The Official Cinderella Society Blog Tour Giveaway!

The lovely Kay Cassidy has kindly offered me to host a giveaway for some really cool TCS swag!

Isn't that cool? Bookmarks galore!
Fill out THIS form to enter.
This giveaway will end on May 28th. That's two weeks from today.
It's also open internationally!
Because Kay rocks.

You haven't read my interview with her yet?
Not only me, but some of her fans asked her a question, and she gave us some really cool answers! No joke!
Go here to read the interview.

Read more

TSC Blog Tour: Q&A with Kay Cassidy

Today I welcome Kay Cassidy, whose book, The Cinderella Society, has just been published! Congrats Kay!

When she asked me if I'd like to be a part of her Blog Tour, I said yes right away.

So join me in welcoming her, and read this very fun and short interview!

Not only did I ask Kay a couple of questions, but I asked you to ask her one too. Here they are:

----------------------------------
Hi Kay, thanks for being here!

These first ones are from me:

Imagine you’re at a party with your friends, the Cindys. What would be your party playlist?

I create a soundtrack for each book, so I would definitely have to play The Cinderella Society's soundtrack. Listing all the songs might give away some story elements, but I will say that Who I Am by Jessica Andrews, Soar by Christina Aguilera, and Savin' Me by Nickelback would be on the playlist.

Say you’re at a bookstore and you have five minutes to get anything and everything you want. Get ready, and GO! What do you get?

Oh my gosh, I would be burning up the carpet trying to nab them all! :-) Truth be told, I have zero self control and already own the majority of books that capture my fancy. But if I did have self control in bookstores (insert much laughter here) and didn't own them already, here are five I would grab that have hit the shelves in the last month or two:

MISTWOOD by Leah Cypess

THE BODY FINDER by Kimberly Derting

THIS WORLD WE LIVE IN by Susan Beth Pfeffer

HEX HALL by Rachel Hawkins

PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt

Question from KatiebMundieMom:

Kay is amazing. I can't wait to read your interview with her! Ask her what her favorite Cindy moment is, that she's done.

Awww... thanks, Katie! :-) The Cindy creed is "Celebrate your strength – Embrace your future – Be extraordinary". I think my favorite moment of living by the creed was when I founded the Living Your Five^TM inspirational web project. Living Your Five^TM is all about choosing the five ways you want to make a positive difference in the world and then living your life accordingly. I absolutely believe that we all have unique talents and passions that can make the world a better place – and I hope everyone takes a moment to learn how to be an Honorary Fiver and join Alyson Noel, Tera Lynn Childs and I on the Fiver journey.

From Shesten at IHeartMonster:

Have her tell us about a Cinderella-like experience from her life...

Hmm... if it's a Cinderella makeover moment, I would have to say the spa day I indulged in right before The Cinderella Society hit shelves last month. Even though I write a series that's about ultimate life makeovers (including the appearance kind), I'm super laid back about my own appearance. I pretty much live in yoga pants and knit shirts (boot cut sweats and fleece tops in winter), so a spa day is truly a girly indulgence for me. So relaxing!

From Kris at Voracious YAppetite:

Hi Kay, my question is: What’s your favorite Disney princess (other than Cinderella)? If you could be any princess from history, who would you be? What is your idea of the perfect prince?

Fun! I actually took the Disney Princess quiz on Facebook and my Facebook page has the answer: I'm Belle. :-) I adore Belle – she's very smart and independent, so I thought that was a great result for me. I haven't done a lot of princess research (I rely on my friend Lindsey Leavitt for that – check out her fabulous PRINCESS FOR HIRE), but I did just buy a biography of Catherine the Great. I'm looking forward to reading that one. My idea of a perfect prince would be my husband. Wise, funny, kind... the smartest thing I ever did was marry my best friend. :-)

Kay
---------------

That was so much fun!

I'll have to listen to that playlist and check out those books, some of which are already on my Wish List.

Check out past Tour stops and watch out for the next ones!

3/8/10	Guest blog at Mundie Moms
3/10/10	Interview at Juiciliciousss Reviews
3/20/10	Interview at Page Turners
3/30/10	Interview at Not Enough Bookshelves

4/1/10	Interview on author Saundra Mitchell’s blog
4/11/10	Week-long festivities at YA Roundup
4/13/10	Official launch party at Teen Fiction Cafe
4/14/10	Guest blog at The Book Butterfly
4/15/10	Interview at The Book Cellar
4/16/10	Interview at Chick Lit Teen
4/17/10	Interview at Bookworming in the 21st Century
4/18/10	Interview at The Compulsive Reader
4/19/10	Interview at Journey Through Books
4/20/10	Interview at YA Booknerd
4/21/10	Fresh New Voice Interview at Book Chic
4/22/10	Guest blog at The Bookologist
4/22/10	Chat at Mundie Moms *9pm EST*
4/23/10	Interview at Frenetic Reader
4/24/10	Interview at Shooting Stars Magazine
4/25/10	Interview at Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf
4/26/10	Chat for 10 in ‘10 Teen Chick Lit Challenge *8pm EST*
4/27/10	Interview at Windowpane Memoirs
4/28/10	Interview at Alley of Books
4/29/10	Chat at L8Bloomer Online *9pm EST*

5/1/10	Guest blog at The Page Flipper
5/2/10	Guest blog at The O.W.L.
5/3/10	Interview at Market My Words
5/6/10	Interview at So Many Books, So Little Time
5/8/10	Interview at Booking Through 365
5/9/10	Interview at The Clock Monkey (That's this right here!)
5/11/10	Interview at The Children’s Book Reporter
5/12/10	Interview at Mrs. V’s Reviews
5/14/10	Interview on Danielle Leafty’s blog
5/17/10	Interview on author Jen Nadol’s blog
5/18/10	Interview on author Christy Raedeke’s blog
5/18/10	Interview at Writer Unboxed
5/19/10	Interview on author Christina Diaz Gonzalez’s blog
5/20/10	Interview on author Kim Derting’s blog
5/24/10	Interview on Egmont author Chelsea Campbell’s blog
5/25/10	Interview on Egmont author Alexandra Bracken’s blog
5/26/10	Interview on Egmont author Kristina McBride’s blog
5/27/10	Interview on Egmont author Lindsay Eland’s blog
5/28/10	Interview on Egmont author Bree Despain’s blog
6/10/10	Interview at The Last Word
6/23/10	Interview on Joelle Anthony’s blog
7/5/10	Interview at Writers on Writing
7/8/10	Interview on Holly Cupala’s blog

Read more

Author Interview & Giveaway: George Ivanoff (Aussie Month Post)

For today's Aussie Month Post,
please welcome author of Gamers' Guest: George Ivanoff!

