Fangirl Friday

Okay, it's a Fangirl Friday but I don't have an interview.

I DO however have to catch up on all of my friend's new releases and have a party all by myself for them.

MMA Fighter series alert!      Ricochet by Heather C. Leigh:  http://amzn.to/1G8G0Ax
99 cents or FREE with Kindle Unlimited.


Stand-alone, second chance romance!    10 Years Later by J. Sterling  http://amzn.to/1NyVuQP
99 cents for a limited time!


Military Romantic Suspense!   Keeping her by Alexis Noelle:  http://amzn.to/1NyW3dr



Firefighting hottie!     Rekindle by Ashley Suzanne:  http://amzn.to/1BEdjFA



Highly anticipated sequel     Jake Understood by Penelope Ward:  http://amzn.to/1G8HxXl

I'mmmmm back

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted and I've missed blogging.

LIKE SUPER MISSED IT.

I don't even know if anyone is reading this.

ARE YOU READING THIS?

Well if you are, I wanted to let you know that there is more coming and even a weekly schedule!


Monday - Magan's Musings. I'll talk about all things. It could be books. It could be publishing. Any number of things really.

Wednesday - Weight Watchers Wednesday. Sorry if you don't want to hear about my weight loss journey, but if you do, here is where I'll talk about my journey to getting fit.

Writerly Wednesday- When not talking about weight loss, I'll also share sneak previews of my writings and talk about all things books!

Fangirl Friday - I'll go back to my old fangirl interviews and this is where I'll recap new releases and all things books.

There will also be random other posts (book reviews, new releases from my friends, etc), but this will kind of give you an idea.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE.

Fangirl Friday: Lisa Nowak

In addition to being a YA author, Lisa Nowak is a retired amateur stock car racer, an accomplished cat whisperer, and a professional smartass. She writes coming-of-age books about kids in hard luck situations who learn to appreciate their own value after finding mentors who love them for who they are. She enjoys dark chocolate and stout beer and constantly works toward employing wei wu wei in her life, all the while realizing that the struggle itself is an oxymoron.
Lisa has no spare time, but if she did she’d use it to tend to her expansive perennial garden, watch medical dramas, take long walks after dark, and teach her cats to play poker. For those of you who might be wondering, she is not, and has never been, a diaper-wearing astronaut. She lives in Milwaukie, Oregon, with her husband, four feline companions, and two giant sequoias.

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The Fangirl met Lisa as part of The Indelibles. Lisa likes to give her a hard time about aliens, but The Fangirl knows that her aliens can still take her.

