Welcome to the blog tour for Violet Grenade by Victoria Scott! I adored this book and I highly recommend it. Check out my interview with Victoria Scott, and enter to win this book!
Alyssa: Hi and welcome to The Eater of Books! So glad you could join me today. =) Congratulations on the publication of Violet Grenade! By my count, this is your eighth published novel since 2013? Do you SLEEP? What helps your creative process so you keep going and don’t burn out?
VS: That’s a good question, because I’m working on two hours of sleep today. Honestly, if it weren’t for readers cheering me on, I’d be in a ditch somewhere.
Alyssa: How was writing this book different compared to writing your other books, especially with it being a completely different genre than your usual?
VS: This one is much darker, and much more lyrical in style. I usually write with more snark and humor, but I wrote the way I wanted to with this one, and it felt natural.
Alyssa: A somewhat related question – what was the most difficult thing about writing this book?
VS: Keeping the suspense going without wearing readers out. It’s a difficult thing to balance, and the first time I had to tackle something like that.
Alyssa: How did you come up with the title of this book?
VS: It’s a combination of Violet, which is the highest ranking Flower in the house Domino goes to live in, and Grenade, which represents Domino as a person, and specifically her second personality, who is quite explosive.
Alyssa: What are some YA psychological thrillers that you recommend to readers?
VS: Start with Gone Girl and Girl on a Train, obviously. Then move onto In the Blood by Lisa Unger!
Alyssa: What is one message that you’d love young readers to take away from Violet Grenade?
VS: Be careful who you mess with.
Alyssa: My last question – what’s next for publication? Will there be anything to follow Violet Grenade? Or entirely new projects?
VS: I’m working on a new young adult book that I can’t talk about too much yet. But I should be able to share with you guys very soon!
Alyssa: Thank you so much, and best of luck with everything!
About the Author:
Victoria Scott is the acclaimed author of eight books for young adults. Her novels are sold in fourteen different countries, and she loves receiving fan mail from across the world. Victoria loves high fashion, big cities, and pink cotton candy. You can find her online at VictoriaScott.com.
When Madam Karina discovers Domino in an alleyway, she offers her a position inside her home for entertainers in secluded West Texas. Left with few alternatives and an agenda of her own, Domino accepts. It isn’t long before she is fighting her way up the ranks to gain the madam’s approval. But after suffering weeks of bullying and unearthing the madam’s secrets, Domino decides to leave. It’ll be harder than she thinks, though, because the madam doesn’t like to lose inventory. But then, Madam Karina doesn’t know about the person living inside Domino’s mind.
Signed paperback of The Collector, a signed paperback of Titans, and a signed galley of Hear the Wolves. a Rafflecopter giveaway Follow the Tour: There are tons of stops and content! Check out the schedule HERE.
Hello, friends! Today, I'm sharing a short interview with Roshani Chokshi, author of The Star-Touched Queenand A Crown of Wishes! Plus, I have an excerpt of the book available below. Go forth and enjoy the awesomeness that is A Crown of Wishes, and its author!
Describe the evolution of the title—were you calling the book something else at any point (besides the abbreviated ACOW)?
Roshani: Lol. So. In my drafts folder for ACOW, the “working” title was “THAT DREAD SLIPPERY THING” because this book put me to work and I both loved and hated it and always felt like I was trying to chase down what the book wanted to be. BAH!
Name some other YA novels that you loved that are written by Indian authors.
Roshani: So, this first one is not a YA novel, but I read it in college and it devastated me. A FINE BALANCE by Rohinton Mistry. I also loved CLIMBING THE STAIRS by Padma Venkatram, and the middle grade ASH MISTRY series by Sarwat Chadda!
What is one thing you hope readers will get out of A Crown of Wishes?
Roshani: I hope they close the book grinning. And maybe that night, they’ll dream about stories. And maybe the next day, they’ll see a bird dart from a tree and wonder if it came from Kubera’s court.
If you will be part of the Tournament of Wishes and you can choose your partner either real or fictional character, who will you pick to join you in Alaka? This book is about wishes so obviously I have to ask, what would you wish for if you won the Tournament of Wishes?
