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GUEST POST: Editors: A Crazy, Stupid, Love Story

Over the course of writing twenty books, I’ve had five editors. They have had me.

Three of them were so spectacularly brilliant that the thought of them still brings tears to my eyes. Two of them were so spectacularly awful that the thought of them still brings tears to my eyes.

A writer’s relationship with an editor is often compared to a marriage, because it is so intimate. Now, I’ve been married twice, and once widowed. Trust me: the relationship with my editors is more intimate by far.

Your editor is the only person on earth whom you invite in to crawl around inside your brain and spirit.

Your editor’s comments can lift you off the ground to soar among the clouds, or lift you off an overpass to dive straight down to the asphalt.

Book Review: What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Allie Kim suffers from Xeroderma Pigmentosum: a fatal allergy to sunlight that confines her and her two best friends, Rob and Juliet, to the night. When freewheeling Juliet takes up Parkour—the stunt-sport of scaling and leaping off tall buildings—Allie and Rob have no choice but to join her, if only to protect her. Though potentially deadly, Parkour after dark makes Allie feel truly alive, and for the first time equal to the “daytimers.”

On a random summer night, the trio catches a glimpse of what appears to be murder. Allie alone takes it upon herself to investigate, and the truth comes at an unthinkable price. Navigating the shadowy world of specialized XP care, extreme sports, and forbidden love, Allie ultimately uncovers a secret that upends everything she believes about the people she trusts the most. (From Goodreads.)

Meet Soho Teen!

There is a new imprint being introduced to the world today and it is called Soho Teen. An imprint of Soho Press, known for its literary and international crime fiction, Soho Teen will be handled in much the same way. Kicking off with their debut title What We Saw at Night by Jacquelyn Mitchard, which is being released today, there is already no doubt that this imprint will bring great things to the world of publishing. Their exact description from the Soho Press website is:

"Soho Teen, coming in 2013, publishes a select list of YA mysteries and thrillers by international bestsellers, award winners, and debut novelists with stellar credits. Born of the conviction that compelling YA of any genre involves thrill and mystery, Soho Teen’s titles include the paranormal and dystopian, the humorous and realistic, the tragic and uplifting—whatever serves a great story best. Soho Teen’s small list is unique in that every title has a high-stakes, page-turning puzzle at its heart."

Their other titles, to release once a month through June, include Who Done It? (a collection of 83 famous YA authors, including Libba Bray, David Levithan, John Green, Lemony Snicket, Lauren Myracle), Escape Theory by Margaux Froley, Strangelets by Michelle Gagnon, The Sweet Dead Life by Joy Preble, and Deviant by Helen FitzGerald. 

There will be reviews coming of the first three titles, the first to show right here on January 11th. 

Until then, please enjoy this interview with Soho Teen's editorial director Daniel Ehrenhaft!

Close Encounters with Authors and Heroes; a Celebratory Evening in Review

covers.booktopia.com.au

“They say everybody has a book in them. I don’t know about that; I couldn’t write a novel. But everyone has a memoir in them. Everyone has a story.” That’s what I overheard author Anthony Martignetti say as he signed a copy of his newly published memoir, Lunatic Heroes. Seated next to his longtime friend, Amanda Palmer and her husband Neil Gaiman, Mr. Martignetti greeted each person that eagerly waited in the line that snaked around the columns of the lobby of Cary Hall in Lexington, MA. The book signing was the final note to the book launch party that had been as much a celebration of life, love, and friendship as it had been about the book.

Martignetti  moved in next door to Amanda Palmer when she was 9, she informed us as she opened the evening with the foreword that she had written for the memoir. And yes, when I say Amanda Palmer, I do mean that Amanda Palmer, of the Dresden Dolls. She and Martignetti have had a friendship since then that, as she said, is difficult to describe, but is best put to words as something like this “Anthony moved in next door when I was nine and taught me everything I know about love and knows me better than anybody and we still talk almost every single day even if I’m in Japan.”

Machine Hearts and Magic Arts: Needing More LGBTQ YA Literature

www.malindalo.com

I recently read Ash, a novel by Malinda Lo in which the main protagonist is not only female but also a lesbian. Lo’s modern take on Cinderella pulls us into a world of fantasy and royalty. Instead of Ash falling in love with prince charming, she slowly develops feelings for Kaisa, the King’s Huntress. In this version of Cinderella, tales about faeries run rampant amongst the country, and these stories mix with those of the Huntress, who hunts wildlife with other hunters. They provide for their people, while magic hides in The Wood, the place Ash first meets Kaisa.

This novel dealing with coming of age, family trauma, and realizing one’s sexuality really touched a soft spot in my heart. We read the struggle of losing both parents and feeling lost without them, and we can relate to Ash’s pain. When I read what Lo said about her book, the feeling of nostalgia hit even harder.

On her blog, Lo describes how her story came to fruition. It began with her just working on a heterosexual take using Cinderella.

Traveling with Harry: An Interview

I love Harry Potter.

J.K. Rowling has been my hero ever since I was a little kid. Her stories made me truly love reading. I would devour those books, and waiting years for each one to come out was absolute torture. Where was Rowling going to take me next? What was going to happen to Harry? Were Ron and Hermione ever going to get together? And could Voldemort actually die this time?

Let’s just say that I was invested. That’s why it was extremely exciting when my friend and fellow Harry Potter fan, Jackie, told me about her Harry-Potter-related quest this semester. We are both studying abroad in the Netherlands, and the program's set-up allows for most students to jet off to various locations every weekend in the name of experience and good times.

Jackie's quest? To get a Harry Potter book from every country she visited.

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