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The last thing on 16-year-old Jess DeLand’s wish list is a boyfriend. She’d have to be crazy to think any guy would look twice at her. Besides, there are more important things to hope for, like a job working on cars and an end to her mom’s drinking. Foster care is a constant threat, and Jess is willing to sacrifice anything to stay out of the system. When luck hands her the chance to work on a race car, she finds herself rushing full throttle into a world of opportunities—including a boy who doesn’t mind the grease under her fingernails. The question is, can a girl who keeps herself locked up tighter than Richard Petty’s racing secrets open up enough to risk friendship and her first romance?

~~~~~~~~~~

“The first romance is captured beautifully—just the right combination of natural and awkward, of eager and scared.”

 ~ Bob Martin, writing professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art

• Buy it on Amazon
• Buy it on Barnes and Noble
• Buy it on Smashwords

Fangirl:  What inspired you to write Driven?

Lisa:  Aliens. They planted this dream in my head and told me if I wrote about it, they’d send me a million dollars. They totally lied.

Fangirl:  What made you decide to go Indie with this book?

Lisa:  I was tired of agents stalking me. It was bad enough, having them peer in my windows and trample my marigolds, but when they started getting into catfights on my front lawn, I had to draw the line. I figured if I published it myself, they’d give up and go back to New York.

Fangirl:  Was there ever a time that you felt like giving up? If so, what did you do about it?

Lisa:  Too many times to count, but who wants to hear me whine about that? All the I-wanna-give-up stories are the same. The only one that’s interesting is when I got this rejection from an agent who I thought was a sure thing. My response was to bake brownies and take them to my critique group. We’ve got this rule where you have to bring chocolate if you get published, so I figured, to heck with this, I’m going to celebrate my defeats, too.

Fangirl:  Do you have critique partners, betas? How do you work with them?

Lisa:  I have two critique groups, countless betas, and one alpha (a reader who I exchange chapters with as soon as I write them, when they’re still in first-draft form). I either send Word files or format my manuscript so it takes up about half the normal pages, print it double-sided, and have it bound. It makes it really easy for people to read and mark up.

Fangirl:   Who would win in a fight, your book's hero or my alien heartthrob?

Lisa:  Jess could kick Ace’s butt, and then he’d have to go crying back to his home planet in disgrace since she’s a girl.  (Fangirl Note:  Caltian women are stronger than Caltian men, so yes Ace would probably loose. He did have to have Alex save him after all.)

Fangirl:  Does your book have a soundtrack? What songs are on it?

Lisa: Jess collects car songs, so those are the soundtrack for this book. The typical ones everyone knows about, like Little Deuce Couple and Hot Rod Lincoln, the obscure but awesome ones like Robert Mitchum’s Thunder Road, and the ones nobody’s heard of, like Queen’s I’m in Love with My Car and King Crimson’s Dig Me. A virtually unknown Beach Boys song, Car Crazy Cutie, was the partial inspiration for this book. When I think of the story being made into a movie, I picture the opening credits rolling as Jess drives to the speedway as this song plays.

Fangirl: What are you coming out with next?

Lisa:  Redline, the sequel to Driven, should be out in December. While Driven is technically book 3 in the Full Throttle series, it’s really a stand-alone. I consider it a companion novel to the first two, rather than a sequel. Running Wide Open and Getting Sideways are from Cody’s point of view, while Driven and Redline are from Jess’s. The fifth and final book, tentatively titled Never Surrender, is told from an alternating viewpoint. Even though the books are part of a series, I’m careful to craft them so each story is complete and there are no cliffhangers. I want my readers to be able to pick up any of the books, in any sequence, and have them make complete sense.

Fangirl:  If you could cast the main characters from your novel in a movie, who would you choose to play them?

Lisa:  When I first wrote this book, I wanted that kid who plays John Conner in Terminator 2 to play Cody, but he grew up. Sigh. I’ve never successfully been able to come up with actors for the other characters.

Fangirl: Favorite book, movie, and food?

Lisa:  Are you serious? Who can pick just one of any of those things? Just some random choices at the top of the list are The Changeling by Zilpha Keatley Snyder and Dogsbody by Dianna Wynne Jones, Stand by Me, pizza and chocolate.

Fangirl:  Words to live by?

Lisa:  Never Surrender.

Thanks Lisa for stopping by!

Fangirl Friday on a Thursday!

Yes, I know it is a ThursdayBUT I am participating in Cindy Hogan's blog tour so I gotta help a lady out and post on a Thursday. If you haven't noticed she has a blurb on her latest book PROTECTED from this awesome young adult author named Magan. Anywhoo.... If you want to check out the post before mine go here or if you want to continue the hop go here.




She has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of and she has a shot at becoming popular.
Life is great!
Until they find her.
Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows,
including herself

What inspired you to write Protected? 

 Well, I had this vivid dream and thought it would make a killer movie, so I wrote the basics down to give to some huge movie producer...I don't know any of those.. In any case, the main character, Christy, just kept bugging me-talking to me and driving me crazy. Maybe I am crazy, really. I hear voices in my head. :) Anyway, I just had to write this girl's story and it has been a blast. 

What made you decide to go Indie with this book? 

This will tell you a lot about my personality(I'm an eternal optimist) I did it on a whim, thinking it would be fun. I'd won contests and people seemed to love it, so why not? What could possibly go wrong?

 Was there ever a time that you felt like giving up? If so, what did you
do about it? 

I will divert to question #2. Optimists, by nature, never think about giving up. There is always an upside if you just keep chugging along.

 Do you have critique partners, betas? How do you work with them? 

I have an in-person critique group and two online critique groups. My in-person group gets my stuff when it is really raw. After I've made changes, the first online group gets it. After those changes are made, my 2nd online group gets it. As far as Betas go, I have a ton. I have first round beta readers who read the completed book after my 2nd online group gets back to me. If there are problems, I send it out to a second round of Betas after fixing them. I've even used a third round of betas before. I keep using betas until I'm getting no plot complaints.

Who would win in a fight, your book's hero or my alien heartthrob? 

Uh, I'm going to have to defer to your alien heartthrob. Who could ever beat that guy?

Does your book have a soundtrack? What songs are on it? 

If I'm ever stuck, I listen to Avril Lavigne. Most of the time, she saves me, but I also like a lot of country singers. My husband infected me when I moved to Memphis, TN.

 What are you coming out with next? 

I am half-way through the third and final book of the Watched trilogy. It is still unnamed, but it rocks.

 If you could cast the main characters from your novel in a movie, who
would you choose to play them?

I actually cut pictures of people out of magazines and put them up on my wall, but I have no idea who they are...They are probably just models.

Christy- Ashley Benson

MaryBeth- Isla Fisher

Kira-Lindsay Lohan

Eugene- Kevin Mchale

Summer- Blake Lively

Divergent by Veronica Roth. Everafter and Roast and Potatoes.

Words to live by? 

Be unpredictable!



Favorite book, movie, and food? 

Fangirl Friday: Heather McCorkle

Heather is the author of young adult fantasy, in all its many sub-genres. When she's not writing or surfing her social networking sites, she can be found on the slopes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, she enjoy the outdoors almost as much as the worlds she create on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though, you can find her here, on her blog four days a week, and Monday night's on Twitter where she co-moderatse the #WritersRoad chat with hery good friend TS Tate.

Heather is part of the wonderful group of Indie writers, The Indelibles! The Fangirl loves any story with hot men in it and she wanted a way to promote Heather's new novel.

Magan: What inspired you to write Channeler's Choice?

Heather: Actually, Fane inspired me to write this novel. His character wouldn't leave my head and that's when I knew, there was a lot more to this story to tell. 

Magan: What made you decide to go Indie with this book?

Heather: The first novel in this series was agented and shopped around with publishers. They gave me great feedback, many passing only because they didn't want another paranormal in their line-up for the year, or because the novel would compete with one of their others authors. That's when I knew it had merit. 

Magan: Was there ever a time that you felt like giving up? If so, what did you do about it?

Heather: Definitely! After parting ways with my second agent I nearly did give up. But then I realized how close I came and how great the feedback I had received was and I knew I couldn't stop.

Magan: Do you have critique partners, betas? How do you work with them?

 Heather: I have both. My critique partners and I try to meet at least once a year for a writer's workshop and they help throughout the year when I need it. My betas help read and polish my novel when it's in its final stages. 

