The Ultimate YA Reading Group

That’s it for January! Don’t fret, bookworms and Springer fans, you can contact this sassy author via email, Facebook, Twitter, Blogspot, and Goodreads!

6. Would you like to be crowned Pumpkin Princess? If so, why?
Sure! I’ve never been crowned anything. Everyone should be crowned once in their life. =D

7. I loved the book cover! But the only thing that I felt was missing were the pumpkins. How do you feel about the book cover?
Haha! Yeah, I noticed that too. It was a super cute cover though! I think they left the pumpkins off so it would have a longer shelf life and not just be faced out for October.

8. What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
To write as often as you can and find solid critique partners who will read your work honestly and give good feedback.

9. What are you working on now and what can we expect from you in the future?
Right now my newest YA book, THE PAPARAZZI PROJECT, is on submission. This was a super fun book to write and I think any tabloid loving teen will love it.

10. Do you have any book recommendations for our avid readers?
Anything Meg Cabot or Lauren Myracle. Rhonda Stapleton’s Struck just came out (it’s her fun rom-com three-book series wrapped up in one book) and Kristin Walker’s A Match Made in High School is still one of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Her newest, Seven Clues to Winning You, comes out in April.

1. How did you concoct the idea for Just Your Average Princess?
I love pumpkin anything—candles, bread, you name it. I was staring at my pumpkin colored kitchen walls and the idea of a pumpkin patch setting popped into my mind. Then I thought what if you were a teen girl who grew up on an awesome touristy pumpkin patch. And I was off from there.

2. What is the main message or theme you want your readers to take from the book?
When I write I don’t start out thinking of messages to go into a book, but looking back at it, I guess it would be to not judge a book by its cover. Both Milan and Jamie have ideas about each other and treat each other a certain way based on how they appear.

3. What is the best thing about being an author? What is the most challenging?
There are so many wonderful things about being an author but my very favorite is when a teen stops me or sends me an e-mail telling me how much they like one of my books. The most challenging part for me is promotion. It’s a whole other giant part of being an author that falls mostly on our shoulders and there is definitely a learning curve as to what does and doesn’t work.

4. Did you ever have your own pumpkin patch like Jamie?
I wish! I adore all thing pumpkins. But, no. I do live down the street from a pretty cool one.

5. While researching about your previous books, I realized how the design of your website is centered around The Espressologist. For your curious fans, would you ever decide to re-design the website to center around Just Your Average Princess?
Nah, I love the current design. I actually didn’t design it around my first book but around my love of coffee and writing in coffee shops.

1. My all-time favorite movie is You’ve Got Mail.
2. I LOVE coffee— have to drink some form of it (straight, latte, mocha) every single day.
3. Palm trees are my favorite kind of tree.
4. Like Tori in My Fake Boyfriend is Better Than Yours, I had a 7th grade fake boyfriend.
5. I adore everything and anything pumpkin.
6. I’m currently addicted to scrabble on the iPad.
7. I love watching the Real Housewives of anywhere— they’re all great.

Kristina Springer is the author of THE ESPRESSOLOGIST, MY FAKE BOYFRIEND IS BETTER THAN YOURS, and the forthcoming JUST YOUR AVERAGE PRINCESS. She has a Masters in Writing from DePaul University and she resides in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and children.

That’s it for December! But no worries, P.J. Hoover is more than happy to have you contact her!

Author website: http://www.pjhoover.com
 
Link to Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWezTGdTkg

Blog: http://pjhoover.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pj.hoover1

Twitter: http://twitter.com/pj_hoover

6. Which character (in any of your novels) do you connect most with? And Why?

The characters in SOLSTICE are created from my imagination solely and don’t match people I know in real life. Sure, I use bits and pieces of so many people to create so many different parts of characters, but with SOLSTICE, there are not definite matches. As for which character I relate to the most, I’d go with Chloe. She’s fun but smart and looks out for her best friend. Plus she likes to walk on the wild side just a bit J

7. What are some of your favorite novels and/or authors?

As a teen, I read all the time. That said, mostly what I enjoyed was adult science fiction or fantasy, or classics like The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and Beowulf. As for my adult SFF favorite authors, there are so many. I loved Tolkien, David Eddings, Roger Zelazny, Terry Brooks, and Isaac Asimov, just to name a few. The list could go on and on, and I could talk all day about it, but I’ll keep it at this. I read tons of current YA fantasy stories also, and it’s hard to name any here because I’m always finding new stuff I like.

8. You probably get this question a lot, but why Austin?
Well, I live here. It’s hotter than blazes during the summer. And it’s a fun, eclectic city that uses the phrase “Keep Austin Weird” as its tagline. Combine that with Greek gods and global warming, and there was just no other choice. And I love that it’s set in my home base. It makes the novel that much more special!

9. For our aspiring writers, what is the easiest part of writing a book? The hardest?

The easiest part is coming up with ideas. I have gazillions of new ideas. So many I have a hard time catching up. The hardest part is the soggy middle of the story. I’m all excited to write a story at the beginning, but by the time the middle comes, things get harder and new ideas sound so much better. They try to tempt me away to write them.

10. What are you working on next? Any new releases in the future?

I’m working on a middle grade and a young adult novel, both fantasy. I never talk much about unpublished works, but I am managing to keep myself busy. And there are definite

plans for a sequel to SOLSTICE!

Thank you again for letting me be here!