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I'm super excited to welcome BOOK BIRTHDAY author Marisa Noelle to the blog today to celebrate the release of THE SHADOW KEEPERS, a fabulous YA fantasy from Magnolia Press. You can find all the pre-order links and blurb information below, but first, Marisa talks about mental health rep in YA books, a topic we should definitely be talking about more. Mental Health in YA books As authors, we owe it to our readers to present a realistic, inclusive world. Whether we have an own voices story to tell, or our experience comes from research, it is important that readers can see themselves in a book. Recently, this has meant ensuring diversity is included as well as LGBTQ+, disability, chronic illness and mental health, to name a few. The diagnosis and treatment of mental health conditions is still in its infancy and we have a long way to go before the stigma is erased. One of the key changes should be, in my opinion, the very title “mental health,” which can promote negative responses. In turn, people hide away their concerns and doubts and don’t get the help they need. Our teenage years can be some of the most emotional and impressionable, as not only our bodies go through significant changes, but so does the development of our brains. Therefore, it is especially important that we shine a light on the problems teenagers face and show them how to fight their way through. During these sensitive years, teenagers often clamp down on their emotions, are unable to find the words to talk about how they are feeling or are just plain embarrassed about having a problem. Many avoid seeking help. If we, as authors, can show them support in books, to make them feel a little less alone, to normalize their condition, then it’s an important and responsible role. When I was fifteen I spent a year with anorexia and it took a tremendous amount of strength and family support to fight my way through. At the time, even though I was at a private girls school where the library was well stocked, I found only one book that deal with the issue. Unable to put into words how I was feeling, I was able to hand that book to my mother and say “this.” It’s good to see that many more books are being released around the topic, my favorite of this year so far The Year I Didn’t Eat by Samuel Pollen. That wasn’t my only brush with a mental health problem. While I was at university, two of my friends died from Meningitis and the experience catapulted me into an anxiety disorder which I still live with today. It took me many years, hours of therapy, three different psychologists and the unending support of my parents and husband to find myself in a functional place. I have my ups and downs and will continue to do so, but I have been down the journey of denial, anger, and am finally at acceptance (mostly). But at the time, I never found a novel that showed what I was going through. Yes, there were self-help books and text books etc, and I educated myself on the physiological symptoms pf panic attacks, but I wanted to know I was ok how I was. That I didn’t need to change. That it wasn’t my fault. And, I believe, the only way to show people with mental health issues that they are not at fault, is to give them a voice on the page. Show how normal it is. Take the stigma away. Let’s raise our teenagers with the confidence to be ok in their own skin and that they don’t have to hide from help. The message here: You don’t have to be fixed. As a result of my experiences, I often include mental health issues in my own writing. The forthcoming The Shadow Keepers, releases on July 30th and follows a sixteen-year-old girl who sees shadowy creatures in mirrors. When no one believes her and after years of being tormented, she develops anxiety and OCD. When she is remanded to the UK’s best mental health hospital, she knows she will have to face her fears, face the shadows. But there is a unique strength in those who have mental health issues in the book, and it is only them who can destroy these insidious monsters.  My second book, The Unadjusteds, due out November 1st, also looks at mental health. In a world where genetic enhancements are the norm, sixteen-year-old Silver must face this elite society as an unadjusted. She fights for her right to remain human in the face of temptation, self-doubt and anxiety. She bears the responsibility for many lives and feels the full weight of that burden. No two experiences of mental illness are the same. And while I can write about my own, it will be very different from the next author or reader. But I hope that the more authors include these very normal, human conditions, the more teens will speak out and become willing to get the right help. To embrace their condition with pride and look for the positives it can bring.  THE SHADOW KEEPERS... Sixteen-year-old Georgia Boone has seen the shadow creatures in mirrors and other reflective surfaces since she was six-years-old. But no one--not even her brother, the person she’s closest to in the entire world--believes her. She is all alone in the hellish world where crow-like creatures hunt her everywhere she goes When an afternoon of shopping ends in violence and blood, Georgia is sent to the UK’s most prestigious mental health hospital: Brookwood Hospital. There, she’s forced to face her fears and answer the question: Are the shadows real, or is this all in her head? At Brookwood, the shadow creatures are more present than ever. Each day they grow stronger. With the help of a mysterious boy who lives inside the mirror world, she might be able to prove that she’s not hallucinating and stop the shadows from destroying the human world.  MARISA NOELLE is a writer of young adult and middle grade novels. She leans towards grounded science-fiction, urban fantasy and paranormal but mental health issues are important to her writing too. Her first book, The Shadow Keeper is due out summer 2019 and her second, The Unadjusteds, in October.