Magan:  Who would win in a fight, your book's hero or my alien heartthrob?

 Heather: Are you kidding? There'd be no fight because they would get along splendidly! ;)

Magan: Does your book have a soundtrack? What songs are on it?

Not exactly but the artists that inspired me during this novel were Avril Lavigne and Allison Iraheta.

Magan: What are you coming out with next?

Heather: My next novel is a special project that I've only hinted at recently. But what the heck, I'll tell you. It's a historical fantasy about the last of the druids in Ireland. It will be releasing in May! And, it's a tie-in novel to the channeler series, surprise!

Magan: If you could cast the main characters from your novel in a movie, who would you choose to play them?

Heather: Taylor Fisch from Friday Night Lights is who I picture when I think of Aiden and Vanessa Hudgens reminds me of Eren.

Magan: Favorite book, movie, and food?

Heather:  Currently (cause it changes all the time!) Tangled Tides by Karen Amanda Hooper, War Horse, and icecream. 

Magan: Words to live by?

Heather:  That which doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger. ~Nietzsche.

The Fangirl interviews Jennifer Bosworth author of STRUCK

Jennifer Bosworth is the debut author of STRUCK. Earthquakes, doomsday cults, a teenage lightning addict, and the end of the world. May 8 2012, FSG/MacMillan.

The Fangirl found another great author on Twitter!  One day I saw that Jennifer was following me on Twitter, so I checked out her profile and then soon found that EVERYONE was talking about STRUCK.  Thus, I knew I had to snag a Fangirl Friday interview!

Fangirl: For those who haven't heard of STRUCK, can you tell them what it's about?


Jennifer: Here’s my newly extended synopsis:

Mia Price is a lightning addict.

She’s been struck so many times she’s lost count. She can’t sleep, she’s covered in veiny red “lightning scars,” and repeated strikes have even stopped her heart on occasion. Still, Mia can’t resist a storm.

That's why Los Angeles, where it never rains, is the perfect place for her to find peace . . . until a massive earthquake devastates the city.

Now Mia finds herself struggling to hold her family together in a strange and terrifying new version of Los Angeles. The beaches have become massive tent cities populated by millions of homeless. Downtown is a wasteland, where a traveling party moves to a different empty building each night, the attendees drawn to the destruction by a magnetic force they cannot deny.

The blind prophet of a doomsday cult called the Church of Light, who predicted the earthquake with frightening accuracy, says a storm is coming to usher in the end of days, and only his Followers will be saved. Mia’s traumatized mom has become obsessed with the Church of Light, while her younger brother Parker is desperate to join a second doomsday cult called the Seekers. But Mia is the one both cults need.

The Seekers are recruiting people with an energy-based power they call the “Spark,” and Mia has it stronger than most. They claim the false prophet of the Church of Light will bring about the end of the world, and they are the only ones who can stand against him.

But without Mia on their side, they will fail.

Mia’s lightning addiction is both the key to saving the world . . . and destroying it.

Fangirl: How did you come up for the idea for this novel?

Jennifer: It was one of those perfect storms where two ideas collided. I was reading some book I can’t even remember the name of, but it mentioned a fault nearly ten miles deep that runs beneath downtown Los Angeles. If an earthquake ever originated from this fault, L.A. would be in big trouble, because most buildings are not built to withstand more than a 7.0 earthquake. That fact haunted me. Then I read a book by Alice Hoffman called “The Ice Queen,” which was about a woman who is struck by lightning and loses the ability to see the color red. The book included a lot of fascinating factual information about lightning and what it can do to people who are struck, and also mentioned that people who are struck by lightning are far more likely to be struck again.

Struck.

Earthquakes. Lightning. I put the two together, started thinking about how a fault line creates friction, and friction is energy, and lightning is attracted to energy. I came up with the idea of lightning causing an earthquake. Then I needed a character. A human lightning rod.

Or . . . even better, a lightning addict. And that’s how STRUCK and Mia Price were born.

Fangirl: Did you have any pitfalls on the path to publication? How did you get through them?

Jennifer: Oh yes. Yes, yes, yes. It took me quite a while to find my voice. I started out writing adult dark fantasy. My first two books were 800 pages long because––I didn’t realize this at the time––I was trying to jam at least four books into one. I was taking everything I was a fan of and trying to stuff it into a single book. It wasn’t until I tried my hand at screenwriting that I learned what “high concept” meant. After that, things started to fall into place.

Fangirl: Is STRUCK going to be a stand alone or should we expect more from this world?

Jennifer: Right now I’m working on a book what has crossover elements with STRUCK, but I’m completely open to doing a sequel. The characters have started talking to me again lately, so I feel like it might be about time to start giving them voice.

Fangirl: May 2012 is a long time to wait for this novel, what can us readers do to pass the time in anticipation of this novel?

Jennifer: Well, there are so many fabulous books out there right now, YA and otherwise, so I know I’ll be passing the time reading my friends’ books. But . . . in regards to STRUCK, I’m working on a short origin story of the book’s villain, which will most likely appear on Tor.com next spring. And my husband and I are working on an insane book trailer that, I can promise you, will be nothing like any book trailer you’ve ever seen. Minds will be blown.

Fangirl: If any part of your book could play out in your real life, what part of it would you want to and why?

Jennifer: I’ve always wondered how I would fare in a disaster situation. I’d like to think that I’d be calm and collected and know exactly what to do. So, just out of curiosity, I’d go for the apocalypse.

Fangirl: Did you have any sort of a musical playlist while writing STRUCK?

Jennifer: I actually made a playlist that tells the story of STRUCK, but I can’t reveal it to you, otherwise I’d give away the ending. I’ll tell you three songs that are on the playlist, though, in no particular order.
Danger! High Voltage, by Electric Six

Kill Me Now, by The Chapin Sisters

Too Hot to Sleep, by Eilen Jewel

Fangirl: If STRUCK were to be made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?

Jennifer: I’d have to time travel some younger/older versions of these actors:

Mia Price – Ellen Page. She manages to be cute, smart, and snarky at the same time.

Rance Ridley Prophet – Cillian Murphy. Those eyes . . .

Jeremy – Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Have you seen “Brick”? Wow. That hair. Those glasses.

Katrina – Eliza Dushku, for the sexiness factor.

With the exception of Eliza, I’d just steal the cast of “Inception.”

Fangirl: Favorite book, movie, and food?

Jennifer: The Gunslinger, by Stephen King; Flash Gordon, the 1980 version (It’s my favorite bad movie. Does that count?); and kettle corn. I’ve gone through lone stretches of time where I hate kettle corn for every meal.

Fangirl: Words to live by?

Jennifer: Don’t let other people do your thinking for you. That’s also the subliminal message embedded in the pages of STRUCK.

I should post something...

I can't think of what to say, because I have so much that needs to be posted!

But here is what you can expect from me in the coming weeks:

Fangirl Friday with Jennifer Bosworth (author of Struck)

Fangirl Friday with Megg Jensen (Author of Anathema and a giveaway!)

Review of Soulkeepers by GP Ching (and another giveaway!)

The Fangirl awards (more info to come on this)

And there will probably be more, so stay tuned, keep following because you know what would be awesome?  Getting to 300 followers, yep yep.

Fangirl Friday: G.P. Ching

GP Ching is the author of The Soulkeepers series and rebel suburbanite who makes wicked cookies, kicks patootie at Guitar Hero, and thinks guinea pigs are the perfect pet.  You can find her online at GPChing.com

The Fangirl met G.P. at a local RWA meeting, after much proding from her crit partner (Kienna Riley), she decided to ask G.P. for an interview.  After being sucked into the first book of the SoulKeepers series, The Fangirl wants to share her Fangirlness of G.P. with the world.

Magan: For those that haven't read the Soulkeepers series, can you tell them what it's about?

Warning: Spoilers. If you haven't read the Soulkeepers yet, you may want to skip to the second question.

G.P.: Weaving Destiny is the second book in The Soulkeepers Series. In the first book Jacob Lau discovers he is a Soulkeeper after a brutal car crash leaves him orphaned. A Soulkeeper is genetically gifted human being that has the power to fight Watchers, otherwise known as fallen angels. Soulkeepers only come into their power when a stressful event activates the gene.

At the end of the first book, Jacob's girlfriend Malini shows signs of carrying the Soulkeeper gene. Weaving Destiny is Malini's story and picks up three months after the end of The Soulkeepers. Malini desperately wants to determine if she's a Soulkeeper. She's frustrated because she's thrown into The Soulkeepers' battles without the necessary power to protect herself. Fitting in matters because the Soulkeepers are so much of Jacob's world and she's afraid if she doesn't find her power, she'll lose him. It doesn't help that a new Soulkeeper named Mara comes to town who takes an interest in Jacob. Malini has to sort out her insecurities about Jacob while she figures out who she is and what she is becoming.

