home of author & poet E. Kristin Anderson

Monthly archives for July, 2012

Can I please read books by IV Drip?

Jul 30, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Can I please read books by IV Drip?

This is basically me all summer. No, wait, that’s what I WISH I was up to. Mostly I’m still reading books the old fashioned way: with my eyeballs. There are so many books and so little time. I go through book catalogs and ooh and aah at the awesome stories coming this fall and all the pretty covers and then I look at my TBR pile and about have a heart attack thinking OH GOD I HAVE TO FINISH THESE. And I get to them. I review most of the ones I read (more reviews are on their way) and I ALWAYS talk them up on Twitter and in writing group and among my readerly friends.

But I want to read more. I want to read faster. I’m wondering, book drip aside, do any of y’all have any tips and tricks?

~ read more ~
Posted in blogging, books, community, literature, reading, YA - Tagged

I have an agent! For reals!

Jul 26, 2012 6 Comments ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
I have an agent! For reals!

I was going to write this epic, long post with all the wild details of how I came to sign with my agent Christina Hogrebe at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. I was going to tell you about querying Carlie Webber and later meeting her at the Writers’ League of Texas conference (where I managed to drop the f bomb while talking to her…woops) and I was going to tell you about how when Christina called me to offer representation Carly Rae Jepsen was on the radio and I was in the middle of sending a tweet about how I felt this song seemed to be foreshadowing a good day. (I only later made the Carly/Carlie connection.)

~ read more ~
Posted in career, catching up, literature, my books, publication news, publishing, writing - Tagged

Review: HOLDING ON TO ZOE by George Ella Lyon

Jul 25, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: HOLDING ON TO ZOE by George Ella Lyon

This isn’t a casual read. Although you probably guessed that from the whole teen pregnancy theme. What makes it even more intense is that George Ella Lyon’s HOLDING ON TO ZOE is psychologically intense from the very first page. The narrator, Jules, has a mother who is too focused on her own reputation to even believe that her daughter is pregnant, and her boyfriend, while first proposing they get married, calls the next day from the bus station to tell her his mom freaked and is sending him to live with his uncle. Even Jules’ best friend Reba offers advice and support — on “getting rid of it.”

But Jules feels more attached to the baby growing inside her than she ever has to anyone else she’s loved. She feels like it’s destiny, like fate is intervening in her life to give her this child. But when she goes to the doctor to a) confirm her pregnancy so her mom will believe her and b) make sure the baby is healthy, she finds out something that shakes her world yet again: she has an ectopic pregnancy. The fetus is growing inside one of her fallopian tubes and needs to be removed to save Jules’ life.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Review: MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Bethany Griffin

Jul 23, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH by Bethany Griffin

In a post-apocalyptic future, the divide between the rich and the poor is not only extreme but also visible. The wealthy can afford to go out and party at the exclusive Debauchery Club, decorating their masks with glitter, and enjoying fresh food and beautiful clothes. Meanwhile, the poor are literally dying in the streets. Young Araby Worth, daughter of a wealthy inventor — the man, in fact, who created the life-saving masks — is happy to lose herself in drugs and booze. While she may be living a privileged life with her best friend, April (the Prince’s niece), she’s still mourning her brother. The one who wasn’t saved in time.

April insists on living lavishly — they can, and so they should! But Araby can tell there’s more going on in the city than most of the wealthy care to see. The poor are sick, hopeless, and ready to take matters into their own hands.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , , , ,

Review: ALL THESE LIVES by Sarah Wylie

Jul 20, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: ALL THESE LIVES by Sarah Wylie

I love stories about sisters. As a person who both is a sister and has a sister, there’s something I can relate to in books about sister-sister relationships. ALL THESE LIVES is absolutely a sister story — but it’s also gripping, romantic, tragic, and chilling.

In ALL THESE LIVES by Sarah Wylie, sixteen-year-old Dani is super close to her fraternal twin Jena. Dani’s mother has always joked that she had nine lives. She’s survived twice when she shouldn’t have, which makes her wonder if her mother’s sentiment is more than just a sweet joke. Maybe it’s true. Which is totally unfair, because while Dani is healthy, even landing auditions as an aspiring actress, her sister Jena has leukemia. The only thing that can save Jena — whose medicine has made her so sick she can’t go to school — is a bone marrow transplant, and Dani isn’t a match. She feels helpless. Until she realizes that every time she gets into a scrape — and survives — Jena gets a little better.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , , , ,

Guest Post from Nora Zelevansky on the “New Adult” market.

Jul 18, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by Guest Blogger
Guest Post from Nora Zelevansky on the “New Adult” market.

The publishing industry has at least one hard and fast rule when it comes to Young Adult books: The protagonist must be seventeen-years-old or younger. Who knew? Not me; at least not back when I was writing my debut novel SEMI-CHARMED LIFE (which just hit shelves two weeks ago).

