Breathless Reads Author Visit

5 YA Authors, several bloggers & some seriously amazing books!

On Friday, February 25th I was fortunate enough to be in Raleigh at the Breathless Reads book tour stop at the always fabulous Quail Ridge Books & Music. This was the final stop in the tour & as such, several bloggers from all over showed up to attend the fabulous talk & signing. Unfortunately my iPhone didn't seem to record any of the discussion (I am not pleased & have since fixed the bug), so I only have marginal notes.

What I know for certain & don't need a recording to tell me is that these women are fun, creative, disciplined, & inspiring. They ranged from first time authors, to seasoned pros & from school teachers to mothers. They hold many titles & responsibilities, but the main thing they have in common is their incredible ability to spin a magnificent tale.

There was a teacher & assistant from a local school who read off questions that the authors answered in rounds. There were so many things being asked from "how many books did you have to submit before being published & what advice do you have for aspiring writers?" to "what is your main character's favorite book?" Since I don't have all the answers to all the questions, I will highlight some that stood out to me.

• Nightshade's main character Calla's favorite book is Watership Down.
• Beth Revis finds adult books boring & predictable. YA books are so intense & fulfilling because they are filled with the characters' "firsts." First heartbreak, first personal challenge, first kiss, etc.
• All the authors seem to either write what they know (so write characters like themselves) or they write the opposite of what they know (penning characters who are the antithesis of themselves). Not to mention, be wary of having crossed these ladies, you may end up in one of their books & not in a happy way.
• These ladies also enjoy writing their love scenes. Some find that first kiss the hardest thing to write, while others find the tension the best part of writing the love story. They find themselves falling in love with the relationship as it pours out on the pages.
• Author specific information:

1. Andrea Cremer is a jigsaw writer because she writes based on what's inspiring her. There is no real rhyme or reason to the order. She wants to write a classic, noire, detective novel. It's a dream of her's because she just loves the feel of the style.
   
2. Kirsten Miller is a beginning to end writer. She may go back & fix things, but she has to write the story in the order that it happens. Kirsten either loves or hates (my brain is failing me) horror & really wishes she could write a good horror novel. She's currently working on a futuristic/dystopic, noire YA novel.
   
3. Brenna Yovanoff is a jumpy writer. She jumps for scene to scene & even leaves gaps in the middle of sentences so that she can go back & find the perfect word. Brenna always starts out thinking that this novel will finally be the contemporary YA she's been trying to write, yet she always manages to throw in an element of fantasy.
   
4. Ally Condie writes from beginning to end for the most part & what encourages her to continue writing is the daunting task of matching her children's socks. (She has three little boys) She really wants to write a happy, fun book for 7-9 year old boys. There just seems to be a distinct lack of that kind of writing.
5. Beth Revis is a very literal writer in that she has to write the book in the exact, sentence for sentence, order that it will happen & she has no idea where the story will end up until she gets there.

One of the best parts about attending these types of events is getting to really act & listen to the answers to some of your burning questions. I got the answer to, "What's up next for y'all?":

1. From Andrea Cremer: Wolfsbane is the second installment in the Nightshade series & Bloodrose (the third installment) is under edits.
2. From Kirsten Miller: All You Desire is the sequel to The Eternal Ones.
3. From Brenna Yovanoff: The Space Between is the next novel.
4. From Ally Condie: Crossed will be the sequel to Matched.
5. From Beth Revis: A Million Suns is the sequel to Across the Universe & it is currently under heavy rewrites.

I hope this helped y'all kind of feel like you were there. There was so much going on that I really was amazed that it was only 9:30 when I finally got out of there. Since there were five authors & the publisher (Thanks Penguin!!!) gave out bookmarks AND posters, there was a lot of signing going on at that table. That was fine by me because it meant that I got to spend some fabulous time gabbing with Ren from All By My Shelf & Zombie Girrrl (her post here). It was WONDERFUL to get to meet other book bloggers & strange to think that I thought I was the sole one in NC. Huh? Imagine that! It was so great to finally get to meet these wonderful ladies, I really do love their blogs. Good to know I have fun, book-loving neighbors!

P.S. Leave a comment with your e-mail to be entered to win the signed poster from the event. Open to US only. Closes next Friday 3/11.