Today’s installment of the Debut 2009 Blog Tour is a special Double Feature: two fabulous debut novels and two talented debut authors!
First up is Jennifer Brown, author of Hate List. Even if that striking cover didn’t make me want to pick it up, the premise certainly would: it’s the story of the girlfriend of a school shooter, coming to terms with her own role in the tragedy. I am really looking forward to reading this one.
Here’s Jennifer, to answer a few questions:
Q: Tell us about a scene or character from your novel that was especially easy (or especially difficult) to write.
A: My main character, Valerie, was very difficult to write, because it was tough to accurately show her grief and pain and confusion and anger, but still make her someone my readers would like and care about. Someone in that kind of emotional trouble is tough to like. I had to dig deep, get really down into her emotions to find the soft spots that would make readers go, “Oh. Now I understand her.”
Q: What is your favorite (or one of your favorite) myths or fairy-tales, and why? Or alternately, what fairy-tale or myth do you dislike, and why?
A: Who doesn’t love Cinderella? And what I love most about it is there are so many ways to re-tell it, and it never, ever gets old.
Q: So, what has been the most exciting part of selling your book(s) and getting published so far?
A: I’ve met a lot of really cool people in the YA world. From bloggers to dedicated YA fans to… Debs. Everyone’s so awesome!
Part two of this Debut Double Feature is the infamous and multi-talented Jackson Pearce, author of As You Wish.
I want to read Jackson’s book for a lot of reasons (and yes, one reason is that the title of her debut is a line from one of my favorite movies!). Jackson is the founder of the 2009 Debutantes, a community of debut YA and MG authors that saved my sanity dozens of times over the past year. She’s full of energy, creativity, and wit, and everything I’ve heard about As You Wish leads me to believe it’s exactly the sort of book I would enjoy: charming, magical, clever, and fun. Plus, it features an (in my opinion) considerably underutilized supernatural entity: a genie!
In addition to being an author and the fearless leader of the Debs, Jackson creates some brilliant vlogs about all sorts of book and publishing related topics. My favorite is probably her Imaginary Writing Process:
About Hate List
Five months ago, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saves the life of a classmate, but is implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things they hated. The list her boyfriend used to pick his targets.
Now, after a summer of seclusion, Val is forced to confront her guilt as she returns to school to complete her senior year. Haunted by the memory of the boyfriend she still loves and navigating rocky relationships with her family, former friends and the girl whose life she saved, Val must come to grips with the tragedy that took place and her role in it, in order to make amends and move on with her life.
About Jennifer Brown
Jennifer Brown is the author of HATE LIST, a YA novel coming out in September 2009. As a two-time winner of The Erma Bombeck Global Humor award and weekly columnist for The Kansas City Star, as well as Saturday Featured Blogger for Mom2MomKC.com, Jennifer spends a lot of time dressing up her dog for laughs and thinking of new ways to works words such as “Puh-lease” and “Ch-yeah!” into sentences. Jennifer grew up in the Kansas City, Missouri area, where she still lives with her husband, three kids, and whole herd of uncooperative pets.
Learn more about Jennifer at her website.
Hate List is available now! I encourage you to shop at your local independent bookstore!
About As You Wish
Seven months ago, Viola’s boyfriend told her he was gay—moments before she was going to lose her virginity to him. Heartbroken, Viola has resigned herself to near invisibility, until she inadvertently summons a young jinn out of his world, Caliban, and into her own. Here he will remain until she makes three wishes.
Jinn is anxious to get back to Caliban, but Viola is terrified of wishing, afraid her wishes will be manipulated into curses. Jinn knows that should she wait too long, the Ifrit, guardians of earthbound jinn, will press her to wish by hurting those around her.As they spend time together, Jinn can’t deny that he’s slowly falling in love with Viola, blurring the lines between master and servant. It’s only after Viola makes her first wish—for a popular boy to love her—that she realizes the feelings are mutual.
With every wish Jinn’s time with her diminishes, but the longer she waits to wish the greater danger she’s in from the Ifrit. Together, Viola, Jinn, and Viola’s ex-boyfriend try to outwit the Ifrit while dealing with their own romantic complexities and the alcohol-laced high school social scene.
About Jackson Pearce
Jackson Pearce is twenty-four years old and currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with a slightly cross-eyed cat and a lot of secondhand furniture. She recently graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and a minor in Philosophy and currently works for a software company even though she auditioned for the circus (she juggled and twirled fire batons, but they still didn’t want her). Other jobs she’s had include obituaries writer, biker bar waitress, and receptionist.
In addition, Jackson coaches both colorguard and winterguard at a local high school; she’s taught over four hundred students since starting six years ago. Coaching provides the greatest “research” for writing YA that she could ever ask for and has introduced her to some of the most unique characters she’s ever met.
Jackson began writing when she got angry that the school librarian couldn’t tell her of a book that contained a smart girl, horses, baby animals, and magic. Her solution was to write the book herself when she was twelve. Her parents thought it was cute at first, but have grown steadily more concerned for her ever since.
Learn more about Jackson at her website.
As You Wish is available now! I encourage you to shop at your local independent bookstore!
Tags: debs blog tour
