Michael Gerard Bauer: I COULDA BIN A SAMURAI!

Gidday! from beautiful Brisbane Australia.

What's the weirdest thing you wanted to be when you were little?

When I was a kid I never thought of being a writer, I wanted to be a Samurai warrior and failing that, a Ninja. So while other future writers might have been sharpening their pencils and honing their writing skills when they were little, I was running around my backyard with my homemade wooden samurai sword, leaping and screaming and attacking the clothesline.

Sadly my samurai dreams ended when a careers advisor at school asked me, 'Michael if you could be anything in the world, in your heart of hearts, what would you be?' Naturally I replied, 'Samurai Warrior!' I remember the careers man staring at me like I'd just stepped off the alien mother-ship. Then he looked at my report card and said the most devastating thing I'd ever heard up to that point. 'Michael,' he said, 'unfortunately you have taken the wrong subjects to be a Samurai – I think you should consider Accounting.' I didn't.

It was at University that I really fell in love with words and stories and dreamt of becoming a writer of some kind. When my first attempts at writing were rejected, I figured it meant I was no good, so I quit. Luckily, later in life I got a second chance.

So for what they're worth, here are my two pieces of advice to anyone who wants to be a writer.

Firstly, anyone can want to be a writer, but real writers have to write something.

Secondly don't be pathetic like I was and give up when you get rejections. People say you should follow your dreams. I say you should stalk your dreams - track them down, corner them and don't take 'no' for an answer. (NB Don't stalk people. Stalking people is bad. It's also illegal and time consuming when you should be writing.)

These days I wouldn't swap being a writer for all the Samurais in Japan. For me at least, the pen really is mightier than the sword.

Cheers Michael

Michael Gerard Bauer
Author of Don't Call Me Ishmael

Meg Cabot: Pets

It's that time of year again—no, not to break out the snow boots and shovels...to say hello to Princess Mia and her friends as another installment of the Princess Diaries hits bookshelves today!

But this edition is special, and not just because Princess Diaries, Volume IX, Princess Mia has a shiny red, newly re-designed cover (with a companion turquoise paperback--Princess Diaries, Volume VIII, Princess on the Brink--released on the same day)!

No, in Princess Mia our heroine hits new heights—and depths—of comedy as she deals with a break up, a betrayal, a royal mystery, and a possible new romance...all while juggling an eleventh grade class schedule and princess lessons...not to mention psychotherapy, into which Mia is lovingly pushed by concerned family and friends when she begins devouring every meat-based product she can find in her refrigerator when she succumbs to depression over the direction her life has suddenly started heading.

Hey, who hasn't been there? Leftover Chinese pork dumpings...yum!

Fortunately Mia has Fat Louie, her beloved cat, to help her through the tough times. I know my cats, Henrietta and Gem, are always there for me when I'm feeling down….which is why I made the video blog below (okay, Gem wasn't really a stray cat, but the family she originally lived with had a bunch of other pets, including roosters and iguanas, and Gem couldn't handle not being the center of attention. So she migrated over to our place, where she pretty much rules the roost).

Enjoy...and don't forget: Pets—and books—both cure the blues!

Love, Meg

Meg Cabot
Author of The Princess Diaries books, the Mediator series, the 1-800-Where-R-You series, All-American Girl, How to Be Popular, Pants on Fire, and Jinx, among others.

Beth Kephart: A Voice of Her Own

I learned yesterday that UNDERCOVER will be made into an audio book and the news made me stop, for a moment, and wonder: What sort of voice will carry my Elisa, the protagonist of UNDERCOVER, onto a digital recording? Pitch, tone, inflection, emphasis—the way a story is read out loud defines (in that instant) the story itself. It tells listeners what matters, what is yet tender, what doors have been closed. It shapes perceptions.

It's important, I think, to write our stories and poems with an ear for how they will sound when read aloud. I keep my own office door closed when I work—not for fear of being disturbed by the world beyond my desk, but for fear of disturbing the quiet soul in the living room, who doesn't necessarily want to hear me reading my sentences out loud again, and again. Which is what I do. Which is what I am doing right now. Even with this blog I am testing the words as they might sound if someone chose to read them aloud.

I learned the importance of all this slowly, over time, by going to bookstores and listening to writers read their own work. I like testing my sense of how the words should sound against the way the writers actually voice them. I like looking for clues on the page as to how a passage is meant to be delivered, and then I translate what I've learned into my own work.

I think we writers owe our readers that. We need to remember that words are active, meant to be lifted from the page or the screen by tongue, throat, and air.

Beth Kephart
Author of Undercover

www.beth-kephart.blogspot.com

Michael Spradlin: OKAY, BUT WHAT’S A MANGA?

When HarperCollins asked me if I wanted to turn my beloved Spy Goddess series into manga, it took me a while to make up my mind. The conversation went something like this:

Them: Hello, Mike? HarperCollins here. How would you like to turn Spy Goddess into a manga series?

Me (in serious writer voice): Well, I'll have to think abo...OKAY!

At first, I wasn't sure what lava bubbling out of the ground had to do with books (oh, wait, that's magma!)....

I was excited because I grew up reading and loving comic books. And manga is the comic book of the new millennium. So a chance to turn Rachel Buchanan, Spy Goddess, into an illustrated action hero? Where do I sign up?

Writing manga was a real challenge compared to writing novels. With manga, you quickly learn what it means to "show don't tell." Everything has to literally be seen on the page. No interior monologues. No long descriptions of places or events. Show.

Stretching my writing wings was fun. You'll have to read SPY GODDESS: THE CHASE FOR THE CHALICE (on sale in February) and tell me if we succeeded or not.

But I'd like to know if you've ever tried a new style or format for your writing? How did you find the experience?

Michael P. Spradlin
Author of the Spy Goddess series

www.michaelspradlin.com
www.myspace.com/michaelspradlin
www.myspace.com/spygoddess

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Jason Hightman: The First Job of Being a Writer

Is writing.

