A few weeks ago, Ghenet and I introduced the idea of doing a Summer Reading Book Club at YA Cafe.  We’ve decided our first book will be The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han and we’ll be discussing it next Friday (June 24th).  Here’s how it will work:

• Ghenet and I will post discussion points on our blogs this on Monday.
• You can use the discussion points if you want, or write whatever you like.
• Feel free to post about the book on your blog and add a link in the comments, or if you prefer, just weigh in on the discussion in the comments section and through twitter (#YACafe).

That’s all there is to it!  If this works, Ghenet and I have two more books in store for this summer (one for July and one for August) so we’ll continue the book club.  We even have an idea for a giveaway so get excited!

Anyone out there planning on joining the fun?

Hello Writer Friends!  How are you all on this beautiful Monday morning?  Today it’s just going to be a quick post announcing the winners of the Swag Bag Giveaway.  Drum roll please…

The Middle Grade Swag Bag goes to…

Iyesha Luler!

And the Teen Swag Bag goes to…

Lauren Morrill!

*throws confetti*

But wait, we’re all winners at Iggi&Gabi so I’ve got a little bonus for everyone.  While I was at Book Blogger Con, I met a rep from Lightwedge (they make reading lights and such) and she gave me a promo code for 20% off that I’m allowed to share with all my readers! (Code expires 6/30/11) If you purchase anything from their site between now and the end of the month, use this code: BLOGRDR11 to save 20%.

That’s all for now, friends.  I’ll be back tomorrow with a quick update about the YA Cafe summer reading book club. Ciao!

Welcome Back to YA Cafe, where book lovers can gather and chat about teen literature. I’m your barista, along with Ghenet from All About Them Words.

Each Friday we pick from a menu of topics and share our thoughts on our respective blogs. We’ve also got plans brewing for interviews, events and even some exciting giveaways, so stay tuned! Join the discussion by responding in the comments, on your own blogs or on twitter using the hash tag #yacafe.

Today’s Special: “Why Do You Write YA?” Blogfest

I have to admit, I’ve been struggling with this post.  At first I thought it would be easy, because the answer seems so obvious.  I write YA because it’s AWESOME! (duh, right?)  But that didn’t exactly seem like it could fill an entire post.

I dug deeper.  In light of all the #YASaves stuff that happened this weekend, I thought that maybe my love for YA came from having discovered that special YA book as a teen.  Maybe I write YA now because growing up that’s what I loved to read most.

Truth is, though, I didn’t start reading YA until I was an adult.  When I was a teen, I went to one of those scary-competitive schools and had so much reading to do for class that there was little time left to read for fun.  Even during the summer, when most kids get to choose what they read, we had two set list of books we could choose from: The Great Books, and The Very Good Books.  (N.B. Great Books comprised the classics written by dead white men and Very Good Books consisted of top-notch contemporary literary fiction.  Not much room for YA on that list.) So while YA is what I love to read most now, it was not what I read as a teen.

Then I thought, maybe I write YA so that I can rewrite my own teen years so that they would turn out better.  But again, the dirty truth: my teen years weren’t really all that bad and certainly they didn’t merit rewriting.  When I write YA, I make my characters go through things a million times worse than what I ever went through.  In fact, my teenage life was pretty ordinary.  I spent most of my time doing schoolwork or with a violin tucked under my chin.  My best friends were my siblings and the most illicit thing I ever did was take my little sister shopping for a fake ID was so she could get into a teen-only nightclub in Brazil.  Pretty innocuous stuff.  If I needed to rewrite my teen years at all it would be to make them more exciting and interesting, not less.

The truth is, I write YA because when I was a teen, things mattered. We got worked up about the smallest things: like how we hosted a sit-in in the school lobby in seventh grade to protest the fact that the middle school students couldn’t vote for student government.  Or how when that one particular boy noticed (or didn’t notice) me, it would either make or break my day.  Big stuff mattered but small stuff mattered too.

This is why I write YA.  Because whether you’re writing about serious problems like homelessness or eating disorders, or just the typical teen stuff like boy-meets-girl, it matters to the readers.  And if it matters to my readers then it most definitely matters to me.

There’s still time to sign-up  using the linky below and then just write your post and, tell us why you write YA on  your own blog.  And don’t forget to hop around to different blogs and see what other  folks are saying!

The weekend before BEA, lawyer-hubby was off from work for a few extra days and we decided to take an impromptu vacation.  We could only take a few days and I was dying to bond with my inner kiddo so we decided to hop down to Orlando and spend the weekend at Disney World.  Little did I know I’d be getting an awesome lesson on writing.

The Disney theme parks are all about creating an overall experience.  Every detail, every design element serves the greater goal.  As writers, there’s a lot that we can learn at those parks that can help enhance our own writing.  Here are three lessons I learned about writing at Disney World.  These lessons in particular came from the Animal Kingdom park.

1) Pay attention to details. At the Disney parks, every detail means something and serves a purpose.  In the Animal Kingdom park, even the cement walkways are stamped with leafy patterns so that it looks like you’re walking on the jungle floor instead of pavement.  The cement gets the job done and there’s no functional reason for the leafy patterns but this simple detail adds to the overall experience, making us feel like we’re really there in the jungle.

Put it into action: When you write, make sure every detail in your work serves a purpose and supports the greater goal of your piece.  If a detail doesn’t pull its weight, consider leaving it out so that you can spotlight the more important details of your piece.

2) Hide the message. One of the activities available at Animal Kingdom is the Kids’ Discovery Club. Kids get a passport that guides them around the park to various sites where they can participate in educational activities and learn about wildlife and conservation.  Once they complete the educational activity, they get a stamp.  If they collect stamps from all the activity sites, they get a special bonus.

Put it into action: Making the educational component into a game hides the educational message makes the activities fun.  In writing, we must do the same thing.  If the educational message or “moral” of the story is too obvious, it can be a turn-off for readers.  If you have a message you want to convey, find a way to do it so that it fits seamlessly into the story and doesn’t draw too much attention to itself.  Make the educational component fun and kids are more likely to engage in story.

3) Stay in character. When I was waiting in line for the safari ride, I asked the attendant how long the ride was.  He responded: “Two weeks.  The safari lasts two weeks.”  I raised my eyebrows and he chuckled.  Lowering his voice he added: “Anywhere from two weeks to twenty minutes.”  I mention this small interaction because one of the things that the Disney parks are known for is how all the people who work there are not actually employees, they’re “cast members.”  Whether they walk around in a Mickey Mouse suit or sweep up spilled popcorn on the sidewalk, they are part of the “show” and they have to stay in character.  This attendant at the safari ride is a perfect example because even in answering a simple question, he played it as part of the show.

Put it into action: Remember to keep your characters consistent and always in character.  If your character does something contrary to his or her personality, it has to be for a good reason.  Make sure that if you let someone in your story break character, it makes sense and there’s a good reason for it.

More writing tips coming soon! I have many more writing tips I picked up on that weekend trip, but if I listed them all here, this post would be gigantic.  Stay tuned for more writing tips and have iggi-rrific day!