Colleen Houck Book Club discussion
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The Body Electric
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Live Chat with Beth Revis
Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote? If so, do you ever look back at it and think back to how you felt in that moment?
Trudy wrote: "Do you stick to YA or do you write other kinds of novels as well?"You know, I used to say that I would only every write YA. Because that's the kind of book I love, the kind my voice lends itself too. But recently, my agent said that the book I'm editing now has a slight adult quality to it, and the book I'm writing now could go either way...
All I'll guarantee is that my books are going to be strange in some way. Maybe not always YA, maybe not always sci fi or fantasy, but strange. Strange I can do.
I followed you on twitter after reading Across the Universe and I saw you tweet this link. I understand this is a chat about The Body Electric but I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet. I just wanna go ahead really quickly to thank you for writing such an amazing series!! I fell in love instantly. With only one week of my senior year of high school left, I felt the only regret I had was not reading any of the books in the library for leisure. I walked around our two story library for about an hour until I came across a purple starry cover. I read your book in a day and found it to be the most thrilling and exotic read I've ever had. I guess what I really wanna know is, what music did you listen to while writing the series? Personally, I listened to the M83 songs, "We Own The Sky" and "Holograms." Do you maybe think these songs vibe with what you listened to? Idk, I just loved the series so much. Thank you for creating a world of wonder and mystery with a hint of romance.
- Dalma Pena
I'm not sure if this was asked or not, Beth, but what do you think about people writing fanfiction of your work? Are you for or against it?
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In fact, Madeleine L'Engle might be why I love incorporating poems and spells into my books so much.
Alice wrote: "How/when did you know you wanted to be a writer?"Almost always. In second grade, I wrote my first short story (it was about a paragraph long, and about a princess and a dragon). I remember deciding to be a secretary for Career Day because I wanted to type, but writing didn't feel like a profession. My fourth grade teacher taught me the grammar behind dialogue because I kept writing short stories whether the assignment called for it or not. It was probably in sixth grade, when I got top marks for a nonfiction essay that I completely invented, that I realized this was the sort of thing I could do forever.
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I don't get writer's block, I get writer's laziness. Not quite the same thing.
How would your characters react if they were on a road trip together?
Alice wrote: "How long did it take for you to write The Body Electric?"I can't really remember, but probably about a year and a half to almost two years to go from idea to published book.
Tonnie wrote: "What is your favorite movie?"Roman Holiday starring Audrey Hepburn!
Shara wrote: "Star Trek or Star Wars?"Old school Star Wars; new school Star Trek.
What messages do you really want to get across to your readers?
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For me, the answer is yes and no. They always grow in ways I don't expect.
Shara wrote: "Would you take a vacation in the world you have created in this book? If so, would it be behind safety glass? :)"Ha! Yes, and yes! I would love to see New Venice, but I would want to be a total tourist and NOT a revolutionary at all.
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=)
Hello everyone,Are there acquaintances of yours that said they see something of a real common acquaintance in a character ?
Shara wrote: "Where do you do most of your writing? Home, coffee shop, outside, in front of the TV?"Right now, I have a four-month old child, so I'm doing most of my writing in my office with a cradle right beside me and a very cute little guy watching everything I do. Before the kid came along, I would switch up--on the couch and snuggled with my dog, in my office, outside under my cherry tree, or at a coffee shop.
But never with the TV. If the TVs on, I can't write. I get sucked in!
Yun-a wrote: "Why did you decide to revisit the world from the Across the Universe series?"I just couldn't get it out of my head! I knew Amy and Elder's story was over, but I didn't think the stories of that world were over yet.
are there any of your characters that are inspired by real life people like friends, family members or even idols?
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I just zoomed through the Across the Universe trilogy, loved it!! I have your other stories coming in the mail from the library any day now, very excited! Thank you for writing!Do you ever plan to continue with Amy and Elder, maybe making it a quadrilogy?
If your characters had a Pinterest board, what would be on it?
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Since I was in my teens I was a huge fan of boy bands. Still am. Yes, I rock out to One Direction though I don't have any posters or anything. I geek out over Comic Con types of stuff like Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. #Legolas
Ana C. wrote: "First of all it is in honor to ask you questions and have a live chat with you. You really are a great author and I hope to meet you in person someday and get your autograph. Okay, to the questions....Do you ever get attached to your characters? How do you start writing and what made you become an author
P.S- I LOVE your books!!! They are actually really inspiring to me, both scientifically and as a writer. Oh and this is Ana."
Aw, thank you, Ana! It's an honor that anyone cares about what I have to say!
I DO get attached to my characters, but I have no issue with killing them off or hurting them (obviously). I like my characters as characters, not people, if that makes sense?
Before I start writing a novel, I have a long thinking process. That's NOT to say that I plan out my novels--I don't do that--but I sort of obsessively think about them. Whenever there's a free moment, I start asking myself what I would do if I was in X situation, or how would a character behave if she was like Y. And eventually, from all those ideas stewing in my head, I get an opening image, something where I feel, "Ah. The story starts here." And I just start writing it!
For Colleen: Are you a planner, a pantser, or somewhere in between? Or do you have your own methods?
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Just added some more books to my TBR pile! Sigh. There is never enough time to read everything I want to. My goal is to try to read at least one book from all the authors I meet at conferences. I'm so behind! Upped my reading goal to 100 books per year which is a lot for me. Also switched over to audiobooks for about 50% of that.
When you finally get your book, published and bound in your hands, what is the first thought and feeling that comes to mind?
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The fans are so great! They understand. They get the love I feel for my characters and they are as real to them as they are to me. So awesome to hang out with fans, I'd invite them all over for dinner if I could.
are you scared of what people, who did not enjoy your books as much as us, might say? are you scared of bad ratings and criticizm?
