Reviewing Trends II (or Death By Car)

Tip of the Day, Librarian Edition: The public library is not a day care center. You must stay with/watch/assist your child at all times for their own safety.

Two weeks ago, I talked about the revived trend in YA novels of
characters in mental institutions. Today I'd like to talk about all the poor parents who are killed off in car accidents.

Recent YA novels I've read that include this plot point are:

(Dad is dead)

(Both parents bit the dust)

(Another orphan)

(Mom is actually in a persistant vegetative state after a car accident)

(More bad luck for Mom)

I understand that in order for the main characters to act a certain way, or to live a certain way, or to grow in a certain way, dear old mom and/or dad have to get their head through the windshield. And I understand that about 30,000 people die in motor vehicle accidents per year, so the number of parent deaths in YA novels may actually be statistically correct!

And keep in mind that I actually really enjoyed these books!

But the death-by-car element makes me as a writer think that if I need a dead parent, I should brainstorm a number of ways to off them, something more original that may also challenge my own writing/plotting skills.

Is there a "death by" plot element that you have seen enough of to make you resist using it in your own work?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

JYAP Release Around the Corner!

Tip of the Day: The Espressologist is bargain priced at $3.60 right now! Check it out! Also, My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours was just nominated for a 2012 YALSA Quick Pick! Whoo hoo!

It's a crazy week for me as I'm getting ready to leave for a writing retreat (YAY!) and trying to fill out a million interviews in preparation for the release of JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS on Tuesday! So excited! So today I'll just post a summary of the book and I hope that you'll check it out-- it's a perfect read for the fall!

Jamie Edwards has loved everything about growing up on a pumpkin patch, but ever since her cousin Milan Woods arrived, things have really stunk. Jamie can’t imagine it was easy for Milan to leave her life back in Los Angeles and move to Average, Illinois, population one thousand. But it’s kind of hard to feel sorry for her since (a) Milan’s drop-dead gorgeous; (b) she’s the daughter of two of Hollywood’s hottest film stars; (c) she’s captured the attention of everyone in town, including Danny, Jamie’s crush since forever; and (d) she’s about to steal the title of Pumpkin Princess right out from underneath Jamie!

Available 10/11/11 from Indiebound, Amazon, and B&N.

Awesome looking books of 2011

Tip of the Day: Don’t forget to comment here to be entered into our Sarah Dessen giveaway. Lots of awesome books to win, all by one of my favorite authors!

I have to admit that I'm not really on the up-and-up with what's new this year. Luckily someone on goodreads made a list of upcoming YA books. Here's what looks good to me (and I have to say there is an awful lot of supernatural books. It was like trying to play hide and seek to find anything else.):

Abandon by Meg Cabot (April 2011):
Not only am I a sucker for a book with filigree on the cover I also enjoy all of Meg’s books (which should be well documented in this blog). This one I’m particularly excited about, since it’s a supernatural YA. One of my favorite series by her is the Mediator series. This new trilogy sounds similar in tone and appeal and may have even more darkness and edge. Whoo hoo. Plus, it involves the Myth of Persephone. Pretty much sounds like a winner!

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen (May 2011):
Continuing on with the theme of some of my favorite authors and delightful book covers, I’m really looking forward to Sarah Dessen’s new book. It also has an adorable cover with an awesome yellow suitcase that I’d love to have a replica of. Sounds like traditional Dessen at its best with the main character finding herself and falling in love along the way. The main character’s name is Mclean, which has to be one of my favorite Dessen names.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir (January 2011):
Since I haven’t really been keeping up with what’s new, I don’t really know much about this book. But it’s about a high school student who discovers a diary that takes her back in time to 1910. Sounds very interesting, involving an old mansion and family secrets.

Babe in Boyland by Jody Gehrman (February 2011):
Mainly looking forward to this book, since the title makes me laugh, and it’s about a girl going undercover at an all-boys boarding school. Sounds interesting.

Sean Griswold's Head by Lindsey Leavitt (March 2011):
Love Lindsey’s blog and always thought this book sounded really interesting and funny, with a girl concentrating on a guy’s head to harness her emotions when she discovers her dad has multiple sclerosis. Very excited it’s available soon!