Magan: What inspired you to write this novel?
G.P.: After I wrote The Soulkeepers, which was inspired by a conversation I had about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Weaving Destiny just came to me. The characters in my head decided what would happen. I wrote the book in a fraction of the time it took me to write the first.

I will say that as the story unfolded, I thought a lot about self-esteem in young women. Girls sometimes define themselves by their boyfriends. Sometimes, women don't give themselves enough credit for what they can accomplish on their own. It was important to me that I write a story where Malini is the hero of her own destiny. She changes during this book from someone who things happen to, to someone who makes things happen.

Magan: Did you have to do any sort of research to write this novel? How did you go about that?
G.P.: I did some research on the game of cricket. There's a scene where Malini has a vision of her father and grandfather talking about a game. Of course, since Malini is Indian, it couldn't be baseball. The more popular pastime in India is cricket. So, I needed to learn enough about the game to write the scene. Most of the other research was done as part of book one.

Magan: How did you decide to go with Darkside publishing? What makes it the best home for your novel?
G.P.: DarkSide Publishing specializes in Young Adult novels for the eBook market. There have been many publishers in the romance genre that have done this for years but for YA it's still an emerging market as more young people get eReaders. I think ePublishing is the way of the future and felt that DarkSide had the most attractive business model.

Magan: Did you have any pitfalls or times that you wanted to give up on writing? What kept you going?
G.P.: I've never seriously considered giving up writing entirely. I love writing. I'll do this until I die. I certainly have enough manuscripts started to keep me busy until I die!

As far as pitfalls, sure I have bad days when I'm not happy with a review or with how many books I've sold that day. That stuff can be frustrating. But reviews and sales are just the icing on the cake. The joy is in the writing itself.

Magan: What's next for you writing-wise?
G.P.: The Official Weaving Destiny Blog Tour starts September 12! Visit www.gpching.com to enter to win your choice of Kindle or Nook. Plus over a dozen blogs are participating with reviews, interviews, guest posts, and giveaways. If you want to win a free copy of either of the Soulkeepers eBooks, follow the tour!

Return to Eden, Dr. Silva & Gideon's story, will be available Winter 2012. There is room in the story for additional books beyond Return to Eden if readers want more from the series at that point.

I also have a stand alone YA called Grounded, a futuristic dystopian. I can't talk too much about that one yet, but I'm very excited about the possibilities.

Magan: Did you have any sort of a musical playlist for this novel? If so, could you share it with us?

G.P.: Yes. My playlist is available at www.thesoulkeepersseries.com, on the Weaving Destiny page. You can also watch the book trailer there.

Magan: If Soulkeepers were to be made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?
G.P.: This is a tough one. I think Jacob and Malini would have to be played by yet unknown talent. There just aren't enough young multi-cultural actors. However, generally speaking, if I had to pick well-known actors that fit the descriptions in the book, I would say Parminder Nagra as Malini, and a young Keanu Reeves as Jacob.

Magan: Favorite book, movie, food?
G.P.: My favorite books (I couldn't possibly name just one): Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Memiors of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, and The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

My favorite movie is a classic - Better Off Dead with John Cusack.

My favorite food is a cheeseburger and onion rings from Schooners in Bloomington IL.

Magan: Words to live by?

G.P.:"Don't you know about destiny, Malini? Destiny is not a place that we navigate to like a pinpoint on a map. Destiny is a fabric woven from our choices. It is the cloak we wear every day and the shroud that covers us in our death. You can't wait for destiny to find you. You make it for yourself." -From Weaving Destiny


Thanks again for the interview!  And blog readers, look for my upcoming review of SOULKEEPERS and a special giveaway!

Fangirl Friday interview with Paul Schumacher

Paul Schumacher is a fantasy fiction writer who lives with his fiancée and cat in an apartment in Normal Illinois. After getting out of the Army, in 2007, he went back to college at Illinois State University and got his bachelors degree in English Literature. A life time of video games and Dungeons & Dragons have filled his head with stories, and it is these stories which he writes into novels.  You can read more about his adventures in publishing and everything else, here.

With the highly anticipated return of Fangirl Friday, I decided to interview debut novelist Paul Schumacher.  Paul is actually someone that I know personally from an early writer's group that I was in about a year ago.  I actually read an early draft of his debut novel and loved the concept plus the humor that Paul was able to weave into this hauntingly beautiful tale.

 Can you tell us about your upcoming debut novel?

Paul:   Little Red Wolf is a fairy tale reimagining in which many of the female characters of these tales are empowered with modern ideals. Little Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf team up with Goldilocks, to rescue Rapunzel from her tower. Along the way they meet Prince Charming and find out he is sort of a useless jerk... but he IS royalty.

I created this story as a stand alone novel but I plan on linking it into a series of serial novels which I have divided into nine main story arcs. My publisher has asked me to keep the page count below 400 pages so only time will tell how many actual books this will make. Like a weekly soap opera, where the episodes end but the story goes on, I will try to find good cut-off points.

What inspired you to write this story?

Paul:  When I was taking a class on prose, I was assigned a book called, “The Energy of Delusion” by Viktor Shklovsky. This book echoed the bard, saying the great stories have already been told, but if we can put a fresh words to old tales, and delude ourselves into believing it is new, then the energy of that delusion can be focused into our stories.

I decided to take this statement literally, and use stories and characters from our past to generate my own. In this first book, I have almost no original characters. While my portrayal of these characters is my own, nearly every one of them is easily recognizable, and most American audiences will be able to figure out which fairy tale or legend inspired them. Personally I would like to play a game with my audience called, “Which story is this part of the book from?”

The challenge of writing a series this way is I must continue to find tales to parody. Over 9 books I have created plot arcs which are of my own design and I have been trying to find other classic tale which mimics them closely enough that I can honor the original tales and still write my own. Some stories are flexible enough that something as simple as a gingerbread house is all the parody I need. In other stories, only people who have an interest in certain specialized mythologies will catch the reference. Also, I will admit, I have been reading a LOT of old stories in order to find inspiration.

What was the road to publication like for you? Did you have any bumps along the way?

Paul:  My road to publication has been a dream. Upon reaching the end of my college career, a former class-mate called me to let me know she was working for a fledgling publishing company called The Little Things Publishing which would likely like to publish my book. She was correct.

The bumps I have hit, so far, have been so minor they are barely worth mentioning. My contract gives me more freedom than most bigger companies would allow, my editor is a dream, and even the artist for the cover art took his marching orders from me. The smaller company may not have to power to project my book into the market, like the larger ones do, but they have made a point of giving the artists more attention and more control over their work. As one of those artists, I appreciate all of the attention and freedom they have given me.

I know this story started out one way and you ended up taking a different path than you originally intended. How did you decide to change certain aspects and is there anything that you would have liked to keep in the story?

Paul:   During my first class at Illinois State University, back in 2007, I began writing a novel about a boy wizard. I worked on this practice novel for two years before I discovered a massive plot hole I could not fill.

During this time I had been taking writing classes which gave me the skills I needed to become a writer and I wrote many short stories on the side. One of these was a perverted Little Red Ridding Hood story which I then kept writing because the characters were much too interesting to let go of. When my wizard novel died, I was in an Ernest Hemmingway class in which my professor mentioned all of Ernest Hemmingway's stories may have been connected in some way. I decided at that moment to create a novel which would connect to my wizard story and fill the plot hole.

Thus, I took the character and setting of my Little Red Ridding Hood story, removed the sex, and started over. The world I have created for this character is the same world I created for the boy wizard. I also decided Red Ridding Hood's story begins about 80 years before the boy wizard's story. Thus, I know where the story is going but there is a lot of time between now and then.