Roshani: I would wish for no need of wishes, with the condition that I’m not killed or incapacitated. And as for partner, I would choose Agnieska from UPROOTED because she’s powerful, hilarious and would probably not mind taking frequent snack breaks…
Any hints on your next project? Will you continue to use mythology as your inspiration?
Roshani: I can pretty much guarantee that mythology will always be in my stories. My next YA project is THE GILDED WOLVES. It’s a dark, sultry, ish-heist story set in the glamorous La Belle Epoque era of Paris. I love it to pieces, and I can’t wait for readers to meet the characters and world!
About the Author:
Roshani Chokshi is the New York Times bestselling author of THE STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN. Her work has appeared in Strange Horizons, Shimmer, and Book Smugglers. Her short story, "The Star Maiden," was longlisted for the British Fantasy Science Award.
Gauri, the princess of Bharata, has been taken as a prisoner of war by her kingdom’s enemies. Faced with a future of exile and scorn, Gauri has nothing left to lose. Hope unexpectedly comes in the form of Vikram, the cunning prince of a neighboring land and her sworn enemy kingdom. Unsatisfied with becoming a mere puppet king, Vikram offers Gauri a chance to win back her kingdom in exchange for her battle prowess. Together, they’ll have to set aside their differences and team up to win the Tournament of Wishes—a competition held in a mythical city where the Lord of Wealth promises a wish to the victor.
Reaching the tournament is just the beginning. Once they arrive, danger takes on new shapes: poisonous courtesans and mischievous story birds, a feast of fears and twisted fairy revels.
Every which way they turn new trials will test their wit and strength. But what Gauri and Vikram will soon discover is that there’s nothing more dangerous than what they most desire.
The guards unbound my wrists and shoved me into a red room. I waited for them to go before pulling out a small silk bag of pearl dust I had swiped from the cosmetics table. I repeated the flimsy plan in my head: Throw the dust in his eyes, gag him, steal his weapons. If the Prince made a sound, I’d hold the dagger to his throat and hold him ransom. If he didn’t make a sound, I’d make him free me for his own life. I knew I couldn’t get far on my own, but most people could be bribed, and if bribery didn’t work, threats always did.
I was glad they hadn’t taken me to a throne room. The last time I was in a throne room, Skanda had ripped away my hopes for the kingdom and destroyed my future.
Arjun did not meet my eyes. And he refused to look up when his new bride and my best friend was hauled into the room. Nalini sank to her knees. Her gaze was frantic: leaping back and forth from me to Arjun and the dead on the ground. Skanda’s knife was pressed to her throat, sharp and close enough that beads of blood welled onto her skin.
“I know what you want,” said Skanda.
I closed my eyes, shuttering the memory. I looked around the room, wondering which corner was the best position for attacking. At one end, a trellis of roses covered the wall. My chest tightened. I used to grow roses. One trellis for every victory. I had loved watching the blood red petals unfurl around thorns. Looking at them reminded me of my people’s love: red as life. A month before Skanda had me thrown over the Ujijain border, he had set them on fire in a drunken stupor. By the time I got there, it was too late. Every petal had curled and blackened.
“You think these flowers are tokens of Bharata’s love for you,” he had slurred. “I want you to see, little sister. I want you to see just how easy it is for everything you plan and love and tend to go up in flames.”
I’ll never forget what burning roses look like. All those scarlet petals turning incandescent and furious. Like the last flare of the sun before an eclipse swallows it from the sky.
“You think they love you now, but it doesn’t last. You’re the rose. Not them. They are the flames. And you’ll never see how quickly you’ll catch fire until you’re engulfed. One step out of the line I draw, and they will set you on fire.”
I turned my back on the roses.
