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Jaye Robin Brown and the “What If” Question

Guest Posts

We are excited to welcome this month’s guest author, Jaye Robin Brown, whose novel GEORGIA PEACHES AND OTHER FORBIDDEN FRUIT was published by Harper Teen in August 2016. It tells the story of Jo Gordon, the out lesbian daughter of a moderate evangelical minister, and what happens when her father marries for the third time and they move from Atlanta to small-town Northern Georgia. In Brown’s words, the novel is “a love story and a look at the sometimes conundrum of having faith and being queer.”


What gave you the idea to write this novel?
GEORGIA PEACHES AND OTHER FORBIDDEN FRUIT came about because of a radio segment I heard about the insane wealth of some radio pastors. I thought, “What if one of those guys had a gay daughter? How would that go down?” And though I didn’t end up exploring the wealth aspect (my fictional pastor dad is successful but not obscenely so), I did explore the question of what happens if you’re a lesbian, but also a believer. Ideas often come that way to me. I’ll hear something on the news or in conversation, something as small as a sentence, and then an idea blooms. I try to pay attention and not miss those moments.

And what about your characters? Have any real-life people inspired them?
Absolutely. In GEORGIA PEACHES AND OTHER FORBIDDEN FRUIT, the love interest, Mary Carlson Bailey, has a twin brother nicknamed B.T.B. He is directly inspired by a former student of mine who was universally adored at the high school where I taught. Like my former student, B.T.B. has an intellectual disability that makes him much younger in years than his actual age of seventeen. I loved creating the true friendship between him and my main character, Joanna, as I saw a similar friendship play out in my art room between the student who inspired B.T.B. and another student.

In my first book, NO PLACE TO FALL, the love interest, Will McKinney, also was inspired by a former student. He (the student) was the much swooned-over crush of one of my art students, so I figured if he’s good enough for Savannah, he’s good enough to put in the book.

Do you have any tips for beginning writers?
Yes. First, read widely in your genre. You need to know what’s being published and how things are being written, and get a feel for story. Second, find critique partners. To this day, even with four published pieces under my belt, I cannot write without other eyes on the work. Third, don’t get trapped in a self-doubt spiral. Write it. Do the work. If you can’t make it good enough, then lower your standards. You cannot improve something that isn’t on the page. And fourth, have fun! Writing should be joyful — at least some of the time.

What was your biggest query mistake?
It wasn’t a YA query, but I dabbled with a few picture books and queried with one that I loved. The agent sent back an email that said he liked it and what else did I have. Silly me did not understand that meant more picture books and I sent him the middle grade novel I was working on. Needless to say, I didn’t hear back from him.

And you didn’t ask this, but my very first manuscript, which was a middle grade dog story, yep — I sent that out as a first draft to two different publishers. I was that fresh and naive to how the business worked, and also pretty over-confident. Ha!

If you could co-author a book with anyone, who would it be?
Funny you should ask! I’ve been in discussion with one of my former Pitchwars mentees about doing just that. But, if we’re looking at already published writers, I’m going to go with David Levithan for young adult or Jen Malone for middle grade, because both of them have done a number of awesome collaborative books and they could show me the ropes. It’s a definite writer bucket list item for me!

Ooh, great choices (and an opportunity for a shameless plug:  Jen Malone will be our July guest author)! So speaking of wildly talented writers, tell us about your most memorable fangirl moment. Who did you meet?
I was super excited when I found out I’d be doing a panel with Nina LaCour at the NOVA Teen Book Festival. Her books have been an instabuy for me since I read the first one. She is every bit as lovely and generous in person as I thought she would be. And she signed all my books 🙂

What book do you wish you wrote?
Um, duh. Harry Potter. It’d be nice to have that sort of career security as a writer. Plus, it’s genius.

Yeah … *pauses as we all daydream about a YA-romance-inspired theme park* … Okay, then! Time for our speed round:

  • Morning glory vs. night owl: Morning glory
  • Wizards vs. vampires: Wizards
  • French fries vs. cookies: French fries
  • Heels vs. flats: Flats
  • Friday night vs. Sunday morning: Sunday morning

Thanks so much! Fans can keep in touch and follow here:

Contact * Twitter * Instagram

Jaye Robin Brown, or Jro to her friends, has been many things in her life — jeweler, mediator, high school art teacher — but recently she’s taken the plunge into full-time writer life. She’s a Southerner at heart, by way of Alabama, then Atlanta, and for many years just outside of Asheville, but now she’s moved north for a bit of city living. Boston, baby! And though she’d like to think brownstones might find a way into her fiction, she figures kudzu will always be what comes to her imagination first.

