First off, it’s incredibly exciting to hear that people have become so invested in Jasmine and crew that they want a continuation of their journey. It really does thrill me to pieces–because I, too, want to continue that journey. That has always been my plan for this book.

But this is dependent on a couple of things–how well Amplified sells. If it does well, my publisher may consider a sequel. If Amplified doesn’t sell well, it will be a matter of when I have the time and resources to self-pub a sequel. But I WILL write one and I will put it out.

Here’s the thing about publishing that most of us writers know, but our readers may not.

Sales numbers often have a big impact on whether or not a publisher wants to pick up our next book. For an author who writes a killer, high-concept book that lands on the bestseller list, selling that next book is often less challenging. For quiet/midlist-ish authors like, say, me, selling that next book can be a bit more challenging. Basically, publishers are taking a risk on us every time they buy another book. They want to know they’re getting paid back—who wouldn’t, right?

So, how can you help? Support your favorite quiet authors by being LOUD. (I know many of you do this already, but sometimes it can stand to be repeated)

If you are hoping for a sequel to a book, it’s great when you write the author and let them know. But you can also email their publisher and express your interest. It means a lot more coming from you than it does us.

Tweet about it, tell your friends, tell others why they need to read your favorite author’s book.

Buy a copy—ereader or hardcopy (your choice) I understand the temptation to download illegal copies online. You work hard for your money and you don’t want to blow sixteen bucks on a book that sucks. But you’re hurting your favorite authors/artists more than helping them by doing this. That said, I’m not going to get all preachy here. I’ll just say…if you do end up liking the book, at least buy a copy

Hopefully that answers some of your questions. No more angry emails, ‘kay?

Here’s my style: I don’t pull punches, but I’m not mean. I’m a freelance editor, after all. I keep it constructive. Sometimes I get very passionate about characters, and I like to make funny comments about them. You’re encouraged to do the same to me. Unless it’s my job, I’m not someone who will rewrite your lines or tweak your voice, and I definitely don’t want you to do that to me. You don’t need a formal invitation to send me anything–just do it. I won’t keep track of who has read more for the other, and I really hope you won’t either.

Biggest asset: I can make one hell of a playlist for your book. No, really. Need music? I can help.

Favorite authors/styles I LOVE: Stephanie Kuehnert, Courtney Summers, A.S. King, C.K. Kelly Martin are a few examples, but I love many more. Check out my GR shelf.

What I’m looking for (yes, these are requirements):

• You don’t have to be published, but you can’t be a beginner. Editing is a paid gig for me and I don’t have a ton of extra time, so I don’t want to feel like I’m giving a bunch of advice or ‘teaching’. I want to feel like our skill levels are fairly equal. Better than me is welcome, but I don’t want to slow YOU down either.
• Must have read and adored at least one of my books. No, I’m not a narcissist. It’s just…if you haven’t read my writing and loved it, why would you want to be my crit partner? I’m looking for PASSION, darling!
• I must LOVE your writing. If you’re published and I’ve read and loved one of your books, even better. A regular crit partner is a big commitment for me. I want to look forward to everything you send me and vice versa.
• Must write YA because it’s what I write and what I love. I like most genres (especially contemp), but high fantasy and sci-fi aren’t really my thing.
• Must be willing to cowrite a story with me (just kidding). I AM hoping to find that person one day, though.
• Must have a sense of humor. No, really. You MUST.

Okay, so I may very well get zero responses. This is the first time I’m trying a method like this…so we’ll see.

If you want to apply (ha, that sounds so pretentious), send me an email at contact (at) thetaratracks (dot) com that includes the following:

• Why you want to be my crit partner or you’d think we’d be a good match or whatever
• Your favorite band (no, I won’t hold this against you–just curious)
• A first chapter

I am responding to this because 1) I understand where this author is coming from, but I completely disagree and 2) my comment was taken out of context

When I was 14…I came up with this motto (or thought I did at the time, lol)–there’s no limit to the imagination.

What did I mean by this?