As for what I would like to have kept... hmmm... there are several secondary characters which were cut, including Dew Drop the pixie and the three goblin brothers. I miss them, and I hope to find ways to introduce them into future tales.

What do you want people to take away from this story?

Paul:  I want people to think about their dreams before they leap head first after them. Our dreams are important, but we have been deluded to think they are right in front of us for the taking. Our dreams require hard work, dedication, sacrifice, and a little luck to achieve, but with good friends and good networking skills, we can achieve them.

 As a male writing a female main character, how did you channel your inner angsty teen girl?

Paul:   When I was growing up, I became obsessed with the legend of King Arthur and the idea of Chivalry. I created this fantasy that women were akin to living goddesses and needed to be worshiped and protected like sacred beings. Naturally this belief was brutally bludgeoned by the real world, but I never lost my fascination for the feminine ideal. Thus I studied women, read girly magazines, watched romances, and listened to my female friends when they talked.

Then, when I was 17, the internet came into our homes. On line, I discovered I could act as a female and be much more successful than I could ever be as a man. Several social experiments later, I discovered women in the United States have more power than men. Thus, I role-played as women, and when it came time to write a book, I found my female characters more interesting than my male characters.

Also, I have many female friends who I can always turn to when in need of advice. A woman's period, for example, was something I needed to ask about. While I have a pretty good grasp on physiology, sociology, and the over all quirks of women... there are some physical aspects which I have needed to go to my female network to discover.

 Did you have any sort of a musical play list for a novel or if you had to create one, what would it include?

Paul:   I had a variety of tunes which I played at different parts of the book in order to give it a certain feel. Generally I went to www.Pandora.com and set up a classical movie tune list. But there was one song in particular which I used to write one of the darker scenes toward the end, “Day Sixteen: Loser” by Ayreon.

If your novel was to be made into a movie, who would you cast as the main characters?

Paul:   I would have to insist that Selena and Cynthia be played by husky “normal looking” women and then Ellora would likely be one of those obnoxiously hot beauties. I would love to use one of the Twilight boys for Prince Charming (as uselessly pretty as he is) and the Babas would need to be played by veteran Hollywood actresses.

 Favorite book, movie, and TV show?

Paul:  I was obsessed by the original Star Wars trilogy while growing up. I also love the Lord of the Rings movies, and detective shows like “Lie to Me,” “NCIS” and “Bones.” Then there is “Burn Notice” which is a modern day MacGyver. Basically, I love watching people be clever.

Words to live by?

Paul:  Blessed be the dreamers, for they breathe life into the Earth.

And if you are a dreamer, be sure to create a safety-net before you go on your adventure.

Also, NETWORK!!! I got to where I am today because I know I cannot get there on my own. By networking, and making friends, I managed to build the contacts that helped me to achieve my goals. Without these precious people, my books would be less interesting and might never have been published. I owe them everything. I hope I can honor their efforts with a magnificent collection of best selling books.

Fangirl Friday

Double the Authors, Double the Fun with Lisa and Laura Roecker

Lisa and Laura Roecker are sisters-turned-writing-partners with a love of all things Young Adult. Some call it arrested development, but the sisters claim it keeps them young. Plus, its cheaper than Botox. Lisa and Laura live in Cleveland, Ohio in separate residences. Their husbands wouldn't agree to a duplex. THE LIAR SOCIETY is their first novel.

The Fangirl heard about the Roeckers from reading the lovely Jill Hathaway's blog.  So she contacted them and they were very excited to be a part of Fangirl Friday.  Then they decided to REALLY rope in the Fangirl and now she has been pinkified for THE LIAR SOCIETY.

Fangirl:   For those who haven’t heard about your debut novel THE LIAR SOCIETY can you tell them what it’s about?


L&L:  The Liar Society features Kate Lowry whose best friend Grace died mysteriously the year before. Kate receives an email from Grace on the year anniversary of her death and launches an investigation to determine what really happened to her friend. As the emails continue, Kate uncovers all sorts of secrets lurking around her school that people would do anything to protect.

Fangirl:   What inspired the two of you to write this novel and come up with the concept?

L&L:  Lisa lost someone very tragically a few years ago. From time to time she emails his account sharing updates about life. In The Liar Society, Kate does the same thing after Grace dies. The only difference is Grace writes back. The Liar Society tells the story about what might happen after.

Fangirl:  Besides being authors you both are also involved with Bookanistas and WriteOnCon. How did you get involved with these projects and how has it helped you as writers?

L&L:  Honestly, the blog has connected us to most of the projects we're involved with. We have met incredible people while blogging. The Bookinistas formed as a way to consistently review books we love and to also spread the word about debut books that might be coming out. It's also great because ARCs are shared and spread around as opposed to only hitting up one blog or network. The idea for WriteOnCon came from being poor and busy writers. The team thought it would be amazing if writers could attend a free conference without having to travel from their homes. We were blown away by the response! These projects have helped connect us with all different types of writers and publishing professionals. We've had so much fun thinking creatively with people all over the United States and beyond!

Fangirl:   What should writers know about collaborating with another writer to compose a novel? Is there anything they should be weary of or really need to work at?

L&L:  The biggest challenge is creating a unified voice. We work really hard to make sure that our writing is cohesive and consistent. But this doesn't happen until we edit and edit and edit some more, which because there are two of us, is a challenge in and of itself. One of us always owns part or all of the document so we know changes won't get lost. And for the most part, it works!

Fangirl:   Did you all find it harder to query with a joint project or did it make things easier with a built-in critique partner/ support system?

L&L:  The built-in critique partner and support system is the BEST part about writing together. We honestly don't know how people write alone. We can obsess to each other about reviews or being on submission or emails to agents/editors without having to bore everyone else in our lives to tears. We also can ship off the document if we come down with writer's block. We're constantly saying, "Here. Fix this." But because there are two of us, some people might go into the book looking for discrepancies in our voice or plot, which if we had written under a pen name, might not have been focused on. We wouldn't change anything though. For the most part, we've been able to create one identity out of two writers, which is super-fun and efficient too!

Fangirl:  I see, on your website, that there will be a sequel, but should we expect more than just two books and can you give us any hints to where the story is going?

L&L:  Yes, The Liar Society is the first book in a series. Hopefully there will be many more Liar Society books in our future! A hint for book two...there's a bit of a love triangle angle (because, really, who doesn't love a love triangle?) featuring Bradley Farrow, Kate's first year crush. We're going to make Liam work for it! And Seth too, of course.

Fangirl:   Did you have a playlist for this novel? If so what were some of the titles and did they inspire any scenes you can give us hints to (without spoilers!)

L&L:  Vindicated by Dashboard Confessionals is definitely on our list, even though we're making it difficult for poor Kate to ever be truly vidicated.

Also, That's Not My Name by the Ting Tings and They by Jem.

Fangirl:   If LIAR SOCIETY was to be made into a movie who would you all cast in the lead roles?

L&L:  Emma Roberts (if she'd be willing to dye her hair pink, of course) as Kate Lowry.

Kristin Kreuk as Grace Lee.

Jesse Eisenberg as Seth Allen.

Jordan Catalano as Liam Gilmore. Ha!

Dianna Agron as Taylor Wright.

Michelle Trachtenberg as Bethany Giordano.

Fangirl:   Favorite(s) book, movie, TV show?

Lisa:

Book: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson, The Stand by Stephen King and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver are some of my favorites.

Movie: 16 Candles, 10 Things I Hate About You, Amélie, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Away We Go

TV Show: Friday Night Lights, My So-Called Life, Modern Family

Laura:

Book: Beach Music by Pat Conroy is one of my all-time faves as well as The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson.

Movie: I love any of Will Farrel's movies--especially Anchorman, Old School and Blades of Glory.

TV Show: Modern Family or Parenthood

Fangirl:   Words to live by?

L&L:  Don't be afraid to just start over.

Fangirl Friday

The Fangirl Interviews Debut Author Sara J. Henry

