All YA Love: Guest Post by Debut Author, Swati Avasthi

I’m excited to be here on Book Lovers Inc. Thanks for the invite. My debut novel, Split, will hit the shelves in March 9th and is narrated by 16 year old Jace Witherspoon, who has just run 1300 miles after hitting his father back. He hasn’t seen his brother, Christian in five years, but with nowhere else to go, he shows up on Christian’s doorstep with bruises and a secret. Split is about what happens after you get out.

When I first spoke to my editor, she said that she promised herself she wouldn’t ask me whether I had any personal experience with domestic violence and I realized that I was going to get that question a lot. Luckily, my answer is no. The follow up question to that is then, why did I …

All YA Love: Interview with Debut Author, Mara Purnhagen

Today, I’m excited to share with you an interview with Mara Purnhagen, author of Tagged. Her debut novel is set for release next week on March 1st through Harlequin, be sure to check it out!
 

BLI: Graffiti is not a common topic seen in books, where did the idea for this book come from?

Mara: When I wrote Tagged in 2007, I had just discovered the work of Banksy, a British graffiti artist. I highly recommend checking out his web site as well as his book, Wall and Piece.

BLI: I love the colorful cover! It shows graffiti with 2 ‘normal’ kids just hanging out yet when I think of graffiti, rough looking kids come to mind. What does this tell us about the book?

Mara: Thanks! I love the colors, too, and I hope the cover conveys that the main characters are very average kids.

BLI: Gorilla’s are found spray painted around …

All YA Love: Guest Post by Alexandra Diaz

It is our pleasure to have with us today Alexandra Diaz, author of Of All Stupid Things which was released in December. Alexandra shares with us how growing up and being home-schooled shows up in her writing. Thanks so much Alexandra, take it away…

“How Home-Schooling Inspired My Writing”

(photo credit: Owen Benson)

My schooling was quite unconventional compared to my friends. While my friends rode off to first grade in a yellow school bus, I went to a Montessori school where they didn’t know what grades (neither years nor marks) meant. In high school when kids stayed up late to study for tests, I was up all night with a goat in labor. In many ways I envied the “normal” childhood of others and wanted very much to be a part of it. Or at least the idealized part of …