Well, I came from a troubled home. I felt trapped. Like there was no way out and nowhere to go. So one day (I remember this like it was yesterday) I was writing in my notebook and “there’s no limit to the imagination” came out. I discovered a way to cope. Somewhere to put all the rage inside of me. A world I had control over for once. A place I actually felt SAFE and free to be myself without getting my ass beat. Without being ridiculed. Without people telling me I wasn’t good enough or smart enough or beautiful enough…or whatever enough. Without limitations from the external world. Anything was possible.

I truly believed there was no limit to MY imagination. I believed that I could be more. That I was capable of MORE. And you know what? My belief in this as a teen saved me in many ways. It got me through some of the hardest years of my life. It helped me become the writer I am today, and it will continue to help me grow as a writer. And I’m far from alone there.

You want to reduce that to “Disneyspeak”? Go ahead. You want to use big words and mathematical calculations to prove a limitless imagination is bullshit? Awesome! I suck at math, so have at it. You want to tell kids that their imaginations are limited by their vocabulary? Fine. Be a buzzkill.

But perhaps you aren’t considering the psychological value here. Even if our imagination was limited by words (and I don’t believe this), I’m not seeing the harm in encouraging kids to strive for more. To channel their feelings into something productive, even if it seems impossible. Who is anyone to say what anyone else is capable of? I’ve seen autistic people on the severe end of the spectrum accomplish things doctors with fancy degrees never thought possible.

And then there’s my cat. He dreams on a regular basis. Don’t believe your pets dream? Here’s a fun article: http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/pets/2010-06-29-dogs-cats-dream_N.htm Do I think my cat capable of having an imagination? I do. I don’t believe it’s actually been proven that our pets don’t have imaginations. If so, please do link me to the study. Needless to say, my cat DOES speak to me, but he’s sure as hell not using words. He communicates through sound, pitch, gestures, etc.

When I am writing music, melodies come to me first. I play entirely by ear. I cannot read music AT ALL. If you describe a certain key, I won’t know what you’re talking about until I hear it. Melodies just come to me, much like my characters do. Melodies are not words. They don’t have a color or a shape. How do you even describe what it sounds like accurately to people who don’t read music or aren’t familiar with keys/notes? Sure, you can be metaphoric. I’ve done it. Can you literally describe what a melody looks, tastes, sounds, and smells like? I’m stumped… So how does a melody in my head equate to words? I’m not understanding that concept. At all.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Tara: Let me just say this was very hard. I really enjoyed many of these recs and appreciate the time all of you took to come up with them. Thank you all so much!!

Grand Prize Winner for AMPLIFIED: Jake for all of his recs. I loved every one of them! And I’ve also found a new band for my WIP–Broken Iris is awesome!

Runner up for AMPLIFIED: Corey for the Florence + The Machine rec. LOVED this song–excellent pick

Winners: I sent you both emails, but do email me if you did not receive them.

Stephanie’s Winners:

Grand Prize: Dani

Runner-Up: Corey

In celebration of the release of Amplified (Oct 25th *squee*), two lovely music lovin’ authors have joined me in hosting a contest. Discovering new music is one of my favorite pastimes…so I’d like you to help me. Due to tight budgets, this contest is US only (sorry).

The Prizes (enter to win all or just the book of your choice)

Grand Prize from Tara Kelly:

A signed hardcover of AMPLIFIED, a soundtrack to Amplified (in the form of an iMix playlist gifted to you), and a swag pack

Runner-Up Prize from Tara Kelly:

Signed Amplified bookmarks and a musical surprise

Grand Prize from Stephanie Kuehnert:

A signed copy of I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE

Runner-Up Prize from Stephanie Kuehnert:

A mix CD and signed bookmarks

Grand Prize from Jeri Smith-Ready:

A signed paperback of the anthology ENTHRALLED: PARANORMAL DIVERSIONS, an iMix of Logan’s playlist (gifted to you)

Runner-Up Prize from Jeri Smith-Ready:

SHADE swag pack

How To Enter

Each author is posting a playlist of some of their or their character’s favorite songs, and we want recommendations from you based on those songs. (If I like Come Here Boy by Imogen Heap, what other song (by a different artist) might I like?)

If you want to be entered into all three author giveaways, choose one song from each author playlist and give each of us a recommendation based on that song. If you are only interested in one or two of the giveaways, then just make recommendations to those authors. Leave your recommendations as a comment to this post.

