A few months ago, fellow 2018 debut author Farrah Penn and I interviewed each other about our upcoming contemporary YA books and publishing experiences. Since Farrah's book, 12 STEPS TO NORMAL, comes out in just one week and my book, ALL OUT OF PRETTY, releases in less than a month, I thought this was the perfect time to share our conversation with the blogosphere. Hope you enjoy it!

12 STEPS TO NORMAL, out from Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown in March 2018, is about a teen who moves back home after her father finishes Sober Living rehabilitation and finds her life upside-down. When she develops her own 12 steps to get back to normal, she has to redefine what “normal” really is.  

ALL OUT OF PRETTY, releasing from Creston Books in April 2018, is about straight-A student Andrea Hathaway, who finds herself indebted to her mother's drug-dealer boyfriend. In order to survive, she learns to keep her head down and her mouth shut. But soon she realizes that surviving is not enough; she must use her smarts to plan an escape—even if it means betraying her best friends and leaving her mother behind.

Farrah: It sounds like both of our books deal with different types of hardships and teenagers grappling at normalcy. What inspired you to write ALL OUT OF PRETTY?

Ingrid: For me, it always starts with character. Andrea, the MC in ALL OUT OF PRETTY, was actually a minor character in the first novel I ever tried to write back when I was a teenager. When I decided to dust off that novel and work on it years later, my critique partners mentioned how compelling Andrea was and encouraged me to write her story someday. So a couple of years later, after letting that idea percolate, Andrea’s voice and full story came to me. Once I started writing it, I couldn’t stop. TWELVE STEPS TO NORMAL sounds amazing — I can’t wait to read about Kira’s journey! How did you come up with the idea, and what was the most challenging part about writing it?

Farrah: It’s amazing how much we learn from our prior work! I have MANY shelved books and stole a kissing scene from one to put into TWELVE STEPS, haha. I wanted to write a hopeful story about a father and daughter whose relationship was rocky due to his struggle with alcoholism — yet focus on how that would directly affect Kira (my main character). But I also love a sweet romance, so I definitely wanted to include that in Kira’s journey with figuring out WHO may be right for her, and who she thinks is right for her. I think the most challenging part was writing those real, raw emotions of loving someone who is an addict, as it’s a disease my own father suffered from.

Should I move on to a fun question?! Do you have a “receiving The Call” story??

Ingrid: Yes! Well, for my agent (the awesome Shannon Hassan of Marsal Lyon Literary), the moment I remember most was getting her email after she requested my book. I’ll never forget clicking it open and reading the words “I love it!” I was so excited I couldn’t breathe. And then when she called me several months later to tell me about the offer from Creston, I basically started crying with happiness. My husband was there and we hugged, and my son was doing fist pumps in the background. It was an amazing moment. Same question back at you!

Farrah: Aww, that is so sweet your family was there to enjoy that moment with you! When my agent called to tell me TWELVE STEPS had sold, I was in the car on my lunch break running an errand. I answered through Bluetooth but ended up pulling over into some random gas station to talk because I was so surprised and excited. It was surreal! After, I immediately called my mom and sister and ended up taking a much longer lunch break than I intended (but I don’t think anyone noticed!)

But it’s a lot of work getting that life-changing call. What was your publication journey like? Was there a moment you felt like giving up?

Ingrid: Oh wow, you definitely needed to pull over for that call — and I agree that an extended lunch break was in order! I started writing ALL OUT OF PRETTY six years ago, so it has been a long and emotional journey. The first time I queried I got a lot of requests and encouragement, but no offers of representation. I started seeing a pattern in the feedback I was getting, so I took about two years to revise/rewrite and then started the query process again. I’m a pretty persistent person, so giving up was never an option for me. Of course, there were times when I felt discouraged and frustrated (like when I wrote ten different versions of chapter one and then ended up with something close to the original!), but I deeply believed in these characters and this story, and my perseverance eventually paid off!

What has been the most enjoyable — and the most difficult — part of your writing journey?

Farrah: Ugh, I love hearing success stories like this! I think publishing is a mix of perseverance, hard work, and luck. It’s subjective for SURE, but your persistence paid off!! I’m not an overnight success story, so the most difficult part for me was moving on from previous books I’d written. My agent and I went on submission with three different YA books before TWELVE STEPS sold. It’s hard not to feel like a talentless failure when you don’t get any bites, especially when you’re comparing yourself to everyone else (which, I know you shouldn’t do but I’M NOT PERFECT!!). But the most enjoyable part so far has been working with an enthusiastic, lovely publishing team who is passionate about this story. Okay, what piece of writing advice would you pass along to another debut author?

Ingrid: It looks like we are both good examples of persistence leading to success! I think your journey is super inspiring, and I understand all those fears and doubts. It’s so hard to keep moving forward, and especially hard to let go of characters you love. I’m working on a new book right now, but I still plan to go back and rework my old stories someday. Or at least mine them for gems ;) Hmm, writing advice...I think if someone asked, I would pass along the advice that I tried to follow when I was drafting: Don’t be afraid to write what scares you. That, and of course, never give up! Did you always know that you wanted to be a writer? What did you read as a teen?

