Shouting Out My First YA Fan
Since I started this journey of creating The Sanctum trilogy and writing THE GIRL, I’ve experienced many firsts along the way, some of them good, and others? Well, they could have been better.
Some of the good ones: the first draft of THE GIRL I sent to my sister-in-law, my first review on Amazon, when my parents first told me they loved the book. And some of the not-so-good ones: my first bout with writer’s block, the first time I deleted three chapters of writing, my first bad review.
Like any other Indie author out there, I’ve been blogging, tweeting, pinning and posting about THE GIRL every chance I get, hoping to grab the attention of my next thoroughly delighted, rabidly loyal reader. I mean, this is the goal of the whole (horrible) and seemingly narcissistic process of marketing myself and my work, right? Trying to pull in new fans.
And just so you know, I totally suck at the marketing game. I hate doing it and my skills are pretty shitty. Reeling in new fans is slow and tortuous work and I constantly feel like I’m failing miserably at the game.
That said, I must have managed to do something right because a couple of weeks ago I learned that I gained a pretty significant fan in a pretty significant fan base:
And who would that first young adult fan of THE GIRL be, you ask?
The one and only
Austin Milner-Rawlins.
Check him out – he’s pretty freaking cool.
And then read my interview with him:
HOW OLD ARE YOU? WHAT GRADE ARE YOU IN?
I’m 12 and in the 6th grade
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITES?
Playing sports and video games
DO YOU ENJOY READING? AND IF SO, WHAT TYPES OF BOOKS? GIVE US YOUR FIVE FAVORITE BOOKS.
I love to read.
[Yea! Kids + books = all kinds of awesomeness. Kudos to mom and dad for raising a reader.]
My top 5 books would probably have to be
5. Wonder
4. Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix
3. Percy Jackson and the Battle of the labyrinth
2.Divergent
1.Rangers Apprentice The Battle for Skanida
HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE GIRL?
my mom told me about it
DID YOU ENJOY THE BOOK? DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE PART OF THE BOOK?LEAST FAVORITE?
I loved this book.
[Oh yeah! Holla. Fist pump and little happy dance.]
I think my favorite part was the ending because of just the epicness of Dev making a… [I had to delete this part because as much as I love Austin, I'm not quite ready to give up the ending of my book].
I really did not have a part I didn’t like in the book
WHO WAS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER AND WHY?
I like Darby because of her mysteriousness
WHICH CHARACTER WOULD YOU WANT BY YOUR SIDE IN A STREET FIGHT?
Definitely Dev
If you had to describe THE GIRL to your friends to get them to read it, what would you say?
It’s action packed and very funny
[Funny…that's a new one but I'll take it.]
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO TELL US?
I cannot wait for the next book in the trilogy!
[Hopefully you won't be waiting much longer.]
I’ve heard from a lot of adults that have read THE GIRL, I’ve met with a book club of adults and we discussed THE GIRL and THE GIRL has been reviewed by a bunch of adults. But to connect with someone under eighteen is pretty freaking sweet.
So Austin, this post celebrates you, the fact that you took the time to read THE GIRL and more importantly, that you loved it. You’ve made me really, really happy and inspired me to continue doing this thing and you’ll always hold a special place in my heart cuz that’s how I get down.
You Rock.