Contest Ends October 25th

The contest will end on October 25th! Each of us will pick our favorite song recommendationand that will be our grand prize winner (for a total of 3 winners). We’re looking for awesome music we’ve never heard before, so put some thought into those choices As an added treat, we’ll also be choosing 3 runner-up winners because it’s hard to just pick one each. 

Tara’s Playlist

My tastes are obscure, but I did my best to pick more mainstream artists/songs. Hopefully most of you have heard of these bands or songs. If not, click on the song link and you’ll be directed to a YouTube video.

Right In Two by Tool

Come Here Boy by Imogen Heap

Switchback by Celldweller

Song To Say Goodbye by Placebo

Teardrop by Massive Attack

Stephanie’s Playlist

On A Plain by Nirvana

Violet by Hole

The 59′ Sound by The Gaslight Anthem

Lullaby by The Cure

I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone by Sleater-Kinney

Jeri’s Playlist

Here are the songs, all plucked from Logan’s “Sucks to Be a Ghost (Sometimes)” soundtrack, which can be found here: http://jerismithready.com/books/shade/music/ You can also click on the youtube links below

Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons

Ready to Fall by Rise Against

Make This Go On Forever by Snow Patrol

Don’t Let Me Die Still Wondering by Flogging Molly

Rhythm of Love by The Plain White T’s

Happy song hunting!

One thing I didn’t deal with so much in music was people making assumptions about who I am and what I stand for, based on my songs (granted, my lyrics were always pretty abstract). Sure, I got comments about my hair, my body, or my clothes. I was too young .Too old. Too this or that. One time someone told me I sang like Shakira ‘with a frog stuck in her throat’. Ouch, I know.

I’ve found that people judge authors more on the inside than the outside (although appearances do get bashed, don’t get me wrong) This experience of being judged as a person, of people I have never spoken to or met in my life publicly making statements about what they think I believe in and who I am….is brand new to me. Quite frankly, it’s not something I find easy to swallow. After getting a few emails and seeing several reviews where people are making assumptions about ME based on my book, I feel the need to put this out there. This isn’t just about me, though. I’ve seen my fellow authors go through this as well.

Straight up? I find reviews judging/making assumptions about the author as a person completely unfair. They aren’t helpful or really even useful. Book reviews should be just that–BOOK reviews. Yeah, I know there are some books out there where…come on…a certain belief or idea is pushed very heavily. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. I’m not saying there aren’t authors out there who don’t have an agenda or message they are trying to push.

But…I’m not one of them.

Has autism affected my life in a very personal way? Yes, it has.

Is that what inspired me to tell Drea’s story? Of course.

Did I write Harmonic Feedback to wave my finger at the world and tell them what to think about Asperger’s or to try and ‘teach’ them something? That wasn’t my intention. As I said in my author’s note, I was telling one girl’s story and one girl’s story alone. The book wasn’t about defining Asperger’s or ADHD…because–quite frankly–nobody can do that. People on the spectrum are not boxes of symptoms, they are real, unique people who happen to have social difficulties.

Was Drea simply a vehicle to ‘push’ my views about autism? Absolutely not. Drea has some strong viewpoints…because that’s who she is. I’m not Drea. We do have similarities (our bluntness, for example), but we are quite different.

Why did I include an author’s note–if I’m not out to teach something? My publisher requested that I include the note because they thought it would be a good idea. I agreed to this because I thought people might like to know about my personal experience with autism, especially those on the spectrum.

Am I anti-drug or was I trying to teach a lesson about drugs? No. Drea didn’t like taking them..she didn’t feel they helped her. That being said, I know people who were very much helped by prescription medication, including myself. As a teen, I lost friends to drugs. At the time I felt pretty alone because I didn’t know how to help them. I felt responsible somehow… and I know a lot of teens feel this way at one point or another. My intention was to give those readers a story that made them feel less alone, not to tell them what choices to make or to promote some kind of ‘anti-drug’ message.

Am I promoting sex before marriage? Actually I’m going to direct you to John Green’s post about this…because I agree completely: http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/post/10644709551/do-you-believe-in-saving-sex-for-marriage

Do I think foul language is the only way to portray realism? No. But I do believe in being true to my characters. Some teens swear and some don’t.

