WELCOME!

Saturday, July 31, 2010

It's always a special feeling when you finish that first draft. Even when you know that there's a great deal of work ahead and it will probably be at least a year before you reach that point when the printer tells the publisher "any more changes are gonna cost you extra" and the book is really done, typos and all (There are always typos. There's a tradition going back to Gutenberg that typesetters work drunk.) there is still no gainsaying the fact that a new book exists and that you wrote it.

I've just had that moment with The Juliet Spell, my next book for Harlequin Teen. I know it needs work, possibly a lot of it. But last week thousands of words existed nowhere but my head, if there, and now there are pages, or anyway bits, covered with a new story. And the prospect of working with my wonderful editor to make it better is another pleasure. Unfortunately, it will have to be deferred for a little while. There's another tradition going back to Gutenberg: editors are always on vacation. And my editor is currently observing it.

I'm the featured author on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Teens Read Too website on August 3rd. As I understand it, I will be checking in through the day responding to the thousands of questions I will undoubtedly receive.

Cynthia has asked me to provide some prizes for lucky posters. I've got three copies each of Majix and Vampire High Sophomore Year set aside for the day. So it's a great chance to drop by, ask an impertinent question and win a prize for it. No. Wait. Scratch that. It's a great opportunity to ask a NICE question and win a prize for it.

Examples of nice questions might be: "Where would you like me to send you a check for three million dollars?" or "I have this mansion for which I have no use in an upscale Bay Area community. Would you like it?" Such questions are easily worth a signed copy of one of my latest efforts.

Vampire High Sophomore Year comes out tomorrow. It scored two excellent reviews so far, one in School Library Journal and one in Kirkus. Nice.

Jennifer Wardrip who runs the site Teens Read Too, has invited me to be a guest blogger next month. I'm a little vague on what we'll be doing, but Jennifer sent me a list of thirty questions as a sort of prep. It's the most original list of its kind I've seen. The best one is "Using my initials (JLW) title your next YA novel. For instance, Jumping Love Walrus."

Personally I want to read a novel titled Jumping Love Walrus and I hope someone is working on it.

Another good question: "You are writing a novel in which you can change one historical event ...Which one do you choose?"

Check out her site. It already has plenty of interviews with YA authors, and some other good stuff.

And this might interest some teen readers: I just heard that Medallion Books is starting a new YA line written by teens -- hence the name of the imprint, YAYA. If you're working on a title or if you've got something ready to send, chck them out. I'll post anything more that I find out.