My good friend, Shaun Hutchinson, is getting ready for the debut of his new novel, FML (Simon Pulse). It will be out June 25, 2013, exactly 19 days from today!! I loved this story. It reminded me of a teen Sliding Doors. What effect do all our decisions have? If we chose Door A instead of Door B, where would we be today? The difference with FML and our lives, however, is that Simon, the MC of FML gets to find out. Which scenario is best for him? Will he get the girl of his dreams?
To add to the FML party, Shaun is having a blog countdown of others’ defining moments, complete with prizes!! And, I’m so glad he asked me to be a part of this! My post is about my friend David, and how we became friends. Check it out and win a copy of Pieces of Us. AND don’t forget to get FML. You’re welcome!! 🙂Â
I’ve been on hiatus for so long from this blog, and I apologize. Just busy working on a new novel and spending time with family. However, I promise to get back on track ASAP. In the meantime, I would like to share a video my friend and YA writer Denise Jaden created to promote her new novel, NEVER ENOUGH. Just like her new novel, the video explores the emotions one has of never feeling like they measure up. I am proud to say I am in this video too. Read the summary for NEVER ENOUGH below (it’s so gripping, and I cannot wait to read the novel) and watch the video. Bonus: if you spotlight this video and/or NEVER ENOUGH, you can win prizes!! Check out this link to find out more: http://denisejaden.blogspot.ca/2012/07/blog-tours-and-entries-and-prizes-oh-my.html
SUMMARY:
Loann’s always wanted to be popular and pretty like
her sister, Claire. So when Claire’s ex-boyfriend starts
flirting with her, Loann is willing to do whatever it
takes to feel special…even if that means
betraying her sister.
But as Loann slips inside Claire’s world, she discovers
that everything is not as it seems. Claire’s quest for
perfection is all-consuming, and comes at a
dangerous price. As Claire increasingly withdraws
from friends and family, Loann struggles to
understand her and make amends. Can she heal their
relationship—and her sister—before it’s too late?
The terrific Tye Murphy made a trailer of Tenner books debuting in the next few months. INCONVENIENT is in November–less than 4 months away. Check this out!
Today’s Tenner Tuesday segment is with my good friend Shaun Hutchinson, author of THE DEATHDAY LETTER (Simon Pulse). THE DEATHDAY LETTER is out TODAY! That’s right. As soon as you’re done reading this, you’ll be able to go out and buy a copy! Actually, stop reading, go buy your copy, and then come back and finish reading Shaun’s awesome answers. To find out more about Shaun, visit his website www.shaundavidhutchinson.com. To learn even more about THE DEATHDAY LETTER, visit www.deathdayletter.com.
THE
1. THEDEATHDAY LETTER is out today, which is very exciting! What are you thinking? Right now I’m pretty much hoping my head doesn’t explode. It’s all out of my hands at this point. The Deathday Letter was a pretty personal book for me. I love Ollie and Shane and Veronica, and I hope that everyone else loves them too.
2. What is your writing process? Did you always write this way or was it a trial and error thing? Mostly I’m a pantser. I get bored with ideas really quickly, so once I get that initial idea, I need to get a first draft out as quickly as I can. I usually go from idea to finished first draft in about 4-8 weeks. After that, it’s all about the revisions.
3. Who is your favorite DDL character and why? You know, Ollie’s my hero for so many reasons, but I just love Shane Grimsley to pieces. There’s never a dull moment around him. He’s totally brainy and he never backs down from a challenge. Plus, he’s pretty hilarious.
4. If you could host any game show, which would it be? I’d want to host one of those crazy Japanese game shows where they make the contestants do all kinds of whacko stuff.
5. Have you thought about casting for DDL? Or even if it was a book on CD, who would you love to read the parts? Dream casting?
Okay. That’s pretty easy. I’d go with Aaron Johnson for Ollie (but he has to have the same hair he had in the movie Kick-Ass). I’d go with Malcolm David Kelley for Shane (Walt from Lost…so long as he tells us where the Polar bears came from). And I’d go with Ellen Paige for Ronnie. She’s got just the right mix of sexy and goofy.
6. What has been the most difficult and the most rewarding aspect of the publication process? The most difficult part has been losing all my stress weight! Seriously, I think it’s the waiting. Publishing is slow, so sometimes it can seem like nothing is happening. That’s hard to cope with. The most rewarding has definitely been all the friends I’ve made. Meeting amazing people like you has made this whole thing that much more incredible.
7. Has finishing and revising DDL changed the way you approach your current WIPs? I tried to change my approach. I tried to become someone who outlined and did synopses, but it didn’t work out for me. I’m a dive in kind of guy. I have a tendency to over-think things, which can be a total momentum killer for me.
8. How did you overcome the second book blues/anxiety? With a baseball bat. That’s a tough question. I mean, I wrote a second book before Deathday even sold, but it wasn’t right for YA. I struggled for a long time after that. I’d say that NaNoWriMo was a big turning point for me. I wrote a middle grade book in 18 days. The book is still a wreck but it helped show me that if I just kept my head down and worked, that I could do it.
