Y is for Young Adult Writing, Featuring Marilee Brothers

Although I don't have a keeper book starting with the letter "Y", I do have a special surprise: a guest blogger specializing in Y is for Young Adult! And her new book (which is definitely on my keeper shelf), Baby Gone Bye,  does have two Y's in the title. So all round I feel pretty lucky (more Y's) to have Marilee Brothers visiting today. Yay Marilee!

The author of eight books, Marilee Brothers is a former teacher, coach and counselor. She and her husband are the parents of three grown sons and live in central Washington State. After writing six young adult books, Marilee is currently hard at work, writing an adult romantic suspense.

Her most recent young adult title, Baby Gone Bye, is a keeper for many reasons: I love the story, I enjoy Marilee's writing style, and I think it's an excellent go-to book for staying up-to-date with modern YA writing. I gave the book 5 stars in my Amazon.com review, which you can read on the book's Amazon listing page.

For today's post I asked Marilee if she could share some of her top tips for writing for the YA market. Here's what she had to say:

1. Read, read, read. When I was young, there was no such thing as young adult fiction. The only books available to me featured prissy little girls in white pinafores. Therefore, I had to sneak-read my parents’ books and grew up with the fantastic Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald and books like The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss, very likely the first sexy romance novel ever published. 

2. Watch TV shows and movies that feature teenagers. Eavesdrop when you’re in the mall or other teen hangouts. But, be careful when using current slang. It will probably be obsolete by the time your book is published. 

3. Write in a genuine voice because kids can detect a phony faster than I can write this sentence. 

4. Don’t get preachy. If you have a message, make sure it’s an integral part of the story, woven intricately throughout the plot. You may not even know you have a theme until after the book is written. This happened to me. I wrote five books in the Unbidden Magic series and didn’t realize until Book 3, Moon Spun, that I had recurring themes, namely Allie’s search for her genetic roots and the desire to find something larger than herself to believe in. 

5. If you’re writing for young teens, bear in mind you are also writing for their mothers. Moonstone, the first book in my series, featured 15-year-old Allie Emerson. She lived in a rural part of Washington State with her young, single mom. She’d never had a boyfriend until she connected with reformed gangbanger, Junior Martinez. When the book came out, I didn’t hear from the young readers. I heard from their mothers who read the book before passing it on to their kids. The message was, “Thanks for writing a book without vampires and sex.” This surprised me. 

6. Make ‘em laugh. Your plot may be deadly serious. Your protagonist may be in fear for his/her young life. Your characters may be in mortal danger but that doesn’t mean you can’t throw in a dash of humor. Often, the funny stuff is what your reader will remember about your book. For example, I’ve read all of Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries featuring her private detective Kinsey Milhone. I’ve forgotten most of the plots, but I’ll never forget her description of Kinsey sneaking into a house via the doggy door and then meeting the actual dog. Laughed my butt off! 

7. Don’t write to a trend. Vampires. Dystopian. Shape shifters. Sorcery. They have all been done to death. Maybe you have a fresh new perspective. If so, go for it, but bear in mind, agents and editors may be sick of these overdone genres. As stated before, write from the heart. Make your story fascinating, original and unputadownable. Is that a word? 

8. Here's an exercise guaranteed to put you in a YA frame of mind: harken back to your teen years and pick an age when you were alternatively miserable and euphoric. For me, it was age 14 going on 15, which is why I made Allie Emerson that age at the beginning of my series. Think of an incident that made you miserable. Try to remember how truly awful you felt and write about it. Then, do the opposite. Pick something that sent you over the moon with happiness and write it down. Tap into your inner teen and you will find the age of your protagonist. I promise you it will work. 

Last bit of advice: Write. Write. Write. Exercise that writing muscle! It gets lazy if we let it. Not only does it get lazy, doubts begin to set in. I recently finished a contract with my publisher. After writing a book a year for six years, I took some time off. Big mistake. The longer I waited to start something new, the more I began to wonder if I still had the juice. I know. It makes no sense. So, after a serious talk to myself, I began writing again. And, guess what? The act of writing woke up my lazy brain. The ideas began to flow and all is right in my world. 

Thank you so much, Marilee! Great advice which I certainly will be taking to heart for my next YA project. Wishing you the very best for continued success.

P.S. Marilee loves hearing from people who have read her books. Feel free to contact her at www.marileebrothers.com. Thanks again--and see you all tomorrow with the letter Z (and the end of the challenge!).

Holly Schindler Update: Cover Reveal for Feral

Earlier this month, guest author Holly Schindler stopped by with some excellent advice on writing for the middle grades. For everyone who enjoyed that post, here's some more exciting news from Holly: her next YA, FERAL, will be out this August and published by HarperCollins.

The blurb alone will give you chills:

It’s too late for you. You’re dead.

Those words float through Claire Cain’s head as she lies broken and barely alive after a brutal beating. And the words continue to haunt her months later, in the relentless, terrifying nightmares that plague her sleep. So when her father is offered a teaching sabbatical in another state, Claire is hopeful that getting out of Chicago, away from the things that remind her of what she went through, will offer a way to start anew.