I chose a corner of the room, and then sank my teeth into the in- sides of my cheek. It was a habit I’d picked up on the eve of my first battle. Nerves had set my teeth chattering, so I brought out a mirror and glowered at myself. The glowering didn’t help, but I liked the way my face looked. The small movements made my cheekbones look as sharp as scimitars. And when I tightened my lips, I felt dangerous, as if I were hiding knives behind my teeth. Biting my cheeks became a battle tradition. Today I went into battle.
A door in the distance creaked. I ran through what I knew about the Prince of Ujijain. They called him the Fox Prince. And given the way some of the soldiers had jealously said his name, it didn’t seem like a name given because his face had animal features. He spent part of every year at an ashram where all the nobility sent their sons. Reputedly brilliant. Not good. Weak with weapons. Excellent. The guards were fond of retelling the story of his trial with the council. Prince Vikram had to submit to three tasks in order to be named heir of Ujijain—give the dead new life, hold a flame that never burns, and deliver the strongest weapon in the world. For the first task, he whittled a piece of bark into a knife, proving that even discarded things could be given new life in purpose. For the second task, he released a thousand jars of fireflies and held the small insects in his hand, proving that he could hold a flame that never burned. And for the last task, he said that he had poisoned the council. Desperate for the antidote, the council named him heir. The Fox Prince then revealed that he had lied and proved how be- lief itself was the strongest weapon in the world.
I rolled my eyes every time I heard the tale. It sounded like some- thing that villagers with a restless imagination would spin beside a fire. I’d heard another rumor about him. Something about his parentage. That he was an orphan who’d moved the Emperor to pity. But I doubted the vicious Emperor would be moved in such a way. The guards told me that the Emperor kept great beasts at his side that could tear the throat out of anyone who dared to cross him.
Footsteps shuffled down the hall. I clutched the silk bag of pearl dust. The Prince might be clever and eloquent, but you can’t talk your way out of death and I wasn’t going to give him a chance to speak. All my intelligence told me that he was no match for me. I’d have him on his knees and begging for his life in a matter of moments. A final door opened. The Fox Prince was here.
Welcome to the blog tour for Spindle by E.K. Johnston! I am thrilled to be a part of this tour and to promote Spindle. If you haven't had a chance to check out A Thousand Nights and Spindle, be sure to do so! I have an interview with the author, and there is a giveaway below. =)
Meet E.K. Johnston!
Alyssa: Hi and welcome to The Eater of Books! So glad you could join me today. =) Congratulations on the upcoming publication of Spindle. What’s it like, having three books published in the same calendar year?
EKJ: Really, really busy. It’s the best kind of busy, but I’m already kind of planning my long winter’s nap! I loved meeting so many people in new places, or hearing from them via email. It was quite the ride (because in addition to having this year’s books, I also have to think about next year’s stuff…), but I wouldn’t change a moment of it.
Alyssa: Many readers seemed to think that A Thousand Nights was a standalone. Was Spindle always a story that you planned to write? Or perhaps a direct sequel to A Thousand Nights (as opposed to a companion sequel)?
EKJ: Spindle actually came first! I wanted to do a Sleeping Beauty re-telling, but I realized I had some world-building to do. Nights grew out of that, and I decided to write it first so that I would have a firm understanding of my magic system. I do think that both stories stand alone, but they take place in the same world and with the same sort of feel, so I am glad I got to write both.
Alyssa: What's another YA book that you think readers would like, if they're interested in Spindle (and/or vice versa)?
EKJ: I haven’t read it yet (it’s in the mail!), but I am VERY excited about Audrey Coulthurst’s Of Fire and Stars. Also Amy Tintera’s Ruined is a little more action-packed than Spindle, but they both have a lot of politics and the things we do for love.
Alyssa: Describe the process of choosing the title?
EKJ: I picked Spindle in 2012, and it didn’t change. We did have to re-title it in the UK though (because of linguistic nuance and also Neil Gaiman). It’s called Kingdom of Sleep there.
Alyssa: How is it different, writing the story of a nameless heroine?
EKJ: I never considered her nameless, to be completely honest. She has a name from everyone who loves her, as do all the other characters in the book. Spindle is a bit more modern in terms of naming conventions, but my princess still has three names, depending on who is talking to her.