Was I just jumping onto the ‘autistic narrator’ bandwagon, trying to get in on the success of books like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night? Nope. In fact when I was writing Harmonic Feedback, there were very few autistic spectrum teen narrators out there. My book was sold two years before it was published. While there are a few more books out there with autistic narrators, I’d hardly call the market saturated with them. You could say the same for neurotypical teens. Are all neurotypical teen YA voices the same? Neither are the voices of teens on the spectrum, IMHO. Autism isn’t a ‘trend’…it’s a reality for a lot of people.

So…now I’d like to hear from you. When I’m reading…I almost never think about the author or what their intention is. I’m completely focused on the story (good or bad). Do you find yourself judging the author as you read or assuming the author is the main character? Why/why not? Don’t worry..I will respect all opinions here. I’m just really curious about other perspectives…

I will email all of you when I get a chance this weekend to get your addresses. However, if you see this first and can email your address–great! Send an email to contact (at) thetaratracks (dot) com

Also, if you won a book you already have or don’t want for whatever reason, please let me know so I can draw another winner for it. Thanks!

Please do visit this post for a compilation of all the recommended realistic YA, including the top 5 most recommended books and authors.

Andrea: hersforreading at gmail

Cindy Sherwood: cwillettsherwood at yahoo

Ashley Pérez: ashley at ashleyperez

Harmony: harmonybookreviews at yahoo

Tracy: tracy.dickens at yahoo

Paul W. Hankins: paulwhankins at aol

Dani Nguyen: daniellesaunders1984 at hotmail

Kathryn Hickle: catieg23 at yahoo

Lyn Miller-Lachmann: lynml at me

Callie Kingston: calliekingston at gmail

Alexa: alexabarry at notenoughbookshelves

Katie Carroll: ktlc1113 at aol

Zoe: zoetheplatypus at gmail

Elizabeth: greentara28 at gmail

Geceosan: geceosan at yahoo

Doug Solte: dougthewriter at gmail

Dana G.: happyx55555 at gmail

And as an added bonus, I’ve decided to throw in a hardcover of Harmonic Feedback!

Maggie Desmond-O’Brien: mdesmondobrien at yahoo

As promised, I have broken the recommendations down into the Top 5 (or 6) most recommended books. But I have also added a Top 5 Most Recommended Authors category because a few authors were mentioned a LOT and another category for books that were mentioned 3+ times.

Due the sheer amount of books, I didn’t have time to double check if each one was realistic (although I took off a few that I knew were paranormal) I also only included books that were actually specified in the comments (rather than ‘any book by Laurie Halse Anderson’, for example) However, I did keep track of author name mentions and included them when compiling the numbers for ‘Most Recommended Authors’.

Top Five Six Most Recommended Realistic YA Books (in alphabetical order by title):

Each had a minimum of six mentions/recommendations–three were tied!

Ballads Of Suburbia By Stephanie Kuehnert
Harmonic Feedback By Tara Kelly (Wow, guys. Totally unexpected–thank you!)
Sweethearts By Sara Zarr
The Secret Year By Jennifer Hubbard
The Sky Is Everywhere By Jandy Nelson
Twenty Boy Summer By Sarah Ockler

Top Five Most Recommended Realistic YA Authors (in alphabetical order by first name):

These multi-published authors received a minimum of 9 mentions each–wow!

Courtney Summers (I just have to add that she got 18 mentions–EIGHTEEN!!!)
Melina Marchetta
Sara Zarr
Sarah Dessen
Sarah Ockler

Popular Realistic YA Books(in alphabetical order by title):

These books each got 3-5 recommendations!

After By Amy Efaw
Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour By Morgan Matson
Anna And The French Kiss By Stephanie Perkins
Brooklyn, Burning By Steve Brezenoff
Chasing Brooklyn & The Day Before By Lisa Schroeder
Cracked Up To Be By, Fall For Anything, & Some Girls Are By Courtney Summers
Dirty Little Secrets By C.J. Omololu.
Five Flavors Of Dumb By Antony John
Fixing Delilah By Sarah Ockler
Forbidden By Tabitha Suzuma
Invincible Summer By Hannah Moskowitz
Guitar Girl By Sarra Manning
Hold Still By Nina La Cour
Lock & Key By Sarah Dessen
Marcelo In The Real World By Francisco X Stork
North Of Beautiful By Justina Chen
Once Was Lost By Sara Zarr
Saving Francesca & The Piper’s Son By Melina Marchetta
Sea By Heidi R Kling
Speak By Laurie Halse-Anderson
Stay By Deb Caletti
Thirteen Reasons Why By Jay Asher

120+ Realistic YA Books You Need To Check Out:

I apologize for the lack of alphabetizing here. Word was giving me issues and only alphabetizing SOME of them *sigh* Readers have recommended books from all over the world–many of these books have been recommended more than once!

