Happy Book Birthday to THE THIRD LIE'S THE CHARM & PB Book Birthday to FALLING FOR YOU!

 

LOVE Lisa & Laura Roecker! LOVE The Liar Society!

This book is a MUST for my shelves!

 

 

Lisa Schroeder, an amazing, talented writer of poetry and prose,

has crafted a heart-wrenchingly poignant read about love and words

so, go get your paperback edition!

Blog Tour Stop for THIS IS W.A.R. by Lisa & Laura Roecker

I am thrilled and delighted to be a stop on Lisa & Laura Roecker's THIS IS W.A.R. blog tour  I was introduced to these dynamo sisters by our mutual agent, Catherine Drayton, back in 2010, before the publication of their first book, THE LIAR SOCIETY. They are amazing, talented, incredibly hard-working, and master-mystery-plotters. So, it is with great pleasure that I share our conversation with you.

http://www.thisiswarbook.com/ 

SWK: Willa. James. The Gregory Family...I love the names in this book. Are there any special stories about these naming choices?

L&L: Names are very important to us and they often change until they're just right. We wanted the Gregory boys to have a last name that could be a first name. Just because it sounds semi-pretentious. And we knew we wanted a Trip for the third. Willa's name changed the most. She was originally Alice Wells-Rowan. But when the title of the book changed from THE HUSH FUND to THIS IS W.A.R., we knew we wanted initials that would spell war. So we came up with Willa Ames-Rowan and it fit perfectly. The rest of the girls had to be named their particular names. We sit on the phone together for days and debate until we find the perfect fit.

SWK: Like the Liar Society books, W.A.R. takes place in an environment of exclusivity, of privilege.

Do you feel these settings are particularly helpful in exploring themes of wealth and power? What else draws you to these settings and how (if at all) do you feel they affect the way you build your plots?
L&L: We had wonderful childhoods. We were loved and happy and had pretty much everything we wanted. But we drove beatdown cars, worked after school at shoe stores, dry cleaners and dentist offices and spent our summers at the Solon public pool. But money (to this day) fascinates us. We know (know, know) it can't bring happiness and we also know if we had loads of it we'd still wear Target t-shirts and shop at Homegoods, but when we set out to write, we're drawn to characters with an extra-exclusive lifestyle. We like celebrities, we like design and drool over pretty things on Pinterest. The themes of wealth and power that naturally arise when we create these extraordinarily rich characters are a bonus, too!

SWK: I think you fill a special niche, writing exciting mysteries in the teen space (kind of YA Nancy Drew). What draws you to the mystery genre? Do you ever think about writing other genres and, if so, what would be your first choice?
L&L We write what we used to love to read. We grew up on Christopher Pike and Lois Duncan, so mysteries were a good fit for us. Of course, when we're plotting them out and poking holes, we curse the day we ever thought we could write a good mystery! And yes, we are drawn to other genres. We also love romance novels and are currently plotting our own version out.

SWK: I WILL NOT ask the "what is it like to work together as sisters" question because I'm sure you hear it, like, hourly. Instead, I'll as what is the ONE QUESTION you WISH bloggers and readers would ask but never do--and what is the answer?
[SWK caveat. Okay, I know the answer below seems like shameless self-promotion. In fact, I almost didn't post this part of the interview. But I honestly asked this question and this is their unedited answer!]
L&L LOVE this question! What's the book that you wish will be/was a #1 New York Times Bestseller?
Laura: Stasia Kehoe's AUDITION and THE SOUND OF LETTING GO. Poetry in novel form.

Lisa: Anything by Adele Griffen. She consistently nails the teenage voice and takes us right back to those years.

To celebrate the launch of THIS IS W.A.R., LiLa and SourceBooks are giving away beautiful key necklaces. Learn more here. Then follow the links to the entry forms at these book retailers:

Amazon; B&N;

Kobo; iBooks; BAM. 

Or visit a participating indie bookstore or library—each has keys for the first 10 people who check out/order the book!

