Upcoming Events (and one cancellation)

Posted by Diana

NOTE: Diana will NOT be attending the Annapolis Book Festival on April 13, 2012. A family conflict has forced her to cancel. Despite publicity you may have seen to the contrary, Diana will NOT be in attendance on that day, though there are a host of other YA authors who will still be there, so definitely go! She is very sorry for any confusion this may have caused.


AwesomeCon D.C.

Sunday, April 21, 2013, NOON. Room 102A – Writing Fantasy: Novels and Comics
In publishing today, fantasy is a crowded field that encompasses the supernatural and paranormal, high fantasy and more science fiction-ish elements such as time travel and alternate realities. Join novelists and comics writers to learn what both publishers and fans expect from writer today. Justic Jordan, Allison Pang, Diana Peterfreund, Meagan Spooner, Tim King, and Alma Katsu.


BOOK EXPO AMERICA

Thursday, May 30, 2013, 10 AM: Diana will be signing galleys of Across a Star-Swept Sea. Location TK.

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Upcoming Events of Note (and one Cancellation)

Posted by Diana

NOTE: Diana will NOT be attending the Annapolis Book Festival on April 13, 2012. A family conflict has forced her to cancel. Despite publicity you may have seen to the contrary, Diana will NOT be in attendance on that day, though there are a host of other YA authors who will still be there, so definitely go! She is very sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

AwesomeCon D.C.

Sunday, April 21, 2013, Room 102A – Writing Fantasy: Novels and Comics
In publishing today, fantasy is a crowded field that encompasses the supernatural and paranormal, high fantasy and more science fiction-ish elements such as time travel and alternate realities. Join novelists and comics writers to learn what both publishers and fans expect from writer today. Justic Jordan, Allison Pang, Diana Peterfreund, Meagan Spooner, Tim King, and Alma Katsu.

BOOK EXPO AMERICA

Thursday, May 30, 2013, 10 AM: Diana will be signing galleys of Across a Star-Swept Sea. Location TK.

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Shadowhunters and Sigils

Posted by Diana

So in all the excitement (and hassle) of Scavenger Hunting, I totally missed that the long CITY OF BONES trailer has gone out into the world:

I also somehow missed that LENA FREAKING HEADEY is playing Jocelyn Fray. Man, do I love me some Lena Headey. I love everything I’ve seen her in — Queen Gorgo, Sarah Connor, and of course, Queen Cersei. I have no idea how I missed this. I wonder if Cassie has met her. If I met her, I would have a really hard time not being all, “Just say, ‘A Lannister Always Pays His Debts’ prettyprettyplease.”

Who has two thumbs and is a big dork? This girl. Anyway, perfect casting. I bet they didn’t even make her cover up her tattoos.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, I thought it was about time for an official House Peterfreund Sigil. With words:

Got it from here.

(Jealous of all you that have HBO. I’m always a season behind. But I am reading the books now…)


Posted in movies, other writers, TV 1 Comment

YA SCAVENGER HUNT 2013

Posted by Diana

Hello all, and welcome to my stop on the YA SCAVENGER HUNT!

Confused about anything hunt related? Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. Basically, there are TWO contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or both! I am a part of the BLUE TEAM–but there is also a red team for a chance to win a whole different set of twenty-five signed books!

Go Blue Team Go Blue Team Go!

SCAVENGER HUNT PUZZLE

Directions: Below, you’ll notice that I’ve listed my favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the blue team, and then add them up (don’t worry, you can use a calculator!).
Entry Form: Once you’ve added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian’s permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 7th at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.
And in addition to the grand prize, I have two additional prizes to give away today: A copy of my guest’s debut novel, and a copy of the not-out-yet paperback of For Darkness Shows the Stars (now with special features!). You can enter either of these contests below, but keep on going with the rest of the Scavenger Hunt to be eligible for the GRAND PRIZE.

Today, I have the great pleasure of hosting debut author Justina Ireland, whose first novel, VENGEANCE BOUND, came out on Tuesday!

First novel, guys. Ah, those were the days… The days before Kindle, before Goodreads, when there was a Borders Express in ever mall…

Yeah, I feel old.

But enough about me! Let’s talk about Justina’s new book, VENGEANCE BOUND.