Alyssa: What is one message that you’d love young readers to take away from Spindle?
EKJ: Yashaa, the narrator, is not a stupid person. He’s quite well aware of all the things he doesn’t know. But at the start, he’s so angry and so vengeful, and he forgets to listen. As soon as he remembers, he starts to make real progress, using his anger as motivation. So I guess it’s not “don’t be angry”, because that’s impossible, but rather “channel that anger”, because I really believe that people can.
Alyssa: My last question – what’s next? Do you have more retelling-esque stories planned, in this series or otherwise?
EKJ: Next, in 2017, is That Inevitable Victorian Thing. And some other stuff, but I can’t talk about it yet.
Alyssa: Thank you so much, and best of luck with everything!
About the Author:
E.K. Johnston had several jobs and one vocation before she became a published writer. If she’s learned anything, it’s that things turn out weird sometimes, and there’s not a lot you can do about it. Well, that and how to muscle through awkward fanfic because it’s about a pairing she likes.
Her books range from contemporary fantasy (The Story of Owen, Prairie Fire), to fairy-tale reimaginings (A Thousand Nights, Spindle), and from small town Ontario (Exit, Pursued By A Bear), to a galaxy far, far away (Star Wars: Ahsoka). She has no plans to rein anything in.
The world is made safe by a woman...but it is a very big world.
It has been generations since the Storyteller Queen drove the demon out of her husband and saved her country from fire and blood. Her family has prospered beyond the borders of their village, and two new kingdoms have sprouted on either side of the mountains where the demons are kept prisoner by bright iron, and by the creatures the Storyteller Queen made to keep them contained.
But the prison is crumbling. Through years of careful manipulation, a demon has regained her power. She has made one kingdom strong and brought the other to its knees, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When a princess is born, the demon is ready with the final blow: a curse that will cost the princess her very soul, or force her to destroy her own people to save her life.
The threads of magic are tightly spun, binding princess and exiled spinners into a desperate plot to break the curse before the demon can become a queen of men. But the web of power is dangerously tangled--and they may not see the true pattern until it is unspooled.
Hi friends! Welcome to the publisher-hosted blog tour for A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess. I adored this book, and I'm excited to share an interview with Jessica.
Alyssa: Hi Jessica! Thank you so much for joining me today. Your book has a beautiful cover! Tell me about your reaction, when you first saw it. :)
Jessica: I distinctly remember my jaw dropping. The idea of a rose on fire was such a fantastic concept anyway, but when I saw the colors—the bright orange embers, the teal flame turning a cooler, more electric blue—I knew it was incredibly special. I just think of it as a really great piece of art.
Alyssa: How about the evolution of the title—were you calling the book something else at any point?
Jessica: When I started querying, the book had the very expressive title of Sorcerer’s Flame. Genius, I know. My agent rightly thought it sounded too bland, so we came up with A Cloak of Flame, which Random House bought…and then rightly thought didn’t sound epic enough. So that spurred a two or three week email chain between my agent, my editor, and me, while we tried to figure out what to call the book. It had to relate to fire, it had to sound epic but also Victorian…we were all going nuts by the end of it. Finally, my editor looked at a pile of words we’d been throwing around and came up with the current title. I’m so glad she did, because it ties in so nicely to the book. It is about a girl who sets herself on fire, yes, and she does fight a shadow monster. But it’s also about bringing truth forth from lies—burning away the shadows, as it were.
Alyssa: Will the titles of the rest of the books in the series follow the same pattern?
Jessica: They will! We have books two and three titled already. If you’re paying attention as you read, you might be able to piece them together…
Alyssa: So this is a trilogy! Were you planning on writing that many when you wrote this book?
Jessica: I always knew I wanted this to be a multi book series. For a while I couldn’t figure if I wanted it to be three or four, but I think three is a perfect number. I was so lucky and thankful when Random House bought the entire trilogy.
Alyssa: Can you tell us anything about book two? A little snippet, sneak peek, hint, title, etc?