 

As heard on NPR, fact & fiction, and a photo!

Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa & Laura Roecker, Miranda Kenneally and Janet Gurtler at SourceBooks' fantastic GET REAL tour stop at Third Place Books in Washington. Here we are with some other bookish types:

Driving home, I heard an NPR feature about "trackers" - people (often young, collegiate or intern types) who have spent months following political candidates, recording their every word to send back to "war rooms" run by various advocacy groups. There more people scan computer screens in search of errors, contradictions and foibles the candidates have made.  These discoveries become source material for stump speech zingers and media ads showing candidates taking and then reversing positions. Seems to me like thousands of hours, people, eyes staring at computer screens to make this election even more persnickety--acknowledging even less that candidates on both sides of the aisle are also human beings constantly in dire need of sleep and under an inhumane amount of scrutiny.

It's not that I feel all warm and fuzzy when candidates seem to change their policy tunes in response to the whims of their base constituencies. But as a person who every day calls one of her son's by another one's name and is (gasp) subject to changes of heart and changes of position, I wonder at this "tracker" model.

I recently read Cory Doctorow's PIRATE CINEMA, in which he posits that editing together footage from multiple previously made films to form a new narrative is original, is creativity, is art.  And I wonder, are trackers' clipped together soundbytes of politicians mispronouncing words or saying things that could be construed as contradictions "fact"? Or are they, like the works of Doctorow's protagonist Cecil B DeVil, "art" too?

PS: If you're old enough, make sure you exercise the amazing privilege you have to VOTE tomorrow. And, if you've already mailed in your ballot, HURRAH FOR YOU!!!!

Tonight, tonight, Seattlites (ooh, rhymey!)

The SOURCEBOOKS GET REAL TOUR comes to Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, WA, at 7 PM.  I'll be there to meet the amazing Janet Gurtler, Miranda Kenneally and Lisa & Laura Roecker.

More about the tour here.

 

COME AND JOIN ME!

Audition Book Trailer!

So many thank-you's are involved in this book trailer...to the amazing Lisa & Laura Roecker, who put it together, to the wonderfully talented Kayla (dancer) and Jordan (filmmaker) who helped me create the raw footage, to Kristi for debuting it at The Story Siren last week. And, thanks to you for taking a look!

WRITING-IN-TANDEM MONDAY: Welcome LISA & LAURA ROECKER

Who better to discuss writing-in-tandem than blogger-writer-sisters extraordinaire Lisa & Laura Roecker, whose first YA novel, LIAR SOCIETY (Sourcebooks Fire) lands on shelves in March 2011. Don't forget to leave a comment here between now and Sunday for a chance to win LiLa's LIAR SOCIETY Surprise Prize!

SWK: Thanks for stopping by to chat about your joint writing adventures. Let's begin at the beginning. What made you decide to co-write LIAR SOCIETY?
LiLa: After writing our first failed manuscript, we discovered how much we loved to write together. Instead of attempting to fix all that was broken with the first one, we developed an entirely new idea. This idea eventually became LIAR SOCIETY (after being re-written a ridiculous number of times).

SWK: What is your process for writing together?
LiLa: We outline and develop characters/setting before we begin. At some point, we get bored hashing out the details and Lisa begins the first chapter. She always starts first because Laura is never fully on board with an idea until after she sees a first chapter. Laura then edits Lisa's work and writes the second chapter, sends back to Lisa who edits her work and writes the third. We continue on this way until the book is complete--or completely unrecognizable, whatever comes first!

SWK: Do you think writing as a team affected working with your editor?
LiLa: I'm not sure it had much of an impact aside from finishing things a bit quicker than we would have if we were only one person. All communication is handled together--we don't email or talk separately. Phone conversations are tricky and sometimes annoying. We have to conference in with our editor and there's a lot of talking over other people which is always fun.

