Lara Zielin

Author Rhonda Stapleton and I share a brain. We usually think of things at the same time, our iTunes libraries are scarily similar, and we often finish each other’s sentences. But we always finish each other’s novels, because Rhonda is a young adult author too! Her recent book Struck is a bind-up of her three novels: Stupid Cupid, Flirting with Disaster, and Pucker Up.

I’ve asked Rhonda some questions about her new book random stuff that makes me giggle, and if you leave a comment below or Tweet about it (either use my handle, @larazielin or the hashtag #StruckYA) you’ll be entered to win a COPY OF THIS AMAZING BOOK! See, I’m so excited I’m yelling. Especially because Struck isn’t technically out until December 6, so we’re getting it super early! But enough about me. Let’s talk about Rhonda!!

Q: Target is incredible. You can get toilet paper and cute hoodies. Not to mention candles that smell like angels. What do you think life would be like without Target?

Q: Amazeballs is an awesome word. You use lots of superfab words like this. Can you give us one or

Enter to win this three-in-one bindup of Rhonda's novels by commenting below!

two more and explain what it means? (ex: You got Supertramped!)

A: I have a…problem with blending words — and by problem, I mean uncontrollable addiction. Two of my favs: “cramazing” is crazy amazing, and “Chadillac” is my husband Chad’s Cadillac. When I find new word blends, I stick to them like white on…uh, white people, I guess. And the Supertramped thing…what a long and beautiful story. I’ll try to sum up. Do you know the whole “Rickroll” thing, where someone sends you a link, faking like it’s something important or funny, but it turns out to be that Rick Astley video? Well, Chad and I started Supertramping each other. It became an epic war to see who could get the song “Breakfast in America” stuck in the other person’s head by whatever means necessary. One time, Chad changed his ringtone, put his cell in the kitchen while I was washing dishes, then used the home phone to call his cell. My ultimate revenge: I put a dedication to him in STRUCK with the song’s title name in it, telling him he just got Supertramped. mwahahahaaaa

A: I want to get everything out there. lol. Here are some random facts about me: I hate blue food. I have arguments with people in my head. I don’t get basketball at all. My dogs are named Daisy and Duke, in honor of how I would play Dukes of Hazzard with my friends when I was a kid (yeah, I was a dork). My sister and I are on crack. Uh, there ya go.

First kisses. First loves. The first time putting a 2×4 through a zombie’s head. It’s all here in the brand new ‘The First Time’ anthology, featuring 25 short stories by 25 young-adult authors. My story, “Selling Mr. Peanut,” is about a young girl named Pantene (yep, like the shampoo) who spends her life around antiques and doesn’t quite know how to survive in the here and now. But when a cute boy looking for Planters Peanut memorabilia walks into her antique store, everything changes.

The anthology is an eBook, available here on Amazon.com. It’s only $2.99! I hope you’ll give these great stories a whirl.

I’m so excited about this anthology! Yay for firsts!

In most circles I’m known for my beauty and brilliance, as well as my modesty.*

(*O_o)

Which is why it’s so hard for me to talk about what a smashing, amazing success the [first leg of the] Girls Taking Over the World book tour was!*

(*Coughs*)

But nevertheless, I’ll take a stab at it here.

HOLY WAH, IT WAS SOoooOoo AWESOME!

The first stop of the tour was Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor. Look, they even had a display set up for us! Featuring all our books!

We did a quick talk about why it’s important to have strong female voices in teen books. Here we are trying to sound smart, which is hard when Rhonda Stapleton keeps snorting, which makes the rest of us snort.

From left to right are Christine Johnson, Rhonda Stapleton, Saundra Mitchell, me, and Aimee Carter

But you know what my favorite part was? YOU! All of you who came and packed the house!

Look at how many of you were there!!!

And some of you even wanted us to sign your books!

Dude, we had the BEST. TIME. EVER.

Thanks to everyone who turned out to support girls and books and reading and GTOTW and Aggie and shoes and cheese and … wait, now I’m just listing things I love.

Anyway. Aggie’s debut and the first leg of the tour were uh-maze-ing. Because you all made it that way.

*blows you kisses*

Thank you.

Really really.

Picture it. The Bear River Writer’s Conference, 2004. Yours truly pulls up to the place, nervous about being around so many talented writers whose prose surely will smoke mine, when suddenly I spy HER.  She is blond and beautiful. She is tiny. And she’s here because she’s a writer, ergo she’s a better writer than me.

