Books for kids, teens, & those who are young at heart

Tag: writing (Page 9 of 14)

Scott R. Caseley Author of Isosceles on Females in YA

A special treat today as another male author weighs in on the Females in YA series on the blog. Returning guest poster Scott R. Caseley, author of the YA mystery Isosceles, discusses the voices in his head (c’mon, writers, you all know we have ’em!). Welcome back, Scott!

Isosceles_50cf70dc9b4fb“Following A Female Voice”

Written by Scott R. Caseley

When going on a road trip, a GPS device sits on my windshield directing me how to get to the destination. I imagine that this faceless individual is a person that’s been there before and knows how to lead the way. This has a direct correlation to all the great stories that have been or have yet to be written. Choosing the right voice to tell the story is key. The difference between GPS technology and literature is, you have a set number of voices to choose from on the former.

Thankfully, when writing a book, you can select from a limitless amount of voices to guide your story along.  In my own experience, I don’t know right off the bat whether it will be told from a male or female point of view, I just end up going with whichever character not gender will serve the plot best. No matter which person ends up being the voice telling the story, including as narrator in some cases, I always aspire to make them complex, flawed, and as human as possible.

For my novel, Isosceles, there were three main characters to choose from; Sean, Madeline, and Trey. I thought of Trey and Madeline as being strong-willed individuals who had judgments on everything who wanted to tell me this story about him dying and what affect it had on her and their mutual best friend Sean’s life. However, as quickly as I thought of using them, I discarded the idea. With her opinionated personality I decided she would be too much in everyone’s way including her own to tell the story the way I felt would be best. Additionally, I decided I didn’t want to end the story with his death, as would certainly be the course of action I would take if Trey were narrating. I ultimately chose to tell it from Sean’s point of view, because I felt that the story needed to have a more observational bent to it to make it most objective.

However, Madeline’s voice lingered on my mind during the whole writing process as determined women have always been a joy to create, as I have known many of them in my life and stories featuring them like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Bridge To Terabithia are favorites of mine. Though, I also know a number of shy women who like to hide out in the background and rather enjoy some famous shy female characters too. Still, when I create my female characters, I’m not basing any of them exclusively on the real and fictitious women on my mind who have either trait. If I based something on someone entirely, it would not serve the story, unless the story was just about that particular person. I find creating hybrids between real and imagined much more fascinating for the stories I have already done.

Moreover, no character in any of my stories has been based on people solely of their gender. I find traits most interesting when they can be found in both sexes. Taking a character off the stereotypical path of being a guy, or being a gal, is a bit like choosing an alternate route on your GPS. You’ll still get where you want to at the end, but what you’ll experience or see along the way may be much more interesting then just sticking to the main roads, or the most common routes you feel everyone has gone down before.

Madeline, my aforementioned character in Isosceles is in love with Trey, and friends with Sean, but she’s got a lot more to her than that. She doesn’t aspire to be popular in school, and prefers to do her own thing. She’d much rather be a ‘floater’ in all the cliques and help those in need, counsel them, etc. She also lives life on her own terms, and doesn’t wait around for a guy to lead her on her way, she just goes forward and takes the chances. She excels in school and even graduates valedictorian. With all these strengths, she does have her share of weaknesses. I’ll let you read the book to decide for yourself what you think they are.

For all my efforts, I had critics who lauded and others who loathed her. This inspired me to want to tell a future story at least in part from a female point of view. I feel confidence in the ‘voice’ I gave Madeline, and will give my readers more female options to choose from on the next journeys my pen takes them on. Who knows maybe someone with her traits may be the narrator sometime. All I ask of you, my readers is to not be alarmed when the route takes you off the main road, just sit back and enjoy the ride, because if I do my job right, my female characters will always bring you to the proper destination.

Isosceles blurb:

When he finds his best friend Trey Goodsby dead and almost completely submerged in a bathtub filled with bloody water, Sean McIntyre is determined to find out if it was an accident or suicide. If it was suicide, why did he do it? And, did his death accidental or intentional have anything to do with Madeline Edwards, the woman who came between them constantly through their thirteen-year friendship? Isosceles, a coming-of-age mystery romance begins with the death of Trey Goodsby, and explores his relationships with family, friends, his romances, and which of the circumstances he found himself in that led to the tragic event, and the repercussions for those he left behind.

Isosceles can be purchased at the MuseItUp bookstoreAmazon.comAmazon UKBookstrandCoffee Time Romance, and other ebook retailers.

