Austin Aslan's Blog, page 6

Cover Reveal! THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD

It’s that time again! A very magical, singular moment along a book’s journey toward publication. The COVER REVEAL! I get why the cover reveal has become such a staple within online book communities. It’s very fun. It’s like finding out whether or not your dear friend is having a boy or a girl. You already know they’re pregnant, but now you can finally start putting a face to that little creature who so many people are talking about but who is still safely hidden away and definitively locked out of sight.

Well, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD is about to have a sibling, I mean, sequel. It already has a name, and it’s just about that time to start giving it a face.

The full, exclusive reveal will take place TOMORROW (Thursday, 11/5/14) on the Hugo-award winning science fiction and fantasy blog SFSignal.com. Check in there throughout the day to get your first full look at THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. I’ll post the cover over here sometime next week, and have links up on Facebook and Twitter right away tomorrow. Either way, please leave comments wherever you can with your first impressions and please help spread the word!

Meanwhile……..wanna peek?

Scroll down to get your very first glimpse of the stunning cover…

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Don’t forget: ISLANDS audiobook giveaway!

Okay, Intertubes. This is your (next) friendly reminder that the ISLANDS audiobook giveaway ends on Friday. Like, Follow, Subscribe, Tweet, retweet, share, heart, click, reply, tag, comment, tickle, freeze dry, snap, vine, reblog, tumbl, flik, plagiarize, sabotage, breast feed, or worship any site related to moi and you are entered to win each time. Go.

www.twitter.com/laustinspace, www.facebook.com/authoraustinaslan, www.laustinspace.wordpress.com, instagram.com/authoraustinaslan, https://www.tumblr.com/blog/authoraustinaslan

ISLANDS audiobook giveaway!!!

I’m giving away several FREE downloadable digital audiobooks of Islands at the End of the World, narrated by Allyson Ryan. After a long-ish wait, the audiobook is finally available for purchase at audible.com and Amazon. Over the past couple of years I’ve begun to “read” audiobooks in high volumes (schlepping kids back-and-forth to event after event), so I’m particularly excited to see the novel now available in this format.

Incidentally, the audiobook has not yet been produced as a CD. It will be, if it’s able to prove its muster. So please do purchase the digital version and convince your friends and your local libraries to do the same and hopefully it’ll become available on disc, too!

Oh, yeah…the GIVEAWAY! Back to that: Entry is super easy. “Like” my author page (www.facebook.com/authoraustinaslan), follow me on twitter (@Laustinspace, www.twitter.com/laustinspace) or subscribe to my blog (www.laustinspace.wordpress.com) by the end of next Friday, and you’re eligible to win one of several copies! Do all three and you’re entered three times! I’ll generate a random list of winners next Friday. Please spread the word!

ISLANDS nominated for YALSA’s Best Ficton for Young Adults

Wow. Stunned, flattered, honored, confused, etc. Generally speechless. I’ll let the link speak for itself. SO WILD to see all the amazing names on this list!

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/bfya-nominations

Event: ISLANDS Reading “YA Round-up” @ Antigone’s Books, Tucson 09/12/14 7pm

I’ll be in Tucson at Antigone’s Books on 4th Avenue THIS Friday night, 7pm. Hope to see you there! I’m one of three YA authors who will be reading from our novels and answering questions. See the info below to learn more. If you’re really keen on getting a copy of ISLANDS at this event, call the store and reserve your copy. Supplies are limited.

“Shave ice” vs “Ice shave”

You probably know them as “snow cones.” But on the Hawaiian Islands, the name is “shave ice.” …Unless you live in Hilo. Then this favorite island treat gets a whole new treatment. I have no idea why, but only in and around Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii is the syrupy cold burst of color and sugar referred to as the “ICE SHAVE!”

I bring this up because I’ve already had a conversation about it with an island reader, who figured that I hadn’t done my research or that I was off my island rocker. I’m sure there will be other critics, too. So, let this be the official blog post to put the confusion to rest!