Her debut young adult novel, NO PLACE TO FALL, came out in the fall of 2014 from Harper Teen. It’s about dreams, singing, friendship, love, betrayal, family, and mistakes. It’s also a love song to small town girls and mountain music. In April 2016, a companion novella, WILL’S STORY: A NO PLACE TO FALL NOVELLA, released from Epic Reads Impulse, a digital-only imprint, and follows Will McKinney’s side of the story. GEORGIA PEACHES AND OTHER FORBIDDEN FRUIT is her sophomore novel.

Getting the Call

Sweethearts Posts

by Stephanie Scott

Imagine this: You’re sitting at your desk at work, plugging away at the daily grind. Your phone rings. Not your work phone, but your cell phone. A number flashes with a non-local area code. It could be a wrong number or a salesperson trying to pitch you a “free” cruise (hint: they’re never free). Maybe a family member you haven’t heard from in a long time. Or … it could be a call you’ve been waiting on. Your heart picks up pace. It could be the call.


Publishing is filled with waiting, but occasionally, an important call can break up the waiting. One call and everything can change. Writers often dream about those moments. And like much of life, often those calls do not go as we think they will.

Call #1: The Agent
I was waiting on a dozen or so literary agents who had requested full and partial manuscripts from several rounds of online pitch contests. It was the worst part of winter, with daily gray Midwest skies and continual cold.

One morning, on the way to work, I cracked the screen on my cell phone, barely six weeks after buying it. I’d had my phone out of my purse during the drive to work because my mom was driving that morning through the snow to see my grandmother in her nursing home. We’d had few years of ups and downs with my grandmother’s health, but this time, it truly was the end. I was so nervous she’d call and I’d miss it, the phone was on my lap. When I got out of the car, it flew face first onto the cold pavement, cracking. My grandmother ended up passing away the next day.

This was the day my now-agent called. Actually, sent me an email. She said she wanted to plan a call — the call? — but New York City was about to be hit by a huge snowstorm and the whole city was shutting down. Could we plan the call for Monday?

None of this was how I’d daydreamed a special call would play out. I had the weekend to think over what happened with my grandmother and talk with my family. By the time Monday rolled around, I wouldn’t say things were back to normal, but I had more focus to think about my writing, and about the call. My emotions had been through the wringer, but it was great to have something to feel happy about.

Call #2: The Book Contract
When I got my first book contract, I always envisioned jumping for joy and spazzing out. Instead, I heard the news through email and felt rather calm. I had questions. It never really sunk in until months later when I signed the publishing contract.

Call #3: The RITA Awards
My most recent call experience is probably closest to what I’d always imagined. I’m a member of Romance Writers of America and have absolutely dreamed about what it would be like to be a finalist in their awards — the Golden Heart for unpublished manuscripts and the RITA for published books. I’d struck out twice with the Golden Heart, but this past year I was excited to be able to submit to the RITA for the first time as a published author. Writers submit their books to be considered, so there’s no second guessing whether you are being considered. Finalists are notified by phone calls from members of the board. We all know when call day is.

I work from home the majority of my time, but on this day I was in the office at my day job. The phone lit up with a California number. I’d already convinced myself earlier that morning that since this was my first book and my first time entering the RITAs, the odds were not in my favor. I tentatively answered the phone.

The caller was a published author and RWA board member calling to congratulate me: Alterations had been named a finalist for Best First Book. I was speechless and shocked. One question I had to ask: Are you sure?

She was sure.

It’s hard to predict how you’ll act when an important call comes through. Have you ever received an exciting call? Tell us in the comments!

Once Upon a Time…

Ask the Sweethearts

For the May edition of “Ask the Sweethearts,” we’re talking opening lines! But first, a few announcements:

This month we have two Sweetheart book releases! Darcy Woods’ Summer of Supernovas comes out in paperback on May 9, and Karole Cozzo’s The Truth About Happily Ever After releases on May 16! We hope you’ll check them out.

