rgz Seattle HOST: Stephanie Guerra and the YA Extravaganza!

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. Take it away, Stephanie!  

Last night, Third Place Books held a YA extravaganza hosting six local authors: Suzanne Young (A Need so Beautiful; The Naughty List), Lisa Schroeder (The Day Before), Eileen Cook (The Education of Hayley Kendrick), Mandy Hubbard (Ripple), Kimberly Derting (The Body Finder; Desires of the Dead) and Cat Patrick (Forgotten).

All of these fabulous authors were warm, funny, and engaging as they took Q and A’s and did some great giveaways. Here are a few fun quotes on inspiration:

Eileen Cook on The Education of Hayley Kendrick: “More people are killed by falling vending machines than shark attacks. I wanted a risk adverse character who would worry about things like this.”

Eileen

Cat Patrick on Forgotten: “My twins were five months old and in the middle of an activity in the kitchen, and I forgot what I was doing. I started to think about how tough it would be to have amnesia, especially in high school. And then I wondered what it would be like if people could remember things in the future…”

Kim Derding said her husband gave her the idea for The Body Finder with the simple question, “What if there was a kid who could find dead bodies?”

Mandy

Suzanne Young found the idea for A Need So Beautiful  when she was offered inspiring words by a stranger after receiving the terrible news that a family member was dying. The incident made her wonder about angels, and the ways that a single sentence can change a person’s life.

And some great advice for aspiring authors!

“Don’t be afraid to get in there and play. You don’t know what you’re good at until you try.” –Lisa Schroeder

“After you’ve written something, walk away for awhile and then come back with truly fresh eyes.” –Cat Patrick

“Continue to write. Sometimes your ideas develop into other ideas that are a little bit better.” –Suzanne Young

“I have stacks of rejection letters. Want it so bad that you’re willing to keep working at it. It’s about not giving up.” –Kimberly Derting

“Give yourself permission to write crap. Crap can be fixed.” –Mandy Hubbard

“Read a lot! …and keep trying, because you don’t have anything to lose.” –Eileen Cook

Cat, Suzanne, and Lisa

And to close, a few suggestions for more great reads. These are the titles the authors offered in response to the question: “What book do you wish you had written?”

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Divergent by Veronica Roth

White Cap and Red Glove by Holly Black

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Mrs. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

Thanks for reading, girlz. It was an amazing night all around and I hope you’ll check out some of the books by these talented ladies.

~Stephanie

rgz (guest) HOST Seattle: Holly goes to Mindi Scott's FREEFALL launch!

On Sunday I put on my sparkly sweater and headed out to Mindi Scott's FREEFALL launch party at Third Place Books and came home with a stack(!) of signed books...

...alas, none of them were FREEFALL, because Mindi sold out! (Hooray, Mindi!)


But I did get to hear Mindi read from the book and hang out later with lots of cool Northwest authors - here I am with Denise Jaden (LOSING FAITH), Mindi, Kimberly Derting (THE BODY FINDER), Karen Kincy (OTHER), and Mandy Hubbard (YOU WISH):



I'm really sorry I missed Phoebe Kitanidis (WHISPER), who was kind enough to come to my Tell Me a Secret party last July even though she didn't know me from Adam. Plus I would have come home with five books! Next time, Phoebe.

Mindi contributed to my author secrets video, plus you can check out her Story Secrets interview here!

rgz HOST: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl!

Hey, readergirlz!

What a great Sunday! I just got home from Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, where I and rgz Postergirl Jackie Parker got to hear Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl talk about and read from Beautiful Creatures!

Highlights:

Kami and Margaret are long-time friends who came up with the idea for Beautiful Creatures over Mexican food and refill after refill of Diet Coke.

They proceeded to actually write the book based on a dare from Margaret's daughter.

Margaret's daughter and her lucky friends passed the book among themselves as first readers, and helped shape the plot by asking questions Margaret and Kami hadn't thought of.

Both ladies write everything in the book, back and forth, going over and over each others' work. They even lose track of who wrote exactly what.

The movie rights have sold, a script is in the works, and a big-time director is attached.

There will be a sequel! Kami and Margaret will announce more soon, but for now, all they're saying is it'll come out this fall. Watch this blog for more info!

Also, stop by Caster Girls, the official fan site for Beautiful Creatures, to get in on the Beautiful Creatures Unlock the Curse Contest, in which you can win the locket from the book--handmade by the authors! The contest involves answering questions about six books: Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, Tithe by Holly Black, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan, and Rampant by Diana Petrefreund. Being a readergirl comes in handy sometimes! Don't worry if you haven't read all six books because you can work in teams (see link for all the details).

I'm sad to say that my camera was being moody, so I got mostly blurry shots (I'm sure you're relieved to see that my traditional Liz with Author pic, below, came out fine), but I wish they'd all turned out well because Jackie and I also ran into Street Team Sarah and soon-to-debut author of The Body Finder Kimberly Derting!

Okay, gotta get back to reading Beautiful Creatures now! It's so much fun!

See you soon!