!
*******
I'm very excited to get to chat with rgz co-founder and award-winning fantasy author Dia Calhoun today about her YA fantasy novel, AVIELLE OF RHIA!Dia has the soul of fantasy as well as amazing storytelling skills (plus she always has gorgeous covers, don't you think?).
Dia is here to tell us about the stories behind her fantasies, writing as a way of working through grief, and her next project.
Welcome, Dia!
*****
Avielle of Rhia is about a princess who overcomes grief and fear after a deadly attack kills her family, and comes into her power as queen by learning to face her fears and love her people.Dia Calhoun, on the story behind the story:
AVIELLE OF RHIA was directly inspired by the 9/11 and its aftermath. At first the story was too directly tied to 9/11. I had people waving the flags of Rhia and shopping after the attack to stimulate the economy. I had twin towers. All of that had to go, the story took awhile to find its own form and truth.
After 9/11, I was unable to write at ALL. I was frozen with fear. One day, about six weeks afterwards, I was reading a story about a magic cloak. And I thought, "I wish I had a magic cloak to keep myself safe." A light bulb flashed in my mind. I decided to write a novel about a girl who weaves a magic cloak to keep herself safe. I realized that writing was the only was I would find my way through the dark tunnel of fear and grief I was in. And that writing was an act of courage.
Dia, on writing inspiration:
I would say that place is one of my biggest inspirations. Settings give me ideas for stories. I should really travel more, I think!
Dia, on stories taking shape:
The story went through several drafts, but didn't really come into its own until I came up with the idea of the birds. Avielle's great great grandmother, Dolvoka killed all the birds in Rhia through magic. Because Avielle looks like her, everyone thinks she is doomed to follow in her great great grandmother's evil footsteps. Birds became an image of light, spirit, and freedom. Then the book really took flight.
Dia, sharing secrets:
All my novels come from some emotional truth in my life. My secret is to mine all the secrets of my heart and then find ways to take that raw metal and polish it into gold.
What's next?
My next novel is EVA OF THE FARM, a middle grade novel due out from Atheneum in Sprint 2012. Big surprise: It is NOT a fantasy. I t is my first contemporary novel. It is in verse, which I love. Lorie Ann Grover, verse novelist, read a bunch of old poems I wrote about my family's orchard, called the Farm. She encouraged me to write a verse novel about the Farm. My fantasy novels FIREGOLD and WHITE MIDNIGHT were both inspired by the Farm, and I thought I would never have another novel about it. But writing a contemporary verse novel gave me a new angle and voice. Thank you, Lorie Ann!
And thank you, Holly, for the interview!
*****
Thank you, Dia!
Readers, have you been inpsired by tragic events in your life? Have you found strength in hard times? Have you thought about writing fantasy or verse novels? (Personally, I would love to see some fantasies in verse.)
October 20, 2010
rgz LIVE! twitter chat with Laini Taylor tonight!!!
Over at readergirlz, we're celebrating LIPS TOUCH THREE TIMES and our amazing featured author Laini Taylor!
Join us tonight on twitter at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern for a goblin-fruited, secret love-infused, fabulous rgz LIVE! chat!
You won't want to miss this final monthly chat - we're rolling out a whole new format in November, which you can read about here!
Join us tonight on twitter at 6pm Pacific/9pm Eastern for a goblin-fruited, secret love-infused, fabulous rgz LIVE! chat!
You won't want to miss this final monthly chat - we're rolling out a whole new format in November, which you can read about here!
YA Bloggers Want...Prizes!
Ok, so all this time I've been talking about prizes, but I haven't told you what the prizes are...so I made a little video! (Pardon the shaky hand, this was DIY with my phone.)
So right now we have some books to give away to...
Gabrielle Carolina!
Jess Day!
Winners, contact me here with your first, second, and third choice for a book prize and include your info. I'll hold prizes for two weeks.
By the way, the blogger response was so huge to contribute to this series that I'm spreading them out a bit into November so I don't have to try to cram them all into October for YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month. The good news? More prizes! Keep commenting to win!
And big thanks to everyone for their posts. The discussion has been great so far on what you'd like to see on the YA shelf. Thanks for continuing the conversation!
October 19, 2010
Event Alert: I'm getting out of the house! Woohoo!
Ok, so maybe that's a little dramatic - I do get out once in a while, though this Saturday is one of my first public events to talk about TELL ME A SECRET!I'm teaming up with ADIOS, NIRVANA author Conrad Wesselhoeft for the Teen Read Week festivities at Third Place Books/Lake Forest Park store in Seattle. We'll be reading, talking about YA, giving away cool stuff, signing books, and generally making a ruckus up there in Third Place's really cool booktalk space.