About the Author:

Scott R. Caseley was born in Nashua, New Hampshire. He gained an interest in writing in elementary school in nearby Hudson. Growing up, he carried a small notebook or pen on family trips making observations and frequently turned them into poems or short stories. While attending Franklin Pierce University, he co-wrote and co-directed a student film. After graduating, he wrote and directed a dramatic feature, co-wrote and directed a documentary and conducted interviews for an online magazine. He’s also passionate about acting, and he’s enjoyed performing on stage, in bit parts on film, and is also a trained voice actor. In addition to his creative pursuits, he is passionate about healthy living. He follows a fitness regimen consisting of several activities such as; weight training, walking, swimming, yoga, and Zumba. He complements this by cooking several nutritious examples of international and American cuisine. Last, but certainly not least he also enjoys just spending time with family and friends until the early morning hours with plenty of laughter and coffee. You can find more about Scott on Facebook, Twitter (@scottrcaseley), Amazon, and his website.

PODs by Michelle Pickett Playlist

Michelle Pickett, author of  the YA dystopian PODs, and I are doing a blog swap today and talking our writing playlists. Check out my Elixir Bound playlist over on her blog. Welcome, Michelle!

PODs_cover7HighRES (1)First, thank you for hosting me today and allowing me to share a little about my creative process through music. I have a fairly long playlist for PODs. I’ve listed the songs for you, but I’ve picked a few of my favorite songs/scenes and included some explanation of how the song fit in the scene or the character’s feelings at that time in the story. I hope if you’ve read the book it gives you a little better insight into the workings of the mind of the character, and if you haven’t read the book it’ll make you curious enough to want to. 🙂

PODs Playlist

Theme Song: If Today Was You Last Day, Nickelback

David and Eva’s Song: End of The World, Blake Lewis

  • Burn it Down, Linkin Park
  • Can’t Let You Go, Adam Lambert (David: Chapters 18 & 19)
  • Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, Muse
  • Catalyst, Linkin Park (Chapter 25)
  • Crawl Through the Fire, Adam Lambert (Chapter 26)
  • Daylight, Maroon5 (Chapters 3 and 14)
  • Dream a Little Dream of Me, Mama Cass (Chapters 17 and 18)
  • First Light, Adam Lambert
  • Get Here, Justin Guarini
  • Here with Me, Dido
  • If I Ain’t Got You, Alicia Keys
  • I Miss You (slipped away), Avril Lavigne (Chapter 4)
  • I’m Only Me When I’m with You, Taylor Swift
  • Kick In The Teeth, Papa Roach (Eva: Chapter 23)
  • Kiss Me, Sixpence None The Richer
  • No Matter What, Papa Roach (David: Chapter 24)
  • Savin’ Me, Nickleback (Eva: Chapter 22)
  • Tangled Up in You, Staind (Chapter 13)
  • The Kids From Yesterday, My Chemical Romance (Chapter 5)
  • The Only Hope for Me is You, My Chemical Romance (Chapter 19)
  • The Truth, David Cook (Chapter 19)
  • This Means War, Nickelback (Eva: Chapter 26)
  • To Make You Feel My Love, Kris Allen (Eva: Chapter 9)
  • Twilight Time, The Platters (Chapters 17 and 18)
  • Until I Find You Again, Richard Marx
  • Want, Adam Lambert
  • When You’re Gone, Avril Lavigne

Music inspires many people. I find that sometimes a certain song has lyrics that describe a scene, or maybe the song evokes a certain feeling that I find moves me as I write. Some songs in the PODs playlist have chapters listed next to them and some don’t. Some fit so well with a scene that every time I hear the song I immediately think of that scene in the book (even now when I hear the song I still think of the book!). Some songs just give me a general feeling of the book or chapter as a whole, or the relationship between David and Eva.

I think the theme song of the book and David and Eva’s song are pretty self-explanatory. So I’ll skip them and share a few of my favorite songs and the scenes they coincide with.

(If you haven’t read the book the following contains mild spoilers).

The first song that really resonates with me is Avril Lavigne’s “Slipped Away” or “I Miss You” (I’ve seen it referred to by both names). I listened to it over and over while I wrote the scenes, especially the flashback scene, when Eva is saying goodbye to her parents. There is also a scene in quarantine when she is lying in bed thinking of them and parts of her life with them—I listened to the song while writing that, too. I have to admit, I cried writing those scenes. I’ve had some readers write to me and say they cried while reading it, which makes me feel like I’ve done my job.

One of my favorite scenes in the book between David and Eva is the picnic scene. I won’t go into too much detail about what happens in case there are people reading this who haven’t read the book yet, but it was a scene I included to show what a sweet, good guy David is and how much he genuinely loved spending time with Eva. The song that goes along with that song is Staind’s “Tangled Up in You.” The song could easily have been their theme song.