48 Shades Of Brown And Monica Bloom By Nick Earl
A Door Near Here By Heather Quarles
A Little Wanting Song & Graffiti Moon By Cath Crowley
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend By Emily Horner
After Ever After By Jordan Sonnenblick
After The Kiss By Terra Elan Mcvoy
After The Moment By Garret Freymann-Weyr
Albatross By Josie Bloss
All We Know Of Heaven By Jacquelyn Mitchard
Breathless By Jessica Warman
Crash Test Love By Ted Michael
No And Me By Delphine De Vigan
Nothing By Janne Teller
Before I Die By Jenny Downham
The Chosen One By Carol Lynch Williams
Almost Home By Jessica Blank
How To Say Goodbye In Robot By Natalie Standiford
And Then Everything Unraveled By Jennifer Sturman
Ball Don’t Lie And Mexican Whiteboy By Matt De La Peña
Elsewhere By Gabrielle Zevin
Enthusiasm By Polly Shulman
Stalker Girl By Rosemary Graham
Exposed By Kimberly Marcus
Beautiful By Amy Reed
Beautiful Malice By Rebecca James
Between Shades Of Gray By Ruta Sepetys
Boy Meets Boy By David Levithan
Broken Soup By Jenny Valentine
Burned By Ellen Hopkins
Paper Towns By John Green
Crash Into Me By Albert Borris
The Mockingbirds By Daisy Whitney
But I Love Him By Amanda Grace
By The Time You Read This I’ll Be Dead, Luna, & Rage By Julie Anne Peters
Camo Girl By Kekla Magoon
Carter Finally Gets It By Brent Crawford
Audrey Wait! By Robin Benway.
Withering Tights By Louise Rennison
Confessions Of A Triple Shot Betty By Jody Gehrman
Crazy Beautiful By Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Daughter Of Xanadu By Dori Jones Yang
Deb Caletti By Six Rules Of Maybe
Diary Of A Crush By Sarra Manning
Doing It By Melvin Burgess
Down To The Bone By Mayra Lazara Doyle
Love Is The Higher Law By David Levithan
Dreamland By Sarah Dessen
Far From You By Lisa Schroeder
Fat Cat By Robin Brande
Flash Burnout By Lk Madigan
Freefall By Mindy Scott
Funny How Things Change By Melissa Wyatt
Fury By Shirley Marr
Geek Girl By Cindy Bennett
Sundays At Tiffany’s, James Patterson
The Things A Brother Knows & Anything Dana Reinhardt
Geography Club By Brent Hartinger
Glimpse By Carol Lynch Williams
Going Too Far By Jennifer Echols
Gravity Brings Me Down, Natale Ghent
Just In Case, Meg Rosoff
Grounding Quinn By Stephanie Campbell
Her And Me And You By Lauren Strasnick
High Dive By Tammar Stein
Honey, Baby, Sweetheart By Deb Caletti
How To Save A Life By Sara Zarr
I Know It’s Over & One Lonely Degree by C.K. Kelly Martin
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else By Erin Mccahan
Into The Wild Nerd Yonder By Julie Halpin
Seth Baumgartner’s Love Manifesto By Eric Luper
Mindblind By Jennifer Roy
The Miracle Stealer By Neil Connolly
Life, After By Sarah Darer Littman
I’ll Be There By Holly Goldberg Sloan
If I Stay & Where She Went By Gayle Forman
The Absolute Value Of -1 By Steve Brezenoff
Jellicoe Road By Melina Marchetta
Jumping Off Swings, Lessons From A Dead Girl, & Pearl By Jo Knowles
Jumpstart The World By Catherine Ryan Hyde
Kissing The Bee By Kathe Koja
Leaving Paradise By Simone Elkeles
Leftovers And Such A Pretty Girl By Laura Wiess
Leverage By Joshua C. Cohen
Like Mandarin By Kristin Hubbard
Living Dead Girl By Elizabeth Scott
Lonely Hearts Club By Eulberg
Losing Faith By Denise Jaden
Love Inc. By Yvonne Collins & Sandy Rideout
Love Sick By Jake Coburn (2005)
Lovesick By Jake Coburn
Lucas By Kevin Brooks
My Heartbeat By Garrett Freymann Weyr
Stargirl By Jerry Spinelli
