Book Chick City: 'YA-10' Guest Author & Giveaway with Lauren Kate

'YA-10' Guest Author & Giveaway with Lauren Kate

Wednesday, June 30, 2010 | Posted by Book Chick City |

Today I have the pleasure in welcoming Lauren Kate. Lauren grew up in Dallas, went to school in Atlanta, and started writing in New York. She is the author of Fallen and The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. She lives in Laurel Canyon with her husband and hopes to work in a restaurant kitchen, get a dog, and learn how to surf.

I loved Fallen - you can read my review here. If you haven't managed to get your hands on a copy yet, then it's your lucky day as there's a giveaway at the end of Lauren's post, so make sure you enter!

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The Dead

When I was in college, one of my favorite authors Amy Bloom came to speak at my university. As an aspiring writer, I was glad to listen to her read a passage from her new book—but what I was really excited about was the Q&A.

It was the first time I’d been in the same room with an author I really admired, and I was dying to hear the secrets of Living A Writers Life. I thought she could just tell us. It seems a little funny to me now, but back then I must have thought that if she explained how she did it, we could do what she said—work at the same time of day that she did, drink the same type of tea, listen to the same songs, or whatever—and everything would fall into place.

At one point, I raised my hand and asked her: “What do you read when you’re in the middle of writing a book?” Because all my professors were telling me that to be a writer you had to be a reader, and if I could just read what Amy Bloom read, well, then…see above.

Her face darkened a little. (She’s has a wry and sarcastic sense of humor.) She said, “When I’m writing, I only read dead people. That way, if I get too jealous of how much better they are than me, I can’t go out and kill anyone.”

What she meant, I think (I hope!), is not that any of her contemporaries’ lives would be endangered if she cracked open their books, merely that when she was in the midst of writing, she liked to limit her reading to the classics. Nabokov. Fitzgerald. Dickens. Woolf. Can’t kill ‘em. They’re already dead.

Only recently have I begun to understand Amy Bloom’s point. Now that I’m working on books of my own—especially in the ever-exciting, ever-expanding field of YA fiction—I feel a pull towards all the other amazing teen books being published right around mine. Our books sit next to each other on bookshelves all the time! Shouldn’t I get a feel for what they’re all about? It feels kind of like meeting your boyfriend’s friends to make sure they get your approval…

So I really really want to read all these amazing paranormal teen romances that everyone around me keeps talking about—but when I’m writing, it’s hard. I don’t know why. Maybe I should blame it all on Amy Bloom (nah), but I can’t read other YA books when I’m writing. I get so caught up with the plights of my characters, that keeping all of them in my head at once is almost too much.

At the end of a day of writing (if my brain isn’t totally fried), I like to read something entirely different. Non-fiction. Fashion and cooking magazines. Or, as Amy put it, the dead guys. (Nabokov, Fitzgerald, Dickens, and Woolf are my personal favorites, by the way.)

Next week, I’ll start working on PASSION, the third book in the FALLEN series. I’ve been not-writing for three months (which means: not working on a first draft, but doing little things like editing and interviews and lovely bits of FALLEN bonus material that will be available online later this fall), and during that glorious not-writing time, I’ve devoured as many YA books as I could. And it was wonderful.

So before I head into my writing isolation cave, I thought I’d leave you with a few of my recent favorites:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Going Bovine by Libba Bray

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (this one comes out in the fall of 2010)

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (sorry, this one doesn’t come out in the UK in Jan 2011, but then, you must read it!)

As I embark on PASSION, if any of you have non-fiction or “dead-guy” lit suggestions, I’m all ears!

Thanks Lauren!

You can find out more about Lauren here:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

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GIVEAWAY!

[NOW CLOSED]

I have 5 (FIVE) copies of Fallen to giveaway away thanks to Random House Children's Books. All you have to do is fill out this form! - super easy!

There will be FOUR winners: 4 (FOUR) from the UK and 1 (ONE) International. Ends Saturday 3rd July 8am BST. Only one entry per person please - duplicate/multiple entries will be disqualified.

GOOD LUCK!

Labels: Giveaways, Guest Author, Lauren Kate

18 comments:

Blodeuedd said...: Lol, well the dead guys things do make sense.

I would recommend a living guy, Patrick Nessm cos he is just awesome; 30 June 2010 07:46
Irena @ This Miss Loves to Read said...: Fallen was great! I can't wait for Torment to come out. And yay, Lauren Kate will begin to work on Passion, awesome!; 30 June 2010 09:48
Smash Attack! said...: Thanks for this contest! I still have yet to read this beauty!; 30 June 2010 12:16
Nikki-ann said...: Wow, a give-away in the UK... Must enter! :)

I'm a little old for YA books really, but I've just gotten back into them and I'm finding the ones I've read recently have all been great reads.; 30 June 2010 12:22
Giada M said...: I still haven't read Fallen. Thank you for this chance!:); 30 June 2010 13:44
FICTION STATE OF MIND said...: love that piece. i have fallen stacked under tons of other tbr stuff:) hope to read it soon; 30 June 2010 18:58
LAMusing said...: Great interview. Would love to read this :)

adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com; 30 June 2010 20:29
Katelyn said...: Great interview and thanks for the contest!; 30 June 2010 21:37
Anonymous said...: Non-fiction I LOVE Angela's Ashes, 'Tis and Teacher Man it's a set of 3 by Frank McCourt who passed away last year, they are sad, but very good. Another good one is Night by Elie Wiesel.

Dead guy book "The Catcher in the Rye." I got to read it in high school ad I loved it!

Thanks for blogging and putting up a link so we can all read your thoughts! I love Fallen and The betrayal of Natalie Hargrove.

Anita xx; 30 June 2010 21:39
Karis Boone said...: Looks good!

Hope I win!; 1 July 2010 01:10
Adelina said...: Fallen! Gorgeous cover! I've really been wanting to read this!; 1 July 2010 02:16
Josette said...: That's an interesting post! I chuckled when she mentioned not being able to kill dead authors cos of their fantastic work.

Thanks for this giveaway. I've always wanted to read Fallen!; 1 July 2010 04:26
Amanda H said...: I have wanted to read this book since it was released, I received a copy for my Birthday but my friend managed to get her hands on t before I could read it. LOve the cover art and the story looks mysterious and a book I could really lose myself in.; 2 July 2010 07:22
Dan Caldon said...: I am always looking for new ideas for books to read so thank you for giving me a new option.; 2 July 2010 18:34
misskallie2000 said...: Great interview. I have had this on my wish list since the first review. Pls enter me. Thanks

misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com; 2 July 2010 19:26
SandyG265 said...: Thanks for the contest. I've been wanting to read Fallen for a while.; 2 July 2010 19:44
Terrymac said...: This sounds like such a good book! I would love to be one of your intl winners! (CA)

Thank you for offering it.

terrymac1a at hotmail dot com; 3 July 2010 00:04
Becky said...: I am going to have to read Going Bovine even though the cover freaks me out. It seems like everyone has read it except me.; 5 July 2010 16:18