The Yum Experience...

I mentioned before that I was slowly making my way through the Gilmore Girls DVDs, and I am now officially on Season 2. In Season 2, Lorelai is engaged and her best friend Sookie is throwing her a surprise wedding shower, and Lorelai walks in on all these beautiful heart-shaped cookies and cakes, and everything is pink and white and...yummy.

You're probably wondering, where is she going with this?

Where I'm going with this is straight to desserts. Yep, yummy desserts. Because the only yummy dessert I had in the house after looking at all the delicious desserts on Gilmore Girls were brownies! So I set out to make brownies.

Then I wondered, what are my favorite desserts? It used to be milkshakes. When I was younger, having the tallest, coldest, chocolate milkshake with whipped cream was the ultimate dessert experience. And now as a mature adult--hehe--it's cheesecake. Yum, cheesecake, but I'll travel far for a really good muffin. Blueberry...lemon...apple crumb...whatever gives that yummy goodness. And really, muffins can also be breakfast, a snack, or a dessert, right?

As I write this and stuff my face with a rich dark brownie, please dish--haha!--what's your favorite dessert? :) :)

PROM DATES FROM HELL

I was so excited to read PROM DATES FROM HELL that I pre-ordered a copy months ago.

Although author Rosemary Clement-Moore and I have never met, she is my “Delacorte Prom Twin”. Our books were released from the same publisher on the same date, and we share the same editor. Not to mention the same event in our titles.

The book arrived right around my launch date, but for a time my head was in the clouds over my own book, so it took me until last week to crack open the first page. And what a winner, right from the start.

I’m not a book reviewer, but I know what I love--and this book fits that bill. The characters are so well-crafted that they jump off the page, the storyline is fresh and exciting. Instead of the fast read that I admit I am often prone to, I went slowly to make sure I didn’t miss any of her wry humor--and to make the book last and last.

There is some action at an indoor swimming pool, and as a former competitive swimmer, I applaud Rosemary for how she nailed the environment--the sounds, the sights, the smells, the textures--as well as playing up that hint of unknown and possible danger that I remember feeling when gazing into the indoor pool’s deep end...

Brava, Rosemary, for a wonderful read that will delight adults and teens alike!

Spring into YA Fresh!

Hey YA Fresh readers!

I just wanted to let everyone know that April and May are filled with lots of new YA novel releases. Let's hear it for Spring!

And that means, I have authors interested in sharing here at YA Fresh. (very cool!) I'm doing my best to do weekly interviews, however, with the list I have lined up there may be weeks where I may be sharing two author interviews to match them close to release dates, and maybe some weeks without an interview. Still lots of fresh fun, just sometimes double the guests! It's all pretty laid back around these cyber parts anyway, right? *wink*

So I hope you'll continue to tune in during Spring at YA Fresh! :) :)

A Realistic Story of a Girl

I made a trip to Borders a couple of weeks ago with the intent of picking up Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. (Read the YA Fresh interview with Sara here.) Unfortunately, they were sold out. I finally got the last copy at my local B. Dalton.

I just love the title and the cover. You have the feeling by looking at it that this story is going to be about a teen girl you could probably relate to. After reading it, my thoughts weren't wrong.

As a kid we experience all these new emotions, and we don't always make the right choices. Just like Deanna Lambert has been living with the past mistake and rumor mill of being caught (by her father) in the backseat with an older boy.

Sara takes the reader into the realistic life of the Lamberts--a father shadowed by disappointment in his children's actions and even his own struggles with his job. A mother who is the only optimistic one in the family, a brother who has become a father too soon, and how they all deal with life's detours.

In the midst of the family's ups and downs, Deanna is trying to find where she belongs, even with her closests friends, and to come to terms with the long ago past night. Story of a Girl is real, touching, and totally relatable to teens and adults. I'm looking forward to more from Sara Zarr!

What's Fresh with Pamela Lowell's Returnable Girl

A teen in foster care must choose between the woman who wants to adopt her or the mother who abandoned her amidst the cliques and bullying of middle school...

Hi Pamela, thanks for agreeing to chat with us! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale, Returnable Girl to Marshall Cavendish?

Pamela: My first sale was so exciting! I’d worked on Returnable Girl for about a year with a writing coach who helped make it a much stronger story. We weeded. I re-wrote. Weeded some more. Then I sent it out to only two or three publishers who I thought might be interested. (Compared to the 50 + publishers who read and or rejected my first novel. Call me a slow learner. It took 50 rejections for me to realize, hey, maybe that first novel sucked.)