Also, we have the winner for our “Who’s Your YA Hero?” contest. Thanks to everyone who participated. We hope you had fun!  We loved reading all your Tweets … and a special shout-out to the entrant who ended up with two heroes. Where would YA romance be without the occasional love triangle? Anyway, congratulations to … Kate, winner of the Mega Prize, including six books and lots of swag!

Now, on to our May question: What is the first line (or so) of your latest novel, and why did you decide to start there?

Karole Cozzo (The Truth About Happily Ever After): I sleep with all my bedroom windows open as habit, so I’m roused from my sleep by the repetitive shrieking of a great blue heron that must be nesting near the man-made lake in the center of the apartment complex. Where are my soft-spoken finches and friendly bluebirds? I wonder with a dreamy smile. Alyssa is a theme park Cinderella, who at the beginning of the book very much wants her own Cinderella story. When starting this manuscript, I pictured the rather iconic image of Disney’s Cinderella waking up to the softly singing birds, and liked the idea of starting Alyssa’s story in the same way. However, as she’ll come to learn, happily-ever-afters don’t follow a script, and her love story is an original. So instead of sweet little songbirds … she wakes up to a shrieking heron!

Linda Budzinski (The Boyfriend Whisperer): I sharpen the focus on my binoculars. Are those green peppers or jalapeños? Lexi Malloy is an undercover Cupid for hire — a mashup of Cyrano de Bergerac and Veronica Mars. I knew I wanted to start the novel with her in the middle of a stakeout, so I placed her outside a pizza joint, spying on a target for one of her clients. Lexi has some very particular (though perhaps flawed) ideas about matchmaking, and as she says a few lines later, “When it comes to winning a guy’s heart, the devil is in the details — especially when those details pertain to food.” Pizza toppings seemed like the perfectly quirky way to kick off her story!

Erin Fletcher (All Laced Up): I had taught young skaters before, but somehow I didn’t think ‘Zamboni avoidance’ was covered in basic skills class. I started this story here because I wanted to show that 1) Lia is a figure skater; 2) She’s going to be teaching a class of young skaters; and 3) Things are already not off to a good start because there’s a Zamboni stuck in the middle of the ice! A little background and a little conflict (hopefully) make for a good start!

Robin Constantine (The Season of You & Me): My Nana had a saying — “Wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one gets filled faster.” I never understood it, because, duh, who would willingly crap in their hand? Then I met Gavin Henley and understood. I like starting my stories in the midst of the action — my first two books began with dialogue, but I wanted this one to begin differently. Cassidy is in the throes of an unexpected breakup when the book opens, and while she’s confused about her feelings for her ex, she’s dealing with some of her harsher feelings with humor. This particular saying is something my grandmother used to say — and I had a similar reaction to it as Cass. I didn’t get the whole comparing wishing to, well…what it says…and wishes don’t just land in your hand, right? They go off to some magical wish-granting land and…wait, I digress. I liked the idea of her grandmother dispensing this sort of scratch-your-head-old-school wisdom, and then Cass finally understanding it because of her breakup. It lent itself to some interesting (and hopefully humorous) ruminations on Cass’s part and also set her up to be more proactive in getting over a relationship that we find probably wasn’t the best for her in the first place. It also just makes me laugh. It’s an odd saying!

Stephanie Scott (Alterations): I’d like to think I wasn’t the crying type, but I’d be lying. I cried. Dampness saturated my pillow, making the pillowcase even grosser than its already-gross coating of end-stage flu germs. As often happens in revising, my first scene used to be my second scene. When I cut the previous lead up to the story, I started with a moment of conflict and where Amelia is doubting herself and her life.

