Trading Bookcases

Almost a year ago, I moved into the apartment I currently live in.  When this event occurred, I only owned two decent-sized bookcases (one six foot, one three foot), plus a mini bookcase (for my writing things), and a tiny bookcase extension that attaches to the top of my dresser.  When I moved, I moved figuring that I was going to buy another six foot bookcase eventually.  This happened a few months after moving in, but mostly what went on there were the old, childhood books that I was determined to get out of their boxes.

The rest of my books, however, stayed where I'd put them the night I moved into my apartment.

For a while, this was fine, because it was manageable.  And then many of the authors I love published new books...and books got sequels...and Half Price books had sales...and suddenly my original six foot bookcase got a little overflowing.

It's like a game of Tetris when I buy new books.

Today was deemed the day in which bookcases were going to get reorganized.  I've started reading so many books that are planned as trilogies or series, and I've gotten into reading so many different authors, that I know over the coming year, I'm sure I'll buy just as many books as I did the last twelve months.  After a couple of hours, I had a much better book situation going in my room.

Bookcase #1 (the one with the original mess)
The After Picture

Bookcase #2 (the one with all the childhood books and nothing else)
The After Picture

But best of all, my wonderful dystopian shelf has plenty of room for all of my dystopian-novel-obsessing.  It has the tallest shelf, so I can easily stack books on top of each other, plus it's not even full yet.  This is a great improvement from what it looked like before.

Dystopian shelf -- Before

New and Improved Dystopian shelf

The big test is going to be when I try to locate one of my books.  I'm going to guess that it's going to take me some time to get used to my new arrangement!

Interview with JENNIFER LAURENS

Today Fiction Flurry is lucky enough to be interviewing Young Adult author Jennifer Laurens about her New Release Overprotected. Thanks so much for chatting with us today Jennifer!
For those of you who haven’t yet become familiar with Jennifer Laurens she’s the author of Heavenly, Penitence and Absolution. And let me just say they are exquisite work! If you haven’t read them yet, run-don’t walk, to the nearest retailer and get a copy!

Personally, I can’t wait for you next book, Overprotected, to be released in April 2011.( It's available on Kindle,Nook and all e-versions - :)

Ashlyn: A lonely society princess living in New York City.
Daddy hired you to be my bodyguard.
Colin: Childhood enemy, now her protector.
Daddy thought I’d be safe. He thought I’d never fall in love. He thought he could keep me forever.Charles: obsessed with keeping her safe, keeping her his, he hires the one person he knows she could never fall in love with: Colin.
Daddy was wrong.

FF: Let’s start with a bit about your background…

JL: I'm a SoCal native now living in Utah with my husband of 27 years and 6 children, one of whom has autism.

FF: What can readers expect out of this new story?

JL: This is not your cliche "bodyguard" novel. It's really a coming-of-age story about a young woman fighting for independence, about a family living a life of pretense, about real love gone overboard into obsessive love. It's character complex and highly emotional. It's the first story I ever wrote, and it occupies a special spot in my heart for that reason. I wrote 3 different versions of it! ( not three drafts, three complete, different versions ) before finally choosing this POV to settle upon to tell the story.

FF: I know your novels are more than just teenage angst and love, so what is the driving theme in this one?

JL: There are several basic themes in Overprotected: what is real love? What is right? When are our fears justified? How far is too far to go when it comes to love, family and control?

FF: I have to take the opportunity to quote you: “My life experiences have worked into all of my novels. Some more heavily than others, but parts of me are in each story. I love stories rich in family drama, where family members overcome obstacles through love and miracles.” Any specific examples related to Overprotected you’d care to share?

JL: I'm an only child, and Ashlyn ( the heroine ) is an only child. Her family is loosely based on my cousin's family: only child raised in NYC on Park Avenue. My mother was very protective of me growing up, to the point where I battled feeling obligated to behave certain ways to please her, versus allowing myself to participate in what other teens my age were doing during that time of my life.

FF: How did you come up with the idea for Overprotected?

JL: As I mentioned above, this was my first book I wrote. They say "Write what you know" and, since many of the themes in the book are familiar to me, I strung them together with an unusual love triangle between a girl, a boy and the girl's father. I loved the unusual nature of that kind of love triangle -- but not in a perverted way -- her father loves her too much.

FF: Was any part of this novel difficult to write or research?

JL: Probably Ashlyn's realizations of her parents' marriage. My parents separated when I was 16 and, like Ashlyn, I was mature enough at that age to realize ( and see ) they'd be happier separated. Still, it's not easy seeing your parents marriage ( with all of it's weaknesses ) crumble.

FF: Can you tell us more about your current projects?

JL: It's another early story of mine I'm re-writing for YA.

FF: Any teasers about what you’ll be publishing next? Only that it's another intense story.

JL: I love writing my characters into deep love and plenty of challenges.

FF: Lastly I’d like to blast a few personal tidbits out to our readers.

A must when you are writing…music. I create a soundtrack for each novel and I listen to it 24/7 while working on the project. Drives me family nuts :)

Book you are currently reading …I keep Endless Love by Scott Spencer open and on my NOOK constantly. Other than that, I pick and choose reads carefully because of time restraints.

Favorite quote…"No other success can compensate for failure in the home." David O. McKay.

FF: Everyone here at Fiction Flurry would like to send a big THANK YOU to Jennifer Laurens for this opportunity to interview her. Good luck on your upcoming projects Jennifer!

Writing A Heartbreaking Scene: How Do You Go There?

So I've had a couple days off, and I spent a chunk of those days watching sappy click flicks and working on revising my manuscript. There are some really great tear jerking scenes in movies and books out there right now, just FYI. Anyway, when I think about writing a sad scene, like a break-up or something, I like to pull out some sappy movies and get my mind right. Writing a heart wrenching scene works so much better when you can feel empathy for your characters and a well written scene (movie or book) can draw you in and instantly make you feel that.

I was thinking of some of my go to movies and books that just bring out those emotions that in turn help me write better scenes in my own manuscripts and I thought I'd share. But I warn you now, most of my list is YA/Teen stories since that's what I write. Who knows, maybe someone I'll help someone get through a block. :)

Here goes:

Twenty Boy Summer (YA Novel)

The Sky Is Everywhere (YA Novel)

Twilight Saga (New moon break up scene...book or movie)

 A Walk to Remember

There's a few to get you started. Have any you want to share?


Happy NaNo Everyone!!

~Annie~

http://www.youngadultbookworm.blogspot.com/