Heather Demetrios's Blog, page 11

Fangirl Time!

Hey, readers! You are in for a treat. Instead of writiing a post, I wanted to chat with debut author Ingrid Sundberg about her novel, All We Left Behind. This one's a scorcher--tense and emotional and sexy. Ingrid and I both got MFA's from Vermont College of Fine Arts and I've been following her career since she graduated. Below is our chat. And make sure you snag a copy of All We Left Behind - an early holiday present for yourself or maybe that bestie who's suffering from a book hangover.

For fans of Simone Elkeles and Courtney Summers, this haunting debut novel is about two teenagers battling their inner demons as they fall in love for the first time.

When Marion Taylor, the shy bookworm, meets sexy soccer captain Kurt Medford at a party, what seems like a sure thing quickly turns into a total mess. One moment they’re alone in the middle of a lake, igniting sparks of electricity. The next, they’re on dry land, pretending they’ve never met. But rather than the end, that night is the beginning of something real, terrifying, and completely unforgettable for them both.

As Marion and Kurt struggle to build a relationship from the fractured pieces of their pasts, every kiss they share uncovers memories both would rather keep buried.…

Fighting With Aaron Sorkin

A few weeks ago I went to see the Steve Jobs movie, in part because the script was written by one of the best screenwriters working today, Aaron Sorkin (West Wing, The Social Network, A Few Good Men). No surprise, it was a fantastically written film—tense and intimate, with big ideas and hearts on the line. Yesterday I ran across an article in New York Magazine that broke down some of the key elements in the script and included observations by Sorkin himself. The one that struck me as especially brilliant was this adage: When two people are fighting, make sure both are right. It included the interaction below between Jobs and Wozniak, the tech brain behind Apple.

Woz: The things you make are better than you are, brother.

Steve: That’s the idea brother. And knowing that?...That’s the difference.

They’re arguing over whether or not to acknowledge a team that’s been working on a product Jobs sees as no longer relevant to the company. Jobs is about moving forward, Woz is about acknowledging the people who helped the company get to where it is. Sorkin says, “Before you can do anything, two people have to disagree about something. Hopefully, it’s about something more interesting…

Practice Makes Practice

I want to be better. That’s the reason I got an MFA, the reason I read craft books, the reason I teach and edit on the side. It’s why I work in multiple genres and experiment with POV and structure. It’s why I’m a perfectionist, why my books only feel done because they’re in print and I can’t revise them anymore. I know I’m not alone in this. It’s not something we writers talk about at cocktail parties, but I think it’s safe to assume that we all would like our next books to be better than our last. I’ve had friends saddened and overwhelmed by deadlines that don’t give them enough time to make the book they’re writing great, only “good enough.” Writing a new book feels like learning to write all over again. And this takes time. Every day I sit down to write I feel like a beginner. I know I’m not alone in this. Katherine Patterson once told me that she feels like a beginner with every new book she writes because nobody has written that book—there is no template, no survival manual. Kurt Vonnegut once said, “When I write, I feel like an armless,…

Offering

In the streets of Ubud, Bali, there are offerings to the gods and demons literally everywhere. You have to keep your eyes on the sidewalk for fear of smashing them to bits. They are made of a palm frond base which is filled with flower petals, including the fragrant frangipani. Sometimes you see little crackers thrown on there as well and this is almost always a stick of incense burning beside it. The entire city smells of delicious temple incense. Statues of the gods are garnished in fresh flowers daily and often have these offerings set before them. The people of Bali are deeply…

Zen Status

Dismiss whatever insults your own soul is one of my favorite Walt Whitman quotes. I used it in Something Real and have found it to be a guiding principle in my life. It's very apropos for today's post - keep it your back pocket as you read. What would happen if you dismissed whatever insulted your own soul?

I recently received an email from a fellow writer asking me about my writing habits. How often do I write? When? How do I structure my day? That kind of thing. Like her, I’m fascinated with other writers’ and artists’ processes. I want to know what makes them tick. I’m curious how they deal with the challenges of art making, especially art making in our modern world with its myriad challenges Fitzgerald and Hemingway were lucky enough to avoid. In her email to me, my friend specifically wanted to know how I’m able to be so prolific. There are plenty of writers I hear about who write more than me, but I do tend to work rather quickly, for good or ill and this sometimes piques people’s curiosity. I sent her a long email in response, a manifesto of sorts, some of which I’ll share here, revised. The main thing I said to her was that I’d recently buckled down on my time on the Internet. Reducing or even eliminating…

Lessons From Lexie #4

First: good news! Lexie has been getting some attention from Wattpad itself, readership is going up, and I am having more fun than ever hanging out with my girl Lexie Baker. So, yay!

