Info

YABooksPodcast's podcast

I interview Young Adult, YA, authors about their books. YA novels may be Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action, Horror, or General Fiction. We talk about the author's lives, locations, work, careers, training, education, inspiration, writing methods and routines.
RSS Feed
2020
September
August


2018
January


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March


2016
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2015
December
November
October
September


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: March, 2016

.

Mar 24, 2016

Website: http://sweetdreamsnovel.com

http://horroraddicts.net


I write YA only under Emmy Z. Madrigal, so I am assuming that will be what we talk about, but if you want to mention my Emerian Rich name, that is fine. It is no secret to my readers.

*Emmy Z. Madrigal began the Sweet Dreams Series in high school. Her love of music and the Jazz masters of the Big Band Era have always inspired her life and her writing. Her lead character, Victoria, is a high school student who strives to be a Jazz vocalist. Mixing the hopes and fears of high school seniors with dreams of the future, Emmy has been praised for her realistic portrayal of modern female characters and their will to survive in a world of adversity, prejudice, and economic hardship. Sweet Dreams is a love story, full of adventure, danger, and first experiences. It shows that love can conquer all and that sometimes, love comes when you least expect it. *Emerian Rich writing as Emmy Z. Madrigal.


Books in the Sweet Dreams Musical Romance Series
1. Sweet Dreams (podcast 2008 / print 2010)
2. Star Struck (podcast 2009 / print 2014)
3. True Love? (podcast 2010 / print 2014)
4. Undecided (podcast 2014)
5. One More Try (coming to podcast soon)
Extra ~ Rob Malloy's Unauthorized Journal (coming soon to eBook)

Anime Girl - Spin off series in same universe
1. Anime Girl (eBook Novella 2013)
2. Anime Girl 2 (eBook Novella 2014)

 

Mar 22, 2016

In this second bonus episode on the YA Books Podcast I talk with an author I previously interviewed about his YA books, Robert Rayner.
He has a new book out that will be part of a three book series about the lives of people on a North American Atlantic Island off the coast of Canada.
Coming from New Foundland, Robert has some interesting perspectives regarding life on the islands and their future.
His book is "Defiant Island" and has been published by Speaking Volumes.

Mar 17, 2016

To Swallow the Earth - An Adventure 108 years in the making!
(Suspense) A man and a woman, each searching for missing family members, clash amid a Nevada silver rush scheme that leaves both unsure who to trust—and scrambling to stay alive. What if you came home after a journey and your family was gone? What if someone else was living in your house, running things—and trying to kill you? Could a beautiful woman be behind it? Wade Forester must stay in the shadows because, it seems, everyone has reason to shoot him. His father has disappeared, and his sister won’t speak to anyone. Beautiful Patricia Laughlin is searching for her family as well. Few people gain her confidence, though powerful landowner Bridger Calhoun just might be the man to do it. After a clash throws them to opposite sides, Wade must decide if risking his life to help Patricia is worth the trouble, and Patricia must learn which killer to trust with her life.

“To Swallow the Earth earns the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

MIDVALE, Utah, Feb. 21, 2016 – Award-winning author Karl Beckstrand is from San Jose, California — and is only in his forties. His grandfather grew up ranching, hunting and fishing around the Sierra Nevada Mountains a hundred years ago and used that setting for a western thriller set in the Nevada silver rush.

It’s now a young adult suspense novel: “To Swallow the Earth” – and a finalist for the Laramie Award. “My grandfather grew up exploring the Sierra Nevadas on horseback, so he knew the country well,” Beckstrand said. “My challenge was to develop his characters while preserving the plot’s action, suspense and earthy vernacular.”

One reviewer said he’d buy the film rights if he had production money. He liked the true-to-life people in unpredictable circumstances.


Amazon Author page
Karl Beckstrand is the award-winning author of fifteen juvenile books and more than 40 ebook titles (reviews by Kirkus, The Horn Book blog, School Library Journal, ForeWord Reviews). Raised in San Jose, California, he received a B.A. in journalism from BYU, an M.A. in international relations from APU, and a certificate from Film A. Academy. Two publishers produced his early multicultural children's books; since 2004 he has run Premio Publishing & Gozo Books. An engaging speaker, consultant, and workshop facilitator, Beckstrand has experience in high tech, public policy, film, radio, and TV broadcasting--including scripts, speeches, and Web content. He teaches media at a state college and contrasts traditional publishing with digital book publishing. His YA fiction, ebook mysteries, nonfiction/biographies, Spanish & bilingual books for kids (with pronunciation guide), short stories, wordless books, and picture book app feature diverse characters of color and usually end with a twist. He has lived abroad, been a Spanish/English interpreter, and enjoys volleyball and kayaking (usually not at the same time). Beckstrand has presented for SUECON (education conference), Taiwan's Global Leadership for Youth, California's Capital Book Festival, Utah Educational Library Media Association, Salt Lake City Book Festival, PCI Webinars, Utah Humanities Council, Murray City Writer's Workshop, Utah Housing Coalition, Midvale City Reading Program, Utah Office of Education, professional groups, and schools. His racially diverse work has appeared in: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Border's Books, Costco, Deseret Book, The Children's Miracle Network, The Congressional Record of the U.S. House of Representatives, Papercrafts Magazine, LDS Film Festival, various broadcasts, and PremioBooks.com. Find: "Karl Beckstrand" on FB, Twitter, KarlBeckstrand.com

