Lara Zielin

There are always good books to read. Always. But for some reason, I just feel like the young-adult shelves in particular are PACKED right now with amazing novels. I’m not a book critic (I know how much work goes into books, even the bad ones, and I’m not about to slam anybody) but I do love crowing about amazing works. Here are four:

Zomg, the awesome in this photo threatens to overtake us all!

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. Funny, fast-paced and flirty, Anna gives readers the experience of Paris without the expense of a plane ticket. Oh, and it’s all about falling in love, and who doesn’t want to fall in love in Paris? Je a’dore!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Words almost fail to describe how epically awesome this book is. Stiefvater builds an entire world where wild, dangerous horses come out of the sea and men try to race them. The point of view differs between two characters who develop feelings for each other (ergo, a romance! yay!), but the book is totally seamless. The writing, the story, the landscape, the horses — everything is just beautiful.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. I didn’t realize this was a first in a series. Which sometimes makes me sad because then the books don’t exist as complete novels, by themselves. But this one totally did. Even if there was never another, I’d be like, wow, that was awesome. Another paranormal romance, this book’s love story just sucks you in, and you totally believe the world the author creates. Again, the writing is amazing! Beautiful, captivating, stunning all the way around.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. No paranormal here, just two teens with a history of cancer, fighting for every day, falling in love. Talk about raising the stakes. Green is so, so good at writing YA — he’s just gets it, and this is another of his masterpieces.

I hope you’ll check out these books. Holy wah — I just feel so lucky to have access to all this amazing writing!

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!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: I suppose I was the only one until recently who hadn’t seen the crazy viral double rainbow vid, but have you see the double rainbow remix? I have. Thanks to Lauren!

I love Goodreads. Every time I read a book, I’m excited to list it on my shelf and see what other people are saying about it. And, yeah, it’s true — I like to see what people are saying about DONUT DAYS too.

For a while there, I was starring and reviewing everything I’d read. And then I started to think about my reviews not as a reader, but as a writer. If I were the author of said book and I read my review, how would I feel? If I were the author of said book and I saw it had been given three stars out of five, what would I think? (And let me tell you, when I see three-star reviews of DONUT DAYS, my heart does sink a little. I know it’s not supposed to. Thick skin and all that. But it does. Because I want so much for everyone to love it.)

Anyway. As a writer, I really can’t be a reviewer. The biggest factor in this is because I now understand that even the worst of books still represent loads of hard work by the author. And if it was in their heart to get it that far, to a place where I actually held it in my hands, I can’t front on that. I can throw Twilight across the room, but I can’t diss Meyer for putting words to what was in her imagination. (Or what was in her bedroom, watching her sleep. *shudders*)

Also, the writing community is small. About the time I go around saying I couldn’t stand a certain book, I’m going to  meet that writer at a conference and have to shake their hand and want the floor to open up and swallow me whole.

So, these days I mark the book as read, and I leave it at that. I do sort of miss putting my opinion out there, but as a published author, my job duties have changed. It’s no longer my role to critique as a reader and say what’s good. It’s now my responsibility to champion books and authors writ large — because as a whole they’re awesome — and cheerlead everything on the shelves.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Other than Sydney Salter’s blog? Uh, how about AMC’s site correcting famous film misquotes? Like, Darth Vader never said, “Luke, I’m your father.” Eye opening!

Okay, so Sydney Salter’s blog? It’s a new fave. But first, let me start by saying how much I loved her book, MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS. I adored it for many reasons, which you can read about here, not the least of which was its humor and unexpected closure for every single loose thread. I love a good ending, people!

But, anyway, back to Sydney’s blog. This thing just oozes good energy — Sydney is smart, positive, funny, and honest. What’s not to love? I personally love that she admits her dog hurls under her desk. I also love that she encourages compliments. Of all kinds.

So, Sydney, my compliment is to you: I’ve never met you, but I love your book, I love your blog, and I love your attitude. Thanks for putting so much good stuff online!

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Swine flu is no laughing matter, it’s true, but these masks? Come on. That’s funny. You gotta admit, you giggled.

