Spring YA Covers: Yes, dresses--but also swords and fire and blood, blood red

There was a time when you could tell a fantasy was “Young Adult” because the cover featured a one-word title and a gorgeous dress or exceptionally great hair. Nothing wrong with that, of course.  But today’s covers—dark, mysterious, sometimes explosive—offer a refreshing variety of images.

Not that designers don’t get messages from the great hive mind. This season (meaning January-June 2014), the message seems to have been “darkly mysterious blue,” alternating with “eye-popping red.” Anything to drag us across that bookstore, right?

Also there are badass heroines and heroes, swords, eyes compelling or threatening, fire, shadow, explosions—and marvelous dresses. Can’t wait to read these books!

“Young Adult” in this case means age 12 to 18. As always, if there’s a cover we’ve overlooked, please link to it in the comments.

Tell us which is your favorite, and why!

(Click the link below to see the covers)

Interview with Jennifer Walkup, author of Second Verse

Congrats to Jocelyn on winning a copy of Second Verse! Please leave a comment with your email so I can contact you. Thank you!
 
Bad things come in threes. In Shady Springs, that includes murder.

Murder Now
Lange Crawford’s move to Shady Springs, Pennsylvania, lands her a group of awesome friends, a major crush on songwriter Vaughn, and life in a haunted, 200-year-old farmhouse. It also brings The Hunt: an infamous murder mystery festival where students solve a fake, gruesome murder scheme during the week of Halloween. Well, supposedly fake.

Murder Then
Weeks before The Hunt, Lange and her friends hold a séance in the farmhouse’s eerie barn. When a voice rushes through, whispering haunting words that only she and Vaughn can hear, Lange realizes it's begging for help. The mysterious voice leads Lange and Vaughn to uncover letters and photos left behind by a murdered girl, Ginny, and they become obsessed with her story and the horrifying threats that led to her murder.

Murder Yet to Come
But someone doesn’t like their snooping, and Lange and Vaughn begin receiving the same threats that Ginny once did. The mysterious words from the barn become crucial to figuring out Ginny's past and their own, and how closely the two are connected. They must work fast to uncover the truth or risk finding out if history really does repeat itself.

Cindy: I'm so happy to welcome Jenn to the Enchanted Inkpot to chat about her fabulous debut, Second Verse! Jenn, your book begins with a seance, which is right up my alley! I've always been interested in the other worldly and the supernatural, so I especially loved reading Second Verse. Could you tell us what was the genesis behind this novel? Are you interested in the other worldly as well?

Jenn: Great question! Yes, I am super intrigued by the otherworldly! I’m not sure exactly what I believe exists outside of what we see and know, but I do believe there is something we don’t yet understand. (If we ever will). That idea alone is enough to really intrigue me. As for the origins of Second Verse, like most stories it went through a bazillion drafts and changes before becoming the final book it is today, but it did start with a teeny kernel of an idea, inspired in part by the anniversary of the death of a very famous musician (it’s a long story, and I have it posted on my site http://www.jenniferwalkup.com/#!second-verse-extras/c1yhf). I don’t want to give too much away, but I started asking myself lots of questions about what is here besides us, and what happens to us after all this. And it wasn’t just my take on these things that inspired me, but also weighing all the different ways people think about these things.

Cindy: I realize "where do you get your ideas from" is one of the most dreaded questions. But I'm always fascinated by the seedling of stories--and there usually is something! I also loved how you incorporated music into this novel, and it is woven in so well. Since it is so integral to the story, was the inclusion intentional, or did it arise more organically?

Jenn: Vaughn was a musician from the very first draft. I knew from the start his music would be important to his character development and also to his and Lange’s relationship, but as draft one led to draft two and draft three (and beyond!), the music began to play a bigger role. It was fun to play with other art mediums within the novel (both Vaughn’s music and Lange’s drawings) as vehicles to help them along on their discoveries as they attempted to unravel the mystery.

Cindy: I think it's so cool how organic it was, that the music began to play a bigger role. Vaughn and Lange are such a great, intense couple. What do you love about each character most? And what was the biggest challenge in writing each of them too?