Anyway, the editor’s husband at Marshall Cavendish was a psychiatrist, so she really liked the theme of the novel being about a troubled foster teen. They called in February to tell me the news. I think I screamed. And then, the best luck of all. I had read somewhere that the easiest and smartest time to get an agent is after you’ve made a sale to a publisher. I sent a query by email to a few agents, again a very small number. Susan Schulman read the query, and having adopted children herself was intrigued and asked to read everything I’d written so far. The next week she offered to represent me. She said, and I quote, “If it doesn't work out I will be disappointed.” She is the agent for the author of Holes, The English Patient, and a dozen more best-sellers, so needless to say I was thrilled. Basically having a real agent means I will never have to sit in the slush pile again. (The slush pile is where your novel goes at the publishing house if you’re an unknown, unrepresented author, sort of like getting sucked into a black hole or stepping in quicksand.)

Great story, Pamela! Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Pamela: I’m in my therapy office two days a week seeing teen girls and their families. People will always ask me if that’s depressing and I say, emphatically no, it is FUN. The girls are awesome, just like my readers. I’m the luckiest person alive because I truly love my job. The rest of the week I spend writing. Usually begin around 8 and work till 3, including weekends if I don’t have anything else planned. Sometimes, like anyone else, I do procrastinate and answer emails, or do interviews like today, or surf around the Internet, (bad, bad Pammie) but once I’m really into a project that rarely happens. Still, I find that here just aren’t enough hours in my life anymore…especially with Returnable Girl released a few short months ago…promoting it has really cut into my writing time. I’m hoping things will settle down with outside speaking engagements etc. so I can get back to writing soon, with my dog Harry (the best dog ever) curled up at my feet.

Please tell us about your novel, Returnable Girl and what we can expect from your characters.

Pamela: Returnable Girl, Marshall Cavendish, October 2006 is about a troubled teen in foster care Ronnie, who lies and steals things and has been kicked out of her past ten foster homes. She really has no other place to go when she lands with Alison a foster mom. A girl named Cat befriends her, but Cat has possibly a more messed up home life than Ronnie. Cat is made fun of by the kids at school, and begins to do things she shouldn’t in order to get guys to like her. So the first tier of choices Ronnie must make is whether to stay loyal to Cat or to go hang with the more popular girls at school. The other choice is to stay with her new foster mom Alison who wants to adopt her or “return” to the alcoholic mother who abandoned her. The action is fast-paced and culminates in a scene that will leave readers breathlessly turning the page. Girls say they like the story because it deals with the emotions that all teens have. But ultimately it is a love story. About friendship. And sticking by each other. And the difference just one person can make in the life of a foster teen.

Readers should note there is a contest to win a Tiffany necklace on my website page (just like the one Ronnie stole from Paige.)

Sounds like a wonderful read! I also want to say congrats for Returnable Girl being a VOYA winner and ALA Quick Pick for 2007! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Pamela: Yes. And it’s driving me crazy. I’ve already written the story once and it came out totally boring and predictable, so now I have to write it all over again. This wouldn’t be so bad except that a few people keep emailing me saying how they can’t wait for my next book, blah, blah, and when is it coming out, and will there be a sequel?

So I will answer: THIS IS NOT A SEQUEL.

But, it is about girls and overcoming obstacles and how to stick by your friends, and how to survive when the worst possible thing happens—a car accident that puts your older sister in a coma. Okay, maybe it won’t be so bad to write it all over again.

PS. I promise it won’t be depressing.

Thanks for sharing with us, Pamela! I wish you the best with your writing career. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Pamela: If your novel isn’t getting published don’t be afraid to either 1) chuck it out a car window directly into speeding traffic or 2) get someone professional like a teacher or writing coach to help you figure out how to make it better. Don’t waste time (or years) trying to figure this out by yourself. Another set of eyes may be just what you need to make your dreams come true. Mine did. Okay, now time to get back to writing…

"I’m a middle aged woman, getting older by the minute, trying to write about things that might interest teens. And I love it. If that isn’t crazy, I don’t know what is." Visit Pamela's website, www.PamelaLowell.com

My Booksigning

I’ve mentioned my booksigning several times here at YAFRESH, so I can’t NOT follow-up on it.

It was a truly awesome event. Complete with boys in tuxedos, girls in prom dresses, pink cookies, pink balloons, vintage prom dresses hanging from the ceiling--the guests got immediately into a party mood.

A big thank you to all who attended, especially Janie Emaus, who regularly reads and comments on YAFRESH, who drove a long way to be there, and then barely got to talk to me at all because I was so busy!


The big promo was that the first ten who wore a prom dress got the book free--and yes, we got ten takers, including two girls who came early to make sure they were first in line, and a mother-of-three who looked absolutely lovely.