The Goddess Test meets Dexter in an edgy, compelling debut about one teen’s quest for revenge…no matter how far it takes her.

Cory Graff is not alone in her head. Bound to a deal of desperation made when she was a child, Cory’s mind houses the Furies—the hawk and the serpent—lingering always, waiting for her to satisfy their bloodlust. After escaping the asylum where she was trapped for years, Cory knows how to keep the Furies quiet. By day, she lives a normal life, but by night, she tracks down targets the Furies send her way. And she brings down Justice upon them.

Cory’s perfected her system of survival, but when she meets a mysterious boy named Niko at her new school, she can’t figure out how she feels about him. For the first time, the Furies are quiet in her head around a guy. But does this mean that Cory’s finally found someone who she can trust, or are there greater factors at work? As Cory’s mind becomes a battlefield, with the Furies fighting for control, Cory will have to put everything on the line to hold on to what she’s worked so hard to build.

______

Doesn’t that sound cool? You can definitely see the Dexter inspiration in the cover, with the stark white and the red lettering. I love the whole snakes and Greek columns thing. So cool…

I met Justina a few months ago at a booksigning for some local authors here in the D.C. area, so I feel very lucky to be able to host her here for the Scavenger Hunt. Like me, Justina has a husband, a kid and a dog, and, also like me, she loves writing about kick-ass ladies with serious problems to face.

In honor of the YA Scavenger hunt, Justina is giving you all a sneak peek of VENGEANCE BOUND on her website, here. The password to access the exclusive content is: awesome

For the hunt, you need to know that my my favorite number is 13. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the blue team and you’ll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Thank you so much for visiting and participating in the YA Scavenger Hunt. While you’re here, I’d love for you to check out my books. Make sure you make it to the page where I’m hiding on the hunt, for an extra-special sneak peek at my October novel, ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA. The password can ONLY be found in the YA Scavenger Hunt!

And don’t forget to enter the two giveaways I’m hosting here:

For Darkness Shows the Stars Paperback Extras Edition:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And a VENGEANCE BOUND book:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And now, for the next stop on the Scavenger Hunt, head on over to the blog of Tara Fuller. Good luck!

Posted in fabulosity, other writers, YA 7 Comments

RT Interviews Yours Truly

Posted by Diana

When I was in New York the week before last, I had the opportunity to do a video interview with RT’s Morgan Doremus. I spill all kinds of info about the For Darkness paperback extras, Across a Star-Swept Sea, and more…
Check it out!

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Tomorrow: The YA Scavenger Hunt!

Posted by Diana

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT! GIVEAWAYS! MASSIVE PRIZES!

STAY TUNED!

Posted in fabulosity, other writers Comments Off

Titles and How To Get Them

Posted by Diana

Saw a great blog post today by Michelle Maison on getting the perfect title for your work (via Janice Hardy), and in reading, realized that I have utilized many of these methods myself. Sometimes, the perfect title comes in an instant (“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn” was one such title for me), and sometimes you have to muck around for quite a while before you know what sort of title you need.

For Darkness Shows the Stars was a hard title to settle on for me. I knew I wanted a longer-than-one-word title, because one word titles were taking over YA and I’d just finished a series of one-word titled books. But my agent and I went back and forth for some time on what a good title would be. Some of the rejected ones ended up being the titles of “parts” of that book (True North, The Unbroken Engine). I had taken to looking up snatches of poetry on themes and motifs that occurred again and again in the stories, which is when I came across the quote:

“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” – Og Mandino

And this seemed to encompass so much of what my book was about — about goodness coming from wretchedness, about people shining brightest when things seem most grim, about stars as a symbol of hope and stars as a nautical tool and how stars exist, always, even when it’s not dark enough for most people to see them. I knew it was perfect, my agent immediately agreed, and we were off. My editor has since told me that when she received the submission, she loved the title, though she figured marketing would never let us have it, but marketing loved it too, though they apparently, believed the book buyers would never let us have it, and then the book buyers loved it, and I’ve gotten so many readers who tell me how much they love the title…

Which brings us along to Across a Star-Swept Sea. That one was an afternoon of brainstorming with my agent over text message. I knew the general look and feel I wanted for the title — I wanted it to tie in with For Darkness Shows the Stars — I wanted them to look like the matched set they were. So calling the story “The Adventures of the Wild Poppy” was probably not going to cut it. I thought, okay, I’ll make it another phrase. I already had the short story “Among the Nameless Stars” so I thought it would be cool if this title, like everything else set in this world, also started with a preposition.