Say The Word By Jeannine Garsee
Miles From Ordinary By Carol Lynch Williams
Missing Judy By Anne Cassidy
Mostly Good Girls By Leila Sales
My Big Fat Manifesto By Susan Vaught
My Big Nose And Other Natural Disasters By Sydney Salter
My Invented Life By Lauren Bjorkman
No More Us For You By David Hernandez
Not That Kind Of Girl By Siobhan Vivian
Nothing But The Truth (And A Few White Lies) By Justina Chen Headley
Nothing Like You By Lauren Strasnick
Blood On My Hands By Todd Strasser
Heist Society By Ally Carter
Oymg By Amy Fellner Dominy
Moonglass By Jessi Kirby
Illegal By Bettina Restrepo
The Earth, My Butt, And Other Big Round Things By Carolyn Mackler
Sugar And Ice By Kate Messner
Ordinary Beauty By Laura Wiess
Sixteenth Summer By Michelle Dalton
Popular By Alissa Grosso
The Pull Of Gravity By Gae Polisner
Sean Griswold’s Head By Lindsey Leavitt
Sorta Like A Rock Star By Matthew Quick
Raw Blue By Kirsty Eagar
Recovery Road By Blake Nelson
Salvaged And Rise By Stefne Miller
Saving June By Hannah Harrington
Sierra Jensen Series By Robin Jones Gunn
Beige & Boy Proof By Cecil Castilucci
The Wish House By Celia Rees
Sing Me To Sleep By Angela Morrison.
Sliding On The Edge By C. Lee Mckenzie
Something Like Hope By Shawn Goodman
Split By Swati Avasthi
Stolen By Lucy Christopher
Story Of A Girl By Sara Zarr
Teenie By Christopher Grant
Tyrell By Coe Booth
The Anatomy Of Wings By Karen Foxlee
The Duff By Kody Keplinger
The Girl With Mermaid Hair By Delia Ephron
The First Part Last By Angela Johnson
Choker By Elizabeth Woods
Tell Me A Secret By Holly Cupala
Ten Miles Past Normal By Frances O’roark Dowell
Scrawl By Mark Schulman
The Basic Eigh By Daniel Handler
The Big Crunch By Pete Hautman
The Disreputable History Of Frankie Landau-Banks
My Life Undecided By Jessica Brody
The Freak Observer By Blythe Woolston
The Key To The Golden Firebird By Maureen Johnson
The Princess Of Las Pulgas By C. Lee Mckenzie
The Running Dream By Wendelin Van Draanen
The Sky Always Hears Me And The Hills Don’t Mind By Kirstin Cronn-Mills,
The Snowball Effect By Holly Nicole Hoxter
The Summer Of Skinny Dipping By Andrea Howells
Take Me There By Carolee Dean
The Tension Of Opposites By Kristina Mcbride
Winter Longing By Tricia Mills
Freak Magnet By Andrew Auseon
A Match Made In High School By Kristin Walker
Psych Major Syndrome By Alicia Thompson
The Deadly Sister By Eliot Schrefer
All Unquiet Things By Anna Jarzab
The Trouble With Half A Moon By Danette Vigilante
Small Town Sinners By Melissa Walker
Shine By Lauren Myracle
This Girl Is Different By Jj Johnson
What Can’t Wait By Ashley Hope Perez
Hush By Eishes Chayil
A Good Long Way By Rene Saldana, Jr.
This Thing Called The Future By J.L. Powers (South Africa)
The Queen Of Water By Laura Resau And Maria Virginia Farinango (Ecuador)
Words In The Dust By Trent Reedy (Afghanistan)
Abe In Arms By Pegi Dietz Shea (Liberia)
Total Constant Order By Crissa-Jean Chappell
Trapped By Michael Northrop
Truth & Dare, Edited By Liz Miles
Two-Way Street By Lauren Barnholdt.
Waiting To Score By J.E. Macleod
Wasteland By Francesca Lia Block
What Happened To Goodbye By Dessen
What Happens Here By Tara Altebrando
Waves By Sharon Dogar
Where The Truth Lies By Jessica Warma
Where Things Come Back By John Corey Whaley
Willow By Julia Hoban
With Or Without You By Brian Farrey
You Against Me By Jenny Downham
You Don’t Know Me By David Klass