*screaming crowd*
*crazy fans yelling*

Glad to have you here, George!

***

1. When and how did you start writing?

I think I first began to enjoy writing way back in high school. I was a huge science fiction fan and I began contributing to amateur publications — fanzines and club newsletters (remember, this was back in the dark ages before the Internet). I continued doing this while at university. Eventually I decided I should try to sell some of my writing and began to send out stuff to professional publications. After some minor success, my break came with the publication of a YA short story collection in 1999 called Life, Death and Detention. This is when I decided that writing for teens and kids was what I wanted to do.

I spent many years writing in my spare time while working a ‘day job’. But now, finally, writing is my career. I write a lot of books for the primary school education market, both in Australia and overseas. I like all sorts of writing — long and short, fiction and non-fiction, a variety of different genres… but it’s always science fiction that I find myself returning to.

2. Could you tell me a bit about your novel?

Gamers’ Quest actually began life as a short story called ‘Game Plan’, published in Trust Me! (Ford Street Publishing, 2008), a YA anthology edited by Paul Collins. I was inspired to write the story by a documentary about online gaming, which showed how people all over the world were immersing themselves in fantasy games because they considered their own lives mundane and boring. I wanted to turn this around and ask: If a person lived in a fantastical world full of exotic dangers, what sort of computer games would s/he play?

It was only after fellow author, Meredith Costain, suggested that it would make a good basis for a novel that I stopped to think about it. And once I did stop to think about it, there was no turning back — the characters and the environment seemed well suited to a longer story.

At its heart, Gamers’ Quest is science fiction, although it also has a healthy dose of fantasy elements, including mages and dragons. It is about two teenage thieves, Tark and Zyra, who live within a computer game environment. They are on a quest to reach Designers Paradise, where they will be able to escape the death and danger of their own world. During their quest they make some powerful enemies who then pursue then into Designers Paradise.

There is a definite computer game feel to the book. I wanted to tap into the excitement and non-stop challenges one faces when playing computer games and transpose that into the novel.

3. What inspires your writing? Are there any authors who particularly influence your work?

I find inspiration everywhere — from the people I meet, to the places I visit; from the music I listen to, to the stuff I watch on tv; from the books I read, to the movies I go out to see; from my family and friends, to the strangers I pass in the street. Yes, I’m that weird person who sits on the train eavesdropping on your conversation! Everything is fuel for the imagination.

Every writer that I read influences me in some way. Sometimes it’s simply a case of inspiring me to try harder. Sometimes it’s a case of me thinking, “well, damn, I can do better than that”. Sometimes there are specific writers who have influenced specific stories. I very much admire Terry Dowling’s writing, and I do remember once writing a story and consciously trying to give the piece a Dowling-ish flavour. Whether or not I succeeded is another matter. I’ve got a story coming up in Ticonderoga’s Belong anthology, which was inspired by the writings of Neil Gaiman.

4. What are you working on now? (if you're working on something)

I’m always working on something… usually more than one thing! At the moment I’m working on a series of educational books about nutrition and healthy eating. I’ve also started making notes on a new novel — the working title is Tornado Riders. They are just random notes for the moment. They may or may not result in a completed novel.

a. Do you write with music on or off? Have you ever made a "writing playlist"? (a playlist you listened to while writing certain book) If so, share it!

No music, I’m afraid. I tend to zone out when I write, ignoring everything around me. I share a home office with my wife, and she always has music playing… but when I’m writing, I don’t hear it.

5. Name 3 (they can be more or less) books from last year that you loved/really liked.

My favourite YA books for 2009:

4. The Slightly Skewed Life of Toby Chrysler by Paul Collins
Funny, inventive and quirky with some great characters.

3. Vulture's Gate by Kirsty Murray
Thoughtful and exciting, edge-of-your-seat science fiction adventure.

2. The Loblolly Boy by James Norcliffe
A magical, modern-day fairy-tale.

And in the Number 1 spot — Worldshaker by Richard Harland.
Actually, this book has shot into my all-time top 10! It’s a great steampunk adventure with Harland’s typical bizarreness.

Other than The Loblolly Boy, which is by a New Zealand author, the others are all Australian.
6. What Aussie YA author(s) do you think people should read more of? (Authors that most of us don't know, since we don't live in AU, and it's hard for us to get ahold of their books).

At the top of my list would be Richard Harland and Carole Wilkinson. Aside from Harland’s Worldshaker, I would highly recommend his Heaven and Earth trilogy. Wilkinson’s books include the Dragonkeeper series.

There are many more Aussie authors writing for kids and teens that I would recommend, including Meredith Costain, Paul Collins, Jen Storer, Kate Forsyth, Isobelle Carmody, Sean McMullen, Michael Prior, Gary Crew… the list goes on and on.

I’d also like to mention a couple of Aussie adult authors who I really like. Terry Dowling, who is best know for his Tom Rynosseros stories, writes beautifully lyrical science fiction and dark fantasy. Narrelle M. Harris has a brilliant vampire novel set in the city of Melbourne called The Opposite of Life.

Follow George on Twitter, Facebook.
Visit his website.
Visit Gamers' Quest's website.

***

And now for the Giveaway:

George has kindly agreed to give away a copy of Gamers' Quest to one lucky winner!
All you have to do to enter is:
Leave a comment with your email address. No email, no entry.
For extra entries, you get one for each time you link to this giveaway (leave link for me to see).
This is open to EVERYONE!
And it ends on March 15th.

There has to be at least 15 entries for this giveaway to carry out.

