Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 7th question is “What is one of the most memorable feedback you’ve gotten from a young adult after reading your book?”

“What an emotional experience.” That, and “Pure brilliance.” Both were from readers who bought and read The Undernet. Another was from a gender switch novel I wrote, called Fight Like A Woman. The reader said it was so good, it should be made into a movie. That is high praise, indeed!!

Interesting story.

I have received some excellent reviews. However, one that made my heart sing was when I visited a school to present ‘Dear H’. A few days later, I received an email from the school librarian telling me that one of the girls who had not been ‘into’ reading, had borrowed ‘Dear H’ and had read it in two nights. I was thrilled.

That it is not a ‘typical’ young adult novel and that it has ‘diverse and dynamic characters and an interesting villain-hero complex’.

I think the one that sticks in my head was “I absolutely loved it when can I buy it?” When you know you’ve made someone feel that way you can’t help but feel happy and that you are achieving what you set out to do.

The biggest compliment is that readers have been so caught up in Izzy’s story that they’ve read the book in one sitting.

“He never liked to read until he read The Firebrand Legacy.” When a seventh-grade teacher told me this about one of her students, it made my day. If my books can bring a person to the written word, I’m doing my job.

I got a 3 page (handwritten!) letter from a young man who quite enjoyed it. It wasn’t just gushing and flattery, however. He told me things that he hadn’t quite understood about some of the events in the book. I wrote back to thank him. Both his praise and his honesty really meant a lot to me.

They loved my book.

Better than Lord of the Rings

‘That was good. But I wouldn’t have done it like that.’

I’ve never had any known feedback from a young adult, so that’s impossible to say, alas.

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Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 6th question is “Is it okay for a YA novel to get dark?”

YES! It’s fine, but it’s up to the writer to see how dark things can get. As an example, two of my novels–sorry for the shill, but this pertains to the question–The Undernet, and its sequel, Azrael, The Undernet 2, both deal with a cyber netherworld where anything goes, including murder. There is no overt violence in the first novel with the exception of the penultimate chapter, but it is quite creepy. With the sequel, I dealt with the topic of child trafficking. Again, there was nothing overt, but it was quite suggestive. Please remember that the world isn’t the nicest of places at times. Bad things can and do happen. I think that if the writer can depict such things but not go overboard, then it’s fine to go dark–at times. But there must always be a light at the end of the tunnel.

Yes so the story could be different and entertaining

Yes, I think so. The synopsis of both of my books could sound depressing. However, when read, they are emotive and inspiring. Teens do suffer from ‘dark’ thoughts and this should be included in the books they read. It is a true representation of life.

Yes, I think so. After all, that is part of life, isn’t it? Embracing the shadow! I think it important for a book to have some sort of resolution, but it doesn’t always have to be a perfect ending. In my novel, I explore the duality of light of dark.

Yes! I didn’t read anything but dark when I was a teen. Whether it’s a horror or something more emotional, teens experience these feelings in real life and therefore they should be reflected in books. I always found that the scarier books took me out of my own life when I needed a break and the emotional ones made me ponder viewpoints I may not have considered before.

Life is dark and, as such, some YA novels to be dark too. There’s a place for all kinds of books but for me it’s important that literature explores the more challenging aspects of adolescence so that readers might be better prepared for the difficulties they or their friends could face. I’m not into sensationalising trauma, rather providing a place in which it can be examined honestly, ultimately providing some solace and, of course, hope.

Absolutely. Books are places where we confront darkness, giving us tools to do so in real life. That said, I am a firm believer in hope. I like a book that shows a character shining through the darkness. When I face hard times, I want a literary hero in my mind’s eye to remind me that as dark as times may be, light will blaze through in the end. As G.K. Chesterton said, “Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

I would say it’s not only okay, but it’s crucial to have YA books that get dark. The old grouches of the world all seem to think that a teen’s problems are no greater than “I dropped my slushie and my smartphone died.” For many of us, the darkness comes early. There are teenagers in the United States who are all too familiar with abuse, hunger, homelessness, mental illness, just to name a few. Books that get dark teach readers living in that darkness that no, they’re not crazy, the pain they’re living with is real, but they’re not alone and they can get through it. If you think reading about the darkness is too much, imagine how hard it is to live it.

