Today on the podcast, we have an extra special treat: two authors in one interview! Debra Driza, author of MILA 2.0 and Shannon Messenger, author Let the Sky Fall. We had an absolutely fabulous time and think you will too! Highlights include Deb singing Domo Arigatou and the phrase "MORE TONGUE!" Yep-- be prepared for a wild ride. ;)
Oh and don't forget Michelle and Allison's picks of the month. This month, we chat about Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale and Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool.
Be sure to visit Debra and Shannon on their websites for more from these two incredibly fun ladies.
Podcast hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer, Marc Conrad Tabula, for his awesome audio editing skills. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode, and thank you for listening!
We are thrilled to have Shannon Messenger on the podcast! She is a most delightful person, and her YA debut, Let the Sky Fall, is in bookstores everywhere TODAY. Michelle is supposed to be taking it easy with her baby, but she is currently doing her "happy book" dance. She is just that excited!
Want to download this podcast? Click here for an mp3 or find us on iTunes.
And there's a giveaway to celebrate the launch of this fantastic series! We're thrilled to be giving away signed ARCs of Let the Sky Fall. To enter, just comment on this post and tell us which winddirection you would want to be: North, South, East, or West. Be sure to leave your email or Twitter handle along with your comment so we can contact the winner. Contest is open to US residents only. Comment to enter by Sunday, March 10. We have three signed copies to giveaway and one unsigned so FOUR WINNERS!
And stay tuned... We will be announcing the winner of the Beth Revis giveaway on our Twitter account today. Do you follow us on there yet? You can find us at @AuthorsROCK.
Podcast hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer, Marc Conrad Tabula, for his awesome audio editing skills. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode, and thank you for listening!
If you were entranced by Michelle Hodkin's debut novel The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, we can bet you raced to bookstores as soon as its sequel, The Evolution of Mara Dyer, hit the shelves last month. It's a New York Times Bestseller! We are so excited to bring you this interview with Michelle, in which she discusses all sorts of fascinating topics, including the inspiration behind the Mara Dyer series and a pretty creepy story (so keep the lights on while you listen!).
Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes!
Learn more about Michelle Hodkin at her Web site, and be sure to visit her publisher, Simon and Schuster. Podcast hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer, Marc Conrad Tabula for his awesome sound editing skills. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode! (And if you like us, please be so kind as to leave a review.)
We chatted with the wonderful Amy McNamara about her debut novel, Lovely, Dark and Deep, which comes out tomorrow, October 16, from Simon & Schuster. We loved hearing about how she stayed grounded while writing such an emotionally intense story, and the different challenges between writing poetry and writing fiction.
Bonus: Amy and Michelle bust out their fantastic Midwestern accents, and Allison explains Otter Pops.
Amy also shared some lovely photos of her trip to Maine that she talks about on the show. Here are our two favorites.
Podcast hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer, Marc Conrad Tabula for his awesome sound editing skills. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode! (And if you like us, please be so kind as to leave a review.)
We are so pleased to bring you an interview with the lovely Melissa Wiley. Perhaps you know her from the "Little House on the Prairie" prequels about Laura's ancestors... perhaps you know her for her social media savvy... perhaps you know her for her gorgeous hair. Whatever the case may be, if you know Melissa, you automatically love her. And if you don't know her yet, you'll want to!
We caught up with her at the ALA Annual conference in June... and when I say "we," I mean myself (Allison) and our good friend Lali of Masala Reader. Unfortunately, Michelle had to miss out on this one! But Lali stepped in as a fabulous guest interviewer, and we had a blast chatting with Melissa about her upcoming projects, her strategies for balancing her life as a writer and a homeschooling mom of 6, and, of course, Betsy-Tacy.
Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer Marc Conrad Tabula for his editing skills. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode! (And if you like us, please be so kind as to leave a review!)
Jessi Kirby is an amazing writer-- and she's a fellow Southern Californian! We're practically neighbors, so we were thrilled to get the chance to sit down with Jessi and chat about her writing. Her latest book, In Honor, came out in May from Simon and Schuster, following her debut novel, Moonglass, which was published last year.
We had the best time talking to Jessi about the way one of her students inspired her to write a book, what it was like writing a second book versus her first, and her tips for achieving a work/life balance as a mom.
We thought we'd wrap up this episode with a singer who reminds us of Jessi's fictional country music sensation, Kyra Kelly, from In Honor-- Christine Marie, with her song "It Starts Today." Enjoy!
Are you in the mood for a road trip to kick off summer? We've got the perfect author interview for you!
We had the opportunity to Skype with author Hilary Weisman Graham about her debut novel, Reunited, out this month from Simon & Schuster. Reunited tells the story of three ex-best friends who come together one more time for a road trip to see the band they idolized years ago.