Read more

Author Interview: Chrissie Michaels (Aussie Month Post)

(from internationalpubmarket.com):
Chrissie Michaels is a tree-changer who has happily settled into a country lifestyle. Her favourite pastimes are growing enough vegies for family and friends to share, and going for long strolls on the nearby beaches. She spends the rest of her time as a freelance writer, as well as teaching part time at the local secondary school. Born in Lancashire, England, she arrived in Australia aged six and grew up in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Her published work includes short stories, poetry, children’s fiction and educational texts. In Lonnie’s Shadow is her first young adult novel.

*****

1. When and how did you start writing?

I’ve been writing for about fifteen years now. First up I started writing short stories as a hobby. I guess over the years my interest in history has won out. In Lonnie’s Shadow is my second ‘historical’ novel, although it is my first novel for young adults.
My other historical novel is for children based on the French explorer, Lapérouse and his tragic voyage in 1788. This is part of the Australian My Story series by Scholastic Australia called On Board the Boussole, the diary of Julienne Fulbert (written as Christine Edwards). I love the researching aspect of writing historical pieces. I also enjoy writing across of a range of genres and structures – sci fi and history being the main genres – in the forms of short story, poetry, news articles, some teacher texts and two novels on the go at the moment. I also enjoy writing picture storybook texts. Keeps me busy.

2. Could you tell me a bit about your novel?

In Lonnie’s Shadow is due out in May 2010, published by Ford Street Publishing (Australia). It’s been a long novel in the making, written over six years, but it has been a labour of love. The inspiration for this novel first came from several archaelogical digs on a site in Melbourne, Australia, called Little Lon. There followed a wonderful display of artefacts in Museum Victoria. Those items insisted on telling their own stories. Little Lon was known in the 19th century for its vice and criminality, except the digs had uncovered something that hadn’t been known before about this area – that it had a real community of ordinary working families and it had been settled by a range of newly arrived immigrants. The characters and plot grew from there.

Set in 1891, Lonnie, Pearl, Daisy and Carlo are four teenagers who are trying to make a fair go of life, although many things are conspiring to make their life difficult. Who can they rely on? How hard is it to keep a secret? Or a promise? There’s plenty of action as the characters find themselves facing many hot spots – theft and kidnap, gang warfare and murder - and they have to make some pretty serious choices. It’s a pacy book with lots of action.

3. What inspires your writing? Are there any authors who particularly influence your work?

History as you can plainly see is my first love. But I do try to read widely. Because I’ve just been on holiday, I’ve been relaxing with Margaret Atwood (her story about the Mulvaneys), as well as rediscovering Fay Weldon whose satire I find terrifically funny. Last week I read a disturbing biography about a Chinese/Australian woman’s fight for freedom because of her beliefs in Falun Gong. I’m also reading around my interest in family history at the moment as I’ve been mapping our family tree.

4. What are you working on now? (if you're working on something).

One of the novels I am working on at the moment is related to the work I have been doing on the family tree. There are characters appearing who seem to be stepping out very boldly, particularly a twelve-year-old boy who seems pretty mischievous. My working title is Uphill, both sides. I have a feeling it is going to turn into an epic!

a. Do you write with music on or off? Have you ever made a "writing playlist"? (a playlist you listened to while writing certain book) If so, share it!

Right now I’m listening to Melody Gardot. I’m also partial to Eva Cassidy, Diana Krall and Norah Jones. A bit of slow jazz…

5. Name 3 (they can be more or less) books from last year that you loved/really liked.

Three YA books that have lingered in my mind this past year are: Justin D’Ath’s Pool (also by Ford Street Publishing) because it was a great read; The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas because it was a tragic holocaust story that touched me deeply; Shaun Tan’s The Arrivals because he creates such wonderful wordscapes through his visual imagery and I adore picture story books.

6. What Aussie YA author(s) do you think people should read more of? (Authors that most of us don't know, since we don't live in AU, and it's hard for us to get ahold of their books).

Sonya Hartnett stories are dark but so poetic. I like Catherine Jinks whose Pagan crusade stories are pretty good. Here comes the historical aspect yet again! I see she has just published a vampire story based on a ‘vampire therapy group’ and I plan to read it very soon. I always read Tim Winton’s stories but sometimes struggle with the dark motives of his characters. Nevertheless he is a national treasure and therefore a must read. Recently I also enjoyed Richard Flanagan’s Wanting and its mix of characters –the tragic story of an indigenous Australian girl and a storyline that took in Charles Dickens. Gail Jones is another author I enjoy who often mixes her characters in the same way, by intertextualising characters from literature or history. Seems I can’t escape from those historical characters.

The discovered artifacts from an archaeological dig in Melbourne become the backdrop for this story about a group of teenagers in 1891 who are struggling to make their way in a world that seems to be conspiring against them whichever way they turn.

Lonnie McGuinness knows only one thing for sure – there doesn’t seem to be any fairness in life for him or his mates. So he decides to take matters into his own hands. But when does a favour turn into a crime? And when should a secret no longer be kept?

Chrissie Michaels
In Lonnie’s Shadow
Published by Ford Street Publishing
Out May 2010

Pre-Order in Amazon

Read more

Author Interview: Ryan Kennedy & Hazel Edwards (Aussie Month Post)

Today at TCM we welcome authors Ryan Kennedy & Hazel Edwards!

Their book F2M tells the story of a girl's transition to become a boy.

This is Ryan's first book whereas Hazel's written tons of children's and teens' books.

Congrats guys!



***

Collaborating on F2m:the boy within

Hi Ryan and Hazel! Thanks for being here today!

I’m really happy to have both of you here.



It’s still a couple of months till the release of your book. How are you getting ready to welcome it into the BookStore World?



Hazel: All authors get a bit nervous before the book birth of an idea. And f2m is an unusual idea.



I’m really glad to have Ryan as my co-author since we support each other in different ways. It’s an equal partnership even though we are in different countries and this is Ryan’s first book baby being launched.



Ryan: I’m definitely nervous, though only that it might have errors. I’ve hardly been able to look at the proof copy at all. My wife is reading it and hasn’t found any mistakes in it yet. Also the literary world is new to me, but I’m sure I can handle it!



How did you meet? How did you decide to write a novel together?



Hazel: We’ve known each other as family friends since Ryan was an 11 year old girl. But we met again 18 months ago when Ryan came to Melbourne from New Zealand for an IT conference.