Yes. YA readers are young adults. They know the world.

Absolutely! Mine is very dark!

As dark as you dare to go and then add a touch more darkness. Then turn the lights out and close your eyes. Then the fun begins.

The world is dark, so YA absolutely should reflect that.

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Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 5th question is “Writing a YA book is a good opportunity to shape the minds of the youngsters. What message do you aim to deliver to them?”

I’m not trying to influence anyone with anything I write. That is to say, there is no moral message overtly passed between me, the writer, and they, the reader. I’m simply trying to tell a story, and leave the decision of what’s right and wrong for them to follow. My only ‘message’ is that life is unpredictable, and that you have to adapt to your surroundings. My main characters aren’t perfect; they’re not supposed to be, but they grow in order to match their situation. In real life, teens are supposed to grow and mature as they go along.

Be inspire to make a difference.

The idea of ‘shaping the minds of youngsters’ has never entered my head. I just write what is in my head. However, when ‘Dear H’ was completed, it was pointed out to me how influential my writing was. I now use the books as a basis for workshops on bullying for both YA and adults.

There is a strong theme of the importance of friendships in my novel.

Overall, I think my underlying theme in all my books is about owning your voice. That teenagers do have a voice and that voice matters. That they are important and can make a change if they have the confidence to speak up. You don’t need to wait for adulthood to make an impact or be respected.

I would especially like for girls to feel empowered by The Sky Is Mine, to know that their voices count and to recognise their own self worth. This has become a running joke between my mum and me from when I was doing my GCSEs and I argued for the importance of women’s inner strength in every English Lit paper I wrote. Back then I probably wouldn’t have called it feminism, but these days, that’s definitely what I’d call it.

The Manakor Chronicles open up important questions: How do you decide if you believe something different than what your parents taught you? To what extent is it good to use your power? When do the ends justify the means? Many of the questions are moral ones. This is the time when readers decide who they want to be, what they believe in, and what is worth fighting for.

To set their own limits. That life can be scary and unfair but they always have choices–maybe not ideal, but they are theirs to make. That they can be smart and still have doubts, brave and still be vulnerable, that they can cry and fail and get back up and try again. That there is always hope.

You’re strong enough to fight through anything.

Believe in yourself and you can achieve anything

Read a book for fun and shape your own destiny. Don’t be mind shaped by others. Mind shaping is bad. Don’t you read YA dystopian novels?

Question everything – attitudes, beliefs, laws, social conventions, everything. Always remember the world is fixed against you unless you’re born privileged. Judge people by their character and actions not by their gender/ethnicity/sexuality etc. Kick arse where it deserves to be kicked.

Stay tuned for the next post. Be sure to follow this website via email to get notified when new posts are being made.

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Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 4th question is “When writing your YA book, have you tried getting input from real teenagers?”

I have. A few have responded in a most timely and decent manner.

Yes so my readers can relate to the story.

‘Dear H’ was written over a period of 15 years. It began life as a short story to satisfy a desire to write. There was never an intention to publish the story. Years later, the story developed and became longer. When I thought I had completed it, I gave it to my neighbour’s two granddaughters to read. They were both 12 years of age at the time. One of them read the manuscript five times over that weekend. They both urged me to have it published. I explained that it was not an easy task and the book was forgotten. Owing to family issues the book was not published for another two years. By then, I had added another 2,000 words. When I decided to self-publish, I gave the manuscript to some more young people to assess their reactions.

I have lots of people reading my drafts and making suggestions. For example, someone suggested that I should introduce a kiss to the end of one chapter. And I did!