I have several friends who identify themselves as writers (I hope they'll still be friends now) yet they have very little actual writing experience. They view themselves as writers mainly as a hopeful vision for their futures. That's fine; it truly is. Whatever gets you through the day is a good thing.

But, if you honestly want to be a writer, you have to write. Just start--start right now, today--and begin telling your story.

You don't have to show your work to anyone. (That's the second—and hardest—part anyway; getting criticism and dealing with it properly.) For now, just start talking on paper. Ask yourself if the words say what you want, or if they subtly created a different impression than you wanted. Do it over again until it's right. Write every single day. Even if you get home late, even if you're tired, put something down. If you don't, it only gets harder.

There are so many great authors, so many great books about the craft; I think if I have anything special to offer it is this: I will be your private Champion. I hereby grant to you the Inner Champion's Motto: Get it down in writing, get it down, get it down, get it down. Use this to silence your Inner Critic (I know the guy, and by the way, he's a Royal Pain). Get out your motto. Use it like a mantra. Get it down, get it down, get it down...

I meant now, right now!

Jason Hightman
Author of The Saint of Dragons and Samurai

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Louise Rennison: Rambling on for England

Blimey O'Reilly, it is getting to be very nippy noodles over here in Billy Shakespeare land, as I write to you from genius headquarters (my bed). I have a hot water bottle on my head for max toastieness. I sincerely hope someone gorgeous does not unexpectedly come in.

In theory I am hard at work writing my new work of genius (as I like to call it), it's called Stop in the Name of Pants. As usual, I have had a lot of trouble getting the title past people who seem to think that I am a rude and wayward person. I wrote a book called And that is when it fell off in my hand and it was not allowed to be called that in your land (Hamburgeragogoland) because the publishers thought it was too rude.

I said, "How do you mean?"

And they said that they thought some people might think it was something rudey dudey… I don't know what on earth they mean (ish). In fact as any fool (i.e. me) could have told them, the thing that fell off was nothing to do with trouser snake addenda type stuff, but a false eyelash.

It's all quite groovy here at the mo, we are all in pre Chrimboli mood. I, of course, am trying to work but its hopeless really, people keep bursting in covered in tinsel and saying "Stop writing your childish books and let's groove."

And that is just my mum. Honestly. She is doing an M.A. in Medieval studies in York which means she mostly pretends to be Shakespeare in tights as far as I can tell. She has gone all 'studenty' and bolshie. Won't get off the couch, expects me to do her homework for her, etc... At the weekend she said "I am coming clubbing with you" even though I wasn't going clubbing, and was in fact asleep in bed. Which is probably her revenge for all the years she has had to put up with reading about herself in my books.

Anyway I must dash. Deep luuuurve…
Louise xxxxx
www.georgianicolson.com

P.S. What is YOUR favorite title of all of my books?


Louise Rennison
Author of the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

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Gaby Triana: The Temptress Four

Alright, so here's the scenario:

You and three of your best friends decide the best way to celebrate high school graduation is to take a Caribbean cruise aboard The Temptress--the newest ship by Caribbean Cruise Line. You're all packed. You're psyched. You're leaving in the morning, and it's going to be the most awesome week of your lives.

But the night before leaving, the four of you stop by the senior fair. After a night of riding rides, you see it--a blue and yellow tent. Madame Fortuna can read your future--5 tickets. Why not? you ask. You've never visited a fortune teller before. So you all go in, giggling nervously, ready to have some fun. But then you see her--charcoal-black hair, eyelashes, clumped with mascara. Lips, bright pink, lined a quarter-inch on the outside. She might be a hundred years old. She might be a zombie. She deals you several tarot cards. The Fool... there will be a voyage. The Tower... eight days of storms and strife...bonds will be broken. And finally... Death. "One of you," she says, "will not come home."

So I ask you... would you still go on your trip?

The Temptress Four, coming May 2008, from HarperTeen.

Gaby Triana
Author of Backstage Pass, Cubanita, The Temptress Four (May 2008), and Motor Girl (Summer 2009)
Visit Gaby on MySpace
www.gabytriana.com

Stefan Petrucha: How do you do that thing you do?

One question we're often asked about Wicked Dead is how on earth do you collaborate on a novel? Most people have a hard enough time writing one on their own, so it seems impossible to even imagine opening up that eccentric, solitary process to someone else's strangeness.

Experience helps. In high school, we'd pass the keyboard back and forth, each adding a new sentence. While that can be lots of yucks, it seldom produces literary masterworks.

Having respect for the other person's talent is major plus. We knew, read and enjoyed each other's work long before we thought about doing anything as a team. We'd also met at a writer's crit group, so we were very used to receiving criticism from each other.

Using an outline also helps. It's a lot easier to talk out the basic beats of a story in general terms than to add to existing prose. Lastly, establishing spheres of influence can help resolve potential conflicts. If one partner is stronger on dialogue, let them have the final say over what gets said, for instance.

In the end, if all else fails, sometimes you just have to grit your teeth, sigh and kill the other person. Just be careful where you hide the body.

Hey, there's another Wicked Dead plot already...

Anyone else out there ever try a creative collaboration? Yearbook? Newspaper? Website? How'd it go? What worked for you? What didn't? Where did you hide the body? And do come visit at www.wickeddead.com.

Stefan Petrucha & Thomas Pendleton
Authors of theWicked Dead series

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undefined Wicked Dead: Torn



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Joyce Carol Oates: WRITE YOUR HEART OUT!

What advice can I, an older writer, presume to offer to a younger? Only what I might wish to have been told years ago:

1) Read widely, following your interest; choose a favorite writer and read everything that he/she has written, in chronological order.

2) Think of a "first draft" as raw material, to be revised, re-imagined, improved. As a young athlete builds skills by practice, so a young writer has to learn the art of revision, which is partly an art of patience.

3) Don't be satisfied with the "easy" praise of well-intentioned teachers and friends, who like you and don't want to upset or annoy you by offering serious criticism. (Or, they may not know enough to offer serious criticism.)