Hilary talked to us about her experience on reality TV, her transition from being a screenwriter to writing a YA novel, and how awesome it was to produce songs for her fictional band, E3. We even have the songs at the end of the show for you to enjoy!
Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer Marc Conrad Tabula for his awesome editing, as always. Please subscribe to Authors are ROCKSTARS! on iTunes so you'll never miss an episode!
But wait-- there's more! Heather is generously offering an AUTOGRAPHED copy of Home for the Holidays to one lucky winner. Just listen to this podcast episode and leave us a comment here on this blog entry. Tell us what you love about Heather's books, the Betsy-Tacy books, or share your favorite holiday tradition! And be sure to leave your email so we can be sure to contact you if you win. Deadline for entries is Saturday, December 17. This contest is open to US and Canada residents only.
Thanks, Heather! (Told you she was absolutely lovely!)
**EDITED TO ADD: The contest is now closed. Thank you for all your entries. The winner is REBECCA! Congratulations, Rebecca. We're emailing you.**
We also want to announce that this is the inaugural episode of a new feature on our podcast: KidLit Corner. Our primary focus on this podcast is YA lit and rockin' music, but we both love children's literature, too. Avid readers as kids, now with little readers of our own, we have a soft spot for KidLit. So we thought it would be fun to feature rock star children's authors on this podcast sometimes, in addition to fabulous authors for teens. KidLit Corner will be an occasional feature of the program, and we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do!
Thanks for listening-- please let us know what you think, and again, be sure to comment with some holiday cheer for the wonderful Heather Vogel Frederick and our featured musician, Debi Derryberry. Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. "Baby Banana" by Debi Derryberry is our featured song for this podcast. You can learn more about where to purchase Debi's CDs over on her website.
This month is an exciting one! We got the chance to chat with Karsten Knight, author of Wildefire. His action-packed book full of gods and goddesses from a variety of cultures comes out on July 26th from Simon & Schuster. In the interview, Karsten tells us all about his fantastic book, what it's like to be an author in the information age, and the long journey he's taken from writing his first story as a kid to becoming a published author.
Not only do we have this fabulous interview, but also our signature rockin' music, and don't forget Allison's and Michelle's book picks of the month! This month, we talk about The Other Countess, by Eve Edwards, and Tempest Rising, by Tracy Deebs.
Be sure to keep an eye on the blog because we'll be giving away of a copy of Wildefire soon!
Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Music at the top provided by 46bliss. Song of the Month is "Fire Fight" by 4DModel. We're currently working on moving the podcast over to iTunes, so you can subscribe there. Stay tuned for more details...
Thanks to Allison for the awesome write up on the Cassandra Clare and Holly Black Mission Viejo event. I know that I had SO much fun meeting everyone and listening to the crowd's questions. It was a wonderful group of fans! I hope you all had a great time there too.
Well, without further ado, here's our debut podcast... featuring the talented ladies Cassandra Clare and Holly Black.
Want to win a pair of "Red Glove" mittens? (yay for fun swag!) Well you're in luck. Just leave a comment on this post answering the following question.
What character did Holly and Cassandra decide would steal the show if their characters went out to sing karaoke?
Edit: CONTEST IS OVER, but feel free to answer for fun! :D Another contest will be posted next month.
Music at the top provided by 46bliss. The song "Books and Letters" at the end of the show is from the band The Morning Light. For more information about your hosts, please visit our "About" page. Thank you for listening. See you next month!
On Sunday, April 10, the fabulous Holly Black and Cassandra Clare wowed an audience of over 250 people in Mission Viejo, CA as part of their City of Fallen Angels/Red Glove book tour. Both authors treated us to readings from their books- we got an enticing sneak preview of the first chapter of Cassie's next book, Clockwork Prince, and Holly read two amazing excerpts from Red Glove. It was unbelievably cool to hear them read from their own work.
They also answered tons of questions from the audience. Naturally, the very first question right out of the gate was: "Is Alex Pettyfer going to star as Jace in The Mortal Instruments movies?" Everyone wants to know, right?? But as Cassie graciously explained, she has absolutely no control over it. (And we here at Authors are ROCKSTARS! can't wait for the movie, whoever is cast!)
Both ladies were incredibly generous with their time, chatting individually with each person who came through the book signing line, and answering questions. Their fans were really enthusiastic. One girl brought a gorgeous scrapbook she had created as a school project detailing Cassie's writing career- and she asked Cassie to sign it. How awesome is that?!
It was truly such a pleasure to meet these amazing authors and get a chance to chat with them. Michelle and I still can't get over how cool they are. Our exclusive interview with Cassie and Holly is coming up in the next post!