Jenn: Lange, being the main character and point of view character, became real to me very early on. I naturally got to know her before the others, but I really enjoyed how the depth and resilience of her character changed and grew as I wrote her story. Lange goes through a lot in this book, and she’s certainly tougher than I originally thought she’d be. Vaughn was a fun character to write, I mean, most love interests are fun to create, in my opinion. But I know nothing about music so that research was challenging, but it was really interesting and fun too! As for challenges? Well, I write exclusively in first person and while I love the immediacy and closeness the reader gets from first person, it can be challenging at times too. It takes me a few drafts to get the voice just right for the character, without letting too much of my author voice sneak in.

Cindy: Tell us a little about your writing process. And what it was like writing the sequel to Second Verse. Can you give us any hints to what happens in the sequel?? (I'm dying to know!!)

Jenn: My writing process isn’t very concrete. I’m a pantser through and through. My first draft is usually exploratory as I get to know my characters and begin to figure out my plot and then I revise and revise and revise until I have something resembling a novel I can show people for critique. As for the sequel, it is, in fact, written! But it is very early yet, I’ve only done two drafts of it and there is tons of revision to go yet. I don’t want to give too much about book one away, so I really can’t say much, but I will say it follows a character or two from book one, but in a different setting – an old, closed-down psychiatric hospital turned boarding school. Just as creepy as book one, but in a very different way.

Cindy: Being mostly a pantser myself, i can sympathize! I have heard tidbits of your sequel research before, and I honestly can't wait to read it!! Last but not least, what is your favorite pastry?

Jenn: Would you kill me if I said I don’t really like pastries? Ha! I know, blaspheme to you, I’m sure, but I’m much more of a salty food fan than sweets or dessert fan. But I do love a good croissant every now and then.

Cindy: !!! *dies* ha! But no, actually, MORE PASTRIES FOR ME! =) Jenn, congratulations on the release of your fabulous debut and thanks so much for stopping by!

To find out more about Jenn and her books, visit her website: http://www.jenniferwalkup.com/

SECOND VERSE GIVEAWAY!

Simply comment to enter. Tweeting, blogging, tumblr'ing, facebook statusing and linking directly to this interview will garner extra entries each. Followers of the Enchanted Inkpot also receive an extra entry. Please provide links in comment section to receive extra entries. I will select a random winner on Monday, October 7 and post winner at the top of this entry. OPEN to US address only. Good luck!


Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Her first published short story is featured in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (October 2012). Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

Can You Guess These Popular Fantasy Books from their Covers?

Here at the Inkpot we’re fans of the Guess the Phantom Book Covers game over at PWxyz. Today we thought we’d do our own variation, using MG and YA fantasy book covers from the past 50 years.

As you can see, the author names and titles have vanished. Are you clever enough to identify the books anyway?

Super bonus points to the cover aces who can name them all – and extra twinkly gold stars if you know the pub years, too!

Answers at the bottom!

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Book 4

Book 5

Book 6

Book 7

Book 8

Book 9

Book 10

Today's post was a tag-team effort between me, Lena Goldfinch, and the wonderful Amy Greenfield. We had so much fun putting it together, we're tossing around the idea of doing it again!

Confession, I'm to blame for stripping these beautiful books of their titles & author names, with sincere apologies to book designers everywhere, and Amy deserves the credit for scouting out a fabulous selection of book covers for me to choose from & for introducing our game.

Here's a little more about us and a look at our own book covers stripped of their titles & author names – just for fun.

AMY BUTLER GREENFIELD was on her way to a history PhD when she gave into temptation and became a novelist. She loves music, romantic adventure, alternate history, and twisty plots, which explains how she came to write her first YA novel, CHANTRESS(McElderry/S&S, May 2013).


LENA GOLDFINCH writes young adult fantasy with a healthy dose of "sigh-worthy" romance. In her creative heart, she loves travelling to all sorts of exciting places, past and present, a perk of making things up for a living. Her new release, SONGSTONE, comes out in July 2013.

Great dresses, kick-butt women: New YA Covers!

Some cover elements scream “young-adult fantasy”: Great dresses, amazing hair. Brooding faces. Titles of one sizzling word.

We get all those things this season, and more. There’s some serious water action, over and under. Kick-butt women with weapons. Images with an unsettling beauty. Not to mention some very cool insects.  

Today and tomorrow, the Inkpot will take a look at young-adult fantasies with pub dates between January and June 2013. We’re calling a book “young adult” if it’s intended for readers between ages 12 and 18. As always, if there’s one we’ve overlooked, please link to it in the comments.

Click on "read more" to see the covers. And tell us which is your favorite!