4) Don't be discouraged!

Joyce Carol Oates
Author of After the Wreck, I Picked Myself Up, Spread My Wings, and Flew Away, Sexy, Big Mouth & Ugly Girl, and Freaky Green Eyes

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Maureen Johnson: Get some cheer!

Hello, Myspace friends. Welcome to Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year!

If you are in the United States, perhaps you are reading this from the depths of your couch, where you are thinking about How Much You Ate Yesterday. As for today's shopping extravaganza . . . I am NOT going out there. I live in New York City, where is it a shopping bloodbath on the best of days. I do not want to be killed by a well-meaning tourist wielding a giant stuffed platypus from F.A.O. Schwartz.

No. I am staying here, blogging to you in safety.

I had a very YA Thanksgiving. Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larabalestier came over, as did Australian YA queen Lili Wilkinson. It was also kind of a UK Thanksgiving, as my British friends Oscar Gingersnort and Winchester Grey were there, asking "Wot is this?" a lot, which was fun. When you have four foreigners at your Thanksgiving table, you can make up all kinds of things, and THEY BELIEVE YOU! They don't know Thanksgiving traditions! You can say, "On Thanksgiving, it is traditional to put on these ski boots and go stand in the hall closet making ghost noises." AND THEY DO IT!

Or they WOULD have, if I had asked them to. But I was trying to be a good hostess and not burn the turkey or the vegetarian option (for Scott and I).

In any case, the festive season is now upon us! I love the festive season. I hope you will visit me over on my blog, where I will be answering cheer-related questions for the next five weeks, as well as opening the MJ Holiday Card Signing Workshop. Come on over! Get some cheer!

Maureen Johnson
Author of Girl at Sea, 13 Little Blue Envelopes, and The Key to the Golden Firebird

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Tui Sutherland: IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD! (Happy Thanksgiving!)

Hey everyone!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Wow, this seems like an inappropriate day to talk about something like the end of the world, doesn't it? (But I swear it's relevant!) I must admit I love end-of-the-world stories—like Children of Men and John Christopher's Tripods series and Brian K. Vaughan's Y: The Last Man and Battlestar Galactica—there's something about surviving and starting all over that's kind of compelling (although I definitely wouldn't want to live through it myself…I'm very thankful for the world the way it is now, with TV and pre-cooked turkeys in the supermarket and airplanes and eggnog and new books all the time!)

Still, post-apocalyptic stories fascinate me, and that's why I decided to write my own! Hence the title of book one in my Avatars trilogy: So This Is How It Ends. And the premise: in the blink of an eye, five teenagers discover they are the only people left on the planet (more or less), and then they have to figure out what happened, why, and whether there's anything they can do about it.

However, I didn't want to write about plague or nuclear war or aliens or rebuilding a world or surviving without electricity (other authors have done that so well already!), so my books took a more supernatural turn, especially by book two, Shadow Falling, which just came out last month. Of course, you'll have to read them if you want to find out what kind of apocalypse I came up with!

What I'm trying to say is, if you're looking for ideas, try thinking about the kinds of stories you like, and then put your own spin on them. The TV show Heroes is certainly not the first (or the last) story about ordinary people discovering they have superpowers. Can you come up with a surprising superpower (making other people invisible!) or a surprising kind of person to give it to (the hero's dog?)? Or maybe you like romances—try thinking of two people who would be really unlikely to meet (a movie star and a bike messenger?), and then figure out how they do, why they fall in love, and what stands in their way before they can finally be together.

I know sometimes it feels like all the books have already been written and all the good ideas have already been taken. But you don't have to reinvent the universe to write a great story—you just have to make it your own.  And that's one thing I'm thankful for! (Also pecan pie. And TV. Did I say that already?)

If you want to know more about me or my books, come visit my website and my regular blog at www.tuibooks.com!

And tell us about you…what are your favorite kinds of stories? Can you think of two books (or movies, or TV shows) that take similar ideas and tell them in totally different ways? (Chuck and Alex Rider? Twilight and Buffy?) And hey, do you have a favorite end-of-the-world story? (I'm always looking for new ones!)

Thanks for reading!

Tui Sutherland
Author of the Avatars trilogy and This Must Be Love

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Melissa Marr: It’s All About Perspective...

I'm working on the third novel (a sequel to Wicked Lovely), and I've been pondering perspectives. Sometimes things are left unanswered in a text because it's not the right time for those answers. In the third novel, I get to develop details that didn't belong in Wicked Lovely. Frex (a non-spoiler example), the last Summer King is discussed a bit more in Ink Exchange and in the third novel. This is not new data to me, but it wasn't right for WL.

Why? Well, is Keenan going to stop and think of his father by his given name? No. Beira? No. Don and Ash didn't know him. So that detail was omitted for the time. As a reader, I get frustrated when a text bogs down in backstory and obvious world extension. It feels artificial. I don't see dropping data into the scene if it isn't a realistic thing for the character to ponder at that moment.

Likewise, some visual details make more sense to me. Landscape interests me, but finite depictions of people's appearance often feels off to me--partly because they are inevitably subjective and partly because my mind refuses to process list-like visuals of people. When I meet people, I tend to focus in on a few key details. Maybe it's a walk, a gesture, a scent, an attitude. Rarely is it height, weight, eye-colour. This filters into my writing.

The details revealed in my text are decided somewhere between characters' perspective and my perspective--and I notice buildings more than eyes :)

So what about you? When you go about your day, what sorts of things make you stop? If you were my character, what details would you notice? Which ones wouldn't you?

Melissa Marr
Author of Wicked Lovely

www.myspace.com/melissa_marr
http://melissa-writing.livejournal.com
www.melissa-marr.com
www.wickedlovely.com (Note: This is not MY site, but a fansite where I stop & answer questions.)