A song that I thought conveyed how the fights between the survivors and the Infected might feel is Adam Lambert’s “Crawl Through the Fire.” I listed it as a song for chapter 26, but, actually, it could be applied to any fight scene. The same goes for “Catalyst” by Linkin Park.

Okay, there’s one thing that I keep hearing from readers: “David became so sexist after the PODs.” Okay, well, I can see how one might think so, but the song you need to listen to in order to understand a little about what was going through his head is Papa Roach’s “No Matter What.” Eva had just left the safety of the village to be with him. He felt responsible for putting her in danger, and, therefore, became a little (a lot) obsessive about keeping her safe.  “No matter what, I got your back; I’ll take a bullet for you if it comes to that; I swear to God that in the bitter end; we’re gonna be the last ones standing”(Papa Roach, No Matter What). David felt those lyrics and would have died to keep Eva safe—without question.

The Second thing I hear from readers is that they are glad Eva didn’t put up with David’s sexist crap. Score one for Eva.  And “This Means War” by Nickelback is her song and it shows in Chapter 26 when she screams to the other woman to fight with her and stop cowering behind the men. She started to feel empowered and realized she could take some control of her life back. And even though it freaked David out (because it scared him, not because he’s sexist), she started to bulldoze her way through the Infected.

Lastly, a song that really speaks to how a character was feeling during a time in the book is “Can’t Let You Go” by Adam Lambert. This song belongs to David during chapters 18 and 19. I’ve caught a lot of flak from readers about his “dumping” Eva and then watching her every night when she’d go to the meadow looking for him.  What they’ve seemed to miss was WHY he went to the meadow. And WHY he dumped her. Does someone just break-up with someone and then for kicks tread through zombie filled forests to go sit and watch the person he broke up with? Not unless he has a good reason. And what was David’s reason? Well, listen to the song. I think it explains his pain. He wanted Eva to move on…have a normal life. And he knew he couldn’t give that to her. But, he couldn’t quite let go.

If you’ve read the book you know what happened after the break-up in the meadow…what stunt Eva pulled in chapter 22 (Savin’ Me by Nickelback goes with this scene). Which was exactly what David was afraid she’d do, and that brings everything back to David’s sexist, over protective behavior mentioned above.

Thank you so much for having me today. I appreciate you opening your blog to me. I’ve really enjoyed sharing how music helped shape the characters and story of PODs.

~Michelle

Buy Links for PODs:

Amazon ׀ Barnes&Noble ׀ Books-A-Million  The Book Depository ׀

Buy Links for Milayna:

Amazon ׀ Barnes&Noble ׀ The Book Depository

Buy Links for The Concilium Series

Amazon ׀ Barnes&Noble ׀ MuseItUp

My work includes:

Young adult books in paperback and ebook format:

The Amazon Bestselling young adult novel PODs

Milayna, March 2014

Milayna’s Angel (Milayna #2), September 2014

The Infected, a PODs novel, November 2014

The Innocent (Milayna #3), April 2015.

Adult Urban Fantasy in ebook format

Concilium, available now

Concilium: The Departure, available now

I always love to hear from readers, bloggers and other authors!

Find me here:

Website:          www.Michelle-Pickett.com

Email:              Michelle@Michelle-Pickett.com

Blog:               www.Michelle-Pickett.com/blog

Facebook:        www.Facebook.com/michellepickettauthor

Twitter:           http://www.twitter.com/michelle_kp

Goodreads:     http://goodreads.com/michelle-pickett

Snapshot_20130721_16About the Author:

I’m a wife, mother, reader and writer, although not always in that order. Between helping my twin eight year-old daughters with their second grade homework and my twelve year-old son with his sixth grade homework (which I’ve recently learned I am NOT smarter than a fifth (or sixth) grader, thank you very much Jeff Foxworthy), and being a football mom (GO BULLDOGS!) I write young adult urban fantasies, science/fiction and paranormal romances and have recently started dabbling in young adult and new adult contemporary romance.

I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. I’m now live in a sleepy suburb of Houston, Texas with my extremely supportive, not to mention gorgeous husband, three school-aged kids, a 125 pound labradoodle that thinks he’s a lap dog, and a very persnickety cat.

Meet J.Q. Rose Author of Girls Succeed

J.Q. Rose was gracious enough to do a blog swap with me today. I’m talking about my inspiration of how I became a writer over at her blog and she’s discussing her book Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women and offering a giveawayWelcome, J.Q.!

