Tag: edgy YA

Survivors: Daniel Kraus on Thriving as a Long-Time, Actively Publishing YA Author

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Learn more about Daniel Kraus.

By Cynthia Leitich Smith

In YA writing, maintaining an active publishing career is arguably an even bigger challenge than breaking into the field.

Reflecting on your personal journey (creatively, career-wise, and your writer’s heart), what bumps did you encounter and how have you managed to defy the odds to achieve continued success?

The the only bumps of note have revolved around me figuring out what kind of life I wanted to live inside of publishing.

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Guest Post: Cyndy Etler on Joining the Sorority

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By Cyndy Etler

I’m not a fangirl. I don’t know celebrity names. I don’t ask the hairdresser to make me look Kardashian. Also I don’t diet, buy $30 lip gloss, or wear Lululemon to the organic grocery store.

I read; I write. That’s what I do; that’s what I think about. Reading and writing.

In today’s YouTube-tutorial, boutique-fitness-studio, must-have eyebrow-mascara culture, being a reader/writer can make a girl feel almost…like she’s not that much of a girl,

Continue Reading Guest Post: Cyndy Etler on Joining the Sorority »

Book Trailer: Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger

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By Cynthia Leitich Smith

Check out the book trailer for Three Truths and a Lie by Brent Hartinger (Simon Pulse, 2016). From the promotional copy:

A weekend retreat in the woods and an innocent game of three truths and a lie go horribly wrong in this high-octane psychological thriller filled with romantic suspense by a Lambda Award–winning author.



Deep in the forest,

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Guest Post: David Lubar on The Name of the Prose

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Tor, 2016

By David Lubar

I love it when people ask the title of my new book. I get to say, “Character, Driven.”

Then, if they nod knowingly, I add, “Character, comma, Driven.”

If they smile at that, I add, “It’s a plot-driven novel.”

I feel it’s a clever title. But a title has to be more than clever. It also has to be a good.

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Guest Post & Illustration Giveaway: Julie Chibbaro on Writing in Black & White

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Teen Julie

By Julie Chibbaro

When I was six years old, my big sister pulled me aside and whispered in my ear.

“I learned a bad word today.”


I asked her, “Is it terrible?”


“It’s awful, horrible.”


I smiled gleefully. She always shared the best bad words,

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New Voice: Stefanie Lyons on Dating Down

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By Cynthia Leitich Smith

Stephanie Lyons is the first-time author of Dating Down (Flux, 2015). From the promotional copy:

At Café Hex, Samantha Henderson can imagine being the person she really wants to be. 

It’s her place to daydream about going to art school and getting away from her politician father. It’s her place to imagine opening herself up to a new kind of connection,

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Cover Reveal & Interview: Author Ashley Hope Pérez & Editor Andrew Karre on Out of Darkness

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By Ashley Pérez and Andrew Karre

From the promotional copy of Out of Darkness (Carolrhoda Lab/Lerner, Sept. 2015):

New London, Texas. 1937. Naomi Vargas and Wash Fuller know about the lines in East Texas as well as anyone. They know the signs that mark them.


“No Negroes, Mexicans, or dogs.”


They know the people who enforce them.

Continue Reading Cover Reveal & Interview: Author Ashley Hope Pérez & Editor Andrew Karre on Out of Darkness »

Giveaway & New Voice: Melody Maysonet on A Work of Art

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Excerpt

By Cynthia Leitich Smith

Melody Maysonet
is the first time author of A Work of Art (Merit, 2015)(author blog). From the promotional copy:

Tera is seventeen, shy, and artistically gifted. Her hero and mentor is her father, a famous graphic artist who also protects her from her depressed, overly critical mother. 

But Tera’s universe is turned upside down the day the police arrest her father for an unspeakable crime. 

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2015 SCBWI Europolitan Con: Author & Diversity Advocate Marieke Nijkamp

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By Mina Witteman

Marieke Nijkamp is a storyteller, dreamer, globe-trotter, and diversity advocate.

She holds degrees in philosophy, history, and medieval studies, and wants to grow up to be a queer time traveler.

In the midnight hours of the day, Marieke writes stories full of hope and heartbreak.

She is proud to be the founder of DiversifYA and VP for We Need Diverse Books™.

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Guest Post: Lindsey Lane on How a Picture Book Author-Playwright-Journalist Became a YA Author

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By Lindsey Lane

It’s opening night. I am sitting in the audience at the debut of a play I had written.

I remember thinking as I watched, “This is as much as I know right now.” It wasn’t a negative thought. I simply knew that this play was the culmination of everything I knew up to that moment.

The next play I wrote would be the sum of more knowledge.

Continue Reading Guest Post: Lindsey Lane on How a Picture Book Author-Playwright-Journalist Became a YA Author »