Necromancing the Stone with Lish McBride

Congrats to Van Pham for winning a copy of Necromancing the Stone. Thanks to everyone for reading and commenting!

With the defeat of the evil Douglas behind him, Sam LaCroix is getting used to his new life. Okay, so he hadn’t exactly planned on being a powerful necromancer with a seat on the local magical council and a capricious werewolf sort-of-girlfriend, but things are going fine, right?

Well . . . not really. He’s pretty tired of getting beat up by everyone and their mother, for one thing, and he can’t help but feel that his new house hates him. His best friend is a werebear, someone is threatening his sister, and while Sam realizes that he himself has a lot of power at his fingertips, he’s not exactly sure how to use it. Which, he has to admit, is a bit disconcerting.

But when everything starts falling apart, he decides it’s time to step up and take control. His attempts to do so just bring up more questions, though, the most important of which is more than a little alarming: Is Douglas really dead?

Cindy: It is an absolute pleasure to welcome back Lish Mcbride to the Inkpot! I was looking over ourlast interview and giveaway together and it was almost exactly two years ago. At that time, we hadn't met yet. Hoorah that we got the chance at Comic Con in San Diego as well as in Portland! 

You had mentioned Necromancing the Stone in passing in our last interview together, and talked about the consequences of all that happened in Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. I am a huge fan of the follow up consequences books. Because although we write fantasy and fantasy worlds--it doesn't mean that our heroes aren't affected by the magic or power they wield, or the often grim choices they are forced to make. How was it for you writing this sequel--where some tough situations and emotions come into play? 

Lish: Writing sequels...sucks. No, actually, that's not true. I'm writing a sequel right now and it's fine. NTS fell directly into "second book syndrome." Which means that it fought me every step of the way. Everyone told me that the second book is always the hardest, and man, they weren't kidding. It was definitely an uphill battle. That being said, there's a lot in it that I like. New characters (Taco, Minion, Sexy Gary, etc.) and we get to know a few other characters a lot more. There's certainly a few heart-wrenching moments that were hard for me to write, but they needed to be there. I got a little misty myself at times. I always try to balance it out with some happy thoughts, though. So, you know, there's some battle gnomes, too. 

HMC,N had a lot in it about choices that we make and dealing with the hand that life deals you, and it's not like that ever stops in life. Sam has to just keep on dealing, and since he drags his very human friends with him, they have to deal, too. Sure, it's nice to learn that magic is real and all that, but it's dangerous, and for people like Frank, it's certainly going to be a life-changer. It would feel weird to not examine that in the book. 

Cindy: Loved the battle gnomes! And I really appreciated the way you handled choices in both these novels. One of the interesting and refreshing things about your novels is that you write from the villain's point of view. That isn't often seen in young adult fantasy at all. Did you enjoy writing from his perspective?

Lish: Define "enjoy?" Douglas is one of those characters were it's definitely more like channeling than crafting something. Which is kind of terrifying. I mean, Douglas's pieces aren't even edited very much. Little tweaks, but usually nothing like the massive overhauls the Sam chapters take. It's weird to discover that the one character that's easiest for you to write is a violent sociopath. It certainly shouldn't come naturally to me. Yikes. 

But there's something kind of honest and straight forward about Douglas's narrative. He makes no excuses for himself. He knows that he's a monster, he just doesn't care. He wants what he wants and you better get out of his way. Last week I stopped by a high school to chat with a group of teens and one of them asked me about Douglas's chapters in NTS. He wanted to know why I showed the reader what I did--why I made you feel bad for Douglas. The question made me really happy. Evil doesn't come from nowhere. It grows. It's nourished. I wanted the reader to mourn who Douglas could have become so that you could also see why James loves him. It was nice to know that it worked for that reader. 

Cindy: Totally with you on that one. We all start somewhere, and no one is all good or all bad. This is why I love to write gray characters. I'm always fascinated by themes that arise in our stories. To me, Necromancing has a strong focus on family, loyalty, and friendship. Did these arise by chance, or were they deliberate choices when you began writing? 

