Day 21 - Tighter + interview

Today is the 21st contest, which means there are only 10 to go!

The winner of the 20th day contest is savanna ucinski!!! Congrats, I've emailed you and you have 72 hours to respond or I pick another winner.

Today's prize is Tighter by Adele Griffin, who has generously donated a SIGNED copy to us AND done an interview.   I sent the questions to Adele last month and she got them back to me really fast, so here's the interview I set up with her. :]





PLTF: It seems that you’ve written quite a few books but I’ve only heard of your two most recent ones The Julian Game and Tighter, is that because your other books are indi books or was I just not looking hard enough?

AG: I had my first book published in '96 but it, and a few others, are out of print. I've spent a few recent years putting out the three books in my Vampire Island series, which is younger. So I've been off the YA radar. You can get most of my books through the usual channels-- I've been with Putnam 12 years.

 

PLTF: The Julian Game is really more of a contemporary YA book but Tighter is more paranormal, was it hard moving from one to the other?

AG: My first love is with the paranormal. Lisa Brown and I co-wrote Picture the Dead which is a paranormal set during the Civil War. I have a book called Where I Want to Be that's a bit of a paranormal. And I have a book coming back into print called The Other Shepards that can be read as a ghostly tale.

 

PLTF: I assume you didn’t get your first book published the first time you turned it in, so you definitely needed a few other jobs before you became an author, what did you do?  Do you like being an author better?

AG: Here is something funny-- I actually did get my first book that I turned in published--but I was very helped by the fact that I was working in the editorial department of MacMillan Children's Books. It was great training. I wrote flap copy, catalog copy, helped write editorial letters. Wonderful training, I still use all these years later.

 

PLTF: I’ve been so curious about this question, what happens if you’re booked on a book tour (no pun intended) and you get sick?  Will you go back there like with what happens when singers get sick or is it one of those one shot things?

     AG: I get migraines so this question is very pertinent to me. Last time I got sick, I just stayed in the hotel. It was about 11 years ago, I still have sad memories of it. I hate to be sick when I want to be signing books. But it's a rare event.

PLTF: Out of all the books you’ve written what is your favorite one?

AG: I think my favorite book of mine has not been written yet. I truly think it's going to happen this decade. But I'm an erstwhile optimist.

 

PLTF: As an author I’m sure you get at least a few ARCs, and then you must read at least SOME YA fiction, what are some of your favorite recent or upcoming YA books?

AG: Right now in YA I'm finishing Invisible Girls by Nova Ren Suma and just finished Frost by Marianna Baer. Both a bit spooky. Going to read The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. It's the spooky, luminous summer of 2011. I'm always reading something, it's my joy of life.

 

PLTF: What’s the hardest part of writing a book for you?  The beginning, the ending, the summary?

AG: The hardest part is always the last third, when I have to answer for the first two thirds. It's also the most dangerous turf, because things can turn most boring or confusing, in my rhythm of writing.

 

PLTF: Was there a reason you became a writer or was it just one of those things that called to you?  Did you always want to be a writer?

AG: I love to be a writer, it was the only thing I could have been. Or a professional dog adorer. I adore dogs.

PLTF: Which do you like writing better, contemporary or paranormal YA fiction?  Have you ever thought about branching out into adult fiction?

      AG:Maybe I will write adult fiction, when I feel more like an adult. It creeps up on you ...

PLTF: Last but not least, what do you have to say to all of the people out there who have read/bought/reviewed your books?

     AG:To anyone who took the time to read my book, I am blushing. It's a profoundly humbling feelings. There are no words.

Thank you Adele for answering all of my crazy questions, and now, onto the giveaway.  :]