Marguerite wrote: "Hi Beth!I want to start by saying that I really loved The Body Electric, especially how there were references to the events of The Across the Universe Trilogy.
When I was reading about all the inspiration you had for The Body Electric, especially with the characters of Jack and Rose (Doctor Who - woot!) and Ms. White (The White Witch) I was really interested and wondered if you had this process for Across the Universe books as well?
The Body Electric really explores a lot of Post Human concepts which are currently being developed and will probably become part of the everyday soon, such as bio-engineering, bio-printing, brain chips and robotics - which technology are you most looking forward to?
Can you tell us a little about your new writing project? I look forward to hearing about it!
Oh, and thank-you for the swag you sent back in my SASE letter - I really appreciate it!
Thank-you!
Marguerite
"
I'm glad you got back the SASE letter--I was so embarrassed that it was so late! (LOVE your name, btw!)
I definitely have hidden allusions in Across the Universe. The biggest one is the character of Kayleigh--she's a nod to Kaylee from Firefly. Amy's boyfriend Jason was from Jason and the Argonauts (that Jason was such a jerk to his wife, Medea, so it seemed fitting for Amy's boyfriend jerk). In AtU, no one ever sees stars until they have hope--which is from Dante's Inferno, which has the same symbolism.
For the future, I'm most looking forward to a society where people are free to pursue arts because robotics have taken over the menial labor. But I'm definitely NOT looking forward to robotics taking over the rest of society, so I'd be very happy if AI never really progressed as much as it does in my own books, ha!
As for my newest project...I can only say that it's something that I'm working on right now. Literally, it's on the other half of my computer screen as I type this, and when I finish the chat, I'm going to go back to edits! Also, it'll be out next summer, and it's very different from everything I've done before, but I love it a lot and I hope you do too!
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The first thing I ever wrote was a recipe book with my grandfather that spanned four or five generations. It's very precious to me and I use it all the time even though half the cookie recipes call for lard ;)
Linda wrote: "Hi Beth, I'm curious how you came to the idea of writing futuristic YA and also how you picked your setting?"I wrote futurisitic by total accident! I have ten unpublished trunk novels, all of them fantasies. But I had an idea for a story that required cryogenic freezing, and that meant I needed a space ship and, well...the rest is history :)
I picked Malta for a setting because I'd been there once before in college, and it has stood out in my mind as a magical place that deserves more attention. I knew I didn't want to set The Body Electric in America--too many books are set here, we should branch out into the rest of the world! And Malta came into my mind immediately.
Not sure if this has been asked yet, but if Across the Universe was picked up to become a movie, who would you want to be casted for all the major roles? Like for Amy and Elder?Or would you rather this be picked up by HBO and made into a long series like Game of Thrones?
how about the good ratings? do you guys feel proud after reading a good or high starred review? do you stalk the reviews of your books in goodreads?
Colleen wrote: "Tina wrote: "Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote? If so, do you ever look back at it and think back to how you felt in that moment?"The first thing I ever wrote was a recipe book with ..."
Ha, that sounds like a recipe of my grandmother's. Lard is as common as flour or sugar in our family.
Have you ever read The Belgariad by David and Leigh Eddings? Your books remind me of it because your characters are so intriguing.Also, I still find myself wondering what the scientists were doing and what their records were like in AtU.
I can't wait to get The Body Electric, just have to say.
Aren't you a little bit tempted to write stories to children so your child will read earlier your work ? Or are you kind of hoping to introduce to him some of your childhood book friends ?
Linda wrote: "I have another question about becoming an author. How did you break into the writing world? How did you get published? Any advice for those new to writing?"I was an overnight success that took ten years ;) There was no real breaking into the writing world--it was more like I was chipping away at the wall with a plastic spork!
I wrote a novel a year for ten years. I submitted each novel to about 100 agents, so that means I got about a thousand rejections over the course of a decade. It was grueling and heartbreaking and so, so hard.
But also so, so worth it.
So, there was no magic formula. It took a lot of practice, a lot of research, and a lot of work before I saw any success at all. But that's true of pretty much everything.
What are your favorite TV shows?
Sharon711 wrote: "hi everybody, I'm Sharon, I enjoyed the book. Do you write just young adult or other types? Do you enjoy reading and if so what?"Hi Sharon! Right now, just YA books--in both writing and reading :)
Allana wrote: "If your characters were on social media, what what they use and what would they do?:)"
Oh, interesting question!
Okay...
Amy would use Instagram because she loves photography. Elder would use Twitter because he has no time for anything else. And Ella would use tumblr because she'd love the social side of it, the art and photos and music, but she'd also love the political activism side of it.
is there anything you wish you could have changed in/about your books? or are you happy with how they came out in the end?
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For me it's like a road trip. I know I want to stop in Phoenix, Denver, Chicago, and NYC but I give myself permission to explore stuff along the way, if that makes sense. I guess I'd call myself a loosey-goosey planner.
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For me its, "I did it!"
Colleen wrote: "Do you have any go to snacks you like to have around while you work? (Looking around right now for a snack) =)"Ha! Whatever's nearby and easiest! I love salty crunchy stuff, but I'm also trying to diet a bit, so the Goldfish crackers are off the list...
How is writing dialogue? Is it hard?
Allana wrote: "You guys write such amazing books:) I'm sure editing feels like you're losing a vital part of you or someone you love:) your characters share your heart and your soul:)"Aw, thanks! But a good editor will help me see what I need to add to make the book better, more like what I really want it to be.
are there any plans for new books that you want to write? and if so... should we be excited? :D
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I also love this series so, so much! Still have most of the poem from the third book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, memorized.