Girls Succeed black Kay's 333x500Thank you, Katie, for hosting me today. I love talking about my interactive e-book for girls, Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women, and the remarkable women who are interviewed in it.

Hello Readers. Thank you for stopping by. I’m excited to visit with you today. Please leave a comment to enter a random drawing for my non-fiction e-book, Girls Succeed.

My Inspiration for Penning Girls Succeed by J.Q. Rose

Because my husband and I were very fortunate to sell our floral shop and garden center business, we were able to take off on an adventure living full-time in our RV, a 34’ fifth wheel trailer for about eight years. I’m not sure the exact number of years because we slipped into full-timing gradually. We worked along the way as we traveled, but we always stayed where the sun would shine, so we were up north in the summers and down south in the winters.

One of our summer jobs was working for a girls’ residence camp in Michigan, Camp Newaygo. It was close to our daughters and their families, so we jumped at the chance. We parked our trailer on the camp grounds, so there were no traffic jams getting to work. I just walked across the parking lot to the rustic cabin where the office was located. My DH was in charge of maintenance for the entire campground. Needless to say we were busy.

We were never too busy to help the young women who were counselors or the delightful girls ages 7- 17 who resided in the cabins. We ate meals with them in the lodge and talked with them after hours at our camper. I marveled at these amazing girls with so much potential. They were full of energy, strength, and smarts. Yes, a lot of smart cookies at camp. We had a lot of fun with them.

I probably bonded with the campers and counselors because I am the mother of two daughters who are now grown and have children of their own. (In fact I have a granddaughter now too!)

I wondered what kind of dreams these counselors and campers had for their lives. Would their dreams ever become reality? Faced with so many possibilities for careers, I contemplated what choices they would make. And who would shepherd them so they could fulfill their passion and desire to have a rich, full life?

I decided then to interview strong, successful women who could serve as role models and inspire girls to reach for their dreams. In Girls Succeed fifteen remarkable career women in a variety of occupations share their stories about their work and the path they took to become successful in their dream careers. These diverse careers encompass women in the arts, business, science, medicine, ministry, entertainment, and sports. For example, girls meet contemporary women who have discovered cures to stamp out disease, made people laugh, earned Olympic and Paralympic gold medals, and crossed the country in the cab of an eighteen wheeler.

This e-book includes resources for more information about careers including live links to videos and websites about the woman and her occupation.

Using the skills I had developed as a freelance writer with feature articles in magazines, online magazines, and newspapers, I was privileged to interview these amazing women and honored that they trusted me to tell their stories.

Girls Succeed was a long time in development and a personal mission for me to lead girls into realizing they can live their dreams.

Find the book on Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Sony.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPnpbAOlbmI

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAbout the Author:

After writing feature articles in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the world of fiction writing with her first published novella, Sunshine Boulevard, released by Muse It Up Publishing in 2011. With Girls Succeed she returns to her first love, writing about real people.  Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. Spending winters in Florida with her husband allows Janet the opportunity to enjoy the life of a snowbird. Summer finds her camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.

Connect with J.Q. Rose online at the Girls Succeed blog, her blog, her author website, her Amazon author page, her Goodreads page, or Pinterest.

Elixir Bound Blog Tour Schedule

It’s here: the Elixir Bound in paperback blog tour! I still don’t have an exact date for when the paperback version will be available, but I’ve been assured by my publisher that it will be this month or possibly October. The blog tour goes all month long, so I’ll be sure to update you all when I know.

Blog Tour Banner-page0001

I have a fabulous line-up of guest posts scheduled and am being hosted by a group of awesome authors, book bloggers, and bookish people! There will be inside looks into my writing life, never before revealed info about the book, a giveaway, and the usual shenanigans you’ve come to expect from me! Here’s a list of stops:

August 31st – Krystal’s Enchanting Reads – A pre-blog tour post with a beautiful review of Elixir Bound and a post about world building from me

2nd – Where Writers and Authors Meet – Author spotlight and a chance to ask me questions (c’mon, you know you’ve been dying to ask me something!)

3rd – Observation Desk – (Yup, that’s my blog) Your chance to see the official map of the Great Peninsula

4th – Books for Company – My favorite spots to write with pictures

Author Eric Price’s blog – Find out how Katora, Kylene, and Bhar celebrate the Winter Solstice with an Elixir original short story

5th – Erin Albert Books – Twelve random things about yours truly (including one of my biggest fears!)