And of course I’m looking forward to The Day Before (June 2011) by Lisa Schroeder and Just Your Average Princess (fall 2011) by Kristina Springer (which doesn't have a finalized cover yet, but I'm super excited to see)! We really do have wonderful talent, past and present, here at A2A. Keep up the good work ladies!

--Emily

Top 5 Reasons Why it's Super Cool to Have a Second Book Out in the World

Tip of the Day: Pictures of my first book signing for My Fake Boyfriend is better Than Yours are up on my blog, check it out. #5: That awesome feeling of seeing the book in a store for the first time-- it never goes away! #4: The swag is much cooler the second time around! Maybe it's having more practice? #3: I love the first signing! I like all the signings because I love meeting people, especially readers, but that first signing is always so special because friends and family and devoted fans come out to help celebrate. #2: While signing copies of my new book last weekend, a few people were carrying my first book (Espressologist) in their hands. This made me giddy for some reason. and... #1: That fear we authors carry after putting a first book out, the OMG, can I actually do this again? Maybe the first time was a fluke! Maybe I was just lucky! That whole thing goes away. Pretty much. Kristina, Miss See Me on the Shelves

A fun video for Friday

Tip of the Day: If you are in LA at the SCBWI conference this weekend, I hope you'll find me and say hello!

Washington author and readergirlz diva Holly Cupala has a great book that came out recently called TELL ME A SECRET. Okay, I have to admit, I haven't read it yet, but all of my friends have said it's really good, and Holly is so sweet, I'm super excited to read it. My TBR pile is just SO big already and I've been busy revising, but I swear my goal in August is to buy her book and read it.

Anyway - Holly had a fantastic idea to wrap up her virtual tour for her new book. She asked other YA authors to do a short video sharing a secret. Then, she compiled all the secrets and made a fun video out of it. Did I share a secret? You bet I did. What is it? Well, you'll have to watch to find out!

I love how the video turned out, and I thought it'd be fun to share it with you guys today.

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

Ghost! AH!

Tip of the Day: If you're an unpublished YA author who writes light romance fiction check out this contest being hosted by Blooming Tree Press. Winner gets a publishing contract.

Congrats on your book release Lisa!! I'm so excited to read Chasing Brooklyn! Really, you had me at the title. Such a sucker for good titles I am. And ghosts. I've even had an experience or two or three with a ghost. At least I think that's what it was.

Growing up, I always wanted the downstairs bedroom– the playroom my dad converted so my older brother could have his own room. I mean– he had everything down there–a TV, pool table, his own bathroom. It was like a mini-apartment. Not to mention he could sneak in and out as he pleased and sneak friends in and out just as easily. So when my brother got married, I moved all my stuff down there as fast as I could. And it was great. At first.

But pretty soon I started to notice that the bedroom got very, very dark at night. There were no windows or anything. The light switch was outside of the room even. And my whole family was not only upstairs but way the heck on the other side of the house. One night, I was woken up by some kind of shuffling noise on the other side of the room. I sat up in bed– totally cold. There was a dark shadowy figure standing by my closet. Oh. My. God.

So I threw the covers over my head and tried not to breathe too loud. Eventually I fell back asleep. The next night I made sure the door was locked so no one could get into the room and mess with me and the same thing happened. Brilliant. Now I’m locked in with the shadowy thing. You gotta be freaking kidding me I thought. I have to be imagining this. I hid under the covers again. The third night I thought I’d get all smart and brought in a lamp with me. A few hours after falling asleep I woke up and saw the same dark shadowy figure in front of my closet. Well, that was enough. There was no fourth night. I moved my stuff out of that room ASAP and the next brother in line moved in.

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Go Lisa! (or Three Times the Charm!)

Tip of the Day: If you want to meet Lisa in person, come to the Rochester Teen Book Fest in May!

Lisa, Lisa, bo-beesa, banana-nana fo-feesa, fee fi mo meesa, Lisa! GO LISA!