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IT'S INTERVIEW TIME AGAIN! And I'm pleased to welcome author Keena Roberts to the blog today as she builds up to the release of her incredible debut coming out in November!  Keena Roberts is the author of WILD LIFE: Dispatches From a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs, a memoir about growing up in a research camp in Botswana and the transition back to the life an American high school student in a wealthy suburb of Philadelphia. Keena is a born adventurer, drawn to stories featuring strong female protagonists and survival in incredible worlds full of danger, animals, and natural beauty. Though her time in Botswana was sadly devoid of the dragons she loves to read about in fantasy novels, she faced her fair share of elephants, hippos, and lions, and is either a delight or a bore to visit the zoo with, depending on your tolerance for animal facts. Follow Keena here... Website  Keena Roberts split her childhood between the wilds of a monkey research camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. It wasn’t unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But the far more dangerous landscape of the social hierarchy at her preppy, private school cowed this brave young girl from the bush every time her parents took her back to the United States. Most kids Keena’s age didn’t spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants when they were supposed to be focusing on algebra homework. They didn’t carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena’s parents were famous primatologists who shuttled their family between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players. In Keena’s funny, tender memoir, Wild Life, Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there’s any place where she truly fits in.
The interview... Who are you and what do you write? Hello! My name is Keena Roberts and my debut memoir WILD LIFE: DISPATCHES FROM A CHILDHOOD OF BABOONS AND BUTTON-DOWNS comes out on November 12! It's the story of how I grew up half in my parents' primate research camp in the Okavango Delta in Botswana and half in a fancy private school outside Philadelphia - basically, the real life Mean Girls! Even though my debut is non-fiction, my follow-up book is fantasy fiction also set in the Okavango with baboon protagonists based on the monkeys I grew up with. Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you? When we first moved to Botswana I started keeping a journal as a way to practice writing since I wasn't in any kind of formal school. It became a habit, and I kept a journal every day for the next ten years, writing about growing up in camp, all the crazy animal encounters we had, and what it was like going out with my parents in the field with the baboons. How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown? It's been long, but extremely rewarding! Wild Life was very challenging to write since it had to cover two settings (Botswana and the US) and a different cast of characters in each place over the same time frame. To be honest, it was a mess when I first began querying, but I was lucky enough to find an agent who was patient and thoughtful about helping me fix it before we went on submission. It took a long time and several full rewrites, but it has been well worth it in the end. What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable? All the rewrites, FOR SURE. I think there have been four complete rewrites since I started? It's pretty daunting to think of rewriting a 100,000 word manuscript, but when you get feedback that you really believe will make the book better, it's a little easier to jump back in. The most enjoyable has definitely been meeting other authors! As others would probably agree, writing is a very solitary activity and when I was querying I didn't know a single other writer. The community out there is amazing and especially the groups of other 2019 debuts. Would you go back and change anything? I don't think so. Even the difficult parts have been good learning experiences and I'm grateful for where I am and what the rest of the year holds. Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? Or, what are your plans for the future? I'd really like to have my second book coming out! The pressure is on with my second book, and it feels like the stakes are higher in switching to a different genre. I'm proud of the story, though, and now that I have a solid outline I just need to get the words out and see how it ends up. What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out? Patience, patience, patience. Everything in publishing takes a long time, but that doesn't mean it won't work out for you if you just keep pushing ahead and believing in yourself and your stories. Even the most famous authors had to start somewhere. Ketchup or Mayo? Neither. Night or Day? Day! Inside or Outside? Outside! Dogs or Cats? Both. Twitter or Facebook? Twitter! Come talk animal facts with me: @roberts_keena Ebook or Paperback? Ebook, but only because I travel a lot and a Kindle makes it easier to carry many books at once. Walk or Drive? Drive. Sun or Rain? Can I pick both? Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Keyboard. Comedy or Drama? Comedy. 100%. Chips or Chocolate? Chips. I'm delighted to be back with another brilliant awesome author interview, and today's guest is Kelly Brakenhoff who already has a book out with another planned later this year. Find out more about Kelly and her books, and then read the interview!  Kelly Brakenhoff is an American Sign Language Interpreter whose motivation for learning ASL began in high school when she wanted to converse with her deaf friends. Her first mystery, Death by Dissertation, was published in April, 2019. Look for the sequel, Dead Week, and her children’s picture book series featuring Duke the deaf dog, both coming in the Fall of 2019. She serves on the Board of Editors for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf publication, VIEWs. The mother of four young adults, a cranky old dog, and a rambunctious puppy, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.  