Mar 10, 2016

In this episode I talk with first time author, Caitlin Lynagh from the UK.
We talk about studying biology and physics in England, her book, "Anomaly: The Soul Prophecies", The science of Anomaly, and more...

http://caitlinlynagh.com/
https://www.facebook.com/caitlinlynaghauthor
https://thebookigloo.wordpress.com/
@CaitlinLynagh on Twitter

Mar 3, 2016

In this episode I talk with Janette Rallison about Arizona, raising teenage girls and using their experiences in her stories. About writing books for boys under the pseudonym CJ Hill. We talk about publishing with small publishers, back in the day of paper submissions and the advantages which come with having the internet.
Janette talks about her inspiration from "The Phantom Tollbooth", other authors, and from the artist, Minerva Teichert.


(From Janette's web page)

Janette Rallison is old. Don’t ask how old, because it isn’t polite. Let’s just say she’s older than she’d like to be and leave it at that.

Janette lives in Chandler, Arizona with her husband, five children and enough cats to classify her as “an eccentric cat lady.” She did not do this on purpose. (The cats, that is; she had the children on purpose.) Every single one of the felines showed up on its own and refuses to leave. Not even the family’s fearless little Westie dog can drive them off.

Since Janette has five children and deadlines to write books, she doesn’t have much time left over for hobbies. But since this is the internet and you can’t actually check up to see if anything on this site is true, let’s just say she enjoys dancing, scuba diving, horse back riding and long talks with Orlando Bloom. (Well, I never said he answers back.)

Book Report Questions

So you’ve decided to do a book report on me or one of my books. Congratulations! You are obviously a person with impeccable literary taste.
I’ll try to address some of the common questions I get from book reporters (generally the night before the assignment is due).

When were you born?
A long, long time ago. 1966 to be exact.

Where did you grow up?
A wonderful small town called Pullman, Washington, which is why most of my books are set in small towns. I love them. (Bonus trivia point to impress your teacher: All’s Fair in Love, War, and High School; Revenge of The Cheerleaders; and Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards are all set in Pullman.)

How do you chose the locations for your books?
I set Playing the Field in Gilbert, Arizona, because that’s where I lived at the time. It’s easy to write about places you know well. But since I couldn’t set every story in Gilbert, I branched out to other warm climates. Most of my stories take place in Arizona, New Mexico, California, Nevada, and Texas.

I try to stay in warm climates because quite frankly I’ve lived in Arizona for so long I’ve forgotten what the cold is like. When I first wrote about Washington I almost had a scene where people mowed the lawn in December. Oops.

Where do you get your ideas from?
I have a teenage daughter, which is sort of like living in your own reality show, but with fewer commercials. I borrow from her life a lot. In fact while I was writing It’s A Mall World After All I once lifted dialogue for a scene right off the text message log in my daughter’s cell phone.

Has any of the stuff you’ve written about ever happened to you?
Unfortunately yes, but generally only the parts where characters are making fools of themselves. I did that a lot as a teenager. I don’t think there’s such a thing as an easy or graceful adolescence. It’s all about embarrassing yourself.

Will any of your books ever be turned into movies?
Authors have very little say over that sort of thing. (Ditto for the book covers.) But if I hear anything, I’ll let you know.

Is it true that when you were thirteen you had a massive crush on Apollo from the original series of Battlestar Galactica?
Oh, yes.

P.S. If your teacher asks you to identify symbolism in my books you have my permission to tell him/her that I didn’t put any in.
If your teacher asks about theme, tell her/him that the book is about forgiviness. Unintentionally, most of my books are. I didn’t even realize this until the last book. My husband asked me what the book was about (I think he asks these questions so he doesn’t have to actually read my books.) I told him, “On a basic level it’s about realizing when you’re wrong, and about forgiveness.”
He said, “Wasn’t that what your last book was about too?”
“Um, yeah.”

1