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Anna Godbersen: Deadlines

I've been anticipating the 20th of November with joy and anxiety for some time now. Joy because it's the publication day of my first book, which means that it will be out in the world, not just as an idea or an Amazon page, but as a real physical object. And as a physical object, The Luxe lives up to its title: The chapter numbers are done in gorgeous curlicues, the endpapers are classy black, and the cover is folds and folds of an epic pink ball gown. It is truly a beautiful thing. The anxiety I feel has nothing to do with this book, and everything to do with a date ten days later, which is the deadline for Rumors, the sequel to The Luxe. Like 99% of writers, I have a hard time getting started, procrastinate in idiotic ways, am still working hard all the way to the finish line, and even then still find myself staring out the window when I really, really need to have a killer idea.

As a teenager--and as a college student, and even since then--people have teased me for this staring-out-the-window, dreamy, dippy quality I have. This has always bothered me more than anything else anybody could say, and it's in fact a mischaracterization--I have an excellent, almost obsessive memory for dates and numbers and the things people say, and though I never give the impression of being sharp, I tend to leave any situation with a fistful of meaningful details. These are writerly skills, of course. And when I am feeling most anxious about how many words I have failed to write in a day, I like to remind myself how productive staring out the window can be. At this stage of the game I go to sleep wondering what Henry Schoonmaker will do tomorrow, and I stand at the stove waiting for the tea to boil thinking about Lina Broud's emotional state.

This is a fine line, of course. As with all creative pursuits, there has to be a balance between letting something happen in an organic way and cold, hard discipline. But I wonder what things you all find yourself doing when you procrastinate? Do people ever call you dreamy? I'd love to know, and I hope you check out and enjoy The Luxe! And come visit me at my own myspace page, myspace.com/annagodbersen, when you get the chance.

Anna Godbersen
Author of The Luxe

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Joan Ackermann: Blog?

Hello, hello, hello! Welcome! My assignment here is to write a two hundred word blog and I have to tell you, I'm not even sure what a blog is. I do know what two hundred words are so I feel some level of confidence there.

I've been writing words since I was about ten. I started out writing poetry, and then journalism, and then plays, and then television, and then movies, and now... ta da! A novel! This is the first novel I've ever written and it was a pretty wild experience. When you write plays, you get to finish a draft and then work with other people -- designers, directors, actors.

Writing a novel is such a solitary experience. It's like being up in a little solo airplane flying at night over the desert. That's how I kept feeling. You spend most of your time hanging out with characters who don't even exist, really; who know one else knows, but who you start to know better than a lot of the people in your life. But now there's this book with a jacket and it's in the window of my local bookstore and I have something I can give to friends for Christmas this year. The great thing about writing is that there are so many forms and it can be such a great ticket to get into the heart of things.

If anyone is reading this blog who likes to write, keep going! It will enrich your life enormously and don't worry about whether it's good or not. That's not important. What's important is that you do it. No one can take that journey away from you. There. Did I just write my first blog entry?

Joan Ackermann
Author of In the Space Left Behind

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Crissa-Jean Chappell: “Grape Ape”

He sat across from me in Communication Theory class. Not that we communicated much. Most of the time, I stared at his hair—wheat-blonde strands that curved over the collar of his ever-changing indie rock t-shirts. He wore more jewelry than me. Mood rings laced his knuckles. A shark's tooth dangled in the hollow of his throat. I'd seen the same necklace at a gas station in the Keys. Two for a buck.

He didn't talk. Instead, he doodled on my notebook, a self-portrait in number-two pencil. Always the same google-eyed boy, strangling a guitar. I tore out the pages and folded them in my bookbag.

One day, I came late to class. I ran up the stairs and turned a corner. Everybody huddled outside the door, talking and laughing too loud.

"If he doesn't show in fifteen minutes, I'm leaving," said a girl whose name I'd forgotten.

I found him leaning against the railing. He grinned at me.

"Want a screw?" he mumbled.

In my mind, the words smeared together: Wantascrew.

"What?" I asked.

He held out his hand. A silver screw glinted in his palm. I picked it up and tossed it over the railing. Then he opened his mouth.

He said I didn't seem like a Miami person. He said he had a girlfriend back home, but they were "open" about things. He said we could study in his dorm sometime.
"Maybe," I told him.

My best friend, J, searched for him on campus.

"What does he look like?" she wanted to know.

On Monday, we waited under the banyan tree at lunch, watching the moving sidewalk of people. She spotted him right away.

"I didn't know he had purple hair," she said, laughing.

"He must've dyed it over the weekend," I said.

There was a lot about him that I didn't know.

"Are you going to talk to him again?" she asked.

I shrugged.

There was nothing left to talk about.

Crissa-Jean Chappell
Author of Total Constant Order

www.crissajeanchappell.com
http://f-i-n.diaryland.com
www.myspace.com/crissajean

Total Constant Order

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Chris Crutcher: Deadline

I've been having pretty good luck getting my books challenged in the past few years and I don't expect DEADLINE to be any different. If the language or the fuzzy spirituality or a main character taking on authority with the zeal of one who has nothing to lose doesn't bring out the censors, a child molester cast in a semi-positive light should do the trick.

I didn't write the book to get banned – I never do – but I didn't write it not to get banned either. I wrote it to force my main character, Ben Wolf, to look at the worth of his life and at his own ability under pressure to increase that worth. Planet Earth is a tough town and if any of us look closely, we'll see more potholes in our lives and the lives of others than we would see living it out on cruise control.

That's Ben Wolf's forte...seeing the potholes.

Chris Crutcher
Author of Deadline
www.chriscrutcher.com
www.myspace.com/chriscrutcher

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Beth Kephart: A Voice of Our Own

Early in my writing career I fell in love with the gerund and the participial phrase, with prepositionals and commas. My sentences were long—trademark long—sounding something like this: "Having left the alley before dawn, having run between shadows and sun, having followed the hawk, she understood that everything had changed." For me, back then, the goal was lush. I wanted every single sentence to sound like it had been lifted from a song.

As it turns out, of course, stories need a whole lot more than lush to carry them forward. They need muscle and speed, metaphor, the quick shot of an unexpected word, long and not entirely direct phrases. They need fast and slow. Straightforward and blurred.