Ambitious Cassandra Sato traded her life in Hawai’i for a dream position as Student Affairs VP at Morton College in tiny Carson, Nebraska. She expected the Midwestern church casseroles, land-locked cornfields, and face-freezing winters would be her biggest challenges, but it’s her job that’s rapidly becoming a nightmare. A deaf student is dead and the investigation reveals a complicated trail of connections between campus food service, a local farmer’s beef, and the science lab’s cancer research. Dealing with homesickness, vandalism, and a stalker, Cassandra is trapped in a public relations disaster that could cost her job, or more. No one said college was easy. “Death by Dissertation is an engaging mystery with puzzling clues that introduces readers to a plucky protagonist . . . Author Kelly Brakenhoff is to be commended for her insider observations and realistic portrayal of campus politics and life in a small college town.” ~Book Club Librarian “Find yourself caught up in this heartwarming academic cozy mystery featuring a strong and determined female sleuth.” ~Mallory Heart’s Cozies “Not only does author Kelly Brakenhoff spin a good tale she seems to write from the heart.” — My Reading Journeys Blog “Death by Dissertation is a great start for a debut author and I can’t wait to see what other adventures await Cassandra Sato.” ~Only By Grace Reviews THE INTERVIEW... Who are you and what do you write? Hi Kate! Thanks for interviewing me. I’ve been a Twitter fan of yours for a long time. I’m an American Sign Language Interpreter by day, living the dream in Husker Heaven, aka. Lincoln, Nebraska with my husband and two dogs. Death by Dissertation is my first novel and the beginning of the Cassandra Sato mystery series set in the U.S. in rural Nebraska. After graduating with a Ph.D. and working a few years at a college in Hawai’i—where she was born and raised—Cassandra moves to Morton College in the heart of the Midwest because she thinks it will help her get experience to someday become a university president. When a student dies two months into her dream job, she struggles with culture shock, academic politics, and threats of violence while she helps the investigation. Cassandra is surrounded by an old friend, hilarious students, and supportive co-workers, but it’s her job on the line if she can’t figure out how to end the nightmarish string of suspicious incidents. Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you? I don't remember not loving to read, and then writing followed soon afterwards. In elementary school, my younger sister and I made homemade comic books featuring dogs and cats. I wrote the words, and she did the illustrations. Think Garfield meets Snoopy. They were pretty bad. How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown? Cassandra Sato’s story began as a NaNoWriMo project in 2014. Years of writing, editing, and procrastinating got me to the finished novel stage. After more than forty rejections from agents, but lots of praise and advice from talented mentors, I decided to make the leap and self-publish. I hired an editor and a cover designer then plunged into the deep end of publishing. Mysteries are my favorite to read and write. I plan to publish the second in my series later this year. I'm also working on a children's picture book series that has a deaf dog as the main character. Ironically, my sister is drawing the illustrations. And they are gorgeous! What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable? The first commandment of writing advice experts love to repeat is “Write Every Day.” Awesome wisdom if you’re a full-time writer. My day job is mentally challenging, I'm married, and I have four mostly grown children and a grandson. Keeping work/life balance is such a high priority for me, I just can't write every day. Which has its repercussions, like how it's taken me 4+ years to finish my first novel. When I don't touch the manuscript for more than a couple of weeks, I waste valuable time getting back into the story. I do try to think about my WIP every day. I jot notes that occur to me while dreaming, driving, or running. Do I feel guilty about it and cringe every time some expert preaches this advice? Yes. Will I continue to write at my (snail's) pace. YES! Would you go back and change anything? For many years I put off my dreams to help raise my children. If I ever doubted my passion for writing, I am now certain that this is what I want to be when I grow up. I have no regrets for how long it took. I truly enjoy every aspect of being an author. Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? Or, what are your plans for the future? I look forward to traveling more the next few years now that our nest is empty. Great story ideas come to me when I’m people watching in new places. The next Cassandra Sato mystery, Dead Week, is due out later this fall. After that, I have at least three more planned in the series. At some point, Cassandra needs to lead a group of Nebraska students on a study abroad trip to Hawai’i so we can see the reverse culture shock that Cassandra has experienced in Death by Dissertation. What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out? At the risk of sounding like your mom, here’s my advice: Writing a novel is hard, but if you break it into small chunks and just focus on the next sentence it helps you avoid feeling overwhelmed. If it were easy, everyone would do it. If you want to do it badly enough, you will find the time. Ketchup or Mayo? Hellman’s Mayo Night or Day? Such a toughie. Day?? Inside or Outside? Outside Dogs or Cats? Dogs, of course. Twitter or Facebook? Reluctantly, Facebook. Ebook or Paperback? If I had unlimited shelves, Paperback. Walk or Drive? Walk Sun or Rain? Sun Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? Keyboard! Comedy or Drama? Comedy Chips or Chocolate? Chocolate, although both are my kryptonite. My author interview series continues today with my next guest being a lovely Aussie author who has a book coming out in November and you should totally pre-order it NOW!  