Pretty Little Liars and Hit: Echoes

Pretty Little Liars and Hit, Plot Echoes by lorieanngrover on Polyvore

As I traveled the country for the #hitwithgratitude project with author Justina Chen, I met so many teens who told me my novel Hit was similar to the TV series Pretty Little Liars. The first couple of mentions I thought were a bit unusual, but as it kept happening, I needed to investigate.

A month or so back, I sat down in front of Netflix and entered the world of Rosewood. What I discovered was an echoed plot strand, exactly as my readers described. The parallels between my Sarah and Haddings with Pretty Little Liars' Aria and Ezra were incredible. It was as if I watched the show and wrote my work. THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED! 

So this is my blog post to set the story straight. I began the novel in 2005, after the real Sarah was struck in a crosswalk in 2004. Originally a verse novel told in six viewpoints, the novel grew and changed for ten years. In 2009, I fictionalized and added Haddings. In 2014 Hit hit the stores. And now I can sit down and see the scenes play out on screen in Pretty Little Liars. Even to the brother's participation at the climax. I won't say more to avoid spoilers. :) But, are you kidding me? 

Sometimes creative ideas cross and birth at the same time. Stories are all ultimately echoes of each other. I've lost sales in the past, because another writer, at the same publishing house, with the same editor, had the same idea at the same moment. Yes, each story is told differently. Yes, each will present in a different light, theme, motive, and truth. But sometimes, wires cross, and the spark hits two people at the exact same moment. 

I thought If I Stay by Gayle Forman was Hit's echo. Pretty Little Liars rings even more loudly. One take-away is that there is a a story to tell. Look at us doing so, similarly and differently. Each can be appreciated; each will reach different people; each was developed independently. That alone is fascinating! Isn't it? 

Enjoy!

"Hit by Lorie Ann Grover is a powerful book about tragedy and recovery which shows you both sides of the story, for better or worse." Hypable

rgz NYC HOST: Gayle Forman's Where She Went reading!

Forgive this terribly, terribly late photo recap of Gayle Forman's Brooklyn reading for Where She Went, which was lovely and moving and full of cupcakes. You must get this book, after you read If I Stay, natch (oh, and check out the Cover Story).

Here's Gayle with me:

And Gayle with awesome bloggers Mitali from Alley of Books and Rachael The Book Muncher:

Gayle signing her pretty books for a line of adoring fans:

And cupcakes! Bonus.

These two titles are incredible--pick them up!

Cover Stories: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

Where She Went, the sequel to Gayle Forman's lovely If I Stay (remember that Cover Story?), is finally out! Yay!

Though it's told from Adam's point of view, that's Mia on the cover, obvs. Here's Gayle to share the story of how this book's cover came to be:

"The image that kept coming to mind as I wrote was the Brooklyn Bridge. It plays a pivotal role in the story and for some reason it just stuck because it's so strong both from both a visual and literary standpoint.

I believe that Penguin did experiment with using the bridge initially but decided that it didn't work.

"The challenge for the US publication was marrying the US If I Stay paperback cover--the eerily half-dead-looking girl--with a new hardcover look. But I had to make it extra tricky because, unlike If I Stay, which is from Mia's perspective, Where She Went is in Adam's voice. So how to create a cover that seemed like a package with the paperback but was from a guy's perspective?

"We were obviously departing from the quieter US hardcover look, with the flower, tree and branches, which I loved but would not work at all in terms of a new book about a rock and roll guy, so I'm so glad we had the paperback cover to use as a jumping-off point.

"In the end, in sort of a duh, why didn't we think of it sooner epiphany, we all realized that the US cover had to have another Mia. Because even though the book is from Adam's POV, it's still about Mia. It's about where she went. So the covers are meant to be bookends. One horizontal, one vertical, one passive, one more active. There's no Brooklyn Bridge, and yet the covers are, in my opinion, such a perfect bridge..."

Read Gayle's full Cover Story on melissacwalker.com.

If I Stay: Powerful Emotions (+ Win the Paperback!)

This week's focus is on Gayle Forman's If I Stay, and it's a near-perfect representation of this month's theme: Resilience. Mia is faced with a terrible tragedy -- her parents and little brother are gone, possibly dead, and she lies in a coma, critically injured in a hospital, weighing her options... to live, or to die.

For discussion: If you've read If I Stay, what emotions did you come away with? I laughed, I cried, I hoped, I doubted. You?

And, in general, what books have brought out the strongest emotions in you, as a reader?

3 commenters will win a copy of the new (gorgeously covered) paperback! Be sure to include your email with your comment.

Story Secrets: IF I STAY by Gayle Forman

I'm very excited to welcome author Gayle Forman to Story Secrets today to talk about IF I STAY, in anticipation of the sequel, WHERE SHE WENT. (In fact, Gayle just finished up the sequel's Teaser Tour.)

I had the pleasure of meeting Gayle in person at the wonderful Teen Author Carnival this last May, still to be recorded as one of the coolest events I've been to yet! Gayle was generous and lovely and charming.

Welcome to Story Secrets, Gayle!

*****

On a day that started like any other… Mia had everything: a loving family, a gorgeous, adoring boyfriend, and a bright future full of music and full of choices. Then, in an instant, almost all of that is taken from her. Caught between life and death, between a happy past and an unknowable future, Mia spends one critical day contemplating the one decision she has left—the most important decision she’ll ever make.

Or, I suppose another way to put it is: it's the happiest, most uplifting book you'll ever read that contemplates death.

Or, try this: A story about memory, music, living, dying, loving.


Holly Cupala: I love to hear the stories behind the story – from where did the idea for IF I STAY come?

Gayle Forman: Well, part of this story is a secret and remains so. But I'll be vague and say there was a tragedy that left me with a question: If something catastrophic happened to your family and you yourself were hovering between life and death and knew what had happened to the rest of your family, could you choose to go with them? Would you choose to go with them? So, I'm obsessing about this for years and years when this totally fictional 17 year-old cello player pops into my mind to answer the question...

Learn more about Gayle and her story secrets here...

~Holly Cupala

In the blogosphere: Gayle Forman, What is YA, Exactly?

Hey rgz,

Don't miss the awesome post "What is YA, Exactly?" over at Gayle Forman's blog. It's spot on, and I have to say I was raising my fist in agreement. She blows away Suite 101's definition. Clearly.

So here's a quote from her essay:

"Lev Grossman said it best in a Wall Street Journal article on why adults are reading YA novels. They have plot. To some literary snobs, this is like saying they have poo on their shoes, but Grossman meant it as a compliment. YA novelists don’t usually spend paragraphs upon paragraphs gratuitously describing scenery or the contents of a refrigerator or backstory that doesn’t matter. Plots are streamlined. If something doesn’t push the story forward or illuminate a character detail, it’s gone."

Go check it out, and let her and us know what YA is to YOU!