When I was working on the manuscript, I didn’t have any specific category in mind. I was just writing the story in my head. Those late college and 20-something years are so seminal for people, myself included; I wanted to pay homage to that searching time. I only learned about the importance of fitting into a distinct genre when I began to try to sell the book.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, grown-up books, guest post, literature, New Adult, reading, writing, YA - Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Review: JERSEY ANGEL by Beth Ann Bauman

Jul 17, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: JERSEY ANGEL by Beth Ann Bauman

I have a feeling a lot of folks are going to feel differently about Angel. But I really loved this girl, the protagonist in Beth Ann Bauman’s latest, JERSEY ANGEL.

Jersey Girl Angel is almost a senior in high school, getting ready for her yearly move from one of her mother’s summer rental properties on the beach back into the big house down the street for the summer. And that’s about all she knows about her future. Angel doesn’t have plans like her best friend Inggy. Angel likes meeting different boys, likes having her freedom, likes that she doesn’t know what she’s going to do after high school. Inggy has college plans, a steady boyfriend, and, well, a steady life.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , ,

Review: A TROUBLESOME BOY by Paul Vasey

Jul 13, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: A TROUBLESOME BOY by Paul Vasey

Teddy isn’t happy. And who would be in his situation? It’s 1959. His dad left a couple years ago, and his mom has since let her live-in boyfriend take over their lives. Teddy might be causing some of his own problems — getting into trouble with other boys at school, letting his grades slip — but, still, is this any reason for his mom’s boyfriend — not even his step dad, really — to ship him off to some reform school?

At the St. Ignatius Academy for Boys, run by the Catholic church in a small Canadian town, Teddy’s life is about to get worse. The priests are strict and the punishments are brutal. It’s a desolate, hopeless place. Teddy is desperate to get out, but even when his mom does write, all she does is talk about her boyfriend. Teddy’s saving grace are the two friends he’s made at St. Iggy’s — a fellow student, Cooper, and the school handyman, Rozey, who takes the boys on little trips and gives them home-cooked meals on the weekends.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , ,

Review: TEAM HUMAN by Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan

Jul 12, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: TEAM HUMAN by Justine Larbalestier & Sarah Rees Brennan

The first thing you’ll notice about Justine Larbalestier and Sarah Rees Brennan’s TEAM HUMAN is the voice. The protagonist, Mel, is sassy, cool, and hilarious — a Whedon-esque narrator who gives you the giggles on every page, even when you’re face-palming over her egregious misinterpretations of the people around her, stepping on her own toes, and sticking her nose in everyone’s business.

But Mel has good reasons for being so nosy. There’s a vampire enrolled in her school and, worse, her BFF Cathy is head over heels for him. She’s on a mission to do anything she can to save Cathy from herself. Plus, her other BFF Anna lost her dad this summer — he’s a psychiatrist for vampires, and he ran away with one of his patients, leaving Anna’s mom, Principal Saunders — and Anna — high and dry. Anna thinks her mom has been acting super weird since the school year started, and she knows Mel’s snooping skills might help her figure it all out.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , , ,

Review: A GIRL NAMED DIGIT by Annabel Monaghan

Jul 11, 2012 Leave a Comment ~ Written by E. Kristin Anderson
Review: A GIRL NAMED DIGIT by Annabel Monaghan

I loved A GIRL NAMED DIGIT. With a tough-as-nails (but totally girlie) heroine, a la early Buffy, a sexy secret agent, and plenty of villains to go around, Annabel Monaghan’s first novel is pretty much unputdownable.

Farrah — or Digit, as she used to be called, due to her prodigious talent for math — has been hiding her skills from her BFFs. Airheaded as they may be, they’re her girls, and she’d hate to have them reject her if they found out that she had perfect test scores (hidden under lock and key by the school) and early acceptance to MIT. Only her family knows that she’s Digit, long having shed the nickname that made her an outcast at her last school. But when Farrah unlocks a secret terrorist code while watching TV, she storms into the FBI to let them know she’s onto the bad guys. There’s one big hitch, though: the FBI thinks she’s nuts.

~ read more ~
Posted in books, reading, reviews, YA - Tagged , , ,
←

EKA

E. Kristin Anderson grew up in Westbrook, Maine and is a graduate of Connecticut College. She has a fancy diploma that says “B.A. in Classics,” which makes her sound smart but has not helped her get any jobs in Ancient Rome. Ms. Anderson is the co-editor of Dear Teen Me, an anthology based on the popular website. Her poetry has been published worldwide in many magazines and she is an assistant YA and Children’s editor at Hunger Mountain. Once upon a time she worked at The New Yorker. Look out for Ms. Anderson's work in the forthcoming anthology Coin Opera II, a collection of poems about video games from Sidekick Books and Futuredaze, an anthology of YA SciFi from Underwords. She now lives in Austin, TX and blogs at EKristinAnderson.com and MetreMaids.com. She is represented by Christina Hogrebe at the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

View Full Profile →

Follow @ek_anderson!

Follow Me on Twitter

Powered by Twitter Tools

July 2012
S M T W T F S
« Jun   Aug »
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  

NaNoWriMo Badges