In the dull, everyday world, seventeen-year-old Rose Evermore struggles to plan beyond her final year of high school. But when fire suddenly obeys her every command and her dreams predict the future, she becomes hungry for more of this strange power. Under her dreams’ guidance, Rose lands in the fantasy realm of Lotheria–with a tagalong. Tyson, her best friend since childhood, winds up there with her, just as confused and a hell of a lot more vulnerable. In Lotheria, Rose is welcomed and celebrated as a fire mage at the Academy, while the very un-magical Tyson is forced into hiding under threat of death from the masters of Rose’s new school. As Rose’s talent in fire magic draws unwanted attention and Tyson struggles to transition from high school student to blacksmith, Rose must find a way to return Tyson to their own world before the masters discover and execute him–no matter the cost. THE INTERVIEW... Who are you and what do you write? Hi Kate! My name is Renee April, and I write fantasy and historical YA/NA Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you? In primary school. My mum was big on reading, which got me into good habits that eventually led to writing my own scribbles. Writing has been part of my life as much as dentist visits, school camps, and little siblings have been. I don't count it as a hobby. For me it's just something I do. How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown? You know when you're on a rollercoaster and it clinks up slowly, then plunges down seemingly forever? I think we're about to curve back up ;) Seriously though, I thought I knew it all when I was 21, 22. Spoiler alert, I was an idiot. Turns out only hard lessons can teach the arrogant, so I'm here now, self-educating, reviewing, growing. It only took me six years, don't worry. What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable? The hardest part for me is feeling like the book doesn't make sense. That your subtleties are too overt, the plot twist too obvious, the romance forced. I guess as the orchestrator of it all, you see it coming. I find it impossible to edit my own work alone; I just cannot see what a fresh reader does. The most enjoyable was the unboxing of my paperbacks even though I swore and blubbed and cried a lot. Would you go back and change anything? Yes. My attitude. Where would you like to be in 5 years time? And 10? Or, what are your plans for the future? I'd like to be paying rent with money from my projects -- not just writing, but my narration, perhaps some freelance editing. I do want to get more into narration, hence why I practice every Saturday morning with submissions from extremely gracious authors. What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out? Don't just talk about writing, actually write. Take it upon yourself to learn the trade, mix resources, read A LOT. Learn to brew a good cup of tea and find your ideal writing environment. Ketchup or Mayo? MAYO Night or Day? DAY (morning?) Inside or Outside? INSIDE Dogs or Cats? BIRDS Twitter or Facebook? TWITTER, YAAASS Ebook or Paperback? PAPERBACK Walk or Drive? DRIVE Sun or Rain? RAIN Keyboard or Pencil & Notebook? ONE THEN THE OTHER Comedy or Drama? DRAMA Chips or Chocolate? CHOCOLATE
Renee April is the author of the young adult fantasy novel, Her Crown of Fire. In addition to being an avid reader and writer, she streams games badly on Twitch and acts as dungeon master for her D&D group. As a result, she spends far too much time in fantasy realms. She can be found on various writing sites such as Wattpad and Goodreads, but usually lurks on Twitter to hand out bad advice and genuine sympathies. Author Website I'm pleased to kick off a series of new author blogs and interviews coming up over the next few months today, and I'm welcoming a brand new writer and blogger, writing her first blogs only this year, to whom I hope you'll show kindness and patience as you get to know her. Her e-book comes out today! www.minitalesfairies.com  Who are you and what do you write? Hi I'm Havelah. I am a young artist. Since I was a little girl, I've had a passion for art and I want to share my imagination with others. Second, I am a writer. I like to write in a variety of genres but fantasy is my favorite genre. Where and when and how did the writing life begin for you? I took an interest in writing around 2011. A year ago, we, my family and I, were in a car heading somewhere. My older sister had a notebook and I asked, “Can you write a story with my characters?” She did and I enjoyed watching her write the story. After that I decided to write my own stories. I write all different kind of stories. Not all of them are Christian; however, I do my best to use the examples of my faith in any stories I write. I’ve written stories inspired by real people and some in which I've used things that relate to my own life. Not every story I've written is that way. I write stories to encourage others and inspire them to do the same How has the journey to this point been? Can you give us a basic rundown? For nine years I’ve been improving my skill and have come a long way to understand how each writer uses their unique ability to create a story. I have self-published before but only made copies for my family and friends. I've self-published an ebook and had some people help me create it. But this year I finally figured how to do one on my own, and creating a book cover too. I am pretty proud of myself for learning something new. What's been the hardest part of your writing/publishing experience so far? And the most enjoyable? The hardest part of my writing has been that I want to be sure my stories make sense. I’m good with revising and putting the story together. Other than that, I’m not good with grammar stuff. What's one piece of advice you'd give to new writers just starting out? If you are beginner writers, or you don’t want to give up your favorite genre, I am going to say it is okay to step out from your comfort zone and try something new. Not every genre is going to be easy, but they can help you to grow better at writing.   |
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January 2021
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