He said, ‘I know what you look like, and I’ll find you, but I’ve changed a bit.’ He was so happy as a male, that I thought it was worth us writing the book together using transitioning as the background to a ‘coming of age’ funny, punk music novel.



We decided to co-write YA fiction, based on the sequence of medical and psychological ftm facts. Transitioning from female to male is more unusual than the reverse.



Ryan: We met years ago through family friends. I knew Hazel as the author of the Hippo books and read as many of her young adult books as our school library had in my teens.



This has been an easy start to writing novels, since it draws from my experience of transitioning gender.



Hazel: If you write about a taboo or controversial subject, the tone must be appropriate and the language was the first challenge. I had to learn a new vocab. Both for punk music and for transitioning. Too easy to unwittingly insult by using inappropriate words. Especially as it is a funny book.



Our novel with the working title of f2m (female to male) is more than sexual anatomy. Ours is the universal theme of ‘coping successfully with being different’, via a ‘coming of age’ story, but with humour and compassion plus punk music. Our character Skye who transitions to Finn is 18, a legally significant age for driver’s licence and hassles about ID etc.



Gender transition is an unusual subject, but luckily Ryan has experienced the medical and psychological process.



Ryan: I’m really glad to be involved in this book at all because mistakes are so easily made by non-trans writers, and it’s so important to get the little things right. It’s taken me several years in the transgender community to notice enough nuances in language to even attempt a book like this. It gives us a voice.



It’s curious that we are even a taboo subject. Transitioning was such a natural and normal thing for me to do. The punk setting is similar in that respect too – it’s also often misunderstood and misrepresented.



How was the writing process for you two? Because I know that Ryan’s from NZ, and Hazel from Australia. Did you meet someplace and write together for some time? How did you manage this?



Hazel: Working together, the pronouns were the first challenge for me. It’s so hard to start saying ‘he’ when you are used to saying ‘she’ or ‘her’. My compromise was to use Ryan’s name more, rather than the pronoun. Now, I have no problem with ‘he’ and ‘his’ and I think of my co-writer as a thoughtful male with keen observation skills from ‘reading’ others in gender roles.



A brief but candid W.I.P. log was my way of keeping track of medical, literary and technical challenges before we forgot the details of genes, dates, sexist terms, fake family history trees , electronic glitches and the embarrassing moments!. Ryan is NZ based so we work electronically, with him e-mailing me a raw, first draft chapter weekly, usually on a Sunday night. Then I would work on this version, before returning it to him later in the week. We used tracking, but also colour coding for bits which needed later fixing. In the last month, we were Skype-editing and exchanging daily on the 70,000 word draft.



f2m is fiction, based on genetic fact.



Although Ryan plotted the original sequence, based on his earlier private online diary kept during treatment, I structured the initial synopsis as part of the book proposal for the publisher. We knew it would be likely to change drastically, before the book was published. - It did.



Ryan: I would write in the evenings and on weekends, then send my first draft chapters to Hazel. It was hard at first to find the time around my full-time job, but I learned how to make the time, writing on the train and typing it up later and writing on the weekends. Then when I got my drafts back with Hazel’s notes and changes, it was like being in school again, except this time I could re-submit! I had to get over my pride and see where I hadn’t done very well and things could be written better. We chatted on Skype about progress and changes a lot. I find that a much better use of time than face-to-face meetings actually. I don’t think being in the same city would really have helped that much anyway. We still would have had to work on one draft at a time and swap files.



Tell us a bit about your novel.



Hazel: Character Skye plays guitar in all female Chronic Cramps punk band but now presenting as a male called Finn. Family find it difficult to accept losing a daughter.Him or her? Getting the pronouns right is hard for friends and family. Then there's photo ID, which toilets or changing rooms and all the legal stuff. And is Great Uncle Al also Alberta? Finn gets online help and counsellor Greer even helps Finn sing ftm lyrics on the TV Current Affairs program.



Ryan: Finn is basically female on the outside, male inside his head. He starts the journey towards his true identity, risking friendships and threatening family relationships. Even his place in his own band isn’t safe: how can an all-female band have a male guitarist? Punk or not, this is a story everyone who has ever questioned gender can relate to.



How Many Drafts?



Hazel: Across a year, possibly 40 drafts. Eighteen months concentrated work.



By tracking only on the constantly updated master, then Skyping the ms for the co-writer to add, we didn’t have so many versions, that updated work was lost. A co-author in another time zone, means you are fresh at different times. Despite this we realised that the birthday cake would be stale before Dad’s 50th party, since extra chapters had intervened since the cooking. Finn suffered fatigue from injections not yet given and we had to monitor who acknowledged Finn’s male name. Getting the medical details & terminology right required lots of checking.



Ryan: I counted at least 65 drafts at my end, not all of them sent ‘across the ditch’ (as they call the Tasman Sea here). Keeping track of continuity was challenging. After some research I realised my experience of the medical system here wasn’t that common, so we switched things around a bit. I use Open Office and Hazel uses MS Word, so the tracked changes would give up after a while and I’d have to reformat the whole thing, just to make sure we had a technically sound draft to work on.



I think it sounds really exciting! I’ve never heard of this concept for a novel before. Kudos to you guys for being the first ones (if I’m not wrong)!



Hazel: Yes, this ftm (female to male) transitioning fiction is a first for a YA novel. There are other novels like ‘Luna’ (great book!) which is about mtf (male to female) transition.



We explored novelisation via e-mail & webcam, how to date label attachments and later how to use Skype keyboarding to record our novel problem-solving. Simultaneously we recorded our typed Q and A on Skype as a legitimate part of our collaborative plotting



I love Skye’s band’s name: The Chronic Cramps! How did you come up with that?



Hazel: Ryan’s choice. He’s a muso.



Ryan: That was the second name I suggested. The first was ‘Unstoppable Freakshow’ as the band was originally going to be more theatre-based than music. I googled it first! There was a real punk band called The Cramps, which I remembered after the final manuscript had been sent to the publisher and had a minor panic about, though the names (and bands) are different enough.



How would you describe Skye, and how Finn? Do they have a lot of similarities or a lot of contrast?



Ryan: Skye is really Finn with a different name and external appearance. The name Skye and female gender are what the world calls Finn at the start of the story. They are the same person, with the same musical tastes. Finn has better ideas about his future that becoming male opens up.