Yes. I always do. Not only is my eldest now a teen but I also have teen beta readers and I canvas the teens of family friends when I’m not sure about something.

I have a few go-to teenager beta-readers who’ve been brilliant at responding to my random requests regarding slang and cultural references etc.

I love talking with teenagers about The Manakor Chronicles through school visits and my contact page. In one book club, the teenagers had a thrilling debate about which prince they would pair Carine with, and shared their well-articulated arguments for each one. On another occasion, when discussing The Firebrand Legacy, a young man described a weapon idea. His idea will make an appearance in the third book of the series.

The sensible thing to do would have been to have real teenagers beta-test my book, but my first real teenage audience came right after I self-published. My mother was the librarian at my old high school, and her book club read my work. I was surprised and pleased that they liked it. If I could do it all over again, though, I would have plucked up the courage to ask them their thoughts before I published. Who knows, it might have even made a different story.

Yes. Mostly grandkids and their friends.

I have two children and have lots of friends with children – so they have read the book and given me feedback.

Yes. And each one gave me a different response that usually conflicts with the previous ones.

No; I tend to feel my work is more of a cross-over for both YA and beyond; see the “universal experiences” comment above. Thus teenagers, young adults, the middle-aged and over can all (hopefully) find something recognisable and get involved in the story and characters. Besides, it would look *very* dodgy for a middle-aged bloke to be chasing after teenagers…. even if it just for literary input!

Stay tuned for the next post. Be sure to follow this website via email to get notified when new posts are being made.

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Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 3rd question is “Have you written anything based on your life experiences?”

Hmmm…no, not really, although in my latest novel, I did incorporate something that my sister does. In my novel, What The Gods Allow, one of the main characters has an older sister who makes custom-made jewelry on consignment. In real life, my sister does the same thing, so I based that character partially upon her.

Not yet.

No I haven’t. However, there are elements in both books that are linked with my own experiences. Like Amanda, I had a burning desire to be a singer at one stage in my life.

I think my protagonist and I share some character traits!

I have an unpublished novel based on my experience with an anxiety disorder and much of the mental health issues in The Shadow Keepers is own voices.

I finished The Sky Is Mine, in which Izzy is subjected to sexual and emotional abuse from two male characters, just as the #MeToo movement kicked off. Izzy’s experiences are a reworking of things that happened to my friends and me. In light of #MeToo, it quickly became apparent – as if we didn’t already know – that those experiences were not unique to us and that girls and women everywhere were, like Izzy, finding trying to find their voice.

There is no way not to. I see different parts of myself in each of the characters, especially Carine, David, and Giles. No character, however, is based 100% on a person from my real life.

I tend to write fantasy, but even fantasy has elements of truth in it. The characters I create have little pieces of people I know, or things they’ve said. In some of my works in progress, characters have jobs based off of jobs I’ve had, or wanted to have. And if I’m being really honest, my protagonists tend to overthink things a lot, something I know all too well.

Yes. The Scarry Inn was based on a horrible trip my family took on the way home to Missouri from California.

I was very shy as a child and found the world noisy and harsh and difficult to navigate and I made a few mistakes as a teenager trying to find my place. I think all this is reflected in my writing.

Life experience creeps into every book. It’s the small details that bring sparkle to a page. Don’t just drink the coffee, smells the grinds.

Struggles with officialdom, certainly, though thankfully not to the extent my heroine, Poppy, has to. It’s probably fairer to say the experiences in my books are an amalgamation of real-life experiences drawn from numerous sources including history books, academia, social media etc.

Stay tuned for the next post. Be sure to follow this website via email to get notified when new posts are being made.

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Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 2nd question is “It is said to be crucial for YA authors to find the “Emotional Truth” of the teenage experience. Do you agree?”