Jessica: I can’t say much, but I’ll say this: We go outside of London. Some secrets are brought to light. We meet an important new character. There is a lot of kissing and crying.
Alyssa: What is one thing you hope readers will get out of A Shadow Bright and Burning?
Jessica: I hope they enjoy themselves. I honestly write in the hope that someone will read my book and get taken away from their everyday problems, because that’s what books have always been to me: a safe haven. However, if they think about anything after finishing, I hope that they consider how pointless it is to base someone’s worth on how they’re born. That’s a pretty ridiculous thing to do.
Alyssa: Thank you, Jessica!
About the Author:
Jessica Cluess is a writer, a graduate of Northwestern University, and an unapologetic nerd. After college, she moved to Los Angeles, where she served coffee to the rich and famous while working on her first novel. When she’s not writing books, she’s an instructor at Writopia Lab, helping kids and teens tell their own stories.
Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she's shocked when instead of being executed, she's invited to train as one of Her Majesty's royal sorcerers.
Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorizing humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her.
But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one.
As she plays a dangerous game of deception, she discovers that the sorcerers have their own secrets to protect. With battle looming, what does it mean to not be the one? And how much will she risk to save the city—and the one she loves?
Exhilarating and gripping, Jessica Cluess's spellbinding fantasy introduces a powerful, unforgettably heroine, and a world filled with magic, romance, and betrayal. Hand to fans of Libba Bray, Sarah J. Maas, and Cassandra Clare.
Hi folks! Today, I'm sharing my interview with Paula Stokes, author of Vicarious, as well as The Art of Lainey, Liars Inc., and Girl Against the Universe. It's the publication day of Vicarious, and you could win a copy of the book!
Alyssa: Hi Paula! Thanks for joining me today! And congratulations on another publication! How does it feel to have seven (full-length) books published and out in the world?
Paula: Thank you, Alyssa :) It feels exhausting! But it’s also pretty awesome. I’m looking forward to releasing three more books next year with more on the way after that! :D
Alyssa: You’ve now worked with three different publishers (with regards to those seven novels). How has the experience been different, with each set of books?
Paula: For the books I wrote for Penguin in collaboration with Paper Lantern Lit, I was given a chance to give input on the cover, flap copy, and title, but I was a work-for-hire writer, and as is customary in that type of agreement, the ultimate decisions were made by Penguin and Paper Lantern Lit.
HarperTeen has also involved me in all of those decisions, and all of my HarperTeen titles were made up by me. I was once asked to rename a book, and I did so after a couple days of pouting ;) (I really liked the title Bad Luck Charm, but now I like Girl Against the Universe even more.) And Tor Teen has involved me more than anyone, showing me stills from the cover photo shoots and asking my opinion on fonts, author blurbs, etc. Working on this book has been very exciting! I also titled Vicarious and the sequel, whose title I am keeping secret for a while ;)
Alyssa: Speaking of titles, how did Vicarious become this book’s title?
Paula: The original title, going back to mid 2012 when I drafted this, was Goodbye Rose. The book started out as more of a missing persons story and later transitioned into a murder mystery, after which I felt like that title didn’t fit. At the same time as I was thinking about titles, I knew I needed to come up with a proper name for the technological experiences Gideon sells. (Throughout drafting I was calling them SIMS, just because I didn’t have a better name and didn’t want to waste brainpower on it.)
I wanted the word to be an acronym or something easy to pronounce and I toyed with a lot of different words like “sensory”, “amplified”, “integrated”, “realistic”, “neural”, “vicarious”, “neurological”, “simulations”, “scenarios”, “experiences” etc. I finally settled on ViNEs (Vicarious Neural Experiences) but the Vine app launched right when I had this book with beta-readers in early 2013, and my agent decided we should rename the tech just in case Vines became a Thing. (Cue more pouting on my part.) I literally brainstormed everything from AViNEs to SiNEs to ViSEs to RAVEs, to RiNEs, and ViSEs (Vicarious Sensory Experiences) just felt like the best fit. From there the title Vicarious just felt natural because the best titles work on multiple levels and it definitely does. Plus bonus points because it’s the name of a Tool song :)
Alyssa: What are some books that influenced you while writing or coming up with the idea for Vicarious?