I’d like to think that Finn is a bit bolder and more sure of himself than he was as Skye, as the process of transition is hard and requires you to really draw a line in the sand and say ‘this is my gender and who I am’. It requires some strength of character.



Can’t wait to read this novel! It has one of the most interesting and original plots I’ve ever read.



F2m, the boy within is:

NOT autobiograpical, but co-writer Ryan has experienced the medical sequence of gender reassignment.

ftm means female to male mtf means male to female.

f2m is also our title for creative collaboration via Skype plotting. His first book, Hazel’s 200th.

Compassionate, candid and funny 'coming of age' via punk music and family history genetic clues.



Thanks guys for stopping by! Come back any time!

f2m: the boy within

School-leaver Skye plays guitar in her all-female Chronic Cramps band. Making her name in the competitive punk/indie scene is easier than FTM (female to male) transitioning: from Skye to Finn, from girl to man. Uncovering genetic mysteries about family heritage tear the family apart. Trans gender identity is more than injections and surgery, it’s about acceptance. Going public, Finn sings ftm lyrics on TV. With a little help from bemused mates and family who don’t want to lose a daughter, but who love their teenager, Finn is transitioning.

www.fordstreetpublishing.com

ISBN: 978-1-876462-90-1

Pub date: February 2010

Price: AUD$19.95

Category: Young Adult Fiction

New Zealand-based Ryan Kennedy lived as

female until his transition to male at twentyseven.

Ryan works in IT and is a passionate

environmentalist and musician.



www.ryanscottkennedy.com

Melbourne-based Hazel Edwards has written YA novels and adult non-fiction including Difficult Personalities. Family friends, she and Ryan co-wrote online and via Skype webcam. Hazel is a 2010 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award nominee and recipient of the 2009 ASA Medal. www.hazeledwards.com

*This was also Ryan's first interview, so give him some love!

Read more

Author Interview: Goldie Alexander (Aussie Month Post)

Goldie Alexander writes books, short stories and articles for adults and children of all ages. Her other historical fictions include the YA novel Mavis Road Medley set in Melbourne (1933). Her first four Young Adult books were 'Dolly Fiction' novels published under a pseudonym. Her first book under her own name, Mavis Road Medley is a time travel fiction exploring the world of Princess Hill and her parents' struggles to survive the Depression. Since then Goldie has written more than 60 books, and, scripts, short stories, articles and 'how to write' books.

Welcome Goldie to The Clock Monkey!

***

1. When and how did you start writing?

I began writing professionally some 20 years ago. Before that I had some seriously weird jobs until I finally found myself teaching English and History in a number of high schools. That’s why I still love visiting both primary and high schools when they invite me in to talk about my work, take workshops or teach Creative Writing.

2. Could you tell us a bit about your mystery novel for tweens, Hedgeburners?

"Hedgeburners, an A-Z Mystery" (Illustrated by Marjory Gardner) is loosely based on a series of actual crimes committed in the recent past. This suspense-filled detective book aimed at a ‘tween’ readership poses the question: Who is setting fire to the old cypress hedges in Anna’s suburb?

Anna Simpson insists that her best friend Zach Santisi help her find the culprits. But Zach has other things on his mind and he’s an unwilling participant. Just about everyone these 13 YO detectives come across has a motive, and as time goes on there are more and more fires and more and more serious confrontations…

You can find out more and even see a youtube presentation here.

3. What inspires your writing? Are there any authors who particularly influence your work?

I read very widely (both adult and kids books) so I can’t say any one writer is a greater influence than another. Of course some books appeal to me more than others. When it came to being influenced on the writing of ‘Hedgeburners’, I went back to when I was a kid and those wonderful Famous Five mysteries by Enid Blyton. I wanted to write something that would appeal to Aussie kids living today in settings they’d recognize.

4. What other books have you written that you can tell me a bit about?

I have written over 60 fiction and non fiction books for adults and kids of all ages. So there are too many to mention individually. Those still in print can be found on my website, I write science fiction, mystery, historical fiction, magic realism and contemporary stories.

I am probably best known for the first of the series My Australian Story: Surviving Sydney
Cove, a story about our First Fleet. This is now coming out in its 10th edition next March with a brand new cover.

My latest books include a story picture book for readers 7 to 9’s: Lame Duck Protest; and 10 stories for older girls: My Horrible Cousins and Other Stories . Next year this anthology will have a follow up with 10 stories for boys called: Space Footy and other Stories. Also coming out next March is a novel for young readers about Anzac Cove called Gallipoli Medals.

I have lots of publishers so I can’t send you to any one in particular, just to my website which has lots of notes about all the stuff I write. Some of my non fiction is co-authored with Hazel Edwards and we enjoy writing plays where we act out the lines and having ideas rushing between us. I’m a bit of a magpie who enjoys collecting odd bits of information to use as material, and also have the attention span of a gnat so I like to change projects quite often and take on new challenges. I also write adult short stories (usually gloomy) articles, scripts, radio talks etc etc.

5. Complete this sentence: Outside of writing, my life is... just as busy. Sometimes I try to imagine myself doing nothing, but I think I could go mad with boredom and look for another activity that is equally creative and demanding. I think I would work at becoming an illustrator.

6. What are you working on now?

Two very different ideas.

1. An adult ‘memoir’ cum ‘how to write non-fiction’ I’m calling “Breathe Life Into Your Memoir” I hope it will answer some of the questions posed above in more detail.
2. A YA verse novel “Kai, Kip and Bilby-G” a fantasy love story. I have only just begun this and it’s becoming quite a challenge

7. What are your feelings about the book industry right now?

I have been a published writer for over 20 years( that makes me old, sorry about that). In that time I’ve watched the business go from a kind of cottage industry where editing was ultra important and writers could depend on their publishers for PR. Most writers had only one publisher for all their books.