I think that it’s crucial they try to find that ‘truth’…the question is how. For me, it’s reflecting on the days of my youth and the choices I made. Sometimes, those choices weren’t the best ones, and that means my characters won’t always make the right choices, either. Now,, do all YA authors find that truth? In my opinion, no. But for me, I have–or, at least, I think I have–by recalling what I did then, and putting myself in the shoes of my characters. Perhaps that’s not the best way, but it works for me.

No, because it is part of life to experience challenges and it is up to that person how he or she handles it.

Yes, I do agree with this statement. It is vital that books must be written to appeal to the YA audience. To do this, it is important to include subjects that are relevant to the target audience and with which they identify emotionally.

As a writer, I think it is important to write characters with which your reader can identify with and build a connection with over the course of your story, so yes, I would agree this statement.

I think it depends on what you want your reader to feel. The teen years are a tricky time of puberty, self-identity and first love, and to read about those things in a novel that can support your own experiences is comforting. It makes the novel stand up above the rest as an emotional connection is formed. Having said that, there are some great reads that don’t look to send a message and are fun and light-hearted. I think those are equally important. We don’t always need to learn something.

Absolutely. It’s the latter years of adolescence that really interest me. That period of life when you’re not quite adult, not quite child, when you believe you should know yourself but that knowledge feels like it’s rooted in jelly. Sometimes too wobbly and sticky to fully enjoy the sweet stuff.

Stories must ring true. The conflict must be real conflict, and emotion is absolutely part of that. Readers of thirteen or fourteen years old, for whom The Manakor Chronicles are written, are at such an incredible place emotionally. This is the time when you look at what your parents believe and start to challenge that within yourself. It’s when you decide what matters to you, and what you’re willing to sacrifice to get what you want. You decide what sort of person you want to be, what level of importance you give to your character, and how much you value yourself. This time of life is interiorly intense, and I love a story that corresponds to that.

Absolutely. Teenagers can spot a fake from a mile away, and they hate being condescended to. What I can now see as a typical teen problem felt much more devastating at the time that I was living it, because I didn’t have the insight that maybe it wasn’t that bad. Hearing adult authority figures tell me that it wasn’t that bad or in ten years I would laugh at it meant nothing. To write for a young audience, you have to be able to retain at least in part a teen’s emotional truth: everything is high stakes, everyone is watching you, the world is scary and uncertain, no one understands, and nothing ends–until it does, and then it is devastating. They need to be able to feel like someone who has been through it all is confiding in them, showing that they’ve done hard things before and can get through this one now.

Yes and no. While it’s important to learn the feelings of teenagers, writers need to expand and create their own characters.

I think emotional truth is important to respect and reflect the experience of your characters, age is immaterial.

This is a pile of pants. Emotional truth… what kind of psychobabble is this? Everyone will have a different emotional truth if at all. You can’t lump a YA readership into one. As soon as you dissect someone’s soul you destroy it

That’s a difficult one; my stories happen in an alternative Edwardian timeline, where the term “teenager” doesn’t exist, and indeed the very concept of the teenager doesn’t exist – indeed, in reality, up until the 1950s, you were a child until you were an adult. The emotional experience of my characters is therefore not structured as being teenage, though hopefully they are universal and thus recognisable.

Stay tuned for the next post. Be sure to follow this website via email to get notified when new posts are being made.

Be sure to Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion

Hello everyone! We are behind schedule for the July author interview as we had difficulties to get the last three authors to send in their answers and we had to find new authors to replace the three authors who had signed up earlier for the interview. Nevertheless, I am happy to finally be able to publish the answers from all of them for the interview series.

It’s time to reveal the answers for all 12 questions answered by 12 author participants in the July Group Author Interview, in the 12 genres, 12 authors, 12 months and 12 questions series! Thank you for the support from the 12 Young Adult authors who have participated in this group author interview.

If you are an author and would like to participate in our upcoming interviews, check out this link, sign up and get your fans to ask their questions to the participating authors! The goal of this author interview is to increase the engagement between readers and authors, and to expose authors to new group of readers.

