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Cover Reveal: Lisa Maxwell and UNHOOKED
All kinds of buzz today in honor of Lisa Maxwell’s upcoming novel Unhooked. (By upcoming, I mean Feb. 2, but I’m ready to get excited about it RIGHT NOW.) First, there’s the cover. I’ll wait for a minute while you take this in.
Here’s the skinny:
For as long as she can remember, Gwendolyn Allister has never had a place to call home. Her mother believes they are being hunted by brutal monsters, and those delusions have brought them to London, far from the life Gwen had finally started to build for herself. Gwen’s only saving grace is that her best friend, Olivia, is with her for the summer.
But shortly after their arrival, the girls are kidnapped by shadowy creatures and dragged to a world of flesh-eating sea hags and dangerous Fey. And Gwen begins to realize that maybe her mother isn’t so crazy after all…
Gwen discovers that this new world she inhabits is called Neverland, but it’s nothing like the Neverland you’ve heard about in stories. Here, good and evil lose their meaning and memories slip like water through your fingers. As Gwen struggles to remember where she came from and tries to find a way home, she must choose between trusting the charming fairy-tale hero who says all the right things and the captivating pirate who promises to keep her safe.
Caught in the ultimate battle between good and evil, with time running out and her enemies closing in, Gwen is forced to finally face the truths she’s been hiding from all along. But can she save Neverland without losing herself?
What are people saying about it? I’m glad you asked:
“Perfect for fans of AG Howard’s Splintered trilogy and ABC’s Once Upon A Time, this twisted Peter Pan retelling isn’t the Neverland of your dreams — it’s the Neverland of your nightmares.”
~Sara Raasch, NY Times Best-Selling author of Snow Like Ashes and Ice Like Fire
“The Stars Turned Away spins the classic Peter Pan tale into a tempting, spine-chilling adventure. Maxwell transports readers into the haunting, and yet breathlessly romantic, world of Neverland that will spellbind readers into making them wish they could stay forever.”
~Christina Farley, author of the bestselling Gilded series
“This dark, violent, gripping and twisty retelling of Pan is so good, there’s no going back to the original!!”
~Ellen Oh, Author of the Prophecy Series
But wait, as Ron Popeil would say (and I quote him more than I should) THERE’S MORE. To celebrate, you can enter to win an ARC of UNHOOKED and the first two books in each series by Sara, Christina and Ellen. But you have to go over here to enter: http://www.twochicksonbooks.com/
To recap:
Title: UNHOOKED
Author: Lisa Maxwell
Pub. Date: February 2, 2016
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Hardcover: 352 pages
Check it out!
Posted in ya, young adult
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The One Where I Somehow End Up Defending Phil Collins
Not that he needs it, but I’m here to defend Phil Collins.
Yes, that Phil Collins (or, as my husband refers to him: Phil’s Colon.)
I am here to defend his right to make beautiful music or complete dreck if he wants to.
In my news feed today, I saw about a zillion stories about the petition asking that Phil Collins stop making music –or at least stop sharing it. I get that it was a joke. Honestly, I do. And I might have even said, in the past, that the world doesn’t need another (insert name of any multitude of bands here) album. I might have said that we didn’t need to see Mick Jagger after 1983. But I was wrong.
If I don’t want to hear those albums, I don’t have to listen. If I don’t want to see Old Mick, or the Old Monkees, or Old Madonna, or Old Morris Day, or Old Butthole Surfers, or the Old Replacements (who were great by the way), I don’t have to watch. But as I age up, there is something comforting about knowing these guys are still strutting around a stage. There is something comforting about knowing that Jeff Lynne can put out a new album (in stores Nov. 13th in case you were wondering) and someone out there will buy it.
Artists need to create. It’s what they do. Maybe it’s all they can do. And there’s no reason for them to stop when they get old, just because when we see them, with their leathered skin and post-menopausal physiques, we feel old, too.
Closer to home for me is JK Rowling, who clearly doesn’t need me to defend her, either, but here goes: It’s true that she will probably never achieve what she did with Harry Potter, no matter how much longer she writes. But just because she peaked early doesn’t mean she should disappear and never write again. Personally, I’ve liked the other stuff she’s created. It’s still art. And for me – maybe not for you but for me – it’s still well worth the read.