In this post, I want to talk about an unexpected pleasure and challenge that has come out of writing a serial story in real time: current events. I’d always said I’d be telling the story in “real time,” but what I’d meant by that initially was how Lexie would be interacting with readers as they connect with her, as well as tweeting and responding to things on Twitter. But when the Supreme Court ruled on gay marriage, any plans I had for the chapter the following week had to be scrapped. It wasn’t enough just to mention that it happened: Lexie’s brother is gay and both Benny and his partner Matt are a big part of The Lexie Project. So, obviously, they all had to take a road trip to San Francisco. I happened to be in San Fran at the time for a conference, so it was pretty kismet.

I had originally planned to have a big, splashy premiere happen in that chapter—Lexie was going to get the real red carpet treatment. And I suppose I could have still done that, but then the ruling would have been an afterthought and I felt the new law—and Benny—deserved more…

Unfortunately, Home Is Where The Heart Is

My best friends and I (Missy, Sarah, me)

I can’t stop writing about the place I hate most in the world.

Every time I sit down to write a contemporary novel, it ends up being set in California’s Central Valley. The only exception is The Lexie Project, and that story begins in the Valley, so it counts. Maybe it’s because I went to high school there and so when I start writing stories about high schoolers, that’s where they end up living. Maybe it’s because I can’t seem to write a novel about a teen who doesn’t want to get the heck out of Dodge. It’s the way of being an adolescent that I understand the best.

This past spring I began work on my next contemporary work. Originally, it was pitched as a memoir, but my editor and I have decided for various reasons that it will be fiction instead. It’s set in my hometown. It’s called Bad Romance. It’s about an abusive boyfriend, a church that sucks the life right out of you, a home life that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. In order to prepare for this book I read through the journals I kept in high school, a painful excursion through my past that I won’t be doing again anytime…

Unfortunately Home Is Where The Heart Is

My best friends and I (Missy, Sarah, me)

I can’t stop writing about the place I hate most in the world.

Every time I sit down to write a contemporary novel, it ends up being set in California’s Central Valley. The only exception is The Lexie Project, and that story begins in the Valley, so it counts. Maybe it’s because I went to high school there and so when I start writing stories about high schoolers, that’s where they end up living. Maybe it’s because I can’t seem to write a novel about a teen who doesn’t want to get the heck out of Dodge. It’s the way of being an adolescent that I understand the best.

This past spring I began work on my next contemporary work. Originally, it was pitched as a memoir, but my editor and I have decided for various reasons that it will be fiction instead. It’s set in my hometown. It’s called Bad Romance. It’s about an abusive boyfriend, a church that sucks the life right out of you, a home life that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy. In order to prepare for this book I read through the journals I kept in high school, a painful excursion through my past that I won’t be doing again anytime…

Lessons From Lexie #3

Since I posted my tenth chapter last week, I thought this would be a good time to check in and do another Lesson.

I am weary.

It’s not like I expected this to be easy, but I did think posting and promoting a chapter a week wouldn’t take over my life. Well, it has. Part of this—a large part—is because I have so many other aspects of story in addition to the chapter. I’d hoped to just have one day a week dedicated to Lex, but she seems to spill over into each day. I get these wild hair ideas—like having the actress playing Lex on her Instagram act out an SNL sketch I wrote for Lexie (she’s going to be hosting SNL this Saturday—stay tuned!). Stuff like this takes time.

Unless you’re a perfectionist, I would recommend not doing something like this. Multiplatform storytelling is not for the faint of heart. I’m a big details girl, so it’s hard for me to let things slide. This is especially true of the actual chapters. I go over and over them, even after my betas have vetted them. I knew I’d be putting out my first draft (not of the chapters, of the story as a whole), but I hadn’t anticipated how frustrating that would be…

An Email To A Christian Reader During Pride Week

I love getting emails from my readers. My very favorite ones are those that challenge me in some way or open up a real dialogue with me about my books. I am constantly surprised and touched by readers who reach out to me. That they sat down and took time to email an author is such an honor. Our time is so precious.

I think the universe was being wonderfully sneaky this week. I am way behind on my email and I opened up one from a reader that was sent to me last month. The fact that this email is from a Christian reader during Pride Week is sheer perfection. I was so happy to have the chance to respond to this girl. It reminded me that fiction is so powerful and that we, especially as YA authors, are so lucky that we get to write books for teens and have conversations with them about all the big stuff. The stuff that matters. Below is our email exchange.

Happy Pride Week!

From the reader:

I'm a 17 year old Christian, and I've had an eye on your books for a while! I was wondering if you could let me know if your books are pretty clean? Like, no sex, lots of strong language, or promoting of homosexuality? It would be great if you

could let me know! Your books sound really awesome. :)

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