We are now a registered book publisher too! Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

So, the 1st question is “What makes your work different from the other YA novels?”

I’d like to think that my work turns certain tropes on their heads. While there is nothing new under the sun, plot-wise, there are ways to ‘twist’ certain tropes to your advantage. I’m not afraid of introducing something new or killing off one of the main characters if it helps to advance the plot. I think that my work is better paced than most out there, and offers the reader something new, a fantastic adventure that gets better with every reading.

The story because it is not an everyday experience when someone invented a time machine and his or her loved ones accidentally transported back in time.

‘Dear H’ was written for a target audience of 10 years +. However, a lot of adults have read this book and tell me it reminds them of incidents in their past. The subject of both, ‘Dear H’, and the sequel, ‘The Daisy Chain’, which was written to appeal to girls of 13 years +, is bullying and associated issues, so it is a worldwide topic that resonates with young and old. One girl told me the book ‘spoke’ to her as it contained ‘messages’.

While there are relationships in my book, the story is not necessarily romance-centred. Also, the setting is quite different; a seemingly sleepy village in the Lancashire countryside (north west of England).

I think my work is different to other YA novels because of who I am. I am the only one who has lived my experiences and has my imagination and ideas and so a unique voice is put down in my books. Mental health issues are important to me and so there’s always a thread of that in each book I write to one degree or another. I think the authors I have read in my youth have influenced my style too in that I write a fast paced thriller.

My voice, I hope. I’ve worked hard to create characters whose voices carry the reader straight into the inner-workings of their hearts and minds. It’s intended to feel very immediate. I love love love words. Their sounds. Their rhythm within a sentence. The poetry of different metaphors. And all that could all sound kind of naff but it’s so key to the way I write.

The Firebrand Legacy is about a 13-year-old girl from the rough part of the fantasy coastal city of Esten. Unlike the townspeople, who celebrate the dragon Kavariel, Carine hates it for killing her sister years before. But when the dragon doesn’t show up for its annual Festival, the kingdom finds itself vulnerable to a threat of dark magic from the north. It is in searching for safety that Carine’s life becomes tangled with fraternal twin princes David and Giles. The Manakor Chronicles is a YA fantasy for younger YA readers, readers who want adventure, friendship, and just the right amount of romantic interest.

It’s hard to say. Every author strives to create something that’s unique. Two people telling the same story won’t tell that story in the same way. The characters will say different lines, have different motivations, all subject to the whim of the storyteller. I heard somewhere that there are maybe eight different plot lines, but an infinite way to tell them. I’d be a little hesitant to say my work is different from other novels, except to say that no one’s storytelling voice is quite like mine, just like mine isn’t like anyone else’s.

The Scarry Inn series is based on something that really could happen to anyone. For a long time, I didn’t find stories like this, although I’m happy to see more and more YA writers coming back to basics.

I describe it as Game of Thrones meets Percy Jackson

Me. No two writers are the same.

I’ve not read a huge number so I can’t say for sure, but those I have read tend toward the very high stakes; “the fate of the world hangs on Martin Buggins finding the lost beaker of Ethersred, otherwise perpetual darkness will rule the land! Can he find the beaker, rescue his friends and find the courage to ask Helen out? OR IS THE WORLD DOOMED?!?” My Steampunk series, Full Throttle and Rise of the Petrol Queen, are far more earth-bound, but arguably therefore more important. Take away the Steampunk elements and you’re left with the story of a working-class disabled girl trying to fight her way through a man’s world, facing down prejudice and hatred from almost every section of society as she struggles to compete on a non-existent level playing field.

Stay tuned for the next post. Be sure to follow this website via email to get notified when new posts are being made.

Be sure to Sign up for our newsletter and CLAIM your FREE book trailer today!

Best regards,

Jasveena

Founder of International Book Promotion