Lish: Yes and no. I never, ever, approach a story with that sort of thing in mind. I don't want it to come off all "After School Special." No heavy handed morals and what not. That kind of thing can kill a story. When I was Sam's age, though, those kinds of things were important to me. My family is a hodge-podge of blood relatives, step-whatevers, family friends, my friends, and whatever strays we could pick up. It's a mess. I love it. Family, to me, is about the one you build for yourself, not just the one you're given. My teen years were rough (who's aren't, right?) and the family I built kept me going. And I'm still friends with that group. (In fact, many of them are thanked in my acknowledgements.) They act as beta readers, babysitters, writing buddies, moral support, you name it. I am where I am because of my amazing, loyal, kickass friends and family. Sam's support system is roughly modeled on my own and it only made sense for it to be that way. 

Cindy: I love that response. I think the idea of family is whom you choose to have and build really comes across in these books--of finding your own place. Do you have a favorite character from this series? And what are you working on now, Lish? 

Lish: Hm. It's hard to pick. Sam is so nice. Brid is tough and brave. Ramon is funny and loyal. Ashley is a snarky jerk (I have soft spot for snarky jerks as I tend to be one.). Frank is sweet. Brooke is the Den Mother. James is fussy. Taco is adorable and I love Sexy Gary so much I just had my friend Vlad design a sticker of him. I've spent so much time with them that it would be hard to pick. 

Right now I'm editing my next book and writing the follow up to that. They're not Sam books, but they are set in the same world. They follow Ava, a firebug, who can start fires with her mind. She's forced to work for a mob-style organization as an assassin. It doesn't sound funny, but I promise it's along similar lines as the Sam books. There are biker were-bunnies, for example. All first person so far, though, which feels weird to me now because I've been working on the Sam books for so long. No title as of yet (they rejected mine) and as far as I know the first one is slated for Spring 2014. 

Cindy: Gosh, Ava the firebug sounds so RAD. =D I cannot wait to read this and interview you in the future! Finally, since I've already asked the pastry questions--what is one of your favorite snacks while writing?

Lish: Whatever won't make my hands sticky. I want my snack to not get in the way of me working, but not enough to actually give up the actual snacking. So at this point it's whatever isn't sticky that someone else makes for me. 

Cindy: So practical! And it makes sense. But it discounts Cheetos for me, which is heartbreaking for obvious reasons. Lish, thank you so much for taking the time in your busy schedule to talk with us here!!

To learn more about Lish and her books, visit her website: lishmcbride.com

Inkpot Giveaway

I will be giving away a copy of Necromancing the Stone to one lucky winner! +1 Simply comment in this post to enter. +1 entry if you are a follower of our blog. +1 if you tweet or fb status, etc, with a link to this post and mention of book giveaway. For a total of +3 entries. I will pick a winner on Wednesday, 3/27 and post winner name at the top of this entry. Good luck! (Open to US mailing addresses.)

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Her first published short story is featured in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (October 2012). Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

Interview with Such Wicked Intent Author, Kenneth Oppel

Congrats to Pica Reads for winning the giveaway! She chose a hardcover copy of Such Wicked Intent. Enjoy the fantastic read, Pica! And thanks to all of you who read and commented!

I'm embarrassed to say that I hadn't heard of Kenneth Oppel (not having read much YA before 2008) until I was fortunate enough to be on a panel with him at ALA this summer. And everything he had to say about his young Victor Frankenstein books got me more and more excited to read them--in fact, I was the first in line to get my own signed copies after our panel. ha! Today, I'd like to welcome Kenneth to the Enchanted Inkpot with an interview and also an international giveaway.

To enter, simply comment in this post. I'll select a random winner next Wednesday, 9/11, and the winner can choose a copy of This Dark Endeavor (first book in the series) or Such Wicked Intent, which just released. Please be sure to leave an email so I can contact you! Winner will be announced in this same post on 9/11. Good luck, everyone!

cindy: Could you tell us the first time you read Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and what drew you most to the novel? 

ken: I didn't read it till after graduating university, so I never had to study it, just enjoy it as an amazing literary pleasure. For me it has everything a good story should: a driven hero, a surging plot, a monster, and a rich subtext which poses lots of questions about man's responsibilities for (and to!) his own creations. Franmkenstein poses moral questions that are still very relevant today, about the reasonable limits of scientific ambition -- and the repurcussions of really bad parenting. Mostly though, I enjoyed it as a terrific piece of storytelling. It's sort of the first horror story, the first sci-fi story, the first monster story.

cindy: I never did read Frankenstein, either. But after reading both your young Victor novels, I've got it on my list! I love love gray characters. And we talked a little about writing them on our panel together. As gobsmacked and reviled as I am by some of the things that Victor Frankenstein does and says in your novels, I find him utterly compelling as a character. How was it for you writing a hero (or some might argue, antihero) that was so rash and arrogant? I felt that you walked the fine line between hubris and human foibles so well. 