But when she arrives in Peculiar, Missouri, Claire quickly realizes something is wrong—the town is brimming with hidden dangers and overrun by feral cats. And her fears are confirmed when a popular high school girl, Serena Sims, is suddenly found dead in the icy woods behind the school. While everyone is quick to say Serena died in an accident, Claire knows there’s more to it—for she was the one who found Serena, battered and most certainly dead, surrounded by the town’s feral cats.

Now Claire vows to learn the truth about what happened, but the closer she gets to uncovering the mystery, the closer she also gets to discovering a frightening reality about herself and the damage she truly sustained in that Chicago alley. . . .

With an eerie setting and heart-stopping twists and turns, Holly Schindler weaves a gripping story that will make you question everything you think you know.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Congratulations, Holly! Now all we need is the patience to wait until August, LOL! 

Tip of the Day: I truly admire Holly's work ethic and output, it's been a pleasure following her publishing career. One of the things that has made it especially inspiring to me has been Holly's willingness to share--whether it's been through guest blogging, or with one of her many YouTube.com videos, all well worth watching. Just type "Holly Schindler" in the YouTube search box and the entire range will appear. The videos are fun, informative, and offer a great example of how to make the writing path a great place for all of us.

Guest Author, Holly Schindler (and a Super Give-away!)

Today I'm giving a big welcome to Young Adult novelist, Holly Schindler--my first guest blogger!  Holly is the author of A Blue so Dark and the recent Playing Hurt.

My introduction to Holly and her books came through the children's writing network, Jacketflap.com.  A little later I found Holly at her web site, hollyschindler.com and at her blog, hollyschindler.blogspot.com.

Holly's books are are what I consider top-of-the-line young adult writing: a strong and realistic voice, sophisticated detail, unforgettable characters, and an authentic identification with her young readers.  In my opinion, it doesn't get much better than that!  Here's what Holly has on her book covers:

A BLUE SO DARK:
Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.
 

PLAYING HURT :
Star basketball player Chelsea “Nitro” Keyes had the promise of a full ride to college—and everyone’s admiration in her hometown. But everything changed senior year, when she took a horrible fall during a game. Now a metal plate holds her together and she feels like a stranger in her own family. 

As a graduation present, Chelsea’s dad springs for a three-week summer “boot camp” program at a northern Minnesota lake resort. There, she’s immediately drawn to her trainer, Clint, a nineteen-year-old ex-hockey player who’s haunted by his own traumatic past. As they grow close, Chelsea is torn between her feelings for Clint and her loyalty to her devoted boyfriend back home. Will an unexpected romance just end up causing Chelsea and Clint more pain—or finally heal their heartbreak?

I love these blurbs--they're wonderful examples of what I share in my workshops when I tell students "what you should be writing in your query letters!"  In just a few short lines we have character, plot, and a the promise of a huge emotional pay-off that  makes us want to know more, much more.

So how does Holly come up with all this good emotional content?  How about "Crying at the Movies"?

"I am one ugly crier. Some women—I’m thinking of actresses on the soaps, especially, who seem to be able to turn on the waterworks anytime they want—can look pretty while the tears roll down their cheeks. Me? My lips turn red, and I puff up like I’m having an allergic reaction.  I really hate crying at the movies for just that reason. And I usually hold it back. But I’ve had plenty of times that I felt myself tearing up, or feeling a tear break forth despite my best efforts to hold it in.  And I think that makes me a better writer. 

Both of my published YAs—A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT—feature characters whose experiences are completely unlike my own. In BLUE, I’ve got a protagonist with a schizophrenic mother who fears that she is mentally unstable, too. In PLAYING HURT, I’ve got a couple of former athletes…and dual protagonists, one of which is a man.  Talk about different. I couldn’t play a decent game of basketball to save my life. Yet, the opening scene of PLAYING HURT involves a basketball game. 

In order to pull it off—to make situations I have never lived seem real—I have to have extraordinary empathy for my characters. Their pain, their triumphs have to be my own.  I have to chuckle when they tell jokes, I have to feel my heart race when they’re in trouble, and, yes, I have to tear up when they encounter tragedy.  

If you’re a crier—if you sniff at Hallmark commercials, or cry out in victory when the winner of Top Chef is named—you’ve already got a leg up on the competition. If you can empathize, you can be a great writer."

Thanks, Holly--much appreciated!  And in appreciation of our readers, Holly has generously provided a book give-away:  a signed copy of Playing Hurt.  For our first lucky winner, I'm going to add a copy of my how-to-write book, The Essential Guide for New Writers, From Idea to Finished Manuscript.  A second name chosen will receive a copy of The Essential Guide plus a signed bookplate and bookmark from Holly.  To be eligible for the drawing, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post today or sometime during the next week before midnight, June 1, 2011 (6/1/11, 12.00 AM).

Tip of the Day:  Thanks again to Holly, we have some special writing advice on video.  Enjoy, and don't forget to leave a comment!