Kelly Fiore Stultz's Blog, page 3
July 6, 2014
The Strangers You Already Know
I’ve been asked the same question a lot in interviews – “Do you base your characters on real people in your life?” More recently, I was asked a version of that question from when I was a high school teacher – “Did you base any characters on students you taught?”
I always find this question sort of weird. There’s nothing wrong with it. I understand why people ask because, of course, there are living, breathing people around me every day and, seeing as I write books with people in them, how would I avoid writing versions of those individuals who are in my life?
The best way I can explain it is this – and bear with me, because this will probably be a little strange to hear.
My characters are my characters. They are already alive, in my brain. I don’t meet them all at once. When they surface, they tell their stories.
They are nothing like anyone else because they’re already defined. They’re as human and alive to me as my parents or my husband or my son.
So, when people ask me if a certain person or group of people, like students, inspire my characters, there is only one aspect of them that is always inspired by people I’ve encountered:
Names.
The names of my characters are always or almost always chosen deliberately and with some kind of connection to my past or current life. (This doesn’t apply to last names. For last names, I just pick a random letter and make a last name from it.)
For example, from Taste Test:
Nora: A friend’s daughter’s name, which I loved.
Christian: A name I’d always liked in childhood and dreamed about having a boyfriend/husband with said name
Giada (GiGi): If my son were a girl, we would have named him Giada.
Holden: Huge Salinger fan up in here.
Billy: I gravitate toward “y” names – Tommy, Joey, etc.
Speaking of Tommy…
In Just Like the Movies:
Lily: LOVE this name. Always have — and one of my dearest friend’s has a daughter named Lily.
Tommy: As I said before — like that “y” thing.
Joe: I really wanted to do “Joey” but I thought Joey and Tommy was just a little too much — a little too “we’re in the mob.”
Mac: A play on my son, Max’s, name.
And, most of all, Marijke.
When I write, I don’t ever – literally, ever – use my experience as a high school teacher to write the emotions of my characters. Actions? Sure — I didn’t have a cell phone in high school (although I did have a pager. It was awesome.) Things like social media and all that stuff has to be rooted in what I know about them, so, sure, my teaching experience comes in there.
But the actual drama and feelings is always based on my personal experience in high school because I, to a fault, can only write what I know.
So, when I decided I wanted to name a character after a girl I admired in high school, Marijke was my only choice.
We all have people we wanted to be like when we were younger. Although Marijke Morris (McMahon) was a year behind me, I was really envious of her. She was beautiful, sure, but she was also driven, yet carefree. People gravitated towards her. They loved her. She was sunny and hilarious and full of life.
When Marijke died, I remember being rocked by the news. That’s the only way I can describe it. We weren’t close in high school and I make no claims to her as a best friend or really even a close friend — we had friends in common and she was always very sweet to me. But her death was something that was impossible to reconcile with.
It was a few years later that I came up with the idea for Just Like the Movies and, in writing the details of the main character spinning in my head, a girl full of life and laughter and love, a girl committed to her sport and the people in her life, I knew that Marijke’s name would be a perfect fit. I felt the right thing to do would be to email her mother and ask for her blessing to use Marijke’s name. I’m fortunate that she was so incredibly gracious about that.
Marijke Monti, in my book, is deeply flawed — she goes through a necessary transformation. She relies too much on her boyfriend and her parents. By the end, she’s standing on her own and making her own decisions. That was my biggest challenge with writing my Marijke and attaching the “real” Marijke’s name — I couldn’t write a perfect character because the person living in my head wasn’t perfect. She grows and changes, like all of us do. She’s as human to me as you are.
Shakespeare has a sonnet (#18 if you care) whose rhyming couplet ends with, “ So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” It’s referring to the idea that a piece of writing can give life to someone long after they’re gone. I would never presume to say that Marijke lives because of my book. She lives in the memories of her friends and family and in the hearts of her twin daughters. However, I will say that, for me, this was a rewarding and cathartic experience. I felt blessed to be able to have such a happy and fulfilling muse to focus on as I wrote what will be my second published novel.