9th – Stuart R. West’s blog – The dos and don’ts of novel openings, plus my favorite openers

Where Writers and Authors Meet – The A’s to your Q’s from last week

Ladybug Lin’s Exceptional Reviews – A surprise post with a review of Elixir Bound from fellow Muser Lin Holmes

10th – Meradeth Houston’s blog Write Stuff – My favorite books in my top fantasy series

11th – Kai Strand’s blog Strands of Thought – Three Times a Charm feature in which I reveal my three favorite writing snacks, top three pieces of advice for kids, and three professions I wanted to be while growing up

You Gotta Read Reviews – An author interview where you find out who my favorite author is

12th – Girls Succeed! – My personal story on how I became a writer (fair warning, it’s a bit sad)

13th – Kelly Hashway’s blog – A deleted (and never before publicized) scene between Katora and Hirsten

14th – Literary Meanderings – Learn more about Zelenka and the demicks in this character interview

16th – Waibel’s World – A character interview of Kylene (really more of a scene…I got a bit creative–i.e. totally disregarded–with the traditional Q&A of an interview)

17th – Philip Coleman’s blog – Talking my favorite tipples in this author interview

18th – Susan A. Royal’s blog – An author interview where I reveal the movie I always watch when it’s on and I spill on my next book Elixir Saved

20th – Observation Desk – (My blog again…you didn’t think I was going to let everyone else have all the fun, did you?) A sneak peek look at the next Elixir book Elixir Saved

21st – Tina’s Book Reviews – Saturday spotlight on the making of the cover of Elixir Bound

23rd – The Story of a Writer – Find out what readers of Elixir Bound have to say with this book spotlight  and snippets of reviews

25th – Behind a Million and One Pages – Katora may be a traditional “strong” female protagonist, but find out what other kind of strong female I admire

Observation Desk – (Yup, back to my blog again) Pics of the swag being offered in the giveaway

26th – These Words Tell a Story – A list of musical inspiration I turned to while writing Elixir Bound 

27th – Nicole Zoltack’s blog Where Fantasy & Love Take Flight – A character interview of Katora, in which she reveals the one thing she would change about herself

30th – Suzanne’s Thoughts for the Day – I go crazy on other people’s books and suggest alternate endings

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Females in YA: Part 4 Boys

So far we’ve talked about my experience growing up a female, females in my writing, females in current YA, and even a guest post from a guy about females. Could there be anything left to this discussion? Of course…let’s talk about boys!

“Huh?” you might be asking. “What do boys have to do with females in YA?” And to that I say, “It’s about how teen girls in books are looking at boys that interests me.” (And then you promptly tell your screen you’re sick of reading about females in YA and go check out that video of Miley Cyrus at the VMAs…I’m so not giving you a link to that garbage here!)

I am so, so, so tired of reading books where the girl POV character first sees the boy (who will inevitably be the love interest) and talks about how hot he is. His purposefully messy but sexy hair. The way he walked into a room with a strut that said, “I’m hot and I know it.” His piercing green eyes that took in her curves.

Girls, is that really that first thing you think about when describing a guy? How hot he is? (This is the point where I frantically go back into Elixir Bound and check how Katora first describes Hirsten…and blow a sigh of relief to see the first thing she thinks about–though with a blush when his name is mentioned–is his work ethic. Though, she does comment on his gorgeous eyelashes quickly after that!)

And maybe it’s just me, but when I first meet a guy (even in my days when I wasn’t married), I don’t immediately assess his hotness. Sure there are those guys you see and are like, “Whoa! He’s a hottie!” But then are just boys you meet. Maybe they have a nice smile or they say something that interests you, and that’s what you notice about them. Not how awesome he might look naked.

I’m not saying looks don’t matter, especially with first impressions, but every guy worth meeting, dating, or loving isn’t going to be drop-dead-gorgeous hot. I can tell you from experience, it’s often not the hottest (in that superficial meaning of what makes a person attractive) boy who is going to make the best boyfriend.

And one of the best things about falling in love with someone is finding them more attractive as you fall more deeply in love with them. So even if the hottest guy on the planet (for argument’s sake let’s say Ryan Gosling) wanted to take you out, you’d say no because you already have the most perfect guy for you, and he’s way hotter than any other guy in the world because of that!

I’m not sure I even remember the first time I saw my husband (we met working in a hardware store while we were in high school). I had a boyfriend at the time, so I wasn’t looking at every boy in a is-he-a-potential-boyfriend way. But once I got to know him (and was single), seeing him from across the store did give my heart a thump. And, yes, I did think he was a hottie (and still do)! But I didn’t fall in love with him for his looks (well, maybe a little because I was envious of his gorgeous, long eyelashes!).

What are some books that you think have memorable first descriptions of boy characters?

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Katie L. Carroll

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