Alyson Noël: September Podcast

Ava, Allison, Alyson, and Michelle (with a little rockstar baby on board!)

Along with our fabulous teen correspondent, Ava, we got together with New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël last month to chat about The Soul Seekers series, the appeal of flawed characters, and her amazingly disciplined writing routine. We had such a blast talking to Alyson! Honestly, we could have listened to her all day.

In this episode, we also share our book picks of the month. Michelle chose pretty much everything ever written by Julie Kagawa (because, by the way, Julie will be on the show next month!) and Allison chose Every Day by David Levithan.


Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

Thanks very much to rockin' publicist Deb Shapiro for setting up this fabulous interview with Alyson! And thank you to the Mission Viejo Library for providing us with interview space. If you enjoyed our interview with Alyson, be sure to catch up with her at alysonnoel.com.

Now listeners, we have a giveaway for you! Win a paperback of Evermore, signed by the very lovely Alyson Noël. Leave a comment on this post and tell us if you prefer an ideal love interest in fiction, or someone with a few flaws and quirks. Be sure to leave your email in your comment so we can write to you if you're the winner! Deadline for entries is October 1. Contest open to US residents only.

EDIT: The giveaway has ended, but wow! What a great discussion. Congratulations to Crysta and thanks to random.org for making selecting a winner so simple.

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.) 

Sophie Jordan: Road Trip Edition Podcast

Last year, we interviewed Sophie Jordan via Skype in advance of the second book in her wildly romantic Firelight trilogy. This year, we were thrilled to get to meet Sophie in person to talk about the final Firelight book, Hidden! The book just came out from HarperTeen, and listeners, you are going to LOVE it.

Sophie was so kind to take time out of her busy schedule to chat with us at the Romance Writers of America conference in Anaheim earlier this summer. We had a blast sitting down with this fabulous New York Times bestselling author, and asking her our questions about finishing up the Firelight trilogy, and also asking some awesome questions from her fans. If you submitted a question, be sure to listen and see if she answered it! (We also have a pressing question for any baristas in the audience, if you happen to be listening!)


Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

As if it wasn't enough of a treat to have Sophie Jordan back on the show this month, we've also got a GIVEAWAY for you! We are giving away one autographed ARC of Hidden to a lucky listener. Enter to win by leaving a comment on this post, telling us what you found most interesting about this interview, because Sophie is awesome. Be sure to leave your email so we can contact you if you win!

Deadline for entries is Friday, September 14. Contest open to US residents only.

EDIT: Congrats to Kat who won this giveaway!!

On another note... author event alerts for Southern Californians!

Big news for Fallen fans! Lauren Kate will speak at the Ovitt Family Community Library in Ontario on Wednesday, September 12, at 3:30 pm. Arrive early for good seats! More info here.

The Rancho Santa Margarita Library in Orange County is hosting a Teen Author Panel on Wednesday, September 19th from 4 - 5:30 pm. Meet authors Cecil Castellucci, Christine Fonseca, Janet Tashjian, Pamela Wells, and Sue Zeidler! More info here.

Books will be available for purchase at both events. Sadly, we won't be able to attend, but we hope you can make it!

Podcast hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineer, Marc Conrad Tabula for his 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.)

Raina Telgemeier: Road Trip Edition Podcast

Get ready for Drama! The newest graphic novel from Raina Telgemeier comes out September 1st from Scholastic, and we are thrilled to bring you an interview with this fabulous Eisner Award winning author and artist.If you're a drama geek like us-- or if you just happen to like really awesome graphic novels (and who doesn't?!)-- tune in to hear about Raina's student theater experiences, what it was like to win an Eisner award for Smile, and how she came to draw and write The Babysitters Club graphic novels- as well as an insightful discussion of the babysitter personalities. (Trust us, you will come away with a whole new image of Stacey after you listen to this!)

Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

We are also happy to announce the winners of our two giveaways that ended yesterday! The winner of Kiersten White's Endlessly is Alicia Marie. The upcoming Kiersten White project she's most excited about is Mind Games. In her comment, she said "Just seeing the cover was enough to make me need it, but after reading about it, I need it even more!" The winner of the Lorien Legacies series (courtesy of HarperCollins) is Enna P. We are still happy to take questions for our upcoming interviews with Michelle Hodkin, Julie Kagawa and Kendare Blake. Just leave a comment with your question or tweet it to us @AuthorsROCK.

Thank you so much to all of you who participated. We have a lot of giveaways planned for future podcasts. We just love sending people presents!

Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Special thanks to our sound engineers for this episode Marc Conrad Tabula for helping make the interview sound fabulous. 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!)

Fabulous giveaway, but ya gotta do a bit of work first!