SWK: What was the best, worst, scariest or funniest moment in the co-writing process?
LiLa: The best is beginning a new manuscript, when you're in that honeymoon stage. It's new and fresh and exciting...Scariest moments come when you've made a change to the outline, you love it and you're waiting to hear back from your partner to see if the change flies. We laugh a whole lot while writing. We make fun of ourselves, our writing and each other. We try not to take ourselves too seriously--we've made this mistake in the past with really embarrassing results.

SWK: Is there one particular aspect of the story or the writing process that you feel was better because you wrote as a team?
LiLa: Writer's block isn't as extreme when you're writing with a partner... It's nice when you get stuck to know that there is someone waiting to get you out of the hole that you've managed to dig yourself into.

SWK: What advice might you give to other writers considering a joint writing project?
LiLa: Edit, edit, edit. It is through our countless edits where we are able to create a unified voice. And communicate a whole lot...It is, after all, our manuscropt, so if something doesn't work for one of us, it doesn't work for both of us.

SWK: Okay, now for the game show questions!  Lisa-You're planning a suprise party for Laura. What's the restaurant (or type of cuisine)? Who's the famous author you'll invite to wow her?
LISA: Hmm...it's kind of a toss up between pizza and Mexican. I think I'll go with Mexican so Laura can enjoy lots of Corona Lights. As for the famous author I think I'd have to say Jandy Nelson or Lauren Oliver. Laura adored THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE and BEFORE I FALL, so I have no doubt she'd be stuttering into her Corona if one of them showed up.

SWK: Laura-You can enlist ANY celebrity to style Lisa for your amazing LIAR SOCIETY launch party. Who's the famous guy or gal coming to make her day? And what color is the adorable dress?
LAURA: Jessica Simpson all the way. Kidding, kidding. No one should be forced to wear a jumpsuit to their launch party. I think I'd choose Tim Gunn to dress Lisa. He is so freaking picky and has impeccable taste. Hopefully he'd feel bad for me in my worn-to-five-weddings dress and take pity. I'm thinking the color would be kelly green. With pearls, of course.

Thanks for stopping by, Lisa and Laura! 

Have a comment about co-writing?  Would you wear pearls to a pizza party? 
ENTER to receive a surprise Countdown-to-LIAR-SOCIETY Give-away by leaving a comment at this post. Contest open to all ages-USA addresses only. Ends at 11:59 PM Pacific time on August 29. One winner will be randomly chosen and announced here on September 1.

THESE ROSES WERE NOT FOR MOTHER'S DAY or A BOOK DEAL--HOORAY!

As you've probably guessed from the title, my husband brought home these roses on Friday in celebration of my BOOK DEAL. (Happy to report there were also chocolates and dinner out with the kids for Mother's Day.)


So, here's the short form (and it really is short). After signing with my agent, the amazing Catherine Drayton about ten days ago, she turned around and sold my YA verse novel, AUDITION, not just to a fantastic imprint, Viking, but to an editor with whom I am incredibly excited to work. It was pretty hilarious really, since she called to discuss the good news while I was chaperoning a third grade field trip and I could barely make out every other word through the school-bus-chatter din. I must also mention here that she lives in Australia so I can't even imagine what time of day or night she was working on my behalf but I will say to those of you on the fence about signing with a great agent just because they aren't in NYC that this does not appear to be a problem :) 

I've got to admit, I feel a bit like Cinderella. I'm not sure I've really processed it all yet (totally get how Cinderella could have lost that slipper--in the past week I've lost my car keys at least once a day). But, at this point, I am just thrilled to have met some of Catherine's other clients: The dynamic duo of Lisa and Laura Roecker and the delightful Becca Fitzpatrick who were instantly supportive and encouraging. I have become even more grateful for the generosity and support of my SCBWI Western Washington friends and colleagues (some of them AUDITION beta readers) as I struggled to find the courage to submit my manuscript and then to choose my agent--honestly, SCBWI rocks!

The very best thing about selling my manuscript, though, is it feels like I have a new license to write. All of those stolen writer-on-the-side hours creating this manuscript can be remembered with a little less guilt. And I just want to write more and more and more.