The #SWEATTour's Austin Stop - 4 YA Authors at Book People!

This evening, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the Austin stop of the SWEAT Tour. SWEAT: SoCal Writers' Excellent Adventure in Texas. Cute, no? Also, it was (of course) over 100 degrees today, so it's probable that that other meaning of sweat was a possibility.

In preparing for this event, I was looking into a couple of the authors' information and when I pulled up Amy Tintera's bio and picture, I realized she looked super familiar. When her novel, REBOOT, was released, I thought the name was familiar too, but I never looked into it, assumed that it rang a bell because I'm pretty involved in the YA community as a whole, and let it go.

Yeeeeah.

She and I graduated from High School together. So, that's pretty cool.

Anyway, a quick conversation with her via Twitter later, and I said I'd say hello this evening at the event (I did, and she's very sweet, and she even signed my book with a "Go [school mascot]!" which I thought was pretty darn cute).

The panel, as a whole, was really fantastic, partially because all the ladies were so very different and partially because the books they represented were all so different. Authors were:

Amy Tintera - author of REBOOT and its forthcoming sequel
Shannon Messenger - author of The Keeper of the Lost Cities and Let The Sky Fall series'
Debra Driza - author of MILA 2.0 and its forthcoming sequel
Kasie West - author of PIVOT POINT and THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US

photo taken with my crappy iPhone

The moderator - Jen, I believe - led the ladies through some really great questions. At this point in my YA Reading Career, I've been to quite a few author events, and I feel that her questions were the best I've experienced. I took a few notes on the questions and their responses. Here are my favorite highlights:

If you could summarize your book by using only the names of TV shows or movies, what would you choose? 
Amy: The Walking Dead meets La Femme Nikita
Shannon: (re: LET THE SKY FALL) The Last Airbender meets Twister
Debra: The Bourne Identity meets AI
Kasie: Pride and Prejudice meets Pretty in Pink

Then, they ladies played 2 Truths and a Lie. Mrs. West has a pretty hilarious truth about choking on her own hair. That's all I've got to say about that. ;)

What's the worst (and best) writing advice you've ever been given? 
Amy:
Worst: Always know the end before beginning to write.
Best: Finish the writing.

Shannon:
Worst: You can't move on to the next chapter until this one is perfect.
Best: from Ellen Hopkins: "It's never to early to begin treating writing like a job."

Debra:
Worst: It's OK to query before the writing is done.
Best: From Cindy Pon: "Let yourself write utter poo."

Kasie:
Worst: You have to outline to be a serious writer.
Best: Don't compare yourself or your experience to others'; No two stories or writers are the same.

Which "current" books do you wish you'd had as a teenager? 
Debra: SAVING FRANCESCA by Melina Marchetta (and several members of the audience, me included, gasped. Because YES. ALL KINDS OF YES. Marchetta FTW.)

Amy: IF I STAY by Gayle Forman

Kasie said she didn't have a specific favorite, but that she wished Sarah Dessen had been a writer when she was a teenager. Shannon said she simply wished YA had existed; it would have stopped her from becoming a non-reader in her teens.

When was the "moment" you realized that this was real, that you were a 'real' writer?
Debra: The day before her book released, and she promptly had a panic attack as she considered all of the possibilities ahead of her.

Kasie: When she received her first review from a stranger.

Shannon: At her launch party, when a class-full of Middle Grade aged students were actually in attendance; also, the first time she received a letter from a parent saying that her book was what made their child a reader.

Amy: There was a moment in her kitchen in which she just determined that she was going to write, and after that, she began to work toward publication.

photo taken on my crappy iPhone

I found it really interesting to hear so much of my writing style in various comments the authors made. Amy advised that her main character arrived first, and the world was built around her. This is often how things work with me -  more often than not, actually. Kasie said she can't outline; it takes all the creative juices out of her. I am a terrible outliner. It's impressively bad. Shannon said she *can* write for hours and hours on end, but the outcome isn't pretty and she'd rather not. It was kind of cool to hear others express the same traits that I see in myself.

Anyway, at the end, I bought a copy of Amy's book and she signed it; I also picked up a few signed bookmarks and a tattoo for REBOOT. It was a pretty great event... and it's one more thing to check off #59 on my 101/1001 list.

:)