Paula: I can’t think of any books that inspired Vicarious. This story is heavily influenced by the time I spent teaching English in Seoul, as well as 90s alternative music like Tool, System of a Down, and NIN, as well as movies like The Matrix, Strange Days, and Inception. I’ve had a while to think about comparison titles, and I feel like fans of Starters, Reboot, The Murder Complex, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the TV show Mr. Robot will probably enjoy Vicarious.
Alyssa: What is one message that you’d love young readers to take away from Vicarious? There must be! :)
Paula: One message is that there are a lot of different ways to live hollow lives. Winter does a ton of amazing things like snowboard, rock climb, shark dive, and jump off bridges. But there is a point in the book where she realizes that all of the dangerous things she does is her compensating for the fact that she has no social life—she pushes herself not to be afraid of her stunts because that keeps her from having to face the fact that she’s afraid of human interaction. I’m hoping none of my readers are in Winter’s particular situation, but I’m betting there are several people who are so focused on all of their academic pursuits or career goals that they’re basically filling up their lives with things that might not be giving them true meaning. (I am probably one of these people. I find the messages I put in my books are often ones that I need to hear.)
Alyssa: What’s another 2016 YA thriller that you’ve really enjoyed?
Paula: I really enjoyed The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas. That book had a very similar feel to Dark Places by Gillian Flynn and I will definitely be picking up Thomas’s next thriller. I’ve also read some great adult thrillers this year and particularly enjoyed Dare Me by Megan Abbott.
Alyssa: Can you share anything from the book?
Paula: Since I talked about one of Winter’s realizations, let’s do a sneak preview. Also, this interview is lacking in Book Boy Jesse, who I’m sure everyone is dying to meet :D So this passage is about two thirds through the book but not spoilery. Winter and Jesse, her stunt training partner who likes her, are in a hotel room talking the night before they’re going to record a shark diving ViSE.
“Is now a bad time to tell you I’m afraid of sharks?” I ask. “Normally I’d be already nervous about tomorrow, but I’ve been focusing so much on finding Rose’s killers that I’m too exhausted to worry about anything else.”
“Your fear is what’s going to make this an epic ViSE.” Jesse’s voice is full of pride. “I love how you’re the kind of girl who runs toward the thing that scares you, not away from it.”
I can’t bring myself to tell him he’s only partially right about me, that what scares me the most is other people, and that I run away from almost all of them. That the only people I even talk to are the ones who haven’t grown weary of chasing me. That’s partially why I do all the adventure stuff, why no job is too dangerous for me. Because I’m compensating. Because if I do a bunch of incredibly daring things, then no one can call me a coward.
“What about my fear of elevators?” I ask.
“You’re not afraid of them. You just don’t like being enclosed,” Jesse says. “That’s a survival instinct. A lot of military guys won’t take elevators either, because being in one is an indefensible position. Plus,” he adds, “no one would pay for an elevator ViSE, so who cares?”
He’s got a point. And as usual, he knows exactly what to say to make me feel better.
Alyssa: That is it from me! Thank you again for doing the interview, Paula!
Paula: You’re welcome. And thanks for being such a great supporter and long-time reader of my work :)
About the Author:
Paula Stokes is the author of several novels, most recently Vicarious and Girl Against the Universe and Liars, Inc. Her writing has been translated into eleven foreign languages. Paula loves kayaking, hiking, reading, and seeking out new adventures in faraway lands. She also loves interacting with readers. Find her online at authorpaulastokes.com or on twitter as @pstokesbooks.
Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, have always been inseparable. Together, the two of them survived growing up in a Korean orphanage and being trafficked into the United States.
Now they work as digital stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you, for a price.
When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the neural recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process.
Alyssa: Hi Julie! Thanks for joining me today! And congratulations on becoming a New York Times Bestselling author, with Tell Me Three Things! How does it feel to have your YA debut on that list?
