Holly Cupala's Blog, page 16

YA Bloggers Want...Amazing YA Movies: Book Crazy

Today I welcome Jenn from Book Crazy to talk about what she'd like to see in YA, and she had a surprise for me - great YA movies!

I grew up with John Hughes movies, so I fully admit to loving YA movies done well. And who wouldn't want to see their novel come to life on the silver screen? (Or, if you're S.E. Hinton, Laurie Halse Anderson, Rachel Cohn or David Levithan, getting to cameo??)

Jenn is here to make her case for YA movies done well.

Welcome, Jenn!

*****

It's nothing new to have a book turned into a movie, we have all seen it done a thousand times before - a director or producer reads a book or sees the hype surrounding one, and thinks, "Hey wouldn't it be great to see this on the big screen, after all, look how well Harry Potter and Twilight did."

And while, on one hand, I think it's amazing, especially for the authors - being contacted about movie rights to your book would be like icing on the best cake ever made, right? Not to mention seeing your work in lights, seeing actors portray characters you dreamed up, seeing your "world" created right there in front of your eyes.

But, here's the kicker – what about the fans of the book?

As a young adult book lover, I covet books, relish the stories with in them, they are my escape from the world, my secret hiding place, if you will...

And the thought of them being turned into the next "big movie" is scary, to me....it's not that I don't want these amazing stories to get their place in the sun, I do! I LOVE the idea of seeing the "world" that is within the pages of books like The Light of Asteria or Promise. Or to see the intensity of the character interactions in books like Tell Me A Secret and Amy & Roger's Epic Detour. Or even to see exactly how things fit together and unfold in books like Birthmarked and Paranormalcy.

BUT....

Had I not read Twilight before I saw the movie, I am not sure I would EVER picked it up...um hello – stalker, broody, vamp guy after a beautiful human girl, who is like a drug to said vamp guy? Not to mention that they seem to fall in love, how? In the whole movie, which is 120 minutes long, I think Bella and Edward probably "talked" for all of what, like 5 minutes – how does one fall in love with 5 minutes worth of conversation?

So, while I am THRILLED that these books are getting the recognition they deserve, I am worried too – I don't want these amazing works of fiction to lose what makes them unique and beautiful to me, just so I can see what some director thinks the "set" should look like or what some producer sees as the perfect heroine!

So, I urge you - directors, producers, screenwriters and movie people – if you are going to take our beloved Young Adult novels and make them into movies, do it right, not fast! Please, do it while keeping the integrity of the work!

*****

Hear hear. Thank you, Jenn!

Readers, what YA books would you like to see as movies?
What YA movies do you think have been done well, and which ones did you think were terrible? Would you read the book after seeing the movie, even if you didn't like it?

Comment below for a chance to win yummy book prizes! (US addresses only, one comment/post to be entered.)

YA Bloggers Want...Empowered Girls: Market My Words

[image error] Shelli from Market My Words - YA writer, marketing queen, and blogger extraordinaire - is on the blog today to chat about what she'd like to see on the YA shelf.

I can't even remember now how I started following Shelli and her blog, but I was lucky enough to get to meet her in person at BEA 2010 and be interviewed for her blog (curious about how I met my agent, working with readergirlz, or the secrets behind TMAS sale? Shelli has the answers!).

Then check out what Shelli has to say about strong girl characters and comment below to enter to win prizes...

Welcome, Shelli!

*****

I love reading children's books. In fact, I reralized recently that I never read an adult book and trust me - my friends kid me about all the time. There is so much I especially love about YA. Maybe its because it was the most memorable time for me. So many things going on at once. First dates, boyfriends, first experiences, first dances, first car, first job. All those moments combined with the crazy awkward things that impact you so much at the time. I must say that I am ready for shift in YA. I'd like to see more empowered girls in YA. Ones who are not afraid to be strong and independent. One that can kick A%$ all on their own with no help from a man. Ones who know what they are about even though every else in school may doubt them. I'd even love to see girls saving guys for once. You know - the modern day wonder woman. I think it is important to have relatable YA chacarters that teens can relate to but it is to also crtical to have strong girl protagonists that have good familes, dont care what people think, and arent revolving around guys. Girl characters to show us all the possibilities of who and what they can become.Those girls exist, we just don't know much about them.

Shelli's Picks:
Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan (amazing writing and strong girl characters)
The Body Finder series by Kimberly Derting (I love great ya thrillers!)
Devil's Kiss series by Sarwat Chadda (bad a%% girl characters)

*****

Thank you, Shelli!

Readers, what do you think makes a girl character strong?
Independence? Wit? Strength or skill? (I'm reminded of my favorite line from Xena: Warrior Princess: "I have many skills.") Comment for a chance to win this week's book prizes, plus a chance to win the big prize! (US addresses only, one comment/post.)