Please enjoy the below conversation I had with an island reader via Goodreads. I’ve taken a screen shot of the whole thread for your convenience, but you can also follow the link to it here.

ISLANDS gets its THIRD starred reveiw!

Quite a thrill and a pretty huge moment for this debut novel. Publishers Weekly has awarded The Islands at the End of the World a starred review, the third such industry distinction it has received. Wow. Totally cool! Thanks Publishers Weekly! Here’s the review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-74402-7

The Islands at the End of the World launches today!

It’s launch day for THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD! Sightings from the wild are already coming in! Reviews are flying around Goodreads and Amazon! Twitter is abuzz! I suppose I should write something on this blog to commemorate the occasion.

I don’t like writing–nor blogging, especially–when it’s preceded by a sense of obligation (hence my relatively infrequent posts). I may not have written anything today, actually, except that several things have occurred to me throughout the day as I’ve sat back and watched so many friends and family have fun with receiving the novel in the mail and going out to bookstores to hunt it down in its natural habitat.

I’m a little teary-eyed, to be honest with you. These thoughts are going to be hard to organize in short order, but I’ll do my best. I never would have thought to anticipate this groundswell of excitement and enthusiasm from so many people that I deeply care about and respect. Isn’t everyone sick of hearing about this damn book, already? The truth is, even I recognize that all this book-talk has gone on for waaay too long. I simply published a book. It’s something that lots of people do. It’s no more noteworthy than the great works that so many people accomplish in their personal and professional lives. I’m not sure why book publishing is allowed so much more pomp and circumstance than hundreds of other tireless and thankless but invaluable pursuits I can think of and that I see people around me doing every day.

Partly, I think the role of storyteller in our modern society is more important than people think to admit aloud. It’s something that’s easily seen but rarely discussed. We love stories. We crave them. It’s so hard to find a new story out there, something that can still surprise us. The people who can make that work are freely awarded kudos by the masses in so many different ways. It’s astounding. It’s also mind blowing to be sitting here and thinking, for the first time (honestly!), that I suddenly occupy that role in a small way.

Largely, though, I think what I’m experiencing today is simply the love and affection and warmth of so many people who care about me, who I’ve managed to touch in some way, who have touched me. It’s pretty overwhelming. I don’t deserve this kind of attention and some might be a little surprised to hear me admit that it actually makes me feel uncomfortable. But people from every chapter in my life are pouring it on, anyway.

I can’t thank you all enough for your support and your excitement. It means so much to me.

I was expecting today to be rather anticlimactic. There’s not much I can physically DO today to mark the occasion. Momentum for this book will (hopefully) not reach its apex on opening day. I figured I’d watch some bar graphs and rankings go up and down now and then, maybe check twitter a couple times. But I’m finding–to my genuine surprise–that today does have the feeling of a singular moment in time. It’s a day I’ll always remember, after all.

Because it’s been filled with people, not charts.

And I’m reminded, too, of why I always wanted to write. I saw myself as a storyteller. I wanted to tell stories. But it’s pretty obvious that a storyteller is dead in the water without an audience. I really can’t put into words the feeling that I have knowing that my story is finally out there. That people from all over the country (and beyond!) are cracking open the book today. They’ll read page after page, have silent conversations with themselves about what they’re reading, and in some small way, I’m there with them.

It’s completely surreal and inexplicable.

Just like this whole day, turns out.

It’s just like Darth Vader once said! “This will be a day long remembered.”

ALA Booklist reviews ISLANDS

This just in: ALA Booklist’s August reviews. I’m pleased with their strong review of ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Full reviews on their site are intended for subscribers only, but I’m happy to share a few lines:

“…This well-paced novel successfully provokes a palpable sense of urgency, and the mystery surrounding the nature of the “Emerald Orchid” and the hope that Leilani’s family will be reunited drive the narrative forward effectively. Aslan has developed his protagonist fully; Leilani is admirable yet flawed, and readers will connect with her struggle to fit in both as an ethnic minority in her community and as an epileptic. Teens should enjoy this utterly unique eco-thriller and eagerly await its sequel.”