Sara J. Henry has been a soil scientist, sports editor, magazine writer, newspaper editor, correspondence writing school instructor, freelance writer, magazine editor, book editor, bicycle mechanic, copyeditor, and webmaster – in roughly that order. She now lives on a dirt road in southern Vermont with at least one too many dogs, and spends a few months each year in her home state of Tennessee. Learning to Swim is her first novel, with a sequel to come. Her agent is the wonderful Barney Karpfinger.

The Fangirl found Sara the best way a girl could find an author...through blogging.  I was following Steph Bowe's blog and found Sara through there.  I read about her debut novel and became even more intrigued as I learned about her journey through the publishing world and how she has helped other people along the way.

MV:   For those who haven't heard of your novel LEARNING TO SWIM, can you tell them what it's about?

SH:  I can't rattle this off as easily as I should, but it's about a woman who sees a small boy being thrown off a ferry and dives into a huge, cold lake to rescue him - and discovers he speaks only French and won’t tell her what happened to him. One reviewer describes the main character, Troy, as “an athletic, fiercely independent young woman who, like crime-fiction author Gillian Flynn’s feisty females, is capable of making delightfully acerbic observations.” – a description I love. Author Michael Robotham called her “an everywoman hero who women will admire and men will want to meet.” Not bad, either.

MV:   How did you get the inspiration for this novel? Did you ever deal with pitfalls or writer's block and how did you overcome that?

SH:  I was driving near Lake Champlain, an enormous lake that separates Vermont and New York. At one point it's more than a dozen miles wide, with two ferries that run simultaneously, in opposite directions, and I envisioned a woman standing on one ferry and seeing a child fall from the other, and diving in to rescue him. Then I had to write an entire book around that one scene.



The pitfall was that the original middle of my book was really bad - a virtual dumping ground. Because I had no idea how to rewrite, the novel lived in a drawer (actually a computer file) for a very long time. I’d occasionally take it out and gaze at it, then put it away again. I had trouble imagining the characters doing anything than what they were doing. Finally I orchestrated a five-week house swap to Sydney, Australia, and conveniently broke my foot just before I went, so I had five weeks of limited mobility in a country where I knew almost no one – a perfect scenario for learning to rewrite.

MV:  What was the querying process like for you? How did you deal with the querying and submissions to editors process?

SH:  This part, unlike the painful process of learning to rewrite, was easy. The first agent I queried made suggestions I thought would erase what made this book work, which made me feel just contrary enough to query the top agents I could find. Then requests started rolling in, and offers came fast. I met with he-would-would-become-my-agent, who was perfect for me, and made my decision.



My agent, Barney Karpfinger, sent out the manuscript to editors and kept me abreast of comments and who was interested and who wasn’t. Then I talked with editors, made my (agonizingly difficult) decision, and bob’s your uncle – a book deal was born.

MV:  You're pretty prominent on a lot of the social media sites (Blogger, Twitter, etc), do you think that has helped you as an author?

SH:  Absolutely. Tweeting and blogging are an outlet for odd bits and pieces of writing in my head – and for my quirky sense of humor – that otherwise would just clutter up my brain. And it’s a social outlet: it’s hanging out at the water cooler at work. I've met some cool people and gained some staunch supporters this way. It’s also a fun, fast way to keep up with friends.



MV:  You've been a mentor for young authors (like Steph Bowe); how do you go about approaching young authors or help them on their publishing journey?

SH:  Of the three teenagers I’ve worked with, two I met through their blogs, and the third was referred to me by an agent friend. When I stumbled across Steph’s blog, it was obvious she was immensely talented, with a natural, distinct voice. When she asked for beta readers for a novel I volunteered. I got chills as I read it – with that lovely feeling I imagine agents get when they discover a real talent.

With Steph it was basically read manuscript, make suggestions, introduce to agents, exchange a mad number of emails during the agent selection process wherein I try not to tell her what to do. All via email with about a 14-hour time difference between us and me wondering if – at age 15 – she was ready for this. I also entered her into a Secret Agent contest I’d mentioned – she was away from internet access at the time, the sign-up time was 2 am in Australia, and I figured she could withdraw if she wanted to, but she ended up signing with that agent. Her first novel’s out now, and once in a while she'll ask a question about publishing or I'll take a look at a new manuscript. But she is astoundingly mature and businesslike, far more than many adult writers I know. With the other two, I read their work and make comments (although one, Weronika Janczuk, has recently become a literary agent and made her first two sales – at age 18). Yeah, these kids are amazing. Here’s the blub Steph gave me:

“If The Usual Suspects and a Jodi Picoult novel had a lovechild, it would be Learning To Swim - a thought-provoking, evocative, and thrilling read.”

MV:  Why the middle initial instead of just being Sara Henry?


SH:  My dad took me to open a bank account when I was six, and we put the name Sara J. Henry on the account. And with the exception of two years when I was a sports editor and experimented with being just Sara Henry - I've been Sara J. Henry ever since. It also helps differentiate me from other writing Sarah Henrys. And Sarah Henry in Calgary who makes cakes. Beautiful, amazing cakes.

MV:   Do you have a playlist for LEARNING TO SWIM?

SH:  What's a playlist? (I'm abysmally musically ignorant - it's on my list of things to work on.)

MV:  If LEARNING TO SWIM was to be made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead roles?

SH:  I like readers to be able to envision Troy as they want - and honestly, I could see a number of actresses portraying her perfectly, because it's a matter of spirit more than a specific appearance. But when I wrote Philippe, I envisioned Christian Bale as he played the father in the sci-fi movie Equilibrium. Jameson I could see played by actors as diverse as Mark Ruffalo or Robson Green from Touching Evil – it’s a role that would need someone who could play understated. Paul, of course, could be any slight, charming dark-haired six-year-old boy who speaks French.

MV:   Favorite book, movie, and TV show?

Favorite book - that's impossible to answer, but I've always loved Brat Farrar, by Josephine Tey.

Favorite movie - might be About a Boy.

TV show - the only one I regularly watch is Survivor, which I both love and hate, and fantasize about being on. I think I’d either be one of the first off or last off.

MV:  Words to live by?

SH:  Carpe diem - seize the day.

The Fangirl Interviews Kathleen Ortiz

Kathleen Ortiz (or if you have no idea who I'm talking about she has been known to go by KOrtizzle or That-agent-with-the-T-Rex-avatar) is an Associate Agent and Foreign Rights Manager at Lowenstein Associates.  If you'd like to read more about her she always has interesting tweets and blogs over at Neverending Page Turner.

I had e-mailed a few agents asking them to do an interview for my blog, but Ms. Ortiz decided to present me with a challenge and wanted some creative questions.  What?  The typical "What are you looking for in a manuscript?  How did you get into agenting" wont do?  So, I had to get creative and within a few hours of sending her the questions I got the responses.  They are some of the most fun questions and answers I have done with this blog and Ms. Ortiz' emails have been cracking me up all day and anyone is lucky to have this lady as an agent!  BUT not only did these answers crack me up, they gave me a real view into who Ms. Ortiz is as an agent, a person, and really what she is looking for in her queries and manuscripts.  I can safely say that I've been KOrtizzled!

 (Note:  Yes, in the picture above Ms. Ortiz does resemble Reptar!  Thanks for noticing!) 


Magan:  What is your reaction to people that say you don't need a literary agent? How do you convince them otherwise?


KO:  I point at Janet Reid and let her put them in their place.

No, seriously. I’ll only do so much to explain to someone why they need an agent. Life’s too short to argue and beat a concept into someone if they’re not willing to see the whole scenario. If they educate themselves by looking at agent blogs, success stories, horror stories and more, then great. If not and they choose not to go the agent route, I salute them and truly wish them the best of luck.


Magan:   Not that I'm a stalker of your tweets, but you talk about going to classes, agenting, and having a social life. How do you balance all of these things?

KO:  Red-eye chais are my bff. I tend to look like this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sGlETQIMUo). When you have the ability to stop time after consuming caffeine, you’d be surprised what you can accomplish.

I’m lucky to have amazing friends, family and clients. I’m very transparent with everyone, so friends and family know that I take my job very seriously and so I’m not always available to go out on a whim. On the flip side, I know the importance of taking time out to be social and just chill. I’ve found a balance that, while busy, is comfortable for me. I wouldn’t take on a client or project unless I know I can dedicate 110% of my time and effort into it.