ken: I loved writing Victor. As a writer I think you strive to create characters that exercsie the full range of human behaviour and emotion -- and often these things are not heroic or noble or attractive. Victor is certainly a larger than life character. He's smart, arrogant, rash, selfish, but also loyal and loving and brave -- in short, he's no more an antihero than most of us on the planet. It's huge fun to let loose a character with a temper, but also with a passion and a plan. I think you sympathize with Victor's sense of inferiority around his perfect identical twin, and any reader would sympathize with someone who tries so hard to be good at things, in the shadow of another. Sometimes envy makes people do rotten things. So Victor's not always nice, but you always want to watch him -- and I think you want him to get what he wants, even if it's a bit appalling. I mean, he's Victor Frankenstein, not Harry Potter.


cindy: I think you created a fantastic character in Victor--and he was one of my favorite things about these books. You mentioned that This Dark Endeavor will be made into a film. How far along are you in the process? Did you write the screenplay? And how have you found the film making business compared to publishing? 

ken: The book was optioned by the producers of Twilight before it was published. So far they've got a great director attached (Matt Reeves, who directed Cloverfield) and a team of screenwriters who are working on a second draft of the script. And that's about all I know. After all, I just wrote the book, so I'm quite unnecessary in the whole process! I did not write the script -- I was busy writing the sequel (Such WIcked Intent) and wanted to concentrate on that.


cindy: These books would be spectacular as films. Really hoping that we'll get to see them in the theatres in the future. What is it that draws you to writing speculative fiction?  

ken: I'm attracted  to stories that take me out of my own world to a world of wondrous possibilities. It's more fun for me to remake the world than to try to capture the one I live in. I know that as a reader I want a story to show me something new, and take me someplace I've never been, and seduce me with a voice I've never heard. For me, I find it easier to create stories that have some element of the fantastic, within a world that feels a lot like our own. I guess it's the idea that there are hidden wonders in our own world, that we might discover if we search hard enough. I've written about the world of bats, and an alternative past with airships and a new flora and fauna in the sky -- and Frankenstein was a way of re-entering a favourite story from a new perspective, and showing readers new things about Victor Frankenstein. 


cindy: I think we are very similar readers, Ken! And perhaps, even writers! Could you tell us a little about projects you are working on now? 

ken: Right now I'm working on the screenplay for a film adaptation of Airborn, and writing the first draft of a new fantasy novel.

cindy: I love how vague you are with this answer. ha! humphs! But I understand some need for Authorial Secrecy. =) And last but never least, what is your favorite pastry? (Anything sweet that must be baked!) 

ken: How about a profiterole: pastry AND ice cream combined!

cindy: I LOVE the way you think! =D 

Thanks so much again to Kenneth for stopping by. Lovely Inkie readers, be sure to leave a comment with an email to enter to win either This Dark Endeavor or Such Wicked Intent. Reminder: to enter giveaway:

+1 if you leave a comment for this post

+1 additional if you are or become follower to
Enchanted Inkpot. (let me know in comment.)

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was released in April 2011. Her first published short story will appear in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (October 2012). Cindy is also a Chinese brush painting student of over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

Interview with Kendare Blake

Cas Lowood has inherited an unusual vocation: He kills the dead. 


So did his father before him, until his gruesome murder by a ghost he sought to kill. Now, armed with his father’s mysterious and deadly athame, Cas travels the country with his kitchen-witch mother and their spirit-sniffing cat. Together they follow legends and local lore, trying to keep up with the murderous dead—keeping pesky things like the future and friends at bay.


When they arrive in a new town in search of a ghost the locals call Anna Dressed in Blood, Cas doesn’t expect anything outside of the ordinary: move, hunt, kill. What he finds instead is a girl entangled in curses and rage, a ghost like he’s never faced before. She still wears the dress she wore on the day of her brutal murder in 1958: once white, but now stained red and dripping blood. Since her death, Anna has killed any and every person who has dared to step into the deserted Victorian she used to call home. 


And she, for whatever reason, spares his life. 