And don’t worry, I plan on announcing the WINNERS of the contest tonight! Stay tuned

But it’s not really about ‘us’ or our careers –it’s about the importance of realistic YA and how I, for one, don’t want to see it go anywhere! You know, I’ve seen folks saying they want realistic YA to make a comeback. There have even been hints that editors are hoping for it. This is usually followed by…well, people have to start BUYING it first.

And there’s the real issue. Why aren’t more people buying realistic YA? The trend these last several years has been all about escaping reality. As someone who is fascinated by psychology and the human mind, I always try to come up with theories for trends and why what’s ‘cool’ is forever changing. But the problem is…I’ve never been cool or into popular culture. Seriously, I’ve been known to watch ANTM out of morbid curiosity and I still can’t name a single designer or understand the point of a painful weave. Or, really, understand why it’s still on after 55 seasons (or something).

But I digress, this post isn’t about why trends are trends (because who actually knows the answer to that). It’s not even about why people should read realistic YA. Most of you know the WHY. In fact, Stacked Books made this amazing post last week as part of their Contemporary YA series (definitely check that out)

This post is about what we’re going to do about it. Well, we should start small. I’m thinking along the lines of a Realistic YA revolution (grin). I’d like to start by sharing a list of some of my favorite realistic contemporary reads, with a focus on those books I feel didn’t get the attention they deserved.

I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE and BALLADS OF SUBURBIA by Stephanie Kuehnert: This woman does raw emotion like no other. These books pack a formidable combination of beautiful writing, messed up, but REAL and loveable characters, and emotional power. Read them. You will NOT forget them.

INCONVENIENT by Margie Gelbwasser: A heartbreaking story about a girl who has to clean up her mom’s mess–something way too many kids do every day. Margie has a beautiful voice, and her MC (Alyssa Bondar) will introduce you to a culture we don’t often get to read about.

THE ABSOLUTE VALUE OF -1 by Steven Brezenoff: There’s no doubt about it–this guy knows how teens think and talk. Packed with realistic dialogue and very believable and authentic narratives, this book manages to mix raw emotion with humor in a unique story about three friends. I also have to mention that his upcoming book blew me away.

FALL FOR ANYTHING by Courtney Summers: Let’s face it, we all wish we had the talent this chick does (Okay, I know I do). I’ve yet to be able to put ANY of her books down and that is very rare for me. I have ADHD, people. Her latest book is a bit different from her first two, but every bit as powerful with unforgettable characters.

DEBBIE HARRY SINGS IN FRENCH by Meagan Brothers: Okay, this book came out a few years back and seemed to get very little attention, but it’s fucking AWESOME, okay? It’s a heartwarming story about a cross-dressing boy falling in love with a messed-up, but loveable girl. It’s authentic to the core. What’s not to like?

PLEASE IGNORE VERA DIETZ by A.S. King: This book got a well-deserved Printz Honor medal, but it’s so damn amazing I had to add it to this list. I’ve read it THREE times since it came out (I hardly ever reread books) This is the kind of book that inspires me to become a better writer. These characters…wow. I will NOT forget them.

Okay, now….onto the AMPLIFIED ARC giveaway.

Synopsis: When privileged 17-year-old Jasmine gets kicked out of her house, she takes what is left of her savings and flees to Santa Cruz to pursue her dream of becoming a musician. Jasmine finds the ideal room in an oceanfront house, but she needs to convince the three guys living there that she’s the perfect roommate and lead guitarist for their band, C-Side. Too bad she has major stage fright and the cute bassist doesn’t think a spoiled girl from over the hill can hack it. . . .