This What YA Bloggers Want series is in honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month!

YA Bloggers Want...Raw Emotions: Addicted 2 Novels

I'm very pleased to introduce you to the lovely Lena of Addicted 2 Novels today. Lena had the nicest things to say about TMAS, which is how I learned of her and her fantastic book blog. I'm very grateful for her kind words!

I hope you all enjoy what she has to say about raw emotions and what makes her lose herself in a book - and don't forget prizes...

Welcome, Lena!

*****

What I look for in books are raw emotions and realistic, yet dreamy characters. I love a book that can make me cry. If it can bring me to tears, it's a winner. How many times have you read a book and felt like these fictional characters really existed? How tears have you shed because the main character in the book you're reading just got her heart broken? And how many times have you secretly wished for your very own Jace Wayland or Peeta Mellark? I know I wish for my own baker's son at least, oooooh, once or twice a day. The point I'm getting at is, if you can relate and lose yourself in a book, it's a keeper. Let's face it, there's no better journey than the one a magnificent author can take you on.

Top 5 Books (and this was really tough):
Going Too Far by Jennifer Echols
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowlings
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater


*****

Lena, thank you for stopping by to chat about what you'd like to see on the YA shelf!

Readers, what makes you lose yourself in a book?
Do raw emotions draw you into a story? Comment for a chance to win this week's book prizes, plus a chance to win the grand prize! (more about that soon...but of course it involves books...what else?)(prizes shipped to US addresses only, one comment/post. Thanks!)

Oh and btw, this What YA Bloggers Want series is in honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month - hooray for YA!

YA Bloggers Want...More Diversity: Colleen Mondor of Bookslut & Chasing Ray

Today I'm very pleased to welcome Colleen Mondor, book blogger at Chasing Ray and Bookslut, whose candid reviews and opinions always provide food for thought. She's the gal who bravely says what others might be thinking, and we stand up and cheer for her honesty.

Welcome, Colleen!

*****

For my column at Bookslut I am constantly looking for more YA with broad appeal. The overwhelming number of books I receive have Caucasian female protagonists and I'd love to see something different. I want mo re books with male protags, more multi ethnic casts and more GBLTQ characters (of any gender or ethnicity). I'd also love - LOVE - if there were more teen mysteries. I have no idea why this genre falls off the face of the earth for YA as MG mysteries are so popular. I'd also like to know when SF meant dystopian only and pine - absolutely pine - for some good space opera.

And don't even get me started about vamp titles. The less said about the black & purple covers, the better.

My top faves?

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes
Empress of the World by Sara Ryan
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
The Explosionist by Jenny Davidson

All of them took chances with these books and I think they accomplished wonderful things. (And boo on you for only letting me choose 5!!!)

*****

Can't get enough of Colleen? Check out her fabulous blog series, What a Girl Wants: on bad girls, books we can't forget, telling the truth and more.

Thank you, Colleen!

Readers, what kind of diversity would you like to see in YA lit?
Each comment is a chance to win this week's prizes, plus the mondo What YA Bloggers Want prize pack at the end. Hooray for books!
(US addresses only, one comment/day)

Story Secrets: BLUE FIRE by Janice Hardy + Giveaway!

Once in a while, we fly into fantasy around here - rare, I know, but I do love fantasy, especially when I'm in the middle of writing something contemporary and want to escape into a completely different world.

Janice Hardy is here to chat about her new fantasy YA, BLUE FIRE: THE HEALING WARS Book II. (You can browse an excerpt of Book I: THE SHIFTER here.) Way back in the D&D and fantasy game days, I used to always love to play a healer. So I find the premise of Janice's books, the dark consequences of healing gifts, to be quite fascinating. I hope you will, too. So I'm giving away an ARC of BLUE FIRE that I picked up in my travels! Details below.

Welcome, Janice!

*****
THE HEALING WARS is the story of Nya, a war orphan who has the unique ability to heal by shifting pain from person to person. She's forced to use that ability to save her sister in book one, and ends up being drawn into a growing rebellion against the ruler currently oppressing her people and the surrounding lands in book two. BLUE FIRE is the sequel to THE SHIFTER, and it follows Nya as she deals with the consequences of saving her younger sister in the first book, and her discovery that her city isn't the only one being oppressed. And of course, things go horribly, horribly wrong.

The Making of THE HEALING WARS Years ago I was playing with different common fantasy ideas, trying to turn them on their heads to find something new. I started thinking about healing and how you rarely see any consequences associated with it. It made me wonder if there could be a darker side to it, and if something always portrayed as good could be bad. That led to the idea of buying and selling pain, and how a society like that would work. The rest developed from the world building. I created the culture first, then thought about who would suffer the most in this world. That was Nya.