I signed for three solid hours--about 100 books! But when it was over, my face hurt as much as my hand because I couldn’t stop smiling. See?


On a scale of 10, I’d have to rate my booksigning as an 11! And thanks to all who sent good wishes!

P.S. I couldn't wear the pink suede jacket because the day was simply too warm. Next time?

Got Your Spy Gear Ready?

My friend Ally Carter's novel, I'd Tell You I Love But Then I'd Have To Kill You, is coming out in paperback April 1st!!

And she's on the lookout for paperbacks hitting book stores, so if you loved the first book in the series and want to read the second novel, Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, you might be able to win an ARC.

All you have to do? Here's what Ally says:

I hereby challenge all of you to be on LYKY paperback watch! And the first person to email me a picture of yourself holding a copy of the paperback will win an advanced reading copy of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy.

Fun! Check out the full details here.

What's Fresh with Maryrose Wood's Why I Let My Hair Grow Out

Being sent to your room is one thing. But being sent to another country?

Morgan's boyfriend dumped her on the last day of school-it seemed the only thing to do was to hack off her hair and dye the stubble orange. Unfortunately, Morgan's parents freaked and decided a change of scenery would do her good. So they're sending her off on a bike tour of Ireland.

But Morgan gets more than she bargained for on the Emerald Isle-including a strange journey into some crazy, once upon a time corner of the past. There, she meets fairies, weefolk, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus, and figures out that she's got some growing to do-and she doesn't just mean her hair.

Hello Maryrose, so cool of you to chat! Could you please tell us a little about your writing background and how you made your first sale?

Maryrose: My first book, SEX KITTENS AND HORN DAWGS FALL IN LOVE (2006) was sold to Delacorte on a proposal. I learned later that this was not the most typical way to get a first book published, but I'd been writing plays and screenplays and musicals for more than a decade before deciding to write a novel, so I had some street cred as a writer, as well as the moxie that comes from not realizing how long the odds were!

In brief, I was introduced to an agent by a fellow writer who knew my work for the theatre (these included projects with teen protagonists, so it was relevant in that sense also). I pitched the idea to the agent, who liked it and asked for a proposal. I wrote one, sent it to her, she gave me some comments on it, I revised, and within about six weeks she'd interested Delacorte. They too had questions, so I expanded the proposal a bit more and they bought it. I turned in a finished first draft of the book six months later. And then the real work started!

Readers and writers often like to get a behind the scenes peek of an author's writing routine. It would be great if you could please share your typical writing day schedule.

Maryrose: I have two kids, so during the week I usually get them to school by 8:10 and then come home and putz about a little or go to the gym first and then come home. Either way, the dog gets walked, the coffee gets made, the cereal is consumed and I try to be at the desk by 9:30 or so. Then for the next few hours I'll sit and write, but I'll also do all kinds of things that look not one bit like writing - walk around, fold laundry while talking to myself, lie down and take a nap (naps are an essential writing tool). It all contributes. Last week I got a big plot thing solved while on the treadmill at the gym.

This is a typical first-draft kind of day. First drafts require a lot of noodling and wandering about. A revising day is much more organized, with me at the desk and piles of scribbled-on manuscript pages moving from the left side my desk to the right as I go through and make changes.

A big chunk of every day is spent dealing with emails about the business end of things, miscellaneous promotional stuff, posting to my blog or answering reader mail. I usually try to save some of those tasks for after dinner, if I can grab another hour at the computer while my kids do homework.

Often when I'm near the end of a book I'll try to schedule a few days to just blitz through and work like a nut for ten hours at a pop. When I'm trying to hold the whole book in my head and wrap everything up at the end I find it very helpful to have some intensely focused work time. These are not days when it would be wise to drop by unannounced. The crazed, ill-kempt, pajama-clad woman who answered the door would be unlikely to invite you in. She might bite, in fact.

LOL! I know the feeling, Maryrose! Please tell us about your latest novel, WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT and what we can expect from your characters.

Maryrose: WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT was just released in March '07 as paperback original from Berkley Jam. It's the story of Morgan, a 16 year old girl from Connecticut who chops off all her hair in a fit of heartbreak after her boyfriend dumps her on the last day of school (I swear, Britney Spears did not get the idea from me!). Anyway, Morgan's parents decide some distraction is in order, so they send her on a bike tour across Ireland.

Soon enough she's hating the bike tour, hating her tourmates, but secretly liking the adorable Colin, the cheerful Irish guy who drives the luggage van. Then a most unusual accident sends her flying head-over-handlebars into a magical, long-ago corner of the past, complete with faeries, enchantments, and a hunky warrior-dude named Fergus. He really knows how to treat a girl who's part goddess - and guess who that turns out to be?

