YALLFest is coming! YALLFest is coming! On November 9th, 2013, fifty YA authors will descend on Charleston, SC, for an amazing day of free panels, presentations, and book signings. Visit the YALLFest website for more details and follow them on twitter @yallfest. In the weeks leading up to the big event, I’m hosting interviews with the talented YALLFest authors several times a week, so keep stopping by to learn more about these fabulous folks.
Today we have New York Times bestselling author Michelle Hodkin, who grew up in South Florida. Michelle was a lawyer who never considered being a writer until a conversation with a stranger during a work trip inspired the idea for a story she just had to write. That story became her first novel, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. The second book in the trilogy is The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and the third book, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, will be published in mid-2014.
And now for the Q&A with Michelle:
Describe your book in 5 words.
Romeo and Juliet meets Hitchcock
What is the hardest line to write – the first or the last?
I spend a lot of time thinking about my first lines. A lot of time. Too much time. Luckily the last lines usually come to me as I write.
What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?
What I love about YA is that I don't have to choose a genre. I can blend elements and mess with conventions from all of them—horror, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, whatever. I'm not sure I could choose a favorite, if I were ever told that I had to. And my reading is all over the place, but right now I'm reading a lot of old school sci-fi and fantasy, with some literary fiction thrown in.
What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?
The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's not YA, but it is about a teenager who reminds me of my teen self. And maybe also my adult self. Anyway. I basically push the book into the hands of everyone I meet. It's just that good.
What are you working on now?
A secret project that is secret. But I'm wildly excited about it, and I think my readers will be too.
Are you planning to attend YALLFest? Have you read any of Michelle’s books? Which one(s) are your favorite(s)?
Previous YALLFest interviews:
YALLFest is coming! YALLFest is coming! On November 9th, 2013, fifty YA authors will descend on Charleston, SC, for an amazing day of free panels, presentations, and book signings. Visit the YALLFest website for more details and follow them on twitter @yallfest. In the weeks leading up to the big event, I’m hosting interviews with the talented YALLFest authors several times a week, so keep stopping by to learn more about these fabulous folks.
Today we have New York Times bestselling author Michelle Hodkin, who grew up in South Florida. Michelle was a lawyer who never considered being a writer until a conversation with a stranger during a work trip inspired the idea for a story she just had to write. That story became her first novel, The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. The second book in the trilogy is The Evolution of Mara Dyer, and the third book, The Retribution of Mara Dyer, will be published in mid-2014.
And now for the Q&A with Michelle:
Describe your book in 5 words.
Romeo and Juliet meets Hitchcock
What is the hardest line to write – the first or the last?
I spend a lot of time thinking about my first lines. A lot of time. Too much time. Luckily the last lines usually come to me as I write.
What is your favorite genre to write in? To Read?
What I love about YA is that I don't have to choose a genre. I can blend elements and mess with conventions from all of them—horror, mystery, sci-fi, fantasy, whatever. I'm not sure I could choose a favorite, if I were ever told that I had to. And my reading is all over the place, but right now I'm reading a lot of old school sci-fi and fantasy, with some literary fiction thrown in.
What one young adult novel do you wish you had when you were a teen? Why?
The Magicians by Lev Grossman. It's not YA, but it is about a teenager who reminds me of my teen self. And maybe also my adult self. Anyway. I basically push the book into the hands of everyone I meet. It's just that good.
What are you working on now?
A secret project that is secret. But I'm wildly excited about it, and I think my readers will be too.
Are you planning to attend YALLFest? Have you read any of Michelle’s books? Which one(s) are your favorite(s)?
Previous YALLFest interviews:
