All We Have is Now: Lisa Schroeder

My most recent read is All We Have is Now by Lisa Schroeder. With the end of the world quickly approaching, how would you spend your last hours? What if you were a homeless teen, what choices would you make?

Lisa explores the value of now and the gift of kindness. A diverse group of characters is met and wishes are fulfilled as humanity explores compassion when all is to be lost in moments.

Thought provoking and hopeful, be kind to yourself and read All We Have is Now, rgz. A great follow-up movie would be Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.



All We Have is Now
by Lisa Schroeder
Point, Scholastic, 2015

Cover Stories: The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder

A couple of weeks ago I noticed lots of girls-in-grass covers (my own included) and I mentioned fellow Contemps author Lisa Schroeder's latest, The Day Before, of which Booklist says: "Readers will find plenty of appeal factors in this outing... delivers a punch at the novel's end." (I love an end punch.)

Now she's here to share her Cover Story! Take it away, Lisa:

"I don't think about covers much, mostly because I've learned that it's not good to get attached to anything since who knows what you'll end up with. However, I really thought the cover would be a beach scene of some kind.

"I was surprised, because there wasn't a grain of sand to be found. I thought it was pretty, but I wasn't sure that it conveyed what the book is about. Although, more and more, I'm not sure that's a cover's purpose, necessarily..."

Read the rest of Lisa's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.

Story Secrets: CHASING BROOKLYN by Lisa Schroeder

I'm very pleased to welcome Lisa Schroeder to Story Secrets to talk about CHASING BROOKLYN, a gorgeous verse novel just released by Simon Pulse and a companion to her very popular I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME.

Lisa and I met a couple of years ago at the second annual Kidlit Blogger Conference, and she just made the northwest trek from P-land to Seattle for our December SCBWI WWA meeting to talk about writing YA along with Liz Gallagher. (And I got a signed copy! Yay!)

Welcome, Lisa!

*****

CHASING BROOKLYN is about a girl who is still struggling with the death of her boyfriend, Lucca, from a year ago. Then, a friend of hers, Gabe, dies of a drug overdose and her world gets even darker. Gabe begins to haunt her, and she doesn’t know why. Lucca begins to haunt his brother, Nico, trying to get him to help Brooklyn. Told from two points of view, Nico and Brooklyn, we see them dealing with their pain and the ghosts in their own different ways, until they realize they might actually be able to help each other.


What inspired CHASING BROOKLYN?
My first YA novel, I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME, has been fairly successful and I had many teens writing to me, asking me to write another book “just like that.” I approached my editor about doing a sequel, but he felt like we left Ava in a good place. He suggested we might have Ava appear in another book, however, and perhaps make it more of a companion novel. So I started thinking about what made sense, and I thought Ava might be there to comfort to someone else experiencing a difficult loss. And that’s how it started.


How did you come up with the idea to write from two points of view?
This might be terrible to say, but some of the details as to HOW I came up with the two narrators are a bit fuzzy at this point. I remember thinking that it needed to be different from I HEART YOU. It couldn’t really be another book about a girl being haunted by her dead boyfriend. And I think at some point, I decided adding in that second narrator would really help the book to be different. And wow, it was fun to write from a male POV for a change.

Read the rest!

Cover Stories: Far From You by Lisa Schroeder

Lisa Schroeder's Far From You comes out in paperback this week, and it's got a new cover. I asked her for the back story:

"I'm not a very visual person, so I really don't think about cover images when I'm writing the book. I also think it's important to be open to whatever the art department comes up with. I would never want to have my mind set on something specific and then be disappointed because it's so different from what I envisioned it to be.

"My publisher hasn't ever really asked for my input, and I'm okay with that. I've had many people tell me all my covers have been fantastic, and I agree. They know what they're doing, and I trust them to know what is going to represent the book well and sell it!

"The first time I saw the new cover for the paperback version of FAR FROM YOU, I thought it was probably one of the most beautiful covers I'd ever seen. But I also freaked out a little bit because it's more of a symbolic cover than a literal one. If you look at the cover, you'll see it's a young girl lying in the snow, and she has angel wings. If people think they are going to be reading a book about a girl who turns into an angel, they will be wrong. There are angel references in it, and I love the tag line - do you believe in angels. But I do worry a little bit about what people might think if they read it expecting something it's not...

Read the rest of Lisa's Cover Story, and see the original hardcover design, at melissacwalker.com.

And don't forget to revisit Vanessa's review of Far From You for the Rgz Street Team!

TRW Tribute: Lisa Schroeder 4:45

Lisa Schroeder

Rgz Street Team: Vanessa Reviews Far From You by Lisa Schroeder

The rgz Street Team is a group of teens who bring YA reviews to our blog, led by Postergirl Miss Erin. Find out more.

Today, Vanessa reviews Far From You by Lisa Schroeder:

At first I was worried that Alice's tale would be just another teen angst story, but written in captivating verse, Lisa Schroeder's words caught my attention right away. Alice, a normal girl with normal problems, felt amazingly real to me. Dealing with her father starting a new marriage after her mother's death, we saw Alice in her happy moments and sad moments. I was impressed that we even saw her traveling through the very same daydreams I have as she deals with her friend's surprising betrayal.

Any reader will be able to relate to Alice's universal feelings--of loneliness, and eventually hope, as well as a big capacity for bravery--once Alice's harrowing adventure through a blizzard takes shape. At the end of the book I couldn't help but wish for the opportunity to brush up next to some of the dangerous situations Alice had experienced, just so I could say I've done it! I highly recommend Far From You to anyone looking for a quick and exciting read.