Plus I graduate in May. Peace out, grad school.

Magan:  Proudest moment and most stressful moment as an agent?

KO:  Proudest moment was definitely making my first deal. I may have shot out of my chair and danced a happy dance (and no, I refuse to tell you what that looks like).

Most stressful moment was the day I had to make a decision on which ereader to buy (I know, tough gig, right?). (hey! It was a tough choice! P.S. iPads rule)

Magan:  Why the T-Rex? Is there some inside agenting story to it?

KO:  Oy. I knew this would come up one day. And if it wasn’t for the fact that Jaime already shared this story in this video (http://kortizzle.blogspot.com/2011/01/happy-birthday-to-me.html), I probably wouldn’t share it.

So a while back, I was up late at night, working on some emails, and I saw Jaime pop online. I knew she’d probably have a cow that I was up at 3 a.m. on a work night (apparently my clients are convinced I never sleep *snickers*), but I decided to IM her and ask a Q anyway.

After getting chewed out, she asked for my thoughts on a blog post. Kinda went like this:
Jaime: “What do you think about a blog post on ?”

Me: *pauses* *reads IM again* *rubs eyes, convinced I’m seeing things* *reads again* *types* “Tyrannosaurus rape? I don’t get it.”

Jaime: *pauses* “LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL”

Me: *reads again* “Oh. Thesaurus rape. Like when writers abuse large words. Oops.”

20 min later my avatar was a TRex as an inside joke between us.

2 min later, I went to bed.

Almost a year later, it’s still a TRex. And if I change it, people will come after me with pitchforks.

Lesson here: don’t change your avatar. You’ll be stuck with it. And people will make fun of your short arms.

Magan:  Now for the dreaded query questions... What is the most overused or cliched thing that you are seeing in queries?

KO:  Girl meets boy…boy has supernatural / paranormal powers / creature…girl falls for boy even though he’s too ‘dangerous’ for her…girl doesn’t care and hooks up with him anyway.

Magan:   Are there any certain characters you are dying to see come into your slushpile like a teenage alien or non-brooding vampire?

KO:  I’d loveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to see a male POV romance – especially contemporary. But something real, in a true teen voice. Guys (especially teens) do not look at a girl walking down a hall and think, “and her hair rustled in the wind like corn in a field.” (Sounds tacky right? Like corn in a field? What? Exactly. No matter how you spin it, it’s so not what a guy would think.)

I really want to see a girl who’s A) not ‘plain’ and doesn’t understand why every guy falls over himself to be with her (aka -- has a clue) and B) doesn’t have a hardcore chip on her shoulder and hates everyone except ‘the one’.

*Note: this doesn’t mean I don’t like ANY book with these elements. I’m just saying that I see a lot of it and want to see something different.

Magan:   If there was any character (whether literary or from TV or cinema) that you would like to hang out with in real life who would it be and why?

KO:  Oh man. I’m about to break my own rule.

Damon from VAMPIRE DIARIES. *droooooools* Though I think it’s more so Ian Somerhalder himself. He’s just ah-may-zing.

I think I’d love to chill with Bennett from DECEPTION by Lee Nichols (DROOL); Bones from Jeaniene Frost’s NIGHT HUNTRESS series (though he’d never leave Cat for me – sigh); Jennie McGrady from the Jennie McGrady mystery series (small house book; but I was addicted when I was 7 and 8 – she’s smart, not whiney, and kick ass); the MCs from my clients’ books (which I wish I could spill here, but I can’t – but can I just say that if we got together and had a party, I would probably never leave because it would be THAT much fun); and Magnus from Cassie Clare’s MORTAL INSTRUMENTS series (um, glitter + warlock = amazing).

Oops…you said ‘one’ character…well…..

Magan:  Favorite book, movie, TV show?

KO:  Too many to list. Seriously. I wouldn’t even know where to begin.

Magan:   Words to live by?

KO:  For writers: “You can't just have your characters say how they feel! That makes me feel angry!" --The Robot Devil (Futurama)

In general: “It’s hard to fail, but it’s worse never to have tried to succeed.” –Theodore Roosevelt

Thanks again Ms. Ortiz!  And I hope everyone else is as KOrtizzled as I am!

The Fangirl interviews: Medeia Sharif

Medeia Sharif is a Kurdish-American author who was born in New York City, and she presently calls beautiful Miami Beach her home.  She received her master’s degree in Psychology from Florida Atlantic University.  Not only does she write, but she’s a high school English teacher.  BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. is her first novel.  You can find her on the web at http://www.sharifwrites.com.

I found Medeia the best way one can find an author...she commented on one of my blog posts.  (Yes, if you comment on my blog, usually I go back and figure out who you are and usually will follow back).  I was immediately intrigued with Medeia's debut novel and was excited to see an author who is writing with a multi-cultural aspect.  I knew she was the perfect addition for a Fangirl Friday segment.

Magan:  For those who haven't heard of your debut novel, BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER, can you tell them what it's about?

Medeia:  Fifteen-year-old Almira Abdul is fasting for Ramadan for the first time ever, but the month does not move smoothly at all. She has her first major crush, treads on her best friend’s toes, butts heads with a new archenemy, and has a strict old-world grandfather who drives her crazy. Her will is tested in more ways than one during the holy month.

Magan:   How did you get the idea for this novel?

Medeia:  My first inkling of the novel centered on a middle grade boy celebrating Ramadan but Almira, a high school female voice, later came to mind. She was so vibrant and funny that I had to write her story.

Magan:   Was there any music or a playlist that inspired this novel?

Medeia:  I don’t have any set playlist, but when I write I listen mainly to alternative bands like The Bravery, The Killers and Interpol. My musical tastes don’t necessarily match the tone of what I’m writing.

Magan:   Did you find any times when you were stuck in your writing and how did you get through them?

Medeia:  What I do is continue writing and then eventually I have an ah-ha moment, either by myself or through a critiquer, to improve a difficult scene. That means I have to go back and do a major rewrite for the scene and then minor tweaks to link the revisions to the rest of the manuscript. My problem usually involves low tension scenes. Even though I outline, I might still arrive at a new chapter and realize it’s tepid and needs more conflict. I return to it later after I’ve had time to think things through.

Magan:  With a multi-cultural project like BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER, did you have trouble finding an agent or a publisher?

Medeia:  I had a previous agented, but unsold, multi-cultural manuscript before BRE. Before and after that particular manuscript I wrote non-multi-cultural novels. I’ve received more attention from agents—i.e. more requests for partials and fulls—with my multi-cultural work. I believe the realism attracts people and fills a gap in publishing.

Magan:   Did you take anything from your own personal experiences when writing this novel?

Medeia:  As one reader of BRE said, “This is your world.” I needed to tap into my familial and cultural knowledge to write the novel. I’m also familiar with the first and second generation immigrant experience. BRE isn’t autobiographical, but my experiences have colored my work.

Magan:  What is the best advice you've gotten along your writing journey?

Medeia:  Although they would praise my voice and dialogue, agents and editors urged me to work on plot, which used to be my weakness. I worked on creating multiple layers of conflict in a manuscript. When I’m reading I love seeing those layers unfold. Writing them involves coordination and planning, but I have fun in the process. So the best advice was to work on plot.

Magan:  Was there ever a time you felt like giving up and if so how did you get through that?

Medeia:  I’ve never given up. I wrote my first novel when I was eighteen. I amassed a huge pile of rejections for it. I wrote another novel after that, and I had the same thing with numerous rejects. And I wrote another and another. I didn’t stop. I was experimenting with different styles and genres, as well as receiving and using feedback. Even if I wasn’t getting published, I still enjoyed writing and the scary-exciting thrill of querying. I’m in my thirties now, so you can see that this was a looong process.

Magan:   If BESTEST. RAMADAN. EVER. was to be made into a movie, who would you like play the main characters?

Medeia:  I’m going to take a stab at this, but not a good one since I don’t keep abreast with current entertainment.

Almira: Summer Bishil

Lisa: Selena Gomez

Shakira: Alia Shawkat

Peter: Zac Efron

I’m not sure if these are good matches, so don’t ever put me in a casting chair.

Magan:   Famous words to live by? (Whether your own or someone else’s)

Medeia:  Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure.

–Helen Keller

Fangirl Friday

Interview with Agent:  Suzie Townsend

Suzie is actively looking for fiction and non-fiction: Middle Grade and YA novels (all subgenres, but particularly literary projects), adult romance (historical and paranormal), and fantasy (urban fantasy, science fiction, steampunk, epic fantasy).  Specifically, she’s actively looking to build her adult list.