When I looked at the book, I saw that one of the strongest senses of place in the story came from the sea. There are a good half-dozen sea crossings in the story — from Persis’s many spy missions to rescue the victims of the revolution on the southern island, to Justen’s fish-out-of-water experience of seeking asylum in the northern island, to lots of spoiler spoiler spoiler spoilers, and of course, Elliot and Kai are in the midst of their great sea voyage.

And why is this sea “star-swept?” Well, that’s another big spoiler. But, as you can tell from the cover, it totally is.


Posted in PAP, star-swept, writing advice, writing life, YA 1 Comment

Veronica Mars and Persis Blake

Posted by Diana

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (or almost any YA author on Twitter, or the YA online scene in general) knows that all the hubbub lately has been about the Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter. Launched last week, the project broke all kind of records by raising two million dollars (the target goal) in under ten hours. (At the time of this writing, the project is at 3.6 million, almost double its goal.)The story has been all over the news, with a lot of folks expressing pro and con opinions about a studio-owned project like Veronica Mars turning to kickstarter.

For my money, I don’t see it being all that different than an author with a half-finished series at a house unable to get the house to finish it (or get another house interested) who goes on kickstarter to raise money from fans to get the final volume published. The only thing that’s different is who get to make money out of the various rights (and the scale involved). It sucks that Warner Brothers owns the intellectual property to Veronica Mars and refused to exercise it, but that’s the way these deals go. FWIW, there’s a book series out there I adore (not mine) that will never be finished because the author’s original deal required signing away the intellectual property rights and this author does not want to have any more dealings with the useless rights holder. It’s an important lesson to learn and exercise if you can. I own the intellectual rights to all my creations (Morning Glory was not my creation), but I don’t think you ever get that choice when it comes to TV.

ANYWAY, not what I’m talking about. I am a “backer” of the Veronica Mars movie, and I’m going to a premiere and party, too, so obviously, I’m down with that.

I love love love Veronica Mars. The first season is my favorite season of television. The others are a mixed bag, but it doesn’t detract from the wonder of the first. And though there’s a lot of television I have seen and adored since (Parks & Recreation, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Community, The Wire, Game of Thrones – man, TV is good these days!), nothing beats your first love.

In my recent Veronica Mars rewatch weekend (of course I did), I found myself struck not by love for my fictional boyfriend, Logan Echols – the only bad boy I’ve ever had a thing for, in fiction or reality – but by the unexpected similarities between Veronica and Persis Blake, the heroine of my upcoming book Across a Star-Swept Sea. Like Veronica, Persis is a smart, savvy, and beautiful young woman fighting crime in a world that thinks she’s not smart, savvy, or mature enough to do so, a world that often equates beauty with stupidity and uselessness. Like Veronica, Persis uses these perceptions to her advantage. She outsmarts her peers, her enemies, and even the adults around her. She’s very close to her father. She tries to be tough—she is tough—but she is also, as Veronica Mars fans so like to say, a marshmallow on the inside. She cares deeply about her friends, even if she doesn’t always show it or they don’t know it, or she asks a little too much of them, just because things are harder for her than they know. She is also extremely girly, and sexy, and doesn’t think that remotely detracts from how smart, strong and savvy she is.

Of course, the main way Persis is NOT like Veronica Mars is that Persis is a rich and privileged teen with a wonderful family life who is the absolute center of her social circle. She’s an 09er, for sure. (Maybe she’s Lily, reincarnated.)

(In some ways, this blog is a strange space. For a year, I was sleeping, eating and breathing Persis, and keeping it all a secret from you. Now I’m sleeping, eating and breathing another girl, and babbling on and on about Persis. This is how wonky publishing schedules work.)

It’s been years since I’d actually watched an episode of Veronica Mars, so Veronica was not at the forefront of my mind while crafting Persis. And why should she be? Modern California noir teen detective is not a futuristic genetically engineered aristocrat spy. However, I think they’d be friends, a long time from now.

(You want some real fun? Click on the Veronica Mars tag at the bottom of this post to see how obsessed I used to be about that show!)