Last night, I talked to fellow author and Carleton grad Sarah Quigley. Her new book, TMI, is hilarious and fun, and you can get it here.

Ah-hem. Anyway, after our conversation, I realized, oh jeez, there are some SERIOUS coincidences going on here. So I penned a letter about said coincidences to Laurie Hertzel, book editor for the Star Tribune. Because, seriously, this is beyond accidental. This is fate. This is worth an article.

Right? Let me know what you think. Cuz here’s the letter:

Sarah Quigley and I, both Minnesota natives, graduated from Carleton College the same year — 1998. We never had a class together, never held each other’s hair back at a party, never even lived in the same dorm. When we graduated, we both lived in Minneapolis for four years. For a portion of that period, we lived about a half-mile from each other in Uptown. We never met.

We both moved away from Minnesota around the same time (2002)–me to Michigan, Sarah to New York, then California.

We both wrote young adult novels that were picked up by the same publisher, Penguin. Sarah’s book is titled TMI. Mine is titled DONUT DAYS. We both appeared, mere pages apart, in Penguin’s recent spring/summer catalog.

Sarah saw something that tipped her off that I’d gone to Carleton, too. She emailed me, which was the first time we’d ever communicated. We realized our books would be coming out just a few short months apart.

Then I picked up her book and realized …

Both our young adult novels take place in Minnesota. Our protagonists are both from small fictional towns — hers is Pine Prairie, mine is Birch Lake. We both reference the cold. And Northfield, where we went to school.

Can I just say … OMG?!

It’s a little weird, even for me. I’m wondering if there’s a story here that the Star Tribune might be interested in. Sarah’s book is currently on bookshelves, and mine comes out this August. I’ve pasted our websites below, and both of us would be more than happy to supply any additional information about our books. Or lives. Or cats. Or how much we love Minnesota.

Thanks so much for the consideration, and I hope to hear back from you.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: I am so glad I got hooked into the Debs 2009 community, a group of writers who all have books coming out in 2009. I love the advice, the information, and the support this site offers.

Rhonda Stapleton is one of the authors I’ve “met” through Debs 2009. She has a book, Stupid Cupid, coming out in late 2009, and she did this laugh-out-loud interview with her publisher, Simon & Schuster. When asked if she had one sentence of advice for new writers, her answer was (and I’m paraphrasing here) “Read a lot.”

I totally agree. I put Rhonda’s book on my reading list, as well as a bunch of other Debs’ books, and I’m also plowing through a pile of books I got from Swaptree (my fave site for trading books and getting reading material on the cheap).

I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which I loved, and I keep track of everything I read on my website, on this page here. I don’t pretend to review them (I’m SO not qualified) but I do try to provide a general synopsis.

In any case, mi bookshelf es tu bookshelf, and I’d love to hear what books you’re diving into (and loving) as well.

STATUS: Ready for a vacation to someplace that’s not grey and snowy.

FAVE LINKEY-POO RIGHT THIS SECOND: Garfield minus Garfield. The comic strip gets infinitely more funny — and sad — when the orange cat is taken away.

Last night was the first meeting of the young adult book club that some friends/colleagues and I started. We’d decided to read The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing to kick things off and, I gotta say, that book is like The Patriot meets Roots meets …. what’s the most depressing movie ever? Boys Don’t Cry? Maybe. So mix all those things together and you’ve got Octavian — and an urge to hurl yourself off a building. I’ll probably take some crap for this because a lot of people loved this book. None of them, however, attended book group last night.

I also felt my age last night because I was schooled in the meaning of “pwn3d” — pronounced “poned.” It basically means getting embarassed or shown up. Which takes on a layer of irony because I was pwn3d when I didn’t know what pwn3d was. D’oh.

Yesterday, I also got another lesson in pop culture, which apparently has been around since 2006 but I’ve been too busy working and writing young adult novels to notice. It’s lolcats, and below I’ve pasted the original lolcat, which not only makes me laugh so hard I want to cry, but it also looks exactly like my own cat, Pancake.