UNDERCOVER, my first novel for young adults, features a young aspiring writer who pens love poems on behalf of guys who have their hearts set on other girls. Elisa goes to the woods to hunt down metaphors and similes. She hammers away at her own poems. She searches for a voice that is her own, for stories that she alone owns.

That's the journey we writers are always on. It's the journey I write about daily in my blog (www.beth-kephart.blogspot.com). I'm fascinated by the question: How does a writer's voice evolve? I'd love to hear your stories.

Beth Kephart
Author of Undercover

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NANTUCKET RED BELTS AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. BOATING SHOES AND STUDY DRUGS. BOARDING SCHOOL....

Hi Everyone!

Let me first thank HarperTeen; I'm honored to be part of the new site.

 

I just returned from a week in LA where I'm moving. I'm excited as I've been living in NYC for wa-a-a-a-ay too long and it's wearing me down. I need sunshine!

 

I met with great people while out there who are working hard at adapting UPPER CLASS for TV. It's a fabulous opportunity so I hope everything gets resolved fast. I hope that doesn't sound too selfish with respect to the strike, but I think it's about time a show or movie depicted boarding school correctly. I love "Dead Poet's Society", "Outside Providence" and "School Ties," but they aren't even close to current.

 

The aspect of prep school that hasn't changed is the bloody competitiveness. Even if boarding school is a foreign concept to some of you, the people who attend those schools aren't that different. It's the institution that creates bizarre relationships and experiences.  Having no parental guidance while being expected to behave as an adult is a catalyst for people to act out, which leads to suspensions, expulsions, and even arrests, for drugs, alcohol, even rape and assault. On the positive side incredible bonds form between friends. I'm still extremely close with many of my boarding school friends. A few teachers actually care about the students beyond the classroom, and there are top-notch athletics and luxurious school grounds.

 

What do you all think when you hear "boarding school"? I used to think of snobby kids in whale-print pants and Lilly Pulitzer skirts. I wasn't wrong, but there were also diverse and gifted people who attended, too! It was a global community tucked into the ..:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />New England woods; almost surreal.

 

I'm off to edit the fourth book, but please shoot me emails and questions. What characters do you all like and what would you all like to know more about? I'd love to report back to my co-authors and the TV guys with some helpful feedback!

 

I check our MySpace page regularly so please become friends and send us notes whenever you have something on your mind!

 

Thanks so much for your support for THE UPPER CLASS NOVELS and keep an eye out for book three, OFF CAMPUS in April!

 

Till next time,

Taylor Materne

Author of THE UPPER CLASS and MISS EDUCATED.

www.myspace.com/upperclassnovels

Alex Flinn: What’s in a Name?

Naming characters is one of the fun parts of being a writer! You know what the character is going to be like, so you can select a name that suits that character. Also, you don't have to worry that the character is going to be taunted about a weird name – unless, of course, that's your object. Sometimes, a character just names himself, but sometimes, I have to think about it more.

Some of the factors I consider in choosing a character's name are:

1. Meaning. When I named my main character, Kyle Kingsbury, the "Beast" in Beastly, I chose the name because it meant, "handsome." After handsome Kyle is transformed into a beast, he changes his own name to Adrian, which means, "dark."

2. Popularity. If I want to show that a character is the kind of person who fits in, I choose a popular name like Caitlin or Michael. If I want to show that a character is a loner who bucks the system, I choose a more unusual name, such as Julian or Binky.

3. Ethnicity. Because I live in Miami, I like my characters to be multicultural, so I try to choose a variety of names.

4. A story. In Fade to Black, the character of Clinton was named Clinton because his father liked a certain Clint Black song that was popular the year he was born.

Sometimes, when I'm struggling with a character, I find that the right name makes that character come alive in my mind.

How do you name your characters?

Alex Flinn
Author of Beastly, Diva, Fade to Black, Nothing to Lose, and more
www.alexflinn.com

Check back each day to hear from a new HarperTeen author!

Ellen Schreiber: Vampire Kisses Manga

When I first wrote the Vampire Kisses series, I never imagined it would become a manga. I was totally into reading mangas and I was particularly glued to Nana, Absolute Boyfriend, I Luv Halloween, and Godchild. When HarperTeen and Tokyopop asked me about turning the series into graphic novels, it was a dream come true!

I got to create more sinister and seducing vampires who descend upon Dullsville and not only conceive their image in my head, but on paper. After producing the character's attributes, Raven and Alexander and their new nemesis' were brought to life via rem's fabulous artistry. Suddenly I got to see the character's I'd written about for years running around tombstones and cuddling in the cemetery. In novels, there is plenty of time for descriptions and you imagine the characters, but in mangas you see the character--so the art is very important. Also, there is a lot of action, so the stories had to be eventful. Of course, there always had to be time for a stolen kiss between Raven and her hottie vampire boyfriend. Romance, to me, is important in all forms of art and life!

Have you ever thought about writing a manga?

Ellen Schreiber
Author of the Vampire Kisses series, Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives manga series, and Comedy Girl

www.myspace.com/ellenschreiber
www.ellenschreiber.com

Check back each day to hear from a new HarperTeen author!

Sara Shepard: Keep on Blogging!

Hi everyone!

I'm thrilled to be the first guest-author blogger for HarperTeen's new MySpace page! There's a great lineup of authors who will be blogging here over the next few months, so I hope you'll stay tuned--I know I will.

So all us HarperTeen authors have been told that we can write about anything in these blogs—our lives, our writing, our books (mine are the Pretty Little Liars series). That's basically free reign, but I'm guessing a lot of you tuning in are writers yourselves. Maybe you've got a novel already written. Maybe you're struggling with chapter two. Or maybe you love to write, but have no idea what to write about.