Posted in industry news, star-swept, veronica mars 2 Comments

Pets and Poisons

Posted by Diana

Let me start out this post by saying RIO IS FINE, and also, because it can’t be stated often enough (and for anyone who got here by googling): DON’T FEED YOUR DOG CHOCOLATE, GRAPES, OR RAISINS, and definitely no sugar-free gum with xylitol (That means keep those purses with your packs of Trident in them OFF THE FLOOR).

Okay, now, on to metaphorical poisons and fictional pets.

First off, I’m over on the Poison Book Tumblr today. Poiso is the debut novel of author Bridget Zinn, who, sadly, passed away from cancer before her book hit the shelves. Her friends and colleagues have banded together to help promote the book for her, which makes them all the awesomest people ever. Check it out and then check out the book, too. It’s a twisted fairy tale and the heroine has a cute pet pig. What’s not to love?

Speaking of pets…

Yesterday, I ended up in a long Twitter convo with authors Sarah MacLean and Louisa Edwards about what makes a reader root for the hero of your story, and, in the course of the conversation, we started talking about how a hero being nice to animals tends to make the reader like a hero who might otherwise be a little prickly. This is the trick screenwriters call “Save the Cat.”

Readers of this blog know I’m a big animal fan, and readers of my books know I am no stranger to putting cute fuzzy (or not so cute OR fuzzy) animals in my stories. From Poe’s Voldemort the snake (and, later, Reepicheep the mouse); to unicorns from Bonegrinder to Bucephalus, Angel to Flayer; to Goneril the homeless witch’s retriever; and Nero, the yellow barn cat who ONLY liked Kai — I got you covered on the animal front.

(True story, when I started writing this post, I had thought to myself that I didn’t start including animals until the unicorn series, but I’d forgotten Poe’s pets!)

Of course, my characters don’t always “save the cat.” In fact, Astrid and Co. spend a good amount of time vanquishing the cat. But they’re you know, conflicted about it.

I can’t wait for you all to meet Slipstream, my newest animal creation, in ACROSS A STAR-SWEPT SEA. This is the first time (beyond Care & Feeding, I suppose) where I’ve actually given my main character a pet to call her own. Persis’s pet Slipsream is an animal Persis’s people call a sea mink, even though that’s not really what it is. Sea minks don’t exist anymore; they are an extinct species of sea otter. What Slippy is is a genetically engineered otter-like creature, modified to be as tame and useful and clever as a well trained German Shepherd, but with all the cuteness of a particularly fine specimen of otter. Which, if you know otters, is a pretty high bar:

Also, he’s red, like the sea minks of old, who are said to have had such fine and beautiful deep red pelts that they were hunted to extinction off the North Atlantic Coast. The “sea mink” name was borrowed from the extinct creature to pay homage to the red-coated, extinct forebear, but it also does double-duty — call an animal a “mink” and you definitely get the idea that its owner is a very wealthy and spoiled sort. And that’s just the impression Persis wants. Because the other thing Persis likes about Slipstream is that, unbeknownst to everyone except her inner circle, he’s a spy, too. Most people just think he’s her silly, pampered pet, as seen in this scene below, of the first morning Justen and Persis spend together:

______

In the scene below, my heroine Persis pretends to be a spoiled, airheaded aristocrat to help hide the fact that she’s secretly a super-spy, a plan that’s complicated when she gets an unexpected houseguest…

******

Shoving herself to her feet once more, she reengaged the screen and pulled the lever on her bath. A rush of hot mineral water flowed into the high-backed basin, and Persis tugged off her shift and slipped into the slightly sulfur-scented water. She didn’t even bother with perfumes. The obsidian wall above the bath was polished to a high sheen, and she checked out her reflection. Bloodshot, baggy eyes, but that was probably the sickness, not any lingering effects of the genetemps itself.

“By the way,” came Justen’s voice from the other side, “your friend gave me a message for you. The one with the blue hair?” His tone dripped with disdain. “She said she took your packages straight to your tailor.”

More good news. Persis slumped in her bath, allowing a small smirk at the thought of the league’s medic, Noemi, being called a tailor. Noemi would hate that. But she would know what to do for the children. Persis leaned her head back as the heat soaked into her aching muscles. “Thank you.”