Farrah: Absolutely! Those are both VERY solid pieces of advice! I’d always dreamed of becoming a writer, but I NEVER thought it’d be possible for me to do it professionally! After college I sorta had the mindset of “OK, now I need to get a good job and make money” — but then realized getting a job doesn’t mean you have to stop writing entirely. It may be challenging to make the time, but it’s not impossible! As a teen, I was ALL OVER the Fearless series by Francine Pascal. Gaia was my idol. I also read a ton of Meg Cabot (love her Mediator series!) and Sarah Dessen. And, of course, the Harry Potter books.

Ingrid: You are absolutely right about making the time to write. Ooh, and I love all those authors you mentioned. Especially Sarah Dessen — I’m a huge fan of her books!

— Lightning Round —

Hi guys, I'm so excited to "officially" share my good news here at We Heart YA!! Here's how it all happened:

Six years ago, I started writing a contemporary young adult book about an honors student who finds herself trapped in a dangerous life with her addict mother and a ruthless drug dealer. In October of 2016, a wonderful literary agent fell in love with my manuscript :) Six month after that, the story sold to a publishing house (yay!). And a few short months from now, my little book baby will be released into the wilds of the world (here's a link to prove it's not a dream).

My road to publication has been long and twisty, full of detours and potholes. And the journey didn't just start six years ago; it really started back in the 80s, when I was barely a young adult myself, pecking away on a dinosaur of a computer and writing my first novel. A lot of living and learning happened between then and now. Many, many dominoes fell into place to get me from there to here. And this past year has been nothing short of a dream come true. But it has also been a roller coaster ride, full of excitement and anxiety, exhilaration and terror. I know I'm not alone in this, so I'm planning to share a few articles about my experiences leading up to my (eeeep!) official pub date of April 3, 2018!

Next month I'll talk about what inspired the idea for the book as well as details about my publishing journey. But for now, I'd simply like to introduce you to Andrea -- my proud, beautiful-inside-and-out protagonist (hopefully someday she'll forgive me for torturing her) -- and her story, ALL OUT OF PRETTY...  

All Out of Pretty - Creston Books - 4.3.18

I don’t know why, but when summer rolls in with its sizzling blacktops and sun-kissed days, I find myself drawn to the literary love. As in, capital R-Romance. Characters coming-of-age at sailing camp... teens having beachside bonfires... You know, those feel-good books that let you melt away from it all. 

Most of the time, I gravitate toward the tough stuff, the angst, the impossible predicaments authors dream up for their characters. So when I find books that lull readers into the summer bliss and tackle the big issues, well that's just... golden. 

One of my favorite golden books is KEEPING THE MOON by Sarah Dessen because it incorporates so many aspects of the adolescent journey. Of course, there's the love story. But there's also the friendship story and the family story and the self-esteem story, all so perfectly entwined. Plus, there's a cat named  Norman and a restaurant called the Last Chance! Mostly, though, I love this book because it is about appreciating who you are while at the same time discovering the person you can someday become. '

A lot of you probably know about and watch the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, right? It's the modern day YouTube version of Pride & Prejudice, produced by Hank Green. Well, if you like that -- and particularly if you like Lydia -- you should definitely check out the series Squaresville. It's "a show about growing up and burning brightly."

(If you don't like the LB Diaries… well, you should still check this out. It's awesome!)

Here's the latest episode, which might be my favorite one so far (and it's only 2 min long, so don't even pretend that you don't have the time):



(That question at the end just slays me.)

What you see is what you get: two teenage best friends, snippets of everyday life, and a healthy sense of humor layered on top of real problems and uncertainties.

These are the building blocks of every Squaresville episode. They're also the building blocks of many great YA books...

Recently at Joseph Beth's YA Author Panel, I asked seven authors:  What can you get away with in fantasy that you can't in Contemporary (and vice versa)?

At first there wasn't an obvious answer because, as Christine Johnson pointed out, as long as you write consistently, there's not much difference in what you can get away with.  There are rules you have to follow no matter what genre.

So I prompted with "death" being a much deeper issue in Contemporary books.  For instance, in Kristina McBride's ONE MOMENT the entire book pivots on the death of one character (not a spoiler, it's on the jacket copy).  But in fantasy, like Rae Carson's THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS there are deaths in battle, deaths on the journey, death from injury and illness, etc.  You can't harp forever on these things or the books would be even longer!

I personally think that "body count" is something you can't "get away with" in Contemporary.  Everything pivots so much on the emotional arc of characters that death is too big to be brushed over (as in a fantasy battle scene).

Julia Karr seemed to agree.  She said that in Contemporary, the "emotional reaction, it must fit, go with what the real world is."  It's a limitation of sorts.

Similarly, Rae Carson said that fantasy "takes real world concepts" and "puts them in a fun atmosphere" to examine issues such as government, environment, economics, politics, etc.  In doing so, fantasy oftentimes gets away with things that just wouldn't fly in real life.  And isn't that why we love it so much?  It allows a space for escape so that serious issues--even death--can be examined.

But sometimes real life is depicted so well--even the horrors--that Contemporary informs us of those simple and basic themes of human nature.  For me, personally, this is an advantage rather than a limitation.  And a way in which both Contemporary and Fantasy inform each other as genres.

Of course there are exceptions.  And you might not agree with me.  So what do you think?  Do fantasy writers get away with murder? Do Contemporary authors harp on too much over issues?

To Be Clear:  This is not pitting one genre against another, but rather a comparison that, I think, highlights the strengths of both genres.  xx