I used to feel frustrated about that, too. In fact, I moaned about that very thing in my eleventh-grade journal on November 20th, 1994, which I still have, tucked away in my closet: "Sometimes I wonder what I even have to write about," I wrote in scrawling pencil. "Would my stories spark discussion…or put people to sleep? You know, I bet people would fall asleep. Nothing ever happens to me."

As boring as I thought my life was, I kept recording it in journals, either handwritten or typed on my family's computer. I wrote mostly because I needed to vent, not because I thought any of it would come in handy someday. But to my surprise, that's just what happened. I use plenty of details from my own life to describe Pretty Little Liars characters Aria, Emily, Spencer, Hanna, and Alison. So all of you who think you have nothing to write about—don't despair. Keep writing everything down. Those little details are yours, and they're what make stories come alive.

How many of you keep journals—or maybe blogs—already? Or do you have other ways of thinking up great ideas for stories? I can't wait to hear from you! Also, check me out at my MySpace page—www.myspace.com/sara_shepard. And if you want to talk Pretty Little Liars, be sure to log on to the discussion boards at www.nevertrustaprettygirl.com.

Until next time, keep writing—or blogging!

Sara Shepard
Author of the Pretty Little Liars

Check back each day to hear from a new HarperTeen author!

Ana’s Story: A Journey of Hope by Jenna Bush

Based on her work with UNICEF in Latin America and the Caribbean, Jenna Bush has written a powerful and personal, narrative nonfiction account of a girl who fights against all odds to survive. She symbolizes many children in peril and puts a face on the shocking statistics: according to UNICEF, 2.3 million children worldwide live with HIV/AIDS. Millions more suffer from abuse, poverty, and neglect.

Find out how you can help in your community, at school, or anywhere around the world: www.harperteen.com

Visit Jenna & Mia on MySpace: www.myspace.com/anas_story

Ana's Story: A Journey of Hope
by Jenna Bush, with photos by Mia Baxter

She's 17.
She's been abused.
She has a child.
And she's HIV-positive.

She is Ana, and this is her story. It begins the day she is born infected with HIV transmitted from her young mother. Now she barely remembers her mamá, who died when Ana was three. From then on, Ana's childhood becomes a blur of faint memories and secrets—secrets about her illness and about the abuse she endures.

Ana's journey is a long one. Shuffled from home to home, she rarely finds safety or love. And then she meets a boy. Berto is one of the only people Ana trusts with all of her secrets. That trust puts Ana on a path to breaking the silence that has harmed her and leads her to new beginnings, new sorrows, and new hope. She resolves to live a full life and wants an education for herself and a brighter future for her child. This is Ana's story.

Jenna's message of hope and call to action will inspire you to make a difference for children like Ana.

A portion of proceeds from Ana's Story will benefit the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.

We’re writing a book... and we need YOUR help!

Calling HarperTeen Friends of OurPlanet!

 

Visit the OurPlanet profile to submit your tips about the things you are doing to help the environment, in both big and small ways. How do you (and your friends) make a difference—at home, at school, in your community, or in the ways you travel, shop, dress, eat, party, etc.?

 

Your tip and MySpace username could be used in our book MySpace/OurPlanet, coming on Earth Day 2008.

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Rachel Hawthorne: Experience the Passion!

…The passion of life.

A couple of years ago, they (you know, the infamous "they"?) built a ballpark a few miles from my house. When I look out the window at night, I can see the lights glowing in the distance. One night I decided to go to a game. It was $1 night: $1 to get in, $1 for a hotdog, $1 for a drink, etc. Inexpensive entertainment.

The field was built for a collegiate league team. During the summer, college baseball players moved to the town, lived with the local families, and played on the town's team. That particular night was family appreciation night. The host families went down to the field before the game started to be recognized. It was obvious the families were fond of the players—and the players were fond of them. And the seed was planted for The Boyfriend League, the story of a girl who talks her parents into being a host family—so she can get to know all the guys better and hopefully get a boyfriend.

As a writer, I spend a lot of time in front of my computer. I'm an introvert, shy. Sometimes I think I would be content to never leave my office, but I've discovered that I have to get out and experience life to keep the ideas flowing. If I hadn't gone to the game, watched the families cheering their players on, I might have never had the idea for The Boyfriend League.

I once had a reader offer to sell me her story ideas, but I don't need to buy other people's ideas. I have so many of my own. I'll bet you do, too. Stories are part of who we are, and ideas can come from the ordinary or the not-so-ordinary. Thrill Ride came about because of a vacation we took to Cedar Point and the memory of a guy who called my college roommate and ended up talking to me—and then he kept calling me. The idea for Snowed In was sparked by a trip to Mackinac Island.

Do your story ideas come from experiences, from somewhere else, or from a little of both? Do you think you'll ever run out of ideas? Or are you like me, wondering if you'll have time to write them all?

Rachel Hawthorne
Author of The Boyfriend League

P. E. Ryan: Exploring the Issue

First, a bit of history. When I was 18, I was a freshman at Florida State and had a job shelving books. One of the books I came across was The Anita Bryant Story (an autobiography of a singer-turned-orange-juice-spokesperson who surprised everyone in the 1970s by becoming America's #1 homophobe). I was in the closet, nervous, and immediately read the chapter titled, I think, "The Homosexual Problem." I then committed my one and only act of censorship: I went into the elevator and, with the doors open, I dropped the slim, little book through the gap and down into the elevator shaft. It's probably still there.

I wrote Saints of Augustine because I wanted to write the book that I wish had existed back in 1983: a novel about a gay guy, a straight guy, their various problems, and how they could forge a solid friendship despite—or because of—their differences.

Thankfully, it's easier for teens to come out these days, but that doesn't mean it's easy. I see it as a "right of passage" that shapes the adults we become. With that in mind, the subject matter is still very, very relevant. There are many prejudices thriving in the world, but the prejudice against gays and lesbians will probably be the last to evaporate. Therefore, it's up to us to explore the issue, celebrate it, and hopefully reach out to the world with our writing.

I wrote Saints of Augustine for all readers, not just a gay and lesbian audience. In fact, I purposefully kept in mind straight readers (both guys and girls) and was just as interested in the straight characters as the gay ones.