Julie: Thank you! It was ridiculously exciting. When my editor called to tell me, I cried. Like a baby. It was a little embarrassing. But though Tell Me Three Things is my YA debut, it’s not my first novel. I have two adult book out, and so I’ve been writing and part of the publishing community for a long time. And so it was particularly wonderful and validating to have this book, which feels deeply personal to me, make the List!
Alyssa: Well-deserved, lady! Did you always plan for Tell Me Three Things to be a standalone novel?
Julie: Yes. I don’t think it would have been fair to not reveal the identity of SN in this book, and force readers to wait to find out. As a reader, I always find those sorts of endings frustrating and also I felt like I’d tortured my main character enough. It would have been cruel to keep Jessie from the truth. That’s not to say I may never revisit these characters again--who knows what the future holds--but the book was definitely written as a standalone.
Alyssa: Were you able to give your input on what you wanted to see in the cover? I know authors don’t get much say in covers. Your book’s cover is so perfect for the story!
Julie: Thanks so much! I love, love, love this cover. There was a previous cover that I liked, but did not feel nearly as passionately about, that almost ended up on the book, and at the last minute, I got an email from my editor saying, “We’ve decided to go in a different direction and we hope you like it!” attaching this final cover. And I was so happy, I sent about five million emojis back. I wish I could say the idea to put waffles on it was mine, but it wasn’t. It was all the designer’s. His name is Ray Shappell and he rocks.
Alyssa: And how about the title – was this the original title you had for the story?
Julie: Nope. The book was called Somebody Nobody for a while, and then one day in the shower it hit me that it should really be titled Tell Me Three Things. I pitched it to my editor and agent, and luckily they loved it as much as I did. It just felt right for the story.
Alyssa: What is one message that you’d love young readers to take away from Tell Me Three Things?
Julie: If just one or two teenagers see their own feelings of isolation or loss or heartbreak reflected in Jessie’s story and find comfort in the fact that they are not alone, then I will be happy. This book was very much written for sixteen year old me, who was grieving the death of my mom and didn’t have any books to turn to that mirrored my own experiences. And it was very much written for all the figurative sixteen year old mes that are out there now.
Alyssa: What’s another 2016 YA contemporary debut novel that you’ve really enjoyed?
Julie: I loved Jeff Zentner’s debut The Serpent King which is a beautiful contemporary coming of age story.
Alyssa: Do you have plans for more YA books? Contemporary? Anything related to Tell Me Three Things?
Julie: My next book is another standalone YA contemporary and it is set for release in Spring of 2017 and is currently titled What To Say Next. It is my favorite thing I’ve ever written, so I’m particularly terrified for it to come out in the world.
Alyssa: That sounds awesome! I'll definitely be on the lookout for it next year. And that is it from me! Thank you again for doing the interview, Julie!
Julie: Thank YOU so much!!!
About the Author:
Julie Buxbaum is the New York Times best selling author of Tell Me Three Things, her young adult debut, and the critically acclaimed novels The Opposite of Love and After You. Her work has been translated into twenty-five languages. Julie’s writing has appeared in various publications, including The New York Times. She is a former lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School and lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two young children, and an immortal goldfish. Visit Julie online at www.juliebuxbaum.com and follow @juliebux on Twitter.
Everything about Jessie is wrong. At least, that’s what it feels like during her first week of junior year at her new ultra-intimidating prep school in Los Angeles. Just when she’s thinking about hightailing it back to Chicago, she gets an email from a person calling themselves Somebody/Nobody (SN for short), offering to help her navigate the wilds of Wood Valley High School. Is it an elaborate hoax? Or can she rely on SN for some much-needed help?
It’s been barely two years since her mother’s death, and because her father eloped with a woman he met online, Jessie has been forced to move across the country to live with her stepmonster and her pretentious teenage son.
In a leap of faith—or an act of complete desperation—Jessie begins to rely on SN, and SN quickly becomes her lifeline and closest ally. Jessie can’t help wanting to meet SN in person. But are some mysteries better left unsolved?