So, the answer to the original question – do I write about people I know or do people I know inspire my characters?
No. My characters are strangers until they surface in my mind. I have no control over that, unfortunately. But, as soon as they appear, I know them as well – inside and out – as I would a family member.
However, names are almost always influenced by an outside source.
If you’d like to learn more about Marijke’s story, please click the following links:
The Marijke Story Trailer (video)
In Honor of Her (A charitable organization established in Marijke’s memory)
July 3, 2014
Just Like the Movies Live Movie Tweet!
Just Like the Movies comes out in 19 days, y’all! And, in celebration of the big day, I’ll be hosting/sponsoring/kicking off a live movie tweet-fest on July 22nd!
I’m stoked to offer some great giveaways to people who participate!
2 (HB) Copies of Just Like the Movies
2 Just Like the Movies Key Chains
2 Just Like the Movies Charms
2 $10 Fandango Gift Cards
There’s no purchase required — just tweeting is involved.
So, here are the details –
On July 22nd at 8:00 pm EST, I’ll be watching She’s All That, a super-cute romantic comedy that is available to stream via Netflix and Amazon Prime. Throughout the movie, I’ll be tweeting lines and the actors. The goal is to have you watch along with me — but, if you know the movie and you aren’t able to get access to it, you can always participate through memory. 
The more you tweet, the greater your chances will be to win. I’ll be picking winners throughout the movie, so you’ll know by the end if you’ve won a giveaway!
Below, I’ve set up a signup sheet — in order to win one of the giveaways, you’ll need to pre-register so that I’ll have your email address. (I won’t be emailing you any nonsense — this is for giveaway purposes only. No newsletters or unsolicited mail will be involved.)
After signing up, please retweet and spread the word — the more you tweet about, the more chances you have to win!
May 29, 2014
School Library Journal loves JUST LIKE THE MOVIES!
Gr 7 Up–High school senior Marijke Monti is beautiful, popular, and an all-star track athlete dating Tommy Lawson, the most swoon-worthy boy in school. Lily Spencer is an extraordinary event planner and wallflower who is rarely recognized for her hard work let alone noticed by her forever crush, motocross-god Joe Lombardi. After a series of unfortunate events, the girls accidentally meet at The Coffee Grind and, after sharing their pain, form a pact: With Marijke’s impulsiveness and Lily’s impeccable organization, the girls will secure both boys as boyfriends and prom dates in the next three weeks.
Parallel with the girls’ failed and successful schemes is the breakdown of parental role models. Lily’s mom is in love with love and cannot keep a man and is probably to blame for her daughter’s fear of relationships; while Marijke’s parents were high school sweethearts who seem the epitome of true love until Marijke witnesses a series of arguments and finally the shock of divorce. Love isn’t always eternal, and that harsh truth is cleverly juxtaposed with the girls’ humorous schemes for the perfect ‘80s movie love story. Fiore’s latest novel is sweet enough to make readers want to revisit Lloyd Dobler’s iconic romance in the seminal teen film, Say Anything, and plan their own grand gestures of love.
–Jamie-Lee Schombs, Loyola School, New York City
May 22, 2014
JUST LIKE THE MOVIES Red Carpet Pre-Order Premiere!
What’s more exciting than a movie?
A movie premiere!
That’s why, for the next month and a half, we’re celebrating all things Red Carpet with some glamorous giveaways! And you want to know the best part?
EVERYONE’S A WINNER!
All preorders will receive JUST LIKE THE MOVIES pendants or key chains!
There are also four beauty hauls up for grabs, each worth between $25-$100:
1. Color, a makeup-centered set with everything you need to get Red Carpet Ready, including products by Make Up For Ever, Ulta, Perfekt, and Stila.
