2014 YA Contemporary Scavenger Hunt: MEET ANGIE STANTON!

WELCOME TO THE 2014 YA CONTEMPORARY SCAVENGER HUNT!

If you're so inclined (or want a free copy of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO), pop on over to Jenny Hubbard's site to read my thoughts about murky line between fiction and nonfiction. Meanwhile, I'm thrilled to be hosting the delightful Angie Stanton to get the "Scavenger Scoop" on her new novel, ROYALLY LOST, including some personal "facts" that find their way into her amazing books. And, if you want to win a copy of Angie's book, just leave a message in the comments below (North America only)!

WotS: Royally Lost is set in Europe. Have you been to Europe? 

ANGIE STANTON: Yes! In fact, I took the exact trip that Becca takes including the side trip to Prague. Most everything in the book I saw first hand. Except the chapter where they swim in their underwear.

WotS: Describe Royally Lost in 10 words or less. 

AS: American girl, dashing prince, on the run from the world. (That was hard!)

WotS: How has the writing process changed for you between writing your first novel and your most recent one? 

AS: I’m much more organized and do more research Writing is no longer a hobby, writing is my life. I can finish a book much faster than when I started.

WotS: Is there any other genre that you'd ever consider writing in? 

AS: Time travel. I’m not sure what genre that would be.

WotS: What do you like to do when you're not reading or writing? 

AS: I’m a reality TV show junkie. I love Survivor, Amazing Race, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol. My DVR is busy.

About Royally Lost...Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. Then she meets Nikolai.

Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for--he's crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn't have...is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.

When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca's family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?

About the Author... Angie Stanton never planned on writing books, she wanted to be a Rockette. However, growing up in a rural setting with her brothers' 4-H pigs as pets, dance didn't work out. Instead she became an avid daydreamer. After years of perfecting stories in her head she began to write them down and the rest is history.

Summer Reading...

I have come to believe that the phrase "lazy days of summer" is utter b-s. The last couple of months have careened by, leaving in their wake the usual quantities of dust, dirty dishes and epic laundry piles thus making August pretty much the same as February--heck, we've even had some rain.  Despite this, I have managed to sneak in some pleasure reading. No time for lengthy reviews but I'd like to give a shout-out to two titles here:

Allen Zadoff's first installment of his Unknown Assassin series does not disappoint. He has created a post-millenial teenage James Bond who weaves through issues of attraction, teen angst and lost parents as he simultaneously completes missions that would make superagents thrice his age quake in their Converse sneakers. Pick it up--you won't put it down until the last page. If you're like me, reading the paperback, you'll keep going through the teaser for Book 2 which, luckily, pubs this fall!

 You read a grown-up book? You seem surprised. After having several folks recommend this to me, I felt I had to give it a go. Set in Seattle (my current stomping grounds), this send-up of Microsoft and PacNW culture has you laughing then pausing to look ruefully in the mirror. It is scarily spot-on in so many ways I hesitate to recommend it to my book group because it might hit too close to home for some of us. That said, I enjoyed the fresh form of the novel which is largely epistolary (scathing emails, school memos, various letters). And, as a musing on the notion of human creativity as a process, a means of self-valuation, and a legacy, it is an interesting book.

Here are the last two SOUND OF LETTING GO Blog Tour stops 

and a link to the rafflecopter:

August 18th – Book Chic

August 25th – Candace’s Book Blog

a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Summer Giveaway...

Here are some truths about me:

• I am not Veronica Roth.
• I did not write the amazing Grasshopper Jungle nor the delightful Eleanor & Park.
• I did not get to go to Book Expo America this year, therefore...
• There was no giant flag featuring the cover of my latest book hanging from the ceiling of the Javits Center.

But I'm hanging in. I'm writing and teaching. I'm walking my dog. I invented a pretty amazing recipe for a sort of tiramisu/trifle thingy bathed in dark chocolate. And, despite not having been the toast of NYC...

I'M HOPING YOU MIGHT WANT TO WIN MY BOOK ANYWAY

(honestly, it's been getting great reviews and I think you may enjoy it)

I'm giving away 2 signed hardcover copies PLUS swag

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends August 09, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

How much do you know about THE SOUND OF LETTING GO?

Take the quiz and let me know
via the comment form below!
#rhyming

Goodreads Quiz

THE SOUND OF LETTING GO - a quiz

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AN EXIT STRATEGY FOR ADOLESCENCE

Writing & Reading Young Adult Fiction 
While Raising Young Adults

On a recent road trip with my husband and two teenagers, I brought along the audio book of Tina Fey’s Bossypants. The first half was fantastic: insightfully funny, forthright, loving toward the father, theater geeks and other people who shaped Fey’s suburban Pennsylvania teenhood. My husband and I laughed a lot and ruefully “oh yeah-ed” almost as much.  Somewhere in the middle of the book, however, something changed. Fey was still her intelligent, witty self but, as the book eased from high school and its affiliate, Saturday Night Live, into Thirty Rock and the Sarah Palin imitation season, the reading began to feel a touch shrill, the observations faintly defensive.