I have a Border's gift card waiting in my pocket for CHASING BROOKLYN to be in my local store and I can't wait to read it! I loved Lisa's first two novels, and her picture book is popular at my library as well.

My fave cover of Lisa's is the hardcover FAR FROM YOU design.

The colors are rich, the profile with snowflakes is telling and beautiful. It is also unique! I HEART YOU reminds me of the cover for THE COMEBACK SEASON:


CHASING BROOKLYN reminds me of THE BLACK BOX:



Not that there's anything wrong with that! But I'm just naturally attracted to fresh images like I am fresh concepts, and the original FAR FROM YOU cover -- and content! -- fit the bill.

Though the new paperback FFY cover is gorgeous as well, isn't it?


Happy release week, Lisa!!!

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

Ghostly Stories

Tip of the Day: today is the official release day of Lisa’s new book Chasing Brooklyn. You’ll want to make sure you pick up a copy!

In Chasing Brooklyn, both Brooklyn and Nico are haunted by ghosts. And not just any ghosts, but of people they know. Which in my opinion would be even freakier: you might be able to explain away a random image standing above your bed as your imagination, but if that image is of a friend or brother that just died it’s not so easy to get over.

My entire life I’ve been squeamish of ghost stories. One of my teachers in high school would have “ghost story day” and share stories of the ghosts that lived in his 100-year old farm house and then encourage other people in the class to share their own ghost stories. Talk about wanting to play hooky.

The thought of running into a ghost of my own has always freaked me out. It’s not like you could out run it—like a mouse or a spider. If it’s an angry ghost and wants to take out revenge on you, then you are pretty much screwed.

Since I had never had my own experience with these other-worldly beings, for most of my life I’ve kind of been on the fence on if ghosts exist or not. Some of those stories during high school “ghost story day” could be explained away. The moving rocking chair in the attic could be from a gust of wind and so forth. And from all the stories I’d heard most ghosts seem to be harmless and contained inside buildings, so for the most part my fear remained contained to not wanting to watch supernatural movies with the lights off.

That was until my husband and I moved into a 50-year old home in Tennessee, which we both believed was haunted. Neither one of us ever saw any ghosts, but there were constant feelings of someone watching you and just an overall “eerie” feeling. Now if one of us got that way and the other didn’t I might be okay, but both of us felt it constantly.

Neither one of us wanted to step foot into our basement, even though there were huge windows and a walk-out that made it fairly light and not that creepy. Just the feeling you got when you walked down the stairs made the mood shift and the hairs on your arms stand up. Luckily the laundry was located in the basement and it gave me an excuse to make my husband do it, so it might not have been all bad.

We looked into the house’s history and were unable to find anyone that might have been haunting it; especially because I always had a strange feeling the ghosts were children. Very friendly children that didn’t seem harmful, but just being there and the thoughts of them were creepy. We may never know if there were actual ghosts there and who they were, but both of us have decided that maybe slightly older homes are no longer for us and I pretty much don’t watch hardly any show or movie that involves a ghost (especially an angry one).

Luckily I’ve found that when I read ghost stories in books, I don’t get freaked out. So I can stomach reading about ghosts in Lisa’s books (with or without the lights off).

--Emily, Miss Querylicious

We must say farewell to Kirkus

Tip of the day: When you walk the dog in 15 degree weather, it's a good idea to put on the old long johns. Brrrrr....

In case you didn't hear the news yesterday, Nielsen Business Media has announced it is closing its book review publication Kirkus Reviews.

I find this really sad. As much as people bashed Kirkus because of their often times harsh and negative reviews, I know a lot of librarians relied on their reviews to make their purchasing decisions. And it starts to feel like the walls of the publishing world are crumbling just a little more around us.

Interestingly enough, just last week, my editor sent me a very nice review from Kirkus for CHASING BROOKLYN. I don't know how soon the closure takes effect. Is it immediately? I have no idea. The review is scheduled to be in the December 15th issue. In case there isn't going to be a December 15th issue, I thought I'd post it here.