2. Sun, a summer-themed set with everything to protect and flaunt your gorgeous tan, including products from Lorac, Murad, Origins, and Tarte.
3. Pamper, a mixed bag of hair and skin care products meant to restore and spoil you, including products from Bumble and Bumble, Matrix, Tweezerman, and Marcelle.
4. Luxury, a carefully selected group of high end products, including products by Nars, Cynthia Rowley, Too Faced, Origins, Peter Thomas Roth, and Stila.
5. And one VERY LUCKY person will win a brand new Kindle Fire!
So, how do you enter?
All you have to do is pre-order JUST LIKE THE MOVIES!
It’s super easy – in fact, here are the links:
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/just-like-the-movies-kelly-fiore/1117011643?ean=9781619633544
Indiebound:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9781619633544
Then, send your proof-of-purchase and your mailing address to justlikethemovies2014@gmail.com.
Forwarding email confirmations works great, but if you go to your local bookstore and pre-order there, you can always just take a picture of your receipt! As long as it’s proof that you’ve purchased, you’re in good shape!
And that’s it! You’re entered for the makeup hauls and the Kindle! And everyone gets a keychain or pendent in the mail, no matter what, when they send proof of their preorder!
The last day for preorders entered into the beauty haul contest is July 9th. Winners names will be drawn on June 8th, 16th, 24th, 30th, and July 10th. However, you can still preorder up until July 21st and receive the free keychain or pendent! Just keep those emails and proofs of purchase coming!
How can you be entered more than once in the drawing?
Easy! First, you can pre-order more than one book! (JUST LIKE THE MOVIES makes a great gift, of course!)
Or you can tweet, tumble, Instagram or Facebook Post the following –
I just pre-ordered JUST LIKE THE MOVIES by Kelly Fiore! Order today and win – guaranteed!! http://bit.ly/1m2ByqY.
Then, tag Kelly’s Twitter (@kellyannfiore)
or
Facebook (www.facebook.com/KellyFioreYAAuthor)
or
Instagram (www.instagram.com/kellyannfiore)
or
or Tumblr (http://kellyfiore.tumblr.com) Make sure you tag Kelly so that she can count your entry twice!
JUST LIKE THE MOVIES officially “premieres” on July 22nd – but we all know that it’s walking the Red Carpet before the event that’s the most fun! Buy your copy of JUST LIKE THE MOVIES today and get ready to get glamorous!
*The “Fine Print” — winners must be in the Continental U.S. with a mailing address/P.O. Box in said region.*
May 16, 2014
The difference between Traditional and Self Publishing – Part Deaux
About nine months or so ago I did a post about this (which you can find here) but I wanted to update it. In the last year, I’ve learned far, far more about self-publishing and I’d like to expand my analysis.
Authors often get a lot of the same questions over and over. There’s nothing wrong with these questions. In fact, sometimes I really enjoy them — they’re the kind of questions I feel confident in answering. But I don’t usually feel that way about self-publishing questions, no matter how often people as me about self-publishing.
The questions I get most often are as follows:
1. Are you self-published? (No.)
2. Do you know anything about self-publishing? (Some.)
3. Would you recommend I self-publish? (Maybe.)
4. Would you (being me) ever self-publish? (Again, maybe.)
There are certainly other questions, but these are the big ones. And I know this is a topic of interest for people because my post about self-publishing from last summer still gets a lot of daily hits.
But my post from last year, frankly, isn’t particularly comprehensive. I mean, it’s somewhat informative, but I only discuss a couple of big differences between the two realms of publishing. Since self-publishing has become such a phenomenon, I figured I’d spend a little more time explaining the differences, or at least how I see the differences between the two.
So, what are the big differences between traditional publishing and self-publishing? I can break it down into four major points:
1. Promotion
2. People/ Connections
3. Expectations
4. Money
Now, please let me be clear — this is merely my opinion based on what I’ve seen and experienced. I have not self-published. I can only base my findings on what I’ve learned over the last six years in traditional publishing and through friends who have self-published. And each of these vary depending on experience, of course.