I had the pleasure of sitting with Kendare Blake on my very first YALSA panel at ALA last month. I really enjoyed Anna Dressed in Blood--it was a refreshing YA read wonderfully written but also very original--which is always a gem. Not only did the book have a fantastic title, a stunning cover, it had the story to match. Today, I'm very happy to welcome Kendare to the Enchanted Inkpot for an interview. Thanks for taking the time from your busy schedule to join us! 

Cindy: As a fantasy writer myself, I find that I am quite plot driven when I write. And really need to go back and work on the characters to layer and deepen. Both Cas and Anna leap off the page with their personalities and voices. In writing Anna, which came to you first, the characters or the story?

Kendare: The title came first, actually. And then the character of Anna, but just the idea of her. She was the last one to really flesh out in my head...I started writing the book without knowing who she was. Which worked, because Cas didn't know her either, so we got to know her together. The concept followed Anna and the title. I knew she was dead, and that she was pissed, and that a ghost hunter would challenge her. But that's about it. I don't plot. When I started ANNA, I had a feeling it would end up somewhere on the shores of Lake Superior. I thought the lake would play a larger role. But it played no role at all. Weird. 


Cindy: The title? I am so impressed because I love your debut title. I wonder when Lake Superior will pop up in future books? =) On the panel, you mentioned being an author of YA Horror. And you also recommended authors who write horror like Joe Hill to read. What is it about horror that fascinates you, as both reader and writer? 


Kendare: I don't know! I'm morbid? I'm a little boy, playing in the dirt and comparing scabs with friends? I like blood, guts, violence, but I also need there to be thought, humanity, flaw. I never thought of ANNA as horror when I wrote it. It was just the story. And though my next series has blood, guts, violence, gross things, it isn't horror. Really, I don't read too much horror anymore. Dark stuff is always good. Joe Hill's HEART-SHAPED BOX was horror, but HORNS I don't think was. But both were dark. 


Cindy: I'm eager to read Heart-Shaped-Box upon your recommendation! Could you tell us a little bit about your writing process? Do you outline carefully or just leap in and write? Do you set any sort of word minimum to be met each day while you're drafting? 


Kendare: I never plot, and I don't set word limits. I mean, I set word hopes. I hope I'll make it past this scene, or I hope I'll make it past 40,000 words today. But I never know. With both ANNA and GIRL OF NIGHTMARES I knew where the story started, and had a vague idea of where it might end up. That's about it. With the project I'm in now, I'm noticing I have to go back and add scenes, which is new. 


Cindy: We are non-plotting buddies! And "word hopes", I like that. What is a genre you'd love to try writing that you haven't dabbled in yet? 


Kendare: I wish I was smart enough to write a great philosophical novel. Unfortunately, I'm only barely smart enough to read them. 


Cindy: Ha! You should try Iris Murdoch. She is one of my favorite authors and a philosopher by trade. My favorite by her: A Fairly Honourable Defeat. You mentioned a new YA project on the horizon at our panel. Could you tell us a little more about it? 


Kendare: Funny that you ask! I'm doing this interview right now as a way to procrastinate working on the second book of it. It's called ANTIGODDESS. Dying gods at war, mortals drawn into the fray. It draws a lot on The Iliad and The Odyssey, and features Athena, Hermes, Hera, Aphrodite and Poseidon, all in various states of decay. Odysseus and Hector show up too, and at the center is Cassandra. I always thought that she had the worst of it. To see the fall coming, and never be believed. I hope people like it. And oh, it's contemporary! Modern world setting. 


Cindy: I love Greek myth and that sounds so fantastic! Happy to help with your procrastination, too. =D And last but *never* least, what is your favorite pastry? (Any sweet thing that must be baked.) 


Kendare: Never least! Favorite sweet thing that must be baked....chocolate cake. I've come to realize just how difficult it is to find a truly transcendent chocolate cake. They'll either be dry, or I won't like the frosting. And I'm talking a magnificent, dense, chocolately chocolate cake. Not too rich, not too heavy. Maybe with some kind of thick, cold whipped cream. Dammit, Cindy! Now I'm hungry!

Cindy: I so agree! Great Choice! And I think making people hungry is one of my superpowers. =D Thank so much for stopping by the Inkpot, Kendare!


Kendare: Thank you for having me by the Enchanted Inkpot! It was great hanging with you (even so briefly) at ALA. I hope we get to do it again soon!


Cindy: Definitely!

The sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood titled The Girl of Nightmares is out on August 7! You can learn more about Kendare and her books at her official website: kendareblake.com

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow, 2009), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist, and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA. The sequel to Silver Phoenix, titled Fury of the Phoenix, was published in April 2011. Her first published short story will appear in Diverse Energies, a multicultural YA dystopian anthology from Tu Books (November 2012). Cindy has also studied Chinese brush painting for over a decade. Visit her website at www.cindypon.com.

Interview with Jennifer Nielsen, author of THE FALSE PRINCE

We’re so excited to have a chance to discuss the first book in Jennifer Nielsen’s Ascendance Trilogy. Jennifer is a member of the Enchanted Inkpot, and we are thrilled about this wonderful new series written by one of our own!

THE FALSE PRINCE is a fascinating mix of impersonations and machinations. Could you tell us a little bit about the journey from the inspiration for THE ASCENDANCE TRILOGY to the actually writing it?

THE FALSE PRINCE in six words: Lose the Game, Lose your Life.

Without giving away any spoilers, what was the one thing that surprised you most while you writing THE FALSE PRINCE? (Did Sage behave?!)

Sage came to me as a complete character, so writing him was really more about letting the story reveal who he was rather than me creating new traits in him. So yes, a lot of things surprised me as I was writing.

In particular, there is one scene in the book where Sage gets into a considerable amount of trouble, which he could avoid if he would just back down. But he doesn’t –he won’t. Even as I was writing it, I was so frustrated with him for continuing to push, because I knew the awful consequences that were waiting for him.

Then I realized that Sage could not back down. No matter how foolish it is to stay on his course, he will never move backward. I hadn’t known that about him until that scene, and it was a fascinating discovery.

What draws you to fantasy?

I can really get geeky about`worldbuilding. I love doing research and then interweaving those details with things of my own creation.

For me, what’s wonderful about fantasy is that the world is limitless. If you can dream up the idea, then you can find a way to build it into your story. With fantasy, anything is possible.

What does your usual writing space look like? Do you listen to music? Do you have any rituals you observe--listening to music, eating or drinking specific things--while you're working?

My writing space is wildly unglamorous. There’s a loveseat near a warm window that I enjoy curling into as I write. And I almost always bring pages to bed with me and work on them before I fall asleep at night. However, one thing I’m nearly compulsive about is always having paper and a pen somewhere nearby, because I’ll get ideas all the time, in totally random places, and if I don’t write them down I risk losing them – and I hate that!

I can listen to music at certain phases of the process. For the first draft, I really need a quiet home. But in edits, I often set my playlist to “Writing Music,” and that’s really nice. I wish I could say that I had a ritual of eating dark chocolate as I write. But really, that would be a disaster, so it’s a good thing I don’t.

Did you decide to categorize THE FALSE PRINCE as a young adult novel at the beginning stages of working on it? Why do you think YA fantasy is so popular with both young adults and old adults?

The story tumbled out of me so quickly that I didn’t really make a choice for how to categorize it. Some people see THE FALSE PRINCE as a YA, and others as a middle grade. I think it’s really wonderful that people feel it might cross over to either genre.

I think part of the fascination with YA fantasy is that the teen years and the few years after that are often the most pivotal in one’s life. It’s the beginning of decisions that determine who a person will become. It’s also a time of feeling immensely powerful, when we’re stretching our wings, and before we fully appreciate our mortality. So YA writing inherently contains all of these elements that make for great story material.

How did you feel when you finished the last draft of THE FALSE PRINCE? What did you do to celebrate?

To be honest, I didn’t really celebrate. It was the Christmas season and so I planned to send the manuscript off to my agent right after the New Year (literally right after: I think I almost waited to midnight before I hit send). But by the last draft, I loved this story so much that I had this pit in my gut. What if my agent didn’t like it? What if she felt there was no market for the book at this time? What if she submitted it, but couldn’t find any takers? I’m not normally a worrier about that, but my heart and soul was in the manuscript, so I hated the thought that it might not find a home. I saved my celebrations until after Scholastic so enthusiastically bought it, at which time I couldn’t shout out my happiness loudly enough.

What's your favorite thing about being a writer?

I love the readers – the teens and tweens who are internet savvy enough to find ways to connect with me there, or who want to talk with me about the plots and their favorite characters. I love the younger kids who draw scenes from my books, or enthusiastically raise their hands at school visits to tell me about the story they’re writing. Writing can be a very solitary business, but when I hear from readers who love my books, I begin to feel connected with people everywhere.