Some of the most important changes that have occurred is the importance of the marketing department… that may account for the number of celebrities that write (have ghosted for them??) kids’ books. Also, most writers these days who have more than ‘one book in them’ may have several publishers, often small, so the writers have to handle their PR themselves. I suspect the next revolution is the ebook. I wrote one some years ago but it was before Kindle and hard to sell. Those who hate the thought of an ebook should think back to when the printing press was invented and try to imagine the monks - who created those wonderfully illustrated manuscripts horror - their at the thought!!! I think we’re at the tipping end. More to the point, how many of our creations will be hijacked so we get plagiarized and no monetary return? Nevertheless when I went on holiday in November carrying 6 books and then ran out of reading matter, I did think kindly of Kindle.

Goldie Alexander

****

Thanks Goldie for having been here today!
This Month is going by so fast,
there are a lot of great authors who should be here too,
but we haven't got the time!

Visit Goldie's Website for more information.

**This interview was originally posted at Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of The Year. This is a slightly different interview, Goldie revised it before she sent it to me, and is posted now here by her request.**

Read more

Author Interview: Kim Miller (Aussie Month Post)

Kim Miller is the author of "They Told Me I had To Write This".

Now that is a really cool title for a novel.



The premise of the book sounds amazing, but to make this a bit more interesting, why don't you watch the book trailer? I'm sure you'll love it.







1. When and how did you start writing?



I started thumping an old typewriter when I was about ten. That clunky machine gave me a way to externalise parts of my life that were hidden inside somewhere. I had lived through a lot of violence and abuse when I was very young and it made me distrustful and isolated. Writing about it, and destroying the pages immediately, was my way of ‘telling somebody’.





2. Could you tell me a bit about your novel?



My novel is about a teenage boy named Clem. Clem’s mother died when he was born and he’s always carried the blame for her death. His vulnerability results in further trauma, in part from a pedaphile when he was ten years old. He gets into trouble with the police and is at war with himself and the world.



The novel opens with a very angry Clem starting in a high school for hard to handle boys. The school counselor asks him to write letters to his grandmother, and the title ‘They Told Me I Had To Write This’ is the first sentence of his page rage.

Clem’s journey is tough, but is ultimately a celebration of finding a future.





3. What inspires your writing? Are there any authors who particularly influence your work?



Most of my writing is short stories and is inspired by things I see in people’s lives. I don’t write about those people, but I see things like resilience under pressure, or failure through pettiness, or how a family celebrates itself. My stories are mostly about how the characters cope with trauma, whether it be real or imagined.



William Golding is probably my favourite author, and some of my writing has references to his work much as a jazz musician will add in a line of a famous tune. Golding had the ability to write around a subject so the reader formed the story in his or her own thinking.



I also like reading current Australian YA as it keeps me up to date with teen language and thinking.





4. What are you working on now? (if you're working on something)



There is a character in my novel who has a powerful part to play but he disappears half way through. He likes burning things down – something that the cover art suggests. My work in progress is that boy’s story.



I’m also working on an adult novel set in the early days of colonial Australia. It starts with a murder that is kept hidden. The novel tells how the energy of that crime works itself out in the life of the murderer’s family. The trouble is, it’s the family of the murderer’s brother who suffers.



There are more short stories in the pipeline, and a book of disgusting poems for ten year old boys. That’s fun.



5. Do you write with music on or off? Have you ever made a "writing playlist"? (a playlist you listened to while writing certain book) If so, share it!



It’s music off for me. I don’t handle distraction very well and music draws me into itself too much.





6. Name 3 books from last year that you loved/really liked.



‘After’ by Sue Lawson. Australian YA.

It’s the story of a city boy sent to live with his grandparents in the country. They don’t like him, and everyone in the town seems to know more about him than he knows of himself. The reason for him being sent away slowly emerges, and as it does so some of the social fabric of the town starts to disintegrate. It’s a powerful work.



‘Auto Fiction’ by Japanese author Hitomi Kanehara.

Not YA but the narrator is a teenager in the second half of the book.

The story starts when the MC in her twenties and her life is dissolving around her. Each subsequent chapter is from an earlier part of her life, going back to when she is fifteen. We understand the dissolution of her life more fully as each layer is peeled away. This is the first ‘back to front’ book I can remember reading.



‘Dream Rider’ by Barry Jonsberg. Australian YA.

This is an extraordinary book. The character is the fat kid in high school who is always being bullied. He escapes the trauma by falling asleep and dreaming. He can almost do it on command. The trouble starts for the reader when we get a bit confused about what is real and what is dream. Things come to a crescendo and we realise that Jonsberg has created a character of greater power and evil that we ever suspected. It is as if every layer in the story is transparent, and we thought ‘this layer is built on that layer’ and we’ve got those layers totally wrong.





6. What Aussie YA author(s) do you think people should read more of? (Authors that most of us don't know, since we don't live in AU, and it's hard for us to get ahold of their books).

Names like John Marsden and Isobelle Carmody and Tim Winton are the stuff of legend. But there are other names that should be broadcast into the YA world ‘out there’. Here are a few.



Bill Condon’s books have taken my time recently. He has a deft touch with teen issues.



Barry Jonsberg I’ve mentioned.

Michael Gerard Bauer wrote his first YA novel, ‘The Running Man’, in his fifties I think. It sold like crazy, enough for him to move into full time writing. He’s got two very funny books in the Ishmael series and I imagine there’s more yet.



Hazel Edwards is a prolific children’s and YA author. She has just co-authored a YA novel called ‘f2m’ about female to male gender change. Her first children’s book is now thirty years old and still in print.



Shane Thamm’s recent first novel, ‘My Private Pectus’, breaks new ground on boys and body image.



Justin D’Ath has several books in print. His ‘Hunters and Warriors’ should be required reading for high school boys.



Jack Heath is an interesting writer. He wrote his first novel at sixteen, published at nineteen. He’s now at university and book 4 in the series has just been released. It’s teen fiction about a boy who was genetically engineered in a laboratory to be a super-spy - James Bond meets the Bionic Man.



Paul Collins is my publisher, but he also writes YA fantasy, lots of it, good stuff.





There, that should do it.

Best wishes,

Kim Miller

***



Thanks Kim for that awesome interview!

Read more

Happy Birthday Pretty Book! #4

Today we officially welcome:

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES

into the magic realm of Book Stores!

YAY!

I'm really excited about this, and super anxious to read the book!

In the meantime,
will you join me in reading
the awesome interview one lovely Kami Garcia
and one beautiful Margie Stohl gave me?