The Fangirl decided to try and do something new and also interview agents, editors, and other publishing professionals for the Fangirl Friday segments.  Lets face it, Ms. Townsend was a likely choice for my first in this series of publishing professional interviews because she's very active in the realm of Twitter and blogging and she likes science fiction, so of course I Fangirled out when she agreed to do an interview and promptly sent her answers to my questions!  (Note these aren't alot of the typical questions one asks an agent, but I loved her responses and it gives an insight into what she likes to read and how she works!)

Magan:  So I guess I’ll start with the beginning as I ask these questions. I read in another interview that you had started out as a teacher before you became an agent. Is there anything that you’ve taken from being a teacher and been able to apply it to being an agent?

ST:  I definitely took the work ethic I had from teaching and applied that to what I'm doing now. I was--and still am--that crazy person who's always at my desk working after everyone else has gone home. But in terms of the actual work, I edited and graded papers and essays as a teacher and I taught rhetoric at the AP level, which I think helps me now when I'm editing manuscripts. Recently I was talking to an author who's working on his second book in a series about how we could flesh out a particular character and add a level of emotional depth and complexity, and it was easier to explain using examples from other authors. And of course, as a teacher I managed the academic career of a lot of my students, either because they came to me needing help or because I saw a potential that they hadn't recognized yet. Managing an author's career is very different, but being able to look at an individuals needs and goals, and then working through problems that arise comes in handy in both avenues.

Magan:  Did you find it difficult to make a career change from school teacher to agent? I have to admit that I’m very impressed that you went from teacher to intern to agent.

ST:  Thanks! Actually it was pretty hard. I'd been teaching for six years and for the last two, I was really frustrated and feeling like the job just wasn't right for me. But I didn't know what else to do. My sister was working as an editor with textbooks at the time and kept telling me how much she loved it and I thought "I could do that!" But thinking that and making the change were two very different things. Unfortunately I was in San Diego and most of publishing really takes place here in NY. So I had to really commit to the idea that I was going to try something else and move. Then in late 2008 when I got to NY, publishing companies weren't hiring. A lot of them were laying people off. One publishing company, I thought I had an "in" with since I knew one of the vice president's, told me they'd let go of 1% of their workforce. Plus I was someone with no industry experience yet coming in with a masters and a level of income that was higher than the starting salary. It didn't exactly make me an ideal candidate. Luckily, I sort of expected that. I mean, I hoped I would get a job right away, but I expected it to be hard, and I expected to have to start over. I applied for anything that sounded interesting--including unpaid internships. On January 4th, I interviewed for an internship at FinePrint and got the job. And that was obviously the turning point for me. I realized within the first week that I loved working at an agency much more than I ever liked teaching. I just knew this was it for me. I always tell people that I'm lucky that FinePrint loved me too and offered me a job as an assistant, because I am, but I also put in a lot of work. As an intern I was supposed to come in twice a week. But after a few weeks I started coming in three days, then four, and then five. I took a ton of work home with me. I got to the office early, I stayed late, I read any manuscript that needed to be read, no matter the genre, and I asked a lot of questions about what I could do better. Essentially I did everything I could to show how valuable I was and how passionately I wanted to work her. And it worked.


Magan:   I’ve read that you used to spend your summers writing when not teaching. Do you still write or do you plan on writing to be published aside from agenting?

ST:   Every once in a while, I think of a cool idea and write something down, but I had to face the tough truth that I'm a much better editor than a writer. I also think to be a writer, you have to really want to write. No matter how hard or how much you complain, you still have to wake up every day and feel driven or compelled to write. Otherwise, how do you get through the hard stuff. I just don't really have that. Sometimes I think, "oh that'd be cool" or "I could write that" but then I get bored and I'd just rather read something by someone who's better.


Magan:  Aside from agenting and writing, I’m sure that you’re also an avid reader. Is there anything that you’ve read recently (whether a client’s work or not) that you have loved? What drew you into that story?

ST:  I'm an insane reader. For a long time, I didn't know anyone who read quite as much as I do. Then I got into publishing and "found my people" but even still, I have sort of a book buying problem. For published books, right now I'm reading Twilight's Dawn by Anne Bishop, and I've heard this is her last book about the SaDiablo family from her Black Jewels Trilogy, and I'm loving it. The trilogy is by far my favorite of the nine books in that world, but this is definitely a really good read. I also just finished Courtney Summers' new book Fall for Anything (I loved her first two books: Cracked up to Be and Some Girls Are), and it's such a powerful grief story. I also finally read The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney which was amazing--such a powerful story, told in a new way. I read it straight through in one sitting. In terms of my clients, I recently re-read the fully edited, in book form, copy of A Brush of Darkness by Allison Pang, which is an amazing new adult urban fantasy that comes out January 25th. And I'm so excited for Dan Krokos' False Memory which comes out from Disney*Hyperion in summer 2012 (I know that's far away). But I just finished reading his first draft of the sequel and it kept me up until 4 am because I had to finish it before I put it down, and then I couldn't stop thinking about it and I couldn't fall asleep.


Magan:   Do you have any new client work that’s coming out that you are really excited about?

ST:   Always! I have five client books coming out in 2011. A Brush of Darkness is the first adult book I've worked with, and Allison is a fantastic writer. Hannah Moskowitz's second YA novel Invincible Summer comes out 4/19/2011 from Simon Pulse and it's about two brothers who fall in love--and sleep with--the same girl. The sequel to Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers, Original Sin, comes out 7/5/2011, and it's fantastic! And Then Things Fall Apart by Arlaina Tibensky, the story of a 15 year old girl suffering through late onset chicken pox with only a typewriter and her well worn copy of The Bell Jar to keep her company, also comes out in July. And then Hannah's first middle grade novel, Zombie Tag comes out in the fall of 2011.


Magan:   If you could spend the day with any character (whether literary or from film or television) who would it be and why?

ST:   This is so hard! I definitely want to spend the day with Walter Bishop from Fringe because whatever he does is always a combination of brilliant and hilarious. I'd also want to spend the day with Caddy Compson from The Sound and the Fury simply because that demise of that whole family--thus the story--really revolves around her yet she's never actually a physical presence in the book. I always wanted to know more about her. Truthfully, though a lot of my favorite characters...I don't know if I'd really want to spend a day with them. I love reading about Katniss Everdeen, but I wouldn't make it a day in the Hunger Games.

Magan:  You’ve been closed to queries for awhile, but is there anything that you are really looking for in the slush pile? Is there anything that you don’t want to see? Have you become pickier since you’ve built up your client list?

ST:  I closed from 11/15 to 1/5 so that I could take time to catch up on everything in my inbox and devote more time to editing client manuscripts. I don't ever want to say I don't want to see something, but I can say I'm a little tired of YA paranormal. So much of it really feels the same as things I've already read. Same with dystopian YA. I'd love to read something different, but I just haven't seen much "different" lately. I would love to see YA thrillers or YA horror, something where the reader and the characters don't know if what's happening is paranormal or not. I'd also love to see more adult fiction--fantasy, urban fantasy, historical and paranormal romance. I'm definitely pickier now that I have 18 clients, simply because I don't have as much time as I used


Magan:   If your life were to be made into a movie who would you like to have be cast as you and what would your theme song be?

ST:  My life would be entirely too boring to be a movie.  (Note:  The Fangirl disagrees) And my soundtrack would have everything from Christina Aguilera to Eminem to Shinedown to The Used. It would be all over the place.




Magan:   Favorite book, movie, and TV show?

ST:  I love Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff, and the Kushiel series by Jacqueline Carey. Movies is tough because again I love so many, but some of my quick favorites are Inception, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Things Behind the Sun, The Shawshank Redemption, and my all time favorite is Lucky Number Slevin. My favorite TV show is easy. Fringe. It's the best written show on TV.


Magan:  Words to live by?

ST:  "This above all: To thine own self be true." Hamlet, I, iii