Okay – without further ado:
1. Promotion
This one is first and for good reason. When you are a self-published author, promotion is completely up to you. There is not marketing department or publicist who is going to back you up. There are no ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies) to send to bloggers and reviewers. There isn’t a blog tour set up for you. The only promotion is the promotion you plan.
That means you need to be friendly. Personable. Sometimes, it means you need to be a little pushy. If you’re like me, that sounds pretty daunting.
There are plenty of options out there for authors who are going the self-publishing route, but keep in mind that many of them cost money. Hiring a publicist costs — so does paying for a promoted book tour or Facebook ads, etc.
It’s true that, if anyone asks you for money to publish your book, you should run away — as fast as you can. But don’t think that you can enter the arena without having to pay for at least some of the promotional work. I’m traditionally published, but I have a publicist I’ve retained, I’ve purchased ads on Facebook, and I’m sure there are other things I will do in the future that cost money. However, I do not have to pay anyone to edit my work or send it to major reviewers and I don’t have to pay for a blog tour. Thus far, my publisher has taken care of all of that.
2. People/Connections
We don’t live in a bubble – but, sometimes, it feels like it when you’re a writer. You do the bulk of your work on your own – or perhaps with a co-writer, but still that’s often via email/online, not in person. You will see your family and your friends on occasion. If you have a day job, you see those people, too. But when it comes to the people you need to further your career, it’s hard to meet them and get them in your corner when you’re one of millions of people self-publishing your book.
There’s sort of a chain of command when it comes to publishing — you try to get an agent first and, once you have nabbed that agent, then the connections begin. Your agent, assuming they are worth their salt, will have relationships with editors and industry professionals (read – film/television agents, audio book companies, foreign rights reps, etc.) that will allow your career and your book to go further than it would on its own. It is very VERY hard to get access to these people if you don’t have an “in.” Your agent should be that in.
But, if you’re self publishing without an agent, you need to be realistic about how many people you need to get your book out to and how to get your book read. This goes back to the promotional step. You don’t need to worry about selling your manuscript to an editor, but you do need find your own way to make the connections you’re looking for. For many writers, that’s Hollywood — they want their book to be a movie. (The likelihood of this, and the problems that go along with movie rights are a blog post unto themselves, I think. But, regardless.)
So, you want what you want and, when you go through traditional publishing, you often have a better chance of getting there. But there are NO guarantees — not if you’re self publishing or traditionally publishing. Taste Test sold to Bloomsbury in 2011 and has been on the shelves for nine months and my film rights haven’t budged. So, you can’t just expect it to happen in any situation.
(I’m sorry, I think I’m starting to sound like a Debbie Downer. I really don’t mean to be — I just think expectations should be realistic. And speaking of which…)
3. Expectations
Now, I’ve got to be honest — I’ve labeled this as a difference between traditional and self publishing, but the realistic expectations are something that apply across the board. It’s easy to get caught up in your own hype when you find out your book has sold to a publisher, too.
But, more often than not, I’ve seen self-published, or soon to be self-published authors have grandiose ideas about the money they will make self-publishing. I’m not saying this doesn’t happen — it TOTALLY happens. I’m just saying that your goal shouldn’t be to be Amanda Hocking, because it will be far more likely that you’ll end up disappointed.
Instead, consider this — if your book makes any money at all, if people buy and like it, then that’s a victory right there.
But I’ve also seen prospective self-published authors bash the idea of agents — calling them useless or worse — and making it sound like giving an agent 15% of your earnings (which is standard across the board) is some kind of theft or something. My agent earns every penny she makes. I know that for a fact — she’s incredibly hardworking and driven. More importantly, she is fostering my career. She is helping me build a career that I can live with and love doing. So, yeah. Don’t get me started on that. Agents are worth their weight in everything precious you can think of.