Thank you, Justen Helo. Persis covered her face with her hands and groaned. Her whole life, she’d imagined what it would be like to meet a member of that famous family, perhaps when she went with Isla to one of Queen Gala’s parties. But it had never happened. Instead, this was what happened: Justen Helo had saved her life, and she’d thrown up on his shoes. So much for the elegant, charming Lady Persis Blake.

There was silence for several minutes on the other side of the screen, long enough for Persis to contemplate falling asleep again. But Justen couldn’t leave well enough alone. “Lady Blake? Do you plan to be very long in there?”

“Am I keeping you from an appointment, Citizen Helo?” She knew the Scintillans servants would have seen to all Justen’s needs, not only because he was Persis’s guest but because of his famous name. Regs would do anything for a descendant of the Helos. Justen was no doubt considered a model citizen back home.

And that’ s why letting him wander around out there unattended might not be the best idea. With a groan, Persis pulled herself up to a sitting position in the warm, soothing water. She’d soak her bones later. For now, she needed to deal with the Galatean revolutionary standing in her bedroom.

She dialed in the instructions to her bath, which promptly responded with a flow of frangipani-scented water. Rinsed and perfumed, she emerged, dried off, and garbed herself in an ocean blue kimono that covered her from neck to foot. Properly armed, she exited the bathroom only to be greeted by an empty space. She looked around in confusion, and spotted Justen outside in the garden, near a table set with breakfast for two. He was kneeling on the vibrant, manicured lawn, while Slipstream balanced on his hind legs, his long neck stretched up as he begged for the bit of manguava cake Justen dangled over the sea mink’s glossy black nose.

“He’ll balance treats on his nose if you want,” she said from the steps, squinting as the full sunlight hit her face.

Justen tried it and sat back on his heels, impressed. “Very well-trained pet you have.”

“That’s what my father paid the gengineers for.” Persis turned her attention to the sea mink. “Slippy, end!” Slipstream flipped the cake off his snout and caught it in midair as Persis stepped off the stairs and onto the soft, loamy earth of the lawn. “Ever seen a sea mink before?”

“We don’t use gengineering for personal pets in Galatea,” Justen said, rising to his feet. “just for stock animals, guard beasts, stuff like that.”

Stuff like mini-orcas to feed your enemies to. But she wouldn’t dwell on that now. Not when Justen had been so kind as to save her life. Not when she had so much shallow socialite to convince him of.

“Slipstream is an excellent guard beast,” she replied as the animal scurried to her side. “I’ve never had my yacht stolen even once.”

__________

Ah, pets. Tricksy little things. Sometimes, you can use them to make your reader like your heroine, and sometimes, your heroine can use them to make your hero think she’s a brat.

Posted in other writers, Rio, SSG, star-swept, unicorns, writing advice, writing life, YA, zoo 1 Comment

New York City Teen Author Festival

Posted by Diana

Time flies — I can’t believe this event is coming up next week! Come see me (and tons and tons of other YA authors) in New York City next week!

Now, there are a LOT of events here, so I’ve put each discrete event (date/time) in big font, and then highlighted in purple the ones I’ll actually be attending. Also, to see my particular events, all on their own, check out my Events Page. And of course, you can always check the festival’s Facebook page for a full list.

Monday, March 18  (Mulberry Street Branch of the NYPL, 10 Jersey Street b/w Mulberry and Lafayette, 6-8):

I’ll Take You There:  A Change of Scenery, A Change of Self

Description:  In their recent books, each of these authors have plunged their teen characters into new places as a way of revealing their true selves.  We’ll talk about this YA journey narrative – where it comes from, and what it can lead to.

Gayle Forman
Kristen-Paige Madonia
Bennett Madison
Jennifer E. Smith
Melissa Walker

moderator: David Levithan


Tuesday, March 19  (WORD Bookstore,  7-8:30, 126 Franklin St, Greenpoint):

The Only Way Out is Through:  Engaging Truth through YA

Description:  Pain. Confusion. Loss. Mistakes. Revelation. More mistakes. Recovery.  One of the things that makes YA work is its desire to engage the messy truths of both adolescence and life in general.  Here we talk about what it’s like to engage this messy truth, and how to craft it into a story with some kind of form.