9. What would you do on your Death Day? I would eat. I would eat until I puked, then I’d eat some more. Then I’d gather up all my friends and go party in New York. I’d get up on a stage and sing badly, I’d kiss as many people as I could, I’d make sure to give everything I owned to people in need, and I’d drive a race car really fast. There aren’t too many things in my life that I haven’t done that I regretted. The things is that we’re all dying. Maybe we’ve got more time than Ollie did, but every second spent watching TV or sitting in traffic or slaving away at jobs we hate is one second we’ve wasted. Carpe Mortediem! Seize the Deathday!
10. What’s next for you? I’m not sure if I’m supposed to say, but the project I’m most excited about right now is kind of a romance. Except, you know, bloodier and with a really cool mystery at the center.
A Tenner and good friend of mine, Shaun Hutchinson–author of THE DEATHDAY LETTER, is having a contest! Who doesn’t love contests? The prize? A signed copy of THE DEATHDAY LETTER. Trust me. You want it.
To find out the rules, see some great widgets, icons to post on Twitter, and more click here. And stay tuned for my own interview with Shaun!
Tenner Tuesday is back! Today I have an interview with Kristina McBride, author of the psychological thriller, THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES (Egmont USA). And if you want more (which of course you do), read more about her on her site and blog.
And for your very own copy, check out the online retailers here.
1. How did you come up with the idea for The Tension of Opposites?One day while my daughter was napping, I caught an episode of Oprah as she interviewed a young man named Shawn Hornbeck. Shawn was kidnapped at the age of eleven, and lived with his kidnapper for over four years before being found and returned to his family. The entire time he was gone, he was less than an hour from his home. I was in awe of his strength and fortitude to have survived such an ordeal. His story kick started the idea behind The Tension of Opposites. Soon after, the characters started talking to me and I just had to write.
2. I always ask about authors’ writing processes. Please share yours. I go back and forth between winging it and outlining. Since landing my agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin, in 2008, I’ve begun to outline more. I actually plan out my story on note cards (one note card per chapter), which I keep in my purse so I can add details of dialogue or setting whenever inspiration strikes. It helps me to plan the story better, and will hopefully result in less time needed for revision on my next books. Dirty little secret: I spent eleven months revising The Tension of Opposites.
3. Were you one of those kids that always wanted to be a writer, or was this career something you discovered later? I lived across the street from a library growing up, and have always had an insatiable love for books and words. I honestly cannot remember a time when I didn’t dream of seeing my name on the cover of a book.
4. What are your ultimate writing/career goals?Oh, this is hard. I’d love to win some awards or hit a bestseller list, of course. As a former high school English teacher, it would be awesome to learn that my book has been added to some school’s curriculum. But really, most importantly, I’d like for my readers to connect with my book, to love the characters, and think about the story after they finish the read.
5. What has been the most/least surprising aspects of the writing journey? Landing my amazing agent was a dream come true – and a total shock. I couldn’t believe Alyssa actually wanted to work with me! Another shock came after spending nearly a year on revisions. Three weeks after Alyssa pitched the manuscript to editors, I had offers on the table from three publishing houses. I’ve always dreamed of a book of mine going to auction, so the mini-auction between the three houses was one of the happiest surprises of all.
I don’t think there is one least surprising moment. Every step of this journey has taken my breath away!
6. Your book is officially out. How do you feel? Tired! It’s been a crazy week and I’m hardly sleeping as I try to keep up with real life stuff, internet stuff, and writing my next book. But it’s a good, hazy kind of tired as I realize the truth of my longest lived dream actually coming true.
7. What advice do you have for aspiring authors and debut authors? Never give up. No matter what. Read tons of stuff in the genre you write. Research how to land an agent and query tirelessly. Try not to let the two dirty R’s get you down (rejection & revision). And keep writing!
8. Please fill this in: “I could never write without mySamsung N120 netbook.”
9. What do you love to do besides write? Guilty pleasures? Hang out with family and friends, hike in the woods, watch TV. My guiltiest pleasure of all, however, is chocolate. In any form, as long as nuts are not involved.
10. Who was your favorite character to write in The Tension of Opposites? I think my answer to this question would vary from day to day. Today, I’d have to say Coop, Noelle’s younger brother. He was a smart aleck, and I enjoyed writing the scenes with him.
11. Can you share what you’re working on now or what’s next for you? I am currently working on book two of my two-book deal with Egmont USA. It is totally unrelated to The Tension of Opposites. That’s about all I can say for now.
I’m ridiculously behind on blogging and I’ll make it up to you. Promise! However, today’s post is about fellow Tenner Tara Kelly. Her phenomenal, moving novel, HARMONIC FEEDBACK comes out today. Buy a copy. You won’t regret it. You can also win a copy and other goodies from our fab agent Jennifer Laughran. Check out the post here. Congrats, Tara!
Another Tenner book just out is Kristina McBride’s THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES. Can’t wait to read this one! To find out more about the book and see a great review, go here. Congrats, Kristina!