Happy Birthday BC!
We're all very happy you're finally here :)

Read more

Author Interview: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Today we have two very special visitors here at TCM: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl!
We're less than ten days before BC's released, but several bookstores already have the book for sale, thanks to the amazing Amazon!

Enjoy the interview!
There are some very interesting things to learn about these two!

-------------------------------------

We’re less than a month away from the release of Beautiful Creatures. I’m sure you’re being asked this a lot these days, but, how are you feeling? Nervous?

Kami: The book hit the stores early, which was a total surprise. I think I’m still in shock. I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember, but I never imagined seeing my name on a book at the bookstore. And I love seeing pictures of people with the book on Twitter and our Ning.
Margie: The last few weeks have been a whirlwind, but we’ve felt so much support from the YA community. We would be a mess without you guys! And seeing the book on the shelves is still a shock. Signing them is even stranger! I feel like I’m ruining all these books by writing my name in them.

This is something I’m really intrigued by. What was it like to write a book between the two of you? How long have you two known each other? Did this make it easier?

Kami: We met when Margie’s oldest daughter was in my third grade class. And yes, being friends for so long before we were writing partners has made everything easier.
Margie: We really trust each other, which helps. And these are big, sprawling books; I think we’d have gone crazy if we tried this huge project alone.

How important were the Caster Girls in the process of writing BC?

Kami: There wouldn’t be a book without them, so they are pretty important. The Caster Girls are the teens in our lives that inspired us to write Beautiful Creatures.
Margie: Dared us actually. They’re the reason we kept writing.
Kami: We turned in pages to them every week, like serialized fiction. In twelve weeks, we had a book.
Margie: The CGs were also involved in the editing process. They read our drafts, tore them to shreds, and ultimately made them better.

Did they help you put together Ethan’s Playlist? Or you did that by yourselves?

Kami: We made the playlist. We have to have some surprises for the Caster Girls.
Margie: Although Caster Girl 25 has a Music Tuesday feature on www.castergirls.com that is pretty rockin’ in its own right.

What drove you to create a Gatlin for BC?

Kami: Gatlin is not a real city, but it’s situated in a real part of South Carolina.
Margie: But Gatlin’s not so different than many small towns, in and out of the South. Both of our grandmothers grew up in small towns, and we wanted to capture the charm and magic and, well, smallness of a town like that. Good and bad.
Kami: We named the town Gatlin after my cousin Anna. It was her maiden name, and she has a lot of spitfire, like Gatln.

Another thing that intrigues me is Lena’s necklace. I’m pretty sure there’s something magical about it. Without giving away too much, could you tell us something about it?

Kami: Without giving away too much…Lena’s necklace is a collection of things that are special to her.
Margie: Everything on her necklace is a memory, something she doesn’t want to forget. Because she’s moved around so much, she keeps her memories with on her person.
Kami: We each have one. We made them after we finished the book. In the BC trailer, by VLC Productions, the “Lena” in the photos is wearing Margie’s necklace.

Kami & Margie
---------------------------

Thanks girls for the awesome interview!

Here are some cool links to keep exploring the wonderful world of Beautiful Creatures:

• The Beautiful Creatures Website, you definitely have to check this one out, it's amazing, and purple!,
• The BC Blog,
  
• The BC Ning Site, where you'll find some of the coolest BC fans,
• Kami's Blog,
• Margie's Blog, they're both great bloggers!,
• The Caster Girls' Website,
• The BC Facebook,
• And a lot more at the BC Website, so gogogo!

There's one more thing I wanted to share with y'all before I wrap this up:
K&M are holding some pretty cool contests over at the BC Blog:
CONTEST #1: CREATE A MUSIC VIDEO FOR “SIXTEEN MOONS"
CONTEST #2: CREATE A CD COVER FOR “SIXTEEN MOONS"

There are very cool prizes for the winners: for the 1st Contest there'll be 4 winners, and for the 2nd, 5 winners!
(And there are several ways of entering in the 1st one).

I'll definitely be entering in the 2nd one, creating a cover for "16 Moons"!
I'll keep you updated ;)

Thanks for reading!
Ella

Read more

Author Interview: Tera Lynn Childs

Ladies & Gentlemen, let's give a warm round of applause to:
TERA LYNN CHILDS!

Hi Tera! Thanks so much for stopping by TCM!

I was going through your site, and ended up in the section that talked about you. There it said that you’re a goddess wannabe. Can you tell me which goddess you’d choose to be?

I’m not allowed to choose. I have to write about all of their descendants in my books, and if I played favorites…. Well, let’s just say that the last time Hera, Athena and Aphrodite duked it out they started the Trojan War. I’m not taking any chances. (But, shhh, when I took the quiz I got Athena. And I’m good with that.)

Your upcoming book is called Forgive my Fins, and it’s about a half-mermaid, half-human girl. Mermaids happen to be my favourite mythological creature (Therefore, I can’t wait to read this!). If tomorrow you were turned into one, would you choose to stay that way, travel through the oceans, meet new places and people; or go back to being human right away?

I’m a water baby, all the way. Since as far back as I can remember I’ve loved swimming and water and marine life and beaches and ocean. When I lived in California my cousin and I were in love with the movie Splash. We used to try splashing water on ourselves to see if we were secretly mermaids. I think we finally decided that it had to be saltwater, and if we could just get to the ocean then we could swim away. I don’t think I’ve ever really let go of that dream. So, yeah, I’d probably choose to stay a mermaid. (Assuming, of course, there were other merfolk around and I wasn’t all alone in the big vast ocean.)

And in Goddess Boot Camp, Phoebe has to learn how to use her recently discovered powers. If you could have a power, what would it be and why?

Just one?!? Okay, this isn’t one of the twelve powers from Goddess Boot Camp, but I’d like dvr-type control of real life. To be able to pause and think before you answer a tricky questions, to rewind a few seconds and avoid spilling hot coffee on your laptop, or to fast forward through the boring parts, like traffic and lines at the post office. That would be awesome. It would come in especially handy around deadline time because I could give myself some extra hours to polish that first draft!

Now for the musical part. What song would you choose to represent Phoebe and Griffin’s relationship?