Crissa Chappell
Tim Decker
Ellen Hopkins
Amy McNamara
Jessica Verdi

moderator: David Levithan


Wednesday. March 20 (42nd St NYPL, South Court room, 6-8):

Imagination: A Conversation

Description:  It’s a given that authors’ minds are very strange, wonderful, twisted, illogical, inventive places.  Here we talk to five rather imaginative authors about how they conjure the worlds in their books and the stories that they tell, along with glimpses of the strange and wonderful worlds they are creating at the present.

Holly Black
Lev Grossman
Michelle Hodkin
Alaya Johnson
Robin Wasserman

moderators:  David Levithan and Chris Shoemaker


Thursday, March 21: SOHO Teen night, 6-9pm (Books of Wonder, 18 W18th St)

Celebrate the launch of SOHO Teen, featuring readings by Jacquelyn Mitchard, Joy Preble, Margaux Froley, Elizabeth Kiem, Heather Terrell & Ricardo Cortés, and Lisa & Laura Roecker.


Friday March 22, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL, Berger Forum, 2nd floor, 2-6)

2:00 – Introduction

2:10-3:00: He Said, She Said

He:
Ted Goeglein
Gordon Korman
Lucas Klauss
Michael Northrop

She:
Susanne Colasanti
E. Lockhart
Carolyn Mackler
Sarah Mlynowski
Leila Sales

moderator:  David Levithan


3:00-4:00:  Taking a Turn: YA Characters Dealing with Bad and Unexpected Choices

Description:  In each of these authors’ novels, the main character’s life takes an unexpected twist.  Sometimes this is because of a bad choice.  Sometimes this is because of a secret revealed.  And sometimes it doesn’t feel like a choice at all, but rather a reaction.  We’ll talk about following these characters as they make these choices – both good and bad. Will include brief readings illuminating these choices.

Caela Carter
Eireann Corrigan
Alissa Grosso
Terra Elan McVoy
Jacquelyn Mitchard
Elizabeth Scott
K. M. Walton

moderator:  Aaron Hartzler


4:00-4:10:  Break


4:10-4:40:  That’s So Nineteenth Century

Description:  A Conversation About Playing with 19th Century Archetypes in the 21st Century

Sharon Cameron
Leanna Renee Hieber
Stephanie Strohm
Suzanne Weyn

Moderator:  Sarah Beth Durst


4:40-5:30:  Alternate World vs. Imaginary World

Description:  Of these authors, some have written stories involving alternate or parallel versions of our world, some have made up imaginary worlds for their characters, and still others have written books that do each.  We’ll discuss the decision to either connect the world of a book to our world, or to take it out of the historical context of our world.  How do each strategies help in telling story and developing character?  Is one easier than the other? Is the stepping off point always reality, or can it sometimes be another fictional world?

Sarah Beth Durst
Jeff Hirsch
Emmy Laybourne
Lauren Miller
E. C. Myers
Diana Peterfreund
Mary Thompson

Moderator:  Chris Shoemaker


Friday March 22, Barnes & Noble Reader’s Theater/Signing (Union Square B&N, 33 E 17th St, 7-8:30)

Eireann Corrigan
Elizabeth Eulberg
Jeff Hirsch
David Levithan
Rainbow Rowell
Nova Ren Suma


Saturday March 23, Symposium (42nd Street NYPL,  Bergen Forum, 2nd Floor, 1-5)

1:00 – Introduction

1:10-2:10 – Defying Description:  Tackling the Many Facets of Identity in YA

Description:  As YA literature evolves, there is more of an acknowledgment of the many facets that go into a teenager’s identity, and even categories that once seemed absolute now have more nuance.  Focusing particularly, but not exclusively, on LGBTQ characters and their depiction, we’ll discuss the complexities about writing about such a complex experience.

Marissa Calin
Emily Danforth
Aaron Hartzler
A.S. King
Jacqueline Woodson

moderator:  David Levithan


2:10-2:40 — New Voices Spotlight

Description:  Each debut author will share a five-minute reading from her or his work

J. J. Howard
Kimberly Sabatini
Tiffany Schmidt
Greg Takoudes


2:40-3:30 – Under Many Influences: Shaping Identity When You’re a Teen Girl

Description: Being a teen girl is to be under many influences – friends, parents, siblings, teachers, favorite bands, favorite boys, favorite web sites.  These authors will talk about the influences that each of their main characters tap into – and then talk about what influences them as writers when they shape these characters.