I am hoping that I have not yet peaked in my own writing career. And I’m lucky that nobody’s yet said (publicly) that I’m a wanker and that I should go crawl into a Dumpster. I’m lucky that nobody is trying to save the world from me. Should that happen, I hope there will be someone out there to tell everyone else to leave me alone because I’ve still got something to say. Apparently, Phil Collins still has something to say, too. So go ahead, Phil: Do what you need to do. We don’t all have to listen, but we hear you.
Fall in Virginia: Books, conferences and friends
Hi, all. It’s been a busy two weeks so I wanted to send out some recaps from recent events. I keep explaining to people that I have to do recaps because my flip phone doesn’t allow me to live-tweet — or to tweet at all, for that matter. I’m fearing that this year is proving to me that I might need to step up my technology a bit, which will make my friend Sharlene very happy. (I’m not doing this for the tweeting, but because I need full-time access to a GPS to keep me from ending up in Maryland when I’m supposed to be driving in Virginia.)
Teen Read Week: Arlington Style
Since no one can wait until the NovaTeen Book Festival in March (the page will be updated soon, I hear), the organizers (Arlington Library and One More Page with Danielle Ellison, Nico Piro, Lelia Nebeker and more) put together four panels of YA authors talking about narration, world building, reading and writing. I learned so much from listening to everyone there, and was glad to reconnect with author friends from all over the state (plus two from Canada and Philly). The afternoon drew fans not just from Arlington, but from Sterling and Fredericksburg, too.
Teen Read Week: Richmond Style
I am not exactly a James River Writer, since I’m not living along the James, but every year at this time I feel the Richmond Love, big time. The Richmond Library Folks (Natasha Payne-Brunson, Patty Parks, and a cast of thousands) team up with authors (Lana Krumwiede this year, with extra support from Elle Blair) to put together a true celebration. What do we celebrate? Writing! Reading! Being from Virginia! Writing about Virginia (and all kinds of other places, too). And teens! This year, we tried speed dating, rotating from table to table and talking about our books. One of the same Fredericksburg girls who was at the Arlington event came to Richmond, too. (I’m jealous because she says this week she’s also going to YALLfest.) The event just changed its name to YAVA, but it includes middle-grade novels, too, and this year was the first year that the library gave away a $1000 prize, which went to Gigi Amateau for Come August, Come Freedom. Finalist prizes went to Cece Bell (El Deafo) and Erica Orloff (In Dreams).
Bonus: I got to spend the rest of the night hanging out with Wendy Shang, working on our once and future manuscript.
A heap of photos can be found on the library flickr page and on Natasha’s tumblr. Here’s one of most of us together, and a couple of goofy shots.
Me and Cece
Squishy faces: Gigi Amateau, Meg Medina, Wendy Shang, and me with my regular camera. We are lucky this is not a disposable…
Bill Blume, Jodi Meadows, Sara Raasch, Sarah McGuire, Anne Blankman, Cece Bell, Me, Wendy Shang, Laura Krumwiede, Martina Boone and Tom Angleberger. (Not pictured: Kat Spears, Steve Watkins, Gigi Amateau)
SCBWI: Mid-Atlantic Style
This past weekend, I was super lucky to be on the faculty this year for SCBWI Mid-Atlantic, which holds a fantastic October conference put on people who care SO MUCH about writers and writing in our region. Shout-out to the generous organizers (Ellen Braaf, Erin Teagen, Valerie Patterson, with speaker care by Moira Rose Donohue) and a slew of dedicated volunteers. Not everything went smoothly. The winds from the tropical cyclone cancelled Kathi Appelt’s flight, so she had to deliver the keynote by Skype. Then a fire alarm went off in the middle of the presentation. But she was gripping, charming and unflappable. The organizers were charming and unflappable. And all went well.
I was on a marketing panel, and preparing to be on that panel taught me tons. I’m going to save that for a separate post, but I will tell you that the operative word is COMMUNITY.
If you missed it, or in case you were there and want more, Jen Malone, the moderator of the panel, is doing an online workshop this Sunday (Nov. 1) about marketing smarter, not wider, and you can still sign up.
When we walked in to kick off the conference, each of us had to bring a word of inspiration. For that, my word of the day (and you may scream, ala Pee-wee, if you hear it again) was FRIENDSHIP. That’s because friendship is at the core of so much of our writing for kids, and because I’ve met many of my closest friends through writing and through SCBWI.
