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I've been anticipating Heather Anastasiu's debut novel, Glitch , for the better part of this year. Dystopia, telekinesis, the moral discourse of society hidden in some brilliant YA. It's set for release August 7, and Heather was more than happy to answer some questions for me. Glitch is your upcoming debut novel, the first in a trilogy, and it sounds absolutely phenomenal! So, what can we expect from it? Glitch  at its heart is a hero journey where the main character, Zoe, slowly discovers she has immense power and has to figure out how she’s going to use it. There’s action, romance, and the exploration of what it means to be human. You describe Glitch  as 1984 meets X-Men . Could you identify what elements you integrated from these sources into your trilogy? I read 1984 as a sophomore in high school and loved it. There’s plenty of Big-Brother-is-always-watching type elements in Glitch , but I take it further so that Big Brother is inside people’s heads, quite lit...

taken from Marie Calloway's " Criticism " The journalistic and self-effacing tone of burgeoning literary voices, particularly in the US, is beginning to impart a stigma on we writers of a certain criteria - young, and often, female. Take Marie Calloway, who, mostly through her controversial piece Adrien Brody  has been criticised as "a lazy boring writer who i know through a friend to be histrionic, predictably 'unpredictable' and most likely autistic". again, from "Criticism" Some of the debate that has arisen around writers such as Calloway has gotten me thinking about the expectations and, thus, the limitations of young writers, particularly of the female persuasion. More or less a direct result from brilliant minds and strong voices, such as Zadie Smith, Miranda July, etc., there is a preconception that any twenty-something female who decides to penn articles or stories will be inconceivably witty, well-read, insightful and...

I know we like to believe we hold the keys to the city of invention, and we are the ultimate force that defies physics and logic on a hourly basis, but here's the thing: you, especially if you're treading water in a whole new genre pool, have no idea what you're getting into. Just as fantasy-paranormal writers have cardinal rules outlining the behaviour of nasties, the weapons available to fighters against nasties, and the general course of worldbuilding, science fiction, the new shabang, has rules of its very own. And the thing is, well, it overlaps with science sometimes. I know, I needed to sit down after that too.  But you can't well go treading through space the internet, searching for reason amidst technical terms and mathematical equations and theories with really long words/phrases and maths . For God's sake, man, we're writers, not physicists! And if you get lost, well, in space no one can hear you scream. So, as a YA writer in need of some ...

Julie Cross is incredible. Her debut novel TEMPEST, about a time-travelling boy who tries to save his girlfriend, fronts a trilogy, and is set to be published by Thomas Dunne Books in January next year. Today, I'm lucky enough to have her here for some questions. So, I give you, Julie Cross. TEMPEST is your upcoming debut novel and it sounds absolutely phenomenal! So, what can we expect from it? What to expect from TEMPEST? Expect to hone your inner 19 year old guy because you’ll spend the entire three hundred and something pages looking at the world through Jackson Meyer’s eyes. He’s about to have his whole life turned over, shaken up, and twisted into knots. It’s a wild ride of action, romance, friendship and mystery. I’ve been told the pace is fast and that the last one hundred pages are almost always read in one sitting. Since I wrote it, it’s harder for me to judge, but I remember throwing down those last 10,000 words in one day and feeling like I had held my...

Enter the gorgeous and delightful and talented Jennifer Rush. You might have heard of her through the blogosphere, whether through Twitter or Goodreads or even her blog  or Tumblr. Her YA debut, a dystopian novel, ALTERED, is set to be published Fall 2012 by Little, Brown, and she just sold her Middle Grade debut BOT WARS. I got into contact with her recently, and she was more than willing to answer a series of questions. So, without further ado, I present Mademoiselle Jenn Rush! ALTERED is your upcoming debut novel and it sounds absolutely phenomenal! So, what can we expect from it? Besides it being a fast-paced thriller, with guns and secret identities and hot guys, it’s a story about relationships. When you can trust no one, the people closest to you become infinitely more important. The bond between Anna and the boys is one of the reasons I love the book so much. They are a family. As screwed up as it is! You describe ALTERED as Dollhouse meets Pris...

( Psssst : Did you get my terrible punny joke?) I love series. (Eugh, plural rules, why do you rain on my autumnal parade?) I really do. HARRY POTTER, INFERNAL DEVICES, CURSE WORKERS, MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, etc. When it comes to YA, there is nothing that does it for me better than a good series. But I stand before you today, perched upon my shiny soapbox in my Sunday best (And yes, by that I mean slippers, pyjama bottoms and a Doctor Who t-shirt) to tell you that some later additions to these series are amazingly unnecessary. Yes, you heard me. Unnecessary . And to sum up the general feeling toward these unnecessary additions that are only in place because the publishing industry are cash-cows that really like to milk things until they're about as dry as an infertile woman's uterus (Bare with me: it's late and my metaphors and similes come to me from a strange place that's only visible to the naked eye at midnight.) you could have a quick look here , here and well, here ...

I spent this morning trudging through a rewrite of one of my chapters. I soon decided to waste my day on the internet, also watching Se7en , with B-Pitt and The Man Who is In Everything. Somehow, I got onto YouTube and to searching book trailers. Quick, quick, before I begin: Changes have been made to the site that are not quite visible from the homepage. So, Who is She? the page, is now expanded on and includes a picture of my face (don't all rush at once, I know you want to order a hit on me). There is also a new page! My Work. That is the first place where I have included information on my novel REVENIR (RETURN as I call it in posts) anywhere on the internet-slash-blogosphere. Check it out to read up and possibly understand all that I've been yapping on about for the four-odd months that I've been writing this blog. Anyway... Personally, I am pro book trailers. They are fun and easy to access and they help psych up fans for upcoming debuts or new additions to beloved se...