Jen Calonita
Deborah Heiligman
Hilary Weisman Graham
Kody Keplinger
Amy Spalding
Katie Sise
Kathryn Williams

moderator:  Terra Elan McVoy


3:30-3:40 – Break


3:40-4:20 – Born This Way: Nature, Nurture, and Paranormalcy

Description:  Paranormal and supernatural fiction for teens constantly wrestles with issues of identity and the origin of identity.  Whether their characters are born “different” or come into their powers over time, each of these authors uses the supernatural as a way to explore the nature of self.

Jessica Brody
Gina Damico
Maya Gold
Alexandra Monir
Lindsay Ribar
Jeri Smith-Ready
Jessica Spotswood

moderator:  Adrienne Maria Vrettos


4:20-5:00 – The Next Big Thing

Leanna Renee Hieber
Barry Lyga
Emil Ostrovski
Maryrose Wood

Saturday March 23:  Mutual Admiration Society reading at McNally Jackson (McNally Jackson, Prince Street, 7-8:30):

Sharon Cameron
A.S. King
Michael Northrop
Diana Peterfreund
Victoria Schwab
Nova Ren Suma

hosted by David Levithan


Sunday March 24:  Our No-Foolin’ Mega-Signing at Books of Wonder (Books of Wonder, 1-4):

1-1:45:

Jessica Brody  (Unremembered, Macmillan)
Marisa Calin  (Between You and Me, Bloomsbury)
Jen Calonita  (The Grass is Always Greener, LB)
Sharon Cameron  (The Dark Unwinding, Scholastic)
Caela Carter  (Me, Him, Them, and It, Bloomsbury)
Crissa Chappell  (Narc, Flux)
Susane Colasanti  (Keep Holding On, Penguin)
Zoraida Cordova  (The Vicious Deep, Sourcebooks)
Gina Damico       (Scorch, HMH)
Sarah Beth Durst  (Vessel, S&S)


1:45-2:30

T. M. Goeglein (Cold Fury, Penguin)
Hilary Weisman Graham (Reunited, S&S)
Alissa Grosso  (Ferocity Summer, Flux)
Aaron Hartzler  (Rapture Practice, LB)
Deborah Heiligman  (Intentions, RH)
Leanna Renee Hieber    (The Twisted Tragedy of Miss Natalie Stewart, Sourcebooks)
Jeff Hirsch  (Magisterium, Scholastic)
J. J. Howard  (That Time I Joined the Circus, Scholastic)
Alaya Johnson     (The Summer Prince, Scholastic)
Beth Kephart (Small Damages, Penguin)
Kody Keplinger  (A Midsummer’s Nightmare, LB)


2:30-3:15

A.S. King  (Ask the Passengers, LB)
Emmy Laybourne  (Monument 14, Macmillan)
David Levithan  (Every Day, RH)
Barry Lyga  (Yesterday Again, Scholastic)
Brian Meehl  (Suck it Up and Die, RH)
Alexandra Monir (Timekeeper, RH)
Michael Northrop  (Rotten, Scholastic)
Diana Peterfreund  (For Darkness Shows the Stars, HC)
Lindsay Ribar      (The Art of Wishing, Penguin)
Rainbow Rowell  (Eleanor & Park, St. Martin’s)
Kimberly Sabatini  (Touching the Surface, S&S)
Tiffany Schmidt  (Send Me a Sign, Bloomsbury)


3:15-4:00

Victoria Schwab  (The Archived, Hyperion)
Jeri Smith-Ready  (Shine, S&S)
Amy Spalding     (The Reece Malcolm List, Entangled)
Stephanie Strohm  (Pilgrims Don’t Wear Pink, HMH)
Nova Ren Suma  (17 & Gone, Penguin)
Greg Takoudes  (When We Wuz Famous, Macmillan)
Mary Thompson  (Wuftoom, HMH)
Jess Verdi  (My Life After Now, Sourcebooks)
K.M. Walton  (Empty, S&S)
Suzanne Weyn  (Dr. Frankenstein’s Daughters, Scholastic)
Kathryn Williams  (Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous, Macmillan)


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