But, look. Let me be brutally honest. The probability of you making enough money to live off of with your self-published book is unlikely. Just like me making enough money off of one book is unlikely. You need to keep publishing more books.
4. Money
So, yeah.
This is the big one.
And that doesn’t mean the money is big money — it just means that this is where I often see the biggest difference.
When you publish traditionally, you get an advance. That advance can be anywhere from $500 to millions. More likely, it’ll be somewhere between $1000 and $10,000 for a first book (this is young adult — I can’t speak for other genres, except to say that young adult is the category with the largest advance.)
Now, this turns a lot of writers off and they sometimes turn to self-publishing because advances feel too paltry. However, let me be clear — that advance is real money. It comes to you, contractually. Half or a third of it comes before you’ve even done much — just after you’ve signed the contract.
It is real money. The self-publishing money that you WANT to get is only conceptual money until you actually see it happen.
Now, let’s say you put your book out there as a self-published book and it doesn’t do what you were hoping — unless your book sells upwards of 20k books in the first month (no, I’m not exaggerating) it’s almost impossible to get the interest of an agent with that book. Moreover, it’s now published — so you can’t “pull it back” and try to publish traditionally, or query an agent traditionally. When you’ve self-published, that book is effectively published and can’t be “re-published” traditionally (except for VERY specific situations.)
So, let’s go back to the questions people ask me – particularly #3 and #4.
3. Would I recommend someone (i.e. you) self-publish?
Maybe — it wholly depends on what you are looking for from that process.
Do you want to get rich and that’s the only/major reason? No — you shouldn’t. You’ll very likely be disappointed.
Do you want to be published quickly? Then, yes — you should. Publishing is slow. Books come out 18-24 months from when they are acquired. If you can’t wait that long, consider self-publishing.
Do you write genre (romance/sci-fi/etc.) and write a lot of it? Yes, self-publishing might be a great avenue for you, especially if you write so fast that the traditional model stifles your process.
Do you want to have people buy your book on Amazon/Barnes & Noble websites? Yes, self-publishing will help you do this.
Do you want to sell your book IN a bookstore? Most likely, you will not get placement in a bookstore *unless* you use a local angle. Sometimes locally owned businesses carry local author’s books near the registers.
And, 4. Would I ever self-publish?
Never say never. I’ve though about self-publishing romance under a pen name in the future. But, for right now, I’m confident with my relationship with my publisher(s) and I don’t feel that self-publishing can offer me anything that traditional publishing can’t.
Look, let me be clear — self-publishing is not an easier option than traditional. It’s a different option than traditional. There are options in between, too. There are companies that will assist you in your self publishing. There are book packagers. There are lots and lots and lots of versions of this crazy business.
So, hopefully this gives you a general idea of the difference — but if you have any more specific questions, feel free to drop me a message on the Contact page — I’d be happy to help!
May 15, 2014
Check me out at The Daily Dahlia!
I’m talking with friend/author/all around kick-ass human being, Dahlia Adler, over on her blog today.
Check it out here!
May 4, 2014
Just Like the Movies gets Publisher’s Weekly-ed :)
I’m happy/proud/elated to share this lovely review of Just Like the Movies in Publisher’s Weekly.
Just Like the Movies
Kelly Fiore. Bloomsbury, $17.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-61963-354-4
Marijke and Lily don’t have a lot in common. Pretty, popular Marjke is a star athlete whose boyfriend has a band; Lily’s a textbook overachiever and nerd (and she’s single). But when they meet cute at a screening of Titanic, a friendship is born—both girls are frustrated with their current romantic situations. Lily may have a crush on the unattainable Joe Lombardi, but Marijke’s boyfriend is a cavalier flirt who can’t say, “I love you.” And so is born an idea, that, as they say in the movies, “might be just crazy enough to work.” To get the love they want, Lily and Marijke recreate moments from the rom-coms they’ve watched over and over—which is how Marijke ends up on Tommy’s lawn in the middle of the night, blasting Peter Gabriel à la John Cusack in Say Anything. Watching these two high school seniors help each other move out of their respective safety zones is a lot of fun, and Fiore (Taste Test) also works in some girl-power advice about not letting a boy become one’s whole life. Ages 12–up. (July)
April 28, 2014
Make Way for The Fearless Blog Tour – Stop #5
It is my great and significant pleasure to introduce Emma Pass and her most recent book, THE FEARLESS!