All you have to do is comment on this post with your name, email address, and a realistic YA recommendation you feel hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. But I highly encourage you to tweet/facebook/blog about this contest and–more importantly–your realistic YA recommendations. I can’t start this YA revolution alone. It’s going to take a lot of us to get the word out there and to bring attention to these books. We all have different tastes–some of us like it light, some of us like it dark. I’m betting at least ONE person out there will love your recommendation as much as you do.

As an added bonus, I’m recruiting other realistic YA authors to donate their books or ARCs to this contest. I’ll update this as authors offer up their signed books. But so far we’ve got:

Contest ends June 30th! I’ll do a drawing for each book/ARC, and list the winners on July 1st. I’ll also write up a post with all of the realistic YA recommendations listed, including a ‘top’ 5 of the most listed books.

Now, let’s get this revolution started.

I’ve actually blogged about this topic before and posted playlists for my upcoming book HARMONIC FEEDBACK. Feel free to check out that post here

To add to what I’ve already said, music and writing are like peanut butter & strawberry jelly for me. I can’t have one without the other. Music paints the initial pictures of a story for me. I can see the character’s faces, feel their emotions, and hear their voices…as if I’m watching a movie in my head. On the flip side, I’m also a musician. My books inspire my music. I write lyrics based on the stories and characters I’ve created. In fact, I even write melodies for each character…something that fits their energy, so to speak.

Music and writing have gone hand and hand for me since I can remember. Although, I had no interest in making music myself until high school…interestingly enough. I guess I never believed I had my family’s musical talent. I certainly didn’t get my mom’s incredible painting or drawing skills. No, I was more of a braniac type…and a writer. In fact, at the age of 12, I wanted to be a pediatrician…and a novelist. I think at once point I wanted to be a prosecutor too, but we’ll skip that part. Nobody ever accused me of being practical

Then one day…sometime in junior high…I was listening to my tiny pink (yes, pink–shaddup)boom box. I think they were playing Bjork’s “Human Behavior”–we had the coolest radio station in San Francisco back then. They’d play music like Tool, Bjork, New Order, and White Zombie back to back. What radio station does that now? Seriously? Anyway, I was just staring at my ceiling, day dreaming (this was often how I spent after-school nights) and I started seeing these characters and a story in my head. A bored girl who gets to go on some exotic adventure–not that *I* was inserting my OWN fantasies in there or anything. But I remember getting so pumped up about it that I tore into one of my notebooks and started writing. Then..I begged my mom for some cash to buy Bjork’s debut album

This became a ritual for me. Every story had a different soundtrack/album that I would play over…and over..and over. You see, this was in the dinosaur age(the 90′s) before the days of mp3s. Some of us didn’t even have CD players yet…we had *whispers* tapes. And those tapes were a precious commodity for me. You see, I’d often play them until they broke. And well, I didn’t have money to buy a new one. So I had this system down of using a sliver of scotch tape to tape it back together…yes, literally. I have NO clue how I got this to work, but…it worked like a charm every time. Hey, at the time I thought I was brilliant. AND without my quick fix, I wouldn’t have been able to write.

No, really. I CANNOT write without music. It is impossible. I’ve tried. At the very least, I need music for the emotion of a scene. Writing, in many ways, is like acting. To do a character justice, I absolutely have to feel what they feel. The right song is the bridge that brings me into their head and situation.

I can’t make music without a story. Every song needs to tell a story–even if it doesn’t have lyrics. Melodies tell stories..even beats tell stories. I’d be lost without my characters guiding me along…telling me their darkest secrets Granted, every once in awhile, I write a song based on personal experience, but then again…I think every character I create has a small part of me or my life experiences in them.

Now it’s your turn. How does music affect your writing process? Or do you need music at all?

Please check out the other authors who are blogging about this topic today. They have written some beautiful stories!

http://stephaniekuehnert.blogspot.com/

http://jenniferlinforth.blogspot.com/

http://www.jerismithready.com/blog/

http://chapmansmythe.livejournal.com/

http://bryanbliss.blogspot.com/

http://marleydelaroseauthor.blogspot.com/