Voices of YA Tag

It’s Tag time! I saw this awesome new tag on Twitter made by the lovely @CaitlinALambert of Quills and Coffee. She didn’t officially tag me, but  when I asked if I could do it, she was happy to let me jump in! First, the rules according to Caitlin: 

RULES:

1. Thank the person who tagged you

2. Link to the original creator

3. Answer the ten questions

4. Tag at LEAST two other YA writers/bloggers

And now, onto the tag!

ABOUT THE WRITERS:

What draws you to YA?

YA is interesting. The teenage and adolescent  years are often the most turbulent of our lives because we are just beginning to discover and become the people we want to be. I prefer to write YA and MG fantasy, but magical powers or not, some of the biggest life-changes tend to happen around that age range, which makes the plot fodder for stories endless.

Describe your writing process. Do you like outlines and structure, or seeing where the story takes you?

I am a bit of a hybrid between a planner and a pantser. A planster as my friend Kim calls it. With my current WIP, I pantsed the first three chapters with only the vaguest idea where I might end up, and then I went back and did a TON of outlining. I started with character sheets in which I wrote some basic traits of each main character (MC), including the villain.  Then I did world-building, wrote up story arcs for each MC, and then refined my outline until it was solid enough to split into chapters. Lo and behold, my plan for one book became a trilogy :).

How long have you been writing? Where are you in your journey?

I tried to write my first book at the age of 16 (It’s still sitting on my hard drive never to see the light of day :P). I’m currently working on my debut novel (which I’m aiming to traditionally publish) as well as a novella, which I hope to self–publish.

What do you need to write? Coffee? Music?

Music is my preferred writing tool as I’ve always been the kind of person who works better with noise. It can’t be instrumental though, or it gets distracting, The songs need to have words and be mostly familiar. Some of my favorite artists include Bastille, Imagine Dragons, Sara Bareilles, Idina Menzel, and Fall Out Boy.

If you could offer one piece of advice to another writer (OTHER THAN “don’t give up”), what would it be?

 Put yourself out there. Interact with the writing community and get to know as many people as you can. You never know where it might lead.

ABOUT THE BOOKS:

What book still has you reeling from its plot twist? (*no spoilers please*)

Oh goodness, this is hard! My TBR sheld is bulging, but as far as finished books? I’ll be honest, I’ve beta’d some wonderful books lately that have left me reeling a lot more than anything currently out there. Shout out to all you awesome new/indie/unpublished but soon to be epic authors out there for letting me read your amazing books!

What books are you most anticipating for this year?

Hmm… probably Alice by J.M. Sullivan.

In your opinion, which YA book/series has the most unique premise?

The Gemma Doyle Trilogy by Libba Bray. It was the first YA semi-historical fantasy book that I read and I was hooked.

What is your all-time favorite quote from YA lit (I know, I’m cruel)? 

Gah! Too hard! I think most of my favorites are actually MG, ha, ha. Percy Jackson is a classic for me, but if we must stick to YA… Cinder by Marissa Meyer.

Update 4/27/17: Ha I thought this said book at first! (Hence my above answer). Picking a favorite quote is even harder and I honestly don’t think I have one. Most of the quotes that resonate with me enough to stick in my mind usually done from songs and T.V. shows or movies.

What book do you most hope will have a movie adaption?

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer! (Seriously, somebody do this, like, now!)

I tag

@ingrosso_fabio, @Rebekah_Rose3, @tanner_childs, @HHKnowsNothing, @jsfields151, @_JM_Sullivan, @JYJHarris, @bravrayj, and @simmeringmind 

*graphic used with permission of CaitlinALambert