I adore Emma and I adored her first YA novel, ACID, so I am completely delighted to have her here today. But, really, Emma isn’t here it all — her main character, Cass, is speaking to us about her life and her story.
So, without further ado…
Interview with Cass from THE FEARLESS
Hi, thanks for coming to speak to us today. What’s your name?
Cassandra Hollencroft. But you can call me Cass.
How old are you?
17.
Where do you live?
Hope Island. It’s a refuge off the south coast of the UK. I came here when I was ten, with my mother and my little brother, Jori. We were fleeing the Fearless.
Who are the Fearless?
They’re monsters. Evil monsters. They’re faster than us, stronger than us and they aren’t scared of anything. Whoever invented the serum that created them ought to be left in a locked room with one.
What’s your family like?
Jori’s the only family I have left now. My father was taken by the Fearless during the Invasion, and Mum died a few years ago. My brother means everything to me.
What do you do for a living (if anything)?
I’m training to be in the Patrol, Hope Island’s guard. OK, so it means standing guard on the sea wall in all weathers, but I want to trade with the Barterers… and I’m good with a gun.
What do you love?
It’s not what, it’s who. Jori. And my parents, even though they’re not here any more.
What do you hate?
The Fearless. They took away my home, my family, my future. Yeah, so they used to be people too. So what? I wish I could destroy them all.
What scares you?
The thought that I could lose everything all over again. I can never let that happen. Never.
If the world ended, and you were one of the few people left, what would you do?
The world has ended… so I guess I’d just keep doing what I do now.
***
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Emma Pass has been making up stories for as long as she can remember. Her debut novel, ACID, is out now from Corgi/Random House in the UK, and from Delacorte in the US. It won the 2014 North East Teenage Book Award, was shortlisted for the Doncaster Book Award, nominated for the 2014 CILIP Carnegie Medal and has been longlisted for the 2014 Branford Boase Award and a Silver Inky Award in Australia. Her second novel, THE FEARLESS, is also out now in the UK from Corgi/Random House and will be published in the US in early 2015 by Delacorte. By day, she works as a library assistant and lives with her husband and crazy greyhound G-Dog in the North East Midlands.
Where can you find Emma?
Website: http://emmapass.com/
Blog: http://emmapass.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/EmmaPass
Facebook: http://facebook.com/EmmaPassAuthor
April 21, 2014
NAME THAT ROM COM (and win an ARC of Just Like the Movies!)
Check out this still shot from one of my absolute FAVE Rom-Com’s of all time!
Source: Movie Hole
You know the movie? Great — you can win an ARC of JUST LIKE THE MOVIES (and a little super-movie swag thrown in) by doing the following.
1. Tweet your answer using the #justlikethemovies hashtag
2. Hit up my Facebook page and comment on the photo with your favorite line from the movie HERE
3. Reblog the photo from the Just Like the Movies Tumblr HERE
The more entries, the better your chances are to win!
April 17, 2014
Today’s Rom-Com Tribute: Say Anything
“Say Anything” (1989)
“Say Anything” tells the story of an underachiever who has to hold a boom box over his head to make the class valedictorian fall in love with him (pretty much). But if John Cusack holding a boom box over his head isn’t the quintessential gentlemanly gesture of love in the ’80s, what is?
(Originally posted on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02...)