If you're a straight guy, Id love to know what you thought of the book and if you'd recommend it to your straight friends. Likewise if you're a straight girl or a lesbian. And as for my gay male readers…did I get it right?

P. E. Ryan
Author of Saints of Augustine

Lisa (a.k.a. Dorkysokerchick): Part Two: My Day at HarperTeen

The first thing we did when we got to the HarperCollins Children's building was meet Farrin and Lexa (both editors, of course—you've probably seen them around the site). They gave us a tour where I got to meet a ton of other editors that work on some of my favorite books (all of Meg's, of course, and Pretty Little Liars). I got to meet Naomi, too (who you've also probably seen around the site).

Then we were huddled into an art meeting. I never knew how much work went into making a cover. Between picking out models, colors, and fonts—the possibilities are endless. Then I got to see Farrin's office and pick her brain about how she became an editor.

Then it was on to lunch with Rachel Vail. We ate at this amazing Italian restaurant and Rachel was so nice. I got to hear tons of stories, one involving Judy Blume, and I even got to give my opinion on a title for her new series.

Then we went to an editorial meeting where several editors discussed if they wanted to pursue certain books or pass on them, and I also got to hear what kinds of books they're looking for in the upcoming year.

We were then shuffled into another meeting where we celebrated some birthdays (the cupcakes were really good) and then everyone discussed a manuscript I had gotten to take a look at earlier.

Finally, before the day was over, I got to meet Melissa from Publicity and take a tour of Marketing and Publicity—basically where they set up all the promotions for a book.

I met way too many editors to name, but each and every one was nice to us and they all went out of their way to make it a great day for me.

Did I not answer any essential questions? Well…you know what to do…

Lisa (a.k.a. Dorkysokerchick), Grand Prize Chapter Winner

Lisa (a.k.a. Dorkysokerchick): Part One: Are You Sure I WON?

I never dreamed when I stumbled upon this site that I would win anything. Well, OK, I didn't stumble on it so much as read about it on Meg Cabot's blog, which I religiously view.

Anyway, the fact that I was a chapter winner floored me. I mean, things like that don't happen to me, and then on top of that I won a trip to NY. Insane right? Not to mention that I got to go to meet the folks at HarperTeen. It still makes me all giddy just thinking about it.

So from December, when I fell down the stairs after hearing the news, until March 26, I had plenty of time to prepare and pack (OK, I admit I didn't pack until the day of). On Monday March 26, we boarded a plane headed for NY.

Unfortunately for us, our plane was delayed an hour, but that gave me plenty of time to catch up on some of Rachel Vail's books (she was the author I got to meet, but more on that later).

We stayed at the Omni Berkshire Hotel in Manhattan, which was extremely nice—nicer than anyplace I had ever stayed before. From there we ended up walking to Rockefeller Center, went shopping (duh), and then went to the Empire State Building. By the end of the night, I crashed into bed completely nervous about the next day, which I know is what everyone wants to hear about.

Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next time to hear all about it. So in the meantime, any questions you want me to answer? You know what to do...

Lisa (a.k.a. Dorkysokerchick), Grand Prize Chapter Winner

Where Did That Come From?

The first day of my 7th-grade English class, the teacher assigned us a short story to read. The next day, we had a quiz. The first question was, "Who is the author of the story?"

I didn't know. It had never occurred to me to think about who wrote the things that I read. I just sort of assumed that books and stories magically appeared on shelves for me to pick up. Like milk. I mean, who drinks milk and thinks about the cows who made it, right? You just buy it and dunk your Oreos in it.

That short story was "The Lottery," and the author was Shirley Jackson. Once I knew her name, I started thinking about her. What was she like? Why did she write "The Lottery" (which, if you haven't read it, is only the best short story ever)?

Later, I read a biography of Shirley Jackson and found out a lot more about this fascinating writer. Then I went back and re-read a lot of her work, looking for ways her life found its way into her books. And I've done it with other authors I love: John Steinbeck, Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers, just to name a few. Knowing something about the people who write the books that are important to you can make reading them a whole new experience.

Something else happens when you learn more about the authors of your favorite books—you see that they're real people. Just like you. Sure, some of them have unusual lives. But most of them are people who simply see the world in extraordinary ways and write about it. And that's what writing is, putting your story on paper and letting people know how you see the world.

Who are some of your favorite authors, and what can you find out about their lives? And, more important, what do you have to say about the world you live in?

Jenny Collins
Author of First Kisses 3: Puppy Love

Adriana Dominguez: Find Your Middle Ground

What is the most difficult part of writing? Getting started of course! First lines and first chapters can be awful, and they often are! The first line of your story should grab the reader's attention, and the first chapter should set the stage for the whole story, this is true, but do they have to be written first? And more importantly, do they have to be perfect before you can even think about what you're going to write next?

Big NO.

Why? Because once the story gets rolling, its focus will inevitably change, that is part of the process of writing: rewriting. Characters will acquire lives of their own through the process; parts that you thought were important will seem less so and, surely, new ideas will come to the surface. So don't fret too much about your beginning; when you finish writing your story, you may very possibly find that its strongest points lie in the middle, not the beginning, and maybe not even the end! So write the first sentence, and the next, and the one after that, and don't look back. Keep writing. Often, a story is a puzzle that you create as you go, and that needs to be put back together once it is finished. The pieces will be there in front of you, and once you have them, where they should fit will become that much clearer. So, say hello to new beginnings!

Do you always begin at the beginning?

Adriana Dominguez
Executive Editor, HarperCollins Publishers

Patricia Ocampo: The Right Writing

They say that all editors are failed writers. I am sure there is some truth to that maxim—after all, it is a maxim—but I think a big, fancy asterisk has to appear beside the word "failed."