Hmmm, well, I’m not sure I can pick a single song to represent their relationship. They’ve had a pretty rocky road, if I get to write a third installment, let’s just say it’s not exactly a smooth ride to the finish. But I wrote Oh. My. Gods. back in the summer of 2005 and I can share some of the songs that were repeating on my iPod at the time.

• Pon De Replay by Rihanna
• Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield
• Lonely No More by Rob Thomas
• Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day
• Ohio (Come Back to Texas) by Bowling for Soup
• You and Me by Lifehouse
• We Belong Together by Mariah Carey

Could you name some of your favourite books from this year?

(These aren’t all books from this year, just fave books I’ve read this year.)

• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
• Wake by Lisa McMann
• Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev
• Too Good To Be True by Kristan Higgins
• What Happens in London by Julia Quinn

Team Bunny, Team Unicorn, or the recently added Team Zombie?

Well, while I like both bunnies and unicorns very much, I don't think I'd like to be on a team with them. I mean, bunnies can't do much to save you in battle other than wrinkle their noses. And unicorns might spear the enemy with their horn, or the could just as well go back to grazing on grass. Then again, zombies want to eat my brains, so that's a no thank you. How about Team Mermaid? I'd definitely be on that one.

Thank you for stopping by The Clock Monkey! I’m glad you took the time to answer my questions :)

And since it's not December 1st yet, I'm linking to her website, her blog, her facebook, her twitter, and to get her books: Amazon, B&N, Indiebound, and The Book Depository.

Read more

Author Interview: Becca Fitzpatrick

With only 12 days to the release of Hush, Hush, the awesome Becca Fitzpatrick has answered some questions I dared to ask her a while ago. I was scared that she'd say she couldn't, because she was to busy, but I was really surprised when she said she'd do it. This put a huge smile on my face, and this is how I learned Authors and Bloggers have a special connection, and that we as Book Bloggers mustn't be afraid to reach out to them, the worst that could happen is an Author apologizing for having to much work to answer your Interview. And who are we to stop them from Writing?

So if you've seen Interviews at different Blogs, but are to scared to contact an Author for fear of being turned down, remember this: Authors are very cool people, who love those of us who read their work, and they love reading that people are interested in them. Stuff like Interviews and Guest Blogs are really helpful to them, because is a different way of promoting their work.

Becca was the first Author I had the nerve to ask for an Interview, and she taught me that we're all equals, there's no need to be afraid of them.
Thanks Becca!

So, without further ado: Becca Fitzpatrick!

-----------------------------------

Hi Becca! Thanks for being here today! I'm very happy to have you here.
Hey, Ella! Thanks so much for inviting me!

We’re very close to the release date of Hush, Hush. Are you excited?
I'm nervous! I think there's quite a bit of excitement beneath all
the layers of nervous anticipation, but the questions foremost on my mind are: Will people like the book? Will they want to read more?
Will I be able to make a career out of writing, or will this book kill
the idea on the spot? There are so many unknowns! But after all
that, yes, I'm incredibly excited!

I read on a blog that you worked on this book for five years and that you have over two thousand pages of deleted scenes to show for it. That’s a lot of dedication. I’m sure you must be happy you kept writing it.
I can laugh about those five years now, but it was
definitely one of the most frustrating periods of my life. It was
such a roller coaster. When an agent would ask to see pages, or even offer to read a rewrite, I would be way up on cloud nine. When the rejections rolled in, I'd feel a mix of despair and renewed conviction
to keep writing until I got the story right. I still have most of
those many, many pages, but I haven't looked at them in over a year.
I'm afraid the sight of them might make me throw up! But the one
thing I can say for sure is it's the things we work hardest for in
life that bring the most satisfaction and joy. To writers out there
who're feeling discouraged: keep at it. Persistence is key.

They’re calling your book dark, sexy and mysterious. Did any of this words come to mind when writing it?
That's a great question. I don't really remember any of those particular adjectives coming to mind, but I do remember trying to maintain a sinister and suspenseful tone.

Also, people who’ve read it and reviewed it claim that there are several scenes in the book that reminded them of Twilight. What do you think of this?
I can see where people would get that. After all, in
both stories the biology classroom is an important part of the
setting, and both have otherworldly heroes. I remember at one point
while I was submitting to agents, one of them asked if I'd be willing
to rewrite the opening scene to take place in a health class, because
biology was just too similar to Twilight. I had to laugh, because
this comment didn't come until 2007, when Twilight was big. Nobody
seemed to have a problem with setting the story in biology before
that! On an interesting side note, when I submitted Hush, Hush to
agents starting in 2003, the book's title was Eclipsed. I think
sometimes similarities are nothing more than unexpected coincidences.
That said, I enjoyed Twilight very much and I'm looking forward to
reading the rest of the series.

Team Bunny or Team Unicorn?
Team Unicorn!

Favourites of this year?
Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, The Monstrumologist
by Rick Yancey, The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

I saw the playlist for Hush, Hush over at your site, and noticed that you’d put The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven”. That is one of my favourite songs. My question is: did you listen to this song while writing, or selected it for the playlist after the book was finished?
I plot my books while exercising, so I actually listened to that song while
running and hashing out Hush, Hush's plot. I love music in the
planning/plotting stage, but when I sit down to do the actual writing,
I need quiet. When I write to music, I find that I think my writing
is better than it actually is. That's the power of good music!

Thank you for stopping by The Clock Monkey! I’m glad you took the time to answer my questions.

Any time! It was a lot of fun! Now I'm super curious how you came up
with the name The Clock Monkey. Tell!

Becca Fitzpatrick.
----------------------------------------------

Someday I'll tell, Becca. Someday...

This was really fun, and I'll always remember you as the First Author I ever Interviewed!

Thanks for being such a sweetheart!

Becca's Upcoming Events:

October 13, 6:30PM
Book launch party!
Readers Cove in Ft. Collins, CO

October 15, 5PM
Educator Reception Night
Loveland, CO B&N

October 16, 7PM
Reading & signing
Fort Collins, CO B&N

Read the first two chapters online at Simon&Schuster.com

Countdown to Hush, Hush's Release!

Find out more about Hush, Hush!

Want this widget? Visit Becca's site and grab it!

Pre-Order Hush, Hush from Amazon/B&N/Indiebound

Read more