Ultimate YA
Ultimate YA is an organization that promotes young adult (YA) literature and reading. We feature one young adult author every month. Each feature includes a short biography of the author, as well as fun facts and an interview. If you would like to be featured, please send an email inquiry to ultiamteyareadinggroup@gmail.com.
In addition to our features, we post quotes and memes of the week that relate to books, writing, and/or reading on Tuesdays and Thursdays, respectively. We also post anything else that we find interesting regarding reading and writing.
If you like this, you can also join our Facebook group, 'like' us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
ChinLin
(Remy Starr)
Publisher and fabulous creator of this *ultimate* group
~You can also follow ChinLin's blog
Liz
(Suzannah 'Suze' Simon)
Co-publisher and creator of this tumble-log
~You can also follow Liz's blog
Brittney
(Taylor Markham)
Staff
~You can also follow Brittney's blog
Katy
(Katniss Everdeen)
Staff
~You can also follow Katy's blog
1. What main theme/lesson do you want your readers to take away from Rhythm and Blues?
- Both of the books are about deciding what’s important to you, how you want to live, and what kinds of relationships you want to have in the world and with the people in your life— when you get right down to it, establishing your values and identity— the real work of adolescence.
2. What do you do when you encounter the dreaded writer’s block?
- I don’t do writer’s block! If I’m having trouble with something, I just write myself a note like “[between here and the end of the chapter, she needs to make it clear that she really cares, and she’s not just doing it because she feels like she has to]” and then I’ll go work on some other scene that strikes me as more inspiring or easier to deal with. I know I’ll eventually go back and fill in the gaps, and that if I’m struggling, there’s probably something I haven’t learned about the story or character yet, that I’ll work out by writing ahead.
3. What are you working on next?
- I’ve got a middle grade novel about an adorable but eccentric girl who’s SO into Halloween, she starts preparing for it every year on November 1st, the year before. And I’m researching a novel about a couple of rival coffee traders on a top-secret mission, at the height of a coffee crisis, 30 years in the future. That one’s not aimed at kids or teens. (Not that just reading about coffee is going to stunt your growth or anything.)
4. Do you have any book recommendations for readers in the group?
- Everyone should keep an eye out for upcoming novels from Montreal(ish) writer buds: Rose Sees Red by Cecil Castelluci, Unearthly Asylum by P.J. Bracegirdle, and Milo by Alan Silberberg.
5. What advice do you have for aspiring young writers?
- Write a lot, and read a lot, and have as much fun with it as you can. Explore different genres, take big risks, be silly, be melodramatic; try everything.
6. What is it like in Montreal, Canada?
- It’s a bit like San Francisco with snowpants.