"The Pain Takers" idea and how it grew:
It was probably seven or eight years ago now that this idea first hit me. I did a ten-page outline called "The Pain Takers" about a boy who could shift pain, and the evil pain merchants who were after him. The story was terrible, so I stuffed it in a drawer and forgot all about it. Years later I was at the Surrey International Writer's Conference and the presenters there were stressing fresh, original ideas. I was pitching a Prophecy Quest Novel #4 at the time, which was not very original. When I got home, I dug through my old idea file looking for something fresh, and found that outline. It was still just as bad as I remembered, but the idea of pain shifting stuck with me. I took that basic idea and started world building, and a year later I had a novel and an agent. I think it was a great example of the right idea at the wrong time, because I hadn't learned what I needed to about writing yet to make that idea work. But when I was ready, I found it again and everything fell into place.

Ideas and Inspiration My inspiration comes from all kinds of little things more than one big one. I'll read a great story and it makes me want to write something that gives others the same feeling that story gave me. Or I'll see a movie where they use color in an amazing storytelling way and it makes me want to try something with setting. I was once inspired by a groundhog sticking its head out of a storm drain and wrote an entire short story, and even got a whole novel idea just recently from thinking up different words for "bar" for something in Shifter III. Inspiration is everywhere all the time.

The Writing Process
I'm going to use both THE SHIFTER and BLUE FIRE here since they make a great example of how every book is different. THE SHIFTER took six months to write the first draft, then three months of editing before I got my agent. We did a few rounds of edits after that (rewrote the ending twice), but it was an astonishingly easy book to write. BLUE FIRE took 15 months to write, I rewrote it from scratch five times, and we went through three more rewrites once I finally gave it to my editor. It was the hardest thing I've ever written in my life. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, period. Everyone told me second books are hard to do, and the middle book of a trilogy is the hardest thing to write, which helped a lot when I wanted to tear my hair out. BLUE FIRE was a nightmare, but it was a great learning experience and now I'm glad to have done it.

Very little of the plot changed for THE SHIFTER, though the plot was constantly changing for BLUE FIRE. But the story itself never did. Nya has the same story arc I came up with when I wrote the first book (and wasn't sure if I'd sell the whole trilogy). The story definitely evolved though, and I've learned a lot about who Nya is and how big a role she and her family played in the history of the book's world. It's deepened considerably, which is a lot of fun. Small details that seemed like throwaway details in the first book became critical in books two and three. None of that was planned, it just sort of happened, but when you look at it, it couldn't have unfolded any other way.

Story secrets? Hmmm.... let's just say that there are a lot of secrets being kept in THE SHIFTER and a few of them are revealed in BLUE FIRE. One character in particular, has been lying to us.

***** Thanks for stopping by and telling us about your process, Janice! Janice has a HEALING WARS blog for all things shifty, plus she also has a terrific writing blog, The Other Side of the Story. NOW, FOR THE GIVEAWAY: Ok, readers, you know the drill. For a chance to win my ARC of BLUE FIRE, comment below about one of the following: a) why you'd like to read it, b) what you might do with a healing gift or c) what kind of consequences you imagine a healing gift might have. Comments close Monday at midnight!

The making of the TELL ME A SECRET trailer

Since our trailer is a finalist in the SLJ Trailie Awards (woohoo!!!), Fiction Notes blogger, children's author, and Book Trailer Manual author Darcy Pattison invited me over to her blog to chat about the making of the TELL ME A SECRET trailer!

Here's the link for the interview, and here's the trailer:

If you haven't already, please head on over to the SLJ Trailie Awards site to vote for your faves! Voting is open until October 22nd. Thank you, wonderful people!

YA Bloggers Want...To Think and Feel: Andye at Reading Teen

How lucky am I to be able to feature Andye of Reading Teen, who is not only a smart and savvy blogger of teen lit but also a mom of an equally smart and savvy teen daughter (and a voracious reader!). I had the pleasure of meeting both of them at BEA 2010.

Andye has been especially supportive of my writing, and she also blogs for the very cool site Parental Book Reviews. I'm thrilled to be able to welcome her now to chat about her favorite genres and what makes them stand out.

Welcome, Andye!

*****

Hey, Holly! Thanks so much for asking me to join in this discussion! I know that most people have a favorite kind of book, but I find it very hard to narrow down. There are so many different types of books that I love. My favorites include books from Fantasy, Horror, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Dystopia, Contemporary Fiction, and Chick Lit! How's that for narrowing it down?

I tend to be "in the mood" for a different type of book every day. I think what it comes down to for me is this: Is the writing original and moving, and did the book make me really think or feel? I love when I can tell that a book was well thought out. Harry Potter immediately comes to mind! I would love to see more books on the YA shelves that really make you think. Whether it's a mystery to be solved, or something that might apply to your own life or the world around you.