When I was ten, my mom brought home some books with funny pictures, lively short stories, and neat rows of lines. Lots and lots of lines. My clever mother had spent hard-earned money—money that could have gone to our Disneyland fund (currently rattling around the bottom of my Snoopy jar)—on write-your-own-ending exercise books! After reading and rereading (and rereading) the enticing intros, I valiantly took up the story about a naughty piccolo. All too soon I was planted on the couch watching The Little Mermaid, the books buried in the linen closet.

In high school, I aced essays and struggled with lab reports. School newspaper editorials came easily, but hard-news stories did not. In journalism school I could churn out radio scripts in my sleep, but drafting a television spot was like chewing tin foil. Was I a writer or not?

I finally figured it out when I became a book editor. Just like many of you, I love writing, reading, and anything to do with words. Unlike many of you, I cannot write fiction. Short stories, novels, plays—I am utterly useless. But ask me for some jacket copy or a book review, and the writer in me blooms. Yes, I'm a failed* writer.

*But I can write in certain styles with the best of them.

Anyone who loves to write can be a successful writer. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of figuring out what kind of writing you're good at, and you might have to think outside the box for that. A failed novelist, poet, and playwright may just be the greatest biographer the world has ever seen.

(And if you're really stuck, consider a career writing story endings. I hear the market's wide open.)

What kind of writing is right for you?

Patricia Ocampo
Editorial Assistant, HarperCollins Publishers

Sarah Cloots: It's the Little Things

Everyone says it's the big, landmark things in life that are important. "Don't sweat the small stuff," they say. But let's face it—that's pretty hard to do. It's those pesky, unavoidable little bumps in your day—a stain you found on your shirt as soon as you got on the bus, the finger you slammed in your locker in your rush to make it to class before the bell, an off-handed remark from a teacher or friend that you've been overanalyzing—that stay on your mind and have you obsessing, putting you in a funk despite your best efforts to forget about them and move on to bigger things.

But the great thing is, it works the other way around, too. An unexpected "hi" received in the hallway, an inside joke winked at over lunch with your best friend, or the right answer you gave in history class can leave you smiling the rest of the day.

So why not make some good little things for yourself and translate that to your writing? Making yourself work on something every day—whether that means writing a new chapter, asking for a friend's honest opinion, or even scrapping something that you don't think works anymore…will give you a sense of accomplishment, will keep you from feeling overwhelmed…and soon all those little things will add up to something big.

Then, as you lay in bed at night trying to fall asleep, count that day's writing as one of the good little things that happened that day (that you were fully responsible for!) and watch as the list of good things start to outweigh the bad. A landmark indeed!

And those bad little things? You can totally turn them into good things too. After all, life's most devastating, embarrassing, unforgettable moments make for fantastic stories. Happy writing!

Sarah Cloots
Editorial Assistant, Greenwillow Books

Margaret Miller: Writer's Block? Take the Bad Writing Challenge!

In my experience, the number-one reason for writer's block is insecurity. It can be paralyzing, and the more you want to be a writer, the worse it is, because the more it matters that you write well. What if you have no good ideas? What if your good idea is not as good as you think? What if no one else likes what you write?

What if you fail?

Well, what if you do? Everyone fails! Even successful writers fail—believe Zadie Smith if you don't believe me. You'll never write anything good if you're not taking the kinds of risks that might also lead to terrible, shameful failure.

So here is a simple exercise to prove that writing badly is completely, totally survivable:

Beginner's challenge: Write something awful. It should be something that you would cringe if you heard someone else read aloud but that could pass for a genuine attempt at good writing. Now you've written something terrible. Any broken bones? No? Fantastic!

Intermediate challenge: Take your piece of bad writing and post it in the comments section below. Did the entire internet see your bad writing? Yes. Have you suddenly gone blind? No? Excellent!

Advanced challenge: Find a local open mic night. Get up and read your horrible writing as if you think it's the greatest piece ever created. Does everyone in that coffeehouse think you're an awful writer? Probably. Are you still alive?

Yes?

You did it! Now you are immune to insecurity, because you know that writing something horrible does not cause broken bones, blindness, or sudden death.

Not everything you write will live up to your standards. The first thing to learn is that that's okay. The second thing to learn is that the more you fail, the more you know, and the more you'll improve in the long run.

Now please stop reading this blog and go write something hideous, flowery, ungrammatical, implausible, overserious, unpleasant, melodramatic, confusing, and pathetic. Post it below!

Margaret Miller
Associate Editor, HarperCollins Publishers

Patricia Ocampo: The Right Writing

They say that all editors are failed writers. I am sure there is some truth to that maxim—after all, it is a maxim—but I think a big, fancy asterisk has to appear beside the word "failed."

When I was ten, my mom brought home some books with funny pictures, lively short stories, and neat rows of lines. Lots and lots of lines. My clever mother had spent hard-earned money—money that could have gone to our Disneyland fund (currently rattling around the bottom of my Snoopy jar)—on write-your-own-ending exercise books! After reading and rereading (and rereading) the enticing intros, I valiantly took up the story about a naughty piccolo. All too soon I was planted on the couch watching The Little Mermaid, the books buried in the linen closet.

In high school, I aced essays and struggled with lab reports. School newspaper editorials came easily, but hard-news stories did not. In journalism school I could churn out radio scripts in my sleep, but drafting a television spot was like chewing tin foil. Was I a writer or not?

I finally figured it out when I became a book editor. Just like many of you, I love writing, reading, and anything to do with words. Unlike many of you, I cannot write fiction. Short stories, novels, plays—I am utterly useless. But ask me for some jacket copy or a book review, and the writer in me blooms. Yes, I'm a failed* writer.

*But I can write in certain styles with the best of them.

Anyone who loves to write can be a successful writer. Sometimes, it's simply a matter of figuring out what kind of writing you're good at, and you might have to think outside the box for that. A failed novelist, poet, and playwright may just be the greatest biographer the world has ever seen.

(And if you're really stuck, consider a career writing story endings. I hear the market's wide open.)

What kind of writing is right for you?

Patricia Ocampo
Editorial Assistant, HarperCollins Publishers