Thursday, August 30, 2012
This question has nagged at me since, well, since I was a teenager. Growing up (as the
youngest of five), I noticed a huge lack of “sibling” books on YA shelves.
Whenever I stumbled upon a MC with more than two siblings, I would buy the
book on the spot because I desperately wanted to read books with characters
like me—kids with brothers and sisters around all the time! 
Finding those large-family books was a rare occurrence then, and still is today—even
with the increase in young adult titles overall. Even though statistics say
that only about 24% of US families are single-child
families.
There are obvious reasons for a MC to be an only
child or to have just one sibling— for simplicity in plotting and to keep word
count manageable. But what do readers miss out on when the families in books
don’t reflect their own experiences?
I’ve faced this issue as a writer as well as a reader. One
of my protagonists has three older brothers. During revisions, I considered cutting one of the brothers in an
effort to cut my overall word count. Ultimately, I decided to keep all three—not
out of sentimental attachment, but because they each serve a unique purpose in relation
to the MC and are essential to the family dynamic.
Have you noticed that the majority of YA protagonists seem
to be only children? How do you feel about it? Know of any great books where the siblings are fleshed-out characters, or books that delve
into sibling relationships? Would you like to see more books featuring large families?
Let us know!
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Bridget Howard, you won THE SNOWBALL EFFECT. Thanks for commenting last week. Make sure you email us so we can post it out to you! This is the last week of our summer giveaways because, y'know, summer's winding down. Some of you are crying right now, but come on! Who's looking forward to some autumn weather and pumpkin spice lattes?!? Okay, to win an ARC of REUNITED by Hilary Weisman Graham all you have to do is comment. Thank you. You are loved. Lots of good discussions happened last week on twitter: #NALitChat, #MGLitChat,#YAWritersAAT, and #askae:
Writing and Inspiration:
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| Definitely favorite tweet EVER |
Funny stuff:
Some of you might be aware of a certain situation in reviewing (never a dull moment). There is a guy who's making money from writing good reviews for self-published books. It further degrades the line between true reviews and those paid for or blurbed by friends and family. Maureen Johnson called him out and the discussion that ensued is worth reading:
Friday, August 24, 2012
I’ve always been fascinated with friendships between famous writers. I loved learning that two of my favorite authors, CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, were friends. I think it’s funny to imagine them in their critique group, the Inklings, chatting about The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
I recently saw the movie Midnight in Paris and I loved it for the same reason. How cool would it be to walk around a corner in Paris one night and find yourself transported back in time, rubbing elbows with Earnest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald, and Gertrude Stein?
We recently went to see a YA panel. It was one of the best I’ve ever been to, because they were all friends and you could tell they were really enjoying themselves. I loved all the inside jokes and the banter between them. Panels of complete strangers are no where near as fun.
The We Heart YA girls are quietly hoping we’ll get to do panels of our own someday and talk about our own books. We’ve got the chemistry and the inside jokes, now we just need to get our books out there. ;)
Do you like hearing about author friendships?
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Leeanna, you won A WANT SO WICKED!! Email us so we can post the book to you. If you've been faithfully commenting this summer, don't worry, we have two more weeks of giveaways before the summer is over. This week it's a hardcover of THE SNOWBALL EFFECT by Holly Nicole Hoxter. Simply comment on this post to be entered.I have a confession: I haven't been on twitter all that much because my parents have been visiting for the past eight days. I managed to find a few gems, but if there's something major I missed on twitter please let me know!
I caught this hashtag #failedmusicals last night and had to mention it because so many authors were participating:
But #writersroad gets best hashtag this week for being relevant to both readers, reviewers, and writers:
On Writing:
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| Lola demonstrating her writing soundtrack <3 |
You DO Amuse Us:
In a Category All Her Own:
Important: Have you read TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson? (Oh, please do and then we can discuss). You have to CHECK OUT this "fauxto" by The Real Fauxtographer a.k.a. Margot Wood. Seriously, I'm tearing up just looking at it again. It makes me feel all the things, all over again. She's really, really captured the heart of the book in one picture.
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about us
Stephanie, Ingrid, Sarah & Kristan — we read, write, discuss and celebrate Young Adult lit.
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