Visit Booklistonline.com for more.

Do I have a right to write about diversity?

I’ve sat with two major challenges in writing THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD, and using the voice of a female protagonist was not one of them. Believe it or not, that came pretty easy for me. The biggest challenge for me was feeling comfortable and legitimate in writing about a Hawaiian main character and crafting a story deeply-rooted in Hawaiian cultures and traditions, even though I’m haole (white) and don’t come from the islands. I’m not Hawaiian, and there’s two problems with that.

The obvious problem is that I don’t “know” the culture. There’s a lot to learn and I’m sure I’ve only scratched the surface. I’ll never be an expert, though the book has to feel authentic not only to general readers, but to islanders, as well. The more complex problem is that, as an outsider, I struggle with claiming the right to tell a story set in Hawaii. I’m not only writing as a half Hawaiian when I’m not one. I’m also writing about thorny scenarios involving “sovereign nation” perspectives, and one of my bad guys is pure Hawaiian (though most of my Hawaiian characters are very noble, and I try to make all of my characters, regardless of race, as three-dimensional as possible). This issue has a lot of complexity around it, and I’m most comfortable approaching it with a great deal of humility.

I have a lot of questions about diversity in YA. I’ve written a book about an epileptic, half-Hawaiian, teenage, girl (four things that I am not). I have no idea what kind of blowback I’m going to get for that down the road, at panels, in industry reviews, media interviews, book readings, on twitter, etc. I was very aware of all this as I wrote, and stayed away from a fully-Hawaiian main character on purpose. A very good decision. But I do still wonder about the difference between diversity in YA in terms of main characters and in terms of authors. Is the conversation about having more authors that are non-white (we should have more, and encourage more, and support more people of color and from different walks of life to write and to write to underrepresented audiences) or is it about having more diversity in main characters? I think there’s a lot of potential for a white author to get into hot water writing as a non-white main character, and I’m sure readers are wary and they’re wary for good reason–I don’t think many authors pull this off, and when they don’t pull it off, it’s because they weren’t writing humbly with this sensitivity in mind. I spent seven years as a community organizer in inner city Sacramento working with underrepresented neighborhoods and schools, and I received a lot of training and I was fortunate enough to go through a lot of re-programming. I was never really aware of race (which most white people think is the right place to be). But many underrepped groups are never NOT aware of race. And without proper guidance and training white people often have the wrong reaction to this. Anyway, sometimes good training doesn’t matter. My neighbor (MY NEIGHBOR, I KNOW) is Leslie Silko. (LESLIE SILKO, I know! McArthur Genius awardee and celebrated author…look her up.) She was excited to read my book, and she did. She really liked it and told me I was a great writer (I SWOONED. LESLIE SILKO LIKED MY BOOK!) but told me she couldn’t blurb it for me because I used native Hawaiian words in my text, and SHE would get blowback if she endorsed my book. So, yeah, there will always be critics.

Again, I think the question isn’t “Am I allowed to write from the perspective of another race?” Ultimately, I think that any author has the right to tell any story they want to. The better question is: can I “get away” with it? Will my effort be respected? Will the people whose voice I’m trying to assume authenticate my attempt or not? I hope the answer for me is yes but I’ll have to wait until the book comes out to see how it is received in different circles. If it worked, I will be thrilled to have added to a cannon of more diverse YA. Everyone is looking for the next non-white Katniss. I don’t know, maybe my character Leilani can fill that role for a time, until she’s supplanted by a full minority character written by an author who can more accurately represent her authentic experience. I’ll celebrate that moment, for sure!

But at the very least I feel that I’ve approached this dynamic with awareness, humility, honesty, and good faith.  (Originally posted on Fallfourteeners.com on 7/1/14)