            I admire Tina Fey’s comedy and, frankly, her whole persona. I didn’t want to see the insecure and cranky side of her that periodically emerged in the final chapters of her memoir.  “I’m disappointed,” I said uncomfortably to my husband. “My idol has clay feet.”

            “Nah,” replied this man who has never written so much as a short story and reads only non-fiction (plus my books, sort of). I should also add that he finds Tina Fey totally hot. “She just doesn’t have perspective on the recent stuff.”

            And there it was: the answer I’d been seeking about why I write Young Adult Fiction. Why so many people are writing YA. Why so many people love reading YA. It isn’t the oft-reference “time of discovery” or “building identity” or “helping kids get through stuff” mumbo-jumbo that we YA authors mutter desperately when called out on this question. It’s that we have actual perspective on memories of our teen years. We have emerged (more or less successfully) from that hideous celebrity-imitating haircut and humiliating no-date-to-prom epoch and can now turn back and write something intelligent about it. I write stories inspired by things I want to say to my teens when they’re about to do something unwise but will be infuriated if I try to share insights from my own experience. Is there a nice way to put this? My teens inspire me!

As a twenty-something writer, I remember having pride in my ability to turn a phrase but feeling trapped by the sensation that I had nothing of value to actually say. I had craft but no voice. It took the birth of four babies before I finally found myself. I hope that’s not the case for everyone or the world is going to have a serious population problem because, let’s admit, this planet is also rife with people who aspire to one day write the Great American Novel.  But I digress.

            What is perspective? It is being able to take a look at a situation from outside your own point-of-view and get a grip on yourself. Even if your novel is written in first-person, present-tense, as is trendy in today’s YA, you, as author, can see the perspectives of the boyfriend, the mom, the obnoxious soccer coach and encouraging teacher. You can let the teen protagonist react in character while still offering readers a rounder view and a conclusion that offers some sort of insight or hopeful forward-moving suggestion.  As a writer, stumbling around the middle of a manuscript with that icky feeling that it will never be a book, having a true understanding of your characters is a lifeline. It is also interesting to note here that many writers set novels in towns like those they grew up in—not towns they came to as adults. Hmmm. Perspective again? Yes. Writers feel confident writing about things they can see clearly enough to describe.

            Who likes to read books with perspective?  Well, teens because of the, you know, earlier “discovery” reasons but also because, in the books, the protagonists figure things out in ways they can’t. It’s not relatabiliy that teen readers are looking for, but exit strategies—reassurance that there is a way to see through that angsty, hormonal fog to a solution, even if they themselves still haven’t found the right lenses. Adults are likely reading about a perspective they have discovered and can delight in cheering for these teens who’ve sorted things out. Plus, it’s lovely to recall the intense heat of crushes or the drugless high of winning a big game artfully worded and conveniently on one's Kindle.

            Yes, I am generalizing. Yes, there are phenoms like Divergent author Veronica Roth, who seemed to have been born with more perspective than others will gain in a lifetime and who can write best-sellers in their twenties. In the same vein there are prodigies in all artistic and scientific pursuits.  Think Shirley Temple, Mozart, Pascal, Piaget. But I think most of us come to a sense of self, a world view, much later than we care to admit. Stir in some reasonable writing skills and you get yourself a middle-aged debut novelist in the YA category. (see a picture of me)

            Truth be told, I’d like to write in more genres, including adult fiction. I’ll probably never try a picture book since I honestly don’t understand how anyone has the maturity to construct truly great one (how do you do it, Kevin Henkes?).  But, given the pace of my maturation thus far, I suspect I won’t have perspective on being forty-something until I’m close to death, when the goal of writing the Great American Novel may be trumped by playing card games with grandchildren, filling prescriptions, or other currently unimaginable activities.

            So, for today, I shall return to my YA work-in-progress, grateful for what I think I do know—for my shard of perspective on this scary, evolutionary thing we call life on Earth.

It's YALSA'S TEEN TECH WEEK

This year's theme is "DIY @ YOUR LIBRARY" -- don't you love it?

I am not great with technology. My cellphone and I are barely on speaking terms. Which can be weird. I cannot download media content when sent in an IM. And I really miss Widgetbox because, though the quality was crappy, it was so easy to use!

Needless to say, I’ve always had a bit of fear around Teen Tech Week. It’s cool and I want to celebrate. However, I’m not exactly a robot-building kind of girl. So, what’s a luddite to do?

I’ve decided to build a virtual (as in—only in my mind) Time Machine and travel to the worlds of some of my favorite books for DIY of a less technological or present-day time.

LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS…make butter or maple sugar candy

GOING VINTAGE…embellish a vintage dress to create a cool wearable

THE HUNGER GAMES…relearn archery (I did this in high school and it was awesome)

Into what novel would you (virtually) travel? What would you DIY?

Click here for great ideas to celebrate Teen Tech Week on your own turf:

Win the first signed hardcover of THE SOUND OF LETTING GO!

In celebration of Two-Weeks-Until-Pub-Day (because THAT's a holiday?!), I'm feeling gifty...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Sound of Letting Go

by Stasia Ward Kehoe

Giveaway ends February 01, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win