Hi folks! We hope you've listened to our latest podcast featuring Kiersten White, Cynthia Hand, Marie Lu and Robin LeFevers. If you have, you heard that Michelle's "Pick of the Month" was the Lorien Legacy series by Pittacus Lore.

HarperCollins, the publisher of that series, is seriously awesome. They have given us a complete set of the Lorien Legacy books to give away to one of our amazing listeners! That's right, I Am Number Four, The Power of Six, and The Rise of Nine could all be yours.

What do you have to do to get these action packed books of sci-fi goodness in your hands? Well, we're going to make you work for it! We love hearing from you and finding out what questions you'd like us to ask! So, here's a list of our upcoming interviewees. If you have a question you'd like to ask them, leave a comment here (be sure to include your Twitter name or e-mail!) and you'll be entered to win the Lorien Legacy series.

Upcoming Interviewees:

- Kendare Blake (Anna Dressed in Blood, Girl of Nightmares)

- Michelle Hodkin (The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer, The Evolution of Mara Dyer)

- Julie Kagawa (Iron Fey series including the upcoming Lost Prince, Immortal Rules)

- Alyson Noel (The Immortals series, Fated) - Note: Questions for Alyson Noel need to be in by 8/25.

So, have at it, folks! What would you like to ask these fabulous authors? You have until August 27th to submit your questions. Contest is open to US residents only.

Edit 8/27/12: The giveaway has ended, but we are still taking questions for Michelle Hodkin, Kendare Blake, and Julie Kagawa. Feel free to submit them here or over Twitter @AuthorROCK.

Kiersten White, Marie Lu, Cynthia Hand, Robin LeFevers: Road Trip Edition Podcast

At the end of last month, we caught up with Kiersten White at her book launch for the final volume in her Paranormalcy trilogy, Endlessly. What a fun event at the Barnes and Noble in Oceanside, California! Not only did we get to see Kiersten, but we also got to interview Cynthia Hand, Marie Lu, and Robin LeFevers. And our teen correspondent, Ava, joined us for this interview, so it was extra fun!

We talked to Kiersten about what it was like to wrap up Evie's story and what future projects she's got brewing. Then all of the authors answered some awesome questions from our podcast listeners, including a particularly interesting discussion of how they write strong female characters. We also have our "Picks of the Month". This month, our picks are the Pittacus Lore series (I Am Number Four, The Power of Six and The Rise of Nine - stay tuned for a giveaway of this series!) and Dark Unwinding by Sharon Cameron.

The fabulous author panel + adorable kiddo hug for Kiersten.

Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

BONUS: It's giveaway time! We have an autographed ARC of Endlessly to give away to one lucky listener. Leave us a comment after listening to this episode and tell us which one of Kiersten's many upcoming projects you're MOST looking forward to. (There are a few to choose from!) Be sure to leave your email in your comment so we can contact the winner. Contest is open to US residents only. Deadline to enter the contest is August 27th.

Hosting courtesy of archive.org. Intro music by 46bliss. Our closing song this month is "Nothing's Cruel" by Kyte. Special thanks to our sound engineers for this episode Marc Conrad Tabula and Joshua Bertrand for helping make the interview sound fabulous. 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!)

Melissa Wiley: KidLit Corner Road Trip Edition Podcast

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.


Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

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!)

Libba Bray and Alvina Ling: Special Edition Podcast

Last month, we had the pleasure of attending the American Library Association conference in Anaheim. Not only was it a fantastic opportunity to get to meet a lot of people who love books just as much as we do, we had the opportunity to interview some incredible authors. Including...

Yes! We met Libba Bray! The Printz-award winning author of Going Bovine, Beauty Queens, and the Gemma Doyle trilogy is every bit as fabulous as you would imagine. We got to chat with her about her upcoming Fall release from Little, Brown, The Diviners (which you are going to LOVE!)-- we discussed her favorite 1920s slang and how librarians aided her historical research, as well as her journey to becoming a writer.

(We also talked about Beauty Queens and, as promised in this episode, here's a link to Michelle as a teen beauty queen.)

If you're not familiar with the awesomeness of Libba, visit http://libbabray.com to learn more. You will adore her.

And that's not all! Not only does this episode of the podcast feature the lovely Libba Bray, but we were also lucky enough to snag a quick interview with her editor, the amazing Alvina Ling. If you've listened to our interviews with Laini Taylor and Grace Lin, you've heard them mention Alvina. She's the Editorial Director at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and she ROCKS.

(Quick disclaimer: bear in mind that we recorded these interviews in the middle of a huge conference, so there's a little more background noise than normal... but hey, it's ambience! You'll feel like you were there with us!)


Want to download this podcast? Click here for a mp3 or find us on iTunes.

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!)