Schroeder, Lisa

CHASING BROOKLYN

New Year’s Day breaks hard for Brooklyn as she faces the one-year anniversary of the car accident that killed her boyfriend Lucca; across town, Nico, Lucca’s younger brother, also mourns. Rocked hard by this grim anniversary, both teens are further aggrieved to learn that on this same day their friend Gabe, the driver of the car, has committed suicide. Following Gabe’s death, Brooklyn and Nico are drawn together, not by familiarity but instead by supernatural visitations from the two deceased boys, who seem determined that Brooklyn and Nico must continue to live. Written as a novel in verse, the text alternates between Brooklyn’s and Nico’s voices and thoughts, dreams and fears, creating an intimate and raw snapshot of their evolving relationship. Capitalizing on the elasticity of the form, Schroeder masterfully creates a parallel structure within the text, the energy and emotion of each scene heightening its overall drama, underscoring the sorrow and, above all, strengthening its final message of hope. (Fiction. YA)

Thanks for letting me share.

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career

Launch Party Brain

Tip of the Day: Take the Espressologist out for Coffee! Check out the fun contest on my blog.

I've been trying to think up a blog post topic for this week but I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything else but my launch party this weekend. It has been on my mind 24/7, I swear. Here's my brain these days-- Must find pink paper plates. Where do they sell pink plates? This is the blasted fifth store I've gone to-- are they conspiring against me? Is someone two steps ahead of me going through my town and buying up all the pink plates? WHY CAN'T I FIND PINK PLATES? I have to finish the favors. OMG, why do they take so long to make? What was I thinking? They're awfully cute though. I love them. Did it really just take me that long to make five? What? You're hungry? When will you kids learn to use the microwave? (Kidding). Pink forks would be nice. Oh no, let's not go there again. I wonder who will come? What if no one comes? What if everyone comes? What am I going to wear? Should I make cookies or buy cookies? What? I should be writing? Yes, yes I know but I'm looking for pink plates! Priorities! I refuse to use white paper plates. I've put my foot down to white plates. Who is screwing with me and my search for pink plates? There are other towns with stores that might have pink plates. I need a table cloth. I should have thought of this last weekend. Kids, you promise you won't run in circles at Mommy's coffee party right? Right? I am not above bribery-- just name your price. OMG!! Pink plates!! I've found you, you beautiful beautiful disposable paper product you! What? You are way overpriced? I don't care. I must have you.

And that's how it's been going. If you want to see me and my pink plates come to my party this Saturday from 2-4pm at Fat Bean Coffee bar in Naperville, IL! Details on my Web site.


















Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Release Day (in pics)

Tip of the Day: Take Zinc tablets to get rid of a cold faster.

My release day this past Tuesday was so fantastic! Since it was my birthday also I decided it was going to be a big fun wonderful day. It started bright and early with dropping off tot #1 at school (husband took the day off from work to watch tots #2 through 4) and then a stop at:





















You saw that coming didn't you? :-) Yep. I didn't get my regular drink though. Instead I got a celebratory Venti Espresso Truffle. Yum. Then off to:


















for a spa day! Oh my, this was HEAVEN.





















5 hours of quiet and relaxation! Facial, massage, pedicure, manicure, and makeup. Awesome. I tried the steam room for approximately 13.5 seconds and thought I was going to die though. Do people really like that?!

After my spa day, there was still a little time before I needed to pick up tot #1 so I stopped at the local B&N. And look:




















5th row down, 4th from the left. My book!! I just gazed at it with a stupid look until a woman came over and asked if I needed something. I told her that's my book!! She was very nice and asked if I would sign the five that they had. I said of course! And then she put these cute little autographed by author stickers on them:




















After I got home with tot #1 we finished off the day with family birthday stuff: dinner, cake, and presents.




















It was a super fabulous day!!

Kristina, Miss Delighted to Debut

Happy Release Day for The Espressologist

Tip of the Day: today is not only the release day for our own Kristina Springer's The Espressologist, but it is also her birthday. Happy Double Birthday Tina!!!!!

Happy Release Day!!!!!


























Welcome to the world of books The Espressologist. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

--Emily, Miss Querylicious