Saturday, October 23rd at 4:30 pm
Third Place Books - Lake Forest Park
7171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
Directions
I'm thinking about reinstating my pink streak for the occasion. What do you all think? If I go pink, will you come? ;-)
YA Bloggers Want...Fire and Friction: Bookalicious
Pam from Bookalicious is here today to continue the conversation on what YA bloggers want to see on their shelves, and who better to tell us what's hot than a gal with her finger on the pulse of teen lit?I first met Pam at the Teen Author Carnival event at BEA - she walked right up to me and introduced herself, making me feel completely welcome. Then when she was stopping in Seattle, we met up with blogger Sarah from Sarah's Random Musings and had a lot of fun talking about books. Then Pam surprised and honored me by including TMAS in her fantastic post, When Will I Grow Up and Read Adult Books?
I'm very excited to welcome Pam to my blog!
*****
There are several things wrong and several things right with the YA book scene at the moment. For one I don't need all the parental hate all the time. Doesn't some teen out there actually like their parents?I could also do without the love triangle all the time. I get tired of reading one girl with two cookie cutter guys vying for her undying teen love that we all know will last forever anyway right?
The boys in YA have become one dimensional. They are either evil or good, sexy or dorky with no real personality of their own. Just a checklist of stereotypes covered.
I want more action and adventure, I want more books I can recommend to teen boys. I want real love, not some weirdo thing with multiple boys lining up and down the block for our protagonist. Give me fire, friction, and real emotion.I have a favorite book right now, it's PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow (who has a stripper pole in her office, I mean win right?). It focuses on the character who has a hard life, and an even harder quest. She doesn't fall in love, there are no boys hounding her, she kept my attention without all of that. Check it out!
*****
Thanks, Pam!
Readers, are you tired of the typical YA conflicts? Love triangles? Parental hatred? One-dimensional characters? Are these staples of teen books easy ways to get the reader sucked into the story, or have they lost meaning? What kind of real emotional experience do you hunger for?
Comment to win real, awesome books! (US only, sorry, wonderful non-US people!)
This What YA Bloggers Want series is in honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month!
October 18, 2010
YA Bloggers Want...Pushing the Boundaries: Confessions of a Bookaholic
Super sweet Jessica of Confessions of a Bookaholic is here to talk about lighting fires...chemistry...ooh, and fun October events! She's even featuring TMAS at her blog today!! Crazy Halloween photos of me and my sweetie, podcast and more!I met Jessica during TMAS's travels through the blogosphere, and she has been a very lovely and kind supporter of me and the book (thank you, Jessica!). I am grateful, and happy to welcome her to What YA Bloggers Want!
*****
One of the goals I set up for myself early on in blogging was to venture away from the safe; to take chances with what books I read and enjoy the variety they offer. I have not been disappointed. Books like PERFECT CHEMISTRY by Simone Elkeles, FALLOUT by Ellen Hopkins, and, of course, TELL ME A SECRET by the lovely Holly Cupala, are just a few of the books that tackle important issues related to teen life.So what do I want to see on the YA self? Something that shocks me! A story that deals with reality and pushes the boundaries. I want to feel the emotions connected to the book and have the story stay with me long after the story has been read. Those stories: the ones of heartbreak, choices, romance, and the harsh realities of life, light my fire.
Top 5 YA books that have accomplished this:
1. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
2. Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
3. Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
4. The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
5. Tell Me A Secret by Holly Cupala
Thank you so much Holly for having me.
*****
Thank you, Jessica! And readers, you don't want to miss the fun month-long event going on over at Confessions of a Bookaholic and A Life Bound By Books.
"Haunted Halloween: True Tales of the Paranormal"
This event takes place October 1-31 on my blog as well as Lisa's at A Life Bound by Books. We are spotlight authors true scary stories. Yes, prepare to be scared! Along with this we will be giving away (so far) over 60 great YA books, as well as some amazing swag donating by authors and publishers for the event. Giveaways will be going on each week and some may test your ability to be scary and creative yourself. Be prepared for some special guests and a twitter party too. Come celebrate the True Tales of the Paranormal with us and your favorite YA authors.
(Oh, and you can comment below for a chance to win What YA Bloggers Want book prizes! US addresses only.)
October 17, 2010
Readergirlz Celebrates YALSA's Teen Read Week!
We've got the beat overat readergirlz!
We're celebrating YALSA's Teen Read Week 2010: Books with Beat
all next week over at the readergirlz blog.
We invite you to tell us about your favorite books,
chat with October featured author, Laini Taylor, about love and goblins,
and tell us who you'd love to see featured on the readergirlz blog.
Want to find out more about YALSA's Teen Read Week?
Check out the wiki here, and contact your local library
for events in your area!
Looking for a Book with Beat to read? More than 11,000 teens voted on the top ten reads in 2009.
Check out the winners of the Teens' Top Ten 2010, to be announced
October 18th at 11 a.m. Central!
The Beat Goes On......with readergirlz' awesome archive of spotlighted YA authors here. There is something for everyone!Then rock out to the official rgz playlist!
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Special thanks to my friend Kathryn, beautiful model for the latest rgz/TRW poster above. This is her third Teen Read Week poster for us. (You can see previous years here and here.) Thanks, Kathryn! And thanks to YALSA for creating Teen Read Week!
Readers, what are you doing to celebrate TRW?