My favorites?
In each of the categories listed above: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan, Paranormalcy by Kiersten White, Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare, Delirium by Lauren Oliver, Tell Me a Secret by....hmm....someone, I forget...., and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

*****

Thank you, Andye! (And I promise, I did not pay Andye to say nice things about TMAS! :)

Readers, what books have made you really think or feel? Share your faves! Each comment is a chance to win this week's prizes, plus the mondo What YA Bloggers Want prize pack at the end. Whee!
(US addresses only, one comment/day)

YA Bloggers Want...Universal Stories, Great Storytelling, and Taboos: Darcy Pattison

Author Darcy Pattison, who generously shares her writing wisdom and experience at her blog, Fiction Notes, drops by today to share some gems about what she'd like to see on the YA shelf - universal stories.

(And by the way, Darcy also tipped me off that the TELL ME A SECRET trailer is a finalist in School Library Journal's first Trailie Awards! Hooray! Go check it out and vote!)

Without further ado, I welcome Darcy - and don't forget to comment for a chance to win this week's prizes!

*****

I'm tired of vampires, self-centered & affected voices instead of great storytelling, time-shifted stories, and repeated cliches of romance and fantasy. I love books that give both sides of an issue as fairly as possible, while focusing on great storytelling. We need books set in a wider variety of places, times, cultures, and locales that still have a universal feel. I'd love to see some great new science fiction, some innovative stories set in rural or smaller metropolitan areas, and characters that make me weep and cry. And a comfortable, interesting mystery series with a great new teen detective that keeps me turning the pages. And who will finally break the last great taboo of children's literature, religion?


Darcy's YA Faves:

The Adoration of Jenna F ox by Mary E. Pearson (see what Darcy says about it here)
I am the Messenger by Marcus Zuzak
Heart of a Shepherd by Roseanne Parry

*****

Thank you, Darcy! (And another vote for Jenna Fox, which also happens to be one of my faves! The audiobook is amazing.)

Readers, what do you think makes a book universal? What subjects are still taboo?
Don't forget to comment for a chance to win this week's prize pack! Hooray!
(shipping to US addresses only, one comment/post - thanks!)

Ooh, and quick TMAS trailer plug - I'm so excited to be an SLJ finalist! What an honor.

YA Bloggers Want...A Lasting Impression: The Story Siren

To kick of the What YA Bloggers Want series (plus prizes!!!), I have veteran book blogger Kristi from The Story Siren here to chat about the genres she adores...as long as they leave a lasting impression.

I'm especially excited to welcome Kristi because she was one of the very first bloggers to talk about TELL ME A SECRET in her 2010 Debut Author Challenge, so I'm not only grateful, but I'm very happy to turn the spotlight over to her and her amazing book blog. And I was so lucky to get to meet Kristi in person at the 2010 Teen Author Carnival.

Welcome, Kristi!

*****
[image error] I love all genres. I'm still firmly riding the paranormal train, choooo-chooo! It seems like the majority of titles hitting the shelves are paranormal these days, but... I. LOVE. IT. And the genre has especially exploded in Young Adult literature after the popularity of Twilight. (I guess that's one good thing that sparkly vampire book has made happen, perhaps the only good thing.)

Although my bookshelves and reading piles may be packed with those paranormal titles, I enjoy reading other genres. In fact, the majority of my top favorites aren't the paranormal genre at all......

Top five favorite YA novels:

1. Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
2. The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
3. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
4. Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
5. Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert

Honestly.... these probably change periodically, but usually contemporary fiction always tops my list. I'm not sure exactly why that is. A book that leaves a lasting emotional impression on me, is something that I find hard to forget, and all of the books listed above did that.

A genre/subject that I would love to see more in Yound Adult listerature is historical fiction with elements of magic. Two great examples that I can think of off the top of my head are The Gemma Doyle series by Libba Bray and the Leland Sisters series by Marissa Doyle. I love both of those series and I would love to have more of those types of novels.

*****
Thank you, Kristi!

Oh, wait, you want to win prizes?!
Are you a blogger, a reader, a writer, or any/all of the above? Then tell us what you think! Every comment throughout October gets a chance to win the weekly prize (prize post coming later this week), plus a big mondo prize pack at the end of the month. So comment away!

(one comment per post to be counted toward prize, shipping to US addresses only)

Happy YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month!

What YA Bloggers Want

Hey, YA authors and hopefuls out there - this one's for you!

In honor of YALSA's Teen Read Week and National Book Month in October, I invited a bunch of my favorite bloggers to tell me what they'd like to see on the YA shelf. You won't believe the amazing lineup! From teens and college students to librarians to adult readers.

Oooh, and of course, a graphic. You know how much I love those.


Feel free to snag it and spread the word, and I hope you come back to chat about what you want to see on the YA shelf, too!