Darcy Woods (Summer of Supernovas): Two fears have plagued me from the time I was little, and today I must face one of them. When I began writing this novel, I challenged myself to write an opening scene that was the most ridiculous, memorable meet cute I could conjure. Even more important, I wanted it to have a real emotional heartbeat. Which meant despite the situational absurdity, I had to find a way for readers to connect with my MC, Wilamena Carlisle. Coincidentally, this felt about as probable as turning myself inside out through my belly button. So, I went about this task (the emotional connection, not the belly button thing) by tapping into one of the most basic human emotions — FEAR. Then I added in a water tower, a hot guy, and an accidental thong flash, and poof! The first chapter was born. I believe in high stakes. In this opening, I chose to take that literally. 🙂

Do you have any favorite first lines? Or (if you’re a writer) do you want to share the first line of one of your novels or manuscripts and why you started where you did? Tell us in the comments!

Do you have a question for “Ask the Sweethearts”? Send it through our contact form!

Who’s Your YA Hero?

Contests

Have you ever wanted to be the MC of your own YA romance novel? Experience all those ups and downs — the heartache of a breakup and the the thrill of the makeup?

You’ve read about butterflies in bellies, hearts pounding in chests, and blood rushing to, well, lots of places, and you want to feel all those feels for reals. We know you do. So … welcome to the Sweethearts of YA first-ever contest and giveaway, where you get to star in your very own YA romance novel!

We know you’re a fabulous main character — strong, smart, and sassy. You don’t actually NEED a hero … but it wouldn’t be much of a romance without one, now would it? So who will yours be? We’ve put together a video of some of the most time-honored YA hero tropes to help you find out.

Click “play” and find your YA Hero Match!

Once you’ve found your hero, you can enter our contest following these simple steps:

  1. Follow us on Twitter.
  2. Tweet out which YA Hero you landed on. Be sure to use the #SweetheartsofYA hashtag and include a link to this post. Here’s a shortened link you can use:
    http://wp.me/p8wdjx-5W
  3. (Optional) Subscribe to our site. All you need to do is fill in your email and click the button. You don’t have to do this to win, but we highly recommend it, because we’re going to have contests every month, plus fun weekly posts, and we don’t want you to miss any of them!

That’s it! We’ll collect the eligible tweets and select one of you at random as our winner.

Which brings us to … THE PRIZE! Since this is our first contest, we’ve decided to make the prize a BIG one! The winner will win not one, not two, not … OK, never mind … SIX books and a boatload of swag. Yes, you’ll receive a book from each Sweetheart as well as … well, look at all the pretty:

So, have fun finding your YA hero and be sure to enter to win. We’ll announce the winner here on May 4. Good luck!

UPDATE: We have a winner! Congratulations to Kate! Thanks to everyone who participated. We hope you had fun … we loved reading all your Tweets.

Melanie Hooyenga and Love on the Slopes

Guest Posts

We are thrilled this week to welcome our first Sweethearts of YA guest! Melanie Hooyenga is author of THE SLOPE RULES, which released in February, and is, in her words, “a YA sports romance that’s GREASE meets MEAN GIRLS with downhill skiing.”

What gave you the idea to write THE SLOPE RULES?
Being a Michigander, I’m no stranger to snow, but the winter of 2014 we had something like 120 inches. That happened to be the year of the winter Olympics, so I spent a lot of time snuggled on the couch thinking about snow and watching amazing athletes do incredible things with their bodies. I’ve always skied and thought it’d be fun to write about a skier—but not just any skier, a girl who isn’t afraid of anything and can hurl herself through the air like the best of them.

Your main character is “one of the guys” and is quite a daredevil on the slopes. Do either of those describe you in high school? or what were you like?
I was one of the guys most of my life—probably until my late 20s—and Cally is the most like me of any character I’ve written. As a child, you could find me outside—usually in a pile of dirt or playing some made up sport with the neighborhood boys. I’ll never forget being sent to the principal’s office for fighting in second grade (that was only one of two times I was ever sent there) and the principal calling out, “Come in, boys.” The other kid was really embarrassed to be there with me.

In junior high, my group of friends played stickball or tackle football after school, and in high school I played sports year-round. I also sat with all guys at lunch and I even preferred boys’ clothing, which prompted my mother to exclaim inside a Britches store, “When will you realize you are not a boy?” (I eventually outgrew that.)

I don’t consider myself a daredevil, at least not in the way Cally is.  But I’ve always played sports, and when I was younger I didn’t shy away from going all out, even if it could end up in an injury. For example, I played basketball in high school and discovered that I was really good at taking charges. I’d sprint in front of whoever was driving the lane, plant myself in front of her, and let her run me over. I knew how to land so I’d slide across the floor and it almost always ended up in a foul against the other player.