All this slipping around in time gives Morgan a crash course in the world of Irish lore and the complexities of conducting a trans-millennial romance. She also learns a thing or two about faeries, merrows, leprechauns, things you can and cannot do in a long flowy princess dress, and the basic rules of hurling.

Wow, sounds really fantastic! What's up next? Do you have another project in the works? If so, please tell us about it.

Maryrose: At the moment I'm having a ball writing the sequel to WHY I LET MY HAIR GROW OUT, which will be released in '08. Morgan comes back to Connecticut, believing that she's left the Faery Folk and her hunky pal Colin behind for good in Ireland. Wrong on both counts! My goal for this book is to continue Morgan's magical and romantic adventures while providing a definitive answer to the age-old question: Why are there no female leprechauns?

And my next book to be released is about a subject very near and dear to my heart - Broadway! It's called MY LIFE: THE MUSICAL, and it's about Emily and Philip, two theatre-obsessed teens who are also best friends. When rumors start to swirl that their favorite show might close, they go to all kinds hilarious lengths to see it one last time. Along they way they solve Broadway's biggest mystery and learn something profound about their friendship too. It's a real romp, and the best part was I got to make up a fictional Broadway musical for the kids to be obsessed with. It's a March '08 release from Delacorte.

Looking forward to your novels, Maryrose. Thank you again for sharing with us. Would you like to close with a writing tip?

Maryrose: Writing is not just about thinking of lovely words. It's about envisioning warm-blooded, complex people who have extraordinary experiences and are often transformed by them. Spend more time digging compassionately into yourself and others to enlarge your understanding of human beings and the world, and less time rewriting the same poetic description of the gloomy weather a hundred times. You can always add weather later.

Maryrose Wood grew up on Long Island and moved to New York City at age 17. She's lived in one borough or another ever since. She dropped out of NYU to be in a Broadway musical, and spent ten lean but action-packed years performing, directing, and doing comedy improv before the writing light bulb went off over her head. But it was still another ten years of writing plays, musicals and screenplays before she tried her hand at teen fiction.

Her first novel, SEX KITTENS AND HORN DAWGS FALL IN LOVE, was hailed as “an uproariously funny debut” (Booklist), “irresistible” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), and “an effervescent delight” (Common Sense Media). Please visit her at www.maryrosewood.com.

Do you like to Meme it up?

Then I got a fresh new website for you--www.meme-girls.com!

Brought to you by young adult authors, Jennifer Lynne Barnes and Robyn Schneider.

Meme-Girls is "a website/blog where you can find all sorts of memes and quizzes, many of which debuted here, on the Meme Girls blog."

How cool is that?

Not only can you play, but if you have a cool meme, they want you to share.

So of course, I must participate in one of the fun original memes...

1. If I were a food, I would be...Pop Rocks. Just seemed like it would be cool to be Pop Rocks. haha.

2. If I were a book, I would be...This Lullaby, because it's one of my all time favorite YAs.

3. If I were a TV character, I would be...Lorelai from Gilmore Girls, because she's funny and doesn't like to be serious and half the time I'm like that.

4. If I were a flavor of ice cream, I would be...World Class Chocolate. Yum!

5. If I were a word, I would be...Smiles, because it's a word that's a "mile" long...

6. If I were a number, I would be...19 because that's my birthday day of the month. :)

7. If I were an animal, I would be...a turtle. I know, not officially an animal, but turtles just rock.

8. If I were one of the seven dwarves, I would be...Happy. :)

9. If I were one of the seven deadly sins, I would be...Gluttony, because I have the biggest sweet tooth!

10. If I were a Hollywood starlet, I would be...Sandra Bullock. Love, love Sandra Bullock.

11. If I were a drink, I would be...a chocolate milkshake. haha!

Check out Meme-Girls for lots of fresh Meme fun!

Christmas in March?

I’ve had such a terrific week with the release of my book, TOP TEN USES FOR AN UNWORN PROM DRESS, that I’ve been telling people it feels like Christmas in March.


And that’s the phrase that came into my head this morning as I re-read the contest entries published here in the Comments section. And so, in the spirit of “the holidays”, I thought why not go with gift-giving, and declare all four Comments entrants as “winners”?

So...Erin, Kiki, Holly and Lisa...if you would kindly e-mail your mailing address to me at tina@tinaferraro.com, I will send you an autographed copy next week. And thank you all for entering, and posting those to-die-for prom dresses, as well as the stories.

Ho, Ho, Ho, and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I know I will because my booksigning (I posted the picture of the dress in the window, remember?) is tomorrow. Wish me luck!