Here's a great entry from our Seattle HOST, Stephanie Guerra! Her debut young adult novel, TORN, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012.
Hi girlz!
I recently went to see Alexa Martin (Girl Wonder) and Amber Kizer (7 Kinds of Ordinary Catastrophes, Gert Garibaldi’s Rants and Raves: One Butt Cheek at a Time, Meridian, Wildcat Fireflies) promote their new books at Third Place in Seattle. It was a fun, intimate evening, with lots of great information from the authors about their inspirations, vices, and writing processes. Here are some fun facts:
Alexa’s vice is Louisiana style coffee, which is mostly cream and sugar. Amber says hers is “food, and I’m not a vegetarian. Baked goods.” I loved hearing that! I’m always comforted by women who like caffeine and pastries as much as I do.
Alexa shared a fascinating story about her formative writing experiences. She was diagnosed early with a learning disability, and went through school feeling “less intelligent” than the other kids. Special education helped her achieve success in literacy, and in fact, she began to overcompensate for her disability, producing “very clean copy.” I can attest to that. Her writing is crisp and clear, with her verbs doing most of the work. When she uses an adjective, it’s the perfect one. What an amazing example for anyone struggling with a learning disability.
Amber told us about her inspiration for one of the settings in Wildcat Fireflies.Helios is a restaurant she visited many times with her family, and over the years, she formed a bond with the owner. When this woman was fighting cancer, Amber told her that Wildcat Fireflies would be “her” book. The owner then revealed that she’d made a bucket list, and one of her dreams was to leave something lasting. With Amber’s book dedication, she felt she could check off this dream.
It was also inspiring to hear about writing process from these two very different authors. Amber aims to produce ten new pages of work each day, while Alexa works more slowly, piecing
Welcome our Seattle Host, Stephanie Guerra! She teaches children’s literature, young adult fiction and a seminar in writing instruction at Seattle University. She also heads a volunteer creative writing program at King County Jail, and researches and speaks about literacy instruction for at-risk and incarcerated young adults. Stephanie lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and children. Her debut young adult novel, TORN, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012.
Stay tuned for Stephanie's reports of Seattle book events! Today, she shares a book review of
Mostly Good Girls by Leila Sales:
"
Leila Sales’ Mostly Good Girls is both deep and delightfully fun; puff pastry that’s actually good for you. It takes on the hypocrisies of the New York prep-school world with humor and affection, and inspires provocative questions about class and identity.
"The book opens during Violet’s junior year in Westfield, an all-girls private school with an ivy-covered campus and tuition the size of a normal person’s paycheck. Violet comes from a middle-class family, and her parents have to stretch to manage school costs, but they’re determined to give Violet the best possible education.
Hi readergirlz,
Earlier this month I headed out to see Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
on tour promoting
Red Glove and
City of Fallen Angels at Third Place Books in Seattle. There was standing room only (see right), unless you wanted to pick your way through tightly packed knees and take the one seat deep in the middle, between the mom with the baby and the big pack of girls. I was eyeing it… but I chickened out.
A few highlights from Holly’s and Cassandra’s Q&A:
Advice for aspiring authors: Read outside your comfort zone; read a lot of nonfiction, because you’ll use it; write a lot; and find a critique partner who’ll tell you when your stuff is crazy.
For Shadow Hunter fans:
Cassandra has a new trilogy in the works!
Holly’s favorite part of being an author is meeting other authors, and “not having to pretend [she's] not staring at them in a creepy way.” Love that, Holly! Except tonight, I was the one staring at you in a creepy way.
Cassandra’s favorite part of being an author is getting to talk about her characters with people who know all their quirks and foibles, just like she does.
It was amazing to see these two ladies in action -- they're warm and totally down-to-earth, with wicked senses of humor. Don't miss them if they hit your town
on the tour.See you soon, girlz! --Stephanie
Our Seattle Host, Stephanie Guerra, teaches children’s literature, young adult fiction and a seminar in writing instruction at Seattle University. She also heads a volunteer creative writing program at King County Jail, and researches and speaks about literacy instruction for at-risk and incarcerated young adults. Stephanie lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and children. Her debut young adult novel, TORN
, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012. ![]()
Welcome our brand new Seattle Host, Stephanie Guerra! She teaches children’s literature, young adult fiction and a seminar in writing instruction at Seattle University. She also heads a volunteer creative writing program at King County Jail, and researches and speaks about literacy instruction for at-risk and incarcerated young adults. Stephanie lives in Seattle, Washington with her husband and children. Her debut young adult novel, TORN, will be published by Marshall Cavendish in spring of 2012.
Stay tuned for Stephanie's reports of Seattle book events! Today, she shares a book review of
Hush by Eishes Chayil:
"Gittel Chava Klein is the beloved daughter of caring parents, has good friends, and loves her life. So why, at seventeen, is she haunted by memories of her best friend, Devory, who died in the fourth grade?
"Gittel’s tightly-knit religious community has managed to create a social enclave within the bustling world of Brooklyn: inside her neighborhood, the internet does not exist; only Jewish newspapers are read; and everyone wears the same style of clothing that their great-grandparents wore. Boys and girls are educated for their respective roles as Torah scholars or housewives and teachers; and no one knows anything about sex until the week before their arranged marriages.
"Love, respect, and loyalty thrive in this community—but that very loyalty can cause people to protect secrets that should not be kept. As Gittel approaches marriage age, fragments of recollection come together, and she begins to question the facile explanations of her friend’s death offered by her parents and other community members. The more those around her try to 'hush' her questions, the more frantic Gittel becomes to discover the truth—and to make it known. But at what cost? Will any young man want to join lives with a trouble-maker?
"Part mystery, part memoir, and part drama,
HUSH is a heart-wrenching and inspiring look at the price paid when communities hide dangerous secrets. The author, a Hasidic Jewish woman, has chosen to write under the pseudonym Eishes Chayil—in Hebrew, a woman of valor. (In the novel, the term is used to pressure Gittel to stop asking questions about her friend’s death.) Chayil opens doors to think about the many groups that have silenced voices to protect themselves from scandal, and the urge in all of us to “look away” from things that cause us discomfort or shame. Written in lyrical prose, with a tight and riveting plot,
HUSH is a call for attention to a painful issue, written by a woman who refuses to keep silent—a woman of valor."
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