I do not like her. No, I do not.

But, lo! The fates have conspired against me. This girl is not only in my same class at the conference, she is my BUNK MATE.

Dearlordbabyjeebus. This weekend is officially RUINED.

Except … as I get to know this woman, it turns out she’s sort of awesome. She’s sweet and she’s from Wisconsin, like me. She’s says “OH,” like everyone in my hometown does. It’s adorable. And yeah, she’s an awesome writer, but after pulling my head out of my ass I sort of realize that’s not a bad thing. That’s just me being intimidated and insecure.

This girl and I? We become friends. We help each other with our writing, even after the conference ends. We meet in the Northwoods twice every year — or sometimes at the beach — and drink too much wine and eat too much chocolate and pound out our manuscripts.

She gets a book published. Then I do.

And now, our second books are coming out a mere two days apart.

This writer’s name is Ellen Baker. She is amazing. And her new novel is called I Gave My Heart to Know This. And while my heart was a wrinkled prune at our first meeting, it’s now much bigger and I’d give it away a time and time again in exchange for Ellen’s friendship.

To celebrate Ellen’s new book, I am giving away a copy here on the blog. Just leave a comment below and you’ll be eligible to win. Re-Tweet it to put your name in the drawing more than once and increase your chances of winning. I’ll close the contest on August 10.

Congratulations, lovely Ellen! xox

Do you ever wonder what writers talk about when they talk to each other? Do you ever think, “I wish I could just pick that author’s brain for a little bit?”

Enter Ink Stains, a new ebook that features interviews with nine authors with more than 25 published books between them. These honest accounts feature authors overcoming self doubt, waging war against writer’s block, coming to terms with the editing process, and learning to trust their literary instincts. Their raw authenticity will inspire and encourage other writers. If they can do it, so can you.

I compiled and edited these wonderful interviews. You can click here to buy from Amazon (Kindle), or here from B&N (Nook). I hope these literary insights will help your writing leave its ink stain!

I am delighted and super honored to be part of a group of young adult authors who are taking a girl empowerment message on the road this summer with the GIRLS TAKING OVER THE WORLD book tour! It’s me, Rhonda Stapleton, Christine Johnson and Saundra Mitchell (along with some amazing special-guest authors!) and we’ll all will be visiting booksellers and libraries in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky starting in August, to highlight their girl-centric novels, and to talk to young women about celebrating their strength and making their own choices.

If you’re looking to get your copy of The Implosion of Aggie Winchester signed, or hear about why young-adult novels matter and are great for girls to read, check out our tour dates listed below. You can also find out more information about the tour by clicking here.

We’d love to see you while we’re on the road! Goooo books!

TOUR DATES/LOCATIONS:

Reading, Q&A, Signing
Friday, August 5, 2011
7:00-9:00PM
Nicola’s Books
Special Guest: Aimée Carter
Westgate Shopping Center
2513 Jackson Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

Booktalk & Signing
Saturday, August 6, 2011
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Summer’s Stories
131 S Main
Kendallville, IN 46755

Booktalk & Signing
Sunday, August 7, 2011
2:00pm – 4:00pm
Special Guest: Aimée Carter
Barnes & Noble Livonia
17111 Haggerty Rd.
Northville, MI 48167

Meet, Greet & Sign
Thursday, August 25th, 2011
5:00-7:00PM
Mudsock Books
11850 Allisonville Rd
Fishers, IN 46038

Book Talk, Q&A & Signing
Friday, August 26th, 2011
7:00-9:00PM
Special Guest: Julie Kagawa
Campbell County Public Library
Carrico/Ft. Thomas Branch
1000 Highland Ave.
Fort Thomas, KY 41075
(Sponsored by Blue Marble)

Booktalk & Signing
Saturday, August 27th, 2011
4:00-6:00PM
Special Guest: Sara Bennett Wealer
blue manatee
3054 Madison Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45209

Yesterday at an antique sale, I uncovered a hardcover copy of King of the Wind by Marguerite Henry, which won the Newberry Award in 1949.

Can I just tell you, I loved this book growing up.

I must have read it at least 50 times, no exaggerating. Ms. Henry was one of my earliest inspirations because she found a way to fuse horses (zomg, horses!) with story-telling, resulting in the most exciting books I’d ever come across.