That’s all for now!
Sarah McGuire, Jen Malone, me
Posted in marketing, Mission Possible, read local, virginia writers, world domination, writing
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Debut: Lisa Lewis Tyre
Lisa Lewis Tyre grew up in a family of storytellers in Tennessee. Her debut novel, Last in a Long Line of Rebels, got a pretty star from the folks at Publishers Weekly who called it “an accomplished debut.” The book, which came out last month, is about 12-year-old Lou, who lives in the oldest house in county. Until the county threatens to tear it down, that is. A book about families, mystery, history, and family history.
Me: I noted in your bio that you use the term SOUTHERN children’s author to describe yourself — the southern came first. Could you talk a little about why?
Lisa: I find identity so interesting. There are people who place it in their faith, their politics, gender, etc. For whatever reason, I can’t seem to separate mine from my Southernness.
Me: As someone who had to stop watching House of Cards because of Kevin Spacey’s (alleged) South Carolina accent, I wondered what pressures you feel when you’re depicting the South in your work. What are you striving for?
Lisa: I know what you mean about watching southerners depicted in film! I wanted to portray the interesting, fun, wonderful characters that we have in the South, without making them a caricature. It’s a fine line. Hopefully I did the area justice!
Me: You grew up in a family of story tellers. Tell us one of your favorite family stories.
Lisa: Ah, there are so many! One of my favorites involves my grandmother. She was one of 11 children, and the first few have very normal names. Somewhere around child No. 7 things take a weird turn. One evening before she was born, her Uncle John was leaving a pub. Someone called out from the dark, “Is that you, John?” He said yes, and was shot and killed! It turns out the person was waiting on a different John. It was a case of mistaken identity! My great-grandfather was so upset, he swore he’d name his children so that it would never happen to them. That’s why I have a grandmother named A.G (still alive at 102!), great uncles named QX and Leathers, and great-aunts named Gracie ToeToe and Tipsy Topsy!
Me: So no problems thinking of character names, then! When did you first you consider yourself a storyteller?
Lisa
Lisa: It’s a recent discovery. I think preserving my family stories has gotten more important to me as I’ve grown older. If they’re not written down, we’re going to lose them! That’s why I blog about my family’s history so often on my website.
Me: And when did you first consider yourself a writer?
Lisa: The bar is always moving. I guess now that I’m published I can say out loud that I am, but secretly I’ve been saying it to myself for years. Saying it would help to remind me that writer’s write, so I needed to get to work. If I didn’t believe it, who else would?
Me: I don’t think people ever get tired of “It’s-my-first-book” stories. Why don’t you go ahead and tell us that one?
Lisa: Sure! I grew up about 3 miles outside of Livingston, Tenn., on a tiny stretch of road that the locals called Zolicoffer. One day, I asked why they called it that and they told me that during the Civil War, General Felix Zollicoffer had camped there. As if that wasn’t exciting enough, they then said that during the 1950s, some kids found gold nearby. The theory was that it belonged to the General. I never stopped thinking about that gold, obviously, and LAST IN A LONG LINE OF REBELS was born.
About six years ago I decided to get serious about publishing a book, so I finished the manuscript, started querying, and found my wonderful agent, Susan Hawk. I am so incredibly happy that she took it to Nancy Paulsen. It’s a dream come true!
Me: Give us a six word summary of your book. (I know, right?)
Lisa: Lou hunts gold to save house.
Me: And some fun questions: How about telling us your favorite Southern meal?
Lisa: Fried Chicken, potato salad, baked beans, homemade rolls, with deviled eggs.
Me: Favorite Southern dessert?
Lisa: Pecan Pie
Me: Favorite Southern slang?
Lisa: Hold your taters – Mainly because my mom used to say it.
Me: What are you working on now?
Lisa: I am working on a middle grade novel about a 12 year-old girl who, after the death of her mother, finds that when she was born she was placed up for adoption for 8 days. Rather than go and live with some awful relatives, she decides to pursue a relationship with the family she almost had.
Thanks, Lisa! You can find out more about Lisa by visiting her website at lisalewistyre.com or by following her on twitter at @lisalewistyre. And to read more about middle grade books, be sure to check in with the folks at Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays.
Posted in author interview, middle grade
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