It’s obvious from reading the book that you know a lot about skiing. Is that because it’s a passion, or did you have to study up on it?
My grampa worked at a small ski place on the east side of Michigan and so all my cousins learned to ski as soon as they could walk. I learned to ski at five years old and felt like I was way behind the rest of them. In junior high I joined the ski club, but I didn’t get over my fear of going fast until I took a ski class in college. I’d always been more about precision—the Snow Bunnies’ style is based on how I ski—but being graded forced me to get over myself. Now my husband and I regularly race down the slopes. He offers to give me a head start to make up for our weight difference, but if I’m going to lose, I want to lose fairly. (I might be a touch competitive.)

I did do a lot of research for the terminology in THE SLOPE RULES, and I spent a day riding up the chairlift on the terrain park to watch how the kids interacted on the jumps and tricks. And I paid attention to my own skiing. When you’ve done something your whole life, you don’t think about the technique, you just do it, so I paid attention to little things like which leg you lean on to turn and what the snow sounds like when you catch an edge.

What is your favorite skiing event?
All of them? Except, ski jumping. I don’t know why I can’t get into it. Maybe because I don’t feel like it’s really skiing. Sure, you wear skis and you’re on snow, but it’s like comparing swimming and diving. They’re very different.

As I skier, I appreciate the skill and discipline required for moguls, alpine, and slopestyle. They each require your body to react to one thing while already focusing on what’s coming next. Precision and speed are crucial, but they each demand something different and have the potential to hurt your body in a different way.

Moguls are all about precision, alpine is speed, and slopestyle—well, slopestyle is like gymnastics on skis. I’d like to think that I could do a slow-motion version of the first two, but I’m in awe of the aerials. I tell people that Cally does things in skis that I can only dream of.

Kissing scenes: Do they come easily for you or do you struggle?
I love writing them! So much so that I have to remind myself to keep them PG-13, ha ha. They’re among my favorite scenes to read but I know they can’t be on EVERY page, so I try to pace myself.

You switched genres for this book, from YA time travel to YA contemporary romance. What drew you to write a sweet contemporary romance, and was it very different for you?
I spent five years with my FLICKER series, which are somewhat dark and deal with pretty heavy topics, and was SO ready for something lighthearted and fun. My goal was to write a book that’s funny, and while I don’t market THE SLOPE RULES as comedy, I worked hard to make readers laugh. (I really hope readers laugh….)

Also, as I’ve become more immersed in the world of YA, I’ve discovered that the books I enjoy the most are the sweet romances, the stories that are hopeful and romantic and have a happily-ever-after ending. I spent many years fighting my cheesy tendencies, but now I embrace them with open arms.

I still have several darker novel ideas—even more so than my trilogy—but I plan to spend some time with Cally and her friends right now (hint, hint… companion novels).

That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see where you take them next. Okay, now it’s time for our SPEED ROUND!

  • Alpha males vs. sensitive types: Sensitive with alpha traits? Alphas who are sensitive? This one is hard for me.
  • Red roses vs. blue violets: Blue violets
  • Sweet vs. savory: Savory (unless I can combine them)
  • Morning vs. night: Night (although I write in the morning)
  • Tropical island vs. mountain getaway: Mountain getaway (I no longer have the tolerance to lounge on a beach)
  • Instalove vs. slow burn: Both? I like reading instalove but my own marriage was a slow burn
  • Rock vs. paper vs scissors: Scissors!

(BTW, I’m terrible at succinct answers)

Thank you so much for having me! I love meeting new readers and chatting about books, so feel free to say hello. Here’s where you can find me:

Email * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram

Melanie Hooyenga is the author of THE SLOPE RULES and the YA trilogy THE FLICKER EFFECT, about a teen who uses sunlight to travel back to yesterday. The first book, FLICKER, won first place for Middle Grade/Young Adult in the Writer’s Digest 2015 Self-Published eBook awards. When not at her day job as Communications Director at a local nonprofit, you can find her wrangling her miniature schnauzer, Owen, and playing every sport imaginable with her husband, Jeremy.