I went through troubled times as a teenager to be sure, but there was a while there when my heroes were Ms. Henry and James Herriot and Anne of Green Gables. I think even when I was trying to fly my rebellious flag, deep down I was just a literary nerd.

Anyway. I’d owned this lovely book in softcover growing up, but lost it sometime after college. I was delighted to rediscover it and become immersed once again in a story that spans generations, taking readers to Africa, France, England and the United States, where the main characters are a horse and a mute boy.

And here, I bet you thought “King of the Wind” was going to be a post about passing gas.

There is still room available at the Ann Arbor Writers’ Conference (held in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Book Festival) if you’re interested in attending!

It’s this Saturday, June 25, and there will be a wealth of talented experts on hand talking about everything from characters to poetry to query letters. One of them might be me, actually.

You can see the full conference schedule by clicking here.

If you want to just show up the day of, you can — they will be registering attendees on site. And if funding is an issue, they still have a few scholarships available for participants. Just email the director, Jeff Kaas, at: eyelev21 [at] aol [dot] com.

If you have other questions, just leave them in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them!

Heidi Kling is here! Heidi is the author of the gorgeous, romantic, and totally captivating young-adult novel Sea. I was given an advance reader’s copy of Sea and once I picked it up, I couldn’t put it down. Here’s the synopsis  and review from Booklist:

“I’m sitting alone on the other side of the world talking to a sea turtle that might be my mom.” So begins Kling’s debut novel, the story of 15-year-old Sienna (Sea to her friends), who lost her mother three years earlier when her plane disappeared over the Indian Ocean. Her body was never found, and Sienna secretly believes she could still be alive. Joining her father’s psychiatric team helping child victims of the 2004 tsunami, she spends two weeks in an Indonesian refugee camp where she meets the gorgeous and enigmatic Deni, with whom she has an instant connection and a bittersweet romance. Kling blends facts about Indonesian culture and the wake of the tsunami with a lyrical story of loss and daring to love again. The evocative cover art (a couple silhouetted against watery blue tiles) and exotic locale will attract readers, although the cultural details sometimes lack elegant exposition. Sienna’s loss, newfound courage and eventual acceptance of the changes in her life ring true in the satisfying and wholly believable first-person narrative.

Heidi generously stopped by Larawrites to answer a couple questions about her novel. If you’d like to read said amazing book, I’m  giving away my copy of Sea to one lucky commenter!

And now, without further ado, here’s my short but sweet Q&A with Heidi!

Larawrites: Your fictional tale is based in a very real tragedy, the 2004 tsunami. Did you yourself do relief work overseas and is that how you came to understand the tragedy so closely?

Heidi Kling: I didn’t. My husband did. I wrote a long article about it for Spellbinders, a literary magazine for teachers, librarians, and parents, check it out here:

http://spellbindersbooknews.blogspot.com/2010/11/great-november-issue-and-book-giveaway.html

Larawrites: [*Inches closer, gets up in Heidi's business*] Sea experiences an intense reaction to a boy (Deni) at first sight. Did you write this from personal experience at all?

Heidi Kling: Of course. Am I going to share? No way.

Larawrites: [*backs off reluctantly*] Fair enough. But because I have to ask: If Sea were any kind of donut, which kind would she be and why?

Heidi Kling: I think Sienna would be a powdered donut. She’s sweet, but not too sweet. Pretty but not overly made up. Deni would be a glazed. Delicious, so-soft inside and out. Spider would be rainbow sprinkles because you just want to dig in and don’t mind the sprinkles falling all over you. Because you wanted to know about the boys too, right?

Larawrites: Totally! I totally did!

Heidi Kling: Thanks for hosting this, Lara!

Larawrites: Thank you, awesome author Heidi Kling, for stopping by. And readers, don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win Sea!

Lauren Bjorkman, all-around fabulous woman and author of MY INVENTED LIFE, is hosting a mega contest on her blog. And by mega, I mean it’s mega. Up for grabs are not one but two $25 gift certificates, and signed books by a slew of authors including Sarah Ockler, Saundra Mitchell, Sarah Quigley, Jon Skoveon, and yes, yours truly. There’s tons of other stuff as well. It’s really epic, I’m telling you.

To win, all you have to do is comment on Lauren’s post, and there are even ways you can enter multiple times. Contest ends October 15.

If you love YA, you will love this contest. Good luck!